2019: Again, Buhari Fails To Submit Academic Certificates To INEC

President Muhammadu Buhari has once again refused to submit his academic credentials to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), ahead of the 2019 elections.

Aspirants vying for various position are to submit certain documents, including academic credentials, as parts of requirements to the commission.

However Buhari, a former military head of state, was quoted to have said his academic records are with the military board.

In the affidavit, Buhari was quoted as saying: “I am the above named person and the deponent of this affidavit herein.

“All my academic qualification documents as filled in my Presidential form, APC/001/2015 are currently with the Secretary of the Military Board as of the time of this affidavit.”

Similarly in 2014, Buhari had also tendered the same submission in the build up to the 2015 elections.
However, the military was unable to ascertain being in possession of any of the president’s academic credentials.

Olajide Laleye, then director of army public relations, had said: “Records available indicate that Major General M Buhari applied to join the military as a Form Six student of the Provincial Secondary School, Katsina on 18 Oct 61.

“His application was duly endorsed by the Principal of the school, who also wrote a report on him and recommended him to be suitable for military commission.

“It is a practice in the NA that before candidates are shortlisted for commissioning into the officers’ cadre of the Service, the Selection Board verifies the original copies of credentials that are presented. However, there is no available record to show that this process was followed in the 1960s.”

Buhari however went ahead to contest the elections and won and was subsequently sworn in as Nigeria’s president.

He is seeking a second term in office and would be heading to the polls in 2019 as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress.

I Am Not A Magician To Solve Challenges In Ekiti State In A Day – Fayemi

The Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, has stated that he can not make the challenges the state is facing disappear in a day.

Fayemi while speaking at Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital on Sunday, stated that he is not a magician who would make the challenges faced by the state disappear.

The Governor who took over the leadership of the state from Mr Ayodele Fayosesaid, “Yes, we know there are huge expectation from width and breadth of the state and we won’t disappoint them.

“I am not a magician but a child of the Almighty God because some people believe all the challenges facing Ekiti state will disappear within a day. Yes, By Almighty God’s grace, it will surely disappear.”

While commending the Catholic church for their unwavering support he said, “Our emergence is to make a difference in the life of Ekiti state and the lives of our people, to serve and not be served and to show that the power of the people is greater than that of those in power.

“We have a lot of work to do and this is a collective rescue mission, to reclaim our land and restore our values, so we seek Ekiti people’s cooperation.”

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FG set to commence clean-up of Ogoni oil spill -Minister

The Minister of State for Environment, Alhaji Ibrahim Jibril, said on Monday that the Federal Government was set to commence the clean -up of oil spills in Ogoni land.

Jibril told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sideline of the 2018 International Day for Preservation of Ozone Lay in Abuja that the exercise would begin before the end of this year.

NAN recalls that the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) had recommended initial release of one billion dollars to be used for the clean-up of oil spills for over a period of five years.

The clean-up exercise, according to UNEP, will take 25-30 years to restore the environment.

Much of the funding for the clean-up is expected to come from the oil companies.

The minister said that out of 200 million dollars expected from oil companies, 177 million dollars had been raised for the operation.

“For 2018, 200 million dollars is expected but so far the joint venture partners and NNPC had been able to raise 177 million dollars for the operation, which will commence soon.

“Right now, the procurement process is at the very last stage and very soon, we should be able to go to Federal Executive Council meeting to get approval for the contract to be awarded.

“We believe that we should be able to go to the field in the fourth quarter of this year to commence remediation exercise,’’ Jibril said.

2019: Bishop Oyedepo Declares 7 Days Fasting And Prayer To Prevent Election Violence

  

Bishop David Oyedepo, the founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, also known as Winners Chapel, has called on all Christians in Nigeria to pray and fast for seven days to prevent violence that may follow the 2019 general elections.

The clergy man stated this in a memo read to the congregation during the service at Faith Tabernacle, Ota, on Sunday.

While pointing to the crisis that took place in the Osun State governorship rerun election that was held on September 27, Oyedepo stated that the happenings in recent elections held in some states is tending towards what politicians will do during the next general elections.

The memo, was also read during a Sunday service in all LFC including the Winners’ Chapel, Osogbo.

He claimed that politicians had started acquiring arms to destroy whoever decides to stand on their way to their electoral victory during that election.

He stated that this is the reason why Christians needs to pray so as to seek divine intervention “to avert the devastation that seems to lie ahead of our great nation.”

Oyedepo called on all Christians in the country to join in the prayer and fast which will commence on Monday and end on October 28. He advised them to cry to God to save the country from politicians who plan to wreck the nation for their political ambition.

