'Sanusi's Suspension' the Opposition and Fifth Columnists' - By Reno Omokri

Article written by Reno Omokri, Special Assistant to President Jonathan on New Media. Find below

The recent suspension of the erstwhile Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria has ignited a debate on Social Media and as has become typical with many pundits, the discourse has been dominated by sentiments rather than facts.

As Sanusi has indicated that he will be challenging his suspension in court, I will not make this piece about him and recent events surrounding him. Yes, I will cite some examples of double standards as regards the approach taken by some analysts, but in my view, the matter is now best left to the courts.

What I will say however to those who are propagating the propaganda that the President suspended Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to stop him from speaking is this: it was Sanusi’s job that was suspended, not his mouth and anyone who knows him knows full well that he will not let anything come between him and a microphone.

No Igbo Presidential Candidate For 2015 Elections - Governor Theordore Orji

The governor said this in Umuahia when he received a delegation of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos branch, who were on a fact finding and courtesy visit to the state.

Orji said as long as President Jonathan would run for second term in 2015, he remained best bet for Ndigbo and should, therefore, not be distracted.
However, Orji noted that there might be opportunistic aspirants who might join the race to bargain for positions but warned that it would not work for them in 2015.
“Any person who tries it will fail. No person has any chance from this place, South East, as long as President Jonathan wants to run. For us here in Abia, supporting the President is sacrosanct,” the governor said.
He condemned the activities of those who formed parallel organisations under sundry names, claiming to represent Igbo interest, warning that such activities tended to water down the strength and integrity of the Igbo socio-cultural group.
“Every reasonable Igbo man should be a member of Ohanaeze. I am committed to supporting Ohanaeze now and forever,” Orji said.
Earlier in his remarks, the President of Ohanaeze Lagos and leader of the delegation, Chief Fabian Onwughalu, explained that the team was going round Igbo speaking states on a fact-finding mission to see how governments were performing. Click on KEEP READING to continue..

Read the Financial Reporting Council Report that got Sanusi suspended

 

President Jonathan's decision to suspend CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi yesterday Feb. 20th was based on a report of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, FRCR dated June 7, 2013. In the report, FRCR ripped apart the 2012 audited financial statement of CBN and exposed what it termed as 'fraud', 'clear display of incompetence',and  'excesses and wastefulness of Sanusi and the CBN.'
The 13-page report claimed a whooping N1.257 billion was spent for 'lunch for policemen'. There were also bogus payments to airlines to distribute currency nationwide. The FRCR also claimed CBN has held an account with a balance of N1.423b for an unknown customer since 2008. The report had recommended the sack of Sanusi and his deputy.
You can read the full report here or click on KEEP READING to continue to read a breakdown of the report...

President Jonathan Appoints Godwin Emefiele,Zenith Bank GMD As New CBN Governor

Following the controversial suspension of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria,the federal government has fowarded the name of Zenith Bank Group managing director (GMD),Mr.Godwin Emefiele as the new CBN governor to the senate.

 

The profile of Godwin Emefiele on Zenith Bank website shows he came the chief executive officer of Zenith Bank in August 2010. Until then he was the Deputy Managing Director of the bank, having been appointed into that position in 2001. Emefiele has been on the bank’s management team since inception and has held various management positions in the bank, including serving as the Bank’s Executive Director in charge of Corporate Banking, Treasury, Financial Control and Strategic Planning.

Until he took over as Group Managing Director, Emefiele was directly responsible for all the Group’s local subsidiaries, Treasury and Correspondent Banking, and Multilateral, Conglomerates, & Private Banking. He also had responsibilities for direct supervision of majority of the bank’s branches in Lagos and Northern Nigeria.

Emefiele has over twenty-six (26) years banking experience and holds a B.Sc and an MBA in Finance both from the University of Nigeria Nsukka. Before commencing his banking career, he lectured Finance, Bank Management, and Insurance at the University of Nigeria and University of Port Harcourt respectively. Click on KEEP READING to continue...

"Suspension of Sanusi Lamido an illegality" - Aturu

 

News filtering in about the purported suspension of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, by the President is the most egregious desecration of the rule of law and the principle of legality in Nigeria to date. It is unsurpassed in its blatant illegality and immorality. PM News reports.

 

The decision is symptomatic of the desperation that has gripped the presidency and its allies in the wake of the troubling allegations made by the Governor of the Bank that public officials in the NNPC are looting the country blind in the name of subsidy payments. To the best of my knowledge the allegation has not been coherently answered by the Corporation or by the Government.

As far as the law goes, the purported suspension of the Governor is unwarranted. Section 11 of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007 clearly lists the instances when the Governor or any of his Deputies can cease to remain in office. For the avoidance of any doubt whatsoever, none of such instances include suspension by the President. Click on KEEP READING to continue...

Go to Akwa Ibom, weep for Abia State!

Reagan Ufomba 

The governors of Akwa Ibom and Abia states, Godswill Obot Akpabio and Theodore Orji, respectively, are members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), both states border each other and are oil-producing entities. Indigenes of the two sub-nationalities inter-marry and some of their communities have cultural and language affinities! I almost married an Ibomite.

