BREAKING: UK court blocks Niger Delta pollution claims against Shell

A British court ruled in favor of Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell on Thursday in a case brought by more than 40,000 Niger Delta residents over spills in the region.


The court agreed with the multinational’s argument that the high-profile case should be heard in Nigeria, while the claimants had argued they could only get justice in British courts.

Details Later…

Source:  punch newspaper

BREAKING: Govs not meeting over Buhari’s rumoured death – FG

The Federal Government has debunked the rumor making the rounds in some quarters that governors would meet in Abuja today and deliberate on the health of President Muhammadu Buhari.

It said while the report was false, it also added that the governors were also not planning to send representatives to London to see the President.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated this when he received members of the Presidential Initiative Committee on the North-East who visited him in Abuja.

Mohammed said there was no need for the visit, saying that the President was merely observing his leave as stated in the letter sent to the Senate before leaving the country.

Source:  Punch newspaper

Buhari was the right candidate to beat PDP — TINUBU

NATIONAL Leader of All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday, outlined steps that can urgently take Nigeria out of recession, if taken and that Buhari was the right candidate to beat Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Tinubu, who for the first time spoke on the inside strategy that catapulted the APC to power, gave reasons he backed President Muhammadu Buhari for the 2015 presidential election, adding that in a short-while Buhari had done what the ousted Peoples Democratic Party, PDP could not do in the war against the Boko Haram insurgency.

Tinubu made the disclosures while addressing participants of Course 25 of the National Defence College, NDC. He commended the military for its exploits against the Boko Haram insurgents and warned that Nigeria must be on her guard. ‘’I commend the Nigerian military for what it has achieved against Boko Haram. You have battled and defeated this evil enterprise. This vile force has been reduced to where it no longer poses a strategic threat. You have done as well as a military can in putting down this amorphous danger. The nation thanks you. I must say here, however, that we cannot lower our guard. ‘’We have learned cardinal lessons from the Boko Haram crisis. First, we must govern justly and for the benefit of the people to prevent the recurrence of violent extremism in the future,’’ he said. Unjust allocation of resources To wriggle out of recession, Tinubu said we must ensure just allocation of resources and shift primary focus to the economic front. His words: ‘’The decline of high oil prices threatens to be a long-term phenomenon. 

It placed the nation in recession last year and revealed the structural weaknesses of our national economy. ‘’Strategic objectives during this period of economic uncertainty must be to re-engineer the economy bottom up, diversify the economic base, strengthen our industrial base, modernize infrastructure, enhance agriculture, and provide employment. And of course, ease of doing business must not be overlooked in order to attract foreign investment. ‘’The lower oil prices also reduced hard currency earnings. This undermined the naira, causing a steep rise in the cost of imports. The higher prices have suppressed aggregate demand, causing a decline in business activity. ‘’The challenge before us is a difficult but not impossible one. If we stick to the progressive beliefs of the APC, we shall overcome these difficulties to place the economy on surer permanent footing. ‘’Government has shown its commitment to these ideals via its budget for this year and by the strong help it is giving state governments to meet their budgetary requirements. The unprecedented stipend programme for the poorest highlights the government’s concern for those who have been left unattended by the dynamics of the marketplace. Economic restructuring ‘’Achieving the desired economic restructuring will require a change in economic mindset and strategy. We must avoid the nostrums of mainstream orthodoxy that say government deficits are always bad. In the situation we face, deficit spending is essential to bolster aggregate demand and direct funds to projects that build infrastructure and bolster employment. ‘’We must better harmonize monetary policy with fiscal policy. It undercuts our goals if monetary policy is unduly tight at a time fiscal policy begets deficit spending. ‘’We must also realign trade policy with our need to create a meaningful industrial base and more potent agricultural sector.

source: vanguard newspaper

[Updated] Oil subsidy fraud: Court jails Ontario Oil MD 10 years, orders refund of N754m to FG

Justice Lateefa Okunnu of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja on Thursday sentenced the Managing Director of Ontario Oil and Gas Limited, Mrs. Ada Ugo-Ngali, to a jail term of 10 years for a fuel subsidy fraud of N754m.