Oyedepo said, “Recent elections that held in some states and some quarters across Nigeria are pointers to the need for divine intervention for the rescue of our nation to avert the breakdown of law and order in the forthcoming general elections in this coming year.

“Political thuggery has assumed a new dimension in Nigeria, where many voters were not able to access the polling booths because they did not belong to the group that must win. Some even resisted access even to the point of killing the opposition.

“If anyone is not sure of returning home from going to cast his vote and would not want to risk his life for that, how then do we determine the winner?

“This is how much the soul of Nigeria is in distress and would require divine intervention for rescue.

“There is nothing wrong with a ‘must win’ determination, that is what the spirit of sportsmanship is all about, but this must be channelled through legitimate means only and not by killing the people one claims he wants to serve.

“Today, we cannot tell how much arms some individuals or group may have piled up to accomplish their political ambitions, by being determined to kill innocent Nigerians that may stand in their way. We have no choice but to pray for God to heal our land and deliver us from all forms of election crises.”

Presidency Demands For Investigation Into The Death Of Nigerian In Kenya

The Presidency has called for an investigation into the death of a Nigerian, Mr. Bamiyo Ashade who was killed in Kenya.

Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, while reacting to the sad incident in a statement, called for a full autopsy and investigation from the Kenyan Government into the killing of the Nigerian man, who was reportedly killed by the Kenyan Police.

The statement that was issued by Abdur-Rahman Balogun, media aide to Dabiri-Erewa, revealed that the killing was contained in the briefing by Amb. Sheidu Momoh, the Nigerian Ambassador to Kenya, who had met with Nigerians in Kenya, calling for them to remain calm.

The Ambassador claimed that the Nigerian High Commission is on top of the situation and had sent a formal complaint to the Kenyan Foreign Affairs demanding a full autopsy.

He also noted that deceased was not only a student in Kenya but was also a Nigerian living in the country and he has met with the family of the bereaved to commiserate with them and assure them of justice.

The deceased was brutalized at his house in Four Ways Estate, Kiambu last week Monday, while the police officers allegedly tried to extort him despite finding out he had valid papers.

Further report revealed that while he stood his ground, as no crime had been committed, the policemen resorted to harassment and assault which led to his death.

The statement read in part: “In view of the foregoing, we appeal to the Kenya Government to conduct a thorough investigation into the gruesome killing of this young Nigerian and bring the perpetrators to justice accordingly, ” Dabiri-Erewa said.

“Dabiri-Erewa condoles with the family of the deceased and prayed unto God to comfort the family in the best way.

“Full investigation has commenced into the circumstances surrounding the killing of the Nigerian who died after he fell from the 8th floor of his apartment due to the fear of being arrested by some officials of the Kenyan law enforcement agency in Nairobi.

“The incident happened on Sept. 26, and the deceased was laid to rest, on Monday, Oct. 15, at the Langata cemetery, Kenya.”

 

Kwara PDP Governorship Candidate, Rasaq Atunwa Accused Of Forging NYSC Certificate

 

The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Kwara State for the scheduled 2019 general elections, Razak Atunwa, has been accused of forging his NYSC certificate.

Atunwa is alleged to be carrying a forged discharge certificate of the National Youth Service Corps, after failing to participate in Nigeria’s compulsory national youth service scheme.

It is important to note that the NYSC law requires every Nigerian who graduated from university or polytechnic to participate in the national youth scheme for one year after graduation, provided the person finished before age 30.

Failure to serve would prohibit such individual from gainful employment in Nigeria, and making false claims about serving could attract up to 14 years in jail.

Also, anyone who graduated before 30 but deliberately declined to serve has committed a crime that could attract 12-month imprisonment, even if the person did not forge NYSC documents.

Only a person who obtained a degree after 30 or served in the military or won national honours medal would qualify for exemption certificate under the NYSC law.

Mr Atunwa, born on October 17, 1969, is said to have studied law at the University of East London, graduating in 1992 at age 23. Having earned a bachelor’s degree at 23, Mr Atunwa, going by Section 2 of the NYSC Act, should have participated in the year-long national service.

But rather than present himself for national service, Mr. Atunwa according to Premium Times report, stayed back in the United Kingdom, returning only in 2005 to join the cabinet of then Governor Bukola Saraki in Kwara State at the age of 36.

Between 2005 and 2010, he held various political offices and was commissioner in Kwara State at four different ministries, including Land and Housing, Works and Transport, Information and Home Affairs and Finance.

