N750m car scam: Ortom lauds EFCC over arrest of lawmakers

Governor Ortom of Benue state met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa
– He said he spoke with the president on the security situation and economic issues in the state
– The governor said his government would never shield anybody  found guilty of corruption
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state has applauded the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for arresting and investigating the speaker of the state House of Assembly, Terkimbir Ikyange; the deputy speaker, James Okefe and the majority leader, Benjamin Adanyi.

Governor Samuel Ortom

Speaking on Thursday, June 30, with state house correspondents shortly after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja, Ortom said his government would never shield anybody found to be corrupt or wanting, The Punch reports.
He added that nobody should be an exception in the ongoing anti-corruption war in the country.
The EFCC invited the principal officers of the assembly to Abuja on Tuesday over alleged misappropriation of N750million meant for the purchase of cars for members.
The governor said: “Yes, it (the arrest of the lawmakers) is a good thing. It is part of the process. They are under investigation by the EFCC.
“From day one, I brought up a slogan that, ‘if you chop money, money will chop you’. We have to be careful and I have sent signals to all that nobody is above the law.
 “If you do it wrong, you will go your own way. As far as I am concerned, they are under investigation. Let us see the outcome we would have.
 “As far as I am concerned, my government will not shied anybody who is corrupt and who is found wanting. Myself as the governor and every other lieutenant are open to scrutiny; there is Freedom of Information Bill and people are allowed to get information from these sources.”
Ortom noted that the EFCC is an agency that is charged with investigation and they are free to do their job in Benue state.
“I have given them free hand: ICPC, EFCC, and even for me, I am doing independent prosecution of those who are corrupt,” he said.
According to him, his government set up a commission which came up with a report that N107billion should be retrieved from 52 persons, including the former governor, Gabriel Suswam, adding that an unnamed person who was indicted had already offered to refund N355m.
He said the government would not prosecute anybody who returns money.
On his meeting with the president, he said used the opportunity to intimate him of the security situation and economic issues in the state.
Ortom was optimistic that the strategies put in place by his administration would address kidnappings and killings being experienced in the state.
A week ago, report surfaced that the EFCC had beamed its searchlight on Governor Ortom over an alleged transfer of the state’s cash amounting to N4.29 billion from banks to unknown recipients.

He however, denied ever transferring such huge amount from the financial system blaming the report on those he claimed had looted the state to the tune of N107 billion before he took over.

Niger Delta Avengers: Bayelsa governor cautions JTF

– Bayelsa state governor, Seriake Dickson is known for his bluntness when speaking on national issues
– Governor Dickson recently cautioned the federal government security outfit in the Niger Delta
– The governor made the call while receiving the new commander of the Joint Military Task Force in the Niger Delta
Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa state has advised the new commander of the federal government security outfit in the Niger Delta, Rear Admiral Joseph Okojie, to be neutral in all the affairs of his team.

Governor Seriake Dickson

Rear Admiral Okojie is the new leader of the security outfit code named, “Operation Delta Safe”  set up by the federal government to address the security challenges in the region.
In a statement issued by the governor’s spokesman, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, Dickson also commend the federal government for retaining the headquarters of the “Operation Delta Safe” in Bayelsa.
He reiterated that the operations of the security outfit, especially its maritime component, has a crucial role to play, given that Bayelsa state is predominantly riverine in nature.
The governor expressed confidence in the ability of the officers and men of “Operation Delta Safe”, even as he called for non-interference in their activities in the interest of national peace and stability.
He assured Rear Admiral Okojie that his government would continue to support security agencies in the fight against criminality and brigandage in the state and beyond.
Dickson frowned at vices such as kidnapping, piracy and the wilful destruction of the nation’s strategic assets, coupled with the attendant degradation of the environment such attacks cause.
The governor also paid tribute to all the commanders of the now rested Operation Pulo shield for their contributions to the peace in the Niger Delta region.
Earlier in his remarks, Rear Admiral Okojie told the governor that the federal government deemed it important to re-engineer the security outfit in the region as part of efforts to effectively the security situation in the area.
According to Rear Admiral Okojie, the task of achieving enduring peace and stability, remains a joint effort involving the governments, community leaders and other stakeholders.
He assured Governor Dickson that his team would adopt a holistic approach in maintaining law and order rather than use brute force.
Okojie however warned criminal minded individuals to steer clear of the region, adding that they would deal decisively with those who are bent on sabotaging the federal government’s efforts towards promoting economic growth and prosperity.
Earlier this week, Governor Dickson advised the federal government not to engage in combative means as a way of ending the threats posed by the Niger Delta Avengers.

