Buhari approves $1bn to purchase equipment to fight Boko Haram

Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday approved the purchase of military hardware worth $1billion for the use of the Nigerian Armed Forces in its war against Islamic insurgents, Boko Haram.

The President gave the approval during a meeting with the Minister of Defence, Brigadier General Mansur Dan-Ali (rtd), and the service chiefs at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Mr Dan-Ali disclosed this to State House correspondents shortly after the meeting which also discussed the safe release of Leah Sharibu, the last of the Dapchi schoolgirls still in Boko Haram captivity.

According to him, the meeting also discussed security situations across the country and the steps being taken to mitigate them.
According to Channels tv, the minister further gave more updates on the fund approved by President Buhari.

He said the money was the same approved by the state governors to be withdrawn from the Excess Crude Account to fight insurgency in the country.

Others at the meeting include the Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonosakin, and the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai.

Also present are Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, and the Inspector General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris.

PM NEWS Report

Pastor allegedly kills lover, buries decapitated body near altar

Some Nigerians have lamented alleged gang rapes in a concert featuring popular Afro pop star, Chinedu Okoli, aka Flavour, at the Michael Okpara Square, Enugu on Saturday.

While some berated the organisers of the concert for not speaking on the incident, others called on the state government to address issues of gang rapes at concerts in the state.

This followed a report by PUNCH Metro that some attendees of the Flavour’s concert alleged mass gang rapes.

They claimed that they witnessed some ladies being ravished by hoodlums during the show, which was reportedly attended by the state Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
The participants said the policemen and bouncers at the event could not do anything to stop the sexual attacks.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, in a statement, had said the police had a case of attempted gang rape, adding that a suspect was in custody.
Some Nigerians, who reacted to the report on different social media platforms, said the situation was getting out of hand.

On Twitter, one MsCole @bimzycole, said something could be wrong with residents of the area.
“I may be wrong. Isn’t it the same Enugu that some people had rape stories to tell after Phyno’s concert? There is something wrong with the men living in that city and it seems they get away with this gruesome act,” she tweeted.

Another user, ThankGod Ukachukwu@tksilicon, suggested the use of military officials during concerts in the state.

He said, “Last year’s biggest concert in Enugu, there were rape allegations. This year at Flavour’s concert, there were incidents of rape. The concert organisers should invest more in security. Add N200 per ticket for security and make it obvious and use the army.”

One jeffrey@VillageParrot, said, “Enugu boys, come out and let’s talk about the rape culture in your state that has left many girls raped at two concerts.”
A user, Chuklegend@Chuklegend, said the recurrent trend should be a source of concern to the authorities.

One MsCole @bimzycole said, “Enugu State Government can’t ignore the rape cases anymore. First it was Phyno, now it’s Flavour’s concert. What’s going on? Is there a need to ban live concerts in the state? Animals in human skin.”

A responder, Malarkey @InvictaPars, however, wondered why the organisers of the Flavour concert had yet to issue a statement on the incident.

“More than 24 hours after news of allegations of organised gang rapes broke in Enugu, neither the show’s organisers nor the performer, Flavour, has uttered a word of condemnation. Meanwhile, the conversation on social media has long descended to disagreements about the ethnic identity of perpetrators,” he said.

One Bugzy Dvinci @bugzydvinci, urged the victims to summon the courage and tell their stories.
“Dear coal city, this was what happened when people got raped at a concert: Drake & Future got sued. Enugu is quiet about the concert rape that has been going on since Phyno Fest 2017. You can’t bring people to a concert without proper security logistics and plan,” he tweeted.

One Onyema Isa claimed this his friend’s sister was among the victims of the alleged rape.
He asked the state government to fish out the suspects.

On PUNCH Online, a reader, who identified herself as Dr Bunmi Binitie, said the residents needed religious programmes, urging the state governor to invite a deliverance preacher to the state.
One Sheryph Apena cursed the alleged perpetrators.

“The police could have shot into the air and just stop the nonsense concert right away And the thing dey just vex me as I dey read am, kini gbogbo nonsense yi na,” he said.

However, the Enugu State Government, in its reaction, said it never sponsored Flavour’s concert.
The state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Ogbuagu Anikwe, in a telephone chat with PUNCH Metro in Enugu on Tuesday, distanced Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi from the show.
“It is not a government-sponsored concert,” he said.

