Nollywood Actress Ebube Nwagbo & Top Nigerian Dancer Kaffy Cover House of Maliq’s October Edition

Nollywood actress Ebube Nwagbo and top choreographer Kaffy are the cover stars of the 2016 October issue of House of Maliq magazine and we are loving the editorial spread.

200,000 unemployed Nigerian graduates to get jobs before end of October – Osinbajo

Implementation plans for the effective commencement of a number of the social investment programmes of the Buhari presidency has reached advanced stages as the selection of the first 200,000 unemployed graduates to get jobs is now being completed.

Speaking with a small group of radio journalists and producers at the Presidential Villa, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo disclosed that “we expect that before the end of the month, we will engage 200,000,” out of the 500,000 unemployed graduates the Buhari administration plans to hire in the N-Power jobs programme.

According to him, the direct government jobs is meant “to keep this young people occupied, pay them some amount of money and also give them a device, which will also help them to learn several skills that they can develop as time goes on.”

Prof. Osinbajo added that “we expect that before the end of this month, we should have engaged 200,000 of them and we are hoping that before the end of the year we should have engaged more.”

Similarly, Mr. Osinbajo disclosed that the Home-Grown School Feeding programme is set to kick off in several states this month.

“Definitely before the end of this month, we expect that several states would have come on stream with their Home-grown School Feeding Programmes,” the Vice President noted.

He added that the Home-Grown School Feeding programme “will energise agriculture in the different states because it is what you plant that you feed the children with, we will be hiring caterers, cooks, etc in each state because it will be Federal Government funded from Primaries 1-3 and the state governments hopefully would be able to cater for the other classes.”

According to the Vice President, the Home-Grown School Feeding programme is another section of the Social Investment programmes that impact directly on the lives of Nigerian children and families. He said several states will start implementing the Home-grown School Feeding Programme before the end of October. Equally he stated that the Micro-Credit scheme for which the Buhari administration will give very low-cost loans to more than one million Nigerian artisans, traders, market women and other ranging from N60,000 to N100,000 would also be kicking off this month.

According to him, “for women across the country, we are giving loans, micro credit loans to about 1.5 million women. We are focusing on market women and artisans, loans between N60,000 and 100,000 each. We are working through the Bank of Industry, BOI. They are going to be giving out these loans, we‘ve already identified the banks and everybody who is involved in this. We should be flagging-off hopefully before the end of this month”

Such soft loans to the artisans, traders and market women, according to him, is meant “to boost their businesses.”

The Vice President reassured Nigerians that the current Federal Government led by President Muhammadu Buhari is well focused on ameliorating the plight of the citizens of the country, observing that the administration feels the pains of the citizens and is committed to assuaging them.

“We fully understand and appreciate the situation of things in the country and we are committed to ensuring that that pain is assuaged. The President stated that clearly in his October 1st broadcast to the nation. All his life, he has been a salary earner, he has never been a businessman, so he understands why someone who earns a salary and even those who do not, are severely challenged at this time of economic recession such as we are experiencing,” he said.

On the economy, Vice President Osinbajo said government is committed to developing it, to enable citizens find opportunities within the country.

“I want to assure Nigerians that the government of President Buhari is a very focused and determined government. We are committed to ensuring that we are able to develop the Nigerian economy in such a way that Nigerians are able to find opportunities in their own country,” he said.

He listed the ‘Made in Nigeria’ project, moving away from import dependence, boosting agriculture, and encouraging manufacturing as some of the urgent actions being pursued by government in order to move the country forward.

The Vice President also emphasized the Buhari administration’s zero tolerance for corruption, as corruption is “the major drain on the country’s resources.” He added that “no one would be spared in the fight against corruption because, even the close friends of the President know that they will not be spared, he will not cover for them. Fighting corruption is a priority.”

On the current recession, the Vice President said the fall in oil prices and pipeline vandalism were the immediate causes of the recession, thus reducing drastically, the country’s revenue. But he assured that government will adequately manage the little being realised now.

“We were producing up to 2.2 million barrels a day but all of a sudden, the vandalization of our terminals caused us to lose up to a million barrels a day.

“So when you lose up to 60 per cent of your revenue or even more, there must be a shock because you are really earning very little and we will ensure that that very little that we are earning is as well managed as possible,” he said.

