@JOHNPET, it's not only egregious of u to attack other people's faith or credos, it's also highly barbaric! It is only a nitwit or nincompoop that 'll attack other people's religion without an apologia. What right have u to insult the PROPHET-PBUH? Were u in d grave when Rev. Pastor Chris Okotie divorced (for the second time with different women) his wife, Stephanie? Did u hear anybody tag it to JESUS CHRIST-PBUH? This is how u create unnecessary rancor and hatred among d people with ur religious bigotry. Plz, watch what comes outta ur gullet, lest u incur d wrath of God

 @idbabe n ajanni

The level of infidelity in marriages these days is so scary, some unmarried people are beginning to wonder if marriage is worth it afterall. Why do people get married and still continue to sleep around?



A married man, Amaechi Uche Padmore, has been arrested and charged to a Lagos court on the allegation that his lover, Edith Nwokolo, another man's wife, died while he was having sex with her.

Uche is now facing a murder charge at Ebute Metta Magistrate’s court, Lagos over her death.

The lovers, who are both married, engaged in sex romp at 94, Mushin Road, Mushin, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria. It was gathered that while Uche was on top of Edith, she started breathing heavily, jerked and died. They were reported to have dated each other before they got married to different spouses.

Sources said immediately the incident happened, Uche, who has three kids, abandoned his pant and shoes and fled. Edith was found dead on top of abed and a neigbour who saw Uche with her before she died, raised the alarm and the matter was reported to the police at Olosan Division.

He was arrested and arraigned on Wednesday for murder before the presiding Magistrate, Mr. T. Aborinwa under section 221 of the criminal code law of Lagos State of Nigeria 2011.

Her death triggered controversy as the deceased woman’s family insisted that Uche was responsible. But the autopsy report presented at the court showed that she died of heart related problem. When the matter came up at the court, Uche pleaded not guilty.

The presiding magistrate granted him bail since the autopsy showed she died as a result of heart problem.

PRESIDENT GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN

… New Appointments Or Minor Cabinet Reshuffle Imminent
The forced resignation of Power Minister, Professor Barth Nnaji has put President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan under pressure to fill two key Ministerial positions in his cabinet if he is to deliver on two main issues staring his government in the face – poor power supply and crippling insecurity.

In June Jonathan fired his Defence Minister, Dr. Haliru Mohammed Bello, 66, from Kebbi State in Nigeria's troubled north and has so far been unable to name a replacement.

Today's shocking and unexpected resignation of Nnaji, a key ally in his quest to provide stable electricity for businesses and families in Africa's most populous state may force Jonathan to announce an immediate replacement in order not to jeopardize his ambitious and holistic approach to solving Nigeria's embarrassing power problem.

Though President Goodluck Jonathan has admitted that he is slow when it comes to taking decisions, however, the realization that two key Ministries are presently without substantive Ministers may sure spur him to announce replacements from or outside his present cabinet.

Nnaji, a renowned engineer with a solid background in Robotic, Industrial and Systems Engineering represented Enugu State in the Federal cabinet and was a member of the National Council on Privatization by virtue of his portfolio as Minister of Power until he was forced out of office by Jonathan over a brewing scandal in the slated privatization of Afam generation Company in Rivers State and Enugu Distribution Company (Enugu DISCO), where it was discovered that two companies linked to him had had their technical and financial tenders for the two power companies approved without full disclosure by him. The discovery last Friday forced the NCP to retreat and cancel the evaluation exercise for the companies.

Minor Cabinet Reshuffle Or New Appointments Coming?

A very close senior Adviser to the President had in a chat with THEWILL last quarter ruled out the prospect of a major cabinet change. Jonathan further confirmed the development in in May via a statement issued by Spokesman Reuben Abati, who said, “Contrary to recent speculations in the media about a so-called impending cabinet reshuffle, the Presidency wishes to state emphatically that there is no truth whatsoever in the said reports.
“… Jonathan has implicit confidence in the ability of the current crop of ministers to deliver and has no plan to undertake any replacement at the moment.”

Though President Jonathan has managed to remain unpredictable with the timing of his appointments, THEWILL foresee two new appointments or a minor cabinet reshuffle in the coming days as it would be almost impossible for Jonathan to deliver on one of his key electoral campaign promises – sustainable electricity before the 2014 general elections -- without a substantive Power Minister.

Mobile communication service providers in the country have been urged to increase their investments in provision of infrastructure in the industry in order to surmount the challenge of poor network.

Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Mobolaji Johnson gave the charge on Tuesday while speaking with State House correspondents after briefing President Goodluck Jonathan on her ministry's 2012 budget performance.

She lamented that despite the proliferation of Global Service for Mobile (GSM) communication companies, mobile penetration in the country remains one of the lowest on the continent.

