Buhari visits Diary farm in Kenya http://www.lindaikejisblog.com/2016/01/buhari-visits-diary-farm-in-kenya.html 
Thursday, 28 January 2016
According to Prof. Suleiman Bogoro, Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, the agency spent N100 billion on Information Communication Technology, ICT in higher institutions over the last two years.
Bogoro said this in Abuja on Wednesday, while receiving the CISCO Strategic Partnership Award on behalf of TETFund. He said that the development of ICT is very important to enable Nigeria to catch up with the rest of the world.
"This award is symbolic; it means a lot to us as an intervention agency; CISCO is an international brand in ICT because of its capacity.
"The award shows that what we are doing in the education sector is being recognised outside the shores of the country.
"We are partnering with our regulatory agencies — National Universities Commission, NUC, National Board for Technical Education, NBTE, and National Commission for Colleges of Education, in deploying ICT to teaching and learning,’’ he said.
In his remarks, CISCO’s Regional Corporate Affairs Manager for Africa, Mr Alfie Hamid said that Nigeria must keep pace with the movement of the `smart world’.
He stressed that Nigeria’s educational system must catch up with technology, adding that CISCO was partnering African governments to see how they could bridge the ever widening technology gap.
"We have been around since 2008 but for the very first time in the history of Nigeria, we have a partner in TETFund and in one year we have been able to take CISCO programme to 11 institutions.
"It is ground breaking not only for Nigeria, but for the whole of Africa.
"It is an amazing achievement and the partnership will impact on 5,000 students each year.
"It will help to take Nigeria to a stage where it will be able to compete in the international arena,’’ he said.
He identified the benefitting institutions as University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Delta State University, Anambra State University, Federal Polytechnic, Nekede and College of Education, Warri. Others are Kebbi State University of Science and Technology, Bauchi State University, Sokoto State Polytechnic, Federal Polytechnic,Yola and Esa-Oke Polytechnic, Osun State.
Hamid noted that with the current instability in crude oil market, there was a need to diversify the economy by investing in skills.
He said that the award was to reward of TETFund's strategic partnership and contribution to ICT growth in higher institutions in the country.
Cisco is an American ICT firm specializing in the manufacture, sales and design of networking equipment. It also offers certification, training, and testing programmes to ICT professionals.
Former President, Goodluck Jonathan has said that he not like to preempt the courts by speaking on the arms procurement scandal currently rocking the country.
Some of the ex-President's former aides and political allies are currently either standing trial or under investigation for their roles in the arms scam.
Jonathan however took to Twitter yesterday to explain his deafening silence on the scandal.
“My voice will certainly be heard at the appropriate time regarding the alleged arms funds mismanagement. I would not want to interfere with the proceedings by the judicial system that my administration worked tirelessly to strengthen.
“My post-presidential focus is advancing democracy and good governance in Africa. If we do not spend billions to educate Africa’s youths today, we will spend it fighting insecurity tomorrow,” he said.
In a bid to further strengthen the war against corruption, President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday, sent two executive bills to the Senate, seeking to outlaw money laundering and criminal activities in the country.
in a letter to the Senate, President Buhari said he was introducing the bills, namely; ”The Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill, 2016″ and “The Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill, 2016,” for formal consideration and enactment into law by the legislature.
In the letter read on the floor of the Senate by Bukola Saraki, Buhari said that the first bill provides for the repeal of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 as amended in 2012.
He said that the proposed bill would “make comprehensive provisions to prohibit the laundering of criminal activities, expand the scope of money laundering, and provide protection for employees of various institutions, bodies and professions who may discover money laundering."
The second bill according to the President “seeks to facilitate the provision and obtaining by Nigeria of international assistance in criminal matters.”
He explained that these would include providing and obtaining evidence and things, and arranging for persons to give evidence or assist in criminal investigations.
He also said that the bill seeks “the recovery, forfeiture or confiscation of property in respect of offences, the restraining of dealings in property or the freezing of assets that may be recovered, forfeited or confiscated in respect of offences.”
Olisa Metuh's account officer at
Diamond Bank Plc, Eno-Mfon Effiong, on Wednesday told a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja that the detained PDP spokesman operates five accounts with the bank.
Metuh is standing trial over a N400m fraud which he allegedly facilitated with one of his Diamond Bank accounts.
Effiong appearing as a prosecution witness told the court that she was the account officer for Metuh’s company, Destra Investment Ltd
She said that the company had
N6,676,576 in its account, before November 24,2014 when the sum of N400m was paid into it by the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA.
She told the court that she was not surprised at the sudden inflow of the huge sum of money because Metuh and his company had been known to the bank as high net worth customers.
She defined high net worth customers as entities with high credit inflow, " usually because the person is either a captain of industry, a high earning individual or an established businessman.”
She also informed the court that she had been in charge of Destra Investment Ltd's account since it was opened in February 2013.
Wednesday, 27 January 2016
Reprieve came the way of embattled National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh yesterday as the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja granted his request for the variation of his bail conditions.
The trial judge, Justice Okon Abang partially relaxed the conditions which he had imposed while granting Metuh bail on January 19.
In considering Metuh's application for bail conditions variation, Justice Abang ruled that the accused would no longer be required to provide sureties with properties situated strictly in Maitama, but anywhere within the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The court however rejected the request by Metuh's counsel for an order mandating the prosecution counsel to verify the documents for any property to be pledged for his bail within 24 hours of receiving it
Other aspects of the bail conditions remain as before.
The publisher of ThisDay Newspapers, Mr Nduka Obaigbena has been given two weeks by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to refund the sum of N670m which he received from the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, allegedly for nonexistent contracts.
According to the EFCC, the money is part of the $2.1b arms procurement fund for which former National Security Adviser, NSA, Col Sambo Dasuki is being prosecuted.
Obaigbena told investigators that the money was paid on the orders of former President Goodluck Jonathan to ThisDay and the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPAN as compensation for the bombing of the newspaper house by Boko Haram and the seizure of massive copies of various newspapers by the military.
However, a reliable EFCC source said that the anti graft agency could not find the nexus between the money Obaigbena received and the reasons adduced.
“What we are investigating is General Hydrocarbons. Records from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) indicated that Nduka Obaigbena is a director of the company.
“ONSA reported that General Hydrocarbons was one of the companies that received payments purportedly for contracts without contract documents or approval.
“Between December 8, 2014 and May 23, 2015, Obaigbena received N670million from ONSA. The reasons stated on the payment mandates are as follows:
First tranche of N150 million (environmental security project) and the remaining tranches (payment for energy consultancy)
“Obaigbena said he was paid compensation of N550 million for the bombing of “ ThisDay” office in Abuja but there is no nexus between this payment and the money he collected for contracts. None of the sums shows that what he got from ONSA was compensation.
“The complaint before us is that the company was given money without contractual agreement.
“By all records, Obaigbena was paid for unexecuted contracts. It is government’s funds and he has to refund the N670million, “ the source said.
Another source at the agency said that the publisher has agreed to refund the N670m.
“The EFCC has given Obaigbena a maximum of two weeks to refund the amount he collected from ONSA.
“Obaigbena has signed an undertaking to refund the money in question. The anti-graft commission has also granted him an administrative bail,” he said.
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