Bishop Okogie Drums Support For PMB, Appeals To Nigerians

 

Archbishop Anthony Cardinal Okogie has said President Muhammadu Buhari is not a stupid man, and neither is he a fool.



Okogie who is the Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos called on Nigerians to be patient with the president so he can deliver on his election promises, Vanguard reports.

“He is not a stupid man, he is not a fool and one thing I know he has in his head is that, he is no more a soldier so he has to take his time to make sure that things go the way they should go,” Okogie said.

The Archbishop said this on Wednesday, August 5, at an interactive session with newsmen in Lagos.

The cleric explained that Buhari needed time to correct the anomalies in the country.

READ ALSO: Bishop Okogie Blesses Buhari, Sets Agenda For President-elect

Okogie stated: “You know when you are entering a new job, you don’t rush; you got to take your time, because if you do not take your time you make a lot of mistakes.

“And right at his inauguration, he even mentioned it that the ground is rough; so he has to take his time to correct these things; I think that is what he is trying to do.

“Don’t you see what he is doing now with the Boko Haram, he is meeting all the Head of States and that thing cannot just take one second or one day or one week, he is going to win them over.”

According to the cleric, the economy of the nation has been destroyed completely by people who are supposed to be patriotic Nigerians.
He wondered what they would do with the money they have syphoned, saying: “If we can only remember that one day we are going to leave all these things behind, we are not going to carry them, then the nation will move, but we are not allowing things to move.”

Okogie said he could see signs of progress as two refineries are now working.



Some months back Bishop Okogie had assured Buhari of continuous prayers and support where necessary, while also calling on the people to be patient. He had said: “I reassure the president- elect of our prayers and spiritual solicitude, we look forward to seeing a president that will be the Nelson Mandela and the Le Kuan Yew of Nigeria.

He had also warned Buhari to be wary of “wolves in sheep clothing” and all the political jobbers who jumped ship to identify with the winning party.

We will force Ekweremadu to do our bidding - Oyegun

As the leadership crisis in the National Assembly nears its end, the leadership of the All Progressives congress, APC, has admitted to losing the battle and possibly the war, as well over 81 Senators passed a vote of confidence on Senate President Bukola Saraki and his Deputy Ike Ekweremadu.
Ekweremadu, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, wrestled the Deputy Senate President position from the APC, on account of the party’s failure to reconcile the conflicting interests between Saraki and senator Lawan who both itched for the position.
On June 9, Saraki outsmarted the APC to become the Senate President, an action which created a vacuum for Ekweremadu to also triumph over Ali Ndume who did not get the numerical strength to pull it off, since most members of the APC absconded to attend the alleged reconciliatory meeting with President Buhari.
See: I had no choice but to ignore Oyegun’s letter – Saraki
This event which the APC initially rejected and thereafter accepted was revealed by the APC Chairman, John Oyegun, as part of their plan to get Ekweremadu out of the equation at the time.
“If he wants to resign, we would be very very glad, but for now, as at today, our mission is to get the Senate settled to get them at work.”
The APC leadership had clearly exhibited discontent with the emergence of Ekweremadu and the current situation would have been managed.
Chief Solomon Edojah, Chieftain of the APC has however confirmed that Ekweremadu must be fused into the plans and manifesto of the APC Government, since he already took a position originally designed for an APC member.
See: We have disappointed Nigerians but don’t blame me – Oyegun
  