“In terms of penetration, we are at about 60 per cent. Forget the 101million telephone lines; those are the number of subscribers. But when you look at the mobile penetration in Nigeria, we are about 60 per cent, which is actually one of the lowest in Africa,” she disclosed.

“So there is a lot of work to do. When you talk about quality of service, what is the reason for the poor quality of service? It is the first part that I mentioned: poor infrastructure. We don't have enough infrastructures in this country.”

Johnson gave a comparison of the United Kingdom with Nigeria, noting that the UK, in terms of geographical land mass, is one-third the size of Nigeria while its population is about 67-167million, which is about one-third the size of Nigeria. Yet the UK has over 3million square kilometre of fibre across the country while Nigeria has just 100,000.

“They have up to 50-60 thousand base stations servicing 67 million people. So when you go to the UK, you don't experience drop calls and their broad band is fast.

“Here in Nigeria, we have about 100 thousand square kilometre of fibre covering 1million square kilometre of the country. We have 20 thousand base stations trying to serve all of us. So it is a case of demand against supply.”

Admitting that the communication industry has expanded rapidly within a decade of its introduction, the minister insisted that the network providers must invest more in infrastructure so as to expand penetration and deal with poor quality service.

“The industry has grown very quickly and we are not building up that infrastructure as quickly as we need to. What we need to do is to actually build that infrastructure; and that is why we are working with the network operators to build the infrastructure,” she explained.

“We need to have more base stations; we need to roll out more fibre optics, and government’s role is to make the process as easy as possible for them.”

A Federal Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday upheld the election of Idris Wada as governor of Kogi State, effectively putting paid to the governorship aspirations of Jilbrin Isah, aka Echocho, who had earlier won a primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) conducted in 2011.

Ruling on the matter, Justice Abdul Kafarati dismissed Isah’s suit seeking to unseat the governor and as well awarded cost of N100,000 cost against him for bringing such frivolous case to court.

He held that the case lacked substance and upheld the argument of Wada's lawyer, Chief Chris Uche, that it was an abuse of court process since the proper place for the plaintiff to channel his grievances is an election tribunal.

The judge added that since Isah did not participate in the election, he lacked the locus standi to challenge its result, adding that the case was filed at a wrong court by a wrong person and deserved to be dismissed. He did, accordingly.

The plaintiff, Isah, had asked the court to declare him the nominee to contest for the office of the Kogi State governor under the Peoples Democratic Party.

While INEC and Wada argued that the Supreme Court judgment in the case of former Bayelsa State governor, Timipriye Sylva against INEC supported their case, Isah's lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) disagreed.

Arguing Wada's case, Chief Chris Uche (SAN) had said, “There is nothing unique about the plaintiff's case because there is a precedent of a similar misadventure, which recently ended in misfortune at the Supreme Court.”

He said that every right claimed by Isah on the basis of the January primary, which he won, had been extinguished by the Supreme Court because the two cases were similar.

Lawyer and former member of the Federal House of Representatives, Hon. Chudi Offodile has called for the resignation of governor Peter Obi, citing “gross” abuse of office.

Addressing journalists at a press conference on Wednesday, Offodile accused the governor of revoking a parcel of land for supposedly overriding public interest only to turn around and emerge the beneficiary of the revocation.

The full statement of his text reads:

Gentlemen,
As you are all aware, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GCFR) will be in Anambra State on Thursday 30th of August, 2012, to commission the Orient Petroleum facilities and SABMiller Brewery in Onitsha.

I had raised the issue of the brewery scandal and the need for Mr. President to avoid the brewery in my article titled: “Anambra: Oil Prospects and Brewery Scandal” published online and in the Sun Newspaper of 28th August, 2012.

The Governor responded in a Radio interview on the same 28th August on SAPIENTA EXPRESS, Onitsha, calling me names without denying or debunking the facts contained in the write up. His Media Assistant issued what he believed to be a rebuttal but was indeed an admission that NEXT INTERNATIONAL LTD is owned by Governor Peter Obi but that he (Obi) resigned as a Director of the company before he was sworn in as Governor.

He also admitted that the land belonging to INTERNATIONAL STEEL COMPANY “was truly revoked for overriding public interest, for they abandoned the land for years and it dilapidated a lot, but it was not allocated to SABMiller.”

The truth is that as we speak, INTAFACT BEVERAGES LTD is in possession of the land in question and INTERNATIONAL STEEL CO has already filed a suit in the High Court of Onitsha Judicial Division against the Attorney General of Anambra State and INTAFACT BEVERAGES LTD.

I maintain, therefore, that it is illegal to revoke a parcel of land for overriding public interest and grant the same parcel of land to a private company and that it becomes immoral and symptomatic of greed, avarice and a capricious abuse of State Power when the beneficiary of the revocation is the Governor himself.

