The embattled Senate Deputy President, Ike Ekweremadu, has taken a swipe at President Muhammadu Buhari, while expressing worries over the increased attacks by members of the terrorists group, Boko Haram.
The Punch; Ekweremadu: B’Haram attacks worsening under Buhari, Daily Sun; Justice ministry to looters: We’r ready to nail you, Vanguard; Alleged N1.35bn Fraud: Lamido, Two sons remanded in prison, The Guardian; Five former governors in EFCC’s ‘emergency’ dock, as well as The Nation; Buhari rejects N400m cars, makes the front pages of the national dailies for Friday, July 10, 2015.
THE PUNCH reports that Ike Ekweremadu, the deputy Senate president, on Thursday, July 9, said the Boko Haram insurgency had worsened under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, noting that the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan had almost ended the insurgents and its operations in the North-East. He expressed fear that the extent Boko Haram is heading right now, the sect might carry out attacks in Abuja and the Southern part of the country soon. He said the Buhari administration should, as a matter of urgency, deal with this security challenge no matter what it would cost.
The deputy Senate president, who spoke to newsmen in Abuja, said he had been worried about the sect’s renewed attacks. He said: “I am worried about the resurgence of Boko Haram activities in Nigeria. Shortly before the inauguration of the present government, the country had almost rolled back Boko Haram and its activities in every part of Nigeria – from Adamawa to Borno to Yobe.”
Ekweremadu, who revealed that he was concerned about the people in the North-East, therefore call on Nigeria’s neighbouring countries and the international community to help end Boko Haram scourge, reiterating that there is no way a nation can achieve progress without peace. He said he was hoping that by now lawmakers would be brainstorming on how to rebuild the Northern region, but regrettably the actions of terrorists seem to have resurfaced, not only in Borno, but in Plateau, Adamawa and Kaduna states as well.
Reacting to Ekweremadu’s statement, Femi Adesina, the special adviser to the President on media and publicity, said the deputy Senate president is entitled to his opinion. He said the fact that he made such statement did not make it right.
DAILY SUN reports that the Ministry of Justice on Thursday, July 10, expressed readiness to prosecute anybody indicted by anti-graft agencies for looting public funds. Alhaji Abdullahi Yola, the permanent secretary, disclosed this to newsmen in Abuja, immediately after briefing President Muhammadu Buhari on the ministry’s activities. He explains that the job of prosecuting starts when agencies found the individuals wanting and make their findings available to it.
He said so far, no such indicting report had been received by the ministry, adding that: “If the ministry receives investigations concluded by the responsible agencies, we will play our part. We will play our part with the prosecution of whoever has been found wanting and the security agencies have concluded investigation on that. At the moment, the ministry is not in receipt of any report concerning that.”
The permanent secretary further hinted that the President was given full details of the ministry’s activities from 2011 till date. He promised to continue to work with President Buhari in order for him to fulfill his campaign promise regarding the Rule of Law.
VANGUARD reports that a Federal High Court on Thursday, July 9, remanded the former governor of Jigawa state, Sule Lamido and his two sons; Aminu and Mustapha, accused of fraud, in prison custody in Kano state, till September 28. Lamido is standing trial for a 28-count charge alongside his two sons, as well as Wada Abubakar in connection with alleged corruption and money laundering of over N1.35 billion. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The former governor was docked for collecting N1.35 billion kickback from a government contractor. He was disappointed when the judge rejected his bail application and ordered that he should be remanded. It was reported that the court rose immediately after the judge gave the order, and the Deputy Chief Registrar of the Federal High Court, Mr Solomon Akpedah ushered the former governor and his two sons into a waiting van to be transported to Kano central prison.
Lamido out of shock was quoted to have exclaimed saying: “You mean I am now a prisoner”? But Akpedah, however, tried to calm him down saying “No sir, you are not a prisoner.” The alleged fraud money was said to have been paid into Bank accounts operated by Lamido and his sons.
Meanwhile, the clampdown on former governors that allegedly stole public funds during their tenure might not end with Lamido, as THE GUARDIAN reports that a Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, on Thursday, July 9, remanded former governor of Adamawa state, Murtala Nyako, and his son, Abdulazis in prison custody following their arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on charges of money laundering.
On the other hand, the EFCC also docked the former governor of Imo state, Ikedi Ohakim, before Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the same division of the Federal High Court, on a three counts of laundering the sum of $2.29m. It was gathered that the duo would on Friday, July 10, seek that they be admitted to bail as an application to that effect filed by their counsel, Kanu Godwin Agabi (SAN) will be heard by the court.
THE NATION reports that President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, July 9,rejected a proposal from the Aso Rock bureaucracy seeking approval to purchase five customised armoured Mercedes Benz S-600 (V222) cars at about N400 million, saying he will stick to the vehicles he inherited from former President Goodluck Jonathan. It was gathered that Buhari brushoff the proposal on Wednesday, when he received briefings from the Permanent Secretary (State House), Nebolisa Emodi.
Buhari, who has been receiving briefings from permanent secretaries since the beginning of the week on the operation of the ministries, directed that the proposal, which was first made to ex-president Jonathan be dropped. It was learnt that Jonathan had advised that the proposal be left for Buhari to approve since his administration was almost coming to an end, and that the cars would not arrive till after he might have left the office.
A source said, Buhari told the permanent secretary that the cars he inherited from the Jonathan-led administration were good enough for him, saying: “I don’t need new cars. The ones I’m using now are just fine.” The President, however, approved the plan of the permanent secretary to reduce the operating costs of the State House and boost its Finance and Accounts Internal Control Mechanisms. He directed them to capture all State House expenses within the approved budget, in order to avoid the frequent recourse to “Presidential intervention funds,” as it was in the last government.
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