Friday, 17 July 2015

BLACKMAIL WON’T HELP YOUR CASE, OSHIOMHOLE TELLS OKONJO-IWEALA

BLACKMAIL WON’T HELP YOUR CASE, OSHIOMHOLE TELLS OKONJO-IWEALA


THIS IS A MUST READ...PLEASE FIND TIME TO DO SO!

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has said that there is nothing ‘personal’ between him and former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
The Edo State Governor in a statement signed by Kassim Afegbua, Special Adviser, Media and Public Affairs, to the governor, on Thursday ..........


It is instructive at this point in time to state categorically without equivocation that there is nothing “personal” between Okonjo-Iweala and Comrade Adams Oshiomhole in terms of the request by the Edo Governor that Okonjo-Iweala should come clean on the issue of revenue that accrued to the Excess Crude Account.


As much as her Spokesman tries to dramatize his response in defense of his boss, he has shown a manifest uninformed disposition to issues of simple economics of naira and kobo.
Here is a former Minister who has changed her position four times in the last forty days; each position exposing her dubiety of facts and inherent contradictions in the concocted tales she has been weaving on one simple issue: what happened to t5he $2.1b ECA funds?


PERTINENT QUESTIONS.
The simple questions which the Comrade Governor asked were: how come those accruals into the Excess Crude Account got depleted without the knowledge of the National Economic Council?

How come monies that were supposed to accrue into the said account cannot be found in it going by the balance sheet provided by the former Minister? How come the Minister unilaterally dipped her hand into the Excess Crude Account to spend money in defiance of the constitution and the laws of the land?


How come that the Minister finds it convenient to publish allocations to States and Local Governments, but refused to publish accruals into the same account for us to know the status of the account at any point in time; how much was left from where she was distributing from?


What the Comrade Governor stated was that; it was interesting to note that by December 2012, the ECA had a balance of over $10billion. This had been depleted to $2.07billion by May 2015, according to the former Finance Minister. Between January 2013 and May 2015, not more than $4billion was shared among the three tiers of Government. Indeed, the last time any money was shared from the ECA was in May 2013.


Flowing from the above statement of facts, the Comrade Governor then asked a very pertinent question; how come there was no accretion to the ECA even when Crude oil prices averaged between $100 to $108 within the three years period of 2011 to 2014, aware that the National Budgets were based on $77 and $79 benchmark?


That gives an average of $30 per barrel gains. In fact, based on rough estimates, Nigeria should earn not less than $30billion accretion based on the official oil exports of 2.3 million barrels per day. The question which Okonjo-Iweala could not answer is; how come Nigeria did not make any savings during those three years of unprecedented oil price boom? Simple question that should ordinarily elicit simple response.


Without a scintilla of numerical reference, Okonjo-Iweala went into a voyage of storytelling like an intellectual raconteur, leaving out the real substance of the Comrade Governor’s salient questions.


First, she responded on May 28, 2015 where she denied the allegations describing them as “baseless”. Among other things she claimed that the 36 State Governors who are joint owners of the Excess Crude Account [ECA] with the Federal Government were in full picture of how the ECA was managed.


She stated inter alia; “how can Governor Oshiomhole claim that State Governors were not properly briefed on the status of the ECA when his Commissioner of Finance attends all FAAC meetings where decisions are taken and communicated to the nation?”
On June 29, 2015 exactly a month after, at the inaugural meeting of the National Economic Council [NEC] presided over by Vice President Professor Yemi Osibanjo, and with 36 states in attendance deliberated on the status of the ECA. 

After a critical scrutiny, it was discovered that indeed Dr. Okonjo-Iweala spent $2.1billion from the ECA without authorization by the NEC.


That money was neither distributed to states nor paid to the three tiers of government. This was the rationale for the setting up of the four-man Panel to look at what accrued, what it was spent for, when and by whom and who authorized the spending, so that Nigerians will have full picture of all the transactions as regards the much talked about Excess Crude Account.