The investigative report by Premium Times however, failed to reveal whether or not Mr Atunwa presented any NYSC document to authorities since 2005 when he was first appointed commissioner, 2011 when he became speaker and 2015 when he became member of the House of Representatives.

But to secure the PDP governorship ticket on October 1, the report alleged he submitted a fake NYSC discharge certificate and accompanied it with an affidavit, indicating he lied on oath, an offence that attracts up to 14 years in jail.

He is said to have indicated in the nomination document he submitted at the PDP national secretariat in Abuja that he partook in the youth service scheme between 1995 and 1996.

The lawmaker, then accompanied it with a notarised affidavit sworn at the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin on September 10. The document was attached to his PDP expression of interest form.

He signed the document despite a clause indicating he remained automatically disqualified as candidate if any statement or information he provided is found to be false, inaccurate, or mislead the party or its agents from making proper assessment of his competence to contest the governorship election under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

It remains to be seen if the PDP will as a result of this revelation, drop his candidature as Governorship elections are scheduled to hold February 2019.

Evidences Pointing To Mr. Atunwa’s Fake Certificate

Walter Oki (brigadier general at the time). But Mr Oki was only made NYSC director-general in 2002.

In 1996, Soyemi Sofoluwe (brigadier general) was director-general of the corps and signed all discharge and exemption certificates during the period. He was succeeded by S.M. Dule (brigadier general), who served as director-general between 1996 and 2000.

A further crosscheck on the authenticity of Mr Atunwa’s ‘certificate’, made it to be compared with original ones that bore the basics of the document, especially those from foreign university graduates.

It was discovered according to the report that Mr. Atunwa’s certificate, rather than bear FRN or FORN (code for foreign graduates) has KWP (a code reserved for graduates of Kwara State Polytechnic) as identification mark. But the politician did not graduate from Kwara Polytechnic.

He claimed he attended the University of East London for the first degree and the University of London for his master’s.

Commenting on the allegations, Liborous Oshoma, a Lagos-based legal practitioner, said:

“This is the most audacious forgery since PREMIUM TIMES began investigation into NYSC claims of senior government officials and politicians generally,” 

“Based on Section 13 (c) of the NYSC Act, even being in possession of a forged NYSC certificate is already a crime,” Mr Oshoma said. “And then we now have an affidavit that he swore to and walked himself into perjury, another criminal offence.”

“You could say Kemi Adeosun did not know some people gave her fake document, and Mr Shittu was being exuberant, but this particular case is very troubling,” the lawyer said. “He knew of those recent cases and still went on to do it.

“This is amongst the consequences of the president’s failure to act on time or act at all on the already uncovered cases. Since the former finance minister was able to escape from the country without prosecution and the communications minister remains in office despite being found not to be qualified for the job, this man could easily dismiss any legal ramifications of his action,” he added.

“Since it has now come to the fore that if you graduated before 30, either from a Nigerian university or abroad, you know you do not qualify for exemption and you must serve and if you forge your document you would be exposed, I would have expected that all those who schooled abroad would start investigating whether the NYSC document they were given was genuine or not. There is no hiding place anymore.”

Naija News Extrarecalls two prominent public office holders, Kemi Adeosun and Adebayo Shittu have also been recently involved in NYSC certificate scandal.

The scandal has forced Kemi Adeosun to resign from Buhari’s cabinet as finance minister while it prevented Shittu from contesting the APC governorship primaries in Oyo state.

Shittu, who is currently the communications minister, has already taken the matter to court and still retains his position within President Buhari’s cabinet.

Breaking News: Fayose arraigned, pleads not guilty to N30.8bn fraud charge

The immediate past Governor of Ekiti, Ayodele Fayose on Monday appeared  before a Federal High Court in Lagos over alleged misappropriation of N30.8 billion.

After the arraignment of the accused, the defence counsel, Mr Kanu Agabi (SAN), who is a former Attorney General of the Federation, informed the court of a motion on notice for the bail of the accused.

He told the court that same had been served on the prosecution.

In response, the EFCC Prosecutor, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, confirmed service of the bail application, but told the court that he required time to reply.

Justice Mojisola Olatoregun, consequently, adjourned the case until Oct. 24 for the hearing of the bail application.

Meanwhile, following a plea by defence counsel on the temporary remand of Fayose, the court ordered that he be remanded in custody of the EFCC pending bail.

According to the charge, on June 17, 2014, Fayose and Agbele were said to have taken possession of the sum of N1.2 billion for purposes of funding his gubernatorial election in Ekiti State which sum they reasonably ought to have known formed part of crime proceeds.