Anikwe noted that the government would work with the police to forestall recurring rapes during musical concerts in the state.
He said, “We have noted what the security agencies, precisely the police, said on the matter, so we are going to work with them.

“The truth is that there is something good being done in Enugu State, which miscreants are taking advantage of to commit crimes. We can’t take joy away from the people.
“What we are going to do is to work with the police to strengthen security at such concerts in the future.”

Flavour’s management team had yet to respond to calls and a text message from one of our correspondents on the incident as of press time.

Punch Report

Don’t reinforce failure by re-electing incompetent govt, Obasanjo warns Nigerians

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that it would be “foolhardy for Nigerians to reinforce failure by re-electing ineffective and incompetent government in 2019.”

He also warned Nigerians never to be deceived by the reforms being claimed by the Peoples Democratic Party.

Obasanjo called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress to stop giving Nigerians excuses, and get down to work to resuscitate the nation’s wobbling economy.

The ex-president said this on Monday at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, while playing host to the New Nigeria 2019 Group led by the convener, Chima Anyaso; in company with Moses Siasia.

As he did in the open letter he wrote to the President, Obasanjo accused the APC government of “bringing hardship on Nigerians” and “running ineffective economic policies” which he said had “crippled businesses.”

He noted that it was uncharitable for Buhari and his party to continue complaining about challenges after almost three years in office, saying the government had failed to confront and solve those challenges.

He tagged the APC-led government “a failure” and warned Nigerians not to re-elect a “failed government that always gives one excuse or another for its failure to meet up with Nigerians’ expectations.”

Obasanjo said it would be “foolhardy for Nigerians to reinforce failure by re-electing ineffective and incompetent government in 2019.”

He also lambasted the Peoples Democratic Party, urging Nigerians not to be deceived by their reforms and apology, arguing that neither PDP nor APC could get Nigeria out of the economic mess.
He said, “The truth is this: When you have an ineffective and incompetent government, we are all victims.

“And don’t let anybody deceive you. Those of you who are in business, your business could have been better today if we have a competent and effective and performing government.
“As I said, stop giving excuses; we met challenges. If there were no challenges, then we wouldn’t need you to come.

“You came in because you know there were challenges and then giving us excuse that you have many challenges, that is why you haven’t achieved results.
“And then you still want to go. The first lesson I learnt in my military training is to never reinforce failure. What we have now is failure.

“Never you reinforce failure. Let failure be failure. And if you do not see what you should see, you will then be a victim of what you don’t like because it’s only when you see what you should see and you do what you should do that you put away what you do not like.

“You see, I have publicly said and I mean it, that as a party, neither PDP nor APC can get us there as they have been. Never mind about reforms and apology and all that. “

Punch Report

MLK relations shocked that Nigerians alleged they collected money — Dabiri-Erewa

An online news outlet alleged that $3 million was paid to secure the award for the President and that you allegedly facilitated the process.

To say the least, nothing would surprise me in politics. When I first heard the rumour that the Presidency paid $3m to get the award, I laughed. That accusation shows crass ignorance.

Is it possible that President Muhammadu Buhari would give out $3.5m to obtain an award?
It is also a lie that the award was facilitated by me through a Ghanaian diplomat called Dr. Erieka Bennett. Linking Bennett to the matriarch of MLK, Naomi Barbara King, is also crass ignorance. Bennett is a respectable woman who just met Barbara King in Abuja this month; they had never met before.

They all came for black history month festival. Bennett heads the first Diaspora mission recognised by the African Union. They want to find out why the tweet will come out of that centre anyway. They said they would sort that out. So, for somebody to sit in his room and concoct a lie is disgraceful.

You described Barbara King as the matriarch of MLK but Barbara King is the sister-in-law and nephew of the late Martin Luther King Jr. How is she the matriarch when she is a sister-in-law to the late King?
She just confirmed it that she is a matriarch of MLK. She never claimed she was the wife of King. She is a sister-in-law. She is the matriarch because she is the oldest in the family as of now. They are a family; they know how to decide and we can’t decide for them.

She is 86 years old and she came here with some members of the family. The family is different from the centre. The fact that we Nigerians want to bring ourselves down is painful. These are people who want to celebrate us and honour us because they respect us. They had a wonderful experience in Nigeria.

