The tension in Rivers State’s State and National Assembly re-run election has taken a new dimension as some unknown protesters stormed the REC centres of the Independence Electoral Commission (INEC) lamenting the distributio
n of fake result sheets in Tai, Gokana and Khana Local Government Area of the State.
These protesters have closed the gate of the three REC centres in the three LGAs demanding the provision of the original result sheets meant for the elections.
As at the time of filling this report, voters were still awaiting the arrival of electoral materials.
More information later. Thanks for reading.
You’re A Man With Psychiatric Disorder – Wike Tells Amaechi
You’re A “Psychiatric Patient”, Wike, Amaechi’s War Deepens Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has described the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, as a failed governor who did not have “proper parental training”. This followed Amaechi’s earlier allegation that Wike squandered the sum of N50 billion. Amaechi had in a recent radio interview in Rivers State said, “Nyesom Wike is here to steal money, he was my chief of staff. We will chase Wike’s boys out of the water, now we have Dakuku Peterside as DG NIMASA.” Speaking further, “If you see the money stolen by Nyesom Wike in the ministry of education you will be shocked. Everyday you wake up to find out that Wike has killed somebody”. “Wike has collected N50bn; what has it done with the money?” “By this time when I was sworn in, I was already commissioning projects. Wike is so desperate that he can sell his mother. On the day of the re-run, I am ready for Wike, they should come out with their guns, we are ready for them”, he said. Reacting to Amaechi’s allegation, Wike in a statement issued by Simeon Nwakaudu, his special assistant on electronic media, described Amaechi as “monstrously corrupt”, saying “only a man with psychiatric disorder will compare his failed eight years in office to just eight months of the new administration”. Wike said: “Amaechi lacks proper parental upbringing hence his desperation in the political arena. He is a psychiatric patient who was at the radio station abusing people who are old enough to be his fathers/mothers simply because his party lost at the Supreme Court. “We will defeat Amaechi again and again. No matter the deployed to Rivers State, the PDP we will all the seats.” “If President Muhammadu Buhari visits Amaechi’s house in Asokoro, he will never allow him to come into Presidential Villa. After the case initiated by Amaechi over his indictment, he will face justice for embezzling state funds.” Thanks for reading.
Okupe Blasts Kashamu, Says Obasanjo Remains PDP Leader
Doyin Okupe, former Senior Special Assistant to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affair has said that former President Olusegun Obasanjo is still the “undisputed and authentic” leader of People Democratic Party (PDP) in the Southwest region of the country. Okupe, who on his Facebook account, Friday slammed Senator Buruji Kashamu, stated that Obasanjo’s action, tearing his PDP membership card was as a result of the intolerable happenings within the party. Okupe wrote: “Senator Buruji Kashamu is NOT the leader of the PDP in the southwest. He is not even the leader of the party in Ogun state. He leads an NGO called Omo Ilu which engages in empowerment programs in the state, mainly in the Ogun East Senatorial district. “Baba Obasanjo still remains the undisputed and authentic leader of the PDP in the SouthWest. The fact that he tore his membership card is not tantamount to resignation from the party. An action he has not undertaken to date. Okupe Blasts Kashamu, Says Obasanjo Remains PDP Leader Former President Olusegun Obasanjo “Tearing of the membership card though a very negative action is undoubtedly a knee-jerk reaction to certain unacceptable or intolerable happenings within the party which can and will be redressed. “In his temporary absence, we have a colligate or confederal leadership of eminent and distinguished elders including chief bode George, chief Ogunlewe, Aare Jubril Martins Kuye, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, chief mrs Apampa, dr lekan Balogun, Baba Richard Akinjide, Alhaji Yekini Adeojo, chief Ebenezer BABATOPE, Shuabu Oyedokun, iyiola Omisore, prof Adeniran, gov Fayose, gov Mimiko, senator bode Olajumoke amongst others. “We are a proud and a foremost race in Nigeria. We have enviable political antecedents and capable of presenting nationally credible and acceptable leadership at any and all time”. Thanks for reading.
Okorocha sacks SSG
Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, yesterday terminated the appointment of the Secretary to the State Government, Sir Jude Ejiogu.