SHIFTING THE GOAL POST.
On June 30, 2015, Okonjo-Iweala was once again reported as categorically denying unauthorized expenditure from the ECA under her purview, describing the findings of NEC as “false, malicious and without foundation”.
According to her, decisions on such expenditure and sharing were discussed at meetings of FAAC attended by Finance Commissioners from the 36 states.
In her words; “it is curious that in their desperation to use the esteemed National Economic Council for political and personal vendetta, the persons behind these allegations acted as if the constitutionally recognized FAAC, a potent expression of Nigeria’s fiscal federalism, does not exist”.


Is FAAC superior to NEC? Does FAAC have the constitutional powers to give approval for withdrawals from ECA?
On June 30, 2015 the Comrade Governor stated during his Live Television interview with Channels Television that the power to take money from ECA was vested in the NEC, an institution created by the Constitution and not State Finance Commissioners who were members of FAAC, an administrative arrangement that was not known to the Constitution.


Rather than open up, giving full disclosure, she was opening part of the book and not the entire book. According to Comrade Oshiomhole, the logic of transparency is that every Minister must publish in full what is accruing to the Federation Account month-to-month basis and what is distributed to them.
On July 7, 2015, barely a week after Okonjo-Iweala claimed that FAAC was involved in the unauthorized spending from the ECA, members of FAAC under the aegis of Forum of Finance Commissioners in a public statement, denied approving any withdrawal of the said $2.1 billion.


The 36 Finance Commissioners categorically described the former Minister’s claim as “misleading, and far from the fact”. Hear them; “the Law setting up FAAC, which pre-dates the ECA did not empower the Commissioners to approve such withdrawals, and that there were records of Committee’s meetings to show that they had always queried the activities on the ECA, particularly on withdrawals.
FAAC did not and could not have approved or took the decision to withdraw the sum of $2billion from the Excess Crude Account”.


On July 8, 2015, Okonjo-Iweala opened up a bit of the real gist when she admitted that $2billion was indeed withdrawn from the ECA this time, on the directives of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
She further confirmed that the money was used to pay petroleum subsidies and not shared to the 36 states as she earlier declared.


The former Minister was quoted as saying; “payments made were used for paying for petroleum subsidies for the Nigerian people and were approved by Mr. President”.
She then made a volte face saying she did not claim that FAAC members approved the spending but that they were informed of the decision, “if monies were used to pay for subsidies for the Nigerian people and duly approved, why is Okonjo-Iweala’s name being battered in this way? She wondered, adding that “this persecution should stop”.

In fact, she is the one that is persecuting herself.

Subjecting this position to the crucible, one is prompted to ask Okonjo-Iweala if in all her experiences at the World Bank and elsewhere whether, the President has the right and powers under our laws to give approval for the withdrawal of $2billion from the ECA?
Whether the President has the power to usurp the powers of NEC with respect to withdrawals from the ECA? Whether the President has the powers to touch any money that belongs to the States and Local Governments?
It may interest Okonjo-Iweala to note that when the $5billion Power Intervention Fund was approved by NEC with all the 36 states Governors in session, due process had to be followed before the money was withdrawn from the ECA. Indeed, each of the 36 Governors had to seek the authorization of the Houses of Assembly, the 774 Local Government Chairmen and their Legislative Councils.



Just waking up in the morning to declare that “Mr. President” gave the approval and it was used to pay subsidy claims flies in the face of logic, common sense, due process and law. Was payment for subsidy not captured in the Appropriation Law?
Why would a Minister that is worth her salt dip her hands into our collective patrimony to take that much, a whopping $2billion on the directives of one Mr. President?
Can any World Bank Chief Executive dip hands into the till to take what belongs to all vide approval against what the laws and rules guiding World Bank specify? Was the Federal Government portion of the $2.1billion appropriated by the National Assembly before it was used to pay oil marketers?


To the best of our knowledge, there was nothing of the sort. We think very seriously that Okonjo-Iweala has more questions to answer. She has shifted grounds on four different scores. That tells so much on her integrity.
According to Brian Tracy, that celebrated author; “integrity is more than a value.
It is the one quality of mind that assures or guarantees all the other values that you select. You cannot have a little bit of integrity.


