Suffering and smiling !! DMO: Nigeria must take loans to fund 2018 budget

Patience Oniha, director general of Debt Management Office (DMO), says the federal government must take loans to fund the 2018 budget and the capital projects.

Speaking on Monday at the public presentation of the Spring 2018 issue of the International Monetary Fund Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa, Oniha said Nigeria can not claim to be an oil-producing nation like Saudi Arabia.

“We have since realised we should not be benchmarking ourselves against these countries. We borrow because there is a revenue shortfall,” she said.

“The national assembly passed the budget last week and we know it was higher than what the executive presented. So, as a debt manager, what I am looking for is to see where the funding of that incremental size may come in from.”

At the end of December 31, 2017, Nigeria’s total debt stood at N21.73 trillion.

“All of government’s borrowings were targeted at infrastructural development. Without borrowing, we won’t be able to deliver on the budget and I think we should be clear about that and a lot of that went into capital projects.”

In 2017, the federal government, through the DMO, issued a number of debt instruments like the Sukuk, Savings bond, Eurobond and Green bond.

Proceeds from the Suku was used to fund the construction of 25 major roads across the country. - Cable Nigeria

Trader kills wife over alleged infidelity

A vehicle parts dealer, Tochukwu Chukwu, at the popular Ladipo Spare Parts Market in Lagos, yesterday said he stabbed his wife, Joy, to death because he suspected she was a flirt.

However, the suspect was apprehended by vigilant residents, while attempting to dispose her corpse which he put inside a bucket, at night.

Vanguard reports that when the suspect, Tochukwu, was caught he gave the impression that he was taking his dead wife’s remains to the mortuary, but the neighbours became suspicious when the four people who accompanied him ran away on sighting the Police.

But, when the Police took the corpse to the mortuary for postmortem examination, it was discovered that the victim was stabbed in the back with a knife.

Based on the new discovery, the Police invited Tochukwu for further questioning.

Police operatives led by the Divisional Police Officer for Akinpelu, Oshodi, CSP Jimoh Aliu, went back to the crime scene where they discovered the murder weapon and secured it for further forensic analysis.

According to Tochukwu, “my wife was a flirt. There was a time I travelled to Enugu State; when I called my wife, she didn’t pick. Later a man picked her call and threatened me. The man who picked my call told me never to call her again.”

One of the wife’s relatives, who does not want his name in print, said: “It is just unfortunate that Joy died this way. Her parents had told her to quit the marriage, because her life was obviously in danger. But she stayed, thinking he would change his suspicious nature.

“Now see where it has landed her. Before this incident, he told his wife that he was travelling, but he didn’t. Unknown to Joy, he had his plans. He has never caught her with any man.”

A neighbour, Maris Uke, said: “Mr. Tochukwu has been living with his wife here for a while. He is very suspicious of his wife’s activities.

“Actually, we don’t know what happened that night, but they were always having domestic issues. It was in the course of their issue that he killed her.

“He was caught in the middle of the night while attempting to dispose her remains, which he hid in a bucket.

“He tried to hide her remains in the large container by lifting it on his head in a bid to protect it from public glare. But unfortunately for him he ran out of luck and was caught.”

Confirming the incident, spokesperson of Lagos State Police Command, SP Chike Oti, said the suspect was in custody and that investigation was still ongoing.

He added: “From preliminary investigation, it appears like a case of domestic violence.

“The Police have visited the crime scene and recovered the murder weapon (knife). They secured it carefully for further forensic analysis.” - Daily Post

Arsenal appoint Emery as new manager

Arsenal have appointed former Paris St Germain coach Unai Emery as the new manager of the club, with the Spaniard succeeding the long-serving Arsene Wenger, the Premier League club announced on Wednesday.

Emery, who joined PSG in June 2016, left the French club at the end of this season, having led them to a domestic treble.

The 46-year-old had previously guided Spanish side Sevilla to three Europa League titles.
“Unai has an outstanding track record of success throughout his career.

“He has also developed some of the best young talents in Europe and plays an exciting, progressive style of football that fits Arsenal perfectly,” Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis said in a statement.

“His hard work and passionate approach and his sense of value on and off the pitch make him the ideal person to take us forward,” Gazidis said.

Wenger departed the North London club at the end of last season after nearly 22 years at the helm, helping the team capture three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups.