The King Centre tweeted on Wednesday, dissociating itself from the award. Why the disagreement if the family is not divided on the award?
A former C.E.O/President of the MLK Centre, Farris Isaac Newton, who came to Nigeria with Barbara King, said it here that he had served in that centre for many years. Newton is still a senior fellow of the centre.

The fact is that when he (Newton) went political and said something about President Buhari and that Nigerians should support him, the King Centre told him they don’t go political. Newton then said that he said what he said in his own personal capacity, not on behalf of the centre. He said he would not retract that statement because that is what he believes in. So they would resolve it as a family.

Don’t you think that this means there is a disagreement in the King’s family on the award?
No. I think it’s Nigerians who want to cause disagreement in the King’s family. When PDP loyalists wrote to the centre that money was used to get the award, they were shocked.

They were shocked over there because Newton specifically said that anyone who claimed that they were paid to give the award was insulting the King family. Newton is a nephew of MLK. He insisted that MLK family was not buyable and that they don’t do things for money.

He explained that they were here in Nigeria to establish new bond between Americans and Africans. They were shocked and want to get back home to find out who issued the so-called tweet.

Do they believe that the tweet really emanated from the King Centre?
They don’t believe it emanated from the King Centre. They are saying when they get back (home), they would sit down with them and find out what happened.

The Black History Month is usually in February. How come this award is coming in March if it’s meant to commemorate the black history month?
Black history month can be anytime. It’s going to be marked in Nigeria every year which is why they came.

Black History Month is not a national day; it can be done anywhere and anyhow. Like I said, these lies and controversies were concocted by opposition apologists and they are doing this because 2019 is around the corner.

I am sure we have heard worse things. President Buhari does not need anything to validate himself. President Buhari has said he would tackle corruption. That is the fear of all of them. They just don’t want him to succeed in tackling corruption and he will.

What is the impression of the King’s family on the controversy?
They are very ashamed and shocked that Nigerians would do this to themselves and concoct lies that they were paid to give the award.

They were shocked beyond belief that Nigerians will do it to a fellow Nigerian. You don’t bring down your country because you hate one person. Nevertheless, they have said they would come again, bigger and better. They enjoyed being in the country.


Punch Report

Buhari’s aide, Tolu Ogunlesi, under fire for calling Nigerians ‘animals’

A presidential aide who manages President Muhammadu Buhari’s social media accounts has come under public humiliation after excoriating Nigerians who criticised the president’s viral photo with Naomi Campbell as “animals.”

“Naomi Campbell met Nelson Mandela more than once. He hugged her, called her his “honorary granddaughter”. She visits Nigeria for a fashion festival and meets President @MBuhari, and some of you animals are slandering her,” Tolu Ogunlesi said on Twitter Friday, and further emphasised that: “YOU’RE RAVING MAD WITH NOBODY TO TELL YOU.”

Mr. Buhari on Friday morning met with Ms Campbell, a British model, on an inspection tour of the Eko Atlantic real estate project in Lagos.
The assessment visit was part of Mr. Buhari’s trip to Lagos for the 66th birthday events of Bola Tinubu.

The State House was the first to post Mr. Buhari’s encounter with Ms Campbell on Twitter at noon Friday, in one of the rarest sightings of a leader widely seen as modest and taciturn.

Two hours later, the model, known for her controversial involvements with African rich men, returned the recognition with a tweet, although she ambiguously described it as a “private launch.” She initially said she was there at the instance of Mr. Buhari, but later deleted the tweet after online uproar.

Ms Campbell’s apparent inconsistency together with the State House’s reluctance to release details of the meeting prompted many to question whether the president knew the model’s history prior to the encounter.

While Ms. Campbell, 47, is based in the UK, she’s known to have been involved with rich men from Africa spanning decades.

In 1997, she met with Charles Taylor, a former Liberian warlord currently serving a long sentence for war crimes and crimes against humanity, at a parry organised by former South African President Nelson Mandela.

Mr. Taylor allegedly gave Ms. Campbell a bag that contained diamonds worth millions of dollars and believed to have been mined illegally.

When she testified in the trial of Mr. Taylor at the International Criminal Court, Ms Campbell acknowledged receiving “small, dirty-looking stones” from the former Liberian president’s staff.
The testimony earned her a worldwide ridicule.

Also, in recent years, Ms. Campbell has been rumoured to be dating Kola Aluko, a Nigerian oil dealer currently on the run for alleged fraud.

