We’ll never hang Buhari’s portrait in our offices –PDP

The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party has refused to hang the official portrait of President Muhammadu Buhari at the party’s national secretariat, checks by The PUNCH reported.

Over 100 days after the President assumed office, the PDP has yet to hang his portrait at any of the offices in its Wadata House national secretariat, located at Zone 5, Abuja.

The party has also said it would never put Buhari’s portraits on its walls though it has removed that of the former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, who ruled on the platform of the PDP.

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“We will never hang his portrait in this office, because President Buhari is not known to our party. He is 

not a leader of our party and therefore we will never put his portrait here. We are a political party, very partisan and therefore, we are not going to hide that,” National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, told our correspondent on the telephone on Tuesday.

Jonathan was also the presidential candidate of the former ruling party during the last general election but he was defeated by Buhari, who was the presidential candidate of the opposition All Progressives Congress.

The defeat was the first to be suffered by the PDP since the return of democracy in 1999.

Before now, the party has always been hanging the portraits of all the Presidents at the party’s reception area as well as the National Executive Committee and National Working Committee halls within the secretariat.

Metuh said the APC also did not hang the portrait of Jonathan in its offices before the former President was defeated in the March 28 election.

“Can you find out if the APC had the portrait of former President Jonathan in their office before he was defeated? That is just it,” he told our correspondent.

When asked whether the party was taking its own pound of flesh, Metuh said no but that since Buhari “is not a member of our party, we won’t put his portrait here.”

The APC National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Lai Mohammed, expressed shock at Metuh’s comment.

“This is ridiculous and we have no comment. Let Nigerians judge the PDP on this matter,” Mohammed said.

He said the PDP spokesman had a shallow understanding of the concept of opposition politics.

Nigeria is built on satanic foundation, says Fani-Kayode

A former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, says Nigeria has refused to develop because it was built on a ‘satanic’ foundation.

The former minister said this in a Facebook post titled, ‘Lord Lugard’s Magic and Flora Shaw’s Spell.’

Fani-Kayode, who also served as the Minister of Tourism under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, said the manner with which Nigeria was created in 1914 was the reason the country was still struggling.

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He said both Lord Fredrick Lugard, who was the first Governor-General of Nigeria; and his wife, Flora Shaw (later Flora Lugard), who gave Nigeria its name, were worshippers of Satan.

Fani-Kayode said, “It is generally agreed though not commonly admitted that both Lugard and Flora Shaw were Luciferians who practised the black arts and all manner of satanic rituals.

“He (Lugard) was a ‘High Priest of the Freemasons’ whilst they were both avid followers of Aleister Crowley, the leading satanist of his day and the self-styled ‘world’s most wicked man.’”

“This explains a lot. It also explains why Shaw gave us the name Nigeria – a name which has questionable roots. Anyone that doubts this should consider the literal translation of Nigeria into Latin: it means “the area of darkness” and there is a deep spiritual and mystical reason why she gave us that name.

“It comes with a lot of baggage because not much good can come out of an area of darkness.”

Fani-Kayode, who was the spokesperson for former President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign organisation, said most of the African countries that were colonised by Britain had since changed their names.

He said only Sudan and Nigeria refused to change their names and that was why they were still struggling.

He added, “Most of the former British colonies changed their names after independence for similar reasons but because most of our leaders in Nigeria were not aware of these matters, they refused to do so.

“Lugard and Shaw were an unlikely couple who had no children. What held them together was more spiritual and mystical than anything else and Nigeria and Sudan are their joint legacy to the world.

“Sadly, both countries are having major challenges today. Sudan has broken into two after a protracted and bitter civil war while Nigeria is experiencing serious regional, ethnic and religious tensions. It is clear that our nation needs a good deal of prayers. May God deliver us from Lord Lugard’s magic and his beautiful wife’s spell.”

Fani-Kayode said Nigeria was created such that the North could rule forever while the resources of the South would continually be exploited.

The former minister said it was a miracle that Nigeria had only witnessed one civil war since it gained independence in 1960.

He argued that the only thing that had kept Nigeria united was the oil in the Niger Delta as well as the strength, patience and collective will of the people.

He said, “This was his (Lugard’s) vision: a northern Nigeria that was essentially the ‘head of the household’ and that would remain in control of all the powers and resources of the state and a southern 

Nigeria that would play the role of a passive and subservient wife whose destiny it was to remain in perpetual subjugation and bondage.

