by Admin | Apr 28, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI ormer president Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed why he opposed the re-election of immediate past president, Mr. Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election. Mr. Obasanjo’s reasons are contained in a book, Against the Run of Play, written by Mr. Segun Adeniyi, Chairman of the Editorial Board of ThisDay Newspapers. The book, an account of what happened in the 2015 presidential election, is due for public presentation in Lagos on Friday. The relationship between the former presidents, noted the author, had soured long before the election. Mr. Jonathan, whose political rise is widely credited to Mr. Obasanjo’s influence, had sought to make up with his presumed benefactor and keep him on his side for re-election. He arranged for a meeting with Mr. Obasanjo in his Abeokuta home. Before leaving for the Ogun State leg of his campaign in January 2015 wrote the author, Mr. Jonathan had concluded plans to visit Mr. Obasanjo, who had agreed to meet him. Mr. Obasanjo, however, gave a condition: Jonathan must come along with someone of sufficient credibility to act as a witness at the meeting. Mr. Jonathan agreed to bring one along. He approached the hugely influential General Overseer (GO) of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor EA Adeboye, who accepted to play the role of a witness. But on the evening of 12 January 2015, the agreed date of the meeting scheduled for Mr. Obasanjo’s Hilltop residence in Abeokuta, Pastor Adeboye arrived in the company of Bishop David Oyedepo of Winners Chapel. “It was only Pastor Adeboye that Jonathan told me was coming with him, but Bishop Oyedepo is a...
by Admin | Apr 27, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago has upheld a lower court’s decision to dismiss Nigerian Senator Buruji Kashamu’s lawsuit against the U.S. government, the Chicago Tribune reported yesterday. The American government is attempting to have Mr. Kashamu extradited from Nigeria to the U.S. in order to prosecute him for drug trafficking. Mr. Kashamu was indicted in 1998 for running a heroin syndicate in Chicago. He then fled the country and proceeded to successfully run for Senate in 2015. Mr. Kashamu currently represents Ogun State East in the National Assembly’s upper chamber. In 2015, the senator filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice in an attempt to prevent U.S. law enforcement from “abducting” him in Nigeria. He alleged that the U.S. was conspiring with his political enemies in Nigeria to have him abducted. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) collaborated with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Nigeria to raid Mr. Kashamu’s Lagos home and abduct him in order to extradite him to the U.S. A Nigerian court, however, order the DEA to leave, saying it was illegal for the agency to arrest him on Nigerian soil. In Monday’s court ruling, Judge Richard Posner ruled that no law prevents U.S. law enforcement agents from “ being present when foreign officers are effecting an arrest or from assisting foreign officers who are effecting an arrest,” the Chicago Tribune reports. Mr. Kashamu is depicted in the popular American Netflix series, “Orange Is The New Black,” which centers on Piper Kerman, who was tried for money laundering alongside the Ogun East...
by Admin | Apr 27, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI A Minna High Court on Tuesday ordered that former Governor of Niger state, Babangida Aliyu, alongside the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in the 2015 election, Umar Mohammed Nasko, be remanded in Minna medium Prisons pending a ruling on bail application on May 3rd, 2017. According to the presiding Judge, Justice Aliyu Mayaki, the case is to be opened on June 12, 2017 and to be held day by day till June 16. The ruling on their bail application is to be delivered on 3rd May, 2017. They are to be remanded in Medium Security prisons in Minna. Lead Counsel for the EFCC, Gbolahan Latona, had levelled six charges against Aliyu. When the charges were read to them (Aliyu and Nasko) by Justice Mayaki, they pleaded not guilty. Source: Today...