Against this backdrop, Oyegun also revealed that Ekweremadu has remained a stumbling block the APC cannot remove considering the Constitutional requirement of getting two-third majority which the APC currently does not have.
He sated this during an interactive session with journalists in Abuja stressing that the APC has lost hope of removing Ekweremadu as the Deputy Senate President and added, the party was overwhelmed by the actions of its members in the National Assembly.
He dispelled the insinuation that Ekweremadu was only occupying his position on temporary basis.
“Do you know the rules of the House? You can only remove them with a two-third majority so what makes it temporary.
“Simple, in the case of the House that we have just dealt with it, we got to the bridge but have not crossed it, they had not named any principal officers, so obviously it was a lot easier to handle.
“The Senate has named its Principal Officers and by their rules they can only be removed either when they voluntarily resign or when you command a two-third majority to vote them out.”
Oyegun also assured that reconciliatory moves are ongoing to bring lasting peace in the National Assembly despite the petition for forgery currently distracting the Senate.
He also lamented the scenario that took place in the House of Representatives which has creating a razor-sharp divide between members of the APC which needs Gods intervention.
See: Why we fought Oyegun, Tinubu over Gbajabiamila – APC lawmakers
“So the approaches obviously will be totally different in the sense that, in the senate also I hear there is a court process underway, that makes a lot of issues sub judicial so it changes the picture doesn’t it?
“Is not good enough for us with what happened in the House but we are also watching that and we are going to engage on the senate situation and by God’s grace it will also be resolved

INVESTIGATION: Nigeria earned $11.8bn from LNG; not $5.6bn claimed by PDP, Jonathan govt.

Bassey Udo

 

Nigeria earned at least $11.8 billion as dividends from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Company, and not $5.6 billion as claimed by former Nigerian governments led by the People’s Democratic Party, PREMIUM TIMES can confirm today.
The figure covers remittances due to have been paid to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, which holds 49 per cent shareholding in the NLNG, on behalf of Nigeria.
The remaining equities are held by Dutch firm, Shell, and its Italian counterpart, Eni/Agip.
After weeks of being rebuffed by different government agencies and the NLNG, over requests for the details of the remittances to Nigeria, PREMIUM TIMES arrived at the figure based on an analysis of payments to Agip, exclusively sourced by the paper.
The investigations showed that the Federal Government, through the NNPC, earned $11.8 billion (about N2.5 trillion) as dividends from NLNG between 2004 and 2014.
Pioneer Status
The NLNG operated for at least 10 years under a controversial tax freedom holiday, called the pioneer status, which was granted by the Nigerian government. The incentive is usually given pioneer investors in new sectors of the economy to encourage more investments. In the case of NLNG, it was to trigger investment in gas.
Even with the tax relief, the government and other shareholders drew dividends from NLNG during the period, but the Nigerian authorities refused to provide details of how much was paid from 2004, under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
Controversy over the money started in June when the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, NEITI, announced that it had uncovered that the NNPC failed to remit $11.6 billion paid by the NLNG.
NEITI urged President Muhammadu Buhari to recover the money.
In response, the NNPC spokesperson, Ohi Alegbe, said the matter had already been referred to the Inter-Ministerial Task Team (IMTT) for reconcilia­tion and resolution.