“The truth is that the British colonialists were masters of divide and rule. The amalgamation of the southern and northern protectorates was a Greek gift which was designed to fail and to crumble at the appropriate time. Nigerians have done well to have held it together for so long and the fact that we have only experienced one civil war is miraculous.”

Buhari to prune down Nigeria’s foreign missions

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered a review of Nigeria’s foreign missions with an aim of pruning down the number and improving the quality of services rendered.

To this end, a presidential Committee would soon be formed do carry out a holistic exercise on the foreign missions.

At the moment, the country has a total 119 foreign missions which president Buhari said would be too expensive to maintain due to the economic downturn.

The president who gave the charge after he was briefed on the activities of Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Permanent Secretary, Ambassador Bulus Lolo and other officials of the Ministry, President Buhari said that it would be counter-productive operating missions all over the world “with dilapidated facilities and demoralized staff” when the need for some of the missions was questionable.

“Let’s keep only what we can manage. We can’t afford much for now. There’s no point pretending,” he said.

The President also called for the record of former government officials and other persons who were still in possession of diplomatic and official passports after leaving office, saying that his administration will take necessary action against them.

“Something has to be done so that we can get back our respectability as a country. Some people carry official passports and get involved in all sorts of negative acts. We need to do something about it,” President Buhari said.

Earlier, Ambassador Lolo told President Buhari that the challenges facing the Ministry included the absence of a Foreign Service Commission, poor funding of foreign missions, policy inconsistencies and training deficiencies, among others. (VANGUARD)

Nigeria 2 – 0 Niger: Nigerians celebrate as Super Eagles shine

Three days after facing Tanzania in Dar es Salam in a match that ends in a goalless draw, Super Eagles defeated Niger Republic’s Menas in a friendly game on Tuesday, September 8, at the Adokiye Amiesiamaka Stadium in Port Harcourt.

The Super Eagle’s coach, Sunday Oliseh got his first victory with the goals from Ahmed Musa and Simon Moses.

 

Following Nigerians shine at today’s match, football enthusiasts have begun to shower encomiums on the entire team.

N2.7tn spent on power since Obasanjo’s govt – Ministry

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Power, Mr. GoodKnows Igali on Tuesday said a total of N2.74tn has been spent on the power sector since 1999.

He also said no engineer was employed in the public power sector for 11 years.
Igali said this at the beginning of the Senate probe of the sector.

According to him, the absence of proper investment in the sector prior to 1999 as well as acts of sabotage were largely responsible for the problems bedeviling the sector.

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He explained that from the 1900s, when power first came to Lagos, power generation and distribution remained in the hands of government until the sector was unbundled in 1999.

Igali said, prior to 1999, “by law, even if you can generate power yourself, you cannot sell to your neighbour.”

FG approves new petrol import permits

The Federal Government has issued supplementary import permits to oil marketers for the importation of petrol due to the poor output from the country’s refineries.

It was learnt on Monday that the permits were given to marketers last Thursday by the government, which asked them to bring in the product to supplement domestic production.

Officials of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency told our correspondent that the marketers would import over 400,000 metric tonnes of premium motor spirit, otherwise known as petrol, to augment local production.

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It was also learnt that the volume of import was this high because the country’s refineries were still not producing at optimum capacities.

An official at the ministry, who pleaded not to be named as he was not authorised to speak on the subject, said, “The output from our refineries cannot meet national demand and that is why the government had to issue permits to the marketers to make supplementary importation of petrol. Some marketers have started receiving the permits and they started getting it since Thursday.

“You know some of our refineries are performing poorly and this has its effect on the volume of locally refined petroleum products. So, the permit is needed in order to keep the country wet with products for a given period of time.”

The Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, had last Thursday issued a 90-day ultimatum to the management of the Warri Refining and Petrochemicals Company to commence full production at the facility.

The refinery has the capacity to process 125,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Kachikwu had charged the management and staff of the company with ensuring that the plant was streamed back to full and active service within the projected period.

“Whatever you need to do to get your refinery back on track, please do it now because this is the time. It’s a 90-day fast-track programme and whatever you need me to do to make that happen, let me know,” Kachikwu was quoted as saying in a statement.

Confirming the issuance of the import permits to our correspondent, the spokesperson for the PPPRA, Mr. Lanre Oladele, said “It is true. That is all I can tell you for now.”

