Tension in Isara, as Governor Amosun’s Convoy knocks down four, Kills 2, others hospitalised
The ancient city of Isara was on Tuesday thrown into pandemonium as a convoy believed to be that of the Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun ram into a crowd of students and Okada riders who trooped out to boo him, killing a student of the Gateway Polytechnic, Saapade and an Okada rider simply identified as Aliu.
The students were said to have lined up the streets on sighting the convoy and believed the occupants was the Ogun State governor and his entourage.
Another Okada rider, simply identified as “Ajebo” was also said to have been seriously injured and is currently receiving great at the intensive care unit of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) in Sagamu.
According to eye witness report, the Governor was said to have visited Isara as part of his assessment tour of the state and was not so lucky when citizens of the ancient town trooped out in their numbers to boo him.
Meanwhile, other sources disclosed that the governor was not in any of the vehicles as at the time of the incident, claiming it was one of the elected Chairmen of the newly created Local Government Council Development Area (LCDA) in Ode Remo who was in a bus, while the Okada riders were providing escorts for him before the bus rammed into them, killing one of them and a student while others sustained severe injuries.
The bus reportedly sped off after the incident as the crowd which gathered was about the mob the occupants.
Barcelona has ended weeks of speculation by publicly confirming for the first time that their 25-year-old striker, Brazilian Neymars is leaving for Paris Saint Germain after four years at the Camp Nou .
“Neymar Jr, accompanied by his father and representative, communicated to FC Barcelona this morning his decision to leave the club,” Barca said in a statement.
“The club have informed them that the buyout clause in his contract, that from July 1 is 222 million euros, must be paid in full.”
It means the talented player could be presented as a player of the French top club as early as this weekend for a world record fee of 222 million euro. Paul Pogba of Manchester United last year was the record at $111million.
Wagner Ribeiro, an advisor to the player, claimed PSG would pay Barca, the money, an equivalent of $260 million in the “coming hours”.
Neymar has been tempted to Paris by an astronomical offer that would reportedly see his wages tripled to 30 million euros a year after tax.
However, on the field he also faces the challenge of stepping out of the shadow of five-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi to try and prove himself as the world’s best.
“It was a huge pleasure having shared all those years with you, my friend @neymarjr,” Messi posted on Instagram alongside a montage displaying some of the pair’s finest moments together.
“I wish you lots of luck in this new stage in your life. See you soon tkm,” he added. “Tkm” stands for “te quiero mucho” (I love you loads).
Neymar has also been given permission to stay away from training until the deal is complete after making a brief appearance at Barca’s training ground on Wednesday morning to say goodbye to his teammates.
Presuming both clubs don’t come to a late agreement, the buyout clause would have to be paid to Barcelona via Spain’s La Liga to free the player from the contract he signed last year and runs until 2021.
However, La Liga president Javier Tebas has threatened not to accept PSG’s money over what he perceives as a failure on the French side’s part to comply with UEFA’s financial fair play rules (FFP).
Clubs can be sanctioned by UEFA for making a loss of more than 30 million euros over a three-year period.
“We will not accept this money from a club like PSG,” Tebas told Madrid sports daily AS on Wednesday. “Especially when this club is infringing rules and laws.”
– Champions League dream –
Winning the Champions League for a first time is the dream driving PSG’s owners Oryx Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) to fund a deal that could herald the start of a new era at the elite level of European football.
Since QSI’s takeover in 2011, PSG have failed to make it beyond the quarter-final stage in recent seasons – most notably blowing a 4-0 first leg lead to lose 6-1 to a Neymar-inspired Barcelona in the last 16 of last season’s competition in March.
Prising Neymar from the grip of Barca would truly announce PSG’s presence as a contender for the likes of Barca, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich to fear.
Neymar has formed one of the deadliest strike partnerships in football history with Messi and Luis Suarez over the past three seasons.
Together they have won two La Liga titles, a Champions League and three Spanish Cups, whilst Neymar has scored 105 goals and provided 80 assists in just 186 games.
However, Neymar’s four-year spell in Spain has also been overshadowed by the murky transfer deal which brought him to Barcelona from Santos in 2013.