Lack the will power !!! $16bn power project: Probe Obasanjo, other past leaders – CACOL tells Buhari

The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to probe former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, on the purported $16bn expended on power projects, as well as perceived corruption by former leaders of the country.

DAILY POST recalls that Buhari had while receiving a delegation of his support group yesterday, said a former president has questions to answer over a failed $16 billion power project.

Reacting, CACOL in a statement by its director, Debo Adeniran urged Buhari to bring the culprits to book disregarding their political influence.

The statement read, “Our stand is that the Federal Government should waste no time further but should probe whoever is behind poorly implemented national projects.

“Now that the President has confirmed that $16bn was wasted under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Buhari administration needs to summon enough courage and political will to bring the culprits to book.

“Power, influence and political leanings should not be considered in bringing whoever is guilty to book,” the statement read. - Daily Post

Court to continue ex-PDP spokesman, Metuh’s trial in absentia

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled that the trial of ex-spokesman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh will continue in his absence following his alleged refusal to further attend proceedings.

The court also ordered that the General Manager of a private television station, Channels Television, Abuja and the anchor of its daily Sunrise programme, Mrs. Maope Ogun-Yusuf should attend court on May 25 at 9am to show cause why they should not be compelled to produce the master tape of the recording of the programme aired on May 22 this year.

Justice Okon Abang made the orders on Wednesday while ruling on applications by Metuh’s lawyer, Emeka Etiaba (SAN) and prosecution lawyer, Sylvanus Tahir.

Etiaba had, at the resumed proceedings in the case on Tuesday (May 22), told the court that although his witnesses were in court and ready to testify, but that his client was absent in view of the incident of the previous day.

Etiaba said his client was on admission at the intensive care unit of the National Hospital, Abuja, where he was allegedly rushed to after he fell in court on May 21.

He consequently applied for adjournment until when his client would be fit to attend court.

The application, though supported by the second defence lawyer, Tochukwu Onwugbufor (SAN), was rejected by Tahir, who insisted that trial should go on in Metuh’s absence on the grounds that his lawyer did not provide any evidence to support his claim.

Tahir equally complained about some alleged prejudicial statements purportedly made by a lawyer in the defence team, identified as Ben Chuck Nwosu, in relation to the pending trial, while he appeared on May 22, 2018 in Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily.

He applied that the station’s Managing Director and the programme’s anchor be summoned to produce the recording of the programme unedited.

Metuh, who is currently conducting his defence and was to call his 11th witness on at the resumption of proceedings on May 21, fell in court while making his way into the dock in defiance of the court’s earlier directive that he should not bother to move into the dock. - The Nation

Land of looters and fraudsters !! Obasanjo blew $16b on power projects - Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari raised a poser yesterday for former President Olusegun Obasanjo: where is the fruit of your administration’s $16 billion expenditure on power?

The President spoke at the Presidential Villa in Abuja while receiving the Buhari Support Organisation (BSO), led by Comptroller-General of Nigerian Customs Service Col. Hameed Ali (retd.)

Although the President did not specifically mention Obasanjo’s name, what he said was a direct reference to Obasanjo’s tenure and the controversial expenditure.

The House of Representatives had in 2008 described the $16 billion spent on power by Obasanjo’s administration as “ a colossal waste”. The lawmakers blamed it all on “poor budget planning and a lack of proper oversight by relevant bodies”.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project in 2016 urged Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Walter Onnoghen to appoint an independent counsel to investigate allegations of corruption in the spending of $16 billion on electricity by the Obasanjo administration.

Buhari said: “I have to repeat what I want the public to know here. Some of you may not have heard it. Either there is no power in your place or even on the television.

“I said and I challenge anybody to check from Europe, Asia and America. Between 1999 and 2014, Nigeria was getting 2.1 million barrels per day and average cost of 100 American dollars per barrel. It went up to $143.

“So Nigeria was earning 2.1 million times 100 times 16 years seven days a week. When we came, it collapsed to $37-38 and it was oscillating between 40 and 54, sometimes. I went to the Governor of Central Bank, thank goodness I did not sack him, he is still there. I went with my cap in my hand and said oya. He said there was no savings, only debt.

“And you know more than I do the condition of the roads and some of them were not repaired since PTF days. No matter what opinion you have about Abacha, I agreed to work with him and the PTF road we did from here to Port Harcourt, to Onitsha, to Benin and so on.

”On top of other things in the institution, education, medical care and so on. You know the rail was killed and one of the former Heads of State between that time was bragging that he spent more than 16 billion American dollars (not Naira) on power. Where is the power? Where is the power?