“At the last meeting of IMTT, it was resolved that the Minister of Petroleum, Chairman of NEITI, Execu­tive Secretary of NEITI and the Group Managing Direc­tor of NNPC should meet on the issue of NLNG dividends and report back to IMTT.
“Unfortunately, that meet­ing has not held. However, another meeting of IMTT is coming up next week and the issue will be taken up from there. NEITI, as a member of IMTT, is aware of the ongo­ing efforts to reconcile and resolve the issue of NLNG dividend remittance,” Mr. Alegbe said in a statement June 10.
He did not confirm or deny the amount in question.
By July, nearly a month later, the new federal government said it was disbursing $2.1 billion out of the NLNG funds to cash-strapped state governments to enable them clear backlogs of salaries owed workers.
The distribution was the first time in Nigeria’s history. It is the first time that funds from NLNG would be shared between the federal and state governments.
The ruling All Progressives Congress accused the previous PDP government of diverting past remittances, an allegation denied by the PDP.
APC spokesperson, Lai Mohammed, said over $4 billion of the NLNG money was outstanding.
In its response on July 12, the PDP said the party’s previous administrations –from Obasanjo to Goodluck Jonathan— deserved praise than rebuke for saving the LNG funds for the new government.
The party’s spokesperson, Olisa Metuh, said since NLNG had been on a “10-year tax haven” (he probably meant tax holiday) until 2014, “successive governments, right from President Olusegun Obasanjo never shared nor tampered with the cumulative dividends over the years”.
He said as of May 29, when Mr. Jonathan left office, the NLNG dividend stood at a cumulative $5.6billion and “not a single cent was ever taken from the funds”.
Denials
Repeated attempts by PREMIUM TIMES to confirm that figure were rebuffed by all the relevant government agencies.
The Corporate Communications manager of NLNG, Tony Okonedo, said releasing the details to PREMIUM TIMES would amount to a breach of confidentiality.
“Any details on the dividends we (NLNG) paid to government, the best place to go is NNPC that received it. For us, we are very clear on what we paid,” he said.
The NNPC told PREMIUM TIMES that the corporation did not have any information on dividend payments by NLNG.
“Your best bet for such information would be NLNG, which made the payment,” Mr. Alegbe said.
Neither the NLNG nor the NNPC was forthcoming with information on their annual report and financial statements.
The ministry of finance and office of the accountant general also refused to provide details.
Eni to the rescue
Regardless, PREMIUM TIMES sourced Eni’s financial filings, and confirmed that the company received billions of dollars as its due of dividend since 2004.
Eni owns 10.4 percent of NLNG, while Nigeria holds 49 percent stake.
A review of Eni’s consolidated financial statements showed that the company received €2.319 billion ($2.5 billion) as total dividends billion between 2004 and 2014.
Eni received €72 million in 2004; €33 million in 2005, €56 million in 2006; and €131 million in 2007.
The company also earned €453 million in 2008; €101 million in 2009; €188 million in 2010; €483 million in 2011; €331 million for 2012; €224 million in 2013, and €247 million in 2014.
At 49 per cent, Nigeria’s dividend climbed to $11.8 billion. That is about N2.5 trillion.
The figure tallies with the $11.6 billion reported in the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) 2009-2012 Audit Report. The little difference might be as a result of fluctuating exchange rate.
Still, there is a discrepancy as previous reports show that the NLNG had announced in 2014 that it paid a total $13 billion as dividend to the government.
The firm’s managing director, Babs Omotowa, stated this when the company celebrated its 3,000th LNG export cargo in Abuja, in March.
He said Nigeria now owned $14 billion of assets on Bonny Island; $13 billion in dividends, another $11 billion earned in feed gas sales revenue, over $10 billion expenditure in local economy on goods, services and salaries of thousands of staff employed.

