Corruption: Buhari Goes Tough on Public Officers, Insists on Mandatory Asset Declaration

President Muhammadu Buhari has taken the anti-corruption war to the public sector as he goes after public office holders who refuse to declare their assets.

President Muhammadu Buhari

 

There are strong indications that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has directed all Federal Government ministries, departments and agencies to ensure that their members of staff comply with the law on asset declaration, Punch reports.

 

According to information gathered, Buhari has made it clear through a presidential directive that all public office holders must declare their assets. It is believed this new measure will go a long way in tackling the issue of corruption in government.

 

Findings showed that the order must have informed the directive by the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Customs Service that their officers should declare their assets.

 

A senior government official has revealed that the government would not only ensure that public office holders declared their assets, but also made it clear that anti-graft agencies would monitor their incomes and the wealth they had acquired.

 

He added that the law on asset declaration does not only apply to politicians holding public offices, but also civil servants.

 

The source said, “The government has directed that all public officers must declare their assets. Some people wrongly believe that asset declaration only applies to politicians. Civil servants are also required to declare their assets; that is what the law says. But the law does not require them to make public assets they have declared.

“There are many civil servants with many mansions in Abuja. Anti-graft agencies will now be matching their incomes with their wealth.”

 

Taking the lead in the process, the Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Kukasheka, had, in a statement on Thursday, said that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt- Gen. Tukur Buratai, had directed all officers of the Nigerian Army to declare their assets.

 

He added that Buratai had declared his assets on his appointment as Commander, Multinational Joint Task Force in May 2015 and when he was appointed as Chief of Army Staff in July 2015.

 

Kukasheka had said, “This directive is in order, considering the fact that all military officers are having Presidential Commission and are public servants, as well as subject to both civil and military laws. In addition, given the current drive of the country for probity and accountability, the Nigerian Army should not only key in but should be one of the key drivers for such a laudable project.”

However, the Chairman, Code of Conduct Bureau, Mr. Sam Saba has revealed that some of the military personnel have refused to declare their assets.

 

He had stated, “Some of the military personnel declare but most of them are not declaring (theirs). They used to declare (their assets) in the early 90s but somehow, they just stopped. Only some of them who are service chiefs declare, but the remaining ones do not fill the forms.”

 

The Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (retd.), had on January 15, directed all officers of the service to declare their assets within two weeks. The Nigeria Immigration Service on its part, had on Thursday, said that its personnel had taken asset declaration seriously.

 

The NIS Public Relations Officer, Ekpedeme King, has said all its officers will comply with the directive.

 

He said, “We don’t need to issue fresh directives to our personnel to declare their assets because they have been doing that periodically. This is in line with the Code of Conduct for public officials and it is compulsory for all revenue generating agencies of the government.”

 

It has been revealed that the Nigeria Police Force has yet to respond to inquiries about asset declaration by its personnel, a code of conduct requirement for public officials.

 

According to Punch, the authorities of the military and the Nigeria Customs Service had directed their personnel to declare their assets as part of efforts to sanitise the polity and as required by law. But, the Nigerian Police seems not to care.

N13bn Land Fraud: Bayelsa APC Elders Advises Tompolo on EFCC Case

The Bayelsa state chapter of the All Progressives Congress has advised Niger Delta militant leader, Mr. Government Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo on what to do concerning the N13bn Land Fraud case.

Niger Delta militant leader, Mr. Government Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo

 

Elders in Bayelsa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress have added their voice to the ongoing controversy between the Niger Delta militant leader, Mr. Government Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as they've advised him to  surrender himself for questioning by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over N13bn fraud.

 

According to Punch, they also demanded an apology from the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Timi Frank, over his comments against the party leadership in the State “in his own interest.”

 

It would be recalled that Justice Ibrahim Buba of a Federal High Court in Abuja had granted an order compelling Tompolo to answer an amended 40 counts of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering levelled against him and a former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Patrick Akpobolokemi.

 

However, Tompolo in a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, accused the candidate of the APC in the Bayelsa State governorship election, Timipre Sylva, of trying to link him to the renewed vandalism of oil facilities in the Niger Delta region,  saying he (Sylva) was the one responsible.

 

But a member of the Bayelsa APC Elders, Chief Arerebo Bodi, at a reception organised in his honour on Saturday in Abuja, said it was important for Tompolo to honour the request of the EFCC, rather than blame Sylva and other APC leaders in the State.

How I Was S*xually Abused Multiple Times as a Child - R.Kelly Models the Big Boss Image for GQ

In yet another explosive and revealing chat, America's R&B king, R.Kelly has given an insight oh how he grew up without his father and faced sexual abuse multiple times from family friends.

 

American recording artist, songwriter and former professional basketball player, Robert Sylvester Kelly, known professionally as R. Kelly, has opened up in a revealing interview with GQ magazine. The 49-year old who just released an album, "The Buffet," talked about being sexually abused as a child by both a man and woman.

