‘N501m unaccounted for in communication ministry’s contract’

A house of representatives committee panel has revealed that N501 million is currently unaccounted for in a contract awarded by the ministry of communication.

At the hearing on Thursday, the panel investigating abandoned federal government projects discovered that the money is part of the N1.2 billion released for the procurement of radio monitoring equipment projects.

Musa Istifanus, permanent secretary of the ministry, told the lawmakers that the project was terminated due to some unresolved issues.

He said: “As you are aware, the ministry has one or two abandoned projects and the reason is that one of those contracts was terminated due to unresolved issues with the contractor”.

When probed further, Olusanya Agbe, director of procurement at the ministry, said the problem started when one of the principal partners who he identified as Dan Kabo died in 2004.

He said the over N4 billion contract was divided into three different schedules, with the ministry releasing a total sum of N1.176 billion for the project “out of which N675.2 million was utilised by the contractor and N501.7 million unaccounted for”.

He added that another principal partner of the onshore component also died shortly after collecting N200 million.

Asked the way forward, the permanent secretary said the only way to salvage the current situation is to re-assess the whole procurement and restructure same from scratch.

“Currently, the ministry is deploying radio monitoring equipment mounted on trucks and they are already becoming obsolete due to the arrival of updated ones into the market,” he said.

Officials from the Nigerian Communications Satellite (NigComsat), the Galaxy Backbone, and the Nigeria Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) were also grilled about the abandoned projects in their books.

-THECABLE

3 fake prophets arraigned for defrauding woman

The police on Friday arraigned three fake prophets who allegedly defrauded an applicant of N100,000, in a Magistrates’ Court in Asaba.

The police charged John Ifeokochukwu,25; Uchenna Obinna, 36, Mr. Ifeanyi Udenwoke, 31, with fraud.

The Prosecution Counsel, Mrs. Rachael Offor, told the court that defendants committed the offence on Sept. 14, at the Prescott Hotel in Asaba. Offor alleged that the defendants told the complainant, Miss Loveth Isibor, that they were prophets who have powers to deliver her from any afflictions.

She said that the offence was punishable under sections 516 and 419 of the Criminal Code Cap C21 Vol, laws of Delta State of Nigeria 2006.

After the charge was read to them, they pleaded not guilty.

The Magistrate,  Mrs. Edith Anumodu, admitted the defendants to bail in the sum of N100,000 each with to sureties in like sum.

- PM NEWS

Man Utd vs Arsenal: Solskjaer provides latest team news for EPL clash

Manchester United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, has provided the latest update on his team’s plans for their Premier League clash against Arsenal at Old Trafford on Monday night.

Solskjaer’s side head to the game following a 2-0 defeat to West Ham United in their last Premier League encounter.

“Any injuries?” Solskjaer told MUTV on Friday.

“There might be one or two who have not really come back. Paul was really struggling with his ankle as it was really swollen, so let’s see how that repairs. He got 90 minutes but was sore towards the end again.

”Phil will be out until after the international break and, do you know, you have to count these after every game but I think that’s it.

“I don’t think we’ll see Anthony before the international break. No, I don’t think so. Luke is improving so, hopefully, we’ll see him.”

The kick-off time for the match is 8pm.

- DAILY POST

Nigeria cannot achieve the SDGs without jobs and security, Akin Adesina tells Buhari

Akinwumi Adesina, president of the Africa Development Bank (AfDB), says without peace and security, Nigeria cannot achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs). 

The SDGs are development targets set by the United Nations (UN) to help create a better world by the year 2030 — they are the successors for the millenium development goals (MDGs)

Speaking at the United Nations headquarters in New York earlier in the week, Adesina told the president what must be done for Nigeria to achieve the goals.

“Mr. President, thank you for your tremendous leadership in driving the achievement of the SDGs in Nigeria. I know there are still some way to go, but I am confident that Nigeria will be able to achieve the SDGs,” Adesina said.

“Achieving these SDGs require a number of things; first, macroeconomic stability. It requires faster economic growth, it requires reducing inequality, it requires creating jobs, quality jobs, it requires accelerating quality infrastructure.