Buhari Orders Speedy action On Re-establishment Nigeria Airways

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday ordered the Ministry of Aviation to immediately come up with modalities on the establishment of a new national airline.
Nigeria has been operating a public-private partnership (PPP) national airline since the defunct Nigerian Airways folded.
Briefing State House correspondents at the presidential villa, Permanent Secretary, Aviation Ministry, Binta Bello, said the President was worried about Nigeria not having a national air carrier.
She also said the President was briefed on the challenges domestic airlines were facing despite federal government’s N300 billion intervention fund designed to boost their operations.
According to her, the airlines were hugely indebted to regulatory agencies under the Aviation Ministry, including other factors that have left some of the airlines still struggling to maintain optimum operational capabilities.
Bello added that the four state-of-the-art terminals being constructed with Chinese Bank loan will be ready by first quarter of 2016.

Buhari’s US Visit: A Master Stroke In Image Laundering, By Charles Anyiam

I believe that with the beating that the Nigerian image has taken over the years, the presidency must capitalise on the credits generated by Buhari’s US visit. I suggest that a marshall plan be drawn up to engage world opinion on behalf of Nigeria. The momentum generated from this trip has to be seized to project the new face of the country. The goodwill of the enormously powerful Nigerian Diaspora should come handy in this regard.

For the first time in a long time, I was proud to be a Nigerian living and practicing journalism in America. And as I flew into the triple-digit heat of Washington DC from the excellent Los Angeles’ weather, I was unsure what to expect from the Nigerian government delegation led by the new helmsman in Abuja, Muhammadu Buhari that was in town for crucial meetings with the Barack Obama administration, given the theatre of shame and serial disappointments to which we had been subjected by Nigerian government officials whenever they show up in America. On this occasion, I was in DC as a guest of the US Chamber of Commerce and the Corporate Council For Africa, and by extension the Nigerian mission in the United States.
In 1999, I had a similar privilege to have been ’embedded’ in the high-powered government delegation under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration to the Bill Clinton White House for bilateral talks shortly after Obasanjo’s return to power as president. For political expediency, the delegation had included faces from the past – T. Y Danjuma, David Jemibewon, Bola Ige, Chuba Okadigbo, Sule Lamido, Patrick Dele Cole, and such then new ones as Dapo Sarumi and Dubem Onyia, Andy Uba among many others – who were to form the bulwark of the first Obasanjo administration.
In comparison, the Buhari delegation to the US on the week of July 20th was lean. And without the usual fanfare and with all the wives and mistresses in tow. Not discounting the annoying presence of all the political jobbers, hustlers and court jesters who always invade the destination. In contrast, this delegation was made up of top civil servants and a handful of serving state governors. Only Governor Oshiomhole showed up with his trophy wife who by the way conducted herself with decorum. There was on hand in the delegation former Governor Rotimi Amaechi, the stormy petrel of Niger Delta politics whose role leading up to the national elections is said to have been catalytic to the success of President Buhari at the polls. The team I saw in DC was well coordinated, disciplined and very business-like. The President himself set the tone with his dress code – a simple kaftan and cap to match. Buhari was poised, focused, dignified and stayed on message all of the time. I watched with delight the air of aristocracy and charisma he unassumingly projected in all of the meetings I was privileged to attend. His responses to questions and remarks at the different fora were deliberate, intelligent and not rushed.
His speeches were well delivered with poise and self-assured confidence, and at times laced with appropriate humour. Overall, he came across as a man who is comfortable in his own skin and new role. And there was a Mandela-like aura about him and for several moments I was reminded of Madiba as I watched Buhari in DC – a visionary on a mission. In the presence of President Obama, Buhari looked every bit presidential and I dare say that only very few African presidents could match the comportment and honour that he brought with him to the White House, and invariably to all the other meetings he had with high US government officials, the media, and US business leaders.