The judge ordered the refund of the N754m to the Federal Government.

Justice Okunnu had on January 13, 2017 convicted Ugo-Ngali, Ontario Oil and Gas Limited and its Chairman, Mr. Walter Wagbatsoma of eight counts pressed against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes.

The judge had been unable to pass the sentence on the judgment day as Ugo-Ngali slumped in court after being convicted and just before the judge could pass the sentence.

The convict was subsequently rushed out of the courtroom and and taken to Havannah hospital in Surelere from where she was later moved to the intensive care unit of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba.

Ngo-Ngali came to court on Thursday straight from LUTH and on a wheel chair, with plasters on her body.

In passing the sentence, Justice Okunnu rejected the plea of the convict’s lawyer, Mr. Edoka Onyeke, praying that the sentence should be non-custodian in view of his client’s health.

“I have considered the plea of the defence counsel for non-custodian sentence of the 2nd defendant. I have to say that the request to grant a non-custodian sentence must be rejected and I can only exercise my discretion on the length of time the convict will spend in prison,” Justice Okunnu held.

She subsequently sentenced the convict to a cumulative jail term of 69 years, which would, however, run concurrently for only 10 years.

The judge said the jail term would begin to read from January 13, 2017, when Ngo-Ngali and her accomplices were pronounced convicted.

Wagbatsoma, who is the first convict in the case, is said to be currently under house arrest in the United Kingdom, where he is being held for money laundering, relating to a £12m National Health Service Trust fraud.

Drama ensued soon after Ngo-Ngali was sentenced as the convict’s relatives and prison officials pounced on the official photographer of the EFCC, for attempting to take Ngo-Ngali’s shots as she was being wheeled towards the waiting prison van.

The EFCC had on August 1, 2013 arraigned the Ngo-Ngali, Wagbatsoma and their company, accusing them of defrauding the Federal Government of N1.9bn, which they fraudulently obtained as subsidy sum for purportedly importing Premium Motor Spirit into the country.

Also charged with the three convicts was an official of the Petroleum Products Price and Regulatory Agency, Mr. Babafemi Fakuade, who was, however, discharged and acquitted by the judge on January 13.

In finding Wagbatsoma and Ngo-Ngali guilty, Justice Okunnu held, “The defendants defrauded the Federal Government of N340m in the third quarter of 2010 and N414m in the fourth quarter of 2010.

“According to a forensic audit by Akintola Williams Delloitte, the defendants did not remit an excess of N754m to the Federal Government.

“The first defendant knowingly received the sum in excess of what the fourth defendant (Ontario Oil and Gas Limited) was entitled to.

“In my opinion, he contributed to the false pretence.”

Justice Okunnu further held, “The second defendant is the MD of the company, she is the alter – ego of the fourth defendant and was aware of the going ons of the company.”‎

Copyright: Punch Newspaper

I drove taxis and worked as a guard – Kayode Fayemi

Dr Kayode Fayemi, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, has challenged Nigerian youths to explore and utilise their creative ability to develop the society.

Fayemi gave the challenge while delivering the 2016 convocation lecture of at the University of Lagos.

He said that one of the failings of the society was its inability to give young people enough room to explore their creative abilities.

The theme of the lecture is: “Building a Successor-Generation: Reflections on Values and Knowledge in Nation Building.’’

According to him, there is need for young people to be given chance for self expression and make mistakes to avoid repeating same later in life.

He further said that young people did not optimally take advantage of opportunities where they existed.

The minister said that a university, being a “macrocosm and microcosms’’ of the larger society ought to be the ground for students to explore and make mistakes in a protected environment.

‘’Macrocosm and microcosm refers to a vision of cosmos where the part (microcosm) reflects the whole (macrocosm) and vice versa.

“The earlier we realise that no one owes us anything, the better for us and the more prepared we will be to face challenges of life.

“Do not think you are entitled to a job just because of your parents’ influence or what they have.

“Do not think things will be all rosy because you graduated from UNILAG with good grades.

