Patience Jonathan’s cash: Houseboy, driver’s names used to open $15m accounts...Read It All On Tafia World

 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested four domestic servants, including a driver and a houseboy, whose names were used to open bank accounts for Mrs Dame Patience Jonathan, the wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Sources within the anti-graft agency said on Sunday that the companies’ accounts were opened at Skye Bank.

The companies are Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited, Seagate Property Development and Investment Company Limited, Trans Ocean Property and Investment Company Limited and Globus Integrated Service Limited.

Eniola Akinkuotu, Abuja

The four companies’ accounts, which have since been frozen by the EFCC, have a balance of about $15m while another account, which bears Patience Jonathan’s name, has $5m.

Mr. Sammie Somiari, who deposed to an affidavit on behalf of the ex-President’s wife, said the former First Lady was the owner of the money in the accounts.

She had revealed that she...read it here...

Economy-will-bounce-back-buhari...Read It All On Tafia World

 Economy will bounce back-Buhari Economy will bounce back-Buhari On September 11, 20165:13 pmIn News by Ifeoluwa AyandeleComments President Muhammadu Buhari has saluted Nigerians for their steadfastness in spite of the difficult economic times confronting the country. Buhari, in his Eid-el-Kabir message to Nigerians released in Abuja on Sunday, gave the assurance that his administration would get the economy right. According to him, the Federal Government is “working round the clock” to address the current hardship the country is going through. He attributed the economic recession to cumulative effects of worldwide economic downturn and failure in the past to plan and save for difficult times. “It is impossible to separate the present from the past to appreciate the extent to which mistakes of the past are affecting everyday life today. “I assure you that this administration is working round the clock to remove the hardships the country is going through.” He said development programmes had been designed to reinvigorate the economy and enhance living standards of ordinary people. These, according to the President, include rail and road constructions, housing sector projects, support for farmers in small and medium scale industries, youth and women empowerment programmes and support for revival of industries. “We are getting security right. We are stopping corruption in its tracks and we will get the economy right by the grace of God.’’ Buhari enjoined Muslims to live by the dictates of Islam by maintaining good relationships with their Christian brothers and sisters. He further charged them to maintain the spirit of the Nigerian nation as patriots. “The lessons of the Eid are piety and sacrifice and, my dear brothers and sisters, you have exhibited these in equal measure. I wish everyone happy holidays ,'he said'

Who is Nigerian Leader at the moment? Read It All On Tafia World

 Who is Nigerian Leader at the moment? On September 11, 201612:54 amIn Frankly Speaking by adekunleComments By Dele Sobowale “At the moment it must be crystal clear to all discerning minds that the President’s widely acclaimed magical body language has lost its presumed aura and efficiency. His no-nonsense demeanour is neither instilling fear nor commanding respect and loyalty from among his cabinet members.”—Senator Dino Melaye, APC Kogi-West, in a national newspaper, September 5, 2016.  This article could just as easily be titled ‘HAS BUHARI SUFFERED FROM A CIVILIAN COUP?’ And it would be just as apt. Melaye’s statement quoted above, given what had occurred since May 29, 2015, when Buhari was sworn in for the second time as Head of State, should alert all of us to a startling fact – that Buhari might no longer be in control of his civilian “troops”. In fact, the success of the rebels in installing the leaders of the National Assembly, against the wishes of the President and the other “leaders” of the All Progressives Congress, APC, is a reminder of what occurred in 1985 when a reportedly aloof Military Head of State was removed in a bloodless coup with nobody to even give him a warning. Senate President Saraki and Speaker Dogara could not have emerged as they did without an air-tight conspiracy of silence – undoubtedly aided by a President-elect who was once again aloof from the newly-elected legislators who were absolutely vital to his success as President. Today, there is growing fear that Buhari and the “leaders” of the APC are becoming increasingly isolated and might be leading only a minority of those still claiming to belong to the APC. Unfortunately for Nigeria, even the PDP cannot now boast of a leader; and might stumble along until 2019 without one. That is the tragedy awaiting this country in 2019 – the handwriting is now becoming clear on the political wall. There are supposed to be two major political parties in Nigeria at the moment, the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. But, unless the generally accepted definition of political party has changed, neither one of them can possibly approximate any right thinking persons idea of a political party. Neither of them represents the ideals and aspirations of the people they pretend to lead. They have both become conspiracies by a few people, putting up a figurehead as leader, bent only on seizing power for their own sake. In every democracy, the President or Prime Minister is the recognized leader of the ruling party and, by extension, the nation as well. The sort of statements credited to Melaye and an APC leader in Kano State can only occur in a situation where a strong faction or two had emerged. President Buhari addressing the guests during the launch of the National Re-Orientation Campaign “Change Begins with Me” at the State House Conference Centre (SHCC) in Abuja. However, it is not only at the Federal level that...read it here...

