Saraki Holds Closed Door Meeting With Obasanjo

Channels Television. Updated June 19, 2015

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has assured Nigerians that the current leadership crisis at the National Assembly would be amicably resolved for the growth and progress of the nation.

He was speaking in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State in Southwest Nigeria, after a closed door meeting with a former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, at his residence.

Dr. Saraki also told reporters that the leadership of the National Assembly was ready to make the necessary sacrifice in view of the economic situation in the oil rich nation.

Days to the election of Dr. Saraki as the Senate President, the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had chosen Senator Ahmed Lawan for the position of the Senate President but Saraki and some members of the party rejected the choice of Mr Lawan, saying it was a form of imposition.

The disagreement further deepened when some Senators, who are members of the APC, and some other Senators, who are members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  elected Senator Saraki as Senate President in the absence of other APC Senators who had left the National Assembly complex for a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

The party expressed displeasure with the process that brought Senator Saraki in, describing it as treachery.

To resolve the rift, the leadership of the party, days after, said it had recognised the the leadership of Senator Bukola Saraki.

Dwindling revenue occasioned by the falling price of crude oil, which is the nation’s major source of revenue, had led to the establishment of some austerity measures by the out-gone administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The situation had taken its toll on some states’ government, with Governors finding it hard to pay some workers salaries, since their allocations had dropped. The Governors are seeking a bailout from the Federal Government.

The Senate President had on Thursday said the Senate would effectively carry out its supervisory role to ensure that revenue leakages were blocked.

The Senate President was accompanied by Senator Andy Ubah, Hammed Yerima, Danjuma Goje, former factional leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) Kawu Baraje, former Governor of Osun State Olagunsoye Oyinlola.

Reposted by Ike Onwubuya

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Provide evidence of N50m bribe, forex dealer dares Mbu

Joseph Mbu

A foreign exchange dealer, Alhaji Suleiman Yerima, who accused Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Joseph Mbu, of directing policemen to torture him over a contentious forex business transaction, has challenged him to provide evidence of the N50m bribery allegation levelled against him.

Yerima stated that Mbu should tender evidence that he was offered N50m to compromise the police investigation, stressing that the allegation was diversionary and a ploy to cover the atrocity committed by policemen led by DSP Ibrahim Dantoro on the AIG’s instruction.

Mbu had last week accused Yerima of offering him bribes to drop the investigation into a forex business transaction between Yerima and two Chartered Bank workers that went awry.

But speaking on Friday in Abuja, the forex dealer described the AIG as “a confused and drowning man who is doing a hatchet job for some individuals who are conduits through which monies are being taken out of the country.”

Yerima stated that the police personnel and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission operatives have continued to lay siege to his house and that of Uwem Antia, his business partner, in violation of a court order.

He said, “As an experienced policeman and detective, what should you do if someone offers you N50m bribe? You will collect the money and tender it as an exhibit and file additional charges against the suspect.

“Mbu is a drowning man; if Mbu was offered a bribe, either he had collected it and the money was not enough and he is now complaining. So for him to say nobody was tortured is an aberration because I and Antia were tortured and the evidences are there.”

The businessman said he was ready to face trial, adding that the police and the EFCC should arraign him and his partner in court if they have proofs that they had violated the law, insisting that the agencies have no powers to detain them indefinitely.

“If two security agencies investigate a case for 80 days, what should they do after? They should arraign us in court and let the court jail us if we are guilty,” he dared the police.

Yerima insisted that he had fulfilled his part of the forex transaction when he delivered $1m cash and additional $2.250m to two workers of Chartered Bank,  Denis Ale and Mrs. Gladys Aginwa, in exchange for the N627m that was paid to him.

Asked if he is facing trial for forex fraud at the Jos High Court as alleged by Mbu, the businessman explained that “the Judge handling the matter had said the proof of evidenced was not weighty enough, but the case was not dismissed because the other party asked for a transfer of the suit from Lagos to Jos.”

How Gbajabiamila Rejected Dogara’s Offer Of Dep Speaker

READ MORE: http://www.naij.com/457146-how-gbajabiamila-rejected-dogaras-offer-of-dep-speaker.html


Meanwhile, the PDP has congratulated the newly elected leaders of the National Assembly, the Senate president Bukola Saraki, his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu (PDP), and the House of Representatives speaker Yakubu Dogara.