“Be prepared for surprises and disappointments, because life is bound to hand you a couple of them.

“The only guarantee you have in this life is what you do for your selves with the grace God has bestowed on us all,’’ he said.

Fayemi urged youths to be prepared to bend backwards and do those things they might consider to be beneath them.

“What you need to know, however, is that as a UNILAG graduate and a postgraduate student in the United Kingdom, I have driven taxis and worked as a guard among other several menial jobs to survive.’’

Sources: the punch newspaper

War brews as Trump threatens China over South China Sea

President Donald Trump and his aides are sabre-rattling on South China, vowing to prevent China from taking over territory in international waters in the South China Sea. Chinese state media have already warned the move would require Washington to “wage war.” China believes South China Sea belongs to China.

The comments at a briefing from White House spokesman Sean Spicer signalled a sharp departure from years of cautious U.S. handling of China’s assertive pursuit of territory claims in Asia, just days after Trump took office on Friday.

The U.S. is going to make sure that we protect our interests there,” Spicer said when asked if Trump agreed with comments by his Secretary of State nominee, Rex Tillerson, on Jan. 11 that China should not be allowed access to islands it has built in the contested South China Sea. “It’s a question of if those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China proper, then yeah, we’re going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country,” he said. Tillerson’s remarks at his Senate confirmation hearing prompted Chinese state media to say the United States would need to “wage war” to bar China’s access to the islands where it has built military-length air strips and installed weapons systems. 

Tillerson, who was expected to be confirmed as secretary of State on Monday, was asked at the hearing whether he supported a more aggressive posture towards China and said: “We’re going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops and, second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed.” The former Exxon Mobil Corp chairman and chief executive did not elaborate on what might be done to deny China access to the islands. But analysts said his comments, like those of Spicer, suggested the possibility of U.S. military action, or even a naval blockade, that would risk armed confrontation with China, an increasingly formidable nuclear-armed military power. It is also the world’s second-largest economy and the target of accusations by Trump that it is stealing American jobs. Spicer declined to elaborate when asked how the United States could enforce such a move against China, except to say: “I think, as we develop further, we’ll have more information on it.” Military experts said that while the U.S. Navy has extensive capabilities in Asia to stage blockading operations with ships, submarines and planes, any such move against China’s growing naval fleets would risk dangerous escalation. Aides have said that Trump plans a major naval build-up in East Asia to counter China’s rise. China’s Foreign Ministry said earlier this month it could not guess what Tillerson meant by his remarks, which came after Trump questioned Washington’s longstanding and highly sensitive “one-China” policy over Taiwan. Washington-based South China Sea expert Mira Rapp-Hooper at the Center for a New American Security called the threats to bar China’s access in the South China Sea “incredible” and said it had no basis in international law. “A blockade – which is what would be required to actually bar access – is an act of war,” she added. “The Trump administration has begun to draw red lines in Asia that they will almost certainly not be able to uphold, but they may nonetheless be very destabilising to the relationship with China, invite crises, and convince the rest of the world that the United States is an unreliable partner.” Dean Cheng, a China expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said Spicer’s remarks showed the South China Sea was an important issue for the Trump administration.

Femi Kuti in Maiduguri; urges stars, fans to focus on Boko Haram victims

Renowned Afrobeat musician, Femi Kuti has urged celebrities and their fans to work with the government to help millions of people struggling to survive in Boko Haram-hit northeast Nigeria.

Pastor sacked for registering with MMM tops Google trending

The search engine, Google, says that trending most on its site is the sacking of Joseph Aiyedun, a pastor with the popular Nigerian church, Omega Fire Ministries (OFM). Mr Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Google’s Communications and Public Affairs Manager, Anglophone West Africa, said in a statement in Lagos that the pastor was sacked for registering with the controversial ponzi scheme, popularly known as MMM.