by Admin | Apr 27, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI A National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has alleged that Senate President Bukola Saraki and the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, worked against the plan to make him President Muhammadu Buhari’s running mate in the 2015 presidential election. Tinubu stated that Saraki, El-Rufai and other stalwarts of the Peoples Democratic Party, who defected to the APC in the build-up to the 2015 elections, instigated Buhari and some APC chieftains not to pick him as the would-be Vice-President. The APC leader’s comments were contained in a book titled ‘Against the Run of Play,’ written by the Chairman, Editorial Board of ThisDay, Olusegun Adeniyi. Tinubu, the former governor of Lagos State, said his opponents persuaded Buhari to look for another running mate on the grounds that Christians in the North would not embrace a Muslim-Muslim ticket, and as such, could jeopardise the party’s victory. The former governor said the arguments put forward by the party members were not genuine, adding that El-Rufai had the intention to ensure the emergence of the Serving Overseer of The Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Buhari’s running mate. Tinubu added, “What they (Saraki and others from the PDP) did behind my back was wrong. We always do things as a group. By the time they joined, we were already too far ahead in our processes but we accommodated them. “We agreed to take their state structures and subsume them into the part and they all had their opportunity to nominate the candidates of their choices for different political offices. “But they went behind to instigate Buhari and some...
by Admin | Apr 27, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Peoples Democratic Party and Civil Liberties Organisation have criticised President Muhammdu Buhari’s decision to perform his official roles from home. Buhari was absent from a meeting of the Federal Executive Council inside the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday. READ: If Buhari dies, I promise to kill 200 people – Police officer Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo presided over the meeting. Buhari did not also attend the FEC meeting last week, with the Presidency attributing his absence to the Easter holiday. Following the President’s absence from Wednesday’s meeting, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said Buhari was working from home. In a statement, Mohammed said the President only decided to work from home on Wednesday, not that he had decided to work from home henceforth. The minister said, “He (the President) wanted to rest today and he asked the VP to preside over today’s meeting. “In addition, he also asked that all his files be taken home to him and he will be working from home today.’’ But the PDP kicked against the development, urging the Presidency to reveal Buhari’s health status. Spokesman for the party’s National Caretaker Committee, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, stated the party’s position in an interview with our one of our correspondents in Abuja on Wednesday. Adeyeye said it was obvious that Mohammed did not know what to tell Nigerians following the third consecutive absence of the President from the weekly FEC meeting. He said, “We have passed a stage whereby you dish out lies to Nigerians on a daily basis about the health status of the President. “We...
by Admin | Apr 27, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it has organized a manhunt for a Lagos socialite and suspected drug baroness wanted in connection with cocaine trafficking. The suspect, Fumilola Arike Ogbuaya, also known as Arike Fumilola Ogundipe, allegedly was involved in smuggling 1.595kg of cocaine from Murtala Muhammed International Airport to Saudi Arabia in February 2017. NDLEA spokesman Mitchell Ofoyeju said the agency is also investigating Mrs. Ogbuaya’s multi-billion naira assets, allegedly the proceeds of drug sales. The anti-narcotics agency commenced investigation into Mrs. Ogbuaya after arresting one Odeyemi Omolara Morayo, also known as Ariyo Monsurat Olabisi, for drug trafficking. Investigation into Mr. Morayo implicated Mrs. Ogbuaya, according to the NDLEA commander at the Lagos airport. He said that the NDLEA then invited the Lagos socialite in for questioning to no avail. NDLEA officers subsequently stormed her Lagos home, but the alleged drug trafficker was nowhere to be found. “The agency is therefore investigating several landed properties worth several billions of naira traced to Mrs Fumilola Arike Ogbuaya a.k.a. Arike Fumilola Ogundipe in Lagos, Ogun and Osun States,” he said. “The assets include Arike Plaza, some plots of land, and buildings in strategic locations. The Lagos socialite, who is a distributor of alcoholic drinks, is needed by the NDLEA in an ongoing investigation. She hails from Ilesa, Osun State.” Impressed with the level of investigation in the ongoing case, NDLEA Chief Executive Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah has vowed to pursue the case to a logical conclusion and to trace all illicit drug proceeds. “The agency is building capacity for elaborate investigation and this is a test case...