That is why I am miffed by some of the puerile commentaries in local Nigerian press about the Buhari visit to the United States. What is at times lost on most Nigerians at home is the abyss to which Nigeria’s image abroad as a nation had sunk, and the incalculable damage that has been done to the corporate profile of the nation. Some are wont to dismiss it as mere Western propaganda and a vestige of Afro-pessimism. Right and wrong. Right in the sense that Nigerians as a people are intimidating by their very nature, flamboyant, aggressive and loud for no fault of theirs. Wrong because Nigerians and Nigeria have not managed their image well. They have over time allowed others to define them in the marketplace of ideas. Hence, their best traits as a people have been subverted by the tyranny of the minority of few bad apples in the bunch. And in today’s world, perception is everything!
Many years of totalitarian regimes have equally not helped the Nigerian image. Eventually, totalitarianism gave birth to unmitigated corruption, highhandedness in high and low places leading to the attendant impoverishment of the citizenry. That is the face of Nigeria in today’s marketplace – and from the White House to Whitehall and from Wall Street to Main Street around the world.
Given the foregoing, my verdict is that Buhari’s US visit was a master stroke in image-making especially at a time when Nigeria is still reeling from the after shock of a long list of diplomatic snafus by the immediate past administration of Goodluck Jonathan. Without fixing the image problem of Nigeria as a serious player on the world stage, the successful execution of the war on terrorism (Boko Haram), providing adequate power supply and solutions to the overarching issue of mass unemployment will remain unattainable. In my considered opinion, this trip was well worth every kobo of it!
I believe that with the beating that the Nigerian image has taken over the years, the presidency must capitalise on the credits generated by Buhari’s US visit. I suggest that a marshall plan be drawn up to engage world opinion on behalf of Nigeria. The momentum generated from this trip has to be seized to project the new face of the country. The goodwill of the enormously powerful Nigerian Diaspora should come handy in this regard. That is how Israel has done it by tapping into the vast resources of the Diaspora Jewry. India is on that roll too. Former President Obasanjo recognised that dynamic and it led to the formation of the quasi-government Nigerians In The Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) under the superintendence of Ambassadors Dele Cole and Joe Keshi who was the then Nigerian Consul General in Atlanta. I also had a front-row seat to the birthing of that entity. As it is presently constituted however, NIDO will need some re-engineering as I am of the subjective opinion that the Jonathan administration tampered with NIDO to no good effect.
At the Town Hall meeting with the Diaspora Nigerians during this visit, I could sense the groundswell of support for Buhari from an audience that was at first apathetic, some of who had been apologists of the Jonathan administration with its well documented strategy of bribing every pressure group around the world, of which NIDO and the various Nigerian associations in the US can be categorised. I counted at least three or four times when they rose to their feet to cheer Buhari. Most of the guests later confessed their confidence in and support for the new president. Some of them told me that their unfavorable opinion of the man had dramatically changed after listening to him, and that their hope for the future of the country had been restored. There was gone the hollow and hopeless look on the faces of Nigerians in America after an event such as was held July 21 at the Nigerian embassy premises in Washington DC.
However, as much as the embassy staff struggled to put on a hitch-free event perhaps because the “fear” of Buhari which I am told is the beginning of wisdom for Nigerians was evident, the Town Hall meeting was yet marred by poor logistical planning. Seating arrangement was atrocious with the hall overflowing beyond legal capacity. Many guests with valid invitation from the embassy were subsequently turned away at the gates. Some of them, I was told had flown into DC from other states but were barred for lack of space.
And if it is not already in the new administration’s plan, I recommend that all of Nigeria’s mission abroad must be restructured in line with the Buhari posture which I saw in DC. It cannot be business as usual at our embassies if Nigeria has to win the war on the burnishing of her badly battered image which I believe is central to the revival of the economy. At the US Chamber of Commerce dinner, President Buhari asked for American investors to take interest in the agriculture and solid mineral mining sectors of Nigeria’s economy. And I can assure you that these investors will not lift a finger for Nigeria until she takes concrete steps to re-do her image as a corrupt, inept, violence-prone and unstable investment and tourism destination. Truth be told, Nigerians, especially the Diaspora, must be empowered to tell our own story, or others will continue to define who we are.
Perception. That should be the name of the game as Nigeria undoubtedly steps into a new era under Muhammadu Buhari.
Charles Anyiam is Editor-In-Chief of The African Times-USA.