The shareholders of INTAFACT BEVERAGES LIMITED (SABMiller) in the records of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) as at 22nd August, 2012, are SABMILLER NIGERIA HOLDINGS, ANAMBRA STATE GOVERNMENT and NEXT INTERNATIONAL LIMITED owned by Peter Obi and his family.

Now, I stated clearly that Governor Obi personally handled all negotiations between ANAMBRA STATE GOVERNMENT and SABMILLER Group and visited South Africa several times on the subject. And I raised the question; did SABMiller allocate the shares in INTAFACT BEVERAGES LIMITED to NEXT INTERNATIONAL LIMITED as “bribe” to further its business interest in Nigeria?

What did Governor Peter Obi have in mind when he invested N2 billion Naira of Anambra State money in a company he has direct interest?
What other assets of ANAMBRA STATE did he contribute on behalf of the state to further his own business interest?

Did NEXT INTERNATIONAL (Obi’s company) pay for the shares allotted to it in “cash or kind” and how was the payment, if any, effected?
What does Governor Peter Obi understand by the oath he swore to, on assumption of office; “that I will not allow my personal interest to influence to my official conduct or my official decisions.”

1.      In the absence of clear answers to these questions from the Governor and his Team, it is safe for me to conclude that Governor Peter Obi has abused his office as Governor of Anambra State and grossly violated his Oath of Office by using his official position to pursue his business interest.

2.      That he represents foreign interests in Nigeria using his position as a member of the Economic Management Team of the Federal Government and Governor of Anambra State of Nigeria.

3.      That he received shares as compensation or bribe, as the case may be, for his services to the foreign interest in this case SABMILLER, through his company NEXT INTERNATIONAL LTD.

4.      I do hereby state, that Governor Peter Obi’s continued membership of the EMT is not in the best interest of the Federal Government of Nigeria and if he has any modicum of INTEGRITY, he should resign his position as Governor of Anambra State

Signed:

Chudi Offodile

LATE OGBONNAYA AMADI DIED AFTER A HUGE ASTHMA ATTACK
Vanguard’s Entertainment Editor, Mr. Ogbonnaya Amadi died Wednesday night after he suffered a fatal asthma attack inside the newspaper’s Apapa headquarters in Lagos.
Colleagues say the veteran entertainment writer cum editor who was producing the entertainment pages alongside members of his desk was transported to a local hospital after the attack where he was confirmed dead.
As at the time of filing this report, Vanguard had not issued a statement.

FORMER DELTA STATE GOVERNOR, CHIEF JAMES IBORI (L), FORMER EFCC CHAIRMAN, NUHU RIBADU

.... Say Money Was Meant To Finance The PDP's 2007 Presidential Elections
Senator Andy Uba and Chibuike Achigbu, two principal players in the $15 million dollars exchange between Nuhu Ribadu and Chief James Ibori have finally come out to claim ownership of the funds signaling a new twist to the phoney bribery tale being peddled by Mr. Ribadu, a former Chairman of the EFCC.

Chibuike and Uba have approached the same federal high court sitting in Abuja to claim ownership of the funds just like the Delta State Government, which maintained that the funds were taken from Delta treasury by convicted former governor Chief James Ibori.

The EFCC had gone to court to obtain an order to confiscate the funds, which Mr. Ribadu wrongfully claimed was offered as bribe to him by Chief Ibori to stall his prosecution for corruption.

THEWILL had repeatedly reported that the funds handed to Ribadu was not a bribe but a political arrangement between Ribadu, Ibori and Obasanjo.

The duo said the funds were handed to Ribadu to finance the 2007 Presidential elections for the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Update:
 
Ten lawyers, among whom were three Senior Advocates of Nigeria — Adeniyi Akintola, Okey Amaechi and Abiodun Owonikoko — filed the application on behalf of Chibuike Achigbu, who claimed that he gave the money to Dr. Andy Uba, a former aide to erstwhile president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, to boost the finance of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2007 general elections.
 
Also on Wednesday, Justice Gladys Olotu cancelled the name of Mr. Timipa Okponipere from the list of those contesting to determine the destination of the money, after Delta State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Charles Ajuya (SAN) denied authorising Okponipere to file any case on behalf of the state. The matter was adjourned to 15th September for all parties to file their claims.
 
In the application, Achigbu stated that he first sought legal advice on the possibility of donating to support PDP’s candidates all over the country prior to the 2007 general elections. The set target, he revealed, was N3billion, which was to be raised in conjunction with his associates.
 
He claimed to have raised over N2billion by April, very close to the election, only to realise that such donation could only be made through a financial institution. In order to legitimately apply the fund, he approached Andy Uba so that relevant government agencies could certify that the money was legitimately raised to support the party. He said Uba agreed to forward the money to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
 
“Andy Uba was a special assistant in the Presidency, who offered to take custody of the fund with a view to inviting EFCC to carry out the audit and certification before being donated to the PDP,” he claimed in an affidavit he filed in support of the application.
 
