Monday, January 4, 2016

Petition in Favour Of President Buhari Gathers Over 5000 Signatures in 24hours

Buhari seems to be getting the needed support on social media as his teaming supporters have risen to his aid with an online petition to encourage his administration.
Muhammadu Buhari
 
Petition written by supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari intends to counter a similar one circulating online calling for his resignation or impeachment for violating court orders, has gathered approximately 5,434 signatures in less than 24hours as of the time of publication against 2,232 signatures gathered by the petition against him in 4days, according to SaharaReporters.

The petition in support of President Buhari, started on iPetitions by Audu Bukarti, states that “some political prostitutes and their clients have started an online petition calling on PMB to resign his office for their allegation that the president shown total lack of respect to Court Order when refused to release two high profile accused persons, Colonel Sambo Dasuki and the Biafran separatist leader, Nnamdi Kanu.”

At the time of this publication the petition in support of President Buhari, which started on January 3rd 2016, has 5,434 signatures.

A December 31st petition written by Carol Ajie on Change.org, which calls for President Buhari’s resignation, has received approximately 2,224 supporters at the time of this publication.
 
The petition argues that President Buhari has violated his oath of office because he has not discharged his duties faithfully and in accordance with the Constitution.

See How Celebrities Reacted to Don Jazzy & Olamide's Reconciliation

After the controversy generated by the fracas between Olamide and Don Jazzy because of the Headies 2015 Next Rated Award, see how celebrities reacted to the feud.
Don Jazzy and Olamide have settled as they shared this photo
 
Some celebrities have reacted to the Don Jazzy and Olamide dispute which has ended in a reconciliation as the two celebrities apologised to their fans over the incident. In fact, they both took a photo to show that all is now well. 
 
Celebrities who reacted to the fiasco said it is high time fans stopped taking sides when their is a feud as it only worsens the situation. 
 
Manager of superstars P-Square and Cynthia Morgan, Jude Okoye had this to say: “Now that’s maturity right here. Love you guys for this. @donjazzy @baddosneh this act of reconciliation will bring forth more blessings to both parties this 2016. BLESS 🙏”
 
 
Rapper IllBliss reacted this way: “God knows we love and respect the impact Jazzy and Badoo have brought to the game. we need Unity. we have Unity Now.”
 

Former President, Goodluck Jonathan's Campaign Rice Stirs Up Controversy in Edo...See Shocking Details

The members of the APC and PDP in Edo state are currently trading words over bags of rice shared among voters by the former president during the election campaign period.
 
All Progressives Congress, APC, in Edo State has described as laughable, the defence by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state that none of its governorship aspirants diverted rice meant for the state by the campaign organisation of former President Goodluck Jonathan, reports Vanguard.

The party threatened to take evidence of the rice which indicated how the sticker of the aspirant was super-imposed on the sack of the 2KG rice while under it was the map of Nigeria with the inscription “Feed Nigeria Campaign 2015”, to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Presidency for probe.

Some leaders of the PDP, led by Okharedia Ihimekpen, had raised alarm last week, alleging that the governorship aspirant seized the rice meant for PDP members during Jonathan’s presidential campaign and shared it to his supporters this Christmas.

They urged the EFCC and the Presidency to probe the matter, adding that it was the same way that funds meant for the Jonathan’s election were siphoned in the state. But the state PDP, through Mr Chris Nehikhare, described the allegation as untrue, insisting that none of its governorship aspirants diverted rice meant for Jonathan’s campaign in the state.

However, the APC in the state through its state Publicity Secretary, Godwin Erhahon, who displayed the rice to journalists, said the PDP members who were allegedly denied the rice brought the rice to him.

Displaying the rice to journalists, Erhahon said, “You can see that originally, what was written on the sack was Feed Nigeria Campaign 2015. But the aspirant super-imposed his campaign sticker on it. Can somebody who is running for governorship write ‘Feed Nigeria Campaign’ in the rice he wants to share to his supporters? No. Rather, it should have been feed Edo State.”

Bayelsa Elections: Dickson Accused of Bribing Bayelsa REC N200m to Favour Election.