EXCLUSIVE: NNPC Gets New GEDs, Restructured

 

 By: THEWILL_     

SAN FRANCISCO, August 05, (THEWILL) – The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been restructured.
THEWILL can report that as part of the restructuring of the corporation, the number of directorates have been reduced from eight to four with four new Group Executive Directors appointed to head them.
The new Directorates and their Group Executive Directors, according to THEWILL checks are Refining and Engineering with Dr. M.K Baru as Group Executive Director; Exploration and Production, Denis Nnamdi; Commercial and Investment, Bankole Komolafe and Finance which now has Isiaka AbdulRazak as Group Executive Director.
All the appointees were previously Group General Managers

Alleged forgery: Court can’t stop probe of Saraki, Ekweremadu –IGP

IGP Solomon Arase

  

…says duo have no immunity against investigation
Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mr. Solomon Arase, yesterday dismissed as ridiculous, laughable and mere waste of time of the court, a suit filed by Senator Gilbert Nnaji, seeking to stop the police from probing the purported forgery of the 2015 Senate Standing Order which produced Senators Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu as leaders of the Senate in the 8th National Assembly.
Arase, while responding to the suit, yesterday, through a counter-affidavit, said no court of law in Nigeria has powers to stop the police from performing its statutory functions of investigating crimes, including the instant purported forgery of the Senate Standing Rules.
The IGP had wondered whether anybody in the country, including the 74 political office holders covered by provision of section 308 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), is immune from investigation.
He specifically argued that the principal officers of the Senate, including Senators Saraki and Ekweremadu, among others, which the suit sought to protect have no constitutional or statutory immunity from investigation.
He consequently urged an Abuja Federal High Court to throw out the suit for want of jurisdiction, adding that investigating the allegation of forgery in the Senate could only strengthen the integrity of the upper legislative house and its leadership.
Confirming that the Senate Standing Order 2015 (as amended) was forged, the police stated in its counter affidavit thus: “The present Senate has not enacted any standing orders yet.
“As at the time of inauguration of this present Senate, no standing orders had been made.
“Till date, no such standing orders have so far been made.
“The practice is that at inauguration, the incoming Senate uses the standing orders of the preceding Senate. The immediate past Senate did not amend the 2011 standing orders and the 2011 standing orders have not yet been amended.”
The document, which was deposed to by Joshua Yohanna, of the Legal/ Prosecution department, Force CIID, further averred as follows:
“I know that the plaintiff cannot prove that the so called 2015 standing orders were passed by the preceding Senate. “That the so called 2015 standing orders were never made nor passed by the immediate past Senate.
The plaintiff knows that the present Senate President was not in a position to have passed the 2015 Senate Standing orders before its inauguration.
“The plaintiff knows that it is only after inauguration that the current Senate could pass the Senate standing orders.
“That what he is bandying about is not an authorised Senate standing order.”
Accordingly, the police urged the court presided by Justice Gabriel Kolawole to throw out the suit as it simply constituted a nuisance.
The IGP, in his memorandum of conditional appearance filed by Elder David Abuo attacked the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit as well as the locus standi of the plaintiff to file the action.
Relying on the case of Hassan V EFCC (2014) 1 NWLR (pt. 1389), the lawyer submitted “no court has the power to stop the investigation powers of the Police or EFCC or any agency established, under our laws to investigate crimes whether there is reasonable suspicion of commission of crime or ample evidence of commission of an offence by a suspect.”
Besides, the police argued that the matter at hand raise issues of criminality and the police owe Nigerians the duty to unearth the truth behind the allegations of forgery
In addition, Abuo contended that the plaintiff had not shown what he had suffered or lost in this action as he is neither the Senate President nor Deputy Senate President.
He said apart from that, he is not an officer of the Senate. It further argued that every Nigerian citizen could be investigated for crime as there is no immunity against investigation in all civilized countries, Nigeria inclusive.
Earlier, counsel to the plaintiff, Peter Nwakolo, told the court that he needed time to respond to the notice of preliminary objections filed by the Arase as well as the application for joinder.
Secretary of the “Unity Forum” who signed the petition to the police, Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi had earlier applied to be joined in the suit as an interested party.
His motion dated August 3, 2015 was filed by his counsel, Mamman Osuman, SAN, pursuant to orders 9 rule 15 (1); order 26 rule 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Federal High Court, Civil Procedure, Rules 2009.
In the application, Hunkuyi submitted that as a member of the current 8th Senate and the initiator of the petition, he has sufficient interest in the suit to entitle him to be joined as a defendant.
Osuman submitted: “Where an applicant seeking to be joined as a party in a proceedings establishes that he/it has an interest in the subject matter of an action and/or in the eventual result or outcome of such an action, the application for joinder ought to be granted as per the Supreme Court decision in Ige vs Farinde (1994) 7 1NWLR (pt. 354) 42 at page 65.”
In his ruling, Justice Kolawole who said he could not make an order for status quo to be maintained, because it could be misinterpreted adjourned proceedings to September 8, 2015 when it would be heard by another judge of the court, Justice Adeniyi Ademola