55-yr-old-female-pilgrim-excreted-82-wraps-cocaine...Read It All On Tafia World

Mrs Binuyo Basari The suspect, the agency’s commander at the Abuja airport, Hamisu Lawan, said. was arrested during the outward screening of passengers on an Emirate flight to Dubai en-route Medina, after testing positive for drug ingestion. She was on her way to Saudi Arabia on pilgrimage. Hamisu informed that drug trafficking was punishable by death in Saudi Arabia, adding that arrangement had been concluded for her prosecution. Describing her action as shameful and discreditable, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Muhammad Mustapha Abdallahi, said: “It is a shameful and discreditable act for a 55-year-old mother, going on holy pilgrimage, to ingest narcotics. This is shocking and a clear indication of her inability to effectively discharge parental responsibility. The agency shall invoke the powers of the law against her and others caught indulging in production/trafficking in narcotic drugs”. During interrogation, the suspect, a mother of three from Irepodun local government area of Kwara State, was said to have revealed that she was offered N1m to traffic the drug. She said.....

Obaseki doesn’t know the full meaning of APC –Ize-Iyamu

 

The Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate in Edo State, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, tells BAYO AKINLOYE that the All Progressives Congress may have a hand in the postponed September 10 poll

How did you receive news of the postponement of Edo State governorship poll?

I am very sad that the Edo State governorship election slated for September 10 was postponed. We were prepared for the election. We were confident of winning but all of a sudden we got the news that the poll had been postponed with the authorities citing security challenges. The nature of the challenges we were not told; a new date for the poll had been fixed. It’s a long postponement with the election scheduled to hold on a week day and we were not even consulted. We see this development as a conspiracy by those who are scared (of losing in the poll) and are playing for time. But as law-abiding citizens, anything they want to do, we’ll be ready.

Similar thing happened during the Peoples Democratic Party rule with ex-President Goodluck Jonathan presiding over the country; the general elections were postponed. Don’t you think you should give the current government the benefit of the doubt?

I am sure you know that the reasons given then for the postponement of the polls were not in doubt – insurgency in the North-East was the main reason. The government wanted to ensure that the region was safe enough for people to exercise their civic right. So, the reason was clearly defined and we all knew what happened afterwards: the All Progressives Congress did very well (in that region). If you remove the votes recorded for the party in the North-East I doubt if the APC would have won the presidential election. Whether we like it or not those reasons were valid and the results were clear. But in Edo’s case, what are the reasons for postponing the governorship poll?  What are the security challenges? The President (Muhammadu Buhari) was in Edo and two days after it was announced that election could no longer hold due to security challenges. But what are the security challenges? Policemen drafted from their formations to provide security during the poll were already on their way before the election was postponed. They were ordered to go back to their formations. If there had been security challenges would they have been drafted to Edo in the first place?

The truth is this: we are not accusing the president of complicity in this matter. But the postponement made us curious that the governor of the state (Adams Oshiomhole), who is the chief security officer, didn’t raise his voice when it was announced that the election had been postponed due to security challenges. Is that not an indictment on his government? A man who collects N500m monthly for security vote didn’t say a word about security challenges in the state being the reason for the poll postponement. Isn’t that an irony? There was no protest; there was no condemnation. Isn’t it strange for somebody like.....read more...

Patience Jonathan must explain how she earned billions – Sagay...Read It all here.

The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), has said with the fresh admission by Patience Jonathan that she owns the $5m traced to her accounts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, means the anti-graft agency has the right to probe her.

