Pres. Jonathan fires his Special Adviser (political), Ahmed Gulak

President Jonathan has fired his Special Adviser on Political Matters, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak with immediate effect. This was revealed in a series of tweets by the President's spokesman, Reuben Abati

EFCC press release: EFCC arrests 6 suspects for N5.5m bank fraud

A press statement from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Find it below...

Five persons have been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over allegation of fraudulent transfer of a total of N5, 550,000.00 (Five Million, Five Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) from an account in Skye Bank.

The suspects, Ademola Okunlola, 36; Tajudeen Oluwanisola, 41; Kolawole Adams, 52; Temitope Pedro, 27; Bayo Olowoyo, 39 and Otunba Biodun Adebanjo, 56, were picked up in different locations in Lagos by operatives of the anti- graft agency for allegedly effecting the fraudulent transfer of N5, 550,000.00 from the account of one Ajani Kareem Musibau domiciled in Skye Bank Plc. Continue...

The fraudulent transfers took place on March 3, 2014. One of the suspected fraudsters, Ademola Okunlola, a staff of Skye Bank, Ikeja Branch, Lagos, set the stage for the scam when he covertly used his camera phone to capture the photograph and signature specimen of Musibau.  He accessed his account and sent the details to another staff of the bank: Bayo Olowoyo at the Toyin Street, Ikeja branch.

The duo reportedly sent Musibau's photograph and signature specimen to a member of their syndicate who effected the money transfer into two accounts: N4.1Million( Four Million, One Hundred Thousand Naira) was moved into Adebajo Biodun Olusola's account with Wema Bank, Shagamu branch, Ogun State while N1,450,000.00( One Million, Four Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira only) was moved into another account operated by Temitope Pedro with Guaranty Trust Bank, Ikeja branch.

The suspects were arrested following a petition by the bank.
They will be arraigned in court as soon as investigation is concluded.

Wilson Uwujaren
Head, Media & Publicity
29th April, 2014

Premier League: Liverpool, Chelsea and City set for title finale

This year's title race is one of the most open in the history of the Premier League, with Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City in a three-way tussle that may only be decided on the last day of the season.

Goal difference handed City their first title in 44 years in 2012, while Manchester United finished a point ahead of Arsenal in 1999, with Chelsea just a further three points back

Liverpool had their lead over Chelsea cut to just two points when their 11-game winning run was ended by Chelsea's 2-0 win at Anfield on Sunday, with the two clubs having just two fixtures left to play.

Race for the Premier League title
Liverpool	Chelsea	Man City
Mon 5 May:Crystal Palace (a)	Sun 4 May:Norwich (h)	Sat 3 May:Everton (a)
		Wed 7 May:Aston Villa (h)
Sun 11 May:Newcastle (h)	Sun 11 May:Cardiff (a)	Sun 11 May:West Ham (h)

But City are now only three points behind Liverpool with a game in hand and a superior goal difference, after they beat Crystal Palace 2-0following the Liverpool-Chelsea match.

On Sunday BBC Sport pundit Mark Lawrenson told Match of the Day 2 Extra he expected Liverpool to "blow Chelsea away", but speaking on BBC Radio 5 live the morning after Chelsea's win he encapsulated the changing nature of the title chase by saying:

"Liverpool have to win the league this year because Chelsea will be stronger next year, so will City, Arsenal, and Manchester United. This is their opportunity and the fact that they let it slip was obviously for them not good."

There could still be plenty of twists and turns to come, but here is how the rest of the season shapes up for the three title contenders:

Points required to win the title
Liverpool	Chelsea	Man City
Six, although if Man City win their three matches, City will almost certainly take the title on goal difference.	Six and both Liverpool and Man City losing one of their remaining games.	Nine will almost certainly secure the title on goal difference regardless of other teams. They could win it with seven points if Liverpool fail to win one of their games.

NFA dismisses Singaporean’s match-fixing claim

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has dismissed the claim by a Singaporean, Wilson Perumal, that he helped Nigeria qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

A statement from NFF’s Assistant Director (Communications), Ademola Olajire, on Tuesday in Abuja said Perumal’s claim was nothing more than “distinct fiction by a self-confessed and convicted Singaporean match-fixer”.



