GUNMEN RAID SHOP, KILL 52 YEARS OLD MAN IN UMUAHIA

GUNMEN RAID SHOP, KILL 52 YEARS OLD MAN IN UMUAHIA 
 


UNKNOWN gunmen operating in a tricycle, popularly known as Keke Napep last Saturday at about 7pm shot dead a 52-year old trader, Obiora Ibe, in his shop on Club Road Umuahia.

The gunmen were also said to have collected Ibe’s, undisclosed amount of money, being the sales of the day, his phone and that of his wife, after shooting him.
The victim, Obiorah Ibe was said to have told his wife, Mrs. Azuka Ibe that they should close and go home, shortly before the incident, as there were no more customers for the day.
According to Mrs. Ibe, while they were packing, a young boy that she put his age at less than twenty years entered their shop, pretending to have come to buy something only for him to pull out a steel gun and ordered her to give him the money and phone, which she willing did.
Mrs. Ibe narrated that it was at that point that her husband who was coming out from the shop saw the boy going away with the apron that was containing money and phone and shouted.
She said that while the person with the apron that contained the money quietly walked into the Keke Napep that was waiting in front of the shop, another member of the gang standing by the side shot her husband on the neck and head, before they zoomed off in the Keke Napep.
An eye witness, who is a neighbour to the Ibes, Mr. Peter Chinweokwu said that he was inside his store when he saw somebody pushing his son and wife inside the store, telling them to go inside the store immediately.
“I didn’t know that they were armed robbers, so I asked him, Oga what is it now; he said that I should give him the money I sold for the day. I told him that I didn’t have any money, that I had not sold anything. The next minute, he closed the burglary against us while we were still inside the store and went into my neighbour’s shop.
“We were inside that place when I heard the sound of a gun. I peeped and saw that somebody was entering inside the Keke with one steel gun. When I came out, I saw that they had shot my neighbour and I rushed him to hospital but when we got to the hospital, the doctor confirmed him dead”.
The Abia Police Command confirmed the incident. According to the PPRO, DSP Udeviote Onyeke Ezekiel, “it was a shock and one of the unfortunate incidents in the state”.
The PPRO said the identity of the perpetuators was yet known as no arrest has been made. He however, said that Command has dispatched men from its intelligent unit to unravel those behind the killing.
‪#‎Source‬: Vanguard

Cassius Ukwugbe

IKPEAZU INDICTS T.A.ORJI , SAYS MASSIVE WORKERS FRAUD DURING ORJI'S ADMINISTRATION.

IKPEAZU INDICTS T.A.ORJI , SAYS MASSIVE WORKERS FRAUD DURING ORJI'S ADMINISTRATION.

 Abia State Government says it has saved N160 million from ghost workers following the introduction of biometric staff audit of all public servants in the state.

Special Adviser to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu on Economic Affairs, Mr. Obinna Oriaku, who disclosed this at a press briefing in Umuahia, said there was no going back on the policy.
He lamented the endemic corruption in the state’s civil service during the last administration which he said was characterised with ghost workers and padding of salary.
Oriaku, who regretted that an earlier attempt by the previous administration to register the biometric data of public servants in the state was sabotaged, vowed that the current administration would stop at nothing in its effort to eradicate the cankerworm.
He said biometric registration of public servants was a lasting strategy to eliminate the menace, adding that the policy would also be extended to pensioners.
Oriaku, who said biometric registration of workers had been going on in the state for the past three weeks, regretted that some workers were still reluctant to the directive.
He warned that government would soon declare anyone who failed to comply with the directive “a ghost worker”.
His said, “It is annoying that some people will be in Abuja, Sokoto and London receiving alert ( salary) at the end of the month. This has to stop. We want to cleanse our data.”
Oriaku further said government was making frantic efforts to clear the backlog of workers’ arrears, adding that out of the 65 ministries, departments and agencies, 62 had been paid their May salaries.
He said the state government had introduced a number of cost-saving measures to remain afloat amidst the dwindling revenue following the decline in oil price.

Cassius Ukwugbe

RIVERS STATE: Peterside Wants Election Materials Moved to Abuja for Inspection.

RIVERS STATE: Peterside Wants Election Materials Moved to Abuja for Inspection.
 