 

The Chicago-born singer faced many challenges as he grew up without a father who was gone before Kelly was born, and his mother wouldn't talk about him. Kelly had a deep, close relationship with his mother, but he says even she never knew everything that was going on in her young son's turbulent life. 

 

He says that until he mentioned it in his 2012 memoir, "Soulacoaster," he had never told anyone at all about the sexual abuse that he experienced. In the book, he describes a number of premature sexual experiences, including an approach by a trusted family friend, a man, who he says tried to persuade Kelly to masturbate him for money, which he rebuffed. 

 

 

On being sexually abused, he said  it started with a man;

It was a crazy weird experience,“But not a full-blown experience, because it didn't go down. Contact sexual - no. A visual -absolutely. A visual from him showing me his penis and all that stuff. It was oral sex the first time, though it soon became intercourse.

 

On how his sexual intercourse abuse started when he fell asleep and was awoken to find a woman playing with him:

I tried to push her away, but she wouldn't stop until she was finished. When she was, she said, 'You better not say shit to no one or else you gonna get a terrible whupping.' I remember it feeling weird. I remember feeling ashamed. I remember closing my eyes or keeping my hands over my eyes. I remember those things, but couldn't judge it one way or the other fully.

 

And did that change over time?

Over time, yeah. I remember actually, after a couple of years, looking forward to it sometimes. You know, acting like I didn't, but did.

 

 

How often would the abuse happen?

Oh wow. It became a regular thing. Every other day, every other week.

 

How many years did it go on for?

As far as I can remember, about [age] 7 or 8 to maybe 14, 15. Something like that.

Did anything in particular make it stop?

When I started having a girlfriend, I felt really bad about it. Then I started getting older and knowing that's just not supposed to happen - family members. And I think it started getting scary for them because I just started acting really different about it, and I think it became a turnoff to them, and a scary thing.

 

On forgiving them

I, well, definitely forgive them. As I'm older, I look at it and I know that it had to be not just about me and them, but them and somebody older than them when they were younger, and whatever happened to them when they were younger. I looked at it as if there was a sort of like, I don't know, a generational curse, so to speak, going down through the family. Not just started with her doing that to me.

Revealed! 10 Things Guys Really Hope Ladies Don't Notice During S*x

Some men are very self-conscious before and even when having s*x especially when it is the first time. Here are top 10 things they are most jittery about

 

1. His O-face. The reason we tend to bury our face in the nape of your neck when we orgasm is because at that moment in time, our face looks like we bit into a lemon while our penis has a seizure. It is something no one needs to see.

2. That weird sweat smell. It doesn't always smell bad in the moment, but then afterward, it's like, "Oh, wait. That's the smell of my wet ass. That's what my damp butt smells like." If you walk into a man's bedroom, and you see a candle, it's because that man's sweaty butt smells weird. It's the only reason that candle is there.

3. That he hasn't been to the gym in a few weeks. But honestly, we just sit on our phones and play Clash of Clans next to the squat rack anyway, so it doesn't matter.

4. That he just burped but he played it off by casually mentioning that the house was on fire and you needed to leave. If we've got gas during s*x, going for the "house on fire" play is really only option we have. If we really like you, we have to actually burn our house down, which, like, sucks.

5. That he's trying really, really hard not to come too soon. We're doing this for easily 50 percent of the time we're having sex. Hell, I'm trying not to come right now as I write this and nothing is even happening.

6. That he struggled undoing your bra. I don't care how many bras we've undone in our life, some bras are just difficult. It's even worse if we get cocky and go for the one hand no-look, only to fumble terribly and then ask you to just turn around after 30 seconds of messing with it.

7. His weird balls. Hopefully, you pretty much just maneuver around them, but if not we pray you don't get a good look. I don't want to body-shame anyone, but I think the general consensus is that everyone thinks balls look weird. It's one of the few things that unify mankind. No matter whose balls they are, they look like the eggs from Aliens.

8. That part of him, even if it's a small part, thinks that maybe deep down this is some kind of scam. Why else would you be sleeping with us on purpose? Seriously, in what dimension are we perceived as a sexually viable candidate? I can't speak for every guy out there, but personally, I'm always a bit incredulous when I sleep with someone for the first time. Like, maybe I'm just being distracted while five men carry all the furniture out of my apartment and off into the night.

9. That he has a bunch of garbage under the bed. Because the second we realized you were coming over, we basically just shoved everything under there.

10. That he has a bunch of garbage on the bed. We forgot some stuff, so that impressive sex move we did where we spun you around and then supported your body with only our pelvis? That was only so we could hide a bunch of random crap under the covers.

Growing Fast! Adorable Photos of Wizkid's Son Goes Viral on Social Media

The child of popular Nigerian singer, Ayo Balogun popularly known as Wizkid is currently growing so fast to the surprise of his fans.

Wizkid

 

Boluwatife is the son of Wizkid after he had a brief affair with a lady named Ogudu in the year, 2012. Although Wizkid initially denied impregnating the lady but he later bowed to pressure from his family and the public.

 

Wizkid is currently 25 years old and his adorable son, Boluwatife will be 5 by May 13th, 2016.

