OKONJO-IWEALA VOWS NOT TO PAY MARKETERS •Calls N159bn subsidy payment claim fraudulent

The federal government is spoiling for a fresh showdown with oil importers over subsidy payment.
This is coming as there is no end in sight yet for the current face off between the two sides that has grounded the nation for several days now.
Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala yesterday accused them of submitting to government suspicious payment claims to the tune of N159billion in exchange rate differentials.
The payment claims, according to her, reeked of fraud.
She told reporters at a farewell meeting in Abuja that she would not approve payment of the claims unless verified by the relevant authorities.
“Marketers were asking for N159 billion for exchange rate differentials from the outstanding N200 billion. There has been so much fraud and scam so I have refused to sign for that money but have agreed that a committee be set up involving the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to verify marketers’ claims,” she said.
”Marketers just want to make Nigerians suffer,” she added.

I DON’T KNOW WHAT FUEL SUBSIDY MEANS– BUHARI

In a new interview with Daily Trust, President elect, Buhari expressed reservations over claims by the government of subsidizing the petroleum sector. He spoke on how during his time as Military leader, they were able to make fuel available at all times. Below are excerpts of what he said in the interview

One burning issue is fuel subsidy. I believe you are aware of the queues in major cities like Lagos and Abuja. The fuel importers say they are unsure of the direction of the new government in this area. Have you considered maintaining or withdrawing this subsidy or are you questioning whether it didn’t exist at all?

One of the problems I have, other than the military, is the petroleum industry where I served for three and a half years under General Obasanjo. When people start talking about this subsidy I honestly get confused. I will tell you this, and I hope it will answer what you want to know. Back then we had a refinery in Port Harcourt, which was refining 30,000 barrels a day of Nigerian crude. Later, it was upgraded to refine 100,000 barrels a day.

Revealed: The pathetic incident that informed Uduaghan’s Maternal Care Policy

WHEN asked what legacy he was leaving in healthcare, Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan didn’t mince words. “What I’ll like to be remembered for is that, as a result of my programmes and policies, no woman must die during childbirth. This particular feat is what I would like to be remembered for assuming posterity wants to talk about me,” he asserted.

Several years ago, as a young medical doctor struggling to carry out his duty of saving lives, Governor Uduaghan witnessed an unfortunate incident involving a pregnant woman who was turned back from a private hospital because she could not afford to pay for the services.

The heavily unidentified pregnant woman had approached the hospital in question to seek attention for a complaint connected with her pregnancy, but she was sent away when it was discovered that she had no money. The woman went away, but a few days later, was rushed back to the same hospital in more critical state.

A Roadmap for Change: Here comes APC’s blueprint

Though they had their manifesto with which they campaigned, they still needed to get the input of most Nigerians on the core social, economic and political issues bedeviling the country. And to get more insights on how to solve them, they gathered many talents and brainstormed for two days. Below is the fallout of the event organised by the Policy, Research and Strategy Directorate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential Campaign Council in Abuja.
The human assemblage was rich. The topics were many and the discussions were robust. That was the atmosphere that defined the two-day policy dialogue on the implementation of the “Agenda for Change” held between Wednesday and Thursday in the passing week.
Venue was the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, and the organizer was the Policy, Research and Strategy Directorate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential Campaign Council under the directorship of the former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.
Themed “Implementing Change: From Vision to Reality”, the dialogue x-rayed various grounds for rapid economic, social and political development and growth of Nigeria in the incoming administration of General Muhammadu Buhari.

Alleged N5bn bribe: INEC boss says his life is in danger

                                                                 Austin Okojie
Governor Godswill Akpabio is known to be generous. He is said to be very free with money. And, consequently, money never constitutes a stumbling block whenever he sets to achieve something. This has won him accolades with regard to many of his achievements in his state.
But could he have parted with N5billion just to ensure his preferred candidate won the last governorship election in Akwa-Ibom State? Check out this scene in Uyo, the state capital last week:
It was an unusual and tensions-soaked meeting at the Akwa-Ibom State secretariat of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, along Udo Udoma Avenue, Uyo last Thursday and the agenda of the meeting was ‘Threat To Life’.
The Akwa-Ibom State Resident Electoral Commissioner-REC, Barrister Austin Okojie had summoned the staff including security operatives and Youth Corps members attached to the commission to inform them of how he had been rattled by repeated anonymous telephone calls all of which, he said, conveyed death sentences on him by a one of the security staff. The said staff was demanding his share of the Five Billion Naira (N5BN) the REC  allegedly received from Governor Godswill Akpabio on behalf of the staff of the commission. The INEC boss was being told to be fair to others and let them have a piece of the cake or face horrendous consequences.
As human, Okojie, the state INEC boss, said he was engulfed with fear such that he lost his composure even though he did not know the character behind the treacherous intermittent midnight calls and even when he was speechless each time the calls came; the person aggravated his fears by sending text messages.

