I wish all my readers, friends, family and we'll wishers the best today.
Thursday, 30 April 2015
Igbinedion Gets 6-year Jail Term Over Money Laundering In Edo State - See more at: http://www.naijaloaded.com.ng/2015/04/30/igbinedion-bags-6-year-jail-term-over-money-laundering-in-edo state
Justice Muhammed Lima of Benin division of Federal High Court on Thursday sentenced Michael Igbinedion, son of Gabriel Igbinedion, a Benin based billionaire to six years imprisonment over alleged laundering of N25 billion fund belonging to Edo state government.
Justice Lima also sentenced Patrick Eboigbodin, an aide to the former governor Lucky Igbinedion to 20 years imprisonment, in addition to a fine of N250,000 on a 10-count charge.
Michael Igbinedion, a younger brother to former governor Lucky Igbinedion, was sentenced to two years imprisonment on each of the three count charges. He was however given an option N3 million fine.
All the jail terms of the convicts are to run concurrently.
PML Securities Limited, one of the companies allegedly used by the convicts to launder the funds, was ordered to fold up and forfeit all its assets to the federal government.
The 81-count charges case was instituted against the convicts, Michael Igbinedion, Patrick Eboigbodin, Gava Corporation, Romring Nigeria Limited, PML Securities and PML Nigeria Limited by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), an offence said to have been committed between 1999 and 2007 when Lucky Igbinedion was governor of the state.
Michael Igbinedion was convicted on counts 79, 80 and 81 which bothered on collecting cash payment above N500,000, while Patrick Eboigbodin and PML (Nigeria) Limited were found guilty on counts 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58 and 58 which bothered on collaboration to conceal origin of funds amounting to millions of naira paid into their private accounts.
Justice Lima however discharged all the accused on other count charges on ground of failure to prove allegations beyond reasonable doubt by the prosecution. He said the prosecution only proved suspicion and failed to prove illicit origin of funds deposited in some banks.
Copy right. NaijaloadedWe Grind Human Heads To Make Powder For Ladies In Search Of Husbands – Native Doctor - See more at: http://www.naijaloaded.com.ng/2014/08/06/grind-human-heads-make-powder-ladies-search-husbands-native doctor
A native doctor and suspected ritual killer arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command has said that he grinds human heads into powder as charm for ladies who are looking for choice husbands and big contracts.
Olasunkanmi Owolabi, a 43-year-old native of Oyo town, said the concoction is also used as cure for stubborn sores, mental illness, sickle cell anaemia and epilepsy. He also said had planned to establish a specialist native hospital if government gave him the approval. Continue…
Arrested with Owolabi were his two co-travellers, Clement Omodijie and Usman Saliu a.k.a. Alfa. Omodijie, a 54-year-old indigene of Ekpoma, Edo State, says he is married with three children. A grave digger at Gbogbo Cemetery, Ikorodu, Lagos on a monthly salary of N22,000, he said he had worked at the cemetery for five years before he was arrested by SARS operatives.
Saliu, a 31-year-old native doctor from Ilisa town in Osun State and Owolabi’s ally, said he trained as an alfa (Islamic cleric) at Ralwu Islamic School, Ikewu, Osun State where he claimed he spent nine years learning native medicine. A police source said the three had been charged with unlawful possession of human parts.
Saliu, a 31-year-old native doctor from Ilisa town in Osun State and Owolabi’s ally, said he trained as an alfa (Islamic cleric) at Ralwu Islamic School, Ikewu, Osun State where he claimed he spent nine years learning native medicine. A police source said the three had been charged with unlawful possession of human parts.
Owolabi (43), who was arrested on June 22 this year, was said to have requested a human head from Omodijie, saying that he needed the skull to prepare a medicine for his patients. Omodijie obliged Owolabi by exhuming a corpse from one of the graves in the cemetery where he worked and delivering the head to Owolabi.
Upon a tip-off from a member of the public, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, was said to have directed the officer in charge of SARS, Abba Kyari, a Superintendent of Police, to fish out the ritual killers.