He and his parents as well as Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu face charges of fraud and corruption in an ongoing case brought by DIS, a Brazilian investment company.
DIS owned 40 percent of the players’ rights at the time of the deal and believe they were deliberately cheated out of their real share due to the complex structure of the transfer.
Court Declares All Akwa Ibom Local Government Chairpersons Illegal
Udom Emmanuel
A court in Akwa Ibom State has declared as illegal, the local government caretaker committees in the state.
The 31 local governments in the state have been run for about two years now by chairpersons handpicked by the state governor, Udom Emmanuel.
A State High Court at the Abak Judicial Division presided by Justice Ezekiel Enang declared on Tuesday that the setting up of the caretaker committees was unlawful because there were no provisions for such within the Nigerian Constitution.
The court accordingly ordered Governor Emmanuel to dissolve the caretaker committees immediately.
A lawyer, Nsikak Akai of the Nsikak Akai and Associates, Abak, who filed the suit against the Akwa Ibom State government and Mr. Emmanuel, told PREMIUM TIMES that he checked through the Nigerian constitution but could not find any provisions that empower the governor to set up caretaker committees to run the local governments in the state.
Mr. Akai said he was happy for the judgment, describing it as a victory for democracy and the people of the state.
“For once, Akwa Ibom people can hold their governor to account subsequently whenever a governor intends to or even contemplate appointing caretaker committees in the state,” he said.
“The grievance we had was that the persons that were being appointed as caretakers were only answerable to their benefactors who see them as stooges, while the people bear the brunt.
Neymar’s potential world record move to Paris Saint-Germain moved a step closer on Wednesday as the Brazilian informed his Barcelona teammates he is leaving the club, a Barca spokesperson told AFP.
“The player came to train as scheduled and announced to his teammates that he is leaving,” said the source.
“The coach has given him permission to not train and to manage resolving his future.”
Speculation over the 25-year-old’s future has dominated the first few weeks of new Barca boss Ernesto Valverde’s reign with PSG reportedly willing to pay Neymar’s 222 million euro ($260 million) buyout clause.
Such a fee would smash the current record £89.3 million ($111 million, 105.2 million euros) Manchester United paid for Paul Pogba last year.
Neymar arrived back in Barcelona on Tuesday from a fleeting promotional tour to China after playing in all three of Barca’s glamour pre-season fixtures in the United States against Juventus, Manchester United and Real Madrid.
He arrived for training at 9am local time (0700GMT), but left left less than an hour later.
Presuming both clubs don’t come to a late agreement, the buyout clause would have to be paid to Barcelona via Spain’s La Liga to free the player from the contract he signed last year and runs until 2021.
However, La Liga president Javier Tebas has threatened not to accept PSG’s money over what he perceives as a failure on the French side’s part to comply with UEFA’s financial fair play rules (FFP).
“We will not accept this money from a club like PSG,” Tebas told Madrid sports daily AS on Wednesday.
“Especially when this club is infringing rules and laws.”
Barcelona have also threatened to report PSG to UEFA over any potential breach of FFP.
Clubs can be sanctioned by UEFA for making a loss of more than 30 million euros over a three-year period.
PSG have already been fined and saw their Champions League squad limited by UEFA for breaches of FFP in 2014.
Tunde Ayeni Alleged to Have Wrecked Skye Bank,Scampers to Protect $200m Foreign Investment to Pay off Debts
The management of Skye Bank Plc has written to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo detailing how Tunde Ayeni, chairman of the bank between 2010 and 2016, allegedly used his position to take huge loans from the bank.
But TheCable understands that Ayeni has started repaying the loans — insiders said he paid $10 million to Skye Bank last week and also pays $4.5 million quarterly towards for the facilities he took for the Ibadan and Yola DisCos in line with the restructuring agreement with the consortium of lenders.
Ayeni is also on the verge of securing a $200 million foreign investment, part of which is meant to pay off Ntel’s indebtedness to banks.
TheCable further understands that Ayeni and the management of Skye Bank have lately been holding meetings to resolve the issues raised in the letter to Osinbajo.
In a series of letters and documents seen by TheCable, the management alleged that Ayeni paid for the public companies he bought with loans from the bank.