The duo had been sighted cruising in Mr Aluko’s luxury yacht across the world.
Ms Campbell, who later said she was in Nigeria to participate at the Arise Fashion Show in Lagos, became an instant subject of partisan bickering between Mr. Buhari’s critics and supporters, with some opposition voices implying that she might have been paid for her brief appearance and photo op with the president.

A presidential aide clarified Friday evening that Ms Campbell only ran into Mr. Buhari at Eko Atlantic and sought to have a handshake and take pictures with the Nigerian leader.
Apparently angered by the criticisms, especially against Ms. Campbell as he later stated, Mr Ogunlesi, 36, posted the controversial tweet shortly after 11:00 p.m. Friday.

A few minutes later, he posted another tweet as a response to the initial wave of criticism from many who found his outburst distasteful, pulling a thesaurus to double down on his description of critics as animals without clarifying those the insult was directed at.

At some point, he tried to ward off the social media offensive by downplaying the tweet as insignificant since he posted it using his personal account, admonishing those not at home with it should unfollow him.

The tweet was widely panned by social media, with many users, including a serving Senator of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), lashing out at the aide for lacking the emotional rectitude expected of a presidential spokesperson.

 But as outrage peaked on Saturday morning over his post, Mr Ogunlesi attempted to to walk back the tweet, but felt short of explicitly apologising.

A PDP strategist, Ariyo-Dare Atoye, described the controversial tweet as a reflection of the Buhari administration’s approach towards Nigerians.

“What Tolu Ogunlesi said is a reflection of the Buhari presidency,” Mr. Atoye told PREMIUM TIMES by telephone Saturday evening. “He merely put into words the horrible treatment Buhari administration has meted out to Nigerians for three years.”

Mr. Ogunlesi, a journalist and social critic, was named as a special assistant to the president on new media in 2016. He has widely been seen as one of the best hands in the administration, especially given how he had managed to amass top-rated journalistic accolades within a few years in practice.

His work largely entails coordinating government social media accounts and websites for effective and coherent communication strategy. This had seen him escape social media backlash for the most part.

But recently, as the administration reels from one scandal to another, opposition voices are exhuming old tweets of Mr Ogunlesi’s to portray him as a hypocrite.

On Thursday, one of his tweets from 2012 in which he called former President Goodluck Jonathan a despot for the traffic gridlock that occurred when he visited Lagos was unearthed by administration’s critics to demonstrate Mr Ogunlesi’s double standard.

“Clearly, Tolu Ogunlesi is haunted by his past duplicity and that appears to be what threw him overboard leading to his unfortunate comments,” Mr Atoye said.

“But don’t expect him to get disciplined for his action, he’s only tracing the paths of Femi Adesina, Garba Shehu, and other presidential aides who are known to have uttered vituperation against Nigerians without any consequences.”

“They have taken presidential duties to a ridiculous level. Their sycophancy can lead them into saying anything to spite Nigerians in a bid to please the president,” he added. “But Nigerians would make their reservations known in 2019.”

Mr Ogunlesi responded to a PREMIUM TIMES’ request about whether he’s considering offering an apology by insisting that his tweet was not intended as insult to all Nigerians.

“My tweet did not castigate those criticising the president’s photo or meeting with Ms Campbell as animals. my tweet had nothing to do with that photo,” Mr. Ogunlesi said. “My tweet was specifically referring to the misogyny and denigration targeted at Ms. Campbell across social media.”

Ayo Akanji, a media consultant for the Buhari administration, dismissed Mr Atoye’s assertion tha Mr. Ogunlesi’s tweet mirrored the conducts of the Buhari presidency.

“What Tolu Ogunlesi said was clearly his own personal take,” Mr. Akanji told PREMIUM TIMES by telephone Saturday evening. “President Buhari and his aides hold Nigerians in highest regards and that could be readily seen in the expedited manner with which all the economy, security situation and other matters of national importance are being addressed.”

Mr. Akanji said Mr Ogunlesi did not mean to call Nigerians animals contrary to what critics are propagating, saying the aide understands the power of language as an award-winning writer.
“Still, he has clarified his comments and we expect people to move on from this controversy,” Mr. Akanji said.

Presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu and Femi Adesina, did not respond to a request for comments about how the State House views Mr Ogunlesi’s conduct or whether an official statement would be issued.