”And now we have to pay the debts and this year and last year’s budget I took to the National Assembly was the highest in capital projects: more than N1.3 trillion. Let anybody come and confront me publicly in the National Assembly. What have they been doing? Some of them have been there for 10 years. What have they been doing?

“So, really this country luckily for me I said it about eight years, that we have no other country than Nigeria, we should remain here and salvage it together –  no matter what you have outside.

”Now, we get some of the people with houses here and may be in Abuja or somewhere in America and Europe, they swear some of them to God that it doesn’t belong to them. But we traced their accounts, through the banks, through their companies, it is their own. But they say it’s not their own. This is a terrible time and the people are saying what are we doing? Why can’t you lock them up?

”And again I went on by telling them, I said when I was in uniform, younger and rather ruthless, I got from the President downward I locked them up in Kirikiri. I said, ‘you’re guilty except you prove yourselves innocent’.

”I myself was locked up and those who misappropriated public funds were given back what they had taken away. Who did anything about it? Then I decided to come and put agbada. I tried one, two, three, four times. God agreed. And the third time I came and met a statesman outside the Supreme Court. My chief lawyer was Mike Ahamba, Roman Catholic and Ibo man.

”He had witnessed in the box and asked the panel of judges that they should check on certain constituencies in certain states to bring us our register so that we can prove that the people that voted there were the people INEC submitted.

”Another Ibo man, a Roman Catholic, he said that this is what happened. He was among the panel of the judges, he wrote a minority report in my favour. So, why this question of religion and ethnicity and so on? People are worshipping the dollars, the Sterling, not to even talk of the Naira.

“He wrote a minority report, saying this is what we have decided. But the President of that court was my classmate for six years in secondary school; he is from my own state. So, please, we have nothing to regret. Absolutely nothing. Since we all believe that God works in our hearts,  not in our talking. God help us, God help our children and grandchildren. We will try as much as we can to work and bring this country to its  senses.

”God has given Nigeria everything; we are rich in human and material resources that let us keep praying to God that He should put people of conscience in charge at all levels.

”Sometimes, I wonder those who can afford to educate their children are to go overseas and train, America, Europe, Asia and so on. And they continue sometimes in economy. I wonder what kind of Nigerians they want their children to come and work with.

”I think there is a lot of lack of imagination. Because if you’re fighting for the country then you shouldn’t be misappropriating or misapplying the fund the way people do.”

Thanking the group, Buhari noted that nobody was paying them for what they had been doing.

”It is because from the bottom of your hearts; you exposed yourselves by identifying with me through opposition to success and after the success. You can only get satisfaction through voluntary and understandable way of believing in issues you do. You are only expecting your return from God and you are looking for the future of the country-your children and grand children.” he said

 Allegation unproven, says ex-president

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday described the allegation that his administration blew $16billion on failed power projects as “unsubstantiated.”

In a response by Obasanjo’s media assistant Kehinde Akinyemi, to President Muhammadu Buhari’s speech, when he received officials of the Buhari Support organisation (BSO), the former President said: the “statement credited to President Muhammadu Buhari, apparently without correct information and based on ignorance, suggested that $16 billion was wasted on power projects by “a former President”.

“We believe that the President was re-echoing the unsubstantiated allegation against Chief Obasanjo by his own predecessor but one.

“While it is doubtful that a President with proper understanding of the issue would utter such, it should be pointed out that records from the National Assembly had exculpated President Obasanjo of any wrong-doing concerning the power sector and has proved the allegations as false.

“For the records, Chief Obasanjo has addressed the issues of the power sector and the allegations against him on many occasions and platforms, including in his widely publicised book, My Watch in which he exhaustively stated the facts and reproduced various reports by both the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which conducted a clinical investigation into the allegations against Chief Obasanjo, and the Ad-Hoc Committee on the Review of the Recommendations in the Report of the Committee on Power on the Investigation into how the Huge Sums Of Money was Spent on Power Generation, Transmission And Distribution between June 1999 and May 2007 without Commensurate Result.

“We recommend that the President and his co-travellers should read Chapters 41, 42, 43 and 47 of My Watch for Chief Obasanjo’s insights and perspectives on the power sector and indeed what transpired when the allegation of $16 billion on power projects was previously made. If he cannot read the three-volume book, he should detail his aides to do so and summarise the chapters in a language that he will easily understand.