The culinary distinction and unparalleled feministic allure of these our neighbours can never be found in any other part of the country and excite my people to gastronomic stupor and orgiastic recklessness! 

Finally, both states receive huge derivative and statutory allocations. While Akpabio is using the huge resources judiciously in uncommon transformation of his hitherto rustic state, his Abia State counterpart is domesticating our own and those who can raise eyebrows are all compromised to satiety! 

That is where the contiguity ends and comparative disparities begin. Recently, editors on the platform of the Nigerian Guild of Editors met in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, for its yearly conference, shortly before the last one held in Asaba, Delta State, not long ago.

At the end of the proceedings, Akpabio wondered how those of us from Abia State were going to return because of the impassable routes after the boundary between his state and Abia! He humorously offered to shelter Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, one of the delegates, until a solution to the highway menace in Aba en route to Umuahia (Ugochukwu's destination) was found. This is confirmatory of how bad the situation is. Kenneth Ugbechie, publisher of Nigerian Economist and pal of mine, and I flew together from Lagos to Owerri en route to Uyo for the same event. Click on KEEPING READING to continue...

President Jonathan finally sacks Stella Oduah, Orubebe, Oluboade and Yerima as ministers

President Jonathan today Wednesday February 12th sacked the embattled Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah. Others affected were Caleb Olubolade, the minister of Police Affairs; Elder Peter Godsday Orubebe (pictured right), Minister of Niger Delta; and Yerima Ngama, Minister of State, Finance.
 

Oduah’s approval for the purchase of two bullet-proof cars for N255m caused public outrage in the country with many Nigerians calling for her removal and prosecution.

According to reports, Ms Oduah will now focus on her Neighbour to Neighbour political campaign organization which she founded a few years ago. Also heard the other ministers were dropped for political reasons. All three of them are planning to run for governorship positions in their various states. Orubebe is running in Delta, Yerima in Yobe and Olubolade in Ekiti State, all under PDP.

Kidnap of APC Officials: Police Arrest Two Suspects, Free Victims

The Police in Ebonyi have arrested two suspects in connection with the alleged kidnap of some All Progressives Congress registration officers in Umuezekeoha, Ezza North LGA on Sunday.

The Command’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Chris Anyanwu (ASP), said that the suspects were arrested by a team of Special Anti Robbery Squad of the command along the Enugu-Abakaliki Express road.

“The suspects were arrested with a vehicle belonging to the council as four other suspects connected with the matter are still at large.

“Our officers are currently on their trail, as efforts have been intensified to arrest them.

“We recovered items like the official vehicle of the council, a bag containing the academic credentials of one of the suspects and other items belonging to the APC,” he said. KEEP READING AFTER THIS CUT...

APC Registration Officials in Ebonyi Kidnapped by Gunmen

The gunmen, who kidnapped the party officials at about 2am on Sunday, are said to be demanding N2m from the families of their victims.

The victims – Donatus Omenyi and Moses Anyior –  were said to have been whisked away from their respective houses at Nwekeisioffia, Umuezekoha community by five heavily armed men.

The wife of one of the victim, who did not want her identity disclosed, said, “Five boys armed with dangerous weapons invaded our house at about 2am, they forced the door open and demanded to see my husband who had gone to hide behind the door.

“I told them that my husband was not around but one of them ordered the boys to enter into our house to search for my husband who they found and took away. They later  called to demand N2m ransom or we forget the APC party.” Keep reading after this break...

SSS Operatives Banned From Int'l Airport By Min. Of Aviation, Stella Oduah

Since her fake certificate scandal broke in the media, Stella Oduah goes everywhere with black glasses but she is still taking certain actions to ensure that President Goodluck Jonathan keeps her in his cabinet.Operatives of the State Security Service have been directed by the Ministry of Aviation to stay away from all the nation’s international airports. The order, which was communicated to the SSS leadership a few weeks ago, was said to have shocked the many in the service headquarters.
 

It was gathered that Stella Oduah’s latest directive will affect the ability of the SSS to perform its core duties of preventing, detecting, and investigating threats of espionage, and other terrorist activities at the airports.
 

The international airports are Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos; Port Harcourt International Airport; Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja; Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano. Keep reading after this break...

APC Registration in Rivers State Impeded by Gunmen | One Shot Dead

Below are the detailed report on the deadly attacks on APC members during their registration process:

• In PHALGA Wards 11, 14 and 16 one Vandam and one Noso led 50 other hoodlums to shoot sporadically and hijack the registration materials, handsets and cameras of APC registration officials. 

• In Ward 9 in Obio/Akpor, the ward of Chief Nyesom Wike, the Supervising Minister of Education, hired thugs disrupted the registration exercise, beat up APC Registration Officers and hijacked registration materials.  