Kyari immediately swung into action with his team. He put a call through to Saliu, saying that a human head was urgently needed to save the life of a wealthy patient whose illness had defied orthodox medicine. Saliu asked the detectives to come to Ikorodu for the transaction. But he was arrested as soon as he showed up at the agreed place. The human head he came with was recovered and put in a polythene bag as an exhibit.
confessing his role in the saga omodijie said, “i was content with being a grave digger before i met owolabi in a restaurant in front of the cemetery in gbogbo area of ikorodu. since i met owolabi, my life has not been the same again. I have moved from one problem into another. i was enjoying my n15,000 monthly salary as a grave digger before i met him and he lured me into supplying human heads to him at n4,000 each. “The naked truth is that there is nothing reasonable i have done with the n4,000 per human head that he has been paying me. i used it to drink gin or smoke cigarettes with it. it is the devil’s money. “i hardly fell sick since i was born. but after selling human heads to him, my health has been deteriorating.
I buy drugs as if it is food, making me to spend more money than before. “i was moulding blocks before i secured a job in the cemetery as a grave digger. we were paid on a daily basis. we used wooden or machine moulder. but whichever moulder we used, we charged the owner n500 per bag of cement, which can give one about 40 blocks. if we did three bags, we collected n1,500. “when i got a job in the cemetery, i was happy because it is not as hard as moulding blocks.
The salary was small but i was enjoying it. the grave was shallow or deep, depending on the owner of the corpse and the way he or she wants it to be buried. “my trouble started a day i went to buy food opposite the cemetery. that was where i met owolabi and he said there was something he had wanted to tell me. He asked whether i was a worker in the cemetery and i said yes. he said i should give him a human head and i asked him what he meant. he said the head of a corpse already buried. “we have cemetery rules which forbid us from doing such a thing. i told him that i would not be able to do that, and he left. but thereafter, each day i went to the restaurant to buy food, he would accost me with the same request. i insisted that i would not do it because i did not want to lose my job, but he said it was better to sell human parts to him than allowing them to waste. “I summoned courage to ask him what he wanted to do with human heads and other parts. he said he was a native doctor and alfa, and that he wanted to use it to make medicine.
He said he would grind it into powder and mix it with certain herbs for pregnant women to drink in order to deliver their babies without complications or operation. he also said that he grinds human heads and mixes them with the powders some ladies carry in their handbags, saying that it helps those that are looking for choice husbands and big government contracts or companies’ lpos to secure them without stress. he also said that it can cure sickle cell anemia, among other ailments. “I told him that i didn’t have any but if i got one, i would call him.
A few days later, i called him on the phone and told him that i had got some. he asked me where i kept it and i told him that i kept one in a nearby bush. he asked me to bring it to my house so that he would come later to collect it. “he knows my house because he had followed me to my house several times after we met and became friends. he gave me n4,000 for the first head he came to collect from my house. the following day, he bought another one for n4,000.” asked how he obtained the heads he sold to owolabi, omodijie said: “The graves where i normally bring out the skulls from are shallow, and coffins are not used for the corpses brought there because of religion or financial status of the owners. it is cheaper to bury a corpse in a shallow grave than to do so in a deep, cemented or marbled one. “most burials done in shallow graves are temporary. that is why that section of the cemetery is called the temporary site. after some months, the corpses buried in shallow graves are excavated and burnt. that was why owolabi i should not allow the skulls to waste and that i should sell them to him instead.” “four of us work in the cemetery, but the other workers did not know that i was smuggling out human skulls and other parts to sell to native doctors. it was only two heads i had sold before detectives from sars arrested me. “there is no useful thing i can say i did with the money.
I was deceived by the devil. i am pleading for forgiveness because i did not kill a l anyone to sell their heads. i sold the skulls of corpses already buried and had decayed. i did not know that it would land me in this trouble.” owolabi on his part said: “i am an alfa and a native doctor. but i am not yet registered. i finished my arabic studies in kwara state about 13 years ago and relocated to ikorodu to work as a native doctor. i have the ambition of building a native hospital if the government gives me an approval. “I started by praying for sick people. last year, i met this cemetery worker (omodijie) and told him about the products (human parts) they were wasting. i learnt about using human skull to do powerful charms and medicine after travelling to kano, kaduna and other parts of the north. “in kano, i met a yoruba native doctor who told me that if i mixed ground human bones with soap and some herbs, it would bring luck for my clients or patients.