Achigbu said that after he had delivered the money to Uba, there were rumours about an attempt by Ibori to bribe the chairman of the EFCC. He said that he had nothing to do with Ibori so the rumour left him with no suspicious impression, adding that he lost contact with Uba for long, owing to his failed governorship ambition in Anambra State
 
“That it was not until several months after Uba’s election was voided at the Supreme Court that he succeeded in making contact with him,” he claimed.
 
“That Uba, in a telephone conversation he had with him sometimes in the early part of the year 2008, confirmed that, as agreed, he did invite the EFCC to take custody of the purported unclaimed fund and revert on their investigations about its suitability for the purpose that the fund was intended.”

 

Achigbu said he did not believe Uba and suspected that he had diverted the money to fund his Anambra State Governorship campaign. He said he chose not to pursue Uba any further for the funds as he “took the view that God had sufficiently avenged Uba’s betrayal when his election funded with the money was voided by the Supreme Court less than a month into his tenure in June 2007.” He added that his relationship with Uba had gone south.

 

As he claimed, he received a call on 27th August 2012 from Uba informing him that the $15 million in question was the same money he collected from him, that Uba specifically confirmed to him that it was Ibrahim Lamorde, the then director of operations of EFCC, who was instructed to receive the money from him (Uba) on 25th April 2007.

 

Ibrahim Lamorde is the current Chairman of the EFCC.

It will be recalled that the Delta State government had asked the Federal Government for the nod to take possession of the $15 million, with Charles Ajuyah (SAN), its attorney general and commissioner for justice asking for an order compelling the alleged bribe to be paid to the state.
 
In a similar application filed on behalf of the state, a lawyer, Timipa Okponipere asked that the $15 million be paid to the Government and people of Delta State.
 
He asked the court to declare that as of 25th April 2007 when James Ibori allegedly offered the bribe to the EFCC, Ibori was still the governor of Delta State with all rights and privileges attached to the office.
 
He urged the court to hold that any application or order granting the money to any other entity other than the Government and people of Delta State would be illegal and of no effect.

EX MINISTER OF POWER, PROFESSOR BART NNAJI

...Says Proud Of Tenure
Less than 24 hours after his shocking resignation as Minister of Power, Professor  Bart Nnaji has expressed “heartfelt gratitude” to President Goodluck Jonathan and millions of Nigerians who have supported his determined effort to improve the situation of public power supply over the last 14 months.

Nnaji showed gratitude for the opportunity to serve the country twice as minister —  in addition to serving the government in the capacity of an adviser, before becoming a ranking cabinet minister in a very challenging and complex sector — a privilege that only a few Nigerians have had.
 
“I feel particularly proud of the fact that my exit comes at a time that the administration has been able to generate and supply an unprecedented quantum of steady, reliable electric power in the history of our nation,” he said in a statement emailed to THEWILL by Ogbuagu Anikwe, his special assistant on media.

“I am confident enough to allow history and the Nigerian people to judge my performance on the task that I accepted from the president. I had to voluntarily resign the office of minister to retain my integrity, which has in recent days come under scurrilous attacks by powerful vested interests that were hell bent on besmirching the integrity and reputation that I have painstakingly built over the years.

He said the resignation also served to prevent a spillover of these attacks to the president, “who is working very hard to transform the country.” He also reiterated his innocence in the privatisation bidding that triggered his resignation.

“I would like to reiterate that before I accepted to serve as minister, I resigned my directorship of all companies that I had interest in, and put my shares in those companies in a Blind Trust; this means that I was not privy to the day-to-day business decisions of those who ran this Trust.

“In addition, I publicly declared the participation in the privatisation process of a foreign company that did business with a company that I had interest in. This fact came to my knowledge only during the course of evaluating the consortia that were bidding for PHCN successor companies. Consequently, I also voluntarily recused myself from participating in the selection process. These actions, I should think, are in line with the finest traditions of transparency and accountability in governance.”

Nnaji added that his resignation offers him a return to his integrated power projects, which have been designed to accelerate the development of the nation.

He praised staff of the Ministry of Power, Power Holding Company of Nigeria and other agencies for their “dedication to duty, hard work, patriotism and commitment to the common good which have, in spite of all odds, completely moved the power sector in a new direction to the benefit of all our people.”

He equally thanked Nigerians from all parts of the country and even abroad for their ceaseless messages of support and solidarity since his resignation was announced yesterday.

Before his appointment as Minister of Power, Prof. Nnaji was the special adviser on power to President Goodluck Jonathan and chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Power. This was after an earlier spell in 1993 in charge of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

 The Federal House of Representatives on Wednesday summoned governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi over the proposed introduction of N5000 denomination in the nation’s currency.