The Governor of Bayelsa state is in another web of controversy after a supervisory presiding officer with the Independent National Electoral Commission, accused him of giving N200million to an INEC Official.
Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa state
 
An Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) official and Supervisory Presiding Officer (SPO), Mr. Francis Asmakia Ted, has accused the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Bayelsa State, Mr. Baritor Kpagih, of collecting N200 million bribe from Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, The Nation reports.
 
The SPO said: “The heavy financial inducement was behind the fact that even though Ekeremor, Nembe, Ogbia local government areas of Bayelsa State were marred with serious violence and irregularities, Kpagih overlooked all those and rather targeted Southern Ijaw Local Government Area and unilaterally declared the results inconclusive all in a bid to justify the huge sum of money he collected from Dickson to ensure that he emerges victorious in the polls.”
 
According to the report, the accusation is contained in an affidavit of facts deposed to at the Federal High Court to support a petition to the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu. Ted alleged that Dickson offered the REC N1 billion bribe to tilt the December 5 polls in Bayelsa State in favour of the governor, stressing that the N200 million cash bribe was the initial payment.
 
In the petition to the INEC chairman dated December 22, 2015, Ted pointed out that in a recent newspaper publication, Kpaigh himself confessed in an interview that he was offered money to rig the election in favour of a particular candidate.
 
“I wish to state that the candidate in question is Hon. Seriake Dickson, the incumbent governor of Bayelsa State. Contrary to The Guardian publication, Kpaigh collected money from Governor Dickson,” the SPO stated.
 
Ted in the affidavit affirmed that he served as SPO in the Bayelsa State gubernatorial election and that he had been a close friend of Kpagih, who personally recruited and appointed him for the INEC job “with a firm and specific instruction to report directly to him with a mandate to gather all relevant information and raise intelligence reports across the state to assist him in his duties, which I carried our diligently.
 
Ted added in his affidavit: “I got close to Mr. Baritor Kpagih, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), INEC, Bayelsa State, and sequel to the close interaction and personal relationship that ensued between us; I am very conversant with the facts deposed herein.”
 
“That based on my vast knowledge of the operation of the electoral commission in the three senatorial districts of the state, the said Mr. Baritor Kpagih, Bayelsa State Residential Electoral Commissioner, INEC, also frequently sought advice from me on issues regarding the operations of the electoral commission in Bayelsa State even before I was appointed as an SPO in the recent governorship election in Bayelsa State.
 
“That Mr. Baritor Kpagih informed me in his office and I verily believe him as follows:
 
“That he was summoned by the Governor of Bayelsa State, Hon Seriake Dickson, to the Government House, Creek Haven, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, for a meeting which he attended.
 
“That the agenda for the said meeting was strictly on areas of possible assistance INEC can render through the office of the Resident Electoral Commissioner to Governor Seriake Dickson to emerge victorious and be re-elected in the forthcoming governorship election in Bayelsa State.
 
“That one Barrister Talford Ongolo who according to him is the Chief of Staff to Governor Seriake Dickson was also present at the said meeting.
 
“That he told the Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson, in the course of that meeting that due to the nature of his request and its possible implications, he (The Resident Electoral Commissioner), is ready to work in that direction towards his victory and would also go back to the commission and consult with his close confidant on the best way that can be achieved and revert back to the governor later.
 
“That Governor Seriake Dickson offered him a total sum of One Billion Naira (N1 Billion) for him and his men to facilitate the governor’s victory at the polls for which a whooping sum of N200,000,000.00 only, shall be released cash in the first instance as advance for performing the role.”
 
Ted further stated that when he was informed of the outcome of the said meeting and his favourable disposition towards carrying out the “electoral fraud” towards ensuring victory for Governor Seriake Dickson in the said election, he took steps to ensure that he dropped the idea of going on with the said process as same was not in line with the lofty ideals of INEC as an electoral umpire in recent years.
 
He added: “Surprisingly, very late at night on Saturday December 5, 2015 at the INEC office, Yenagoa, I overheard Mr. Baritor Kpagih instructing two men who are not staff of INEC to drive their vehicle and follow the governor’s representative in one other tinted vehicle to a comfortable zone where they can transfer funds meant for him into that vehicle.
 
