PRESIDENT JONATHAN & OTHERS TO GET N3.24BN SEVERANCE PAY

The Nigerian general elections have come and gone. Many politicians will not be performing their former duties due to one reason or the other.

According to Punch, President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice-president Namadi Sambo, non-returning federal lawmakers, ministers and   presidential aides will collect N3.24bn as severance allowances,

The severance allowances   are contained in the Remuneration Package   put together by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission.

INDONESIA EXECUTES EIGHT CONVICTED DRUG SMUGGLERS INCLUDING FOUR NIGERIANS.

Indonesia has executed eight convicted drug smugglers -- including two of the so-called "Bali Nine" -- the Reuters news agency has reported, citing local media.

The prisoners faced a 12-man firing squad on Nusa Kambangan island in Central Java.

The government had announced that nine prisoners would be executed, but according to local reports, Filipina Mary Jane Veloso was spared, at least for now.

Lawyers fighting to delay the death of Veloso, a domestic helper and mother of two, have said they've given up their bid after her second legal review was rejected on Monday. This came despite a last-minute personal appeal from Philippines President Benigno Aquino to Indonesian counterpart President Joko Widodo.

CHIBOK GIRLS MAY HAVE BEEN FOUND AS NIGERIAN ARMY CONFIRMS 200 GIRLS & 93 WERE RESCUED FROM SAMBISA FOREST.

The Nigerian army says it has rescued 200 girls and 93 women from Sambisa forest.

It has not been confirmed if the Chibok girls, who were kidnapped by Boko Haram almost exactly a year ago, are among them.

"Troops this afternoon rescued 200 girls and 93 women from Sambisa Forest. We cannot confirm if the Chibok girls are in this group," it said in a statement, adding that Nigerian troops had also destroyed three camps run by the militants.

ABACHA'S $370M LOOT TRACED TO LUXEMBOURG.

Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Hans Rodulf Hodel, Monday, revealed that a new loot of $370 million traced to the former Military Head of State, late Sani Abacha has been discovered in Luxembourg, saying that his country would be eager to help Nigeria reclaim the money if the authorities make a formal request for it.

Hodel also said that Swiss government has strengthened the country’s monetary policies to discourage deposits of ill-gotten money from foreign countries in its banks.

The ambassador spoke to Journalists yesterday when he paid a congratulatory visit to Nigeria’s president-elect, General Mohammadu Buhari in Abuja.

TEENAGER ABDUCTS AND RAPES TWO YR OLD GIRL IN LAGOS

A two-year-old toddler, Precious (pseudonym) has been raped by one Azeez Ganiyu, after she was abducted from her residence on Giwa Street, Ijora Badia, Lagos State.

The incident happened on April 16 at about 10am after the victim’s mother left her in a room with a neighbour to buy food at a nearby shop.

Our correspondent gathered that 16-year-old Ganiyu abducted the girl when she walked outside to play with other children.

PASTOR SENTENCED TO 3 YEARS IMPRISONMENT FOR STEALING 56 TRANSFORMERS WORTH N220M

An AkwaIbom State High Court has sentenced Pastor Godwin Moffat, a former NDDC Commissioner representing Akwa Ibom State, to three years imprisonment for stealing 56 transformers worth N220, 176, 320 which was  meant for oil producing communities in the state.

In a 56 count charge filed in court by the EFCC, Pastor Moffat was said to have applied for 90 electricity transformers and 4 generators from NDDC for Akwa Ibom State sometime in February, 2006. Approval was given for 70 transformers but he diverted same to his house in Eket on the pretext that there was no space to accommodate the newly issued 70 units of transformers at the NDDC office in Uyo. He thereafter sent only 14 Units to NDDC office in Uyo while he withheld 56 units which he could not account for till date.

THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL SACKING OF POLICE IG - ANOTHER IMPUNITY IN JONATHAN;S ADMINISTRATION.

Displaying utter contempt for the 1999 Constitution he swore to uphold, President Goodluck Jonathan has sacked Suleiman Abba as the Inspector-General of Police. He replaced him immediately with Solomon Arase, a Deputy Inspector-General, in an acting capacity. Both the dismissal and the acting appointment are gross violations of the 1999 Federal Constitution, Nigeria’s supreme law.