He said it could also cure chronic and stubborn sores and help pregnant women to deliver without complications or operation. it can also cure madness and other terrible diseases that defy orthodox solution. “women who are looking for husbands can also mix the ground bones with their powder. when they see a man they like, especially if they want a husband, they would rob the powder and talk to the man and the man will fall for them. it can also bring good luck and help job seekers to secure employment. “it can make somebody to become rich. it can cure epilepsy. a woman can also bath with it and men will be begging her to marry them. i sell a tablet of the soap for n2,000. it depends on the pocket of the buyer. some buy it for n1,000. I sell it around ikorodu and ajah in lagos. “saliu had told me to help him to get a human head and i collected one for him from the cemetery worker. he gave me n4,000 and i gave it to the cemetery worker that supplied the products. “when sars operatives arrested him, he led them to my house and i was also arrested. i knew the grave digger to be a worker in gbogbo cemetery at ikorodu. when he wanted to throw away some (human) parts, i told him that i needed them. i normally gave him n4,000 per skull.” saliu said: “i am a native doctor. i also spent nine years in ralwu islamic school, ikewu, osun state. i pray for women who are looking for husbands. i collected whatever amount they gave me. when the prayer worked for them, they would come to thank me with anything they liked. “i usually lock myself up to pray for my clients for between seven and 21 days, depending on the personality involved. they paid whatever amount they liked.
The only money they were required to deposit with me was the one to buy certain things that i would use to prepare the things i would use for the prayers.” asked why he had to use human skulls for his prayers, he said: “i had not used it before. one of my brothers came and met me in the house one day and told me that he went to ila-orangun in osun state to do rituals for money but the person he met told him that it would require a human skull and certain leaves. “when i met my brother, owolabi, we talked about how to get the human head. he told me that he himself used to do the same medicine with human heads and some herbs and even made medicinal soap with it. he asked me to go and bring money and he would help me get a human skull. “i asked owolabi where he would get it from and he said he had a link at the gbogbo cemetery in ikorodu. after six to seven months, my brother called me while i was still in bed and asked whether the human head was ready. i told him to let me ask owolabi about it. when i asked owolabi, he told me to come and meet him. when i met him, he said it would cost n18,000, saying that he bought it for n12,000 from the cemetery man. “a friend of shina came and gave him n15,000. owolabi took n10,000 and gave me n2,000 only, and told me that he would use the remaining n3,000 to pay for the transportation of the human head to the final destination.
Culled from The Nation
Wednesday, 29 April 2015
Pictures: Buhari inaugurates 19-member Transition Committee
Photos: Buhari inaugurates 19-member Transition Committee
The President-elect, Gen. Buhari, today WednesdayApril 29th in Abuja inaugurated a 19-member Transition Committee to liaise with its Federal Government counterpart to ensure a smooth transition. See the photos and names of the transition committee members after the cut...
A statement issued in Abuja by the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Committee (APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the terms of reference of the committee include to develop a clear framework for liaison with the out-going Administration for purposes of a smooth hand-over/take-over and to receive hand-over documents from Ministries, Departments and Agencies and itemise the most important or most urgent issues confronting the in-coming government
It said the committee is also saddled with reviewing and making preliminary assessment of the balance sheet of government with particular emphasis on the status of assets and liabilities of government; cash flow position of the government; quantum of public domestic and external debt of government and their deployment; government's out-standing contractual obligations and its ability to meet such obligations and the status of implementation of capital projects.
The committee is also expected to undertake a preliminary assessment of the security challenges facing the country and the counter-insurgency measures taken by the government thus far; the counter policy measures being implemented in the Niger Delta to deal with unrest and major economic crimes in the area. In particular, the status of the Amnesty Programme, the readiness of the Police and other national security and intelligence agencies in addressing threats to law and order and provide a brief over-view of CBN, NNPC, NCC, Customs and FIRS.
Other terms of reference of the committee include to suggest "quick fixes" which will result in tangible, visible and practical measures so that CHANGE will be seen after 30 days, after 100 days, after 6 months of the Administration taking office, and to make any other observations which in view of the Committee would be helpful to the transition and take-off of the new Administration. The committee has two weeks to conclude its work
Speaking at the inauguration in Abuja on Wednesday, the President-elect charged the committee to "assess the information provided to you and advise me on its quality and accuracy. It is a simple matter that you must have the right information if you are to shape appropriate policy decisions.
"Needless to repeat, that your Committee - and indeed our Government - are not on a witch-hunt or engaged in fault-finding. We want the facts and nothing but the facts. What has been done can not be undone. Our job is to learn from the mistakes of the past and attempt to avoid similar."