“In the same statement credited to the President, it was alleged that there was some bragging by Chief Obasanjo over $16 billion spent on power. To inform the uninformed, the so-called $16 billion power expenditure was an allegation against Chief Obasanjo’s administration and not his claim. The President also queried where the power generated is.

“The answer is simple: The power is in the seven National Integrated Power Projects and eighteen gas turbines that Chief Obasanjo’s successor who originally made the allegation of $16 billion did not clear from the ports for over a year and the civil works done on the sites.

“Chief Obasanjo challenges, and in fact encourages, anybody to set up another enquiry if in doubt and unsatisfied with the EFCC report and that of the Hon. Aminu Tambuwal-led ad-hoc committee.” - The Nation

Land of injustice and oppression !! Seek justice for Zakzaky beyond Nigeria, Amnesty Int’l tells IMN

Amnesty International (AI) has advised the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) to seek justice for  Ibrahim Zakzaky, its leader, and members held in detention by the Kaduna state government, outside the Nigerian judiciary.

Osai Ojigho, AI country director, who spoke in an interview on The Osasu Show with Osasu Igbinedion, asked the group not to relent until it exhausts all options available to it to seek redress.

Ojigho also asked the group to look for help from other organisations other than “faith-based” ones.

“I think they should not relent in their constant agitation for justice in this matter. In recent times, they have taken protests, some in Abuja. Some cases have also been tried to be stopped. But everyone has the right to protest if they feel their rights are being violated,” Ojigho said.

“But they can go beyond that and can now begin to explore beyond the shores of Nigeria. There is the African Commission on People’s and Human Rights, there is the ECOWAS court of justice which is also situated here in Abuja.

“Can the regional mechanisms here in Africa give them an alternative hearing and can the Nigerian state be called to order by these institutions in order to ensure that the rights of El-Zakzaky and his followers who have been illegally and unconstitutionally detained can be addressed at this level.

“I think until those avenues are exhausted, they still have a lot more to do in that regard. And to also get other actors.

“They don’t need to be faith-based because they are a faith-based organisation. Get human right actors, the Nigerian Bar Association to actually look at this issue from a rule of law perspective. From that angle, perhaps, there could be a delegation separate from the Shi’ites, who could say in this matter, we want the rule of law respected.”

Ojigho further the motive of the state government in charging Zakzaky to court in April after holding him captive for so long, despite court orders demanding his release, is unclear.

“We have been consistent in our messaging around the issue. It is illegal and it is unconstitutional and there is no justification for the continued of El-Zakzaky and his wife and all other supports of IMN who have been held incommunicado detention,” she said.

“We are watching this case and actually monitoring the situation in order to see what facts will be brought before the courts and to see how they will prosecute it.

“We find it unusual that it has taken them nearly three years for them to bring a case against him. That is why we are being cautious and we are asking the question, are they bringing the case against him now to show to people that he is actually a suspect who has committed crime or it is just a ploy to distract us from the fact that they have actually held him illegally for this long.” - Cable Nigeria

Again, Obasanjo laments pervasive insecurity in Nigeria

Former President Olusegun Obadanjo has again  decried the pervasive insecurity across the country, saying he does “not know  of any Nigerian living or dead today who could boast of being adequately secured.”

Obasanjo recalled that he met on grounds, challenges of insecurity in the country, but said his administration took proactive measures such as carrying out a lot of reforms in the military and signing into law Acts that formally established the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps(NSCDC).

The arrow head of the formation of the Coalition of Nigeria Movement (CNM) that recently fused into African Democratic Congress(ADC) to wrest power from President Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC) said he would support an amendment of the NSCDC  Act, if there is any lacuna, to accommodate private security professionals to help curb sundry security threats in the country.

Obasanjo who spoke at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library(OOPL), Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on Saturday during the ASIS International 2018 leadership retreat with the theme: Building Capacity for Professional Growth, however said such private security professionals should be effectively monitored, supervised and controlled by the NSCDC.

 ASIS International 2018 is a global body of professional private security providers while the Lagos chapter of it designated as ASIS 206, organised the retreat.

The ex – President identified corruption, bad economy, nepotism, and poor leadership as some of  the drivers of the current security threats in the country.

He also identified four cardinal things that should be in place if the nation expects to witness reduction or cessation of the wave of security threats posed by the insurgents, violent herdsmen,  kidnappers among others.

