SOUTH AFRICAN ACTRESS CAUGHT WITH 15 PARCEL OF DRUG WORTH R4.6 MILLION @ TAMBO AIRPORT

The South African actress whose identity will be revealed tomorrow when she appears in court was arrested at Tambo International Airport on Sunday, September 27, as she arrived from Abu Dhabi, South African Revenue Service said in a statement‚ describing it as “a significant seizure”.

"The passenger‚ who was proceeding through the ‘Nothing to declare channel-Green channel’‚ was stopped by Customs officials for her bags to be scanned. The scanning of her one bag showed up suspicious images. Upon further investigation and searching of the bag‚ officials discovered 15 parcels wrapped in carbon/foil-like material hidden in the luggage.

Immediate tests conducted by SARS officials confirmed that the suspected substance was ephedrine‚ which is the main ingredient in crystal meth.The narcotics and passenger‚ identified as a South African actress‚ were detained and subsequently handed over to South African Police Service (SAPS) Organised Crime for further investigation"

The revenue services' Luther Lebelo says the actress will appear in the Kempton Park Magistrates Court on Tuesday, September 29. -Eyewitness News

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BISHOP DAVID OYEDEPO

Faith Abiola Oyedepo took to her Facebook page to wish her husband  Bishop David Oyedepo, happy 61st birthday  today. She wrote:

"Happy Birthday to my husband, my love, my friend. David Oyedepo. Every year with you is so much better than the last.. May you therefore remain continuously honoured by our God" She also wrote a personal letter to him.See that after the cut...

"Happy 61st Birthday to my darling husband! “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” -Psalm 118:24 – Today is an extra special day— it’s my darling husband’s 61st birthday! So, in honor of today, I am sharing with you a little note I wrote to him on the occasion of his 50th birthday, modified to fit this year’s celebrations. Every word remains just as true as it did when I wrote it, all those years ago. =====

“To the love of my life … my heartbeat … my soul-mate… the passion of my heart … my friend … my companion … my husband … my lord. I want to use this occasion of your 61st birthday to thank you for coming into my life and showing me love so true. You’ve helped me learn to face my fears. You’ve helped me to see there is so much more to believe in. You have loved me so dear and opened my eyes to see new possibilities in unearthing my potentials. Every day I awake renewed by the thought and constant echo of your love. It’s been 33 years since you first called me your wife; 33 years of untold delight and ecstasy. Life has become extra special since you entered my world. I am so thankful you chose me to love, cherish and hold dear. You are the love of my life and I pledge to love you forever. Happy birthday! Your lovely wife, — Faith Abiola Oyedepo”

She also sent birthday wishes to her daughter, Joys Oyedepo whose birthday coincided with her father's.

"To my gorgeous daughter, Joys Oyedepo, who also celebrates her birthday on this day, know that I’ll never be able to thank God enough for you. You bring light, life and joy to my world and because of you, I live everyday better than the day before. The world is so blessed to have you! I love you beyond words— and forever will. Then to anyone else celebrating a birthday on this day, may your joy be forever full! Happy 27th of September to you all, Remain ever blessed!

WHERE IS JUSTICE...AN ABUSED MOTHER IS SERVING 30-YEAR IN PRISON WHILE HER ABUSER WALKS FREE

This is shocking news! Where is justice? The story of Tondalo Hall, an abused mother of two, who is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence in Oklahoma prison while her abuser walked free after serving only two years, will amuse you…. On Wednesday, September 23, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board unanimously voted to deny her the possibility of parole, though she has already spent 11 years behind bars.

Buzzfeed News reports that in 2004, Tondalo Hall was arrested for failing to protect her then-3-month-old daughter and 20-month-old son from her abusive boyfriend, Robert Braxton. According to court documents, Hall, who was also being abused by Braxton, took her two children to the doctor, where she discovered that both infants had broken ribs and broken femurs. Both Hall and Braxton were taken into custody.

During the 2004 hearing, Hall testified against Braxton, claiming that she was unaware of the children's injuries, but both the judge and prosecutors felt that her hesitance on the stand would result in a mild sentence for Braxton. Prosecutors offered him a two-year plea deal, which he took. However, at Hall's trial, a judge said that she was "less than candid" in her testimony, and sentenced her to 30 years in prison for failing to protect her children. 

Hall isn't eligible for parole until 2030—only four years before her scheduled release. The parole board voted 5-0 to deny her application for clemency, offering no explanation. 

"The Oklahoma Parole Board had the responsibility to make things right, and they failed with today's decision," Shaunna Thompson, co-founder of advocacy group UltraViolet, said in a statement. 

BuzzFeed found that, currently, there are 28 abused women across the country who are serving prison sentences of at least 10 years for failing to protect their children from abusers.