“The true heroes of Nigeria’s qualification for the 2010 World Cup were the Federal Government, the NFA, players and coaches of the Super Eagles, and the rest Nigerians,” it said.

The statement also quoted NFA’s General Secretary, Musa Amadu, as saying Nigeria had nothing to do with Perumal all through Super Eagles’ qualifying campaign for the World Cup in South Africa.

“We have gone through the fictitious write-up by the Singaporean, who was fittingly convicted for his nefarious activities and has spent time in jail.

“The NFA is saying now that there was no truth to the claim and that we had nothing to do with Perumal all through the Super Eagles’ qualifying matches for 2010 FIFA World Cup.

“Perumal’s statements are hogwash and have no legs to stand on. We have ordered for the book itself with a view to digesting it and looking critically at it.

“If the book impugns on the image of the NFA, our players and the larger image of our dear country, we will take appropriate action,” the statement quoted Amadu as saying.

It added however that Amadu said further enquiries on the matter should be directed at world football-governing body, FIFA, since the match was a FIFA competition qualifier.

“NFA’s Integrity Officer, Sanusi Mohammed, stated that he, alongside NFA’s Match-fixing Investigative Officer, Christian Emeruwa, was in communication with FIFA Security (Department) on match-fixing matters and would dig deeper into the claim,” the statement read.

Perumal had claimed in the book that he helped Honduras and Nigeria to qualify for the 2010 World Cup through his activities.

He claimed he held a meeting with a Nigerian football official where he promised to help Nigeria qualify for the World Cup.

This was in return for free rein in organising three warm-up matches and a cut of the money FIFA provides for hosting a training camp during the competition.

Perumal claimed to influence three players who are on his payroll to help Nigeria to victory in one of their qualifiers.

He further claimed to have promised the Mozambique Football Association a $100,000 bonus if they were able to hold Tunisia to a draw.

The draw would have stopped Tunisia from leapfrogging Nigeria and seize automatic qualification.

BREAKING: President Jonathan sacks Political Adviser, Ahmed Gulak

President Goodluck Jonathan has sacked his Special Adviser on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, with immediate effect, presidential spokesperson, Reuben Abati, has said.

No reason was given for the removal of Mr. Gulak, a man well known for complementing another presidential aide, Doyin Okupe, in launching verbal attacks on critics and opponents of President Jonathan.

However, Mr. Abati, in a statement posted via his twitter handle @abati1990, quoted President Jonathan as thanking Mr. Gulak for his services to the present administration and wishing him success in his future endeavors”.

“A replacement for Alhaji Gulak will be announced in due course,” Mr. Abati said.

We could not immediately ascertain why the presidential adviser was fired.

But Mr. Gulak recently got into a bitter political fight with Akwa Ibom state Governor, Godswill Akpabio, as well as the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party.

At the end of a recent party meeting in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital, Mr. Akpabio and the state executive of the party criticised Mr. Gulak’s visit “to inaugurate a sectional and unknown Support Group in favour of our dear President without bothering to pay any courtesies to the state leadership of the party.”

The party accused the politician of playing “ignoble and contemptuous role” in the affairs of the party in the state and warned him to desist from further interfering in the affairs of the PDP in Akwa Ibom.

In November 2013, Mr. Gulak threatened to resign if Mr. Jonathan failed to make himself available for the forthcoming 2015 election.

He claimed at the time that there was no alternative to Mr. Jonathan in 2015 as far as the Nigerian presidency is concerned.

insider's investigation had in 2013 listed Mr. Gulak among a growing list of Nigerian business and political elites who ran or still run secret offshore companies and accounts where they either hide their wealth to evade taxes, launder money or commit fraud. 

Mr. Gulak, who dealt in the supply of fast boats, radial systems and naval communication equipment as well as military hardware to the Nigerian government, was linked to a secret shell company in the British Virgin Islands, one of the world’s most notorious tax havens.