Although no reason was given for the suden removal of the SSG, which was announced over the state-owned radio station, the sack, sources say may not be unconnected with the battle for the 2019 governorship election.
We reliably gathered that governor’s decision was not unconnected with the recent call by pensioners for the probe of the former SSG’s tenure as Chairman of Local Government Service Commission, where pension funds running into billions of naira were allegedly missing. Okorocha was said to have made up his mind after Ejiogu subtly turned an event attended by the governor, the commissioning of the Owerri Mall, into a political rally to advance his political ambition. Another reason that may also be responsible for the sack, according to a reliable source within the Government House, is the leakage of classified government documents and information from the Office of the Secretary to the State Government. The source, which pleaded anonymity, added that, “the governor became worried over the way the SSG was carrying on with his ambition, which was beginning to affect his performance and derailing the government. So, his sack may come as a surprise to the public, especially after he was seen with the governor in an event a day before. But within the government circle, it was not a surprise.” However, efforts to get the sacked SSG to comment on the matter proved abortive, as he did not pick his phone. Thanks for reading.
We reliably gathered that governor’s decision was not unconnected with the recent call by pensioners for the probe of the former SSG’s tenure as Chairman of Local Government Service Commission, where pension funds running into billions of naira were allegedly missing. Okorocha was said to have made up his mind after Ejiogu subtly turned an event attended by the governor, the commissioning of the Owerri Mall, into a political rally to advance his political ambition. Another reason that may also be responsible for the sack, according to a reliable source within the Government House, is the leakage of classified government documents and information from the Office of the Secretary to the State Government. The source, which pleaded anonymity, added that, “the governor became worried over the way the SSG was carrying on with his ambition, which was beginning to affect his performance and derailing the government. So, his sack may come as a surprise to the public, especially after he was seen with the governor in an event a day before. But within the government circle, it was not a surprise.” However, efforts to get the sacked SSG to comment on the matter proved abortive, as he did not pick his phone. Thanks for reading.
Barclays Billionaire arms deal fixer Wafic Saïd weighs up Barclays lawsuit
Wafic Saïd, the billionaire philanthropist and arms deal fixer, is considering legal action against Barclays after the bank forced him to close his personal accounts and those associated with his charities and business ventures.
Saïd, who fled Syria in 1963 to escape a military coup, accused Barclays of using him as a scapegoat to improve its own reputation after being told in December that he was no longer wanted as a customer.
PR company Bell Pottinger, run by Margaret Thatcher’s former adviser Lord Bell, issued a statement on his behalf on Friday: “Mr Saïd has been advised by leading counsel to issue proceedings against Barclays.”
The claim could be made under the data protection act as the bank would not tell Saïd the reasons for its concerns.
Barclays said: “We never comment on these matters because of client confidentiality. We treat each case on individual merit.”
Wafic Saïd pictured in 2002.
Wafic Saïd pictured in 2002. Photograph: Tim Ockenden/EMPICS
Saïd - whose family donates to the Conservative party – may have to find new bankers for his charity, the Saïd Foundation, which has its head office close to close to Buckingham Palace and lists Sir Michael Peat, former private secretary to the Prince of Wales, as one of its trustees.
The Foundation, according to its website, helps children and young people with disabilities in Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan, and backs the Saïd business school at Oxford University.
The 76-year-old is credited with helping Saudi Arabia buy British weapons in 1985 in the biggest arms deal in history, known as Al-Yamamah. An investigation by the Serious Fraud Office investigation into allegations that BAE had paid bribes to Saudi princes to win lucrative contracts was abandoned at the intervention of the then prime minister Tony Blair.
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Now based in Paris, Saïd has moved his personal account, as has his English-born wife, Rosemary, and two children.
The statement issued through Bell Pottinger said: “Despite high-level meetings and several requests, formal and informal, Mr Saïd was given no legal reason or justification for the bank’s action. Indeed they told his representative that if, for example, someone had an address in Brazil the bank would close their accounts.