Kola-Ogunlade said that the scheme surprised many operators this year when it resumed its activities after freezing their accounts for a month. He said that, MMM on resumption of operations, had said that it would give priorities to the poor in its give help (GP) payments, while the rich would have to wait for some time. The Google spokesman also said that Nollywood star, Tontoh Dikeh, seeking for forgiveness from her colleague, Mercy Johnson, on social media was also top on Google search this week. “To err is Tonto Dikeh, to forgive is Mercy Johnson,’’ Kola-Ogunlade had quoted Dikeh as saying. “Tonto Dikeh went on social media to seek the forgiveness from Johnson who she insulted four years ago, for which Johnson replied immediately, telling her she forgave her wholeheartedly. “Dikeh has also raised questions on her marriage as she recently dropped the last name of her husband and the description ‘wife’ from her social media page,’’ he said.

BREAKING: Magu, SGF cleared of corruption, Buhari tells Senate

President Muhammadu Buhari has informed the Senate that the Acting Chairman of the Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, have been cleared of corruption charges following an investigation into allegations against them.

Buhari said this in a letter to the Senate re-nominating Magu as Chairman of the EFCC.

In the letter read by Senate President Bukola Saraki, Buhari said Magu and Lawal were cleared of corruption in a report by the Attorney General of the Federation.

NANS decries graft in tertiary institutions, moves against VC, Oyo government

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has decried corruption in tertiary institutions, pledging to partner the Federal Government, anti-graft agencies and unions in tackling the menace.

The association’s national president, Comrade Chinonso Obasi, who made the stance known in a statement after a press briefing at the weekend in Abuja, gave the Vice Chancellor of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State; Prof. Francis Otunta, a seven-day ultimatum, starting from January 20, to resign from office “for gross incompetence, maladministration and overwhelming allegations of corrupt practices.

               Abiola Ajimobi

“Failure by Prof. Otunta to comply with this patriotic call would be met with serious resistance, as we shall not hesitate to occupy and chase him out of the university.”

NANS also gave Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State same deadline to reopen Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomosho, describing the governor’s recent utterances during a peaceful protest by the students as shameful, uncivil and belittling of the office he holds. The institution was shut some eight months ago over demand for payment of salaries and other perks by both academic and non-academic members of staff.

Reacting through a telephone chat, Otunta, said: “As far as I know, I am free from any corruption charges. And that Chinonso Obasi is more corrupt than any person: He was my student when I was a rector. I have only been a vice chancellor for 11 months and all the atrocities committed in Michael Okpara University are on record which I want the media to come and find out. I know who is corrupt.

“Obasi was an expelled student of mine when I was a rector. I was outside the country when they caught him cheating in an examination and he was dismissed.

“Ask anybody about me, I am a man with an impeccable result. I have been chief executive for eight years and was reappointed for another five years. When a very well known thief made such an allegation, you should have jailed him first. But I must tell him that force will meet with force.”

The NANS leader, who also condemned the protracted industrial unrest at the Federal University of Technology Akurre (FUTA), Ondo State, pleaded with government to rein in the institution’s vice chancellor, Prof. Adebiyi Daramola, just as he called on President Muhammadu Buhari to honour the United Nations’ 26 per cent vote of the national budget for education. He made the appeal following his displeasure for the amount earmarked for the sector in the 2017 appropriation Act.

Ambode’s Lake Rice: Matters arising

While the euphoria that greeted the sale and distribution of the Lagos/Kebbi Rice initiative begins to wind down, one will not forget in a hurry, the news of the Memorandum of Understanding which was recently consummated between the two aforementioned states on the production and marketing of this fast-growing Nigeria’s most staple food – rice.

Needless dabbling into the nitty gritty of the agreement. It is pertinent to point out here that the consuming public was kept longer than necessary while the speculation lasted, concerning the delivery date, modalities and pricing and name. Not much was done to bring things to the public knowledge until a few days preceding the Christmas and New Year period when the true picture began to crystallize.

At the end, decision was taken by the state government to the effect of distributing the commodity across designated centres, mainly at local government areas.

source: punch newspaper

How Tinubu’s plane helped remove Jammeh

INDICATIONS have emerged that a plane belonging to the National Leader of All Progressives Congress , APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was used to fly ex-Gambian President, Mr. Yahaya Jammeh out of the country.

