NIGERIA’S TRANSITION CAUSES CRACK IN OPEC

A leadership vacuum has emerged at the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) following the dissolution of Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) last week, which led to the exit of former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, the OPEC’s first female president.
The oil cartel may meet for its extraordinary meeting in Vienna, Austria on Friday without a substantive president, as Alison-Madueke will no longer be eligible to preside over the meeting. A source told New Telegraph that OPEC had earlier sent a correspondence to Nigeria requesting notification of a replacement for Alison- Madueke, who ceased to be Nigeria’s oil minister from last Thursday, when former President Goodluck Jonathan dissolved his cabinet. OPEC had, last November, elected Alison-Madueke as its first female president at the oil body’s 166th ordinary meeting in Vienna.
She was also appointed President of the Gas Exporting Countries’ Forum last December. “When the cartel meets on June 5, 2015, for its 167th (Ordinary) Meeting in Vienna, Austria, Alison-Madueke would have ended her reign as the Minister of Petroleum Resources. Her chance of retaining the ministerial seat under the government of General Muhammadu Buhari is zero and what this means is that whoever becomes the minister then would replace her in OPEC. “The tradition is that the position is ceded to Nigeria and whoever is representing the country at the organisation automatically occupies the office. The tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan expired on May 29, one week before the 167th ordinary meeting of OPEC.

CBN Fires Indicted Staff Of N8 Billion Fraud Charge By EFCC

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Mondy acted swiftly to dismissed six of its staff that were involved in the N8 billion currency fraud in some of its branches..
“The Central Bank of Nigeria will like to inform the general public of the chronology of events that led the Management of the CBN to hand over some unscrupulous staff to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for prosecution,” a statement by the CBN Director, Corporate Communications Department, Ibrahim Mu’azu said.
“During a routine internal audit of the Bank’s Cash Destruction activities in September 2014, the CBN Briquetting Panel, comprising senior bank staff from different branches, noticed some anomalies at the Ibadan Branch, and immediately reported this to the bank’s management.
“On further investigation ordered by the Governor, it was discovered that a systematic scheme, which has been on for several years, was being run in which mutilated higher denomination notes, originally meant for destruction, were swapped with lower denomination currencies.

President Muhammadu Buhari Appoints 3 Kitchen Cabinet Members

The Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari Monday appoints Mr Femi Adesina  of the Sun Newspaper and Mallam Garba Shehu as his media aides respectively.
The appoinment read that Mr. Femi Adesina will serve as Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) while Garba Shehu will be the new Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity).
He has in the same vain aproved the appointment of Malam. Lawal Abdullahi Kazaure as the State House  Chief of Protocol (SCOP).
Ashiwaju.org reports that Mr Femi Adesina was recently reappointed as the President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and doubled as the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Sun newspapers, while Mallam Shehu Garba served as the Director, Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Council and a one time President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors.

Over 50 Persons Burnt In Onitsha Fuel Tanker Fire Accident

Tragedy struck Onitsha yesterday as no fewer than 50 persons were  feared burnt when a 40-foot trailer laden with fuel had a break failure and rammed into fleet of vehicles at Asaba park, Upper Iweka in Onitsha, Anambra state.

The trailer driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle due to break failure as it was descending the Enugu/Onitsha Expressway on heading towards  Upper Iweka.

Aside the dead,  30 vehicles were burnt while five motorcycles, 10 make-shift structures and goods worth millions of naira also burnt as the trailer caught fire.          

AfDB: OKONJO-IWEALA BEHIND MY SUCCESS, SAYS ADESINA

Dr Akinwumi Adesina, president-elect, Africa Development Bank (AfDB) has credited his success at the poll to the tireless work of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s Finance Minister.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Adesina thanked outgoing president, Goodluck Jonathan and the newly sworn in president, Muhammadu Buhari but showered special encomium on Okonjo-Iweala.
“I would like to specially thank Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for her vital role and tremendous effort in delivering this successful outcome. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, as Nigeria’s Finance Minister, worked passionately for our campaign, and our success would have been impossible without her tireless work shepherding support among many of the esteemed Finance Ministers and Governors at the AfDB.
He then thanked all those involved in the process for electing him. “I am deeply humbled and honoured to have been entrusted with the great responsibility of leading the African Development Bank (AfDB) at a time that presents such great opportunities and also profound challenges for our continent.
“The AfDB campaign and election has been an incredible experience, and I am grateful to all those who supported me along the way and to each and every person with whom I’ve met and exchanged ideas and hopes for inclusive economic growth on our continent throughout this process.
“I am thankful to have been given the chance to travel to so many parts of the continent – small states, fragile states, and large states across Africa – to feel the pulse of African leaders and peoples. I met with young people and women – Africa’s greatest assets, with small- and medium-sized enterprises, and with Africa’s business leaders. From rural areas to burgeoning cities, I saw vast opportunities for a greater and more inclusive Africa. I am hopeful and excited about the prospect of building on the great work of President Donald Kaberuka at the AfDB,” he said.