It must be all or nothing”. If Okonjo-Iweala truly understands the whole essence of integrity, we had expected her to come clean on these serious allegations of financial malfeasance instead of allowing her ill-informed Spokesman, such vend-able lick-spittle, to be vomiting incoherent and inconsistent banalities on issues that border on our collective patrimony.


This was the same attitude she put up when the issue of misappropriated N19.5billion Aviation Fund was being investigated under former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Till date, she has not been able to clear the air on the N6.5 billion loan she allegedly raised from Commercial Banksto fix Control Towers of Four Airports.


That is a story for another day.


Her latest resort to blackmail usin

Wizkid Covers Vanguard's Allure Magazine


Bez And Wife Lose Their First Child

If you recall when Bez's wife Bolita got pregnant, he was over the moon with excitement and shared his excitement with all of his family, friends, and of course fans on social media.
Well, the couple's baby was born on March 2, 2015 after 42 weeks of pregnancy but sadly died barely 24 hours after birth. 
Read Bonita's heart breaking statement after the jump:


Bonita, who also happens to be the daughter of Oyo State former governor, Rashidi Lodoja posted on her blog "In my daughter’s case, her heart ended up being pushed to the right and her lungs barely developed. In fact, she only had one lung and that was almost undeveloped. The summary of this, they told me, is that once she was born, she won’t be able to breathe on her own due to lack of lungs and the positioning of the heart"

The couple's daughter died of congenital diaphragmatic hernia, an extremely rare condition in which the diaphragm does not fully develop and has a hole. 
It's been months now and the couple is just opening up about this. Hopefully, they have now healed. We pray God will bless them with another healthy baby in due time.

President Buhari's Assuring Eid-El-Fitr Message To Nigerians


Fellow Compatriots,

I greet and felicitate with you all, especially our citizens of the Islamic faith on this auspicious occasion of the 2015 Eid-el-Fitr celebrations.

I congratulate all those who have successfully completed the Ramadan fast in keeping with the injunction of our Creator.


Although we have come to the end of this year’s month of Ramadan, I believe that a greater acceptance by Nigerians of its key lessons of self-denial and sacrifice will serve our dear country well as we strive to overcome our present challenges, undo the damage done by years of bad governance and accelerate the pace of national development.

Reviewing our dire circumstances and the many missed opportunities of the past, some commentators and observers have said that this is Nigeria’s last chance to get its act together and finally begin to fulfill its God-given potential for greatness.

While not going that far, I certainly believe that now, more than ever before, our country needs greater self-denial, sacrifice and patriotism from all of its citizens, if we are to quickly recover from our numerous problems and start moving in a positive direction.

This current period of our life as a nation offers us a great opportunity to break from the vicious triangle of insecurity, corruption and under-development. We must collectively resolve to seize this opportunity and unite to confront our problems.

I remain wholly committed to giving the required leadership towards undoing the wrongs of the past, ensuring that Nigeria truly begins to unlock its great potential and that the benefits of our immense national resources are shared and enjoyed by all, not just by successive cabals of corrupt leaders and their cronies.

I was very aware of your high expectations when I assumed office and I reassure you, my fellow citizens, that since my inauguration on the 29th of May this year, I have been working with utmost dedication to meticulously plan and tackle the many national challenges which we identified and promised to resolve.

To succeed however, I need your continued support, understanding and patience.

I fully understand and share the thirst of my long-suffering compatriots for corruption-free government institutions that work efficiently to deliver visible development for the benefit of all citizens.

I also share the feelings of those who think that we should be moving faster. But I urge them and all Nigerians to trust that my commitment to real and positive change in our nation is as firm as ever.

There is indeed much work to be done, but we must do it well and carefully to ensure that the great opportunity which we now have is not lost to the “business as usual” group who selfishly or shortsightedly prefer a status quo that panders to their personal or group interests.

The adverse effects of years of rot, corruption, inept and bad governance on our nation are immense, but certainly not insurmountable if we all resolve now to place the well-being of our nation above all other considerations and work whole-heartedly with the present administration to achieve greater peace and security across the nation, and reposition our country for faster economic development and progress.

May Almighty Allah continue to guide us and bless our dear nation.

I wish you all happy Eid-el- Fitr celebrations.