by Admin | Apr 27, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Nigerian Navy Ship, DELTA said it has nabbed 10 suspected oil thieves onboard MT TECNE Vessel in Delta. The Commander of NNS Delta, Commodore Ibrahim Dewu, disclosed this while parading the suspects at Focados River, Burutu Local Government Area of Delta on Wednesday. The suspects are one Nigerian, two Pakistanis, three Ghanaians, one Indonésian, one Béninois and two Ukrainians. Dewu said that the suspects were caught in the early hours of Tuesday while syphoning crude oil into the vessel from Afremo A platform, a loading jacket belonging to the Shell Petroleum and Development Company (SPDC) in Forcados River. According to him, they had syphoned about 2000 metric tonnes of crude oil from the loading jacket before they were caught. “Based on intelligence report, at about 02:50 am on April 25, 2017, MT Tecne (registered in Panama), was apprehended by NNS Delta patrol team with 10 crew onboard. “They are one Nigerian, two Pakistanis, three Ghanaians, one Indonésian, one Béninois and two Ukrainians, the Nigerian among them is the Chief Officer while the Captain is a Pakistani. “This vessel has been around our water, what they do is that they go into the high sea during the day, they come late night and connect to the Jacket and syphon crude oil. “We have been trailing them for three days, this is the forth night and the vessel is fully ladened with illegal crude oil and this is what they keep doing,” he said. The Commander said that the feat was the outcome of the ongoing “Operation Delta Safe Operation River Sweep Two and Operation Tsare Teku” mandates...
by Admin | Apr 25, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI A grassroots youth organization in Anambra State, Anambra Youth Movement (AYM), has called on the Police to immediately arrest and prosecute Mr. Andy Uba, for deceit, forgery, and perjury. The demand for the arrest and prosecution of Mr. UBA, who represents Anambra South Senatorial District in the Senate, was contained in a petition addressed to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP). Dated 22 April and signed on the group’s behalf by Comrade Austin Okeke, the petition alleged that Mr. Uba has extensively falsified his educational qualifications, presented such to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), caused it to be published on the website of the National Assembly and deceived voters into viewing him as intellectually-endowed on account of his confected educational qualifications. Quoting from a report published by SaharaReporters, AYM said: “Mr. Uba systematically lied about every level of his academic experience, brazenly doctoring his secondary school leaving certificate and making claims to several university degrees, including a doctorate, even though he never obtained a bachelor’s degree.” The group added that its own private investigations showed that Mr. UBA, whose real name is Nnamdi Emmanuel Uba, completed his secondary education at Union Secondary School, Awkunanaw, Enugu, in 1974. For his secondary school leaving certificate examination, the AYM found that Mr. Uba sat for nine subjects, passing just one (Chemistry) at credit level, according to its authentic results. Mr. Uba’s authentic results, AYM found, showed that he scored F9 in Christian Religious Knowledge, Economics and English Literature. Mr. Uba had P8, the next lowest grade to F9, in Physics, Biology, English Language, and Statistics. He scored P7 in Mathematics,...
by Admin | Apr 25, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI A middle aged man has been arrested in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital for possessing human parts. Tribune Online gathered that the suspect had been monitored by residents of Ita Kudimo, Abata Suban, Pakata area of Ilorin West local government in the past few days after speculation grew that he possessed a corpse in his building. It was also gathered that the neighbours of the suspect swooped on his residence at about noon on Sunday and the suspect was allegedly caught with human parts. He was later dragged to Adewole Police station in the Ilorin metropolis amidst shouting and rain of curses by the crowd of people. It was also gathered that house of the suspect was demolished and his properties were carted away by hoodlums who took advantage of the situation to perpetuate their dastardly acts. Speaking on the development, the police public relations officer, Ajayi Okasanmi, who confirmed the incident, said that the command had commenced investigation on the alleged crime. Also speaking on the development, the commissioner of Police in Kwara State, Mr Olusola Amore, who did not give the name of the suspect, said that, “it is true that a man was caught with human parts today. He was being beaten at Kudimo area of Adewole on Sunday. There was a crowd trying to lynch the man. In fact, they had set ablaze his car because they discovered that some odour was coming out of his apartment. On a closer look, they discovered that he had human parts, skulls and other parts, while they were trying to lynch him, police was informed and...