After sending several warnings, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had taken over Skye Bank on July 4, 2016.
Godwin Emefiele, governor of CBN, said then that the action followed the failure of the lender to meet the regulator’s minimum key liquidity and capital adequacy ratios.
Ayeni had resigned after the development and CBN announced the appointment of Muhammad Ahmad as the new chairman, while Adetokunbo Abiru took over from Timothy Oguntayo as group managing director (GMD).
“Upon the assumption of duty by the new board, one of the immediate concerns that needed to be addressed was to ascertain the true state of the affairs and financial position of the bank and the credibility of the IT and information systems of the bank,” the letter, by Abiru and Ahmad, read.
“To this end, the following were undertaken: engagement of PWC do to half-year audit as of June 30, 2016. This was later extended to cover the full year to December 31, 2016.
“Engagement of KPMG to do a forensic audit of the bank’s IT platform and management information systems.
“The forensic audit revealed that the bank operated two sets of financial accountability/books and this was responsive for the regulators/auditors inability to detect the massive losses and infractions, particularly the balance of N280bn in suspense accounts.
“The bank’s total exposure to Ayeni as of the date is about N70bn. It is clear that he used his position as the chairman of the bank to obtain inside loans well above the regulatory thresholds for the acquisition of the following government enterprises: Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, Yola Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company and Nitel/Mtel. All the facilities are presently seriously challenged.
“As of today, Ayeni’s total industry indebtedness, covering both Nitel and the Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) is estimated at about N150bn, and little, if any, of these obligations, are being doubtful that he will ever be in a position to service these loans satisfactorily.”
The letter also said another N33 billion was traced to Ayeni, saying there was suspicion that that out of this amount, N7 billion was spent on the re-election campaign of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The management also indicted Akinsola Akinfewa, Kehinde Durosinmi-Etti and Oguntayo, all former GMDs of the bank.
Other individuals listed in the petition for various acts of infraction are Femi Otedola, chairman Forte Oil Plc, Festus Fadeyi and Jide Omokore.
Ayeni could not be reached for comments as he failed to respond to a text message TheCable sent to his telephone.
The Federal Government has said it relies heavily on the Dangote refinery to fulfil its promise to Nigerians to end fuel importation by December 2019.
To this end, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, who visited the Dangote oil Refinery site at Lekki free trade Zone, in Lagos said the government is ready to play its part as a responsible government to assist in making sure the project is completed before the scheduled date.
The minister who said he was overwhelmed by the dimension of the project explained that the present government had always believed that the private sector holds the ace in industrialization efforts of the government, noted that that belief has been reinforced by what the Dangote Group is doing.
Said he: It is good to say that private sector is the answer to Nigerian’s problems with a project as big as this. The challenge I will give you today is that of time, I see your time for completion is 2019 December but I am sure you will understand my greed if I tell you that the refinery component of this project should come earlier than the set date.
“I have made very firm commitment to Nigerians that I must stop the importation of petroleum products by 2019 and I am going to keep to it. It is absolutely important that we do this early and given the feat that we have achieved in terms of speed of construction and I urge you to do all within you to achieve its completion before the due date.
“I am sure His Excellency President Buhari will be absolutely enthused if he were to find himself, not only crystalizing the policy position we have taken so far but also coming here himself to come and open a facility as big as this before the end of his first term. Whatever configurations your engineers have come up with, I urge that they go back to the drawing board and get me my refined products before your said date.”
In his response to the government’s challenge, Dangote said he has accepted the challenge and would do all possible to achieve the feat.
In this regard the President of Dangote Group, stated: on the honourable minister’s challenge, we are going to make it by the grace of God. I am sure the minister will support us to make sure that we meet his challenge.
“What the minister is trying to do is the best so far for our country, his own version is that Nigeria should not think of exporting crude, you know the problem we have in Africa is that we only export raw materials, not finished goods, so he is saying that, look, we should all do this by adding value and I pray that even at 2.5million barrels, we should not export much, in terms of the crude.