Gen. Buhari hailed the calibre of the committee's membership, saying they represent some of the best Nigeria can offer. He described the committee chairman, Malam Ahmed Joda, as one of the few surviving links between First Republic civil service to the present day, a man whose versatility includes farming, industry and 21st Century IT and one of Nigerian's precious assets.
Full list of Transition Committee members:
1. Mal. Ahmed Joda - Chairman
2. Dr Doyin Salami - Vice-Chairman
3. Mr Boss Mustapha
4. Mal. Muhammad Hayatuddin
5. Alh. Abubakar Malami SAN
6. Brig. Gen. Lawal Jafaru Isa
7. Sen. Hadi Sirika
8. Sen. Audu Ogbeh
9. Barrister Dalong
10. Mrs Bola Adesola
11. Mr Wale Edun
12. Mrs Nike Aboderin
13. Dr Ogbonnaya Onu
14. Mr Festus Odimegwu
15. Chief John Oyegun
16. Gov. Rotimi Amaechi
17. Dr. Tam David West
18. Alh. Lai Mohammed
19 Mal. Adamu Adamu - Secretary
Alhaji Lai Mohammed
National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)
Abuja, April 29th 2015
Senate passes 2015 budget no space for subsidy
Senate passes 2015 budget without provision for subsidy
APRIL 29, 2015 : SUNDAY ABORISADE 6 COMMENTS

Nigeria Senate
The Senate on Tuesday passed N4.493tn budget for the 2015 fiscal year, about five months after it was presented by the Minister of Finance/Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
The national budget, which was earlier passed by the House of Representatives last week, was N51bn higher than the N4.425tn submitted to both chambers of the National Assembly by the Federal Government.
The Senate approval of the budget on Tuesday, however, confirmed the non-inclusion of fuel subsidy provision in the document but N21bn was budgeted for the funding of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme.
The Senate, in passing the budget, slightly reduced the N2.607, 601, 000, 300 proposed by the executive to N2.607, 132,491,708 as recurrent expenditure and simultaneously scaled down the crapital expenditure from N642, 848,999,699 estimated in the proposal to N556, 995,465,449.
The Chairman, Joint Senate Committee on Appropriation and Finance, Mohammed Maccido, explained that the details of the figure approved by the Senate in the document were not different from the version passed by the House of Representatives last week.
He confirmed that the executive did not make provision for fuel subsidy in the 2015 budget and that the National Assembly left it the way it was presented.
He said, “There was no provision in the budget for subsidy but I believe there should be provision for it especially since there was already a disagreement between the oil marketers and the Federal Government over subsidy payment.”
He added that the budget would be driven by $53 oil benchmark, an exchange rate of N190 to one US dollar; N2.2782m per barrel crude oil production per day; and deficit gross domestic product of -1.12 per cent.
Reacting to the development, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Ahmad Lawan, said the incoming government was bound to review the 2015 fiscal budget because of various flaws.
He said, “The constitutional provision is that we should have even passed the budget before now but due to the exigencies of this period, we have just passed it and we have done our constitutional duty very well.
“I believe that the incoming administration will very swiftly bring a request for a supplementary budget which will try to balance between the capital allocation, that will be very much required in Nigeria, and the recurrent.
“The one we have passed is typical of the Peoples Democratic Party’s submission to the National Assembly. In fact, the budget we have just passed is five to one against the capital allocation when we just have about N500bn against the N2.6tn that is going to recurrent.
“So, we are going to do a review definitely because the incoming administration will have to bring something of that nature for a supplementary request.”
Lawan said the country would have funds to finance the budget because oil prices would continue to improve, corruption would be tackled, and leakages would be blocked.
Also, Senator Olubumni Adetunbi said the incoming government would probably make changes “in form of supplementary budget in line with the policy of cutting the cost of governance because the budget is 20 per cent for capital while the rest is recurrent.”
Senator Ganiyu Solomon said implementation of the budget would pose a problem to the incoming administration.
A critical study of the budget also put fiscal deficit at N1.07tn, N953.6bn for debt service, N375.6bn as statutory transfers and while education takes the lion share of the budget with N392.3bn followed by N338.7bn for the military while N303.8bn was budgeted for police commands and formations
In the same vein, N237bn was voted for the health sector, N153bn for the Ministry of Interior while the Ministry of Works had a meager sum of N25.1bn.
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You are not in position to bar AIT. Dokpesi tells Buhari
The proprietor of Daar Communications PLC, Raymond Dokpesi, has stated that Monday’s decision by the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, to bar one of its subsidiaries, Africa Independent Television, from covering his activities was an attempt by the former military Head of State to bring back the era of Decree 4, according to an interview he granted Premium Times.