“That I became curious and went out of the office and saw the two men enter a Toyota Camry, 2007 model car and drove behind a tinted black jeep; not quite ten minutes thereafter, I suddenly saw the Toyota Camry car with the two men inside return to the office.
 
“That I saw the two men transferring three bags (Ghana must go bags) which I know where loaded with money into Mr. Baritor Kpagih’s car and went straight to his office.

“That Mr. Baritor Kpagih came out of his office and walked towards his car; I followed him immediately at close range and watched the whole scenario and when I saw him open his car boot, I surfaced and saw them counting the money with the Resident Electoral Commissioner   confirming   the money to be N200,000,00.
 
“That I know for a fact from his statement that it was Governor Seriake Dickson that brought the said N200 million as part payment of their earlier conceived plan to fraudulently manipulate the electoral process to ensure the re-election bid of Governor Seriake Dickson.”
 
The INEC SPO said he had to open up “as a patriotic Bayelsan, committed to free, fair and credible election in the quest for improved well being of the people of Bayelsa State.”
 
But a swift reaction, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has condemned allegation, saying it was vague, unsubstantiated, unfounded and malicious. In a statement signed by the IYC Central Zonal Chairman, Mr. Bobolaiyefa Owopelei, the body also dismissed the allegation as a figment of the imagination of the enemies of democracy and the Ijaw nation.
 
The IYC also described the allegation as a naked falsehood by the APC to blackmail and discredit the INEC, having failed in their bid to compromise the REC.
 
While describing Kpagir as a man of integrity, the group said the APC was bent on destroying the REC for refusing to be bribed.
 
While describing the Bayelsa APC and its agents as serial liars, the IYC said the latest allegation levelled against the governor was consistent with the antics of the APC which would stop at nothing to use the name of President Muhammadu Buhari to redeploy INEC officials in the state and replace them with those that will compromise the electoral process on January 9 in the rescheduled election in Southern Ijaw.
 
The IYC wondered why Dickson who has always had a lead over Sylva would compromise a REC who has no power to influence the outcome of the election. The umbrella organisation for the Ijaw youths reasoned that only the people on whose shoulders sovereignty rests can decide who the next governor would be and not the REC.
 
According to the IYC, since the governor has won six local government areas out of the seven where the elections held, the election has already been won by the PDP and Dickson, adding that the outcome of the elections in Southern Ijaw will not alter Governor Dickson’s victory, it will only consolidate it. The group called on Dickson not to be distracted, describing him as a man of integrity who cannot condescend to the level of bribing anybody. 

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

The Rise of Nigerian Striker, Odion Ighalo from Ajegunle Ghetto to the English Premier League



Nigerian striker, Odion Ighalo is currently making waves in the English Premier league with an impressive record of 12 goals with a recent brace against Liverpool football club.
Odion Ighalo
 
As a boy, Odion Ighalo and his Olodi Warriors team-mates would hit the deck when they heard gun fire during training, according to Dailymail.

The bullets didn’t know the difference between the young footballers and the drug dealers selling their narcotics on a corner of the pitch, who the police were targeting. Growing up in the Ajegunle ghetto, at the heart of Nigerian city Lagos, life can be like that.

Watford’s in-form striker Ighalo, a devout Christian, thanks God at every opportunity. It is understandable when you consider the miracle of his journey. The pitch where he would train and play matches as a child is called the ‘Maracana’ by locals. The field in the Tolu area of the community is one of the most popular places in Ajegunle.

Taribo West, formerly of Inter and AC Milan, and Emmanuel Amunike, who played for Barcelona, graced it in their days. At the nearby Navy Playground, beside Boundary market, Nwankwo Kanu and Finidi George have been spotted playing in the past.

Ajegunle has become known as the place that turns filth into gold. Many of the streets are littered with garbage, piled so high in some areas it reaches rooftops. Some houses are even built on top of great mounds. But out of its depths have emerged footballers who would go on to make waves in Europe. Ighalo is the latest.