 The All Progressives Congress and its governorship candidate in the April 11, 2015 election, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, have asked the state Governorship Election PetitionS Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, to order the Independent National Electoral Commission to move the materials used for the election from Port Harcourt, the state capital, to Abuja, for inspection.
APC and Peterside made this request in an application, which they filed following an alleged continued refusal by INEC to obey the order for inspection made by the tribunal on June 11, 2015.
Peterside and the APC had on May 3, 2015, filed their petition before the tribunal to challenge the victory of the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Nyesom Wike, in the poll.
The petitioners had earlier complained to the Justice Muazu Pindiga-led tribunal that INEC was working with the PDP and Wike to frustrate the inspection of the election materials.
Following the petitioners’ complaint, the tribunal on July 9 re-affirmed the order of inspection, directing INEC to comply with it.
At the Wednesday’s proceedings, the petitioners’ lawyer, Akin Olujinmi (SAN), informed the court that INEC had refused to yield to the tribunal’s order for inspection.
“Your lordship made an order on June 11 for inspection of election materials. The order was restated on July 9. That order has not been obeyed by INEC,” Olujinmi said.
He confirmed after the proceedings that he had filed an application seeking an order, compelling INEC to move the election materials to Abuja for inspection since “they have made inspection impossible in Rivers State”.
Earlier, Olujinmi urged the tribunal to disregard the arguments canvassed by the respondents, challenging among others, competence of his clients’ petition and proceed to hear the case on merit.
The respondents argued through their respective lawyers – Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) for the PDP, Emmanuel Ukala (SAN) for Wike and Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) for INEC.
Olujinmi argued that the respondents were only raising technical issues rather than allow the petitioners present their case.
Olanipekun, while arguing his client’s motion challenging, among others, the competence of the petition, urged the court to strike out some portions of it, including part of the petitioners’ prayers on the ground that they did not comply with the provision of the Electoral Act.
Wike is challenging Peterside’s qualification to contest the election, arguing that his (Peterside’s) name was nor sent to INEC within 21 days before his party’s congress as required, a claim Olujinmi denied, insisting that his clients complied with all relevant laws in fielding Peterside for the election.
INEC, in its application, is challenging the territorial jurisdiction of the tribunal to sit in Abuja, a position Olujinmi faulted, insisting that the tribunal possesseD the jurisdiction to hear and determine his clients’ petition.
The tribunal, which rose shortly after 6pm, fixed July 29 for ruling on the applications by INEC and Wike.
It also fixed ruling for July 31 in the application by the PDP.

ABIA GOVERNOR FINALLY OPENS UP: WE NEED 6 BILLION TO CLEAR SALARY BACK LOG

  ABIA GOVERNOR FINALLY OPENS UP: WE NEED 6 BILLION TO CLEAR SALARY BACK LOG



Abia State Governor Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has finally spoken out concerning the debt salary profile his government inherited from the government of Sen. T. A Orji.

It should be recalled that the government of Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu handed over to Sen. T. A Orji without any single salary back log, but the massive salary back log was the product of Ochendo even though we had increase in our federal allocation and also excess crude wind fall.
Dr.Okezie Ikpeazu who has been quiet over the huge debts the past administration left behind finally broke his silence yesterday by saying that his Government needs N6billion to enable him pay Abia civil servants.
Ikpeazu made this known while briefing journalist in Umuahia,through his Senior Special Assistant On Media Mr.Ugochukwu N Emezue,Emezue confirmed to journalist that Abia state Government has received N3billion bail out funds from the Federal Government,but what the state needed was N6Billion due to the huge debts left by the former Administration.
He also said that the verification exercise going on across the Local Government is to enable the Government of Ikpeazu fish out ghost workers from the Abia State civil service.
Okezie Ikpeazu took over from Theodore Orji as Governor of Abia State on May 29th 2015,but civil servants in Abia state are yet to be paid over 6 Monsths salaries