According to him, if the former first lady is claiming that she owns the money then she must explain how she earned it.

The discovery of the additional amount, in the former first lady’s Skye Bank account, by the EFCC brings to $20m the total amount so far traced to her.

As part of investigations into a money laundering case against a former Special Adviser on Domestic Affairs to ex-President Jonathan, Waripamowei Dudafa, the EFCC had traced four company accounts to him with a balance of $15m.

The EFCC subsequently charged Dudafa and the four companies with money laundering.

The four companies, whose accounts have since been frozen, are Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited, Seagate Property Development and Investment Company Limited, Trans Ocean Property and Investment Company Limited and Globus Integrated Service Limited.

A source at the EFCC said, “While we were investigating Dudafa, we traced the four companies to him. The companies have domiciliary accounts at Skye Bank with a balance of about $15m. So, we obtained a court order and froze the accounts.

“We then traced the directors of the companies who then denied ownership of the accounts. It was later that we were informed that the accounts belonged to Patience Jonathan and that she is the sole signatory to the accounts. She was given a special card which she used in making withdrawals across the world...............contine here...

Edo election: Postponement won’t change outcome – Lawmaker...Read IT All On Tafia World

Mr Jude Idimogu, a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, on Friday said the postponement of the Edo governorship election, though unfortunate, would not change where the pendulum would swing in the poll.

Idimogu (PDP-Oshodi-Isolo II) said that the shift was simply a case of postponing the evil day as the electorate had made up their minds on which direction their votes would go.

He said, “People have made up their minds on the candidate they would vote for; so, postponing it does not change where the pendulum will swing. It is postponing the evil day.”

The lawmaker said that the security reason given for the shift was not tenable and the postponement would result in the election gulping a lot more funds.

He said, “The postponement is very unfortunate; there is no justification for the security threat advanced by the Police and DSS (Department of State Security) as the basis for the call for the shift.

“People have prepared well to cast their votes in support of the candidate of their choice. Resources, energy and time have been spent.

“INEC has spent a lot, only for them, just about three days to the election, to announce the postponement based on security issues.

“For me, there could be more than we know on this issue; it is a big problem,” he said.

Idimogu expressed worry that about 90 per cent of the elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission in recent times were inconclusive.

He said there was no guarantee that the same fate would not befall the Edo poll on the rescheduled date.

The lawmaker, however, urged members of the PDP in the state to remain focussed, perfect their strategies and cover yet to be covered areas.

He expressed confidence that the PDP would emerge as winner in the election earlier scheduled for Sept 10, but now shifted to Sept. 28.

The postponement came a day after the police and State Security Service cited security concerns and advised the electoral body to shift the poll.

INEC initially vowed to go ahead with the poll, but hours later, announced its postponement.

Beauty queen empowers women...Read IT All On Taf[a World

 

 

Frances Udukwu

’Nonye Ben-Nwankwo, and Ademola Olonilua

The reigning Miss Africa USA 2016, Frances Udukwu, has unveiled her pet project called The Lead Girl Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, which aims at empowering women and girls from the age of 18.

She told Saturday Beats that women empowerment is a smart initiative because it will give them financial independence to enable them to make choices, drive growth and inspire their families and communities as a whole.

The beauty queen added that her goal is to utilise her platform as the reigning Miss Africa USA to empower young women to achieve their dreams knowing that an empowered woman is a blessing to an empowered and inspired community.

The foundation, according to her, has four core focuses which are vocational skills training programme, enterprise development programme, mentoring woman in business programme and code school for formerly incarcerated ladies.
She said, “The Lead Girl Foundation envisions a world where women and girls have equal opportunities, as well as capital, skill-set and network necessary to become financially independent, resulting in a more secure future. Financial independence gives women choices and enables women to spend more on their families, drive growth in their economies and inspire others in their communities.”

She also said she came to Nigeria to begin work with select project sites in the country such as the Holy Rosary College, Enugu, embark on a university tour and have an interactive session with female executives of student union governments.
Udukwu said seeing Nigerian women with so much energy and passion good enough to engender change in their various communities inspired her vision to float the foundation, which she hopes to use to help women channel their various energies into much more profitable and sustainable ventures.