TOMPOLO DENIES RECEIVING N1.5BN MONTHLY

High Chief Government Ekpomupolo, also known as ‘Tompolo’ has denied allegations made against him by the pioneer chairman of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Alhaji Tijani Ramalan, that he was paid N1.5billion monthly for the protection of the nation’s maritime domain.
Speaking through his spokesperson, Comrade Paul Bebenimibo,Tompolo said Ramalan is merely seeking desperate attention in the hope of getting a job.
The statement reads in part: “My attention has been drawn to a publication in the Leadership newspaper of Wednesday June 3, 2015. In the said publication, one
Ahmed Tijani Ramalan made very wild, unsubstantiated allegations against my person that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety
Agency (NIMASA) pays me the sum of N1.5 billion monthly for the protection of the nation’s maritime domain.

NVESTIGATION: How Nigerian, AU officials maltreated, cheated Ebola volunteers in Liberia, Sierra Leone

Nigerians who volunteered to help fight the deadly Ebola disease in Sierra Leone and Liberia, returned home a fortnight ago, after spending about six months on the frontline against a virus that ravaged several countries last year, killing over 20,000.
The volunteers returned alive and well, although they are yet to complete an expected 21-day quarantine period.
But they have sad tales of deprivation and maltreatment, and accuse officials of the Nigerian government and the African Union of stealing from them while they risked their lives.
On Wednesday, some of the volunteers were locked in a hotel in Abuja where they had camped since returning to Nigeria, after days of bickering with health ministry officials.
PREMIUM TIMES’ investigation, interviews with officials of the Nigerian government and the AU, and several volunteers since their arrival in Abuja, show a programme that was beset by crisis, poor management and fraud, worse than the hotel scandal.

CHOIRMASTER RAPES FEMALE CHORISTER IN LAGOS

 A bricklayer and choirmaster, Adewale Babalola, who allegedly had unlawful carnal knowledge of a 16-year-old chorister in his church, was on Thursday brought before a Yaba Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.
The accused, 36, who lives at No. 11, Maxwell Ijeh St., Aguda in Surulere area of Lagos, is facing a charge of unlawful sexual intercourse.
According to the prosecutor, ASP Godwin Anyanwu, the accused committed the offence on Dec. 2, 2014 at his apartment.
He said the accused took undue advantage of his relationship with the teenager as her choirmaster at Christ Our Light Glory Church, Sanya in Surulere, to commit the crime.
“The girl told her father, who is also an evangelist in the church that the accused lured her into his room and forcefully had a carnal knowledge of her.
“The father reported the matter to the General Overseer of the church, but no action was taken which compelled the victim’s father to report the matter at the police station,” Anyanwu said.
The offence, Anyanwu noted, violated Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
Babalola, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

REPS REJECT PANEL’S REPORT ON ALLISON-MADUEKE, OTHERS

THE House of Representatives yesterday rejected a report submitted to it by an ad hoc panel that investigated the alleged shady deals involving the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke and some oil companies.
The ad hoc committee had in its report made three recommendations that appeared to exonerate the former minister and the indicted firms.
The Ajibola Muraina-led committee was tasked by the Chamber to among others investigate and unravel the alleged shady deals involving Alison Madueke, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Ltd, Septa Energy Ltd and some other entities with respect to the Farm-out or Allocation of Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) 4, 26, 30, 34, 38, 41 and 42 respectively.

BUHARI CAPABLE OF LEADING NIGERIA, SAYS EDWIN CLARK

A former Federal Commissioner of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, has once again canvassed support for President Muhamadu Buhari.
He described the President as being capable of leading the country; therefore, he should be supported by all Nigerians.
Clark, who was one of the staunch supporters of former President Goodluck Jonathan, spoke in Abuja on Wednesday at his residence when he received a group, known as Probity Ambassadors Organisation of Nigeria.
He said though he was among those who campaigned against the emergence of the President during the election, Clark said since Nigerians voted for him (Buhari), the President must be supported in order to enable him succeed in the task ahead.
The foremost Ijaw leader added that the way former President Jonathan conceded defeat had also made the task of running the country easier for the President.
Clark said, “I have congratulated President Buhari and today, he is our President. He’s not the President of a section of the country.
“Buhari is fit for the job and he’s capable of leading us. We will support him.
“Campaigns are over and a winner has emerged. We must come together after the election and give our support to the President.