How Nigeria’s ex-Air Force chief laundered N558 million, witness tells court

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on October 11presented its sixth witness, Air Commodore Mohammed Lawal Sini, in the trial of Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (rtd) to shed more light on how the sum of N558 million Nigerian Air Force funds was converted to personal use while Mr. Badeh held sway as Chief of Air Staff.

Mr. Badeh is being prosecuted alongside Iyalikam Nigeria Limited before Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, for allegedly abusing his office as Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, by using the dollar equivalent of the sum of N1.4 billion removed from the accounts of the Nigerian Air Force to purchase properties in choice areas of Abuja between January and December, 2013.

The offence is in contravention of Section 15 (2) (d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended) and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.

Led in evidence by counsel to EFCC, Rotimi Jacobs, Mr. Sini, who is currently a director in the Nigerian Air Force, gave details of events that occurred when he was the Camp Finance Officer, CFO, 106 Camp, in 2012.

“In 2012, I was posted to Camp NAF as the Camp Finance Officer (CFO). My schedule involved payment of salaries, disbursement of funds with respect to operations and overhead expenditure of the unit.

“106 Camp was established to provide administrative services to NAF HQ complex, the Air House (residence of the Chief of the Air Staff) and other Air Force units within Abuja.

“I reported to the Director of Finance and Accounts (DFA), then Air Commodore S. A. Yushau, (Prosecution Witness 1), within the Headquarters. I took instructions from him with respect to financial operations within the Unit. Squadron Leader E. N. Abu was the cashier, my subordinate.

“106 Camp receives funds from NAF procurement. These funds typically were for personnel emolument or for recurrent overhead expenditure.

“When we received it, we paid salaries. After this, some amounts of money remained, which were then paid into other accounts. It was the duty of the cashier to pay these balances into the accounts for operations: Ration Cash Allowances (RCA) and Sundry Training Beats (STB). These RCA and STB had some forex components, which I instructed the cashier to generate whenever I received instructions from the DFA, Air Commodore S. A. Yushau.

“I took over the post of CFO from Group Captain Ifeobu. On the very first day I reported for duty as CFO, he told me that a certain part of the RCA taken from personnel emolument, specifically N558,200,000, was meant for the official administrative maintenance of the office of the Chief of Air Staff and that I was to report to the DFA for details of disbursement.

“Upon completion of the handover, I saw the DFA and told him what Group Capt. Ifeobu said about the administration of the RCA.

“Subsequently, administrative instruction regarding disbursement was given to me by the DFA (PW1). This instruction came to me from time to time. But specifically, he said that I should be converting the amount to forex on a monthly basis. However, he further stated that he would be giving me instructions from time to time to make payments out of the total sum. Whenever payments were made out of the total sum, I was to reconcile and convert the remaining balance to dollars and handover same to him.

“During my tenure in the unit, which spanned from November 2012 to December 2013, I was making those conversions and monthly reconciliations.

“My cashier, Squadron Leader Abu, was the custodian of records. He was sourcing the dollars from Bureau de Change (BDC) operators. Depending on instructions, transfers were made to the accounts of the BDC operators. Other times, cash were withdrawn and paid for currency. Such monies were then transferred into accounts of companies or individuals as instructed,” Mr. Sini stated.

When asked if he could still recollect the names of the companies, Mr. Sini said: “I remember two of such account: Habco Nigeria Plc and Ryte Builders. Ryte Builders, I vividly remember, is a company owned by Engr. Mustapha, an acquaintance of the DFA (Yushau). Even before I reported to the Camp as CFO, the company had been rendering services to 106 Camp.”

Giving further details, the PW 6 stated that, “the paper work that we (Abu and I) did was to generate payment mandates to banks. In the case of Engr. Mustapha for Ryte Builders, the instruction given was to the effect that the transfers were made for the Chief of Air Staff. I do not have the details. It was only sufficient for me to know that the money to be transferred was from the N558 million.”

The witness also told the court that there were instances when he and Abu took the dollars to the Air House, where the DFA was on ground to hand it over to the (then) Chief of Air Staff.

Regarding monies paid to Ryte Builders, Mr. Sini explained that, “I remember I prepared papers for the transfer of the money. The cashier and I signed the payment instructions. Specifically, the cashier prepared the mandates, signed and then handed it over to me. I countersigned before it was taken to the bank for payment.”

The prosecuting counsel sought to tender two bundles of documents, payment mandate correspondences addressed to different banks, captioned ‘Transfer of Funds’ and dated January 22, 2013 and March 26, 2013 duly certified by PW6.