Fayose was alleged to have received a cash payment of the sum of five million dollars, (about N18 billion) from the then Minister of State for Defence, Sen. Musiliu Obanikoro, without going through any financial institution and which sum exceeded the amount allowed by law.

He was also alleged to have retained the sum of N300 million in his Zenith Bank account and took control of the aggregate sums of about N622 million which sum he ought to have known formed part of crime proceeds.

Fayose was alleged to have procured De Privateer Ltd and Still Earth Ltd, to retain in their Zenith Bank and the FCMB accounts, the aggregate sums of N851 million which they reasonably ought to have known formed part of crime proceeds.

Besides, the accused was alleged to have used the aggregate sums of about N1.6 billion to acquire properties in Lagos and Abuja, which sums he reasonably ought to have known formed part of crime proceeds.

The accused was also alleged to have used the sum of N200 million to acquire a property in Abuja in the name of his elder sister, Moji Oladeji, which sum he ought to know also forms crime proceeds.

The offences, according to the EFCC, contravene the provisions of sections 15(1), 15 (2), 15 (3), 16(2)(b), 16 (d), and 18 (c) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011

Fayose Arrives Lagos Federal High Court To Begin EFCC Trial

Immediate past governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has just arrived the federal high court in Lagos state to begin his trial.

As earlier reported by Naija News, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has already transferred the former governor to Lagos state where he is to be arraigned in court over charges bordering on money laundering and looting of public funds.

The anti-graft agency has slammed a 11 count charge lined up 22 witnesses to testify against Fayose during the trial.

Already, the charges are been read before Justice Mojisola Olatoregun.

Making Business Case For Women Football Sponsorship In Nigeria

Asisat Oshoala is a well known face in the world of football today. The 2015 BBC World Woman Footballer of the year; and three times CAF AfricaWoman Footballer of the year 2014, 2016 and 2017; may have brought growing interest into women football in Nigeria.

Oshoala currently earn $20,000 USD a week playing with Dalian Quanjian in Chinese Women Super League, far beyond what most of Nigerian men footballers earn even in Europe. She has played for some of the biggest women clubs in the world: Arsenal and Liverpool.

Oshoala is a product of FC Robo and Rivers Angels, two of top flight clubs in Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL). The league that has produced world class players like Francesca Oredga, now playing for Atletico Madrid in Spain, Desire Oparanozie playing for Guigamp in France, was also a product of Bayelsa Queens; Maureen Mmadu last played for Avaldsnes IL in Norway and a product of Jegede Babes here in Nigeria.

Sport marketing school of thought point out that put side by side, Women football has done better than their men counterpart. Super Falcons has won African women championship 8 times as against Super Eagles winning only 3 AFCON trophies.

Super Falcons has at their best got to the quarter finals of Fifa world cup in 1999, while Super Eagles only got to the round of sixteen in 2002.

When it comes to Individual honors, Asisat Oshoala, Super Falcons' player remain the only Nigerian ever to have won BBC World Woman footballer of the year in 2015

Then put together Mercy Akide Udo, Pepetua Nwocha and Asisat Oshoala have won Africa woman footballer of the year ten times as against Rashidi Yekini, Emmanuel Amunieke, Victor Ikpeba and Nwankwo Kanu winning six times in the men version. Pepetua Nwocha won four times more than any Nigerian: 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2011.

Recently, women football has began to balance up interest. Data reveals that attendance averaged at 5000 in Samuel Ogbomudia Stadium Benin during 2017 NWFL Super Eight play off  last year and in this years 2018 Aiteo Cup, the Women has recorded more attendance than the men. Aiteo Cup women's games attendance averaging at 7000 while men's games attendance averaging at 5600.

The thing is, women football are more condusive for family attendance and  for blues entertainment devoid of such inordinate tensions arising from the quest to win at all cost seen in most men football games.

With some high profile events on the way over the next year: Fifa women World Cup in France June 2019 and the African women qualifiers going on, Sport marketers forum are saying that there could be a tangible shift of attention and gender balanced interest in women's football across Nigeria. So this is the right time for more brands to get involved?

I know there’s still a perception that the market is relatively immature or it’s one that brand managers don't know very well, so the sense of risk seems a little high.

The big thing we picked up on when we were sounding out our case to some brand managers at the forum was that there isn’t enough data to support the claims that women football in Nigeria is making about itself.

To help build the business case, GreenHunters Sports International is ready to partner with NWFL and it's clubs to highlight the value of womeit's Football in Nigeria based on data and go all out to convince brands to take Sponsorship like Aiteo. If you are interest contact us: +234(0)809 877 2556 or email: gh.sports1@gmail.com