According to him, good governance, good  leadership, development and reclaiming of Nigeria’s  core values which emphasized honest means of livelihood, would drastically, if not totally, eliminate all of the security threats plaguing the country.

Obasanjo noted that a good leader must have experience both in good and bad sides of life that would help him to strategize on how to handle any threat.

The Chairman of ASIS 206 Lagos Chapter, Oluwaseyi Adetayo said that the NSCDC  law if reviewed, would guarantee professionalism of private security practice in the country as well as  boost the economy in the areas of employment opportunities and securing assets.

 “ASIS International has been providing the platform for networking, education, information on new technology and training for all security professionals all over the world on an as annual basis in the United States,” Adetayo said.

He explained that the theme of the retreat “Building Capacity for Professional Growth” was arrived at in order to attend to one of the major gaps in our industry, which is leadership.

“As many of us have grown to strategic leadership level in our various businesses, it is only important that we back professional and technical knowledge with required leadership skills,” he state. - The Nation

20-year-old house help disappears with widow’s N600,000 in Delta

One house help, Happy Edom in Asaba, Delta state, has disappeared from where she works around Ogbeosowe quarter with N600,000 belonging to her boss, Mrs Anne Adigwe.

Adigwe, a widow, who narrated her ordeal in the hands of the Happy to DAILY POST, said “I lost my husband a year ago and my children are grown up”.

“None of them in the house, they are all married and left the house. They gave me a house help from Akwa Ibom. She was humble initally until she started following men.

“On a Saturday morning , someone brought the N600,000 for me because of our meeting. I handover the money to her to keep.

“But around 4:30pm she claimed she was going to make her hair. Unknown to me she left with the money in a bag.

“Around 5pm, my meeting member came, and I called her GSM line to no avail. I started searching for her before I went and reported to the police”.

The police spokesman in the state, DSP, Andrew Aniamaka, confirmed that the matter was reported at the state CID.

“We are investigating the disappearance of the house help. Her GSM line is not going through, but the police are making efforts to visit her parents in Akwa ibom, we will get her at all costs”, he told DAILY POST.

Sources said the house help may have gone to African country as she had once told a friend that if she had her way, she would go leave the country so to assist her poor parents who could no longer afford her education.

Happy was said to have dropped out college in SS1. - Daily Post

Failed system !!! PDP accuses Buhari govt of corruption, seeks probe of N1.4trillion oil subsidy

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday, accused President Muhammadu Buhari’s government of corruption.

PDP said this in reaction to the N1.4 trillion naira spent of fuel subsidy.

PDP spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement, demanded probe of the alleged fraud as well as revenue collecting agencies under the presidency.

In his words, “Such inquest, which is already backed by state governors across board, will not only expose humongous corruption but also show the world that our African Union (AU) Anti-Corruption champion had not been totally spotless.

“We invite Nigerians to note that the demand by governors to probe all subsidy deals since 2015 is a direct indictment on President Buhari as the Minister of Petroleum, particularly, following allegations that the stolen funds are being warehoused to fund his 2019 re-election bid and the opulent lifestyle in the Presidential Villa.

“The party notes that if President Buhari allowed the inquest, it will reveal how our president, who had queried the genuineness of the oil subsidy payments by PDP administration and described the process as a fraud, had secretly engaged in underhand oil subsidy deals.

“Nigerians will also understand how the cost of fuel geometrically rose from the PDP subsidized cost of N87 to N145, representing a criminal N58 tax, per liter of fuel.”

The opposition party further recalled that it took over two years of secret oil subsidy deals under President Buhari before it was exposed last December.

PDP noted that since then, the Presidency and the NNPC have been seeking ways to cover the fraud which include claims that local consumption suddenly jumped from 28 million liters per day to 60 million liters per day.

The party claimed that it was a fabrication to cover the billions being stolen as subsidy, even when statistics by the National Bureau of Statistics and the reality of the retarded purchasing power of citizens, under the prevailing economic recession, do not validate such claims.

It stated: “Nigerian therefore deserve to know who authorised the payments and the identity of the beneficiary companies, if any.

“The PDP is happy that state governors across board and the National Assembly are on the same page with our party in condemning the humongous fraud going on under President Buhari’s fuel subsidy.

