'I was not arrested' says Ifeanyi Ubah

According to Vanguard, Business mogul aka Club owner, Ifeanyi Ubah denies being arrested by DSS at any time and day. He tells Vanguard that he was neither  detained or arrested by DSS.

Breaking: Ifeanyi Ubah arrested by DSS

The Department of State Services is at it again. In another episode of arrest, they have decided to shine the light on Nigerian business mogul and politician, Ifeanyi Ubah .

According to credible sources , the reason for his arrest is unknown . But Ubah , who owns Capital Oil , had previously been linked to a fraud probe involving the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation .

Senate suspends Ali Ndume

Folowing the recent on-goings in the Senate and the clearing of the names of Bukola Saraki and Dino Melaye by the Senate, over the cases of the Range Rover SUV and the Certificate scandal respectively, Senator Ndume has been susupended for 6 months. He was accused of not making 'due diligence' before filing the cases against Saraki and Melaye. He opined that the clampdown of the Senate on the Customs Boss was a revenge mission by Saraki because the former refused to clear a Range Rover SUV the latter bought for over 200 million, accusing the latter of not paying the required custom duties and using fake documents while Dino Melaye was accused on not graduating  from Ahmadu Bello University.

Senator Ndume as at the time of filing this report is yet to respond to his suspension.

More on the Paris Club Refund

More cash believed to be part of the London-Paris Club loan refund has been found by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The US$86,546,526.65 was remitted into the account of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF).
The account is said to have been depleted to about $17million as at the time the probe started.
The EFCC is probing how the cash got into the account, who remitted it and for what purpose.
“The cash was paid into the forum’s domiciliary account in GTB tagged: 0023577047 with sort code 058083215,” the source said, adding that the payment followed a November 21, 2016, memo on the remittance into the NGF’s account which was titled “Consultants fee.”
The cash was described as consultancy and legal fees as the case with the N19 billion which was allegedly diverted from the refund.
“This development has justified the earlier peg of our investigation that the part of the London-Paris Club loan refunds was paid into two accounts of the NGF,” the source said, pleading not to be named because he has no authority to talk to the media.

“Operatives are tracking how the $86.5m was used and for what purpose. We want to know whether the affected financial and legal consultants exist or not.”
The Nation had exclusively reported that the Presidency was uncomfortable with how some governors managed the refund.
The Federal Government released N522.74 billion to 35 states as a refund of over-deductions on London-Paris Club loans.
President Muhammadu Buhari directed the release of the refund to enable states to pay salaries and pensions.
But more than N19billion of the refund has been enmeshed in controversy over payment of consultancy fees. Some consultants were yet to be paid as at press time.

Some of the infractions noticeable in the management of the first tranche of the London-Paris Club loan refund are:
computation of state records done at a private home in Maitama, Abuja; accounts initially opened in the names of two lead consultants, but the details of who to be paid were later changed; N19b remitted into two NGF accounts; commission to consultants cut from 10% to 2% but 5% was on paper as paid; the CBN paid directly to each state without the knowledge of the Accountant-General of the Federation; and part of the N19b commission was traced to a governor’s account and some individuals, including some members of the National Assembly.
It was also discovered that besides the central consultants, governors hired other consultants, with some conceding about 10-20% commission to them.
In some states, governors served as consultants through proxies.
Some consultants are yet to be paid because the NGF changed the commission formula as soon as the first tranche was remitted, The Nation learnt.
Besides, some governors deviated from using 25 percent to 50 percent for payment of outstanding salaries and pension as agreed with President Buhari.

Source: The Nation

My God Is Bigger Than Yours

Stephanie Otobo, the Nigerian Canada-based singer and stripper who accused the General Overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleiman of having extra-marital affairs with her and others has, in a latest video, boasted that her God is greater than that of Apostle Suleman’s and that hers equally has more connections than his.
She added that Apostle Suleiman, upon all that has happened, chose to hide the truth from people instead of making it public.

Face-off between the Legislature and Executive

The Senate seems to be in a face-off with the executive. The decision was to protest its displeasure with the continued retention of Mr. Ibrahim Magu as Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, despite his failure to get Senate confirmation.
The Senate’s action received mixed reactions from lawyers, ranging from support to disagreement on the point that the President’s seeming reluctance on Magu should not make the Senate abandon its constitutional duty.

The Senate had penultimate Wednesday refused to confirm Magu after screening the acting chairman of the anti-graft agency. The Senate rejection nonetheless, Magu has continued to act in that office, a development that drew the ire of the Senate, yesterday. It then resolved to stand down confirmation hearing of the 27 REC nominees.
The Senate is also not happy with the Presidency over comments by the Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, Professor Itse Sagay, who was alleged to have described the exercise of the Senate in screening nominees of the Executive as mere confirmation.