Disclosing this at a press briefing in Abuja, chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Currency, Hon. Jones Chukwudi Onyereri, said the CBN governor is expected to enlighten the House on the necessity of the N5000 note in relation to the bank’s cashless policy.

“The House committee will invite the management of the Central Bank in an effort to know whether it is still pursuing the cashless policy. And if it is, how does this higher currency note complement the cashless policy? Or if it contradicts the cashless policy, what are the next steps?” he said.

“The Committee on Banking and Currency has been briefed extensively on the cashless and wireless payment system policy of the CBN, which we understand is designed to reduce the actual cash in circulation while not affecting the volume of money available to citizens. This simply means cashless policy is not a monetary policy instrument used to reduce cash  in circulation, as it leaves the cash available in the system unaffected while at the same time substantially reducing the volumes of currency in circulation by converting currency to electronic payment codes and systems.

“This is the direction the Central Bank has been following. The understanding is that carrying less cash is in every body's interest as it reduces the risk, it reduces the money spent on printing currency and it reduces the money spent on movement of currency as well as on security and safe guards for large consignments of currency.”

He said the committee understands that the cashless policy encourages payment with a credit card, debit card or mobile money, which means that citizens will avoid the high risk of travelling with currency for large ticket transactions.

He added that the committee summoned Sanusi in fulfillment of its mandate to engage the Executive of policies with direct implications on the lives of Nigerians.

“Whereas we fully respect the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution and the Central Bank's autonomy, as provided by the Central Bank Act 2007 as amended, as well as the Banking and Other Financial Institutions Act, we have a responsibility to the Nigerian people to engage the Executive branch on issues that may have a farreaching effect on the national economy, and affect the day to day lives of the ordinary Nigerian,” he stated.

“As representatives of the people, with particular oversight responsibility over the banking industry, we have set up the processes to immediately address the matter. In doing so, we will rely strictly on the provisions of the Constitution of  the  Federal Republic of Nigeria,  the Central Bank Nigeria Act of 2007 as amended, the Banking and Other Financial Institution Act, as well as other requisite legal and regulatory instruments.”

Notwithstanding the overwhelming public criticism that has greeted CBN’s announcement, Onyeyeri promised that the committee would “keep an open mind while engaging the CBN management, to have a full picture and understanding of the thinking at the CBN and the reasons for this action.”

.. Says No Vacuum In Power, Defence Ministries

SAN FRANCISCO, August 29, (THEWILL) - The exit of Minister of Defence, Dr. Haliru Bello and Minister of Power, Professor Bart Nnaji has not affected the day-to-day operations of the ministries neither has the Presidency taken over the Ministry of Power, the Presidency said Wednesday.

Presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, in a telephone conversation with THEWILL, said the minister of state in both ministries have been managing the affairs of the ministries since the senior ministers vacated their positions.

“The exit of the ministers has not created any vacuums in the ministries as is being speculated. The Ministries of Power and Defence both have ministers of state who work side by side with their senior ministers just like governors do with their deputies,” Abati said, adding that news reports online (Not THEWILL) that the president has taken over supervision of the Ministry of Power is speculative and totally false.

By Abati’s statements, the defence ministry is now overseen by Erelu Olusola Obada, the minister of state for defence, while the power ministry now has Mr. Dairus Ishakwu, the minister of state for power, overseeing it.

The Federal Government on Wednesday again maintained that Professor Bart Nnaji was not sacked but he voluntarily resigned his appointment as minister of power, contrary to stories published in certain national dailies.

Speaking with State House Correspondents after Wednesday’s edition of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting, Minister of Information Labaran Maku added that Nnaji’s voluntary resignation gave credence to the ongoing privatisation of the power sector.

“Let me put it this way, you already know the reasons why Prof. Bart Nnaji resigned. He resigned to give credibility to the power sector privatisation process and the statement issued by the special adviser to the president on media affairs yesterday was very clear and explicit,” he said.

“The voluntary resignation of Prof. Nnaji is indeed something that will reinforce the credibility of Federal Government's reforms in the power sector. I do not see it hampering the process in any way, rather it would assure investors all over the world that Nigeria, and all of us in government, is prepared to do everything possible to ensure the credibility of the process.”

He assured that Nnaji’s departure would not impede ongoing reforms in the power sector but it would rather strengthen the privatisation exercise with more impetus to deliver in the coming days.

He added, though, that it would have been good to see Nnaji, who had put in a lot of energy, see of the process he began.

“But as you know governance is a continuum; there are institutions and processes in place,” Maku said. “I do not see the gains that we're beginning to see in the power sector being obstructed in any way by the decision of Prof Nnaji to resign his position. I rather see greater momentum coming on board, and I believe that the FG and the Ministry of Power particularly will work even harder in the months and the years to come to give this country very stable power supply.”