Without citing any cogent reason, the President unceremoniously fired Abba, who assumed office nine months ago. Sadly, however, these actions are in keeping with the trend of impunity in the Jonathan administration, which has consistently conducted itself in an imperial manner, to the detriment of the rule of law, the common good and growth of our democratic norms. They have all the trappings of using power for selfish end.

NNPC SPENT N3.65TN WITHOUT APPROVAL. - FORENSIC AUDIT REPORT.

The report of the forensic audit of the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) released yesterday showed that the Corporation spent no less than N$18.53billion (or N3.65 trillion) as operational costs without a duly approved budgetary allocation.

The forensic audit report conducted by , showed that the total gross revenues generated from the federal government crude oil liftings between January 1, 2012 and July 31, 2013 was $69.34 billion and not $67 billion as earlier stated by the federal government’s Reconciliation Committee.

Out of this, total cash remitted into the Federation Accounts in relation to crude oil liftings was $50.81 billion and not $47billion as earlier stated by the Reconciliation Committee for the period from January 2012 to July 2013.

PRESIDENT JONATHAN APPOINTS PETER OBI AS CHAIRMAN OF SECURITIES & EXCHANGE COMMISSION.

President Goodluck Jonathan has appointed the former Governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi, as the new Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

He also confirmed the appointment of the Acting Director General, Mounir Gwazo, as the Director General of the Commission.

This is the latest appointment by the out-going president who just last week sacked Sulieman Abba as Inspector General of police and announced Solomon Arase as his replacement.

Also in mid-march Jonathan appointed Samuel Ogungbesan as Acting Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) after relieving Alhaji Kabiru Mashi of his duties.

TOP TEN CORRUPTION SCANDALS UNRESOLVED BY NIGERIA'S OUTGOING NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.

The seventh National Assembly led by Senator David Mark will most likely end its tenure in early June without resolving majority of the huge misgovernance and corruption issues that characterised the outgoing administration.

Under the present dispensation, the oversight power of the legislature was not judiciously exercised to guarantee Nigerians the dividends for electing their representatives. There were clear cover-ups and lack of political will to bring a lot of the cases to closure.

Even when it issues reports on certain important national issues, such as the fuel subsidy scam, the National Assembly lacked the firepower to compel the execuitve execute its recommendations. 

As nothing almost always get done after individuals, agencies and corporations are indicted by either the House of Representatives or the Senate, the billions spent yearly on either public hearings and oversight functions have turned out to be mere drains on national resources.

TROUBLE FOR DIEZANI MADUEKE & NNPC AS BUHARI PROMISES TO PROBE MISSING $20BN

Nigeria’s President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, has stated that his administration will probe the $20 billion alleged to be missing from the coffers of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.

The immediate past governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Sanusi Lamido, had alleged that the $20 billion made from the sale of Nigeria’s crude oil by the NNPC could not be accounted for.

President Goodluck Jonathan sacked Mr. Sanusi from the CBN after he made the allegation. The former bank chief was later crowned the Emir of Kano after the death of Ado Bayero, the former emir.

Speaking Sunday when he played host to a delegation from Adamawa State led by the state’s governor-elect, Bindow Jibrilla, in his campaign secretariat, Mr. Buhari said although he received information that some persons already started returning money to government coffers, he would only believe it when he “sees it”.

ONDO STATE DEPUTY GOVERNOR "ALI OLANUSI" HAS BEEN IMPEACHED.

The Ondo State Deputy Governor, Ali Olanusi, was impeached on Monday morning by members of the state House of Assembly.‎

​Twenty two​ of the 26 members of the Assembly supported the impeachment of the Deputy Governor, who recently moved from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

The motion for his impeachment was moved by the majority leader, Ifedayo Akinsoyinu​, from Ondo West 11 and seconded by Olatunji Dauro from Owo 11‎.

TRAGEDY IN KANO AS PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE CRASHES KILLING SEVEN.