Premium Times Report

Controversy surrounds Naomi Campbell’s meeting with Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday met with British supermodel, Naomi Campbell, as he toured the Eko Atlantic City on Friday.

The supermodel was in Lagos for the Arise Fashion Week 2018, and many Nigerians were surprised to see her with the President during his tour of the new city under construction.

The British model had earlier tweeted that she was in Nigeria on the request of the Nigerian government but deleted the post shortly after.

She tweeted, “Was a pleasure to be invited by his Excellency, the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, to the private launch of Eko Atlantic @NGRPresident @MBuhari.”
After deleting the post, she replaced it with, “Was a pleasure to meet His Excellency the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, to the launch of Eko Atlantic. Here for Arise Fashion Week.”

However, before the first post was deleted, Nigerians had already seen it and bombarded the model with questions, with some asking why she deleted her initial post.
A Twitter user simply identified as, Olawoyin4u, posted a screenshot of her first post and asked why the supermodel deleted the tweet. He posted on his twitter handle, “Nigerians want to know why you deleted the post below?”

The Presidency also denied reports that President Buhari had invited the British actor, singer and model for the tour of the Eko Atlantic City. It claimed that the President met Campbell at Eko Atlantic City and that she requested to take some pictures with Buhari.

A tweet by the Personal Assistant to the President on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, said, “For the sake of clarity, President MBuhari didn’t invite Ms. Naomi Campbell to any event during his 2-day visit to Lagos State.”

Punch Report

Knocks for presidency as Martin Luther King family disowns Buhari’s award

Public commentators and thousands of Nigerians invaded the social media space on Thursday, condemning the roles allegedly played by some presidential aides in the controversial award for President Muhammadu Buhari by the Martin Luther King center a few days ago.

Pictures of the delegation from the centre, The King Center, presenting the award on behalf of the family of legendary American civil rights activist to Buhari at the Presidential villa, found their way into the media space hours after the visit.

Obviously uncomfortable with the development, The King Center tweeted on Wednesday, dissociating itself from the award.

The statement, released via @TheKingCenter, read, “The award given to President Buhari of Nigeria was not given by The King Center, at the request of The King Center or by the children of #MLK and CorettaScottKing.”

The development ignited a series of unfavourable comments from members of the public, especially when an online platform, LeadersNG, published on Thursday that the Nigerian government might have paid up to $3m to procure the ‘fake award’ for the President.

Following the outrage, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, hurriedly issued a statement on Thursday to defend the award.

She explained that the award was in appreciation of the President’s fight against corruption, noting that the visit of the MLK family members to Nigeria was not sponsored by the Federal Government.
Dabiri-Erewa in the statement by her media aide, Abdurrahman Balogun, dismissed insinuations that the government paid money for the award, stressing that nothing could be further from the truth.

“It must be categorically stated here that the trip was totally privately funded and not one kobo was spent by the Nigerian government,” she said.

The Presidential aide also clarified that the commemorative plaque given to Buhari was presented on behalf of the Martin Luther King family and not the TK Center as being speculated.
The statement read in part, “Our attention has been drawn to obviously fake online news reports on the visit of some members of the MLK family to Nigeria.

“The members, led by the Matriarch of MLK, Naomi Barbara King, were in Nigeria as part of the activities initiated to celebrate a low- key Black History Month in Nigeria as part of deepening partnership between Africa and its diaspora.

“As part of the activities, they visited President Buhari and gave him a commemorative plaque for his fight against corruption and what they termed from the “Africania Diaspora” a term for Africans in diaspora for which the oldest of them all, Naomi Barbara King, was selected to present on behalf of the family (Not TK Center) as a sign of appreciation to the President.”

The statement further stated that the Americans enjoyed their visit and they decided to extend their stay by two days, noting that the political endorsement of Buhari by a member of the MLK family was done in his personal capacity.

“As a non-political group, he was asked to refute the statement, which he refused to, insisting that it was his personal opinion, and not that of the family nor that of the centre, of which he has been a board member and the Chief Operating Officer for over five years.

“This may have led to some arguments among them, which they have said they will resolve when they get back to the United States, which apparently led to the tweet being circulated,” it said.
But the LeadersNG, in its report, alleged that the award was facilitated by Dabiri-Erewa, through a Ghanaian self-acclaimed foreign diplomat, Dr. Erieka Bennett.