Taking advantage of the loose laws in several jurisdictions, shell companies like Mr. Gulak’s are easy to form and owners can remain anonymous while using nominee directors as fronts and deploying the corporations to hide ill-gotten assets, launder funds, dodge litigations or evade tax.

The sacked presidential adviser declined to respond to the allegation at the time, and the Nigerian government failed to open an investigation.

Sad day for Nollywood. Prolific director Amaka Igwe passes on @51

Foremost producer, writer, director and a leading player in the Nigerian motion picture industry, Amaka Igwe has passed on. She died last night April 28th in Enugu after an asthma attack. Mrs Igwe had gone to Enugu in company of her husband for pre-production preparations for a new Igbo soap when the sad incident occurred.

She suffered an asthma attack and was immediately rushed to the hospital after initial intervention had failed but sadly died before getting there.  

Mrs Igwe is survived by her husband of 21 years Charles Igwe, three children, an aged mother. So sad! May her soul rest in peace...amen. Continue...

Born Amaka Isaac-Ene, the deceased was an accomplished writer, producer, director, entrepreneur and teacher. 

She is the founder of BoBTV Expo, founder and CEO of Top Radio 90.9FM, Amaka Igwe Studios, and the newly-launched Q Entertainment Networks. 

A visionary and pioneer of modern Nigerian TV drama and film, she hit national limelight as the writer and producer of award-winning TV soap 'Checkmate' and its off shoot 'Fuji House of Commotion'. 

Her Nollywood projects include RattleSnake and Violated - two critically-acclaimed movies that set apart Amaka Igwe Studios in the much-criticised Nollywood industry.  

Amaka Igwe studied Education/Religion at the University of Ife (Now Obafemi Awolowo University). She had a Master's Degree from the University of Ibadan. She had her early education at All Saints School (Now Trans Ekulu Primary School), Girls High School Awkunanaw, Enugu and Idia College, Benin. 

She worked as a lecturer at the Anambra State University of Technology and briefly in oil and Gas, before settling for the motion picture industry.

Teacher stabbed to death at Leeds school by 15 year old student

Ann Maguire, 61, is the first teacher to be killed in the classroom of a British school. She was stabbed in the neck in front of pupils at the Corpus Christie Catholic College school in Leeds.

BBC reports that the Spanish teacher was taken to the hospital following the attack but was later pronounced dead. A 15-year-old boy was later arrested for her murder and is in custody.

A pupil at the scene told the BBC that children were seen screaming and running from a classroom following the attack. Continue...

From BBC 

Ch Supt Paul Money of West Yorkshire Police said the victim received a number of stab wounds and a knife was recovered from the scene. He said the 15-year-old pupil was detained by other teaching staff and arrested in connection with the stabbing.

"The incident itself was over very quickly and no other pupils or staff were threatened or injured. However this has clearly been a very traumatic situation for those involved," Mr Money said.

He said the attack was an "unprecedented event" and schools in Leeds were "generally very safe places" to work and study.

Some pupils at the school today said the boy who allegedly stabbed the teacher was ‘strange’ and ‘depressed’, Daily Mail UK reports. Pupil Jacob Hill, 16, from Leeds, said: 'He had gone through stages of depression and used to be on anti-depressants.'

West Yorkshire Police Chief Superintendent Paul Money said tonight: ‘The alarm was raised by the students in the school, some of whom witnessed the offence.‘A 61-year-old member of staff was treated by paramedics at the scene then taken to hospital but she tragically died.

‘A 15-year-old pupil at the school was detained by teaching staff immediately after this incident occurred and was taken into custody in Leeds.’

He described the incident as unprecedented and said staff he had spoken to were in shock. He also confirmed the victim suffered a number of stab wounds and a knife was recovered from the scene.

The school, which is a specialist technology college, is consistently oversubscribed - and also has 'a strong Christian and community ethos'.

Source: BBC & UK Daily Mail

Alison-Madueke gets court injunction stopping reps from probing N10b jet scandal

Minister of Petroleum, Dieziani Alison-Madueke, who has been in the middle of a 10bn jet scandal has secured a court injunction stopping the House of Representatives from further investigating her, Premium Times reports. Alison-Madueke had approached a federal high court in Abuja where she asked the court to restrain the House members to discontinue any probe involving her.

