by Admin | May 11, 2017 | Blog |
Follow @NigeriaPI A three-term member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Adams Jagaba, on Wednesday denied any connection with the alleged bribe which the then Chairman of the House’s Ad-hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy, Mr. Farouk Lawan, was said to have received from billionaire businessman, Mr. Femi Otedola, in 2012. Jagaba denied, among others, claims, all of which were credited to Lawan, that a certain sum of $620,000 from the bribe allegedly received from Otedola was reported and handed over to him with a covering letter by the ex-chairman of the House’s ad-hoc committee on petroleum subsidy. The lawmaker representing Kachia/Kagarko Federal Constituency of Kaduna State in the House of Representatives also said Lawan never visited him (Jagaba) at about 3am on April 24, 2012 as claimed. The 57-year-old Jagaba, who was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1999 and subsequently in 2011 and in 2015, refuted the numerous claims credited to Lawan before Justice Angela Otakula of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Lugbe, Abuja, on Tuesday. Jagaban had appeared before the court as the fourth prosecution witness in Lawan’s ongoing trial. The Federal Government is prosecuting Lawan before the court on three counts of a corrupt collection of $500,000 out of the $3m bribe he allegedly requested from Otedola. Lawan was accused of accepting the bribe in exchange for the removal of Otedola’s company’s name, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, from the list of firms indicted by the House committee for allegedly abusing the fuel subsidy regime in...
by Admin | May 11, 2017 | Blog |
Follow @NigeriaPI The Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos has refused to grant Mrs. Patience Jonathan’s plea to unfreeze her accounts holding $15.591 million. Justice Mohammed Idris had ordered parties to file pleas concerning ownership of the accounts. He, however, described the issues raised by the defendants as “baseless.” “The issues formulated by all the defendants are baseless. They go to no issue and will be ignored by the court,” the judge said. “I hold that this court lacks the competence to determine the issues raised by the defendants in their written addresses, having abandoned the specific issues formulated by the plaintiff in the originating summons. “It is unfortunate. I say this because the issues raised by the defendants appear on the face of it good and deserving to be considered on their merit. But I as I understand it to be the law, sentiment has no basis in the adjudicatory system,” the judge stated. Justice Idris said where processes are not properly prepared, any defect would render the proceeding fatal, as the court cannot “re-formulate” the issues for determination. The judge further held that there is still contention over the ownership of the accounts. “In respect of this issue, the contention appears divided, and there is clearly an air of friction in the proceedings,” the judge said. According to him, all the counter-affidavits filed by the defendants contained disputed facts that cannot be decided without oral evidence. “In the light of the above affidavit evidence, it cannot, in my view, be rightly contended that there are no disputed facts of substance as to the ownership of the said...
by Admin | May 3, 2017 | Blog |
Follow @NigeriaPI The Borno State command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said on Wednesday that it has arrested a serving policeman and now known drug baron with 126 kilograms of Indian hemp also known as cannabis. The Commandant, Mr Ona Ogilegwu told newsmen in Maiduguri that the suspect was arrested at Njimtilo checkpoint at the outskirts of the State capital by NDLEA agents. He said the policeman was arrested in the process of transporting the illicit substance to Yobe State. “The suspect, a 26-year old who gave his name as Sale Ishaku is still a serving police man in the Yobe State Police Command,” he said. Upon interrogation Mr. Ishaku said that he was being paid N5 thousand for each bag of cannabis he ferried. He admitted he was trafficking the drugs on behalf of another person but has not disclosed his identity. Mr. Ogilegwu added that “We later discovered that he was the one trafficking in the illicit substance which he buys here and sells in Damaturu.” “He parked his car at the airport junction where his supplier brought the consignment in a tricycle and arranged it in the boot of his vehicle for him to ferry across.” he said. Mr. Ogilegwu said that the command was still investigating his other accomplices. “We are still going after his supplier’s in Maiduguri and Yobe States.” The NDLEA commander therefore warns drug barons to repent or face the full wrath of the...
by Admin | May 3, 2017 | Blog |
Follow @NigeriaPI The Department of State Security Services (DSS) has revealed that it is probing a former Coordinator of Amnesty Programme for Niger Delta, Dr. Kingsley Kuku, over alleged link with attacks on oil pipelines. The DSS, in a confidential note by one of its top officials, which was made available to the media, alleged that Kuku, based intelligence report, was one of the sponsors of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA). “It is rather disturbing that Kingsley Kuku, a fugitive, who is believed to be funding some illegal raids like the one carried out on the residence of former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Chibudom Nwuche, is planning to assume the behind-the-scene leadership of the unified South-South arms struggle to gain relevance in the present government, aimed at avoiding possible searchlight on the atrocities committed during his tenure as Special Adviser for the Amnesty Programme,” it stated. “Kuku, who is currently on self-exile, is also one of the sponsors of the Niger Delta Avengers and the large scale sabotage against the oil pipelines across the Niger Delta (2015 – 2017). I’m certain this is an issue that will not be swept under the carpet.” Apart from the DSS, the former Special Adviser on Amnesty Programme is also being investigated over alleged mismanagement of N2,864,584,979 for the training of ex-militants; inclusion of many undeserving people on the beneficiary list of Amnesty Programme; circumstances surrounding how 2000 Amnesty Programme beneficiaries became stranded abroad. Others include over-bloated training contracts without adding value to the Amnesty Programme; Huge bills on all-expense international and local trips in private jets; and Operation...
by Admin | May 3, 2017 | Blog |
Follow @NigeriaPI The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has announced that a pilot employed by a domestic airline tested positive for marijuana in a test randomly conducted for technical personnel in the country’s aviation industry. While the NCAA has declined to name the offending pilot, the agency disclosed that he has been suspended. NCAA publicity manager Sam Adurogboye said in a statement that 85 staff, including pilots, cabin crew, air and traffic controllers (ATCs), were randomly selected for drug screening in line with the regulatory agency’s policy on substance abuse. He explained that the crew member tested positive for a psychoactive substance, tetrahydrocannabinol (marijuana), and was immediately suspended by the authority from carrying out further flight operations. Mr. Adurogboye emphasized that further investigations were later carried out to ascertain the quantity of the substance in the urine sample of the crew member, stressing that the crew member clearly violated the provisions of Part 2.11.1.7. (a) and Part 8.5.1.5(a) (3) of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs 2015). The statement added, “The NCAA has therefore sanctioned the offending aircrew in accordance with the provisions of Part 2.11.1.8(f) (i) and Part 2.11.1.7(c) of Nig.CARs 2015. “The Medical Certificate and License of the aircrew has been suspended for 180 days from April 5, 2017. Accordingly, the respondent shall cease to exercise the privileges of the License for the period of his suspension. “In addition, the crew member would, within seven days of receipt of the Letter of Sanction, hand over the License to the Authority’s Director of Licensing (DOL).” The statement hinted that the aircrew would undergo a comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation...
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