“We will go back and see what to do to make this happen by fast tracking our processes since the Minister has assured of government’s cooperation and support”
Earlier in his welcome address, Dangote explained that his group is building the world’s largest single line Refinery, Petrochemical Complex and the world’s second largest Urea Fertiliser plant. The Refinery, according to him will have the capacity to refine 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The Petrochemical Plant will produce 780 KTPA Polypropylene, 500 KTPA of Polyethylene while the Fertiliser project will produce 3.0 million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa) of Urea.
“In addition, we are also building the largest sub-sea pipeline infrastructure in any country in the world, with a length of 1,100km, to handle 3 billion SCF of gas per day. We also plan to construct a 570 MW power plant in this complex. As a matter of fact, gas from our gas pipeline will augment the natural domestic gas supply and we estimate an additional 12,000MW of power generation can be added to the grid with the additional gas from our system.
“We will be adding value to our economy as all these projects will be creating about 4,000 direct and 145,000 indirect jobs. We will also save over $7.5billion for Nigeria annually, through import substitution and generate an additional $5.5billion per annum through exports of the refined petroleum products, fertilizer and petro chemicals. We envisage that these projects, which would cost over $18billion, would be completed in 2019.
LANDOVER, MD – JULY 26: Neymar #11 of Barcelona looks on against Manchester United in the first half during the International Champions Cup match at FedExField on July 26, 2017 in Landover, Maryland. Patrick Smith/Getty Images/AFP
The Brazilian football star, who is due to come back for training on Wednesday morning, is at the centre of an apparent tug of war between the two European giants in what would be the most expensive transfer fee in football history.
Speculation is mounting that the 25-year-old could quit Barcelona for PSG for a world-record 222 million euros.
“These 26 million euros have been placed with a notary pending to see if the player continues,” the source, who refused to be named, told AFP.
The renewal bonus was agreed on a year ago when Neymar extended his contract with Barcelona until 2021, and was due to be paid to the player after he completed a year.
But the club has decided to put it on hold pending to see how the situation evolves.
The contract Neymar signed also increased an early termination clause from 200 to 222 million euros, which PSG is reportedly willing to pay.
Neymar’s future is the talk of Spanish football, and particularly Barcelona supporters.
After a successful pre-season tour in the United States that saw Barcelona win against Juventus, Manchester United and Real Madrid, the footballer flew to China for a promotion trip.
But he studiously avoided commenting on the situation.
On Wednesday, Barcelona players resume training after their summer break, with a double session in the morning and in the afternoon.
Neymar has been called to the training, the club source said, although Spanish sports media doubt he will show up.
Senator Shehu Sani has appealed to the national leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to rescue the party from destruction in Kaduna state.
The Kaduna Central APC senator told journalists on Monday in Abuja, after a closed-door meeting with National Chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, that the party needed to be rescued in his state.
Sani was in company of some APC members in Kaduna, including Sen. Suleiman Hunkuyi (Kaduna North) to the meeting with the national chairman.
He condemned Saturday’s local government elections in the state, saying that it did not hold.
Sani alleged that the delegates list for the election was doctored and did not follow due process.
´´They sat down in the palace of their gods to write names and sent it down here for us to accept; that can never happen,´´ he said.
He said that such practice contributed to the problems of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and warned that the APC could go the same way if its leadership failed to address the problem.
´´This was the seed of the destruction of the PDP, where individuals considered themselves as gods and any other person a slave; that will never happen in Kaduna state.
´´We are here to present our case and to appeal to the instrument of leadership of this party to intervene in the Kaduna issue before it becomes too late.
´´We are here to also state it to the party´s national leadership that we are under siege in Kaduna
´´The use of thugs and violence by agents and close associates of the state government is one thing we cannot tolerate,´´ Sani said.
He decried the recent raiding of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretariat in Kaduna by thugs during a press briefing after the councils’ election, during which journalists were injured.
He said that such was the trait of the APC, and urged its leadership to should set up an investigation panel to bring the perpetrators of the disturbances.
The lawmaker alleged that the thugs were acting in concert with the police in the state.
´´If we continue on this part, where one person feels he is a god, I think we are simply repeating the very problem that destroyed the party we ejected out of power,´´ he said.
He maintained that there was a need for APC to provide the vehicle for real change for the country to change and tasked members to change the manner they played politics.