According to the LeadersNG, a quick fact-check on Erieka Bennet revealed that she runs a non-governmental organisation, called, Diaspora African Forum, based in Accra, Ghana, and that she used her influence to facilitate foreign awards for unsuspecting African leaders.

The online newspaper further alleged that Bennett was contracted by Dabiri-Erewa to bring Martin Luther King Jnr’s family to Nigeria to present an award to Buhari.

It added that Bennet contacted someone in King’s family, a distant relative of Martin Luther King called Dr. Naomi Barbara, “after The King Center declined earlier request by Bennett to influence an award for a certain African leader.”

In his reaction on his facebook page, An Associate Professor of Journalism and Emerging Media in the School of Communication & Media, Kennesaw State University in the USA, Farooq Kperogi, condemned the action which Buhari’s aides played in the saga.

Kperogi wrote, “Nigerian scam artists, led by Abike Dabiri, got some Black American hustlers from Atlanta to pose as close relatives of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr. and presented a fraudulent “Black History Award” to Buhari.

“First, Coretta King, Martin Luther King’s wife, died on January 30, 2006. I know Buhari gives appointments to dead people, but in America dead people don’t give awards. Second, Black History is celebrated in February, not March, in America and Canada.

“The extent the Buhari government is prepared to go to court of embarrassment and ridicule Nigeria in its bid to conceal its crying incompetence is simply astounding.

Also, one Aminu Farooq, said, “This fraudulent award didn’t come to me as a surprise. Nigerian leaders are always vulnerable when it comes to these types of awards. My father had been chief executive officer in a Federal Government establishment in Nigeria.

“He said if he had paid attention to awards, he would have received hundreds of them during the period he occupied office. There is a growing business industry in Nigeria that can be called the award industry. Buhari’s case is only different from the ones I know about because his own award is ‘international.’ It is very sickening and sad.”

Another Facebook user, Isyaka Laminu Badamasi, said, “When a few nights ago my wife and I watched Channels TV News at 10 and saw the presentation of an award called the First Black History Month National Black Excellence and Exceptional Leadership Award by a certain falsely described ‘matriarch’ of the King family, I smelt a rat. I told her this award is very strange though I couldn’t put my finger on why.”

Also, Musa Idris said, “The long and short of it is that the award is a big fraud, as fraudulent as Buhari’s integrity! My surprise is that it is Abike Dabiri whom we used to know and love in NTA of old that organised this heist and foisted it on the unaware President-in-a-trance.”
In 2016, former President Goodluck Jonathan became the first African leader to be given the Martin Luther King human rights award.

However, the Peoples Democratic Party described the saga as a national disgrace and embarrassment.
The PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, on Thursday said the lie by  Buhari’s handlers smacked of  what it described as a desperation by the presidency and the All Progressives Congress to procure international endorsement,ahead of the 2019 elections.
Ologbondiyan said the embarrassing act had made the nation a laughing stock before the international community.

He said the nation was jolted when the centre distanced itself from the award and noted that, “the award given to President Buhari of Nigeria was not given by The King Centre, at the request of The King Centre or by the children of Martin Luther King jnr.”

He said, “It is now clear that this sinking, incompetent and deceptive APC administration, in their desperation, can fabricate and stage-manage anything, including name-dropping of international figures and agencies, in their desperate attempt to delude Nigerians again, now that the 2019 general election is fast approaching.

“Nigerians have discovered that having failed to gain any endorsement from reputable international figures such as Bill Gates, the APC and the Presidency have now cheapened the nation by resorting to this despicable act of name-dropping of world-renowned human right activist, Dr. Martin Luther King jnr., further dragging down our once sterling image before the comity of nations.

“The fact remains that not many Nigerians believed in the authenticity of the award in the first place, as the Buhari-led administration, by its undemocratic and anti-people proclivities, including records of violations of rights of citizens, is not deserving of any form of recognition by any human rights group, let alone the family of the world-acclaimed Martin Luther King Jnr.
“Today, the PDP has been vindicated in its stand that the APC government is not only hypocritical but overtly deceptive and must not be trusted.”

Ologbondiyan recalled that the PDP had issued a statement, earlier this year, cautioning Nigerians and the international community to be wary of information and claims coming from the APC and the presidency, particularly on endorsements and performance indices.