“It requires transforming agriculture, and most importantly Mr. President, it requires empowering women because when women win, Nigeria wins.

“And of course, peace and security, without peace and security, nothing can be achieved. I would like to commend you Mr. President for your steadfast dedication to the issues of national security.”

‘AFRICA WILL NOT DEVELOP BY BEGGING’

The former minister of agriculture in Nigeria also thanked President Buhari for the appointment of his new economic advisory committee led by Doyin Salami, a renowned economist.

“Mr. President, let me use this opportunity to commend you and to thank you for your new economic advisory team; I know several of them, they are world-class,” Adesina added.

“I would like to thank you for your personal leadership on agriculture,” Adesina told Buhari, adding that AfDB was ready to support the sector in the country.

“Mr. President, the SDGs cannot be achieved unless the situation in the Lake Chad basin is addressed. I would like to commend your excellency for your leadership in raising global attention to this issue.

“I want to assure you, I am fully committed to doing all that I can to resolve this issue with your leadership and that of the secretary-general, and of course my amiable sister, Amina Mohammed.

“Africa will not develop by begging, a stronger Nigeria is needed to lift Africa. Mr. President, you are a very tall man, with achieving the SDGs, help us get taller.”

Adesina highlighted the achievements of the AfDB under his leadership, and promised to do more in Nigeria and the Lake Chad region.

- THECABLE

‘We were hoping he would change’– Fatoyinbo’s ex-spiritual father speaks on scandal

Emmanuel Oset, presiding pastor of Champions’ Church, Ilorin, has likened Biodun Fatoyinbo to the biblical Judas who despite being loved betrayed Jesus.

Fatoyinbo, senior pastor of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA), was in June accused of rape by Busola Dakolo, a celebrity photographer. 

In an interview aired by Arise TV on Thursday, Oset, who used to be a spiritual father to Fatoyinbo, said there was nothing the church could do for someone who is not ready to be helped. 

“Our Lord Jesus Christ knew that Judas had become a thief but it wasn’t Jesus who said so, it was John who said so. Not because Jesus was weak, but because Jesus was hoping that this man would change,” he said. 

“You always find in the scripture, the purposes of God are redemptive. Before God comes with judgement in any case, you will see that he would have tried to get through to the person. It is when His love has been rebuffed and rebuffed again that He comes with judgement. That is God’s procedure. 

“God does not rule by force, he rules by love. 

“People have spoken. People spoke in 2013, but you can only help somebody who wants to be helped. If somebody doesn’t want to be helped, even God will not be able to help him, His hands will be tight in that regard.” 

In August 2013, Ese Walter, a former COZA member alleged that Fatoyinbo had a sexual relationship with her while she attended and worked in the church. 

When the news broke, Oset said he tried many times to reach Fatoyinbo, and when he refused to come forth, he stopped being his spiritual father. 

“When in August 2013, news broke out online concerning him and his ministry, as somebody he was close to as an elder I thought it was my responsibility to get across to him,” he said.

“I was preparing to go to the United States for ministry, and after some efforts because it wasn’t easy to get through to him, his pastor in Ilorin here, I told him, get through to your boss and I want to share a thing or two with him. Eventually he succeeded, and he called me from Abuja. And I told him this news is all over the place and I want to hear from you and I want to also give you some counsel if need be. And he said he would get in touch. I said okay, I’m on my way to the US, while I’m there if I want to get through to you how do I do it? I thought he would just say sir you can get through to me using my email. Then he said his fear that time was that he was being bugged. 

“When I came back from the United States, I still tried to get across to him, because my desire is always to please God. I am not saying this to impress anybody, I wasn’t part of those already making comments on the issue. I just wanted to see how I could be useful in terms of helping him, but he didn’t show up. 

“I waited for about… from August 2013 to April 2014. When he didn’t show up, and he was coming to town, having meetings I was seeing his billboards in town, well, my wife and I said to ourselves we’ve done our bit. It was then I wrote him a letter and I said consider that we no longer have anything to do with you and your ministry. I didn’t post it, it was hand delivered by his own pastor.”