 

See photos of Boluwatife below:

 

 

Drama in Senate as Buhari's Budget Moves Domestic Spending in Aso Villa From N580m to N1.7bn

The drama trailing the 2016 appropriation bill seems unending as the opposition senators have opposed the high rate of borrowing and allocations contained in the proposal.

Sen. Eyinnaya Abaribe

 

Sen. Eyinnaya Abaribe (PDP Abia South) on Wednesday in Abuja, berated the 2016 budget and called on President Muhammadu Buhari to withdraw it and go back to the drawing board, according to the Vanguard.

Abaribe while making contributions during the consideration of the budget, said the proposal was faulty on many grounds and could not be implemented at it was. He said that predication of oil benchmark at 38 dollars per barrel when the crude oil price had fallen below 30 dollars per barrel made the budget unrealistic.

Abaribe faulted the government for increasing spending by 30 per cent based on borrowing.

“Mr President, my colleagues, this budget is indeed unique. After the budget presentation, the finance minister has never come to explain the details of the budget as it is normally done.

“It is a budget of change I agree, but it is a change in the wrong direction. I say it is a change in the wrong direction because it says that it is based on zero budgeting requiring all expenses to be fully justified.

“Mr President, a budget that increases spending up to 30 per cent based solely on borrowing, in what way are we justified? That is the question we want to ask the people who brought this budget.

“We know what is going on in the global economy: this budget is predicated on an oil benchmark of 38 dollars per barrel and I can now say that with oil being 28 dollars today, this budget is dead on arrival.

“The job of the opposition is to help the government to get its priorities right, so I want to please urge this government to withdraw this budget and go back to the drawing board,” he said.

The senator also faulted the adjustments made in the budget as well as allocation for spending in the Aso Rock Villa, saying that it was too exorbitant. He said that the adjustments rather than reduce spending in areas where they were not necessary only spread it into different offices.

“Mr President, a budget that moves domestic spending within Aso Villa from N580 million to N1.7 billion cannot be a budget of change.

“We were told that in the revised budget there was an adjustment due to error, we agree but what has happened is that up to N7 billion were moved from buying vehicles and spread to offices.

“It also increased the spending that is due to renovations within the Villa.

“They are going to renovate the Villa with N3.9 billion: what else do you want to renovate there that Nigerians will see in the Year 2016?” he asked.

Biafra: Take Kanu to Prison - Judge Refuses DSS Request to Further Detain Kanu in Their Custody

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Department of State Services to immediately take Nnamdi Kanu to prisons and has rejected the DSS request to remand Kanu in their custody.

IPOB Leader, Nnamdi Kanu

 

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered that the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra and founder of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu should be removed from Department of State Security Custody and be taken to prison.

 

The judge, in ordering the remand of the accused persons in prison, overruled the request by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr. Mohammed Diri, for an order further remanding the accused persons in the custody of the DSS.

 

The DSS had requested that the court grant its wish by granting it more days to further detain Nnamdi Kanu in their custody. However, the court thought it out of order considering that Kanu had spend more than 3 months in their custody.

 

The order came as a relief to the defence team, led on Wednesday by Mr. Chuks Mouoma (SAN), who had complained that the accused persons had been denied access to their families and lawyers since their arrest by the DSS on October 14, 2015.

 

A Magistrate’s Court, in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja, had earlier granted bail to Kanu and also made similar order, directing the DSS to release Kanu to the prison authorities.

 

Also, Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the same Federal High Court in Abuja had, on December 17, 2015, granted an unconditional bail to Kanu from the DSS custody.

 

But rather than release the IPOB leader, the Federal Government filed the fresh six counts, including treasonable felony, against the three accused persons barely 24 hours after Justice Ademola made the latest order.

 

On December 23, 2015, when Kanu and the two co-accused persons were produced in court for arraignment, the IPOB leader refused to take his plea due to what he called his lack of confidence in the presiding judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed.

 

The case was later reassigned to Justice Tsoho.

 

After the accused persons pleaded not guilty to the six counts on Wednesday, Diri urged the court to order that Kanu be further remanded in the DSS custody for ease of conveying him to court, considering the security risk involved in bringing him to court from a farther location like the Kuje Prison.

 

But Muouma opposed the request, insisting that the “issue of convenience”, raised by the prosecution, could not override the position of the law.

 

He said, “The DPP himself has said this morning that investigation into the case has been completed. So, why do you still have to keep him?. The complainant, the DSS, cannot be the judge in its own case. The federal prison is the appropriate neutral party to keep an accused person.

“Once a defendant has been charged and arraigned, the proper and constitutional place of custody for remand is the prison. That is the age-long procedure we are familiar with.”

 

The judge, in his ruling, dismissed the prosecution’s request and upheld the argument by the defence lawyer that the law only permitted that accused person, who had taken his plea, could only be remanded in prison.

 

The judge has fixed Monday, January 25, 2015, for the hearing of the bail application filed on behalf of the accused persons.