Continuing, he said, “Between now and the end of the year, the minister has already set targets to increase power in the nation. And from all that we have heard in recent weeks in many parts of the country, we're beginning to see more stable power supply and the situation will continue to improve because there are power plants that are coming on board.

“We believe that by the end of the year, the power situation in the country should even improve further. Like I said, it is regrettable that Prof. Bart will not be there but definitely he is still a citizen of Nigeria. He is still in the country and I believe that he will contribute his quota as a private citizen wherever he is because it is his dream and the dream of the FG and the president to ensure that we attain power stability.”

Maku also assured that the completion of the privatisation of the power generating distribution companies would herald proficient management of the power sector, which will, in turn, generate an influx of investments into the country.

The Presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, in the last general polls, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (rtd) had said Monday that the Federal Government, since the administration of Gen Ibrahim Babangida, Obasanjo etc, and till date was responsible for the “high level of corruption and destruction” in the petroleum industry.

But Gen. Babangida, who spoke through Prince Kassim Afegbua, his media adviser, reminded Gen. Buhari that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.

He also advised Dr. Jonathan to look elsewhere, not him, if he is blaming past leaders that are criticising him.

Kassim said: “On President Jonathan, there is nothing wrong in criticism if it is constructive and in the interest of the country. Gen. Babangida is one unique former President who does not criticise a sitting President as a matter of courtesy.

“If President Jonathan is blaming past leaders, he should look elsewhere, certainly not IBB.

“On Gen. Buhari, it is not in IBB’s tradition to take up issues with his colleague former President. But for the purpose of record, we are conversant with Gen. Buhari’s so-called holier-than-thou attitude.

“He is a one-time Minister of Petroleum and we have good records of his tenure as minister.

“Secondly, he also presided over the Petroleum Trust Fund ( PTF) which records we also have.

“We challenge him to come out with clean hands in those two portfolios he headed. Or, we will help him to expose his. “records of performance during those periods.”

“Those who live in glass houses do not throw stones. Gen. Buhari should be properly guided.”

This man, acting on a tip-off, caught his wife with her lover inside an hotel room. The man was with a machete and he almost killed the two but for the intervention of those around.

He said he has been hearing dirty stories about his wife but didn't believe until he caught her.

If you were this man, what would you do with this machete?

Will you take action or simply walk away as many people, including your adulterous wife, have begged you to forgive and forget?

Oprah Winfrey may have retired her namesake talk show for good in 2011, but she's still rollin' in the dough as the titular head of her own TV network.

The daytime legend has topped Forbes' list of the highest-paid celebrities for the fourth year in a row with $165 million earned between May 2011 and May 2012.

The news comes even after OWN, her fledgling eponymous cable channel, has faced disappointing ratings.

Peek inside Oprah's Manhattan penthouse
PlaySteven Spielberg parle de son nouveau film animé, de la raison pour laquelle il a adapté la BD a l’écran et de bien plus encore.
PlayL’équipe derrière l’émission de télé réalité parle de son grand retour parmi les vainqueurs des Emmys. Et découvrez combien de temps l’émission va encore durer.
PlayThe legendary director and producer talks about being a Comic-Con virgin, letting Jon Favreau take the reins, cool costumes and more!

That prompted her to rethink OWN's lineup—like deciding to pull the plug on The Rosie Show in March. Winfrey later admitted to pal Gayle King on CBS' The Early Show, "If I were writing a book about [running a network], I could call the book 101 Mistakes."

While she's still queen of the bling, breathing down Oprah's neck is a guy famous for making a trilogy based on a line of toy robots in order to sell…a line of toy robots.

The magazine listed Michael Bay in second place with $160 million during the same period, largely on the box office strength of Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which grossed more than $1.1 billion worldwide and for which he had major back-end points.

Angelina more powerful than Oprah and Aniston, per Forbes

After his twofer of War Horse and Tintin, Steven Spielberg took the third spot with $130 million in revenue—a large portion of which comes from residuals from his movies as well as various DreamWorks-produced TV shows (Smash, Terra Nova anyone?).

Mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer proved his Tinseltown worth netting $115 million, courtesy of more than $1 billion in ticket sales from last year's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. We imagine he'll likely tally even better next year with his remake of The Lone Ranger starring Johnny Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as the titular hero.

Rounding out the top five moneymakers was rap mogul Dr. Dre, who raked in $110 million, much of that from his Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, which generated some controversy at the London Olympics a few weeks back.

Other celebs making the top 10 were filmmaker Tyler Perry, Howard Stern and Simon Cowell.  It's also notable that out of the top 21, 19 of them were men. The only other woman to make the cut besides Oprah was Britney Spears, coming in at 20

Oprah Winfrey may have retired her namesake talk show for good in 2011, but she's still rollin' in the dough as the titular head of her own TV network.