by Admin | Apr 25, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Federal High Court in Asaba, Delta State ordered an Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) official, Fidelia Omoile, to be remanded in prison custody after arraigning her for a two-count amended charge bordering on conspiracy and money laundering. Mrs. Omoile, who served as an INEC official in Isoko South Local Government Area during the 2015 presidential election, was charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for collecting a bribe of N112,480,000. She was allegedly one of the 100 INEC officials to receive bribes from former Minister of Petroleum Resources Diezani Alison-Madueke, who allegedly disbursed roughly $115 million total in bribes. It would be recalled that Mrs. Omoile was arrested on April 11, 2016 after the EFCC received a tip that she was bribed during the run-up to the 2015 election. Justice O. Efreti Abang presided over the hearing and read the charges to the INEC staff. Count one of the charge reads, “That you, Fidelia Omoile, on or about the month of March 2015 at Asaba within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, did Conspire among yourselves to receive cash payment in the sum of N112,480,000.00, exceeding the statutory limit without going through a financial institution and thereby committed an offense contrary to Section 18 (a) of the Money laundering (Prohibition) Act 2012 as amended and punishable under Section 15 (3) and (4) of the same Act.” Count two reads, “That you, Fidelia Omoile, on or about the month of March 2015, at Asaba within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, did receive cash payment in the sum of N112,480,000.00, exceeding the statutory limit without going...
by Admin | Apr 25, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Isiaka Adeleke, the Osun West Senator who died suddenly yesterday in Oshogbo, the Osun State capital, was killed by an overdose of painkillers administered to him by an unqualified medical technician, SaharaReporters has learned. The Senator received the medication following complaints of serious pain in his legs at the beginning of day-long political rally and meetings. A source at the Osun State Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital said the late Senator recently began preparations to run for governor in the state in 2018. On Saturday, he embarked on a series of political events, before heading out to the events he was complaining to his about the pain, and a quack administered the painkillers intravenously, relieving him of the pain. When he woke up he complained of chest pain and fatigue, shortly after telling his aides not to allow any visitors to see him he had a heart attack and was pronounced dead at Biket Hospital in Oshogbo. Since his passing, youths in his hometown of Ede have been rioting, alleging that the Senator was poisoned to prevent him from running for governor. The riots forced the state government to order an autopsy at LAUTECH Teaching Hospital. SahararReporters learned that preliminary results from pathologists showed that the intravenous medication, fluid laced with a huge quantity of painkillers conspired to block his heart leading to a heart attack that killed him. SOURCE: SAHARA...
by Admin | Apr 25, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI A Nigerian man who allegedly duped a number of banks out of more than $100,000 faced a federal judge last Friday, April 21, after being arrested on April 10 by agents from the Department of Homeland Security and charged on four federal criminal charges. Opeyemi Abdulahi Orekan, resident of Rhode Island was involved in an organized fraud ring that used fake passports from Nigeria and Ghana and fraudulent identities to defraud a number of banks out of tens of thousands of dollars. The federal government is charging him with bank fraud, passport fraud, identity theft and access device fraud. Investigators say Orekan used nine different identities, including a number of passports from Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana, to open bank accounts at a number of bank branches including Bank of America, Webster Bank and Santander to deposit counterfeit checks and then withdraw bank funds. Counterfeit checks from NRG Residential Solar Solutions, the Viking Corporation and Bosch were deposited into accounts, according to the affidavit. Orekan would then allegedly send the funds to an individual in Nigeria. The transactions occurred at a number of bank branches in Johnston, Lincoln, Pawtucket, Providence and Warwick. Bank America reported nearly $37,000 in losses from at least one of the accounts and another $26,000 from another one of Orekan’s accounts. Santander reported a near $20,000 loss in connection with Orekan. He also allegedly used fake identities to open accounts at TD Bank, Wells Fargo and Chase Bank. “Orekan has been engaged in lengthy pattern of fraud that has been perpetuated across at least 10 different financial institutions,” says Keith Holleran, a special...