Oset said he knew Fatoyinbo got his letter but the letter but was yet to be replied years after. He said the letter ended their relationship. 

When asked if he had tried to reach him again in the wake of Dakolo’s case, Oset said Fatoyinbo is the one who now owes him that contact and not the other way round. 

He explained that when Fatoyinbo started COZA in Ilorin, he was looking for credible spiritual guidance and when he and his wife came to him, he made a number of findings and could not see any reason to reject him. 

- THECABLE

FG reveals items recovered from Buruji Kashamu’s office

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has said it recovered three ambulances and a 500KVA Transformer from Senator Buruji Kashamu’s office.

According to the Commission, the items were part of 2016 Constituency Projects meant to be distributed to Ogun East Senatorial District.

The items were discovered at his Constituency Project Office in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.

A statement by the Spokesperson for the Commission, Mrs. Rasheedat Okoduwa, said the commission uncovered the items following intelligence alert by a concerned citizen.

The statement said: “The three ambulances which were procured at the cost of N6m each, were meant to be supplied to Obada Healthcare Centre, Oke Sopin in Ijebu North Local Government Area; Community Health Centre, Itele in Ijebu East Local Government Area; and Community Health Centre, Ogijo in Sagamu Local Government Area respectively.

“The transformer is the last of an initial eleven meant for distribution to various communities of Ogun East Senatorial District which were procured at the cost of N3.6m each, bringing the total for the entire eleven transformers to N39.5m.

“The commission received intelligence about the items from a concerned citizen who became aware of the commission’s Constituency Project Tracking Group initiative which exercise has so far covered 12 states of the federation.

“The recovered items were seized and the vehicles were moved to a Police Station while the 500KVA Transformer was marked with the Commission’s seizure seal and in the interim, kept in the custody of the Manager of the Senator’s office.”

- DAILY POST

Canadian judge mocks Nigerian doctor Adeagbo for his English accent

A judge in Alberta, Canada faces an accusation of racism for mocking the accent of Dr. Bamidele Adeagbo, a medical expert from Nigeria who testified during a trial, according to the CBC and the Montreal Gazette.

Forty-two legal, educational and medical professionals across Alberta have united to request an investigation from the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) into language used by Justice Terry Clackson during a trial for two individuals who were accused of murdering their son.
“We are of the view that Justice Clackson acted discriminatorily,” the complaint reads in part. “Some may perceive racism.”

The trial in Lethbridge, Alberta was the second for David and Collet Stephan, who were being tried for charges connected to the 2012 death of their 19 month old son Ezekiel. Instead of taking Ezekiel to a doctor immediately, the Crown accused, the two treated his bacterial meningitis with naturopathic medicine.

Dr Bamidele Adeagbo: mocked by the Canadian judge over his Nigerian accented English

When Ezekiel died, the crown charged them with failing to provide the necessaries of life, having delayed to bring him to the hospital for treatment. They were already convicted in 2016 by a trial in Lethbridge—the Alberta Court of Appeals upheld this verdict, though the Canadian Supreme Court found that the judge had erred in his instructions to the jury.

The expert witness for the defense, Dr. Anny Sauvageau, argued that Ezekiel’s viral meningitis was not the cause of his death. Instead, she blamed a lack of oxygen for his passing. However, Crown expert Dr. Bamidele Adeagbo, a forensic pathologist who autopsied Ezekiel, testified that the child had bacterial meningitis and a lung infection, the former of which contributed to his death.

Justice Clackson accepted Sauvageau’s testimony over Adeagbo’s, saying it was impossible to charge the Stephens with killing their son.

In his verdict, Clackson spent a full paragraph complaining about Adeagbo’s thick Nigerian accent while summarizing concerns the defense expressed about his level of expertise as a witness. But his own concerns were grammatical.