Mr. Dokpesi said Mr. Buhari lacks the power to stop the AIT from covering his activities, as doing so would amount to breaking the law.
“I am sure that the President-elect needs to be reminded of Decree 4, and he should be clearly reminded that section 32 of the constitution makes it mandatory for the media to hold public officials accountable to the people,” he said.
He also said Section 39 of the constitution equally grants Nigerians the freedom of expression and to hold opinion.
“The president-elect said that he does not want to be covered by AIT, but AIT has a responsibility to the Nigerian public to report the things that are happening,” he said.
“There are three national networks available for national coverage in Nigeria, the NTA, AIT and Silverbirds. You cannot stop a foremost private station from reporting in Nigeria, it brings us back to Decree 4 era.”
Mr. Dokpesi also acknowledged that Mr. Buhari may have taken his decision based on the documentaries ran by the station during the electioneering campaign.
He said Daar Communications is a commercial entity and therefore reserves the right to run anything it considers worthy of being televised. He said there is also a right of response available to anyone who feels strongly about any matter broadcast by the station.
“If they had produced their own documentary to say this is what we want and AIT did not publish it, then that is another matter,” he said.
“What is obviously very clear is the fact that AIT believes that the historical information about the President elect that were ran, were factually correct. Nothing was done to defame him or impinge on his character or integrity.”
Mr. Dokpesi also added that another documentary about one of the national leaders of APC, Bola Tinubu were also factually correct.
The media proprietor said although the documentaries were produced outside of Daar communications, “We take responsibility for the running of these items and I as an individual is satisfied because due diligence was followed in ensuring that the things that are contained were factually right”.
Sunday, 26 April 2015
Relationship ish!!!!!! What will you do?
Have this ever happened to you? You are having sex with your partner and boom... she mentions someone else's name.
What comes to your mind first?
1. He/she is cheating
2. He/she loves someone else
3. He/she is just joking
4. He/she just made a mistake with your name.
What action will you take?
What comes to your mind first?
1. He/she is cheating
2. He/she loves someone else
3. He/she is just joking
4. He/she just made a mistake with your name.
What action will you take?
Jim Iyke in Fatal Auto Crash in LA........na Godwin!!!!!
BY ADMIN
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Actor Jim Iyke has the shores of Africa few weeks back to US, and he has been in Las Vegas before moving to Los Angeles. According to Jim Iyke he just cheated a fatal auto crash while driving, his front tyre ripped from the rim. He took to his Instagram page to share how he had an accident a few hours ago. Continue…
“Barely 2 hrs after LA my front tire ripped out frm d rim! Had to wait for Triple A for an hr. Damn! Maybe this wasn’t a hot idea after all. Well I’d go wiv the bright side of things as always and say it could be worst. #GladysGotMyBack #ProfDude #GhostModeNiggaDemcantSeeMe’
By #GreenGossip
Saturday, 25 April 2015
Jonathan Is A Moving Train Stopped From Crashing Nigeria........Obasanjo

April 24, 2015 – Obasanjo Says Jonathan Is A Moving Train Stopped From Collapsing Nigeria, Claims Africans Happy He’s Defeated
Ex-President Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo yesterday said that African countries are excited over the outcome of the recently concluded President election in Nigeria which saw the incumbent President defeated.
Mr. Obasanjo said his checks in a number of African countries suggested they were as happy over the result of the election as majority of Nigerians are.
He referred to President Goodluck Jonathan as a moving train who was providentially stopped from collapsing Nigeria.
“I have visited six countries since the election, they are as happy about the results as we are in Nigeria. It is good not only for Nigeria, it is good for Africa and I believe it is good for the world.”
Mr. Obasanjo, who led the African Union Observation Mission to the April 2015 General Election in Sudan, spoke on Thursday at a Washington DC event.
The former president described Nigeria as a country that obsessively plays “a dangerous game of moving close to the precipice”.
He said the country came close to disintegration in the run-up to the 2015 elections but switched swiftly to the path of redemption after the polls.
“I hope we will not fall over one of these days,” he said.
From south africans with hate.
From SA with hate
April 23, 2015
Written by The Nation
• Nothing justifies the current outbreak of xenophobic attacks in South Africa but African leaders must wake up
The world is once again scandalised at the ongoing xenophobic attacks in South Africa, the land of the much revered Madiba. The pictures are as gruesome as they are surreal; in an age where images are streamed live as events happen the world is regaled with savagery that is instantaneous and blood-cuddling.
