NIGERIA'S ECONOMY IN DEEP MESS.

The story by Nduka Chiejina, Assistant Editor, went on to point out that “Two weeks after sharing tax proceeds from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, the three tiers of government yesterday shared a larger amount of cash from the Federation Account for the month of June than they did for the month of May 2015.” With all due respects to my colleagues in the media, this is a story for the front page of every newspaper and headline news on electronic media. 

For those who have lately rained maledictions on the governors of Nigeria in general, and inexplicably Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola of Osun state in particular, it might give them a pause for reflection on the true state of the nation’s economy.

Without defending the governors against charges of profligate spending, the published allocation for June goes a long way towards sustaining the point that the fault is not entirely their own – irrespective of political affiliation, APGA, APC or PDP.

WAR AGAINST CORRUPTION - PRESIDENT BUHARI COMES AFTER CIVIL SERVANTS.

Disturbed by the rot and thriving corruption in the civil service, which has cost the country trillions of naira, President Muhammadu Buhari has taken his anti-graft war to the sector.

He has ordered that all outstanding audit queries which had piled up over the years be resolved within the next 30 days.

Confirming the presidential directive, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, said the unanswered audit queries sounded unsavoury to the President who, on hearing it, expressed his displeasure.

NAIRA KEEPS RISING AGAINST THE DOLLAR.

The United States dollar will further tumble against the naira at the parallel market this week as Deposit Money Banks continue to reject cash deposit of foreign currencies into customers’ domiciliary accounts.

The naira had appreciated against the dollar from 245 to 220 at the parallel market last week after banks started denying their customers opportunity to make cash deposits of dollar, pound and euro into their domiciliary accounts.

Foreign exchange dealers told our correspondent on Sunday that the naira would likely appreciate further against the dollar at the black market this week.

JUDGE WHO CALLED FOR AREGBESOLA'S IMPEACHMENT GETS EFCC'S INVITATION.

There were indications in Osogbo on Sunday that Justice Folahanmi Oloyede, who recently accused Governor Rauf Aregbesola of graft, had been invited to the Abuja headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

A source close to the judge told journalists in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, on Sunday that the judge was contacted by an official of the EFCC, who asked her to come to the Abuja office of the commission to assist them in the investigation into the allegations.

Oloyede, a serving judge in the Osun State judiciary had recently petitioned the state House of Assembly, asking that impeachment proceedings be commenced against Aregbesola, who she also accused of being corrupt.

NASS IS BACK TO BUSINESS.

The crisis in the House of Represen-tatives, was finally resolved on Tuesday last week when the leadership of the House bowed to the demands of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to install its preferred candidates as principal officers.

This made it possible for the Speaker, Hon Yakubu Dogara, to announce Honourables Femi Gbajabiamila as the Majority Leader, Baba Jibrin (Deputy Speaker), Alhassan Doguwa (Chief Whip) and Pally Iriase (Deputy Chief Whip). The Speaker and his group had, during the crisis, insisted that the remaining posts in the House should be shared in such a way as to enable all the six geopolitical zones in the country to have a sense of belonging. But the ruling party, with the backing of President Muhammadu Buhari, insisted on having its way, and in so doing, and for the first time since 1999, a ruling party could not accommodate one of the geopolitical zones of the country, the South East, in sharing the offices of the House of Representatives.

UNKNOWN PERSONS BURN INEC OFFICE IN ABIA.

Unknown persons have burnt down the offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Obingwa Local Government Area, Abia State.

According to eye-witnesses, the incident, which occurred at about 1.00p.m. yesterday, razed the entire building, including the store and Electoral Officer’s office.

A resident in the staff quarters at the council headquarters at Mgboko, who declined to have his name on print, told Vanguard that they saw thick smoke emanating from the INEC office and raised alarm, which attracted passers-by.

ARMY TO REVIEW DEATH SENTENCES & JAIL TERMS OF SOLDIERS.

The Nigerian Army on Sunday announced that it is reviewing the cases of all soldiers who were disciplined for various offences.

Dozens of soldiers have been sentenced to death, life imprisonment and other punishment for various offences including mutiny, desertion, and disobedience of lawful orders. Majority of the sentences, carried out in various military courts, have been appealed by counsel to the affected officials and condemned by local and international rights groups.