2015 ELECTION : JONATHAN REFUSED TO LISTEN TO US – ASARI DOKUBO

Ex-militant leader, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, has described the recent 2015 general elections as “the most rigged election Nigeria has ever experienced, as it was not free and fair”.
Alhaji Dokubo made his stand known Sunday, during a chat with the media in Owerri, also explained that he was in Imo to be part of the Biafra Day celebration with his Biafran brothers and sisters.
“The figures were self evident. The figures clearly showed the manipulations. The elections were not free and fair. Also, the stage was set to manipulate the elections”, Dokubo said.
He recalled that Boko Haram came into being after the leaders from the Northern section of the country, mostly the Northern Muslims, made the statement that they would make the polity unstable, ungovernable and crisis laden for Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, who was duly elected by the people of Nigeria.
He recalled that within the four years that Dr. Jonathan was the democratically elected President, they made it unbearable for him.
He equally recalled that the National Assembly rejected e-voting and when the card readers came, some of us shouted at the roof tops, saying that the gadget were unknown to the Constitution and Electoral Laws of Nigeria.

DISTURB FORMER PETROLEUM MINISTER, DIEZANI MADUEKE SEARCH FOR REPRIEVE AND BUZZ EFCC BOSS PHONE LINES

Immediate past petroleum minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke during whose tenure several allegations of corrupt practices in the industry have been flying around is literally running from pillar to post, apparently in search of reprieve.
The highly influential minister in former president Goodluck Jonathan’s government is said to have stepped up efforts, playing out to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), buzzing the phones line of the agency’s Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde.
Saturday Sun learnt that the calls have neither been taken nor acknowledged.
Exasperated, the Bayelsa born former senior executive of Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited reported Lamorde to the former National Security Adviser (NSA), General Aliyu Gusau (retd), complaining that the EFCC helmsman had been ignoring her calls.
It was further gathered that Gusau’s intervention earned little relief for her as Lamorde explained to the ex-NSA that Diezani had for over two and half years snubbed him.
The anti-corruption czar, according to Sunday Sun’s source told the General he would not understand her spirited efforts to reach out to him now that she was no longer in power, adding for good effect that she poured more cold water on him with a usual shrill banter. “my brother, my brother” anytime they meet at public events.

World No 1 Search Engine GOOGLE Commits 20 million Dollars To Accommodate People With Disability To Access Internet

The technology that enables people with disabilities to lead independent and fulfilling lives is rapidly improving, but not quite fast enough, according to Google.

That’s why the global tech giant is investing $20 million in grants for nonprofits that are working on groundbreaking solutions.

The company on Tuesday introduced the Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities, a competition that invites innovators to pitch their ideas on how to make the world more accessible for people with disabilities. That could involve a system that helps people with mobility issues get from place-to-place more seamlessly, or developing an app that lists the closest accessible restrooms, according to the site.

SPEAKER: TINUBU,TAMBUWAL IN FIERCE BATTLE

The race for the seat of speaker of the House of Representatives may have turned into a straight battle between the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the immediate past Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal.
The twist which became very apparent following the recent retreat for the members of the House which
failed to mend the crack between the leadership of the party and some interest groups backing some candidates, succeeded in widening the gulf of entrenched interests and further narrowed the race.
Although the leadership of the party in a preemptive move had abrogated the zoning principle it had been
running with to avert a full-blown crisis, the new development is posing serious threat to the existing harmony
in the party and its soul.
Sunday Sun learnt that the leadership of the party had sought to use the opportunity offered by the retreat
to change the House rules especially as it relates to ranking and cognate experience, which would have
paved the way for the emergence of the outgoing Minority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, who is from the South-west and the candidate of Tinubu to coast to the Speaker’s seat without encumbrances. The attempt, it was
learnt, met with stiff resistance from supporters of Hon Yakubu Dogara, the chairman of the House Services

GOD CHOSE BUHARI TO FULFILL HIS PLANS FOR NIGERIA – OSINBAJO

Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo has said that God purposely chose President Muhammadu Buhari in order to fulfill his divine plans for Nigeria.
Speaking at the national thanksgiving ceremony in celebration of his inauguration in Abuja on Saturday, Osinbajo said God’s time of setting things right has come for the country.
“After three failed attempts, God made Muhhamadu Buhari win his fourth attempt at becoming Nigeria’s president because it is the time for God to heal this nation”
He furthers, “God’s plan is to make Nigeria a nation that will be admired and respected among the nations of the earth; and this he intend to do by establishing truth and integrity, ensuring that corruption is eradicated, and resources meant for all are not cornered by few but used according to law, justice and equity to the benefit of all.