GOD MADE ME SPEAKER – DOGARA

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has stated that if not for divine intervention of the almighty God, he would not have been elected speaker last week.
Mr. Dogara emerged House Speaker, Tuesday, in a keenly contested election defeating former House minority leader, Femi Gbajabiamila (APC Lagos).
Speaking during a Thanksgiving service at Living Faith Church Goshen City, Karu Nasarawa State, on Sunday, Mr. Dogara said the teachings he has been receiving in Living Faith Church in the last 27 years, contributed to his victory.
“I have been a member of this church since 1988 even before I went to the University. The teachings I receive here have defined my life
“If it were not for the teachings we receive on this altar, maybe this victory may not have come.
“We had Goliaths in the run up to the election; there were Tobias and Sambalats. We had Balams who were asked to curse us but God is with us,” he said.
The Speaker said the end of the matter is better than the beginning
“It was Machiavelli who said you should not conquer territories you cannot keep. We have to keep this through prayers,” he said.

I’LL PAY OSUN WORKERS BEFORE JUNE 30 – AREGBESOLA

The Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, has promised to pay workers in the state their salaries before the end of this month.
The governor made the promise in a statement issued in Osogbo on Sunday by his media aide, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon.
Most workers are being owed seven months’ salaries.
But the statement was silent on whether the governor would pay the backlog or he would pay part of the salaries.
The statement read in part, “Before the end of June, workers would be paid their salaries.”
The governor stated that he had a great dream for the state and that was why he was in a hurry to begin many programmes which had earned him applause even outside the country.
He added, “The dream has not gone awry and it is a clear vision that Osun must be on its feet, self-reliant and be a reference point in Nigeria. The race to ensure development within the first term of Aregbesola was informed by the fear of what is happening now.
“Aregbesola wanted an Osun State that is self-reliant. That Osun State, almost two decades after its creation, could not boast of tax-paying companies speak volume about the magnitude of the works that awaited the Aregbesola administration.

HOW BUHARI, TINUBU FELL APART

The cordial relations between President Muhammadu Buhari and All Progressives Congress National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, may have gone cold over the alleged overbearing attitude of the latter in the sharing of political offices.
Sunday Telegraph’s investigations revealed that Tinubu’s decision to use his powers as the party’s national leader to provide direction on the party’s postelection future did not go down well with some other top members of the fold. As such, they used the opportunity of the election of leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives to stop him in his tracks.
While Tinubu backed Senator Ahmad Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila as candidates for Senate President and Speaker, House of Rep[resentatives respectively, his opponents supported Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara for both positions.
Eventually, Tinubu was outsmarted by his opponents, comprising elements from the New PDP who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to APC in 2013. Buhari’s neutrality in Tuesday’s election of National Assembly leaders, sources said, was the latest in steps taken by the President to whittle down Tinubu’s alleged overbearing influence on him. First, without Tinubu’s knowledge, Buhari appointed a transition committee.

TROUBLE OVER LATE ARISEKOLA’S PROPERTIES

Barely a year after the late industrialist and Aare Musulumi of Nigeria, Abdul Azeez Alao Arisekola, passed on, there appears to be controversy over his vast estate.
It is a fact that the late philanthropist didn’t die intestate, as he had prepared his will certified by the Oyo State High Court of Justice in August 2013. It was, however, administered a couple of days after his burial last year by Dr. Oba Otudeko.
Consequently, the liquid and landed properties of the late entrepreneur had been distributed and utilised, according to the details in the will.
Apparently, the properties were shared among 32 children, three wives and three relations. He also lavished his generosity on some individuals, as contained in the will.
However, Society Happenings gathered that the Lister Motors boss lived on credit while alive. Sources close to the family claim that credit institutions that overwhelmed Arisekola with depositors’ funds, which he couldn’t offset before his death June last year, are now literally on the neck of the family.
As a result, the banks, we gathered, have concluded plans, following a court order, to confiscate most of his landed properties that were used as collateral for the credit facilities he obtained from them.
Although the majority of these properties have been inherited by children and families as prayed in his will, we gathered that the properties are set to be retrieved from their new landlords by the banks in order to offset the credit facilities.

OYEGUN IN TROUBLE OVER SARAKI, DOGARA

The crisis in the All Prog re s s ives Congress (APC) over its loss of the National Assembly leadership positions is set to worsen as party leaders are spoiling for a war with the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie- Oyegun, on the matter. Odigie-Oyegun, in what amounted to a volteface by the APC had, last Friday, said the party had accepted the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki as Senate president and Hon. Yakubu Dogara as House of Representatives speaker.
The duo had, in defiance of the APC, ran against the party’s official candidates for the positions, Senator Ahmed Lawan and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila. While Lawan had no chance of running against Saraki who was elected unopposed as APC senators, majorly his supporters, were at the International Conference Centre, Abuja for a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Gbajabiamila lost by a slim margin to Dogara.
An enraged governing party had rejected their elections and vowed to punish them. Last Thursday, APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had said the party would soon set up a disciplinary committee to probe the involvement of members involved in the victories of Saraki and Dogara. But fielding questions from State House correspondents in Abuja a day after Mohammed’s statement, the national chairman had described the election of Saraki as the Senate president as legitimate and that the party had accepted its fate. “Of course, he has been duly elected by his colleagues. End of story.