But Akin Olujimi, counsel to Mr. Badeh, vehemently objected to the admissibility of the documentary evidence, stating that the evidence was in contravention of Section 104(1) of the Evidence Act, 2004, since certain prescribed legal fees had not been paid by prosecution.

Mr. Olujimi argued that the witness certified the document on April 5, 2016 when he was no longer occupying the office of CFO, yet another contravention of Section 104(1) of the Evidence Act, 2004.

He, therefore, urged the court to reject the evidence.

S. T. Ologoorisha, counsel to the second defendant, aligned himself with Mr. Olujimi’s submission, citing relevant authorities.

However, Justice Abang overruled their objection stating that, “not all public documents require certification before they are tendered in evidence. A correspondence by NAF to a bank is not a document that requires certification.”

He held that, there was no need for the witness to certify, as he had already laid foundation to tender copies of the correspondences, adding that the documents were relevant to the case of the prosecution.

Consequently, the documents were admitted in evidence and marked as Exhibits B6 and B7 respectively.

The matter was adjourned to October 12 for continuation of trial.

Minister Says Price of Rice Will Start to Fall From November

he Federal Government on Monday declared that the price of rice would start to fall from November this year.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, said this while addressing members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development at the headquarters of the ministry in Abuja.

According to Ogbeh, the government could not be involved in the importation of rice as speculated in some quarters, adding that his ministry would not encourage rice importation because it would be detrimental to local production.

“We will not encourage rice importation and there is no way our ministry or government can be involved in importing rice when we are working hard to be self-sufficient in local production. By November when the full-scale harvest starts, rice prices will fall,” he said.

Ogbeh, speaking on the reason his ministry has not started implementing its capital budget said: “It is about now that the capital expenditure is beginning. One of the reasons why money is not circulating is that we need to follow the due process on issues of procurement, advertisement and others.”

“You may be surprised to know that only six to seven states in Nigeria are showing enthusiasm in agriculture. Some by nature don’t seem interested, while others just can’t connect with whatever we are doing at the federal level,” he added.

He also said that his ministry has spent just N882.58m, representing 4% of the N21bn budgeted for it in the 2016 Appropriation Act.

Ogbeh said that he met N67 billion debt when he came on board, adding that N20 billion had been paid to agro-dealers and 900 million oil palm seedlings have been distributed to farmers across the country.

Toyin Lawani Announced as the National Youth Ambassador of FADAN

Toyin Lawani of Tiannahs Place Empire has been appointed as the National Youth Ambassador of FADAN (Fashion Designers Association Of Nigeria).The head judge and face of Nigeria’s Next Top Designer was selected because of her contributions to the fashion industry in Nigeria, her commitment to helping young designers grow as well as sponsorship programs at her Fashion Academy.With this new feather added to her cap, Toyin Lawani intends to keep promoting our fashion culture on the African Continent and international market, which will ultimately increase the purchase of Nigerian fashion.

See the new photos of Toyin Lawani below

Judges’ arrest: Nigeria now has “three Arms of corruption” – Senator

With the ongoing clampdown on judges for alleged corrupt practices, outspoken Senator, Shehu Sani, on Monday said the three arms of Nigeria’s government – Executive, Legislature and Judiciary – are now bugged by corruption.

Mr. Sani, the All Progressives Congress Senator representing Kaduna Central, said this in the wake of the sting operation conducted by the State Security Service, leading to the arrest of some judges for alleged corrupt practices.

In the early hours of Saturday, SSS operatives raided residences of some judges Gestapo style. No few than 15 judges are under investigation, with 7 already in custody.

Mr. Sani said the allegations against the judges completed a circle of corruption running around the three arms of government in Nigeria.

“With mountains of allegations of corruption in the kitchen cabinet of Mr. President; with mountains of allegations of corruption in the Parliament; with mountains of allegations of corruption in the Judiciary, now we are having a three Arms of corruption,” said Mr. Sani.

Key members of the President’s Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, including the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari; Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi; and Interior Minister, Abdurhaman Dambazzau, have come under spotlight for alleged corrupt practices.

In the National Assembly, apart from the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who is facing trial for alleged false asset declaration; fugitives like Buruji Kashamu and Joshua Dariye; and former governors like Danjuma Goje and Godswill Akpabio have cases with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Also, the Speaker of the House of Representatives was accused of corruption and abuse of office in the 2016 budget process by Abdulmumin Jibrin, former appropriations committee chairman.