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and ex-Gambian President, Mr. Yahaya Jammeh

It was learnt that upon being contacted for the use of the aircraft, Tinubu, who was in Conakry at that time, agreed on condition that it should only be used for the purpose in order to restore peace and democracy in the country. The VP-CBT Falcon jet, which had been with Guinean President, Alpa Conde for days, was stationed in Banjul to ferry Jammeh out of the country after 22 years in power. Vanguard further gathered that Tinubu is a personal friend of President Conde. Conde and Mauritania’s President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz had spent much of Friday in Banjul persuading Jammeh to leave power. A BBC report on Saturday at 10.30 pm said the plane had taken off for Guinea with Jammeh, his family and President Conde on board. The former Gambian leader was flown to Conakry where he would temporarily stay before leaving for Equatorial Guinea where he would live in exile. West African leaders did not agree to immunity for Jammeh during negotiations that convinced Gambia’s longtime ruler to flee into exile, Senegal’s foreign minister said on Sunday. Jammeh, who is accused of serious rights violations, led his country for 22 years but refused to accept defeat in a December election. He flew out of the capital Banjul late on Saturday as a regional military force was poised to remove him.

Source:vanguard newspaper

South Korea’s acting president urges ‘swift’ THAAD deployment

North Korea’s nuclear and missile capabilities are accelerating at an “unprecedented” pace, the South’s acting president said Monday, urging the swift deployment of a US anti-missile system that has infuriated Beijing.

Seoul and Washington agreed last year to install the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system in the South after a string of North Korean nuclear and missile tests — prompting strong objections from China, which fears it will undermine its own ballistic capabilities.

   South Korea’s acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn speaks during a New Year’s press conference at the government complex in Seoul on January 23, 2017

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Acting President Hwang Kyo-Ahn said the North had conducted two nuclear tests and fired multiple ballistic missiles last year, averaging two per month.
source: guardian newspaper

Senegal set for cracker against Algeria

Senegal will be on a mission to bag three wins against Algeria when they wrap up their Group B campaign of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations tournament at the Stade de Franceville in Gabon today. Kick-off time is 9:00pm

Although the West Africans have already reached the knockout stages of the continental showpiece, their aim is to finish their group stage campaign in style with a win.

Bagging three wins and not conceding a single goal will be a feat they would like to achieve, as they want to remain favourites to lift the trophy.
source: guardian newspaper

President’s UK vacation or medical tourism?

If President Muhammadu Buhari’s latest voyage to the United Kingdom is 100 per cent a vacation, as announced by the Presidency, then, there’re no justification for going overseas. As a President, he should be leading by example. Obudu Cattle Ranch or Yankari Game Reserve should be just enough for his vacation. Or, why not Daura, his hometown? The only problem, maybe, is that the office could have easily followed him to any local resting place. But that could be easily managed.

If it is for medical reasons, then Mr. President is encouraging medical tourism, the same medical tourism he had insisted that his government should no longer allow.

The President ought to have by now been able to find good local doctors to be treating him in Nigeria. It is like telling the Nigerian Medical Association and Nigerian hospitals that they are all not good enough to treat him.

Having said that, please don’t forget that the President could be afraid of his medical records being leaked to the public should he be treated locally. So, it’s understandable why he chooses to go to the UK.

All in all, President Buhari, we should all agree, is not an extravagant leader like his predecessors. And for someone who loves his country, he is fully aware of the state of the economy and the mood of the people that he wouldn’t want to be seen as an indifferent leader.

Source: punch newspaper 

Energy crunch worsens as output drops to 2,200mw

Prices of kerosene, diesel, petrol, gas remain high 
Nigerians’ economic hardship has taken a turn for the worse as electricity supply dropped from the 4,883.9 mega watts (MW) it recorded in the last one month to 2,200MW as at January 21, 2017.

This is far below the country’s installed capacity of 11,165.40MW and network operational capability of 5,500MW.

Over 450mw of electricity has been trapped at the Afam V Power Station in Rivers State following a fire incident, in which Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) protection and control equipment were destroyed last week.

source: guardian