•   In Ward 6 in Woji, the area where Chief Timothy Nsirm is the Chief Executor of the war against APC, one Eric Nyekazi Chioma led the operation with 30 other thugs, shooting and chasing out our people and shot one of our key supporters, Chibuchi Ogbonda, who is now battling for life at DATTA Clinic, Port Harcourt. Woji Ward comprises five big communities of Woji, Rumurolu, Rumuibekwe, Oginigba and Rumuogba.  

• The same scenario played itself out in Ogubolo and several other parts of the state but worst hit is Degema, where one Andy was shot dead while six other APC members were inflicted with bullet wounds and are currently hospitalized at BMH in Port Harcourt.

Latest information coming coming Rivers State is very troubling. It appears PDP thugs and their sponsors are not happy that CP Joseph Mbu is no more in Rivers State and are now taking laws into their hands…Keep reading after this break...

State Of The Union Address | President Obama Calls For ‘Year Of Action’

President Barack Obama‘s 2014 State of the Union address was powerful yet practical, with the president trying to get the public back on his side after a rocky year, and promising to turn 2014 into his “year of action” — even if it means bypassing Congress to make as many executive decisions as possible.

Hollywood life reports:

President Obama’s State Of The Union Address — Obama Calls For ‘Year Of Action’

As evidenced by the government shutdown in October, the stark division of opinion in Congress has prevented President Obama from getting much of anything done — but he’s prepared to enact some stronger executive action in 2014. Continue reading after this cut..

SSS releases Nasir El-Rufai on bail

Former FCT Minister Nasir El Rufai has been released on bail by the State Security Service hours after he reported to the security agency to answer some questions. (Pictured above with Amaechi)

According to reports, Mallam El-Rufai was released in the early hours of Tuesday morning after about 15 hours in SSS custody. For the mean time, his bail conditions have not been publicized.

Nasir El-Rufai at SSS office in Abuja this morning | Photos

 

Just this morning he was escorted to the State Security Service office in Abuja by Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi and Sen. Chris Ngige. See more photos after this cut...

Finally SSS secures warrant of arrest for Nasir El-Rufai

The State Security Service, SSS, has finally secured a warrant of arrest for the Deputy National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Nasir El-Rufai, and has now launched a manhunt for him, the spokesperson for the agency has said.

This is even as armed operatives of the Service again stormed a second house in Abuja believed to belong to the former minister in their desperate bid to arrest him.

They had earlier in the afternoon invaded his first house in the Maitama District of the nation’s capital, but could not find him as he had reportedly gone to pick his children from school. They were said to have tried to force their way in to arrest the former minister.

In the latest siege on another property, also in the Maitama District, the operatives were said to have beaten up some private guards for refusing them entry.
Continue after this cut…

Former PDP chairman Bamanga Tukur emerges as Chairman Railway Corporation

Immediate past chairman of the People's Democratic Party, PDP, Bamanga Tukur has been appointed Chairman Board of the Nigerian Railway Corporation by President Jonathan.

His appointment was contained in a statement released by Special Assistant (Media) to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sam Nwaobasi.

Alhaji Tukur last week resigned as chairman of PDP. He was replaced with the former Governor of Bauchi State, Adamu Mu'azu.

Anti-Gay Law: United States threatens to sanction Nigeria

Nawao....this people no wan leave us alone...The United States has threatened to scale down its support for HIV/AIDS and anti-malaria programmes in response to the Federal Government’s position on the gay rights issue.

Vanguard reports:

Leading western countries piled pressure on the Federal government, yesterday, following President Goodluck Jonathan’s signing of the Same-Sex Prohibition Act 2014. The latest country is the United States of America, whose Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr James Entwistle threatened that  the United States will scale down its support for HIV/AIDS and anti-malaria programmes in response to the Federal Government’s position on the gay rights issue. Continue reading after this cut...

Adamu Mu'azu emerges as new PDP National Chairman?

According to a breaking news report by the The Will Nigeria, former Bauchi State Governor, Adamu Mu'azu (1999 - 2007) has been chosen as the new National Chairman of the PDP.

He was reportedly unanimously adopted on Sunday night Jan. 19th at a meeting attended by president Jonathan, VP Namadi Sambo, Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih; Senate President David Mark and all the state Governors elected under the PDP, amongst others.

The Will reports that the 58 year old politician will be unveiled formally today Monday January 20th at a Special NEC meeting of the party.

Oby Ezekwesili queries Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Twitter

Former Vice President of World Bank's Africa division & former Nigerian minister Oby Ezekwesili is seeking to know what happened to the $10billion missing from the NNPC account. In quest for that she tweeted at the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala a few minutes ago. See more tweets after this cut...

President Jonathan confirms Tukur’s resignation as PDP Chairman

 

 

The resignation of the chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur has been confirmed by the President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. The President announced this today been Thursday Jan. 16th during the meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) which took place inside the Presidential Villa.

“He is not guilty of any offence and I am going to give him an assignment that is even tougher than the PDP Chairmanship,” The President told members of NEC.

The President reportedly announced that Tukur’s successor will be chosen from the North East and the new chairman will most likely be announced next Monday.