Fayose dares Buhari’s wife

– The ultimatum given by the president’s wife to Governor Fayose has expired on June 29
– However, the Ekiti governor didn’t withdraw his accusations against Mrs. Buhari
– Buhari’s wife left the country for lesser hajj in Saudi Arabia

Fayose and Aisha Buhari

The wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha Buhari, has given the Governor of the Ekiti state Ayo Fayose, five days to apologise or face legal action.
The ultimatum which Mrs. Buhari issued to the governor, demanding to drop his accusations, expired on June 29, Wednesday.
Mr. Fayose didn’t apologise to Buhari’s wife for linking her to American Congressman William Jefferson’s bribery scandal of which the US legislator was convicted in 2009.
 The media director in the Office of the Wife of the President, Zakari Nadabo, confirmed that the office had not received any message from the governor as of 7.00pm of Wednesday.
He also revealed that the wife of the president had left Nigeria for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for lesser hajj.
Nigeria’s anti-graft commission has on June 20 frozen bank accounts of Ayo Fayose.
The Ekiti governor reacting to the news issued a statement which contained excerpts of court documents sourced from the United States Department of Justice Website.
He stated that Aisha Buhari was an accomplice in the bribery scandal that landed Jefferson in jail.
In 2009, Jefferson was found guilty of 11 counts of corruption and was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment.
Aisha Buhari through her lawyers, Ismaila Alasa and Mary Ekpere, defined Fasoye’s accusation as “very wild and unfounded” as well as threatened to drag the governor to court if the statement was not retracted within five working days.

Buhari hosts members of diplomatic corps

– President Buhari breaks his Ramadan fast with the members of members of diplomatic corps in his presidential villa
– The president addressed issues of Niger Delta militancy, the Boko Haram insurgency, rescue of the Chibok girls
– He reaffirmed the commitment to free all Boko Haram captives and to provide safe return of displaced people to their homes

President Muhammadu Buhari has hosted members of diplomatic corps to breaking of Ramadan fast in State House on June 30, Thursday.
While addressing his visitors the president restated his determination to rescue the remaining abducted Chibok girls.
He said that the priority was to rescue the girls alive and unharmed. ‎

“We are not letting up our efforts to rescue the Chibok girls, our priority is to rescue them unharmed”, Buhari noted.
President Buhari assured that he would continue to tackle the security challenges, lamenting that the Boko Haram activities had rendered many Nigerians orphaned and homeless.

“Our main focus is to ensure their safe return to their homes and rehabilitation of their communities,” he noted.
Speaking about the increase in attacks in the Niger Delta region, the president gave assurance that the issue was being addressed.

Meanwhile, Buhari noted that “no amount of militancy shall distract us from engaging with the region”.‎
According to the leader of the nation, his government was committed to addressing the issue of unemployment, poor infrastructure and ecological problems: “Our doors are open for business.”

President Buhari further showed gratitude on the international cooperation the anti-corruption war had received particularly on the recovery of looted funds.
‎On his own part, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama‎, thanked the Buhari, stating that the breaking of fast meeting was an opportunity to interact with the president.

Two years ago the members of the deadly Boko Haram sect has kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls from the Chibok town in the Borno state.
In May this year, one of the girls, Amina Ali Nkeki, was found wandering in the Sambisa forest with her baby.

However, the family of the girl lamented that the government is hiding the rescued girl as she was last seen during the meeting with President Buhari.

We’ll resist attempts to unseat Fayose – PDP members to FG

– PDP members protest in Ekiti over alleged attempt by FG to unseat Governor Fayose
– The PDP members say they are ready to resist any attempt to hijack power from Fayose through the backdoor with the last drop of our blood
– They say they won’t hesitate to recall any lawmaker in the House of Assembly who works against the governor
Following an alleged plot to unseat Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state, members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took to the streets on Thursday, June 30, to protest.
The PDP members trooped out in their numbers in Ido-Ekiti headquarters of Ido/Osi local government, in support of Governor Ayo Fayose, The Nation reports.
According to the protesters, any attempt by the federal government to remove Governor Fayose will not be condoned.
They condemned alleged plot by the government to “hide under the pretext of an investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to remove the governor.”

Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state

Some of their placards read: “Stop harassing Fayose”; “Fayose remains blameless”; “Fayose must complete his tenure” and “Peace must remain in Ekiti”.
Speaking at the rally, a PDP chieftain, Adeola Ogunrinade, said the protest was staged to drum up support for Fayose, who he described as the “leader of opposition in Nigeria.”
He said: “The people trooped out in the last election to vote for Governor Ayodele Fayose because he did well in his first coming. Although they truncated his tenure, we won’t allow that this time.
“Any of the lawmakers in the House of Assembly who works against the governor is working against Ekiti interest and we won’t hesitate to recall the person.
“They are in the Assembly on the benevolence of the governor. So any act of betrayal will be taken as a coup against our collective interest.”
The former PDP Chairman, Idowu Faleye, said every move to unseat Fayose would be resisted.
Faleye said: “We are ready to resist any attempt to hijack power from Fayose through the backdoor with the last drop of our blood. We have sensitised our people and they know the truth. We will continue to expose the lies and scheming of the federal government against the governor.”
The EFCC, on Monday, June 20, froze two personal accounts of the governor and one belonging to his company, Spotless Investments, in the course of its investigations into N4.7billion the governor allegedly received from the office of the National Security Adviser during his election campaign in 2014.
Fayose has since denied receiving any money, claiming it was Zenith Bank that majorly funded his campaign.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic confirms Manchester United move

– Zlatan Ibrahimovic will join Manchester United this summer
– Ibrahimovic’s contract at PSG has expired and he will move to England
– Zlatan is expected to sign a one year deal with the Manchester club
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has announced on Instagram that he is joining Manchester United.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Ibrahimovic, 34, was available as a free agent after his Paris Saint-Germain contract expired on Thursday and the striker has confirmed reports that he would join United.