by Admin | Apr 25, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI Bwari (FCT) – The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), said on Saturday that it arrested six persons over alleged illegal registration and sale of 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) materials. According to him, the suspects were arrested by Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for various registration infractions in the ongoing 2017 UTME. “The fraudsters were arrested from various locations across the country where they were perpetuating their nefarious activities. “They were arrested from Oyo, Ogun and Maiduguri by officers and men of the NSCDC and brought to Abuja where startling revelations of their operations were made. “The suspects confessed in the presence of Alhaji Abdullahi Mohamadu, Commandant-General of NSCDC, about the numerous registration infractions that the Board couldn’t imagine. “Some of these registration suspects are Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres owners licensed by JAMB to conduct registration exercise for the candidates planning to take the forthcoming UTME.” The Board on April 2, arrested 25 persons over illegal registration and sale of 2017 UTME materials, as such bringing the total number of suspects arrested to 31 so far. He described as worrisome the massive investment by E-Kindle CBT centres to penetrate the airtel system the Board often used to perpetrate all forms of wholesome practices. Benjamin mentioned that the suspects registered candidates without proper biometric, which means such candidates would have problems with their details during examination if not corrected immediately. He, however, decried the practice by people from some quota in the country to thwart JAMB efforts, under Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, to conduct credible UTME and fights against examination malpractice. The spokesman listed some...
by Admin | Apr 21, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI The Kogi Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has arrested nine suspected hard drug peddlers and dealers in the last four weeks. The Commandant, Mr. Idris Bello, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lokoja that the command also seized 1,020.1 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa (Indian hemp) from the suspects. Giving a breakdown of the arrests, Bello said that four suspects were arrested on Tuesday at Crusher Village along Okene-Lokoja-Abuja. “One of those arrested, Maharazu Mohammedhad, had 147 blocks of packed Indian hemp, weighing 199.2 kilogrammes, hidden in sheets of rough cartons. “From Mohammed’s account, the consignment was to be delivered to one Dan Hutu of Hotoro quarters in Kano,” he said. He said that another suspect, Philip Dangla, 32, who hails from Plateau, had 37.2 kilogrammes of the substance which he was taking to Zaria. According to him, the driver of the vehicle, Sanusi Sani and the conductor, Abdullahi Mohammed, were equally arrested. Bello further said that another suspect, Stanley Duru, 44, from Orlu in Imo, was arrested on March 20, with 421 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 377.8 kilogrammes. The commandant said that the hard drug was concealed in false compartments constructed in a Volkswagen Combi bus. He alleged that the suspect, who was intercepted at Crusher village in Lokoja, loaded the hard drug in the vehicle at Otua town in Edo. Bello added that the driver, Femi Ojabo, 27, from Isua in Ondo State, also stashed 377.8 kilogrammes of Indian hemp in the vehicle. He gave the names of other suspects as Haruna Salihu, 30, who...
by Admin | Apr 21, 2017 | Blog
Follow @NigeriaPI THE National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has uncovered fake and unregistered products valued at over N200 million. The products, confiscated through a whistle-blower’s report, were stocked in a building at 11, Omotosho Crescent, off Ewedana Street, Toll Gate, Ota in Ogun State. The building also served as production outlet for bitters with fake NAFDAC registration numbers. At a briefing in Lagos yesterday, Acting Director-General of NAFDAC, Mrs. Yetunde Oni, explained that the building is a bungalow of five bedrooms, with two residential rooms, while the other three, the parlour and the kitchen were used for production of unregistered, deceptive and counterfeit products. Oni, who was represented by the Director, Port Inspectorate, Mr. Kingsley Ejiofor, gave the name of the owner (withheld), adding that the products were being produced in a dirty environment by unqualified personnel. According to her, empty plastic bottles, caps, cartons and sticker labels of other products were also found in the facility, while the address on the labels of all the products were fake. Oni said the agency also raided Ogbaru Relief Market in Onitsha, Anambra State, where they discovered several shops used for the production, distribution, sale and storage of fake and counterfeit alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks of various popular brands valued at over N200 million. The drinks, she noted, were produced by manual mixing in plastic buckets and filled into bottles under unhygienic conditions. Source: Vanguard...
Recent Comments