Amosun: FG may write off bailout to states

Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, yesterday said the biting economic hardship across the country may force the Federal Government to write off the bailout to some states of the federation.

Amosun also declared that government at all levels needed to restructure their expenditure profile judging by the dwindling revenue occasioned by plummeting crude oil price.

He spoke at the Treasury Board Meeting for 2016 budget organised by the state Ministry of Budget and Planning in Abeokuta, where he hinted about austere budgeting for the next fiscal year in the state. Amosun spoke against the backdrop of Thursday’s resolution by governors of the 36 states of the federation to ask the Federal Government for more assistance.

According to him, the Federal Government is already considering writing off the bailout fund recently disbursed to some states as part of measures to assist them.

He explained that the current financial crisis in the country was so deep that many state governments have been incapacitated in paying minimum wage to workers.

Amosun said writing off the debt became imperative since more states are already clamouring for fresh bailout. He said several states were not economically viable and as such may not be able to cope with the conditions for repayment of the bailout fund. Flanked by the state Deputy Governor, Chief (Mrs.) Yetunde Onanuga, and Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Ms Adenrele Adesina, the governor charged civil and public officials to be prudent, especially in the execution of government projects.

He said ministries, departments and agencies must block leakages and widen the tax net to shore up the state’s revenue base in order to meet the electioneering campaign promises of the present administration.

Gudumbali

The Nigerian Army has said that the Commanding Officer (CO) of a battalion in Gudumbali, which came under fierce attack by Boko Haram elements within the week, was now with his troops. The disclosure was made in a statement by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations (DAPR), Col. Sani Usman.

The statement came against the backdrop of reports that over 100 soldiers, including the CO, were missing. However, Usman, in a late night statement on Thursday, said: “Troops operating in the northern Borno State towns of Gudumbali and Kareto had slight setback within the week.

However, the situation is being stabilised. The troops have rejoined their units for further action. “The earlier media reports were exaggerated. The CO is right now with his soldiers. It’s just a minor setback and such are common in military operations.”

Coalition to drag Obi to EFCC over N65.9bn excess crude the revenue

                             Peter Obi. 
A group, the Economic and Society Watch Coalition (ESWC) has announced its decision to drag the former governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to account for what he did with the N65.9 billion Excess Crude allocation that accrued to the state from 2011 to 2013.

Addressing a press conference in Awka at the weekend, the coalition’s President, Dr Kennedy Udoye said his group had compiled a documentary evidence of all the revenue that accrued to the state from the excess crude allocation shared by the Federal Government to all states of the federation during Obi’s last three years in office which the former governor placed in fixed deposit accounts in Fidelity Bank, Access Bank and Diamond Bank respectively for a period of three years.

He said the coalition had assembled a pile of irrefutable documents detailing the various “questionable” transactions carried out by the embattled former governor in the twilight of his administration. “We can categorically inform Anambra people that the N9 billion which former governor Obi left behind in cash to his successor is the total sum of all the interests he mopped up from the fixing of the N65.9 billion that accrued to Anambra State from the excess crude account in three years,” he declared.

The rights activist expressed regret that until his group began to ask questions, the usually active human rights community in the state had gone silent on what he described as a “grave financial heist” perpetrated by the Obi administration. “Why is everyone silent? Shouldn’t we all be asking Obi questions about what happened to the N65.9 billion excess crude allocation? Where is our sense of outrage?” he thundered.

“The ESWC can no longer stand with hands akimbo and watch Obi and his well-oiled media machinery pull the wool over our eyes. In the past one week, they have made audacious efforts to deflect attention from the alarm raised by one of the commissioners that served under his administration. But we shall not allow that to happen. We have concluded our petition to EFCC. Obi has a case to answer,” Udoye stated.

FG opposes Saraki’s fresh suit against CCT trial

The Federal Government has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss a fresh suit filed by Senate President Bukola Saraki seeking an order nullifying the proceedings and the charges of false assets declaration initiated against him before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). The Federal Government argued in its notice of preliminary objection filed through its counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit and that “it constitutes an abuse of court process.”

Jacobs also argued in the application which he filed yesterday that the suit failed to disclose a reasonable cause of action and that “the reliefs being sought by the applicant (Saraki) are not available under the law.” He also filed a separate counter-affidavit in opposition to the suit contending that the prosecution followed due process in filing the charges against Saraki and did not infringe on his right fair hearing.

The matter scheduled for hearing before Justice Abdukadir Abdu-Kafarati yesterday could not go on because some of the respondents to the suit had not been served with the court order directing them to appear before the court to show cause why the prayers sought by Saraki in his ex parte application should not be granted. Justice Abdu-Kafarati had on November 16 rejected an ex parte application filed on November 6 by Saraki’s lawyer, Mr. Ajibola Oluyide, asking for an interim injunction to stop the proceedings of the CCT pending the determination of his main fundamental rights enforcement suit.

Winners’ Chapel prepares for Shiloh 2015

The Living Faith Church Worldwide (aka Winners Chapel), has begun preparations for this year’s Shiloh, the annual gathering of members of the church all over the world. This year’s event, with the theme, “From glory to glory”, holds from Tuesday December 8 to Saturday December 12.

The event holds at the headquarters of the church, Canaanland, Ota, Ogun State, but will be broadcast live via satellite to viewing centres across the world. Already, the expansive headquarters is in Shiloh mood with various service groups in last minutes strategising for a grand Shiloh.

On its part, one of the service groups, Crowd Control Unit (CCU), last Sunday pasted its first set of pre-Shiloh sensitisation banners at strategic corners. The presiding Bishop, Dr. David Oyedepo, sensitising the congregation about Shiloh, said: “Shiloh is not a convention, a church anniversary or a conference; it is a divine appointment for our change of story, a place of conferment of dominion.”