“It appears that Mr Saïd and his charities are being used as scapegoats by Barclays to try to improve their own reputation. Mr Saïd enjoys excellent relationships with a number of leading international banks, none of which has ever expressed concerns regarding the provenance of Mr Saïd’s funds.”
The bank is thought to have been concerned it could not satisfy regulators about its anti-money laundering procedures. Barclays – which is scrambling to restore its reputation in the wake of fines for rigging Libor and foreign exchange markets – was last year fined £72m by the Financial Conduct Authority for running the risk of being used to launder money or finance terrorism.
Saïd is “taking every action possible to ensure his charities are protected and do not suffer financially as a result of Barclays’ actions and he much regrets this irrational and irresponsible behaviour by the bank,” he said in the statement.
“His charitable activities, which enjoy the full support of the Charity Commission, donate close to £7m each year to UK and overseas causes,” the statement said.
Oxford University said finances of the business school were “entirely secure”. No one at the foundation would comment.
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Regulators have been tightening up their approach to the money laundering rules. Last year, HSBC faced criticism for closing accounts of charities. Its chairman, Douglas Flint, has warned that the risk of fines was making banks risk averse.
Asheem Singh, director of public policy at charity leaders group ACEVO, said he would be writing to Barclays. “The surest way to guarantee fraud or worse terrorist activity is to force humanitarian organisations to carry cash which may be misappropriated by dark forces running riot in areas of conflict and great human need,” said Singh.
“Banks may do more harm than good by zealously denying essential financial services. We respect that each case has its own individual circumstance but we will be writing to the head of Barclays bank to seek assurance that such cases are being decided on the basis of rigorous, impartial and unimpeachable protocols and that the moral dilemmas for charities operating in conflict zones are properly understood. The obverse would be damaging for all of us,” Singh added.
Oxford University said: “The [Saïd] School is an academic department of the University of Oxford and its funding is derived from numerous sources which include research funding and student fees.
“The Saïd Foundation now provides charitable grants to support a range of initiatives to advance the school’s strategic objectives, including scholarships for students, awards for innovation in teaching, key School events and new approaches to career support for students. We are grateful to the foundation for its support and we look forward to this continuing.”
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JAMB Grants Opportunity For Candidates Who Missed CBT Exams
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has agreed to reschedule examination for candidates who missed the UTME,CBT exams due to the relocation of centres by the board.
Following the board’s relocation of 59,000 candidates in 15 states because of problems in some of the centres which cost them the exam, the affected candidates had carried out series of protests in some states of the country against the examination body.
Professor Dibu Ojerinde who is the registrar of the board disclosed this while speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, he assured that candidates who had system failure during the examination would retake it, if the board finds their complaint to be genuine.
His words: “We relocated about 59, 000 candidates due to the problems in various centres which vary from town to town. There are about 59,000 of them spread across 15 states of the federation.
“Those that were relocated never suffered any setback or inconvenience. For all these two sets of people, I want to apologise sincerely for what happened to them, but we are going to put on a redress for those whose relocation affected them in missing their examination.”
According to him, the new development does not affect candidates who missed the examination deliberately or failed in the examination, he said among the 1,546,633 candidates who sat for the 2016 UTME, 145, 704 had issues of multiple results which have been resolved by the board.
“Going back to the Paper and Pencil Test will amount to taking one step forward and two steps backwards,” the JAMB boss stated
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Twitter’s New Timeline Is Now On
Twitter’s new timeline which displays tweets based on importance rather than chronology is now the default setting for all users.
Twitter rolled out the feature in February, but it was initially opt-in. Now, however, reports are emerging that the company has gone and made it the law of the land, notifying users with a message when they first sign on.
In the blog post first announcing the change, the company noted, “We will be turning on the feature for you in coming weeks, look out for a notification in your timeline.”
Simply go to your account settings, scroll down until you reach the “timeline” section, and uncheck the box that says “show me the best Tweets first.”
Reports gathered that some users appear not to have received the notification in their timeline, and that the setting was turned on anyway. But a Twitter spokesman said “As we said in our announcement, we are rolling out our timeline improvements to everyone over time. People can still choose to opt out of it in their settings.”
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