Aso Rock: Last days of Jonathan

In the run up to the presidential election on  March 28, 2015, figures  obtained  from the protocol  department of the Presidential Villa indicated that more than two thousand visitors visited  President Goodluck Jonathan on the average in a week. This figures do  not include visitors that met with the president in his official residence  in the Villa. Neither do they  include those he met outside the official residence but within the precincts of the Presidential Villa. It was perhaps the number and quality of people who thronged to the Villa on  daily basis and the assurances they gave the president during the run up to the presidential election  that informed the confidence he  displayed as the election  drew nearer that he was going to win.
But on the Sunday after the presidential election when collation of votes had begun and it appeared that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was not doing well and was, in fact, trailing behind the All Progressives  Congress at the polls, less than 30  persons, apart from some security personnel and aides of the president, attended the Aso Rock Chapel which had hitherto been a beehive of activities every Sunday.

Some PDP leaders serially betrayed Jonathan — Fani-Kayode

                                 
The Director of Media and Publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, in this interview, dismisses the claim that hate campaign was responsible for the loss of President Goodluck Jonathan in the March 28 election, blaming the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) for it.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee (NWC) blamed the loss of the party at the March 28 presidential election on hate speeches from some party officials, particularly some members of its Presidential Campaign Organisation. How do you react?
I am sorry that you asked me this question because this is an assertion that I have refused to comment on since the allegation was made. Ever since the conclusion of the presidential election, I have been asked the question you just asked me more than any other and I believe that, for posterity’s sake, it is time to set the record straight.

Senate Presidency: APC senators-elect divided

Senators-elect of the All Progressives Congress, APC, were divided in their choice of candidates for the offices of the senate president and deputy senate president yesterday, an ill development that led to the abandonment of a two-day retreat organised for them by the national leadership of the party in Abuja.
Hardly had the opening ceremony ended when the hall used for the retreat became almost empty with a group of the senators-elect known as Senate Unity Forum leaving the hall in their numbers.
and Danjuma Goje, Bukola Saraki,Abdullahi Adamu and George Akume
Members of the forum included but were not limited to Chief Banabas Gemade, Ahmed Lawan, George Akume among others.
The outcome of their departure from the hall was a brief press conference where they endorsed Lawan and Akume as their choices for senate president and deputy senate president respectively.
Reading the endorsement, Gemade who led the group, said it was the collective resolve of the members of the group.

I am ready to die than be extradicted to the US — Kashamu

 Kashamu
Senator-elect, Ogun-East, Prince Buruji Kashamu,  was said to have threatened to kill himself  if  officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA)  forced their way into his house, yesterday, claiming there was a court injunction against the NDLEA’s action. Some of his friends who claimed to have  contacted him on phone between 7 and 9 am told  Sunday Vanguard that Kashamu said he would remain indoors till Monday.
But the narcotic agency explained that the operatives mandate was to put the politician, who is also the Chairman, Organisation and Mobilisation Committee of the PDP in the South-West, under  house arrest pending when he  would appear in court on Monday.  The NDLEA  spokesman, Mitchel Ofoyeju , in a six paragraph statement, yesterday, said: “A special team of NDLEA has confined Ogun State senator-elect, Buruji Kashamu, to his Lagos residence pending his appearance in court on Monday, May 25, 2015 to perfect his extradition to the United States.
“The  agency has commenced extradition procedures against Senator-elect  Buruji Kashamu in line with the laws of country. He has been in contact with his attorneys and will appear in court on Monday.

Kashamu’s Attempted Arrest: NGO Calls For Due Process

A non-governmental organisation, One Child One Teacher Africa (OCOTA), has expressed concern about Saturday’s attempted arrest of Senator-elect Buruji Kashamu by operatives of the National Drug and Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Lagos.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by its Media Consultant, Mr Richards Jude, the organisation said that it detested the manner in which the agency approached the attempted arrest.
It called for due process and rule of law in the matter by the NDLEA, insisting that fundamental rights of the senator-elect must be respected.
“The rights of every Nigerian regardless of his or her status must be not be violated in the guise of enforcing provisions of the law,’’ the statement said.
NDLEA operatives visited the residence of the senator-elect Saturday to arrest him following a request for his extradition by U.S. authorities.