On the day he became a free agent, he wrote on Instagram: “Time to let the world know. My next destination is @manchesterunited #iamcoming”
According to ESPN, Ibrahimovic was yet to sign a contract or have a medical when he announced his plans, and United have not yet confirmed the move.
Provisional terms on a one-year deal had been agreed two weeks ago, sources close to the deal said at the time, though a clause in his PSG contract delayed the transfer.
United announced earlier on Thursday that they will play Galatasaray in a friendly in Ibrahimovic’s native Sweden on July 30.

We’ll resist attempts to unseat Fayose – PDP members to FG

– PDP members protest in Ekiti over alleged attempt by FG to unseat Governor Fayose
– The PDP members say they are ready to resist any attempt to hijack power from Fayose through the backdoor with the last drop of our blood
– They say they won’t hesitate to recall any lawmaker in the House of Assembly who works against the governor
Following an alleged plot to unseat Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state, members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took to the streets on Thursday, June 30, to protest.
The PDP members trooped out in their numbers in Ido-Ekiti headquarters of Ido/Osi local government, in support of Governor Ayo Fayose, The Nation reports.
According to the protesters, any attempt by the federal government to remove Governor Fayose will not be condoned.
They condemned alleged plot by the government to “hide under the pretext of an investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to remove the governor.”

Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state

Some of their placards read: “Stop harassing Fayose”; “Fayose remains blameless”; “Fayose must complete his tenure” and “Peace must remain in Ekiti”.
Speaking at the rally, a PDP chieftain, Adeola Ogunrinade, said the protest was staged to drum up support for Fayose, who he described as the “leader of opposition in Nigeria.”
He said: “The people trooped out in the last election to vote for Governor Ayodele Fayose because he did well in his first coming. Although they truncated his tenure, we won’t allow that this time.
“Any of the lawmakers in the House of Assembly who works against the governor is working against Ekiti interest and we won’t hesitate to recall the person.
“They are in the Assembly on the benevolence of the governor. So any act of betrayal will be taken as a coup against our collective interest.”
The former PDP Chairman, Idowu Faleye, said every move to unseat Fayose would be resisted.
Faleye said: “We are ready to resist any attempt to hijack power from Fayose through the backdoor with the last drop of our blood. We have sensitised our people and they know the truth. We will continue to expose the lies and scheming of the federal government against the governor.”
The EFCC, on Monday, June 20, froze two personal accounts of the governor and one belonging to his company, Spotless Investments, in the course of its investigations into N4.7billion the governor allegedly received from the office of the National Security Adviser during his election campaign in 2014.
Fayose has since denied receiving any money, claiming it was Zenith Bank that majorly funded his campaign.

We’ll resist attempts to unseat Fayose – PDP members to FG

– PDP members protest in Ekiti over alleged attempt by FG to unseat Governor Fayose
– The PDP members say they are ready to resist any attempt to hijack power from Fayose through the backdoor with the last drop of our blood
– They say they won’t hesitate to recall any lawmaker in the House of Assembly who works against the governor
Following an alleged plot to unseat Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state, members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took to the streets on Thursday, June 30, to protest.
The PDP members trooped out in their numbers in Ido-Ekiti headquarters of Ido/Osi local government, in support of Governor Ayo Fayose, The Nation reports.
According to the protesters, any attempt by the federal government to remove Governor Fayose will not be condoned.
They condemned alleged plot by the government to “hide under the pretext of an investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to remove the governor.”

Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state

Some of their placards read: “Stop harassing Fayose”; “Fayose remains blameless”; “Fayose must complete his tenure” and “Peace must remain in Ekiti”.
Speaking at the rally, a PDP chieftain, Adeola Ogunrinade, said the protest was staged to drum up support for Fayose, who he described as the “leader of opposition in Nigeria.”
He said: “The people trooped out in the last election to vote for Governor Ayodele Fayose because he did well in his first coming. Although they truncated his tenure, we won’t allow that this time.
“Any of the lawmakers in the House of Assembly who works against the governor is working against Ekiti interest and we won’t hesitate to recall the person.
“They are in the Assembly on the benevolence of the governor. So any act of betrayal will be taken as a coup against our collective interest.”
The former PDP Chairman, Idowu Faleye, said every move to unseat Fayose would be resisted.
Faleye said: “We are ready to resist any attempt to hijack power from Fayose through the backdoor with the last drop of our blood. We have sensitised our people and they know the truth. We will continue to expose the lies and scheming of the federal government against the governor.”
The EFCC, on Monday, June 20, froze two personal accounts of the governor and one belonging to his company, Spotless Investments, in the course of its investigations into N4.7billion the governor allegedly received from the office of the National Security Adviser during his election campaign in 2014.
Fayose has since denied receiving any money, claiming it was Zenith Bank that majorly funded his campaign.