While he urged the Presidency to shed its alleged proclivity for lies, he also demanded the immediate arrest, investigation and prosecution of all the Presidency officials involved in this messy scandal and crime against our nation.

“Moreover, the Presidency and the APC should save the nation from further embarrassment by jettisoning other planned endorsement stunts and fabricated performance indices, as Nigerians are already rallying with the repositioned and rebranded PDP in their collective quest to end the misrule of the APC and restore a sincere, purposeful and people-oriented government come 2019,” he added.

Punch Report

How U.S. shortchanges swindles Nigerians in visa application fees

• Makes N19b in one year, excess gain hits N4.5 billion
• Official says consulate uses market-based exchange rate 

Though the Federal Government pegged the exchange rate at N305.25 to a dollar, the American Consulate in Nigeria exchanged N400 to a dollar in visa application fees for one fiscal year, until yesterday.

This was deduced from the visa fees and exchange rate published on the website of the American Consulate:http://www.ustraveldocs.com/ng/ng-niv-visafeeinfo.asp.
Consequently, at the exchange rate of N400 to a dollar, a Nigerian applying for the non-immigrant U.S. visa at $160 fee was made to pay N64, 000 instead of N48, 840.

The N400-to-a dollar exchange rate allowed the U.S. Consulate to cream off excess gain of N15, 200 per applicant. Even at the black market rate of N370 to a dollar, which was sustained for months, the consulate made an excess gain of N8, 400 on each visa granted Nigerians.

According to the U.S. Department of State, more than 163,000 immigrant and non-immigrant visas were issued to Nigerians between March 2017 and January 2018.
The number of applicants denied visa in 2017 were over 130,000, representing 44 per cent of the visas granted in the fiscal year.

Therefore, at the exchange rate of N400 to a dollar, the consulate made nearly N19 billion in 11 months instead of N14.5 billion it would have made at N305.25 to a dollar. The difference of N4.5 billion represents 23 per cent excess gain.

Considering that other visa types such as H, L, O, P, Q, R, K and E attract higher fees, ranging between $190 and $265, the embassy’s gross earnings increased by a significant amount.
For instance, a religious worker travelling to the U.S. had paid N76, 000 for P-type visa instead of N58, 000; the same for athletes, artists and entertainers.

Adam Alqali, a reporter with an online newspaper, African News Page, said he felt cheated when he realised he paid $160 at N400 to a dollar rate, more so, when he was eventually denied a visa.
Alqali was offered a fellowship to attend Federation of Science Conference in San Francisco in October 2017, all expenses paid by his sponsor.

“Despite the fact that all my papers were valid, I was still denied a visa. That was how I missed an opportunity to attend the fellowship,” he said.
A visa applicant, Kayode Bello, described the exchange rate as “extortion.”

Bello, who was denied U.S. visa early March 2018, said the ideal for which America is known globally did not support taking advantage of people who want to travel to the United States.
“Not all of us are running away from Nigeria as the U.S. consular officers always like to assume,” he said.

Bello said he had written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asking the authorities to wade into the matter but there was no response.
In a mail sent to The Guardian, Darcy Fyock Zotter, the Public Affairs Officer U.S. Consulate, Lagos justified the exchange rate of N400 to a dollar.

“We note that there are multiple exchange rates listed for Nigeria. The U.S. Mission Nigeria uses a market-based exchange rate for the payment of U.S. visa fees.”
But Zotter did not explain how the Consulate arrived at N400 to a dollar rate.

Notwithstanding, more Nigerians are being refused the chance to visit America in the last three years.
The statistics published by the U.S. Department of State show that the refusal rate for B-visa has increased from 32 per cent in 2015 to 44 per cent in 2017, despite the rip-off.

One of the applicants denied B-visa recently, Paul Oletu, said he had been twice denied the permit in 2015 and 2018.

“At the last time, I did not spend more than two minutes with the consular officer before I was dismissed. I could not believe it happened so fast. I don’t know what the visa officer saw that made him to make such a quick decision. It was a group visa, and only two applicants in the group were granted out of 50 of us.”

Oletu said the news of his denial sent him into depression. “I could not go to work for three days after they denied me. I paid a total of N190, 000, including consultancy fees, all for nothing,” he said.
The Guardian’s effort to get reaction from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was rebuffed.

Meanwhile, the exchange rate was lowered yesterday to N360 to a dollar.
In a mail sent to The Guardian yesterday, Information Officer at the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. embassy in Nigeria, Russell K. Brooks, confirmed the change.