Cassius Ukwugbe

GROUP PETITIONS T. A ORJI, WIFE, SON TO EFCC

GROUP PETITIONS T. A ORJI, WIFE, SON TO EFCC 


A group which says it is a voluntary association of concerned Abia citizens, Save Abia Initiative for Change (SAIC), has peti­tioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Com­mission (EFCC), detailing how the erstwhile governor, Chief Theodore Orji, his wife, Mercy Odochi, their son, Chinedum (a.k.a Iku­ku) and few of their cronies allegedly squandered N474 billion of Abia State funds between 2011 and this year.
In the petition marked SAIC/PET/001/15, and dat­ed July 3, 2015, addressed to the Chairman of EFCC, Mr Ibrahim Lamorde and titled, “How ex-governor T.A Orji squandered N474 billion of Abia State Gov­ernment funds leaving an external debt of $35.9m (N8 billion)” and signed by 20 persons, a copy of which was obtained by Daily Sun, Orji was alleged to have frittered away Abia’s N474 billion into his pocket, that of his immediate family and few of his close pals who he used as conduit.
In the petition, SAIC said from 2011 to 2014, the Orji family especially Chindum, (said to be richer than any state in the country despite the fact he was doing noth­ing before his father became governor), created different avenues to siphon public funds into their private ac­counts with impunity.
According to the peti­tioners, the former gover­nor’s alleged major source of loot were through loans from banks/refunds, funds siphoned through banks without purpose, illegal expenditures not backed by law and fraudulent prac­tices in Abia State Pensions Board. Others were alleg­edly through excess crude oil, using ASOPADEC as conduit, Internally Gener­ated Revenue (IGR), fed­eral allocations including SURE-P, internal debt, ecological funds and CBN, SME funds.
Giving a breakdown of the alleged looting by Orji, SAIC said of the N474 bil­lion, N10.5 billion was a loan obtained in 2012 by the state government with the Ministry of Local Gov­ernment and Chieftaincy Affairs in collaboration with the 17 local govern­ments.
Details of the loan, it said, were that each of the councils in the state sub­scribed for N500 million, bringing the total amount to N8.5 billion. Out of the N500 million loan obtained by each Council, their Tran­sition Committee (TC) Chairmen were given N60 million each to be spent as follows, N40 million for the development of their secretariats while N20 mil­lion was for the perimeter fencing of two schools in the local government areas at N10 million each.
Furthermore, from the N40 million meant for the development of the coun­cils’ secretariats, N7 million was paid back to the source being the cost of their offi­cial monetized vehicles and that of their deputies even when they were supposed to have paid from their sala­ries.
The state, according to SAIC, collected N2.3 bil­lion as Sure-P funds from January 2102 to May 2015 and alleged that these funds were given out to one Dr. (Mrs) Uruakpa, Mrs Ak­punku Chief (Mrs) Orji and Chinedum Orji (for the youth), but they spent less than 40 per cent of the amount and embezzle the rest.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Small and Medium Enterprise funds of N2 bil­lion and close to N1 billion ecological funds were also alleged to have been fraud­ulently misappropriated.
SAIC alleged that with the looted funds, Orji ac­quired Season Farms Ltd., measuring 100 hectares at Ndi Oji Abam; acquired for himself Abia Palm at Ohambele for N10 billion.
‪#‎Source‬: Sun Newspaper

Cassius Ukwugbe

REVEALED: How David Mark doubled National Assembly’s budget and enthroned secrecy

REVEALED: How David Mark doubled National Assembly’s budget and enthroned secrecy

Senate president, David Mark and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu

By the time the curtain fell on the 7th session of Nigeria’s National Assembly in June, one of the most prominent characters of that era, who retreated backstage as a member of the 8th session (after his party became a minority), is former Senate President, David Mark.
Mr. Mark, a retired army general, would be remembered for his ignoble role in deepening and institutionalising the culture of secrecy at Nigeria’s federal legislative body.
In 2003, total National Assembly budget was about N23.347 billion.
The next year, the figure rose to about N32.229 billion (2004) and then N55.422 billion in 2005.
Although the figure dropped to N39.810 billion in 2006, the allocations have remained on the upswing ever after.
Immediately Mr. Mark became Senate President in 2007, the National Assembly’s budget rose from N66.488 billion to a shocking N104.825 billion in 2008, before dropping marginally to N96.052 billion in 2009.
By 2010, while he was still in charge, the allocation had a geometric jump, skyrocketing to unprecedented levels to a peak of about N154.2 billion.
With the Nigerian public increasingly scrutinizing the spiraling annual allocations to the National Assembly, questions about why the lawmakers got so much, amid rising overheads in the national budget, became inevitable.
To block Nigerians from knowing details of how the National Assembly’s jumbo allocations are spent, and how much lawmaker’s earn in allowances, Mr. Mark’s leadership wrapped up the federal legislator’s finances in utmost secrecy.
In one master stroke of legislative brinkmanship, the National Assembly budget, hitherto open to public scrutiny, like those of all ministries, departments and agencies, suddenly became secret.
Details of the allocation were never made known, and Mr. Mark and his team resisted all efforts to pry it open.
By 2010, the National Assembly legislated to make itself member of an exclusive club of agencies whose budget details are never disclosed but whose finances are deducted en-bloc (first-line charge) via statutory transfers.
This group includes the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the National Judicial Council (NJC), the Niger-Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Public Complaints Commission (PCC).
Agencies in this group receive their annual budgetary allocations in bulk without providing breakdown of expenditure details.
Under Mr. Mark’s leadership, details of the National Assembly’s N150 billion allocations remained secret, despite public outcry against it.
For the first time in several years, the federal lawmakers agreed to cut their jumbo allocation by 23.3 percent to N115 billion in 2015.
Yet, details of how the fund would be spent remained secret.
Disturbed by the trend, the Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice (CENSOJ), Eze Onyekpere, citing the Freedom of Information Act and Section 48 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, demanded budgetary and expenditure details from both the National Assembly and the Federal Ministry of Finance.
When Mr. Mark failed to grant the request, Mr. Onyekpere went to court.
After several adjournments, the court, on February 25, 2014, ordered the Minister of Finance to oblige the civil society group with details of all statutory transfers.
But Mr. Mark and the finance ministry ignored the order.
The closest anyone got to knowing how lawmakers spend Nigeria’s hard-earned money was the indication given by Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and current Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi.
Mr. Sanusi had said expenses by the National Assembly accounted for about 25 percent of the total overhead cost by the federal government.
Apart from allocations for salaries and allowances, Mr. Sanusi said all other items packed under different sub-heads in the appropriation bill consist mainly of expenses on the personal benefits of lawmakers.
According to the former CBN boss, the National Assembly under Mr. Mark perfected a curious system of “retiring” the huge allocation.
“There is an entire structure within the National Assembly whose job is to prepare different receipts and vouchers to cover every item in the budget,” Mr. Sanusi had said.
A review of the details of the National Assembly budget for 2009 highlights some items the lawmakers spend their huge annual budget on.
Out of a total appropriation of N106.64 billion for that year, recurrent expenditure was N101.39 billion, or 95 percent, allowing just N5.25 billion for capital projects.
Under the recurrent, overheads accounted for N87.69 billion, or 86.48 percent, with personnel cost allocated N13.69 billion, or 13.52 percent.
Apart from payment of salaries and other fringe benefits, which takes an average of about N10 billion, Mr. Sanusi said the bulk of the allocations were shared among members according to pre-agreed formula after allocations for such items as constituency projects, budget tracking, software, hardware, implementation and monitoring; NASS equipment; judgment debt; renovation projects; general goods and non-personal services; general travels and transport (local and international) as well as general training.
Other provisions include general utilities; general materials and supplies; general maintenance services; security vote, consultancy and professional services; insurance premium charges; fuel and lubricants; contingency; NASS programmed activities, NASS law magazine; media and Public Relations as well as miscellaneous expenses.
Mr. Mark stepped down from the leadership of the National Assembly in June. He would most likely be remembered more for the lack of accountability under his watch.