Muhammadu Buhari
President,
Federal Republic of Nigeria

Blog Visitor Narrative-GETTING PREGNANT TO HOOK LE BOO

I Am a 24 years old undergraduate (finishing next year),i used to have a bf that i dated for 4years but we broke up early last year...it was so painful but i tried to move on so April this year i met this guy that i grew up together with,but we had lost contact since he travelled out of the country.

 We started dating and its kind of serious between us.He told me he has one Australian girlfriend who is going to help him secure his stay permit and he's travelling to meet her this December,he told me he's not planning anything serious with her that he's going to handle it and that he wants to marry me.

 We had sex last week and he used protection cos he doesn't want me to get pregnant now, cos I am yet to finish UNI.

The problem now is i don't know if i should trust him and wait for him to come back or get pregnant for him to hook him down?.


Connect With YBLN's 1.2 Million Jobs, Osinbajo, Dangote, Segun Agbaje, Others to Speak in Lagos

inally, fresh details have emerged on the free 1.2 million jobs in Nigeria by Young Business Leaders of Nigeria (YBLN); a network of 'young business leaders' established to evolve creative methods of solving the unemployment crisis in Nigeria.



If you would like to latch on to this golden opportunity, then consider yourself extremely fortunate as YBLN has called on Nigerians to connect with the YBLN initiative as it aims to create millions of jobs.

The event will be formally launched on July 22, 2015 at the Muson Centre, Onikan Road, Lagos.
The Special Guest of Honour and Keynote Speaker is the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and the event is expected to kick off at 10:00am prompt.
Also speaking at the event is the Founder/Chairman, Dangote Group, Mr. Aliko Dangote, the Founder/CEO, Digital Jewels, Mrs. Doyin Odunfa, the MD/CEO, GTBank, Mr. Segun Agbaje, the Founder/Principal Partner, George Etomi & Partners, Mr. George Etomi and Country Partner, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Mr. Uyi Akpata.
To benefit from this event, attendance is completely free but guests, participants and those to benefit from the 1.2 million jobs must, as a matter of necessity, register on the website, http://www.yblnigeria.com and proceed to visit and follow the Twitter handles: @yblnigeria and @brooksrockmedia as well as 'liking' the Facebook page; 'Young Business Leaders of Nigeria.'
YBLN is poised to reduce the rate of unemployment by 3% by December 2016 and 25% by December 2020, through its carefully designed 'YBLN Unemployment Data Bank,' 'YBLN Aspiring Entrepreneurs Programme,' 'YBLN Employability Masterclass & Job School,' 'YBLN Job Market & Volunteer Corps,' and 'YBLN Marginal Men Programme.'
The event will be hosted by Temitayo O. Etomi; a 2014 Mandela Washington Fellow.

Contact info: BB pin: 2BB3B194.
Twitter: @yblnigeria @brooksrockmedia

For more enquiries, contact Ngozi 08183523252, Yinka 08033211653, Oye 08108681780
PRESS COVERAGE: brooksrockmedia@gmail.com |BB pin: 2BB3B194.


Thursday, 16 July 2015

Man Who Ran Away Because His Wife Was Expecting 3rd Set Of Twins, Returns Home

Uche, the man who ran away from his family in February after his wife, Ruth informed him that she was having their third set of twins, has returned home. He returned home yesterday July 15.





According to The Nation, Emeka returned to their new house in Ogun state. The Uches, who were living in a dilapidated house in Agege prior to this coming out, have moved to a mini flat in Ogun state with the money she received from kindhearted Nigerians who came to her rescue.


Speaking about why he ran, the run-away father said:
“Like I told you on phone, it was not easy for me. I contemplated suicide on several occasions. I cannot believe I am here, holding my kids for the first time since they were born three months ago. When I left, I initially went to the village where I spent a month. After that, I came back to Lagos but stayed with my friend around Oko-Oba in Agege. I still live with him I know that I was not far from them, but I just did not went to return without a better solution on how to cater for my home. I was ashamed too to come back to that house to see them after I’d abandoned them and run away. 