The daytime legend has topped Forbes' list of the highest-paid celebrities for the fourth year in a row with $165 million earned between May 2011 and May 2012.

The news comes even after OWN, her fledgling eponymous cable channel, has faced disappointing ratings.

As controversy rages over the desirability or otherwise of state police, the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Mr. Parry Osayande, a retired Deputy Inspector-General, has reiterated his opposition to the proposal, describing it as a veritable recipe for the break-up of the nation. Speaking exclusively with Daily Sun shortly after submitting a comprehensive report to President Goodluck Jonathan on reforms and reorganization of the Police Force, Osayande argued that even if state governments-controlled police may in the future be considered, the time was not ripe for such a move. “Globally, people are centralizing their police because of new crimes that have evolved as a result of modern technology,” he said. He added: “Cyber crimes, terrorism are not restricted; they are not localized….Supposing there is a quarrel between one state and another over land, will you take Benin or Edo police to go and fight in say Delta or Taraba? We are not yet politically matured for state police.” The former police boss also spoke on other critical issues affecting the police and the nation. He spoke with ERIC OSAGIE in Abuja.

In your report to the President, you claimed the Nigeria Police is the least paid compared to sister agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the State Security Services (SSS)….

Look! Let me start with this: in the West African sub-region, the Nigeria Police is the least paid.

Why did you say that?

I conducted a research. Côte d’Ivoire earns more than that. Cameroon, Ghana, they earn more than the Nigeria Police.

But are those not smaller countries?

That is not the issue. We are doing the enforcement of law and order, preservation of lives and property. It operates globally. The highest paid policeman is the Canadian policeman. So, why will your gate man now earn more than a policeman? He works day and night, he has no public holiday. Once you open a police station, you cannot find the key because the door is wide open forever and ever. Do you know that a part can never be equal to a whole? We second officers from the police to go and man the EFCC. Take the case of an Assistant Commissioner of Police. When he got there, I promoted him a Deputy Commissioner of Police and now he earns N1.5 million a month and the Inspector General of Police earns N711,489.

But they say that is a different body, it has other duties, there are other allowances….

He is doing part of the police job. So, don’t argue along that line. To investigate crime is the responsibility of the police as envisaged by the constitution. So, a part can never be equal to a whole. So, when you now carve out a part and say this man, you give him more ammunition, more powers, more equipment to work with and then you pay him better, what the hell are you talking? It was a contraption by some people who ruled this country to weaken and deride the police so that they can now make the place ungovernable in their own interest. You also have the FRSC. It is a part of the police. That is traffic duty. By carving out the Road Safety, you create a vacuum because the automobile is not only an object of crime. It is also a means of committing crime. When you remove that, the other one is regulating how vehicles shall move on the road. He doesn’t know what is put there whether it is dead body or stolen . So, there is a vacuum created in the information gathering mechanism. And you have the Civil Defence? It is our operation. To open doors, car doors and all the rest of them. You have the SSS! SSS should neither be seen nor heard. They are supposed to work like the Israeli and gather intelligence and when you find anyone useful for the police, you pass him on to the law enforcement agency and not to go to Benin City and be parading people you have suspected or you have…

You think that was wrong for the SSS in the Edo issue…?

(Cuts in) It is very wrong! Very wrong!  This is needless schism. Have you got a tape of what you are referring to? We are supposed to collaborate, cooperate and work together and not to come and deride each other.

Are you not saying this because you are a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police?

That is not the issue because I have been involved in security for going to 50 years now. It is not a question of DIG. Am I an everlasting DIG? I left service 20 years ago. We are now talking as statesmen and then talking in the overall interest of the country.

Why do you think our society does not trust the police? Is it something to do with the polices itself?

It is not. No, it is not. There is one statesman who said it. He is somebody I respect a lot. The arrangement that was made for Nigeria was not to make it one. They were talking of north, they were talking of south, they were… So, the British came here to sustain their political interest and one of the organs they used in achieving their result was the police. When children were crying as young boys, their mothers would threaten that if you don’t stop crying, I will call the police. So, how do you want them to come and be loved? It is not that they hate them. It is the evolution of the police. Yes.

Everybody is talking about state police. Many Nigerians are confused between community policing and even state police. What do we need now in this country?

You need a police that will sustain the country.

A Nigeria Police?