Source: Buzzfeed News

ALL THOSE THAT MISAPPROPRIATES NNPC'S REVENUE WILL SOON FACE THE LAW OF THE LAND...BUHARI

WE'VE BEGUN SANITIZING NNPC TO MAKE IT FREE OF CORRUPTION AND SHADY DEALS/TRIAL OF THOSE WHO MISAPPRORIATED NNPC REVENUES WILL BEGIN SOON - BUHARI

President Muhammadu Buhari Sunday in New York restated his determination to fully sanitize Nigeria's oil industry and make it totally free of corruption and shady deals.

Speaking at a meeting with President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the 70th General Assembly of the United Nations, President Buhari said that a necessary first step in this direction had already been taken with the appointment of a new management for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its subsequent reorganisation .

The President said that the prosecution of those who misappropriated the NNPC's revenue under past administrations will soon commence.

President Buhari thanked President Xi Jinping for China's ongoing help in curbing crude oil theft from Nigeria.

The President applauded China's interception of shiploads of crude oil stolen from Nigeria, and which were to be sold and proceeds paid into private accounts.

"We know your stand on corruption, and we are grateful. Your continued cooperation in curbing oil theft from Nigeria will be appreciated," President Buhari told the Chinese leader.

He also assured President Xi Jinping that under its new leadership, the Nigerian military had been re-trained and re-equipped, and was now making steady gains against Boko Haram.

President Jinping told President Buhari that  China, which is  already involved in Nigeria in diverse areas like railway, airports, agriculture, and in the Mambilla Hydro-power project, among others, will increase its investment in the country's agricultural sector to support the achievement of domestic food security.

He also promised further Chinese investment in Nigeria's oil and gas industry, and more support for human capital development in the country.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

September 27, 2015

TARABA EMIR AND SOKOTO CHIEF IMAM DIES IN HAJI STAMPEDE

Sokoto state Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board has confirmed the death of The Chief Imam of the Sultan Abubakar III Jumaa’at Mosque, Sokoto, Liman Dan-Ata. Also confirmed was the death of Abbas Ibrahim, Emir of Zing, a first class traditional ruler in Taraba State along with two of his four wives during the stampede which occurred in Mina, Saudi Arabia on Thursday.

PDP INTESIFYING EFFORTS TO TAKE OVER LEADERSHIP OF THE SENATE !!!

Political calculations and permutations are going on as speculations mount over the future of embattled Senate President Bukola Saraki. plots by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to supplant the majority All Progressives Congress (APC) and take over leadership of the senate are intensifying.

According to The Nation, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was plotting a sensational take-over of the upper chamber of the National Assembly in the event that Saraki is consumed by his ongoing trial by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

The party is mobilising its members in the Senate to ensure one of its own replaces Saraki. With that as a goal, it is said to be seriously considering one of the trio of former Senate President David Mark, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, as possible candidates for the position. 

The opposition party’s calculation is that some APC senators, especially those in the pro-Saraki’s Likeminds group, may either defect to the PDP or work with the party to once again produce the president of the senate if Saraki is convicted by the CCT.

“The party hopes to win to its side some APC senators to vote for our candidate along with the PDP senators. This is based on our belief that many senators across party lines are unhappy with the ongoing trial of the Senate President and we all know where this is coming from,” a PDP senator told The Nation.

Reliable sources said a meeting of PDP senators and members of Saraki’s Like minds has been scheduled for tomorrow in Abuja to discuss recent developments within the upper chamber and decide how the pro-Saraki lawmakers will react.

“While I know we will be discussing how to stall any plan to remove Saraki from office, I am also aware that we will be talking about how to ensure that APC doesn’t take over the leadership of the senate even if Saraki has to go. Already we are positioning our men in readiness for another political battle on the floor of the senate. If Saraki is forced out, we will replace him with one of our own,” another source said.

The Nation learnt that those pushing the candidacy of Ekweremadu are of the opinion that being the current Deputy Senate President, it is only normal that he be supported by PDP senators and Saraki’s loyalists to emerge as the Senate President should the latter lose the battle to remain in office.

“Ekweremadu is the current Deputy Senate President. He has shown loyalty to his boss and he is a loyal party man too. Many of us are of the opinion that it is natural that he be supported by PDP senators and Saraki’s loyalists to emerge as the Senate President should the latter lose his position as a result of his ongoing trial.

“We have made this clear to the caucus and the party leadership and he is seriously being considered by all stakeholders as a good candidate for the job. Ekweremadu’s experience as a Deputy Senate President of many years is also a great advantage. He is well suited for the job and he is well loved by many of his colleagues,” our source said.

Another factor working in favour of Ekweremadu, The Nation learnt is the quest by the South East geo-political zone to be represented among the top political office holders in the land. “The fact that he is from the South East is another factor working for him. Many senators will reason with the need to give the zone some sense of representation in the current arrangement,” our source added.

For Akpabio, the possibility of replacing Saraki as the next Senate President is being pushed largely by those opposed to Ekweremadu’s emergence. He is also said to be enjoying the backing of former governors now in PDP and Likeminds senators.