EL-RUFAI SACKS LGAS CHAIRMEN, POLITICAL APPOINTEES, OTHERS

Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai has sacked all the 23 local government chairmen, chairmen of boards, parastatals as well as all political appointees, including chief executives that are not civil servants.
This was contained in a statement signed by Secretary to State Government, Balarabe Abbas Lawal made available to newsmen in the state, stressing that the appointees have been relieved of the appointments with immediate effect.
According to the statement, the dissolution also includes the secretaries of the development areas appointed by previous administrations as well as Special Advisers and Assistants.
“Government directs full compliance with this directive. The most senior officials of all parastatals and agencies should take charge until further instructions are issued” the statement added.

NIMASA PAYS TOMPOLO N1.5BN MONTHLY – EX-CHAIRMAN

The pioneer chairman of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Ahmed Tijani Ramalan, has disclosed that the agency pays the sum of N1.5bn monthly to the ex-militant leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), Mr. Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, to protect the nation’s maritime areas.
Dr Ramalan, however, lamented that despite such gesture, the country still loses over 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily from the nation’s shores.
The former NIMASA chairman, who revealed this to LEADERSHIP in an interview in Kaduna, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to cancel the contract given to the ex-militant by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
He said, “Over 400, 000 barrels of crude oil are being stolen daily from our shores under President Jonathan; yet we had a government that has the Navy, the Army and the Air Force, and the government of Jonathan decides to hand over the security of our maritime waters to Tompolo at a very exorbitant amount of money.

N8BN SCAM: CASH ASSISTANT HAS N134M IN ONE ACCOUNT, SAYS EFCC

Hearing in the Central Bank of Nigeria N8bn mutilated currency fraud suit continued at the Federal High Court, Ibadan on Wednesday as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission told the court that one of the accused persons, Mr. Ayodeji Alase, had N134m in one of his bank accounts.
The EFCC told the trial judge, Justice A.O. Faaji, that Alase, a primary six certificate holder, started work at First Bank as a guard before he was promoted to the position of a cash assistant.
The lead prosecution counsel for the EFCC, Mr. Rotimi Jacob (SAN), also told the court that the accused had property worth hundreds of millions of naira.
Alase, according to the anti-graft agency, has a duplex at Oluyole Estate in Ibadan, a shopping complex, a warehouse at Podo, a fenced plot at Dugbe, a block of four flats at Apeye, two plots of land and five-bedroom flat in other parts of the state capital.
He was alleged to have a credit balance of N132m in one of his bank accounts.
The commission also alleged that Alase possessed a block of five-bedroom flat at Apete area of Ibadan and a supermarket at New Garage, Apata area of Ibadan.
Other accused persons, including Olaniran Adeola, Ayodele Adeyemi, Isiaq Akano and others were also said to own property in South Africa, filling stations, cement shops, schools, supermarkets, exotic cars and buildings in several locations in Nigeria.

TANKER ACCIDENT: OSINBAJO VISITS ONITSHA, COMMISERATES WITH VICTIMS

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday commiserated with the people and government of Anambra over the fuel tanker accident, which claimed over 40 lives at Upper Iweka in Onitsha.
Mr. Osinbajo, who visited the scene of the accident and the injured at Toronto Hospital on Wednesday, said President Muhammadu Buhari was very concerned and pained by the incident.
He said the president felt it was not enough to send a condolence message and as such asked him to go and commiserate with the people.
“Every Nigerian citizen matters to the Federal Government no matter his status or where he resides.
“Mr President asked me to come and first commiserate with Gov. Willie Obiano and Anambra people.
“He was very concerned that he felt it was not enough to issue condolence message and so asked me to come and commiserate with the people.
“I have been taken round to see the heroic action of the hospital staff and those involved in emergency.
“Unfortunately, many lost their lives but some have seen today and are responding to treatment,’’ he said.

ZIMBABWE HITS BACK AT NIGERIAN JOURNALISTS, CALLS THEM BOKO HARAM REPORTERS

Zimbabwe has reacted angrily to Nigerian journalists who ambushed President Robert Mugabe during last week’s inauguration of Muhammadu Buhari as Nigeria’s president.

Journalists identified as reporters from Sahara Reporters ambushed Mugabe and his African Union (AU) delegation demanding that he steps down from his position as Zimbabwe’s head of state.

The reporters demanded to know from the 91-year-old leader, who has been in power since independence from Britain in 1980, when he would step down and handover power to a democratically elected successor after more than three decades in power.

However, Harare has hit back, with outspoken Minister of Information, Prof. Jonathan Moyo, likening the journalists in question to “brothers and sisters of Boko Haram”.