We have seen scenes of a mob of young, black men chase down a fellow black man on the streets of Johannesburg or Durban in broad daylight. The hapless lad is cornered and mauled until he dies in cold blood. Just last weekend, a Mozambican, Emmanuel Sithole, was caught on video being circled by four South African youths who eventually knifed him to death on the street of Alexandra township, north of Johannesburg. This happened in daylight with a crowd watching and applauding.
In 2008, about 62 immigrants died in a rash of xenophobic attacks mainly in Johannesburg townships. The incidents dented the image of South Africa as an emergent ‘rainbow nation’ of multi-ethnic nationalities living in harmony.
The recent upwelling of angst is being attributed to tribal Zulu monarch Goodwill Zwetlithini’s speech March 20 in which he complained about his people being out of jobs as a result of an influx of immigrants. He was reported to have requested that foreigners should leave South Africa.
A coalition of groups in South Africa was also reported to have teamed up to send out sms messages to non-citizens warning them to leave the country immediately or face their wrath. Some of these groups include Patriotic Movement, Pan Local Forum, Unemployed Local Forum, Unemployed Workers Forum and Anti-Crime Movement.
They were quite explicit in their message which reads in parts: “Dear neigbours from Africa and other parts of the world, we have travelled the world and have not found one country that allows the floods of humans across its borders as South Africa is experiencing…
“We were seven million in Johannesburg in 2011. Today, we have an estimated 13 million. In Johannesburg alone, you have taken over entire suburbs (like) Yeoville, Berea, Bez Valley, Turfontein, among many. You have even moved into rural parts of our country that have 80 per cent unemployment, and there are no visible signs that you have jobs either.
“We want to be proudly part of the geographic construct called Africa but we are different from one another as Kenyans are from Nigerians; Ivorians from Chadians.
“We are pleading with you to return to your home countries. Go and build up those countries so that we can all live in economic, social and political prosperity and peace as neighbours. The genocide in this corner of Africa will be far worse than what happened in Rwanda in 1994…”
Already, no fewer than seven people have been killed, mainly Zimbabweans and Mozambicans. Over 900 immigrants from countries contiguous to South Africa have been evacuated.
Though only a few Nigerians have been affected so far with their shops looted or workshops burnt, movement has been restricted in the worst hit cities and activities of foreigners curtailed as most of them are huddled indoors. The police have been unable to stop the attacks for over a week and soldiers had to be called out by the South African government two days ago.
While many have condemned the attacks and also point to the South Africans repaying fellow Africans who were in the vanguard of their liberation from apartheid with bad coins, the problems run deeper. The recent uprising may well be early symptoms of the unraveling of the ‘rainbow nation’. With increasing misgovernance in recent years, conditions of living have continued to fall. Fewer jobs are created yet there is an influx from other African countries that are in even more severe conditions.
There may be need for the Africa Union (AU) to devise a concerted approach to the problem. Leaders, especially of Black African countries, must resolve to live up to their responsibilities and improve the conditions of living of their citizens. This kind of broad-based solution is required as danger of a continental economic crisis looms.
Thursday, 23 April 2015
Petrol subsidy booby trap for Buhari in Budget 2015

April 24, 2015
Written by Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja
The stage seems set for a major controversy in the polity, with the passage yesterday of the 2015 Appropriation Bill.
There is no provision for fuel subsidy in the N4,493,363,957,158 estimates approved by the House of Representatives.
The budget has a recurrent (non-debt) expenditure of N2.607, 132,491,708.
Last year, N971.1b was spent on fuel subsidy – same as in 2013.
The N701, 415,465,449 capital expenditure was broken into N556, 995,465,449 for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) and N144, 420,009,000 for statutory transfer.
The budget is N67,433,759,158 higher than the N425,425,930,000 stated in the report that was laid on Wednesday by the joint Chairman, Committees on Appropriations and Finance, John Enoh.
Speaking on the removal of fuel subsidy, Legislative Budget and Research Committee Chairman Opeyemi Bamidele said it was a booby trap set for the in-coming Muhammadu Buhari administration.
According to him, the silence over the removal is capable of setting off the new government on a wrong footing.