Certificate scandal: 3,000 Anti-Buhari protesters storm Abuja, issue Buhari 7 days ultimatum

Certificate scandal: 3,000 Anti-Buhari protesters storm Abuja, issue Buhari 7 days ultimatum

Thousands of youths, men and women today stormed Abuja, giving a week’s ultimatum to the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) for the 2015 elections, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (rtd.), to table his secondary school certificate before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) or they will go to court.
The protesters, reportedly numbering over 3,000, were led by the National Coordinator of Coalition of Nigerian Youth for Good Governance, Godwin Meliga, and a female activist, Princess Amarachi Nlumanze.
The protesters, who carried placard with various inscriptions; ‘Nigeria is bigger than one man’, ‘Mr Integrity show your certificate’, ‘Obey the law’, urged Buhari to comply with the electoral laws.
Speaking with journalists at the rally which commenced at the Unity Fountain, Meliga threatened legal action against Buhari if he fails to comply with the electoral laws and show his certificates.
“Buhari has been campaigning, telling everybody that he is Mr Integrity that promised to come and fight corruption. There is an allegation that he had no secondary school certificate. He should come out and show his certificate. He should come out and tell us whether he went to school or not,” Meliga said.
Citing former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, who came out publicly with his NYSC certificate after he was alleged of not participating in the one-year mandatory national youth service, Meliga told Buhari to do the same thing by coming out openly with evidence to dispel the allegation.
He said: “Nigerian youth are asking him to come out and present his certificate, because we don’t want an illiterate to rule us anymore.
“We are not stopping at this rally alone. INEC told us that they cannot stop Buhari, that it is only the court that can stop him. So, we are now saying that after this rally, we are giving Buhari one week to present his certificate or we will go to court, to ask an order for him to either present his certificate or be disqualified.”
Asked why the demand now, Meliga said: “This is the first time we are hearing about this. In the past, we did not know and the INEC had been silent about this, but some good Nigerians had verified from the INEC, and today we know that he has no certificate. PDP is not jittery over Buhari; we have beaten him before and we will still beat him.”
In her reaction, Nlumanze said the protest was to compel Buhari to do the right thing by fully complying with the electoral law.
“We want people to do the right thing,” she said. “We want justice, and we cannot avoid repeating the same mistake we have been making all this while. That is why we came up here to say, show us your certificate, if you say you are Mr. Integrity.”

CORRUPTION : SAVE ABIA NOW (SAN) ASK EFCC, ICPC, CCB TO MOVE AGAINST IMMEDIATE PAST ABIA STATE GOVERNOR SENATOR THEODORE ORJI

CORRUPTION : SAVE ABIA NOW (SAN) ASK EFCC, ICPC, CCB TO MOVE AGAINST IMMEDIATE PAST ABIA STATE GOVERNOR SENATOR THEODORE ORJI 



A Political Pressure Group SAVE ABIA NOW (SAN) have called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) ,Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) for immediate arrest and prosecution of the immediate Past Governor of Abia State Theodore Orji, over his alleged financial misconduct, ,Executive Recklessness and abuse of office while in office from 2007-2015

In a statement by its Director for Media & Publicity Comrade Kelechi Nkworie made Available to pressmen in Umuahia on Friday. The group, complained bitterly that the invitation and prosecution of the immediate past Governor by the Anti-graft agencies has been long overdue while the commission is sending invitations to other Governors who during their tenure mismanaged the state resources.
The Group accused Theodore Orji of Mismanaging the Local Government funds which is evident in the total collapse of infrastructures in the state, Backlog of unpaid Salaries Amounting to Billions of Niaria and Diverting of Public Properties to his cronies and family members.
They wondered why Theodore Orji would be allowed to be in the Senate despite the weighty allegation and petitions by Abians against him and the pending case he has to answer when he was the Chief of Staff to his predecessor Dr. ORJI UZOR KALU from 1999-2007
The group call on the EFCC, ICPC, and CCB to immediately commence investigations over misappropriation of funds, fiscal indiscipline, and divertion of public properties during his tenure as a Governor and re-open the pending case against the ex- Governor.
The Group noted that “it’s against the rule of morality and plight of suffering Abians to allowed Theodore Orji to be in the Senate as that will encourage impunity in the Government circle and set a bad precedent for the incumbent and the Federal Government Comitment in fighting Corruption and Graft.
The Group called on President Mohammadu Buhari to take bold steps “to prosecute all those that looted our commonwealth, no matter their status,” and fulfill his campaign promise to fight corruption and recover stolen public funds and properties ,Nigerians are expecting much from him on the fight against impunity and corruption...”

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Cassius Ukwugbe