“The PDP therefore demands that the inquest covers the alleged the N15 billion stolen from the NHIS, the N18 billion stolen from the PINE initiative, the alleged leaked memo of N9 trillion corrupt oil contracts at the NNPC, the reported diversion of N1.1trillion worth of crude last year and why indicted Presidential cronies and fronts have not been prosecuted”. - Daily Post

People order for my guns across Nigeria, says suspect

Niger State Police Command has intercepted and arrested a four-man gang, which allegedly manufacture firearms (dane guns) at Zungeru in Wushishi Local Government.

The suspects include 54-year- old Badamasi Umar, 45-year-old Adamu Aliyu, 40-year-old Kabiru Tukura and 40-year-old Isyaku Madaki.

Umar said he had been in the business for long, as people from other parts of the state and country ordered for his guns.

“I’m known in my area as someone who manufactures local guns. People from other parts of the state and country order my guns. I have been in the trade for four years.

“I produce local guns and sell to anyone that needs them. I am not interested in what the person uses the gun for. It may be for hunting or for security purposes. I sell the guns to make money to maintain my four wives and pay my children’s school fees,” he added.

Umar said vigilance groups and security companies “buy our guns”, adding that he never knew there was a ban on illegal firearms, as he would have stopped.

The Nation learnt the suspects were trailed and arrested by the Joint Task Force patrol deployed in Zungeru.

Spokesman Muhammad Abubakar said the suspects had confessed to the crime, adding that 12 dane guns were recovered from them. - The Nation

Terrorism : Fulani herdsmen kill soldiers, kidnap two in Benue LG, Logo

No fewer than five soldiers have been reportedly killed and two others kidnapped after suspected herdsmen clashed with some personnel in Logo LGA of Benue State on Sunday.

The attackers also burnt down Army patrol vehicles during the clash.

DAILY POST gathered that the herdsmen had wanted to attack a village in Logo but where foiled by the Army men.

The confrontation resulted into fire exchange between the herdsmen and military personnel.

A resident of the area hinted our reporter that the herdsmen overpowered the soldiers and whisked away two others. - Daily Post

Sick nation ! Buhari’s cash gift tears Christian leaders apart

The National Christian Elders Forum, (NCEF) has accused the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) of corruption and abuse of office.

In a memo reportedly obtained by Vanguard, NCEF alleged that a CAN delegation led by Samson Ayokunle, its president, collected “transportation money” from President Muhammadu Buhari, when they paid him a visit in November.

The NCEF said while CAN officials said they collected N25 million, sources claimed they received up to N40 million from the presidency.

The forum recommended punishment for those involved.

In the memo, titled ‘NCEF Protests: Is NEC of CAN Guilty of Negligence?’, signed by Solomon Asemota, on behalf of some members, the NCEF called the national executive council (NEC) of CAN to immediately convene an emergency meeting to investigate the issues raised.

“On the 10th of November, 2017, a delegation of CAN, led by the President of CAN, Rev. Dr. Ayokunle, met with President Muhammadu Buhari and, after the visit, collected ‘transportation’ money,” the memo read.

“While informed sources claim it was N40 million, CAN officials insist it was N25 million and it was alleged to have been shared by somebody who is not an official of the national secretariat of CAN.

“NCEF insists on proper investigation of how the money was shared and how much each person received. In addition, NCEF insists on proper sanction of every Christian leader that took part in sharing money from President Buhari.

“It is unethical and very insensitive for Christian leaders to collect money from the man every Christian is aware has compromised security to the detriment of the church.”

The group also called on its NEC to investigate alleged “high-handedness” of Ayokunle, while calling for his immediate suspension until he is cleared of all the allegations.

The forum demanded a probe into vehicles purchased at “questionable prices”.

They urged the NEC to ensure that the investigation looks into the activities of other officials of CAN on “whose heads allegations of wrong doing and misconduct hang”.

“In all, N43 million was spent to purchase four second hand vehicles in Cotonou,” the statement read.

“This allegation  is too big to be swept under the carpet. (This vehicle is parked at the National Christian Centre, Abuja).

“The auditor presented a financial report to CAN that did not include the N43 million spent on vehicles in Cotonou. Where did N43 million disappear to?”.

The Christian elders argued that it had the statutory right to “make its position public to all Nigerian Christians and alert them that, if Christianity is destroyed in Nigeria or Christians continue to get slaughtered, the present NEC of CAN should be held responsible.”

Reacting to the claims, Ayokunle described the allegations as “a catalogue of lies” designed to smear his reputation. - Cable Nigeria