He said: “With the withdrawal of fuel subsidy, Nigerians must be educated, else they would be sending Nigerians a wrong signal capable of creating the impression that APC either deceived Nigerians to get their votes or had reneged on its electoral promise as a progressive party.
“The truth and reality of the situation is that the outgoing PDP administration has, through the 2015 budget, removed oil subsidy and it must be made to accept responsibility for it rather than for the incoming APC administration to bask along in the euphoria of having won an election without realizing the booby trap into which they and the Nigerian people are walking into”.
While expressing fears over possible reaction from Nigerians, Bamidele said it was imperative for Nigerians to know who to hold responsible for the development.
“For the record and for posterity purposes, I am opposed to this sudden removal of fuel subsidy and I implore Nigerian patriots to be aware.
“The political economy of this development and its grave implications must not be lost on all stakeholders. This is more so when a new ruling party is coming into power by May 29, 2015.
“To my mind, this is definitely a booby trap for the incoming administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and I hope the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the incoming ruling party will understand the full implications of this and take immediate steps to let Nigerians know where it stands on this matter.
“This is a serious development and a defining moment that calls for the attention of all well meaning Nigerians at home and abroad.
“This is the first time in the last 16 years of our civilian rule that a new political party will be taking over to form a government.
“If care is not taken, this matter is capable of making the incoming government morally dead on arrival, except the issues are promptly dealt with in a way that the critical stakeholders, including the civil society, corporate Nigeria, political class and the generality of Nigerians will know the true state of affairs,” he warned.
The budget that scaled third reading after it was passed at the Committee on Supply, chaired by Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, was raised by N135.4b to N4.493trn from the N4,357,960,000,000 proposed by the Executive in November 2014.
Niger Delta Development Commission’s allocation was raised from N45.780b to N46.720b; Universal Basic Education’s allocation went up from N67.3b to N68.380b; National Assembly’s allocation was raised from N115b to N120b; Public Complaint Commission’s allocation climbed up from N2b to N4b and National Human Right Commission’s allocation was raised from N1.2b to N1.516b.
The breakdown of the final amount passed showed that N375.616b is for statutory transfer while the N953.620b for debt service was N894,610,009,000 for domestic debt and N59,010,009,009 for foreign debt.
Under recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, Education got the highest allocation of N392,363,784,654, followed by Defence/MOD/Army/Air Force/Navy with N338,697,219,431. Police formation and Commands got N303,822,224,611 and N237,075,742,847 is for Health sector.
In the budget, N69,423,427,479 was allocated to Youth Development; N62,226, 771,999 for office of the National Security Adviser; N58,247,429,975 (Petroleum Resources); N48, 389,942,264 (Secretary to the Government of the Federation); N41,649,382,166 (Foreign Affairs) and N31,869,020,717 (Agriculture and Rural Development).
Science and Technology got N25,593,880,816; Works (N25,173,916,543); Information (N23,682,420,241); Presidency (N20,085,865,120); Tourism, Culture and National Orientation (N18,018,478,935); Environment (N15,599,334,341); Trade and Investment (N10,941,859,480) and while Communication Technology (N10,592,048,381).
From the N13,965,664,092 approved for the eight Federal Executive bodies, N5,293,800,054 is for the National Population Commission; N1,935,767,344 is for the Code of Conduct Bureau; N493,656,088 (Code of Conduct Tribunal); N2,207,213,456 (Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission); N1,125,005,114 (Federal Civil Service Commission); N740,477,185 (Police Service Commission) and N2,167,931,068 (Federal Character Commission).
Also, N354,335,011,023 was approved for Service Wide Votes with N20.170b allocated to Operation Zaman Lafiya; N22b is for operations – Internal for the Armed Forces; N9.6b is for payment to Nigerian Army Quick Response Group, including arrears; N5b is for payment of outsourced services; N2.3b is for entitlements of former Presidents/Heads of State and Vice Presidents/Chiefs of General Staff; N5.5b is for Employees Compensation Act – Employees Compensation Fund; N17.5b is for General Elections logistics support; N17,397,993,277 is for Contingency; N6b is for country’s contribution to West African Examinations Council (WAEC); N4.5b is for assessed contribution to African Union and others; N6,099,600,000 is for margin for increases in costs; N9.5b is for external financial obligations; N3,099,600,000 is for recurrent adjustment; N38,987,017,746 is for public service wage adjustment for MDAs (including arrears of promotion and salary increases) while N11.755b is for improved remuneration package for Nigerian police.
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