Buhari replies critics: I have declared my assets four times since 1974

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday told journalists in Accra, Ghana, that he had declared his assets four times since 1975 and challenged the newsmen to investigate the details of his possession.

Buhari asked journalists to use the required law to dig up the records of his four separate asset declarations.

He said, “I recall that in 1975 when late Murtala Mohammed became the Head of State, we were lined up in the corridor – governors, ministers, members of the Supreme Military Council – and officials of the 

Ministry of Justice were brought and every individual was made to declare his assets.

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“So right now, all heads of state and government, governors, ministers, permanent secretaries will have to declare their assets because it is a constitutional requirement.”

The President said it was a constitutional requirement that public officers declare their assets.

He said, “In Nigeria, it is a constitutional issue and that is why I am blaming you gentlemen of the press. 

If you really want to do investigative journalism, you don’t have to worry me at this stage; I have declared my assets four times.

“When I was governor in 1975, I declared. After being Minister of Petroleum and as a member of Supreme Military Council, I declared. When I was Head of State and now as a President, I also declared.

“I have declared my assets and all that I have four times, and you (the media) have the right to go and demand for my declaration. Instead, I am being harassed.”

Also at a joint press conference with the Ghanian President John Mahama in Accra, Buhari said that he would name his cabinet before the end of this month.

The Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, in a statement, quoted his principal as saying, “After I was sworn-in, I said I will have my cabinet in September. I expect that Nigerians should ask me questions after the 30th of September if I do not do so,”

The President was responding to a question on the appointment of ministers.

He spoke amid concern that he might not name his cabinet this month because the National Assembly would resume from its recess at the end of the month.

The President also said that the Nigerian military, in collaboration with the Multi-National Joint Task Force, had recorded remarkable progress in the fight against Boko Haram since he assumed office.

He stated, “The first thing I did after I came into office was to reorganise the military and clear orders were given to them in terms of retraining, re-equipping and redeployment of troops.

“In the North-East, the military is gaining ground and Boko Haram has been limited to the Sambisa Forest.

“Internally Displaced Persons are gradually moving back home and they are being reintegrated into their respective communities.”

Mahama had said both leaders had fruitful discussions on how to enhance bilateral relations and improve regional security.

He said that Nigeria and Ghana would soon begin the process of reviving their joint commission for cooperation.

The Ghanaian President added that both leaders also agreed to encourage closer cooperation between the intelligence and anti-graft agencies of both countries.

He thanked President Buhari for his visit and assured him of Ghana’s support and cooperation with Nigeria in the fight against terrorism.

In a separate interview with the editor, BBC Hausa, Mansur Liman, Buhari said culprits in the theft of the country’s crude oil in the last few years would be named and prosecuted soon.

The President said top management personnel of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation could not feign ignorance of the goings-on in the corporation in the last 10 years.

Buhari, who spoke in an interview with the editor, BBC Hausa, Mansur Liman, said, “I am very pleased with the reorganisation, we are getting a lot of results, which we hope in a couple of months’ time we can make clear disclosures and start to prosecute those that had been stealing the crude.

“Those who have been in charge of NNPC at top level can’t claim ignorance of what has been happening in the last 10 years. And the companies include the shipping companies, which allowed themselves to be used to lift illegal crude from Nigeria or to change at high sea or head to a different destination.”

There had been allegations that the NNPC failed to remit N3.8tn to the Federation Account and allegedly stole 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day under the previous administration.

The NNPC, under the new Group Managing Director, Ibe Kachikwu, had last month announced the cancellation of the contract for the delivery of crude oil to the nation’s refineries in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna.

The government’s oil corporation also announced the termination of the Offshore Processing Agreements entered into in January, 2015, with three companiesp: Duke Oil Company Inc., Aiteo Energy Resources Limited and Sahara Energy Resources Limited.

Under the terminated agreement, NNPC was allocating a total of 210,000 barrels of crude oil per day for refining at offshore locations in exchange for petroleum products at pre-agreed yield pattern.

According to the corporation, the decision to cancel the oil delivery contracts to refineries was taken after proper evaluation of the contract terms.

On the OPA arrangement, the firm said the current agreement was not in the interest of Nigeria and the national oil firm, a development that led to its cancellation.

The NNPC also observed that the structure of the agreement did not guarantee unimpeded supply of petroleum products as delivery terms were not optimal.

To address these lapses, the NNPC informed that it had commenced the process of establishing alternative OPA based on optimum yield pattern with tender processing fees.