However, on Sunday, the Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Sani Usman, said the army was itself already reviewing the punishments.

THE EXCESS CRUDE OIL ACCOUNT CONTROVERSY .

Nigeria's savings from oil exports from its average production of 2.3 million barrels per day as estimated by the CIA World Factbook should be showing a healthy balance. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The Excess Crude Account, where the extra income from oil sales is domiciled, had been depleted to $2 billion by June this year, down from $11 billion in December 2012. This has triggered a bitter dispute between some state governors, led by Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State and the immediate past Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The authorities must get to the root of the matter and unravel how exactly public revenues were appropriated and spent.

SARAKI SEEKS EMIR'S HELP TO PACIFY PRESIDENT BUHARI.

In his efforts to make peace with the Presidency over its distaste on the composition of the senate leadership, Senate President Bukola Saraki, has resorted to seeking the assistance of emirs and traditional rulers.

In realising this objective, the senate president, has sought the help of the Emir of his home town, Ilorin, Kwara State, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, an aide of the emir told our correspondent.

President Buhari, since the inauguration of the 8th Senate on June 9, has reportedly been shunning Saraki whose emergence and that of his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu of the Peoples Democratic Party did not go down well with the leadership of the All Progressives Congress.

MUST READ - RISING CASES OF HYPERTENSION AMONGST YOUNG NIGERIANS.

While our health services focus primarily on diseases like malaria, polio and HIV/AIDS, another deadly medical condition – hypertension – is ruining many lives. Hitherto known to be prevalent among the elderly, hypertension has since spread to a new age group – the young people. Even children are now vulnerable. Managing the situation effectively calls for a concerted approach from the government and stakeholders in the health sector.

However, hypertension is a global scourge. According to World Health Organisation statistics from the 2015 World Health Day, hypertension is responsible for an estimated 45 per cent of deaths from heart disease and 51 per cent of deaths from stroke annually. This is unnerving.

POPULAR RAPPER REMINISCE LOSES DAD.

The father of popular local rapper like i, Remilekun Safaru aka Reminisce, is dead.

Alhaji Safaru died on August 1, 2015.

He shared the news on Instagram.

May his soul rest in perfect peace.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL WANTS PROSTITUTION TO BE LEGALISED WORLDWIDE.

Amnesty International, one of the biggest human-rights groups in the world, is calling for prostitution to be legalized worldwide. But it's facing major backlash from human trafficking groups, who say that could do more harm than good.

In August, the group will ask its delegates to vote on a proposal that calls for the decriminalization of sex work. The proposal makes it clear that human trafficking for sexual exploitation should be criminalized around the world, and certainly if the prostitution involves children. "Criminalization, in its varying forms, exposes sex workers to increased risk of human rights abuses," the proposal reads. 

But part of the proposal has led activists to raise their eyebrows: the issue of consent. "By definition, sex work means that sex workers who are engaging in commercial sex have consented to do so," the policy reads. But an open letter signed by more than 400 human rights advocates, plus celebrities like Lena Dunham, Meryl Streep, and Kate Winslet, argues that's not the case. 

KADUNA REFINERY SET TO HIT PRODUCTION OF 3 - 5 MILLION LITERS OF PETROL PER DAY.

The managing director, Kaduna Refining and Petrochemicals Company, Saidu Mohammed, on Friday said the refinery will hit 90 per cent production of its 110,000 installed capacity.

It was gathered that the refinery had been operating at 60 per cent production capacity before commencement of the turn-around maintenance in October 2014.

Mr. Mohammed, in an interview after a tour of the refinery with journalists, said the refinery has undergone turn around maintenance.

36,000 POLICE OFFICERS TO ATTEND PROMOTIONAL COURSES IN DECEMBER 2015 - INSPECTOR GENERAL.

The Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, said in Abuja on Friday that 36,000 police officers would attend promotion courses in December.

Mr. Arase, who said this during an inspection tour of the FCT Police command, said that 4,000 Inspectors would also attend the board for promotion.

He advised the officers against bribing any instructor during the duration of the course as all expenses would be paid by the police authority.