But after our discussions and my wife told me that they had moved, I went to our old house and asked one of the neighbors who had been here for direction so that I could come and see them.”
His wife Ruth expressed gratitude to God and the Lagos state government for uplifting her family, saying that even her mother in law who never used to call her now calls her frequently. She said:


“Would I have ever lived in this kind of house with my family and I having a toilet and kitchen to ourselves? I moved in here on Sunday and I am so happy and grateful. Aunty, come and see our bedroom; have you seen the toilet? See our kitchen. See me now! I have a room and parlour self-contained. 


What more can I want, except for my husband to come and enjoy this good life with me?
People who used to laugh at us for not having food to eat can now see how God works. Even my mother-in-law who has not called me for so long now calls me. I am just so thankful to God because he did not allow me and my children die in shame.



I have promised God that I will do my best to grow my business. I want to grow and be able to help women with similar case as mine. I want to be able to impact their lives in future as my life was touched and changed.”



Wednesday, 15 July 2015

Federal Government Declares Friday And Monday As Public Holidays




The Federal Government has declared Friday, July 17 and Monday, July 20 2015 as public holidays to mark the end of Ramadan.

Buhari Revokes Former Niger Delta Militant Leader Tompolo's Coastal Protection Contract

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the immediate termination of the coastal and pipeline protection contract awarded to former Niger Delta militant leader Government Ekpomupolo alias Tompolo by President Goodluck Jonathan.





   In 2011, President Jonathan awarded a contract to provide security along Nigeria's maritime borders to Global West Vessel Specialists Nigeria, a company owned by Tompolo. Seen as a political gesture, President Buhari has instructed the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (Nimasa) to discontinue payments for the provision of platforms for security.  



 With the revocation of the contract, money paid to the private firm will now be channelled to the Nigerian Navy and marine police to secure the nation’s waterways. According to a source at the Federal Ministry of Transport, the $103m (N21bn) maritime security contract was approved by former President Jonathan and awarded by Nimasa in 2011, shortly after Patrick Akpobolokemi, was appointed to head the agency.  


 It is believed that payments have been stopped since June, with Mohammed Bashir, the permanent secretary in the transport ministry directing Mr Akpobolokemi to halt payments for the controversial maritime security contract until further notice. Others who benefitted from similar contracts include Mujaheedin Asari-Dokubo and Chief Bipobiri Ajube, Alias General Shoot-At-Sight, as well as Odua People's Congress founder Dr Frederick Fasheun and the leader of its other faction Otunba Gani Adams.   



According to the transport ministry source: “It is difficult to believe that former President Goodluck Jonathan would hand out the security of the nation’s entire maritime domain to his kinsman under the guise of public-private partnership. It was certain that such a contract would not stand the test of time and like the pipeline security contracts awarded by the same regime, its time is over.”   However, former senior special assistant to the president on maritime, Leke Oyewole, advised the federal government not to go back to the old ways when Nimasa was handling water security. 


He noted that ever since Tompolo's company was put in charge of providing platforms for security on the nation’s waters, there had been an improvement.  


 Last month, pioneer Nimasa chairman Alhaji Tijjani Ramalan, alleged that Tompolo's company was paid N1.5bn monthly to execute the contract. He lamented that despite the huge payment, the country is still losing more than 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily to oil thieves. 

Excess Crude Account: Leave Okonjo-Iweala alone-Prince Sani Usman

Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chieftain in Edo State, Prince Sani Usman, has asked Governor Adams Oshiomole of Edo State to stop picking holes in the past activities of Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
The party chieftain was reacting to assertion by Governor Oshiomole, at a Seminar in Benin that Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala illegally withdrew $1 billion from the Federation Account to prosecute the re-election bid of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Usman said though individuals are entitled to their opinions, the comments credited to Governor Oshiomole were unbecoming of a Chief Executive of a state.
According to him: “If Governor Oshiomole admitted to have a vast knowledge and workings of government, he should know that the erstwhile Finance Minister cannot withdraw any money without due approval by the National Economic Council.
“The Okonjo- Iweala that we all know is a renowned economist who through hard work and diligence rose to the pinnacle of her career in the World Bank.
“It was in deference to the call by well-meaning Nigerians that she jettisoned her prime job to serve her fatherland. To in turn compensate her in this form is to say the least unjust and uncharitable.”