Yes. For the time being. I have always said so. You are not politically mature. Alright! Look at when they went to arrest (former Governor James Onanefe) Ibori. His kinsmen rolled out logs and blocked the people. They did so in the time of (former Governor Joshua) Dariye. When you now bring state police, which the states can easily afford, then the politicians are crying that they want state police to use them as agents of oppression of their opponents. Are they talking of crime? When they talk of crime, they go and bring 20 vehicles and you say you have contributed towards the maintenance of the police. Is it the vehicle that the ordinary man, the jobless man who is involved in crime will eat? It must be about two or three pronged approach that if you are going to bring down crime, you must also create employment. What have they created there apart from Lagos that is bringing the Lagos State Transport Monitoring Agency (LASTMA), bringing all these things? You must create employment. And then, you have over 100 universities and on a continuing basis, these universities are milling out, training people and when they come out, what do you do? They don’t do anything. And what is the devil’s workshop? Is it not the idle mind? And the people plan.

Is that why there is an upsurge in crime?

Yes. Then, you are now saying that they must create state police. What are you going to do with it? To go and arrest A, to go and arrest Y? Globally, people are now centralizing their police forces because of new crimes that have evolved as a result of modern technology. Cyber crime, terrorism. They are not restricted. They are not localized. Alright? Supposing there is a quarrel between one state and another over land, how do you do it? You will go and bring Benin police in Edo to Delta or Taraba police? Is that what you are saying?

But the fear also, going by this argument, is that even though the governors are the chief security officers of their states,  they have no control over the commissioners in their states….

Because they abdicated their responsibility. They abdicated their responsibility. Go to the Police Council and then control the Nigeria Police from there. You have an assigned role. Alright? Is there anything stronger than the Governors Forum now? Yes! So, if you take the Police Council as a permanent secretariat and the people meet about four, six times a year and discuss how to police and evolve national crime policy, then look after the budget. But they don’t. They will only come once in three years when they want to appoint an Inspector General of Police and then withdraw and go back and start shouting for police something. Do you see the allegations that come up within a state for instance?

But the Presidency can  also abuse federal police. Can’t it?

How will they? They can send somebody from Abuja and say go to Kaduna or Ekiti, and effect… Listen! How can one man who is the chairman now overrule 37 people? They are more in number. The governors are more, plus FCT minister. Let them take a more active interest in the Police Council.

Coming to budget for the  Police: is it that the budget is inadequate or the money disappears somewhere?

It doesn’t disappear anywhere

The Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions on Monday directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to suspend the introduction of N5, 000 notes until the Senate was properly briefed.

Illustartion of the planned N5000 with leading female activists. Photo: Courtesy Vanguard newspaper.

The Chairman of the committee, Senator Bassey Otu (PDP- Cross River) issued the directive while speaking to journalists in Abuja.

Mr Out said that the re-denomination of the currency required the approval of the National Assembly, warning that the CBN must avoid sending the wrong signals to stakeholders in the economy.

He said it was vital for the CBN to discuss the implications of the currency re-denomination with the Senate before it was implemented.

“I believe that a project of this nature requires parliamentary approval because there are numerous fiscal implications on the entire economy.

“The CBN must be very careful in order not to send the wrong signal to the domestic sector and external partners that the Nigerian currency is valueless.

“So, we are sending a letter to them (CBN) to stop all further actions on this until the Senate of the Federal Republic is properly briefed,” he said.

He warned that the conversion of some denominations into coins would lead to a waste of public funds as the previous exercise did not yield the desired result.

“In 2005, the CBN undertook a major currency restructuring to re-coin some denominations which ran into billions of Naira.

“It did not work at all because both the goldsmiths and the blacksmiths converted the coins to moulding bangles, earrings and so on,” he added.

The committee chairman said there were other mechanisms available to the apex bank to tackle the problem of inflation other than the re-nomination of the nation’s currency

Seun Kuti, grandson of Funmilayo Kuti, one of the women whose picture has been approved to appear on the proposed N5,000 note, on Monday said that his grandmother would not approve of the image if she were still alive.

Seun Kuti disclosed this at a question and answer session on the Channels Television’s Google+ Hangout.

“I do not have the power to stop the FG from printing the note but I would want the FG to remove my grandma’s face from the s0-called note,” he said.

According to him, in his own view he said the Federal Government did not officially inform the Kuti family of the intended action “It was through the radio that we got to know that her face would be used…we were not officially contacted.”

The Afro-beat musician talked about his grandmother, Funmilayo Ransome –Kuti, his legendary father Fela Anikulapo Kuti, his own music with Egypt 80 band and life.

Speaking on the money to be spent in printing out the N5000 note, Seun Kuti said “If I had N40b I will rebuild the federal government primary and secondary schools, rather than waste it on printing the N5000 note. That note cannot solve Nigeria’s problems, the government should learn to invest in people…the Kuti family is more concerned about the development of the country not the naira. If I were the FG, I would establish more schools, improve on the educational system rather than come up with N5000 note idea.

He further said “the FG’s plan to crush down the social media cannot work because it is the one way through which we curb down the FG’s excesses’.