BUHARI ORDERS RELEASE OF $21M TO MULTINATIONAL FORCE

President Muhammadu Buhari said he had directed that $2m of the $100m Nigeria pledged to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) be released within the week to defeat the Boko Haram insurgency.
He disclosed this in Johannesburg, South Africa at the weekend while presiding over a meeting of the African Union Peace Security Council at the ongoing 25th AU summit.
The president told the gathering that Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger were, under the auspicies of the MJTF, already working to defeat the Boko Haram insurgency.
“In this regard, the member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin met recently where far reaching decisions were taken to immediately put into operations, the Multinational Joint Task Force. To this end, the summit approved the immediate provision of $30m for the Multinational Joint Task Force.
“Consequently, out of the pledge of $100 million which Nigeria made to the Multinational Joint Task Force, I have directed that $21 million be released within the next one week,” Buhari said.
He noted that the continent was faced with conflicts of diverse forms as manifested in the crises in Burkina Faso, Mali, Libya, Central Africa Republic, South Sudan and more recently, in Burundi.
Buhari reminded the leaders of the commitment they had made during the African Union 50th anniversary in 2013 to the objective of “silencing the local guns” in Africa by 2020.
He, however, stated that with just five years remaining, the prospect of realizing that objective appeared doubtful “with pockets, individuals country and the continent as a whole.”

HOW OIL BARONS, OTHERS HIJACKED SENATE, HOUSE ELECTION

Tuesday elections of Dr. Bukola Saraki as Senate President and Mr. Yakubu Dogara as House of Representatives Speaker tipped in their favour on account of the intervention of top businessmen, high-profile investors, and some ex-Ministers in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, it was gathered yesterday.
The plots were hatched in Port Harcourt, Lagos, Abeokuta, Abuja and Ilishan, Ogun State by four serving governors and seven ex-governors in what a source described as a bid to “decimate APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.”
Two of the serving governors are from the South-West and one from the North-West, while two of the ex-governors are from the South-West, three from the North-West, one from the North-East and one from the South-South zone.
An influential Emir was also involved in the anti-Tinubu campaign, according to sources. The monarch had first sought Tinubu’s support for Saraki’s bid in a move he described as “politically strategic” for the future of Nigeria.
Sources said that although Saraki had aspired to lead the Senate as a “mere political game which anyone could win,” the contest attracted vested interests because of the anti-corruption agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Some oil barons, especially those indicted in the subsidy scandal, high-net worth investors, and top businessmen were said to have found it difficult to reach out to Buhari.
They decided to form a ring around the new President by hijacking the National Assembly through which they believe they could checkmate and frustrate any anti-Jonathan policies initiated by the Buhari government.
It was learnt that the affected businessmen, some of whom benefited from curious waivers, concessions and unmerited subsidy funds, had reached out to Tinubu to assist them to appeal to Buhari for soft-landing on ongoing investigations but the ex-Lagos State Governor declined to intervene.

ANTI-SARAKI SENATORS DEMAND EKWEREMADU’S RESIGNATION

The crisis set off by the recent election of the principal officers of the National Assembly may be far from over despite the All Progressives Congress’ recent assurance that it has put its house in order.
Aggrieved APC senators, on Saturday, demanded for the immediate resignation of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.
The senators, who are loyal to Senator Ahmad Lawan, the party’s candidate for the Senate presidency, insisted that Ekweremadu’s resignation was one of the conditions that would make the faction to recognise Senator Bukola Saraki as President of the Senate.
The aggrieved lawmakers, under the auspices of the Senate Unity Forum, however, stated that they had nothing personal against Saraki and Ekweremadu.
APC senators had been divided over the leadership of the National Assembly since the controversial elections. The ruling party had chosen Lawan for the Senate presidency and Femi Gbajabiamila as its candidate for the House of Representatives’ speakership in the aftermath of a mock intra-party election conducted on June 6.

AGF, NSA, EFCC TRADE ACCUSATION OVER CUSTODY OF RECOVERED ABACHA LOOT

Offices of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are trading blames in court over which one of them is in custody of what was recovered from the money looted from the nation’s treasury by the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha.
While the EFCC said the recovered funds could be accounted for by the offices of the AGF and the NSA, they have both denied knowledge of what has been recovered and where it is being kept.
The claim among the three Federal Government’s offices is captured in the court processes they filed in reaction to a suit filed by a group, the Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP), seeking information about the state of the recovered loot.
LEDAP, in 2011, instituted the suit under the Freedom of Information Act after the EFCC (earlier named as the sole defendant) refused its request for the information.
It later joined the AGF and the NSA when the EFCC, in a counter-affidavit, said it was only offices of the AGF and NSA that could account for the recovered looted funds.
An EFCC official, Austin Emmumejakpor, said in the counter-affidavit of March 5, 2012, that he was “informed that remittances relating to the estate of the late Gen. Abacha were coordinated by the offices of the National Security Adviser and the Attorney-General of the Federation and not the respondent (EFCC) as erroneously thought by the applicant.”

BE PATIENT WITH BUHARI, NORTHERN ELDERS FORUM TELLS NIGERIANS

The Northern Elders’ Forum has urged Nigerians to be patient with President Muhammadu Buhari in fulfilling his campaign promises. The forum said the President met a damaged economy that would take time to heal.
Buhari, who succeeded Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, was sworn in on May 29.
In an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH, the Secretary of the NEF, Professor Ango Abdullahi, said while there were high expectations from the electorate, they should also note that Buhari came into power at a time the economy was bad.
He said, “There are so many challenges. Sometimes, I am sympathetic to how this country had been so run down almost to ground zero and Buhari is expected within the shortest time possible to lift it from its knees. It is not going to be easy at all.
“We understand that the coffers are empty and now he has so many things that are outstanding that require funds. These funds cannot be found in our treasury and they are not in our foreign reserve.
“It is a huge job, and to that extent President Buhari will need the understanding of Nigerians. Perhaps, those who understand the enormity of the problems should be able to give him a little more room to come to grips with the gigantic tasks ahead of him.”
The former Vice Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University noted that while the potential was there, the actual means were not immediately available for Buhari to execute some of his programmes that required immediate actions.