His mother, Martina, worked day and night selling water and soft drinks to save up for his first pair of boots. He chose a pair of adidas Copa Mundials, displaying a touch of class, even back then, which he has carried into the Premier League this season.

His father, Paul, wanted him to go to school and study, so his parents would argue. Ighalo, one of six siblings living with intermittent electricity and poor water, just wanted to play football.

He would kick tin cans or plastic bottles barefoot around the Ajegunle streets. They were not hard to find. The Premier League is hugely popular in Nigeria and he loved watching Dwight Yorke back then and is a Manchester United supporter.

Ighalo sends a chunk of his wages back to family in Nigeria and charities who help kids, schools and widows.

He plans to open up an orphanage there next year. His charitable spending must be considerable: in an age when many players are millionaires by their early 20s, at 26 and having played in La Liga and Serie A he confesses not to be one.

In his teens, he played for Prime and Julius Berger — renamed as Bridge FC — in Nigeria where he was picked up by agent Marcelo Houseman who secured him a move to Lyn in Norway.

There, he was astonished to discover snow for the first time. While some of his fellow countrymen could not tolerate the cold and moved back home, Ighalo was intent on succeeding to keep out of the strife he had left behind.

Then, at 19, he got a big move to Udinese — where Alexis Sanchez was a team-mate — and became part of the Pozzo family. Loans to Pozzo-owned Granada, who he helped to promotion to the Spanish top flight, preceded a loan then permanent transfer to Pozzo-owned Watford.

His goals helped Watford to promotion from the Championship last season — 20 in the league, narrowly behind strike partner Troy Deeney on 21. This season, he has taken over. Deeney has been content playing the foil while Ighalo has scored 12 Premier League goals.

The pair share a friendly relationship. Their children attend the same school and Ighalo, with his proficiency in other languages from his travels, sometimes acts as translator when captain Deeney can’t communicate with one of their players.

But goalscoring has been Ighalo’s primary function. His 28 league strikes in 2015 are greater than anyone in English football’s top four divisions. In the top five European leagues, they put him just behind Cristiano Ronaldo (35), Lionel Messi (33), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (29) and alongside Luis Suarez in joint-fourth.

Despite this, his Watford future was uncertain in the summer. Hebei China Fortune offered £10million for him and big wages, but he turned them down.

It was unsure if he fitted into Quique Sanchez Flores’s plans, but Ighalo did what has been ingrained in him since he was a child, ducking for cover.

He got his head down, kept on believing better was to come and proved his worth.

Popular Nollywood Actor, Femi Branch Charged to Court for Issuing Dud Cheque

It seems to be a trying time for prolific Nigerian actor, Femi Branch who shuttles between the English and Yoruba movies as he faces prosecution in court.
Femi Branch
 
Popular Nollywoood Actor and producer Femi Branch was recently charged to Ikeja Magistrate court for issuing a dud cheque of 1.5 Million Naira to De Santo hotel in Ikeja Lagos.

According to a source involved in the matter, the popular Yoruba actor issued the dud cheque to the hotel after staying in the hotel facility for months.

The management of De Santo hotel lodged a complaint with the police , Femi was arrested and promptly charged to Ikeja magistrate court on November 20 where he was granted bail on self recognition and the bail amount was 500,000 Naira.

The court also ruled that the accused should be remanded in Kirikiri prison pending when he fulfills his bail condition

The source also said that it took some weeks before Femi could fulfill his bail condition, just in time for the Best of Nollywood award that took place in Ondo state where Femi was one of the comperes of the event.

The court also adjourned the trial of the accused to January 6 2016.
 
See copy of the charges against the actor:
 

Money Talking! Five Star Music CEO E-Money Buys 2015 Mercedes Benz Sprinter...See Photos

The Chief Executive Officer of Five Star Music Records, Emeka Okonkwo, popularly called E-Money has bought the 2015 Mercedes Benz Sprinter.
KCee and brother, E-Money
 
The luxury SUV recently acquired by the Five Star Music Boss, Emeka Okonkwo, is said to cost about N30million.
 
See photos below...
 
2015 Mercedes Benz Sprinter