Fresh development has emerged following yesterday’s election of leaders in the 8th National Assembly.

After Senator Bukola Saraki emerge as the Senate President and Senator Ike Ekweremadu as the Deputy President, major attention moved over to the House of Representatives.

After a keenly contested election in the house, Hon. Yakubu Dogara defeated Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila to emerge as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

But just before the House elects who deputizes Hon. Dogara, it was gathered that the newly elected Speaker personally reached out to his opponent, Hon. Gbajabiamila to take the slot of Deputy Speaker.

Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila and Hon. Yakubu Dogara

According to Daily Post, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila turned down Dogara’s offer of Deputy Speaker.

The report shows that Dogara was said to have held a brief discussion with Gbajabiamila, with an appeal to accept nomination. The discussion took about thirty minutes.

Before going for the meeting, Gbajabiamilia reportedly reached out to some the APC bigwigs to brief them of the development.

However, the signal he got was clear which was; he must not accept any position below the Speaker of the House.

This didn’t stop the Dogara’s camp from luring Gbajabiamila to come on board, they pressed on to get him change his mind.

However, when it became clear the former Minority Leader would not take the offer, Gbajabiamila’s camp asked Hon Mohammed Monguno (Borno, APC), to accept the nomination.

Monguno will however be defeated by Hon. Suileman Lasun Yusuff (Osun), who had the backing of Dogara’s camp as Monguno is from same region with the new Speaker.

It was gathered that before the election, several other lawmakers made efforts to convince Monguno to step down for Yusuff since he is a Northerner but he rejected the appeal and insisted on contesting.

Yusuff, the new second-in-command at the Green Chamber, a second term lawmaker, eventually polled 203 votes as against Monguno’s 153. He was sworn in immediately by the Clerk.

Also, former Deputy Majority Leader, Hon Leo Ogor (Delta, PDP) had declined to run for the office despite pressure mounted on him by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the Lower Chamber to do so. Ogor’s reason for declining the offer is still unclear.

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Yorubas made APC victory in 2015 elections possible – Al-Makura

Umaru Tanko Al-Makura

Returning governor of Nasarawa State, Alhaji Tanko Al-Makura, has identified the Yoruba in the South-west zone of the country as the people that facilitated the successful outing of the All Progressives Congress, APC, during the course of the just-concluded general elections in the country.

The Governor, who stated this while playing host to the Yoruba community in the state led by their President, Alhaji Afees Adigun, at the Presidential Lodge in Lafia, on Tuesday night acknowledged the role played by Yoruba politicians during the merger process of opposition political parties which transformed into the APC. He declared that their contribution “could not be quantified in naira and kobo.

His words, “I cannot forget the role our Yoruba brothers played during my reelection campaigns and I will forever remain grateful to them. Despite that you, the Yorubas People are not originally from Nasarawa State, you have appreciated the projects executed by this administration in the past four years and have given us your supports”.

Al-Makura went on to state that aside the monumental achievements recorded by the APC-led governments in various states which saw the party phenomenally triumph at the polls, Nigerians were truly yearning for change due to the confidence and trust they have reposed on the president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari.

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Speaking earlier, the leader of the Yoruba group, who serves as the Special Assistant to the Governor on national integration, Afeez Adigun, said Al-Makura’s commitment to the development of the state prompted the Yoruba community to give him and other APC candidates unflinching support during the elections.

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Forgive Oba Akiolu And Move On, Buhari Tells Igbos

The president-elect, Rtd. General Muhammadu Buhari has urged the Ndigbos and other non-indigenes residing in Lagos state to overlook the anti-tribal comments of Oba of Lagos, Akiolu Rilwan.

Oba Akiolu Rilwan

Punch reports that the former Head of State pleaded with all Igbos in Lagos state to move on and forgive all that has been said against them for the sake of peace.

Buhari made the call during a rally held on Tuesday  in Lagos to address the comments made by the Oba.

Recall that Akiolu has been under fire since Monday when he reportedly threatened the Ndigbo in Lagos to either vote for the APC governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, or perish in the lagoon.

The Peoples Democratic Party on Tuesday asked Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola to suspend Akiolu forthwith.

However, the President-elect described Lagos as home for all, adding that the time had come for Nigerians to look past ethnicity in the general interest of peace and unity.

READ MORE: http://www.naij.com/417122-forgive-akiolu-and-move-on-buhari-tells-igbo.html