Mr. Sani, in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES, said the action of the SSS amounted to “sadism” and smacked of totalitarianism if due process was not followed.

“The raid on the residences of the Supreme Court judges if done with a proper court order is justified but if done without a proper court order is nothing but sadism.

“Support for search or arrest without warrant irrespective of the gravity of suspicion is a tacit endorsement of tendencies of a totalitarian state,” the Senator said.

But if the SSS followed due process of law, he continued, defending the judges despite “evidences of harvest of cash in their houses is nothing but wholesale endorsement of corruption.”

The SSS has defended its action, saying it acted within provisions of the law. Similarly, the presidency said the action was not a war against the Judiciary, but against corruption, assuring of regard for the bench.

Admonishing the judiciary, Mr. Sani said the bench “should not be and must not be a cash counter.”

He added that, “impunity is rooted in a society where Justice is for the highest bidder; corrupt Judges are merchants of Justice; and commercialization of Justice puts Justice on tender.”

He also warned the Federal Government against tyrannical tendencies, and breaching law to pursue its anti-corruption fight.

The lawmaker said: “For the SSS and the Federal Government this is my take:

1-Rule of law is the most potent weapon in the fight against corruption in a democratic society;

2-Each time we circumvent the rule of law for expediency, we reinforce the pillar of tyranny.

3-It’s not the good we achieve when we cut short the rule of law, it’s the evil that could be justified using the same route.

4-Whatever you achieve using the rule of law is insured against moral stain.
5-To break the law in order to enforce the law is to extinguish the flame of justice upon which the rule of law is alighted.”

While stressing that the Judiciary risks losing public confidence if “rulings turn to products of transaction”, he warned that security agencies should not be immune from respect for rule of law.

“We must not give a blank cheque to security agencies which can be abused,” he said.

Cutting Cost: Buhari hands over 2 presidential helicopters to Air Force

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday ordered the release of two Augusta AW 101, VVIP helicopters from the Presidential Air Fleet (PAF) to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF)

The National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, who presented the helicopters to the Air Force, said the gesture was in fulfillment of the President’s promise to reduce the cost of the amount expended on the PAF .

Mr. Monguno, a retired major general, said that in line with this philosophy, two aircraft – 1x AW109 helicopter and 1x King Air Beechcraft – had earlier been released to the NAF in 2015, immediately the president took over.

He said it was given out in realisation of the need to immediately enhance the capacity of the armed forces in its campaign against insurgency.

He said that the president had also given approval for the sale of one of the 2x Falcons 7x and the Hawker 4000 aircraft operated by the fleet.

The NSA also said that a committee for the sale of both aircraft was already sitting and would soon complete its assignment.

“AW 101 is a highly versatile helicopter used in both VIP civil and military applications.

“These two helicopters handed to the NAF today have ballistic defence capabilities and are equipped with defensive aid suites against certain forms of missile attacks.

 “Mr president appreciated the need to enhance the airlift capacity of NAF to strengthen the efforts of the ongoing campaign against insurgency in different parts of the country.

“This is compatible with his philosophy to reduce the cost of governance and enhance capacity of our armed forces,” Mr. Monguno said.

Responding, the Chief of Air Staff, Sadique Abubakar, said the gesture had encouraged NAF to focus on the fight against insurgency in the North-East and militancy.

Mr. Abubakar, an air vice marshal, said that the 2x Augusta Westland 101 helicopters were executive helicopters designed for the transportation of VIPs and equipped with ballistic defence capabilities and defensive aid suites.

“Like the two aircraft earlier handed to us, we intend to reconfigure these helicopters and deploy them for tactical airlift of troops and logistics in support of combat operations.

“Incidentally, the acceptance of these helicopters and the intended reconfiguration efforts are in line with two drivers of my vision.

“These provides for robust logistics support and maintenance culture to sustain platforms /equipments service as well as reinforcement of the culture of self-reliance and prudent management of resources,” he said.

Mr. Abubakar thanked the president for his support to NAF, adding that the use of the helicopters would be justified.

The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, said that the handing over of the aircraft would augment NAF’s aircraft inventory, boost its air power capability and consolidate in the realisation of its vision.

Mr. Dan-Ali said the vision would help to reposition NAF into a highly professional and disciplined force through capacity building initiative for effective, efficient and timely employment of power in response to security.

He expressed optimism that with the addition of the two helicopters, more accomplishments would be achieved to decisively win the war against terrorism, insurgency and other forms of criminalities.

(NAN)