No fewer than seven people were killed in Kano on Sunday when a pedestrian bridge at Dorayi quarters, Kano, collapsed, the state Police Command said.

The command’s Public Relations Officer, Magaji Majiya, confirmed the incident in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.

Mr. Majiya said the incident happened around 4:45 p.m. when the bridge, which was still under construction, caved in and collapsed on a car, which was passing underneath it.

AFRICAN LEADERS ARE HAPPY OVER JONATHAN'S DEFEAT.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said African leaders were happy over the defeat of President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election.

He told an audience at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington DC that his checks in a number of African countries suggested they were happy over the result of the election.

He said some Nigerians described President Jonathan as a moving train who was stopped from collapsing Nigeria.

NIGERIAN WOMAN IN THE USA KILLS HUSBAND SHE CLAIMS CHEATED AND ABUSED HER.

TEMITOPE ADEBAMIRO

A 35-year-old Red Lion woman has been charged with killing her husband, who she claimed abused and cheated on her with several women including her sister and their nanny's daughter, according to court records.

The husband, 37-year-old Adeyinka Adebamiro, was found stabbed in a first-floor spare bedroom of the couple's home in the 1300 block of Healy Court early Thursday, according to court documents obtained by The News Journal.

New Castle County police were called to the home at about 12:40 a.m. for an unknown problem. Arriving officers found Adeyinka Adebamiro unconscious with a stab wound to the upper body. New Castle County paramedics pronounced him dead at 1:37 a.m., said Officer Tracey Duffy, a county police spokeswoman.

MAN WHO RAPED AND IMPREGNATED HIS DAUGHTER JAILED FOR LIFE - DAUGHTER CRIES I LOVE YOU AS HE WAS LED AWAY.

A man has been jailed for life after fathering a child with his own daughter who he raped repeatedly from when she was just 10. 

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was given a life sentence after Derby Crown Court after jurors heard how he 'took his daughter's life' through sexual abuse. 

His depravity was exposed when he impregnated her when she was just a teenager, having 'poisoned' the girl against her mother.  

MASSIVE EARTHQUAKE KILLS MORE THAN 700 IN NEPAL. (PICTURES)

More than 700 people across four countries have been killed after a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal causing massive damage in the capital.

Homes, businesses and landmarks were destroyed when the severe earthquake struck Kathmandu and the densely-populated surrounding areas at noon local time, officials said.

Officials confirmed that 758 people have died, with 181 people killed in the capital, as rescue teams continue to search for survivors who are feared to be trapped under the rubble. Home Ministry official Laxmi Dhakal warned the death toll is almost certain to rise.

BRUCE JENNER (FATHER OF 6) SAYS HE IDENTIFIES HIMSELF AS A WOMAN.

 

Bruce Jenner has revealed that he identifies as a woman - his 'true self' and a childhood dream - in an explosive ABC interview with Diane Sawyer.

The 65-year-old Olympic gold medalist and reality TV star sparked rumors about his gender identity last year after visibly altering his appearance.

He confirmed that he is reinventing himself physically in a bid to transition from male to female in the highly-anticipated, intimate sit-down.

#XENOPHOBIC ATTACKS - ISRAEL DENIES SOUTH AFRICA'S MINISTER ENTRY VISA.

The government of South Africa has expressed outrage after Israel's decision to deny a visa to Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande. Clayson Monyela, Deputy Director General of Department of International Relations and Cooperation, told Al Jazeera on Thursday the Israeli government needed to offer a reason for the snubbing.

"We are taking it up through the proper channels. We need to receive a proper explanation for the denial of a visa to a sitting cabinet minister," Monyela said.

The minister was scheduled to travel to the occupied Palestinian territories from April 25-29. He was scheduled to secure further collaboration with the University of Johannesburg and institutions in Palestine.

SENATE PRESIDENT DAVID MARK VISITS PRESIDENT ELECT MUHAMMADU BUHARI.

Senate President David Mark visited the President Elect Muhammadu Buhari in a congratulatory visit.

Smart move by the senator who is destined to be an ordinary member of the assembly in few months time.