Sani stressed that those who resolved to the use of violence or thugs to liquidate perceived political opponent were on the wrong side of history.
He said that members of his faction of the party in the state were not agents of violence but were loyal and peaceful.
He insisted that if the APC must win the 2019 election, it must apart from fulfilling its campaign promises, set an example for discipline, comradeship and a sense of belonging to all members.
Sani said that what was happening in the party´s leadership in the state was unbecoming and should be addressed before it became late.
He appealed to those in authority to ´´know that the God that brought the APC to power was still alive and will always listen to the cries of the oppressed and marginalised.
´´ We are here in the spirit of that, and we hope that we will get the cooperation of the national party´s leadership to come to the rescue of the party in Kaduna before it is too late,´´ he said. NAN
The natural drummer and actor with a wide range of performances and acting prowess has an unending passion for the big screen and no wonder she has raised the ante with her personal project- OSUNFUNKE, presently a new movie like no other starring; Ricardo Agbor, Baba Wande, Doris Simeon, Yemi Shodimu, Peju Ogunmola, Ijesha, Femi Jacobs, Olamide Badoo, her humble self, Ara Olamuyiwa and directed by Dj Tee.
The logline disclosed that the movie tells the live of a lady from a royal family, the Adegbites who are the Arugba (Calabash Carrier) during the Osun Osogbo Festival and along the line during her days in school a terrible thing happened and right of being an Arugba was stripped of her. She met a guy after her NYSC who was one of the reasons she lost her position as an Arugba. The heat of attraction, betrayal, trust and a lonely window of deceit intersects as she struggles to deal with her festered past that consumes her present aspirations for so long.
Information has it that Ara is optimistic and of the opinion that Osogbo in Osun State has the best tourist attractions in the whole South-West of Nigeria, and exploring good ambience and serene environment created for the state by Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola was one of the things that inspired the shooting of Osunfunke in Osogbo, Osun State.
Findings revealed that Ara is a perfectionist who possesses a solid work ethic and she is committed to achieving the highest standard of performance and always willing to listen and learn from others which are crystal clear from total package of her movie-Osunfunke set to be screened for notable celebrities, entertainer, media gurus, associates, fans and well-wishers from all facet of our society.
According to Ara, who enjoys cooking, helping the needy, promoting culture, travelling and watching TV, she divulged that every good movie lovers that has passion for tourism and culture deserve to be at the VIP screening for OSUNFUNKE.
Ara, the actress cum producer is so happy about her hottest work and would like to use the opportunity to thank Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the executive governor of Osun, State, the tourism board and those that made it possible for her dream to come true with the production of Osunfunke.
Her being energetic and preparedness to go the extra mile to make a difference to any project she is involved in is an exemplary result of the masterpiece produced by her relentless efforts to make OSUNFUNKE a reality.
The much talked about VIP screening for the movie, OSUNFUNKE is billed to take place the month of September 2017 in Osogbo, Osun State.
Staff at the Bank of England began a three-day strike Tuesday, the first at Britain’s central bank in more than 50 years, as part of a dispute over pay.
Demonstrators hold placards depicting an image of Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, as they protest during a strike against pay, outside the Bank of England in the City of London on August 1, 2017. Staff at the Bank of England began a three-day strike Tuesday, the first at Britain’s central bank in more than 50 years, as part of a dispute over pay. / AFP PHOTO / Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS
Union official Peter Kavanagh urged the governor of the bank to personally intervene in the dispute, threatening to escalate the industrial action if there was no breakthrough.
“Mark Carney should come to the picket lines outside this iconic British bank today and explain why hardworking men and women deserve to face years of pay cuts,” Kavanagh said.
“They are struggling to pay their bills and feed their families because the bank has unjustly imposed a below inflation or zero pay rise.
“Unite is calling on the Bank of England to come back to the negotiating table to discuss a fair pay deal for the employees.”
Around 150 people work in the three affected departments, a union spokeswoman said, although she was unable to say how many people were on strike on Tuesday.
A spokesman for the Bank of England said it has “plans in place so that all essential business will continue to operate as normal during this period”.
He said the bank was willing to talk at any time, adding that only around two percent of the workforce had been balloted for the strike.