SARS OPERATIVES DRESSED OUR SON LIKE AN ARMED ROBBER & PLACED A GUN ON HIM - FAMILY OF MURDERED YOUTH. @POLICENG

Eight days after the killing of a 33-year-old man, Orimisan Omoboye, in Ilaje area of Ajah Lagos, during a botched operation by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Lagos, the family said their greatest fear has come true.

The SARS operatives, who mistakenly shot dead the young man during their operation in the area, have labelled him an armed robber, Saturday PUNCH was told.

It would be recalled that when our correspondent spoke with the victim’s 65-year-old mother, Mama Espa Omoboye, on Monday, July 20, 2015 – the day of the incident, she expressed fear that her son might be labelled an armed robber who was shot while trying to escape because the men refused to hand over his corpse after the incident.

WIZARDS PUSHED ME TO RAPE NINE YEAR OLD GIRL. #SAYNOTORAPE.

THE VICTIM                                       ESSIEN THE RAPIST

A 39-year-old father of three, Ekpeyong Essien, has blamed his two sons, whom he alleged are witches, for pushing him into defiling a nine-year-old girl.

Essien, who hails from Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River State, had on July 12, defiled the little girl, Bright Benjamin, at Hawkins Primary School in the Calabar South area of the state capital.

He said the girl had approached him for money to pay her fares home, but he simply instructed her to follow him to a nearby primary school where he defiled her with his fingers.

REUBEN ABATI & 11 OTHER CLOSE AIDES OF FORMER PRESIDENT JONATHAN STRIPPED OF THEIR OFFICIAL PASSPORTS.

Two months after leaving power,  no fewer than 12 close aides of former President Goodluck Jonathan have been stripped of their official passports.

A competent source said that the decision to withdraw the official passports of the former aides of Dr Jonathan was to prevent misuse and conflict with new aides and officials of President Muhammadu Buhari, who assumed duties on May 29, 2015.

It could not be established last night whether the affected officials were ordered by the Presidency to surrender the passports or whether they did so voluntarily.

THE LAGOS MASSACRE - HOW A PAINED LOVER KILLED 8 PEOPLE INCLUDING HIS GIRLFRIEND.

HENRY CHIBUEZE

On Saturday, February 16, 2013, Henry Chibueze, a notorious kidnapper terrorizing South East and South South parts of the country, stormed the home of his girlfriend, Sandra Ijedinma, at Igando area of Lagos State, with an AK47 assault rifle and opened fire on everyone present in the apartment, killing his girlfriend, her elder sister Praise Ozor, and her two children.

Not satisfied, Henry proceeded to a nearby street where one of Sandra’s elder sisters resided and killed the woman and three of her children, before fleeing.

His anger was said to have been that Sandra, who was an optician with Madonna University, had called off their relationship, when she learnt that   he was a kidnapper.       

FAMILY REJECTS N25,000 COMPENSATION FROM 41-YR-OLD MAN WHO RAPED THEIR 8-YR-OLD DAUGHTER. #SAYNOTORAPE.

An eight-year-old girl has narrated how she was allegedly raped by their 48-year-old neighbour, Mr. Peter Christopher, one afternoon in the building her family shared with another tenant.

The girl, Blessing (not real name), explained that on Thursday, June 18, 2015, she was about to enter her parent’s apartment when, Christopher, a carpenter, whose lives just two doors away from their apartment, dragged her into his room, locked the door and defiled her.

Punch newspaper had been informed about the girl’s case by a human rights activist, who felt concerned about the pressure being put on the her family to drop the case. But when our correspondent tracked down the girl’s family, they were reluctant to share the story as they said they did not want to be seen as “being disobedient to pastors and elders who asked us to leave the matter to God.”

OONI'S DEMISE - ANXIETY HEIGHTENS AS ORO FESTIVAL BEGINS IN IFE.

The anxiety surrounding the demise of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, has continued to heighten as worshippers of Oro began the annual festival in the ancient town on Friday night.

Oro is a deity worshipped across Yoruba land, which forbids the womenfolk from going outdoors in the night during the period of its festival.

Although, sources in Ife told our correspondent that the festival, scheduled to commence on Friday night had nothing to do with the demise of the Ooni, the public believe otherwise.