Justice . R. Mohammed who presided over the case, barred the house members or their committees  from summoning her for any further investigations or even ordering her arrest if she failed to appear before the house. According to reports, the court injuction was secured on April 14th but was only made public today as the House intended to commence further investigation on the matter today.

Speaking on the court injunction, the Chairman of the House Public Accounts Committee, Solomon Olamilekan said they were surprised by the court injunction.

"Today is April 28, the committee scheduled to receive the honourable Minister of Petroleum Resources and other agencies that have stake in this investigation. But as we speak, there is a court order, which has been served to the office of the speaker, even though the committee has not gotten the copy of that order. The nature of the court order is simple. They are just restraining us from carrying out our own investigation" he said.

Spokesperson of the house,  Zakary Mohammed said the house would obey the court injunction

"As a law abiding arm of government, we will tarry a while and of course take a legal opinion as far as issues are concerned" he said

A member of the House, Samuel Adejare had on  March 20th presented a motion before the house accusing the minister of committing about 500,000 Euros (N130 million naira) monthly to maintain an aircraft for her personal use and those of her immediate family.

President Obama Plays Soccer With ASIMO the Robot

Though he seemingly enjoyed a little chat (in English) with ASIMO, Obama later said the androids at the Expo were a bit "too lifelike" and "a little scary" for his taste.

Honda has been working on its humanoid robot for nearly 14 years now, and it improved in leaps and bounds since it was first introduced in October 2000. It can now walk up a flight to steps, pour a cup of juice (and serve it), run, recognize faces and talk.

Speaking to students, the President also remarked on the importance of science and math programs, both in Japan and the U.S. “Young people like you have more technology and more power than even the greatest innovators of previous generations, so there is no limit to what you can achieve,” he said.

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Pastor’s daughter, who converted to Islam, Charity Uzoechina, set to wed

Aishat (Charity) Uzoechina, the 26-year-old daughter of Pastor Raymond Uzoechina, who converted to Islam last year, is set to wed.

The Executive Director of Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, Ishaq Akintola, whose organization has kept tab on the convert for months, said Miss Uzoechina is set to marry on May 2.

Mr. Akintola, a professor at the Lagos State University, said in a message posted to a discussion forum moderated by MURIC, that Miss Uzoechina would be marrying the lawyer who handled her case after her conversion to Islam became controversial.

Mr. Akintola’s message reads as follows:

Salaam All,

Remember Sister Aishat? She is the pastor’s daughter who reverted  to Islam last year and the father raised hell in Niger State. MURIC has been monitoring her progress.

She is to wed on Friday, 2nd May, 2014.

Guess who is the proposed husband? Barrister Tijani, the lawyer whom MURIC got to handle her case in court.

Isn’t this worth celebrating?

Details of the arrangement for Miss Uzoechina’s marriage ceremony are not immediately available.

PREMIUM TIMES could not reach her and her fiancé for comments.

Background

Miss Uzoechina, a student of the Federal Polytechnic, Bida, converted to Islam on February 13, 2013, angering her family and sparking a religious controversy in the country.

Following her conversion, she dropped her first name (Charity) and adopted Aishat in its place.

Fearing for her life, she stopped school and approached a Shariah court in Niger state, asking for protection from her parents.

The court asked the Etsu Nupe, Yahaya Abubakar, the spiritual and political head of the Bida emirate in North-Central Nigeria, to take her into custody.

However, her father, Pastor Uzoechina, and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) tried to take her back from the Etsu Nupe, accusing the Emir of abducting and forcibly converting the student to Islam.

But the Etsu Nupe and the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) insisted that Miss Uzoechina voluntarily converted to Islam and on her own sought refuge at the Etsu Nupe’s palace in Bida out of fear she might be harmed.

Miss Uzoechina was quoted at the time as saying her conversion to Islam was “strictly personal, gradual and well thought-out.”

