Fuel marketers to receive payment N156bn from FG today

Schedule

                                                                Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Wednesday in Abuja - The Federal Government on stated that the issue of the Fuel Scarcity is being addressed and expressed concern about  effects of the scarcity  on citizens. To this effect,oil marketers would today (Thursday) receive the sum of N156bn as arrears of their subsidy claims from the Federal Government.

I never apologised to Bode George — Bola Tinubu

                                                             Bola Ahmed Tinubu


 APC Chieftain, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Tuesday refuted the claim that he apologised Bode George, for allegedly playing a part in jailing him.
Mr. George had, in an interview with THE PUNCH, claimed that Mr. Tinubu apologised to him at a public function.He further stated that Initially, Tinubu thought he hated him so much and conspired to use a judge to put him in prison.

However, Mr. Tinubu said at no time had he begged Mr. George for forgiveness since he never wronged him. He further stated that it amounted to an insult on the judiciary for Mr. George to assume that his conviction was wrongly derived or that he(George) was a victim of conspiracy.
He said there was no way he could have influenced Mr. George’s imprisonment. He was charged by the government ruled by his own party for an offence concerning financial irregularities at the Nigeria Port Authority, NPA, an appointment he received from that same government. It is an incredible tale indeed to state that somehow I could direct a party that tried to dismantle the progressive political structure of my party to bring down one of its key members.

He offered opposing account of what transpired at the burial of late Alao Arisekola, where Mr. George claimed the APC chieftain begged him.
“Mr. George claims the alleged apology was made at the burial of Chief Alao Arisekola. On that date, personalities such as Oba Otudeko and Governor Ajimobi approached me because I did not greet Mr. George initially. They pleaded that, in the memory of the man we were all gathered to honour, I should greet Mr. George. At their request, I turned back and came to greet him by saying “Good Afternoon Egbon”. That was all.
“If Mr. George wishes to interpret that as an apology, he has the right to do so. I also have the right to state categorically that no apology was made or even intended,” he explained.
On the statement Mr. George’s made declaring that he would go on exile should APC win the presidential election, Mr. Tinubu added that neither him nor APC had the intention of victimizing the PDP leader, stating that, “We have no time or inclination to trouble ourselves by troubling Bode George.”

Bauchi State Governor, Mallam Isa Yuguda sacks 2,000 aides

                                                            Governor IsaYuguda

Bauchi State governor, Mallam Isa Yuguda, has sacked about 2,000 of his political aides.

The directive, which was contained in a statement by the Permanent Secretary, Political Affairs, Government House, Hashimu Yakubu, on behalf of the Secretary to the State Government, stated that   all Special Advisers, Senior Special Assistants, Special Assistants and Personal Assistants had been fired with immediate effect.

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According to the statement those working directly under His Excellency the Executive Governor and the Deputy Governor are not affected.

The statement, also directed those affected to hand over government property in their possession to the heads of organizations where they served.

The Governor also expressed his appreciation to the disengaged political aides for their contributions to the development of Bauchi State in their various capacities and wished them the best in their future endeavours.

"Last minute Dubious Activities"- Jonathan Responds to the APC

   President Jonathan, in a statement in Abuja through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, on Monday said he never authorized any attempt to create any problems for the incoming administration.

This is in response to the statement by the Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed threatening to probe the Jonathan's outgoing administration of carrying out "last minute dubious activities" and described it as  “unfortunate and uncharitable.”

 President Jonathan stated that the Publicity Secretary of the APC ought to know that the outcome of the March 28 presidential election does not imply a cessation of governance.

 The President said his administration had nothing to hide in respect of the claim by a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi, that $20bn oil money was not remitted to the Federation Account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

To this effect, he said he had directed that the full report by PriceWaterHouse which was commissioned to carry out a detailed investigation into the activities of the NNPC be made public immediately.

Buhari had while receiving an APC delegation from Adamawa State on Sunday, expressed the intention of his administration to probe the alleged missing $20b from May 29 since the claim was documented. He also expressed  surprise that instead of probing the allegation by Sanusi ,who is now the Emir of Kano, the Jonathan-led Peoples Democratic Party administration chose to fire him.

Sanusi had written a letter to Jonathan that $49bn was not remitted to the Federation Account by the NNPC. But following the controversy which the letter generated, a committee was set up to reconcile the account.

The President also stated that he sees nothing wrong in the proposed review of the actions of the present administrtion by the in-coming administration that it is a normal practice for new government to review the actions of previous government on assumption of office.

APC Accuses Jonathan's Administration of last minute "dubious activities"

                                                              Alhaji Lai Mohammed    

The All Progressives Congress through its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has threatened to probe the outgoing administration of President Goodluck Jonathan over some “last-minute dubious activities” ahead of the May 29 handover.

The party accused the outgoing administration of looting the nation’s resources, hurriedly recruiting into the public service and privatizing key financial institutions.

The party stated that there have been media reports of such anomalies, the party had received reliable information from members of the public about some dubious actions by key officials of the outgoing Jonathan administration.

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The party advised that it was important for the outgoing administration not to create any more problems for the incoming government than it had already done, or to tie the new government’s hands through some suspicious actions.

The APC said the Buhari administration would look into all actions taken by Jonathan’s administration after the March 28 presidential election.

The party therefore  called on President Goodluck Jonathan to call his officials to order, lest they engage in actions that can later embarrass his administration.

BBC shortlists Oshoala for BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year

                                              Azizat Oshoala

British Broadcasting Corporation has shortlisted Super Falcons and Liverpool FC forward, Asisat Oshoala, for the first edition of the  Women’s Footballer of the Year Award. 

The event was announced during one of their monthly programmes ahead of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada.

Oshoala was nominated along with four others: Spain’s Verónica Boquete, German Nadine Kessler, Kim Little of Scotland and Marta of Brazil.

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Fans are expected to vote for their favourite player to increase their chances of winning the award with the voting closing on May 11 and the winner being announced on May 26.

Mary Hockaday who is the Controller of BBC World Service English, said, “The five shortlisted players represent an incredible array of talent and show the growing strength of the women’s game. The vote is now open to fans to choose their favourite player.”

See PICS of men who murdered Emmanuel Sithole in  SA






 These four men appeared in court today for allegedly stabbing  Mozambican man Emmanuel Sithole to death on Saturday April 18th  and were later remanded in prison. SA Police released their photo on Twitter.