“His ability to articulate his thoughts in an understandable fashion was severely compromised by: his garbled enunciation; his failure to use appropriate endings for plurals and past tenses; his failure to use the appropriate definite and indefinite articles; his repeated emphasis of the wrong syllables; dropping his Hs; mispronouncing his vowels; and the speed of his responses,” Clackson wrote.

“Justice Clackson harshly mocked Dr. Adeagbo’s manner of speech and accented English, and thereby inappropriately implicated his national or ethnic origin as a person of African roots,” the letter sent to the CJC said.

“It is hard to imagine that if Dr. Adeagbo, who is of African origin, had spoken in a typically American, Australian, British, or other more familiar accent, Justice Clackson would have been so scathing,” it continued.

The letter goes on to say that Clackson may have given Dr. Adeagbo’s words less weight because of these presumed speech problems, and note that Clackson made no reference to the thick French-Canadian accent of Dr. Sauvageau.

The Alberta Crown Prosecution Service has not announced whether or not they plan to appeal Clackson’s verdict. A spokesperson for Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench said that the court is “aware” of the complaint.

*Reported by Newsweek

Boko Haram: 9 killed, 10 abducted in Borno

Seven people were reportedly killed along Damaturu, Biu road on Thursday, when a golf car ran into an IED planted on the road by suspected Boko Haram fighters.

Travellers along the road said the golf car was carrying seven passengers.
DAILY POST learnt that the insurgents also abducted 10 other persons during the attack.
In another development, the insurgents attacked Mafa killing two people and burnt down a market in the area.

Attempts to get reaction from the authorities did not yield result, however, a senior military officer in Maiduguri confirmed the incident.

- DAILY POST

Gbajabiamila reveals those responsible for power sector failure

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila says that unpatriotic activities of serving and retired public office holders are responsible for the socio-economic misfortune in the power sector.

Gbajabiamila spoke while declaring open the investigative hearing into the Federal Government’s abandoned power projects from 1999 to date.

The Speaker, represented by the Chief Whip, Rep. Mohammed Monguno (APC-Borno), expressed his displeasure with the state of power in the country.

He said that the motion on the need to review government’s expenditure on the power sector to ensure sustenance of the power reform programme in Nigeria was referred to the Ad-hoc Committee on Thursday.

“You will agree with me that from 1999 to date, the National Assembly has appropriated huge sums of monies in the power sector and there are lots and much to be desired from the sector.

“The problem is you and I; we are not patriotic enough in the discharge of our responsibilities to our nation.

“Again, I want to state that it is embarrassing that when you pick-up newspaper, what you read is probe, probe, and probe; many heads to roll; EFCC to investigate.

“It is time in our nation building to rethink and press the reset button on what we do, how we do them with a view to ensuring that we get value for the monies appropriated for projects,” he said.

Gbajabiamila said that Nigerians were virtually in every part of the world largely in search of stable electricity supply, good medical health facilities, quality education among others.

According to him, it is time we set our hearts correcting all that is wrong so that we can create an enabling environment for our children.

“The constitution of this Ad-hoc Committee is to enable the House in moving forward, take a critical evaluation of monies appropriated vis-a-vis their utilisations.

“However, in the course of carrying out this assignment, the committee is at liberty in line with Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to invite any organisation, agency, person, either still in active service or retired to make clarification where necessary,” he stressed.

Also, Rep. Usman Kumo (APC-Gombe) Acting Chairman of the ad hoc committee, explained that the exercise was aimed at reviewing government’s expenditure in the power sector from 1999 to date.

He said that committee was constituted on Wednesday with a clear mandate to investigate the Federal Government’s abandoned power projects.

Kumo said that the aim was to find the major encumbrances affecting the projects and to make appropriate recommendations on the ways to complete the projects within the life span of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

“Having established the powers and legitimacy of our action, we are here today to provide all relevant stakeholders the platform and opportunity to make their informed submissions and contributions on the matter.

“We, therefore, urge you to be objective, truthful and observe decorum throughout our sitting here today,” he said.

Stakeholders at the event include Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), management team from all the Distribution Companies (DISCOs) and GENCOS, among others.

(NAN)