“I joined Islam purely on my own terms. I love the character of Muslims that I have related with, particularly the way they behave. You know Muslims believe in God,” Miss Uzoechina, told OnIslam.net at the time.

“I have Muslim friends and I watched what they do, that enticed me to join Islam.”

South Korean PM resigns over ferry disaster that claimed 300 lives

South Korean Prime Minister, Chung Hong-won, this morning Sunday April 27th announced his resignation 11 days after a ferry carrying school children on a field trip to the island of Jeju capsized and sank, killing over 300 people. (See that here) 

PM Hong-won made the announcement at an emergency news conference that held in the country's capital, Seoul, early this morning, days after his government was fiercely criticized about how it responded to the disaster. The PM took responsibility for the slow response of the rescue operation..

"I offer my apology for having been unable to prevent this accident from happening and unable to properly respond to it afterwards. I believed I, as the prime minister, certainly had to take responsibility and resign." the PM said.

The captain and all crew members of the ship rescued themselves leaving 300 school children, teachers and other passengers to their fate. They have all since been arrested and facing charges ranging from criminal negligence to abandoning passengers. The confirmed death toll as of today is 187, while the rest are still missing and presumed dead.

Women to stage one-million march in Abuja over abducted girls

Nigerian women would on Wednesday April 30th in Abuja stage a one-million-women march tagged "Free our girls" to press for the release of the schoolgirls that were abducted from Girls Government college in Chibok, Borno state on Monday April 14th.

 

The call for the protest was made during an emergency meeting put together by the Borno state first lady, Hajia Nana Kashim Shettima, yesterday. Coordinator of the protest Prof. Hauwa Abdu Biu said the march is expected to involve every woman in the country.

"The last time, we were in black but this time around the colour for the Abuja rally is red; so we should all be prepared and mobilize ourselves for the rally”, she said

Earlier on at the meeting, the first lady amids sobs called on all women to join in efforts to free the abducted girls and also called on wives of heads of Security agents, some of whom were present at the meeting to help plead with their spouses to intensify their efforts in the search for the girls 

"I want to use this opportunity to appeal to wives of security chiefs at the national and state levels to mount pressures on their spouses to intensify effort to rescue our dear children. However, I feel it is necessary to call on all women in Borno to come up with their resolutions and harmonize them. Let us all put our differences aside irrespective of our faith, or ethnicity, let us all join hands together to rescue these girls, I know that we can do it, Almighty Allah is with us, He knows our intention. I am sure for now we are not on our own, I am happy to inform you that the wife of the president called me two days ago, I believe that she is also with us, let us all join hands together irrespective of political affiliations.” she said

Meanwhile, Director of Defence Information, Maj-Gen Chris Olukolade says the military is getting closer to the Boko Haram base where the girls are being kept. He said this yesterday during a tour with journalist to some of Boko Haram bases where the military has been able to dismantle.

"The bases we visited are part of the responses to the terrorist offensive and that is an achievement; the military had moved close to where the insurgents are. It shows that the military had taken over the land. The morale of the soldiers was high, and we are expecting to see more successes from the troops” he said.

VP Namadi Sambo's younger brother dies in fatal car accident

TV personality Ebuka Obi-Uchendu witnessed a terrible car accident along the Abuja Airport Rd and criticized the airport's fire service for not responding to it, while another fire truck came from elsewhere. Fast forward...and it turns out the person involved in the car accident is the immediate younger brother of the Vice President of Nigeria, Namadi Sambo. Sadly he burnt to death in his car. Continue...


58 year old Capt. Yusuf Sabo Sambo died today April 27th after the BMW X6 he was driving in hit a tree and burst into flames along Bill Clinton Drive, Airport Road, Abuja. He couldn't get himself out of his car and burnt to death.

According to a statement released by the VP's Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Capt Sambo, until his death, was a pilot who worked with the former Nigerian Airways & the Presidential Air Fleet, before he retired to be on his own.

He is survived by a wife, three daughters, 10 brothers and sisters. He has since been buried according to Islamic rites. May his soul rest in peace...amen.