See court order summoning Tompolo to appear in court on Thursday to face criminal charges http://www.lindaikejisblog.com/2016/01/see-court-order-summoning-tompolo-to.html
Wednesday, 13 January 2016
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adeshina was a guest on Radio Continental 102.3 FM last weekend.
See the question he was asked about President Muhammadu Buhari's perceived hatred for Ndigbo and how he answered it.
Does Mr President actually hate Igbos?
When the President ran for political office in 2003, who was his running mate? Dr Chuba Okadigbo. And in 2007? Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke. If he hated Igbos would he run with them?
That shows you the respect and the regard he has for Igbos, it was political reality that compelled him to come south-west in 2011 and in 2015. Let me tell you a story.
There is a prominent Igbo family in this country, if I mention their names you would know them, they are very prominent in the society. They told me a story that in the 70s, President Buhari was Minister of Petroleum, the family wanted to join the petroleum industry and then they made a bid. By then, there were not too many Nigerians playing in that industry, and there was a lot of scepticism from those around the then Lt Colonel Buhari, who was Oil Minister.
They all said they don’t believe that the company as represented by that family had the capacity to play in the industry. This family told me that eventually, they got to Lt Colonel Buhari, he listened to them, and asked them; ‘Are you sure you have the capacity to do this?’ And they told him, ‘we can do it’. Then he removed his military cap, banged it on the table and told them, ‘it is done.’ And he instructed that they give them that opportunity they wanted in the oil industry and today that family is so big and they never forget that the then Colonel Buhari as oil minister gave them the break they needed. They told me that story about three weeks ago.
The next day, when I saw the president, I told him the story. He laughed and then went on to tell me that when people say he is against the Igbos, it baffles him, that really he never knew that family, he just trusted the assurance they gave him that they could play in the oil industry, and today they are very big. He went further to say that even under PTF, so many Nigerians, including Igbos, benefitted a lot. So there is no way you can say the man hates Igbos.
The second Niger bridge is on the budget in 2016. Let’s recall that the last President sometime in 2011 said that he would complete that second Niger bridge before 2015. He didn’t even go beyond the architectural drawing, but in 2016 budget, that project is there.
There we are. Has Buhari done enough?
Tuesday, 12 January 2016
ABUJA
Detained spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh appears to have landed himself in hotter waters. Metuh enacted a drama at the EFCC when he tore up the statement he made on oath and attempted to chew it.
An EFCC source disclosed that Metuh may have become distraught for the ineffectiveness of his hunger strike.
“Apparently distraught that his hunger strike stunt has not softened the resolve of the EFCC to keep him in custody, pending arraignment in court for alleged thievery running into millions of naira, Metuh seized and tore to shreds copies of a statement he had voluntarily made to the commission.
“The suspect was presented with copies of his statement to endorse by the investigating officer but rather than signing the document, Metuh, apparently on realising the weight of his confession, seized the documents and tore them.
“Metuh was said to be contemplating stuffing the papers in his mouth in a bid to swallow them when he was stopped by operatives who recovered the torn pieces of paper from him. “
The source said that the EFCC has now engaged the services of forensic experts to analyze the pieces of the torn statement.
“We have drafted forensic experts to analyse the torn statement. There is no hiding place for him.
“We decided to let the public know his misdemeanour in custody. We will present the report of the forensic analysis to the court whenever he is charged.”
The source also said that the anti graft agency could prosecute the suspect for willful destruction of government property as that what Metuh's shredding of his statement amounts to.
“The tearing of statement is tantamount to wilful destruction of government property and it is a serious offence.
“Also, the fact that he obstructed operatives from performing their job is a criminal offence. We will explore the possibility of filing a separate charge against him at the Federal Capital Territory High Court,” he said.
Justice Ishaq Bello, Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja has ordered magistrates in the FCT to stop with immediate effect, the granting of remand orders to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
In recent times, the EFCC has been using remand warrants from magistrate courts in the FCT to continuously detain suspects for corruption and other economic crimes while it carries out its investigations.
Only last week, the EFCC had obtained a remand warrant from a magistrates court in Abuja for the continued detention of PDP spokesman, Chief Olisa Metuh pending the conclusion of investigation into his case.
Justice Bello had given the directive while on a visit to the medium security prison in Keffi, Nasarawa State on Tuesday.
His words;
“Let me also use this opportunity to say this. I understand that EFCC has been bringing some cases to you and you have been granting them remand orders. You must no longer do this from today."
Prince Uche Secondus, Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has denied that the party asked former President Goodluck Jonathan to clear the air on the $2.1b arms procurement fund scandal now known as dasukigate.
Secondus while reacting to the call by PDP Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Abdullahi Jalo to speak up on the arms scandal said that Jalo only spoke in his personal capacity and as such his opinion did not represent the views of the PDP
Secondus spoke at the constitution amendment forum of the PDP on Tuesday. He said;
“Let me make it clear to you that Jalo was only expressing his personal opinion because his views did not represent the position of the party.
“There was no time we discussed at the National Executive Committee (NEC) that Jonathan should speak on the arms deal scandal. There was no time such a thing came up at the NEC. So Jalo must be expressing his personal opinion."
As anxiety continues to mount on the whereabouts of the 2016 budget proposal presented to a joint session of the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday December 22, 2015, the presidency has distanced itself from the embarrassing situation.
Amid widespread speculations that the budget proposal has gone missing, the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu took to his Twitter handle @GarShehu to absolve the Presidency of any responsibility in the matter.
"Enquiries about the budget: Nobody except the President can withdraw the budget. As far as we know, he hasn’t done that.
“The copies in their hundreds have been delivered to both chambers of the National Assembly.
“By tradition, once the budget is submitted, it ceases to be our property.
“Enquiries as to where it is should be directed to the appropriate quarters,” he tweeted.
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