IMO BREAKING NEWS BLOG

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately recall the former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Ambassador to Benin Republic, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd), to face investigations and clear his name over alleged connection with the N1.8bn recovered in a property in Abuja by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

According to a communique by its spokesman, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, the PDP said its demand for the recall and investigation of Gen. Buratai is predicated on the earlier assertion by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Babagana Monguno, after the exit of Gen. Buratai as COAS that the $1bn drawn from the national coffers under the APC administration for the purchase of arms to fight terrorism in our country could not be traced.

“That assertion by the NSA heightened suspicion on allegations of barefaced looting of money meant to equip our security forces. Such corruption under the APC administration has led to the upsurge in unhindered terrorism attacks, mass killing of citizens and loss of many of our gallant fighters in the front in the last seven years. “It is therefore of serious interest to Nigerians when reports that the ICPC discovered the sum of N1.8 billion in various currencies, expensive cars and jewelries secreted in a property in Abuja allegedly linked to the former COAS broke out.

“There are already apprehensions that the discovered money is part of the security fund that was criminally diverted. This is especially against the backdrop of the frenzy and spirited efforts by certain quarters linked to the APC to suppress investigation and free flow of information, politicize the matter and sweep it under the carpet. “Nigerians will recall that our Party has on several occasions alerted that the looting of our treasury is officially sanctioned and enabled by the APC administration with its refusal to prosecute those who were alleged and found to have been involved in massive corruption.

Tottenham Hotspur's summer signing Richarlison will miss the first Premier League game of the season after receiving a one-match ban due to a flare incident in May. The 25-year-old forward threw a flare during former club Everton's crucial 1-0 win over Chelsea at Goodison Park.

As well as the ban, Richarlison has been fined £25,000 by an independent regulatory commission. The Brazilian admitted his behaviour was improper. It was a breach of Rule E3, which covers improper conduct. Pyrotechnics are banned from football stadiums in England.

Richarlison threw the flare as a celebration for scoring the winner over Thomas Tuchel's side, which aided the club in staying in the top flight. Frank Lampard's team came close to relegation last season, staying up in part because of Richarlison's 10 goals and five assists in what proved to be his final campaign at Goodison.

It was announced earlier in July the forward has signed for Tottenham on a five-year deal.

We Applaud Gov. Hope Uzodimma for finding our highly revered Traditional Ruler, HRM Eze Dr. Oliver Ohanweh of Ihim autonomous community in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of the Imo as the Chairman Governing council of Distinguished senator Ben Uwajiumogu College of Education, Ihite Uboma, Imo state.

We wish to make the following resolutions. 

1. We wish to express our heartfelt joy over the appointment of HRM Eze Dr. Oliver Ohanweh as the chairman of Governing council of Distinguished senator Ben Uwajiumogu College of Education Ihite Uboma, Imo state.

2. We also applaud the Governor of the state for looking in the direction of the traditional Ruler from Mbano extraction for this laudable appointment.

3. We thank the Governor Hope Uzodimma for appointing HRM Eze Dr Oliver Ohanweh who has distinguished himself in all areas of human endeavors.

4. We strongly believe that Eze Dr Oliver Ohanweh will bring his wealth of experience to bear in the discharge of his duties.

5. We are fully aware of the antecedents of Eze Dr Oliver Ohanweh hence we say that he is a round peg in a round hole.

6. We equally thank Governor Hope Uzodimma for the love he has shown to Mbano nation hence, we declare our unalloyed support for him.

7. We intend to use this opportunity to plege our total support to our highly revered Traditional Ruler, HRM Eze Dr Oliver Ohanweh and assured him of our continuous prayers.

8. We however want to thank High Chief Tony Chukwu for his overall contributions to the success and development of Mbano nation.

8. We place the interest of Mbano nation above our own interest and this is why we shall support activities and programmes aimed at bettering the lots of our people.

We therefore, want to use this medium to reassure the Governor Hope Uzodimma of our total support for him and the government of Imo state.

Signed:

Comrade Kelechi Uzomah, Chairman

Comrade Ifeanyi Ndukwe, Secretary.

A former Deputy President of the Senate Ike Ekweremadu on Thursday appeared before the Uxbridge Magistrate court in the UK over organ harvesting charges. The prosecutor claims that David Ukpo, who alleged that he was coerced to donate his kidney to the Senator’s daughter, is 15 years.

The case has been adjourned to July 7 at Westminster Magistrate Court to enable the UK Attorney General, Suella Braverman, to determine whether the case will be tried in the country or Nigeria. On Wednesday, the Senate said it was sending a delegation to visit Ekweremadu and his wife.

Senate President Ahmad Lawan said this after a closed-door session of the lawmakers in Abuja. He said members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs will be traveling to the UK soon. “There will be a delegation to London to see Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife. A delegation from the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Senate will leave in the next two days for London for that purpose,” Lawan said.

“I want to urge all federal government institutions that can do anything to ensure that justice prevails in this case, that they do so.” He also said the Nigerian High Commission has engaged the services of lawyers in the UK to defend Senator Ekweremadu.

President Muhammadu Buhari has called on Nigerians in the diaspora to always contribute their quota to the development of the nation. He made the call on Wednesday when he met with selected Nigerians in Lisbon, Portugal.

‘‘In every field of human endeavour, be it the creative industries, sports, health, academia, Nigerians in the diaspora have thrived and leveraged their skills to raise our country’s profile higher, economically, socially, technologically, and culturally,” Buhari said according to a statement issued by his media aide, Garba Shehu on Thursday.

‘‘It is for these reasons that this Government established the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) to facilitate and support your engagement with our country for a win-win outcome in our effort to keep Nigerians united at home and abroad.

‘‘You must continue to be our ambassadors-at-large in your comportment, actions, and character. You must excel and be the best in all your endeavours. While here, you must also not forget home as you are the example we want to project to the rest of the world.’’ 

The Federal Capital Territory Administration FCTA has set up a coordinating Committee on the Recovery of Outstanding Ground Rents of over N29bn owed the FCT Administration. This committee according to the FCT Director, Information and communication Muhammad Sule in a press statement said the coordinating Committee was set up after several appeals and notices served the affected property owners, yet they remain adamant.

He added that as the committee commences work, property owners who have failed to pay their ground rent would risk prosecution, revocation, or outright forfeiture. The government, therefore, wish that the affected debtors will come forward and clear their outstanding debts to avoid prosecution, revocation, and forfeiture of their property. It may be recalled that the FCT Permanent Secretary, Adesola Olusade recently inaugurated a debt recovery committee with the mandate to recover the outstanding debts owed the FCT Administration with particular interest in ground rents and other sundry fees in the Land Administration as well as other Land related departments.

Accordingly, the Committee is expected to formally start communicating to the affected persons and corporate bodies as from Friday, July 1, 2022, after which those who failed to comply by paying their outstanding debt would be prosecuted. The Administration is forced to adopt these measures due to the non-compliant by the affected individuals and corporate organizations. The Recovery Committee has already swung into action and perfected modalities towards achieving this onerous task, because the government needs resources to execute essential infrastructural projects in the Federal Capital Territory.

The Committee, which has since been meeting to fine tune strategies for the task ahead, also warned debtors of dire consequences should they allow the committee to fully execute its mandate, if they refused to pay the outstanding land fees. The Committee wishes to assure that it will rigorously carry out its mandate to the latter, because ‘no stone will be left unturned’, in carrying out the assignment.