He reiterated that naira-to-dollar rate changes periodically subject to market-based exchange rate established by commercial banks in concert with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Brooks also gave a hint that visa fees might increase soon.

“U.S. policy requires reciprocity with regard to visa fees. Discussions have been underway to ensure that the fees paid by U.S. citizens match those paid by Nigerians,” he said.

Guardian Report

MMM founder, Sergei Mavrodi, dies of heart attack at 62

Russian businessman Sergei Mavrodi, whose MMM pyramid scheme deprived millions of Russians of their savings in the 1990s, has died of a heart attack, according to Russia media.

Reports said the 62-year-old was rushed to the hospital late on March 25 with pain in his chest and died several hours later.

Mavrodi’s MMM financial pyramid was a typical Ponzi scheme in which earlier investors receive their profits from subsequent investors. Mavrodi promised returns of 20 percent to 75 percent a month, as well as lotteries and bonuses for investors.

As soon as the number of new clients stopped growing, the pyramid collapsed, causing huge financial losses for at least 10 million people, in some cases leaving them destitute.

In 1994, Mavrodi was elected as a lawmaker, a decision he later said was to ensure he received immunity from prosecution. In 1996, he lost his parliamentary mandate.

In 2007, a Moscow court found him guilty of financial fraud and sentenced him to 4 1/2 years in a penal colony.

In 2011, Mavrodi launched another pyramid scheme called MMM-2011, calling on investors to purchase so-called Mavro currency units in a bid to get rid of the “unfair” financial system. Some 15 months later, Mavrodi halted the project.

From 2011-16, Mavrodi launched Ponzi schemes under the MMM brand in India, China, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria.
In many of those countries, Mavrodi’s operations were subsequently shut down or suspended.

Punch Report

Looted funds: Adeosun accuses Magu of concocting figures

WITH different officials of the Federal Government eagerly beating their chest over how much has been recovered from former functionaries, there is a growing confusion in Abuja over the actual amount already recovered.

In May 2016, Minister of Information, Mr. Lai Mohammed, said government recovered N78.3 billion, $185 million, £3.5 million and €11,250.

In addition, he disclosed that 239 non-cash recoveries were made with interim forfeiture amounting to N126 billion, $9 billion, £2.4 million and €303,399.
He also put anticipated repatriation of looted funds from offshore sources at $321.3 million, £6.9m and €11,826, the minister added.

These figures are, however, different from those recently given by acting chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ibrahim Magu, late last year at the seventh session of the Conference of State Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in Vienna, Austria.

According to Magu, EFCC monetary recoveries between May 2015 and October 20, 2017 were in excess of N738.9 billion, which is equivalent to over $2.9 billion, adding “this does not include smaller currencies like Durham, CRA and British Pound,” he added.

“Within this year alone, the commission recovered stolen assets running into several millions of US dollars and billions in naira.

This include the sum of $43 million recovered from Deziani Allison-Madueke, Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum and N2 billion spread in seven accounts within three Nigerian banks laundered from the Federal Capital Territory Police Command Salary Accounts,” he explained.

The variation of figures is apparently causing some confusion in government as the Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun has written a letter to Magu, asking him to explain how much exactly the EFCC has recovered.

In the letter dated February 9, 2018, and personally sined by her, entitled “Summary of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) recoveries from May 2015 to January 2018”, the Finance minister wrote:

Why EFCC, ICPC continue to lose corruption cases —Akin Olujimi
“This is to notify you of the records of cash assets recoveries in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from May 2015 till date based on the information available to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (attached).

“It has, however, come to the attention of the Ministry of Finance, the use of recovery figures in media reports by the EFCC that do not reconcile with the records of the Ministry.

You are, therefore, kindly requested to clarify where these cash recoveries have been deposited and provide accompanying evidence.”

It will be recalled that one of the reasons given by the Senate for refusing to confirm Magu for the position was his inability to give figures of recoveries as of the time he was being interviewed by the committee of the whole house.

Some citizens have also accused the anti-graft agency of converting part of recovered looted funds to personal use by agents.

A senior official in the Ministry of Justice said “it appears that Magu is using a different means of computation from standard procedure.

“Maybe he is adding the value of confiscated property to the cash recoveries, which should not be so,” the official said.

Tribune Report