Before plenary, yesterday, the Senate had met in a closed-door session where the Senate position was rehearsed. The tone of yesterday’s action at plenary was set by Senator Peter Nwaoboshi (PDP, Delta North), who pleaded that for the nation’s democracy to be protected, the Senate should step down confirmation process of the RECs since some of them are acting, alleging that President Buhari’s appointees were disrespecting the Senate. He also condemned comments by Professor Sagay that the Senate’s role in appointments was “merely” to confirm.
He said: “Recently in this Senate, we have dealt with the issue of confirmation and where are we today? The chairman of the Presidential Committee on Anti-Corruption, Professor Itse Sagay went to the press and said the Senate merely confirms.
“Today, we have now been given a list to confirm. Look at the list, we have eight of them here out of 27, eight of them are for re-appointment which means they are acting already, they are already working and they are still in position.
“My position on this matter is that since our confirmation is ‘merely’, let us suspend it until we now know whether we have the power as given to us by the constitution to look into confirmation matters or any other status,” he submitted.

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu urged his colleagues to allow suspension of the request for only two weeks rather than indefinite suspension to enable the Senate President meet with President Buhari to communicate the sentiments of the Senate concerning Magu.

During the two-week suspension, Senate President Bukola Saraki is expected to meet with the President to resolve the issue of Magu, who was, yesterday, described by a senator as a terror to them.

Warning on soft drinks

A Lagos court the other day ordered the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to compel the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Plc, to carry a mandatory warning on its Fanta and Sprite brands, stating that the contents should not be taken with Vitamin C in order to avoid poisoning. Also, the court berated NAFDAC for poor regulation of the brands and awarded a N2 million cost, declaring that the agency failed Nigerians by certifying Fanta and Sprite fit for human consumption even when they were later tested and declared unfit for human consumption in the United Kingdom (UK).

The suit was filed by a company that tried to export Fanta and Sprite bottled in Nigeria to the UK. British authorities seized and destroyed the products for being poisonous by containing excess levels of benzoic acid and sunset additives. Benzoic acid, which serves as a preservative, if used excessively, can cause cancer and has also been linked to asthma problems and increased levels of hyperactivity in children. It can cause allergies, hyperactivity, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting in some individuals. Anyway, the questions at this juncture are: should the contents of Fanta and Sprite not be the same worldwide? What scientific explanations does NBC have for variations reported in the contents of the products in Nigeria? Is the issue of what is good for the temperate and tropical regions not too opaque and deserves better explanation?
NAFDAC has filed an appeal and a motion to stay execution of the judgment on Sprite and Fanta, while NBC has also said that the judgment was inaccurate as its products are safe for consumption in Nigeria and appealed the court judgment. This case has, however, brought to the fore the issues of consumers right to information and safety in Nigeria!

One thing is obvious –the case has been in the court for about a decade in the slow wheel of justice. Within the period, there was no attempt by the relevant government agencies to recall the batch of the drinks and join the media to sensitise the public on the use of soft drinks and Vitamin C with a view to ensuring the safety of consumers.
Anyway, despite the fact that NBC has argued that its Nigerian brands are safe for consumption, it is better to be cautious. Hence, the need for further investigations against the backdrop of the safety issue raised by the judgment, especially with regard to the effects of excessive level of benzoic acid and sunset additives on human health. Their interactivity with Vitamin C should also be srutinised. The investigation of these ingredients and their levels in the soft drinks product category should be extended to all brands in the country, because machines cannot easily pick carcinogenic disease and daily many Nigerians are dying without knowing the causes.
Furthermore, the various health conditions associated with the ingredients and their prevalence should be studied by experts to establish trends. It is only through such researches that the health concerns of taking soft drinks can be scientifically established while speculations and mistrust
concerning the health hazards will be addressed.

Furthermore, based on the findings of the researches, obligations of marketers to consumers, especially on health warnings will be established, and if possible contents of soft drinks recalibrated.
As a people, Nigerians should all be committed to ensuring that destruction and loss of lives especially through food intake are reduced to the lowest ebb if not totally prevented. As such, relevant ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government such as NAFDAC, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Consumer Protection Council (CPC) and the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), should collaborate in a well-coordinated manner to conduct a broad and detailed examination of all food brands; while the consumer rights groups should hire independent investigators to do the same and make the findings public. This exercise in ensuring the safety of food and drinks should not be for only Fanta and Sprite but various others. Apart from doing this now, the duty bearers should carry out periodic monitoring and review for quality control and assurance; and to reassure consumers of the safety of products in the market. It should be done also to ensure that people get value for their money. Batch examination of food and drinks using stringent measures should be compulsory. If these are done,sub- standard goods will be stamped out of the markets and products consumed will be health compliant. Consumption is life and death. This is a task that must be done if Nigerians are truly committed to rebuilding their country. Where attention to details is missing, the nation will perish.

Source: Guardian