“Akpabio is the choice of those opposed to Ekweremadu for one reason or the other. He is also the candidate of his fellow ex-governors who are in Saraki’s camp or in PDP senate caucus. Their desire to ensure Ekweremadu is stopped from becoming Senate President may split the camp of pro-Saraki lawmakers,” our source added.

Meanwhile, a third group is said to be rooting for the return of David Mark as the Senate President to forestall further friction between the pro-Ekweremadu and pro-Akpabio camps. According to reports, the former Senate President’s status as the unofficial leader of the party in the National Assembly largely informed the decision to draft him into the race.

“Senator Mark is the real leader of the PDP caucus in the National Assembly. So, many of us feel he is the best man to be returned to the position after Saraki. His choice will also end the dangerous rivalry between the other groups and ensure that we do not lose the contest should the need arise,” our source added.

TRAVAILS OF BUKOLA SARAKI: THE REASONS WHY HE MUST STEP DOWN

The election of Muhammadu Buhari on March 28 came with much hope. The euphoria continued to breeze until June 9, 2015. It was the day Bukola Abubakar Saraki emerged the President of Nigeria’s Senate.

Since then, the masses have continued to yearn endlessly for meaningful change in their well-being. But the major changes witnessed thus far from the Legislature have been different shades of controversies — all bordering on the venal travails of Bukola Saraki.

The drama began to unfold when Saraki confessed that he was able to assume the exalted position by disguising himself to upstage the party that brought him to power. As if that was not enough, the Nigerian Police declared that the Standing Order used to elect him to the leadership of the law-making body was forged. While the Ministry of Justice was reviewing the police report, another bomb shell erupted: The wife of the Senate President was charged by the EFCC for corruption and money laundering. In utter show of supremacy, the Saraki-led Senate was set to tame the EFCC by stoking the most infantile form of vindictive impunity. The law-making body brashly violated its Standing Rules in a hasty attempt to probe the anti-graft body on alleged diversion of funds recovered from corrupt people and, in the process, put Buhari’s war against corruption in disrepute.

But the fire in the molds of smoke beclouding Bukola Saraki is no longer in doubt. The Nigeria’s Code of Conduct Bureau has revealed that the Senate President had falsified the declaration of his assets as a governor a decade earlier. Accordingly, he was invited to the Code of Conduct Tribunal to clear himself of any wrongdoing. Instead of responding in a civilized and democratic manner befitting a chief lawmaker of a country, Saraki engaged in series of clandestine schemes to obstruct justice.

Though he would finally surrender to the authorities after being declared wanted, his attitude in the court house has given a black eye to Nigeria’s Legislature. Worst still, an asinine entourage of about legislators, most of who are equally guilty of all sorts of corrupt practices, exhibited unprecedented show of shame by accosting Saraki with pomp and pageantry to the tribunal.

Clearly, the whole Saraki saga is no longer funny. The matter has become a serious threat not only to the much anticipated change under President Buhari but also the nascent democracy. Something has to give. It is either Nigeria gives in or Saraki gives in. But nonsense must give way to common sense. It is time the Senate President recognizes that his current maneuver against the masses is an exercise in futility. It is time to consider nation before self and quietly go away.

Saraki has an army of stooges whose argument revolves around the archaic cliché: presumed innocent until proven guilty. However, they should be able to discern that law and leadership are two different things. Nigeria cannot afford to allow its war on corruption to be undermined—at the cruelest expense of the masses—all in name of borrowed theories. It is rather mystifying that the strict interpretation of the rule of law is only sacrosanct in Nigeria when it advances criminal ingenuity in favour of those in position of power. The current change movement must not allow one person to hold the country hostage with legal moonwalk. Nigeria is more than one man. Besides, Bukola Saraki is not the first public official accused of wrongdoing but opted to place nation before self.

The current Fourth Republic opened with a former governor and a man of Spartan values in Evans Enwerem as a Senate President. Yet, Enwerem had to resign in 1999 due to trumped-up allegations that he falsified his name from Evan to Evans. Following him was Chuba Okadigbo, a doyen of intellectual cum legislative acumen. Once charged with wrongdoing as a senate president, the 4th Senate rose to impeach Okadigbo in 2000. In 2005, then Senate President Adolphus Wabara honourably resigned in midst of bribery allegations.

The House of Reps also promoted nation before self. Salisu Buhari was the first Speaker of the Lower House in 1999. Similar to Saraki, Salisu Buhari played a measurable role in his party before it gained power. Nonetheless, the speaker was relieved of his position less than two months after assuming office due to accusations of forging university certificate and false declaration of age. Patricia Etteh made history when she became the first female speaker in 2007. Muddled with claims that she authorized huge sum of money to renovate her official residence, Etteh stepped down less than five months on seat.

Perhaps Nigeria is not the only country where public office holders have stepped aside while they are being proven innocent or guilty. A cursory look at United States of America, a nation commonly viewed as a model democracy, helps make this case.

Jim Wright, US Speaker of the House of Representatives, was one of the most humble Congressmen ever to grace the Capitol Hill. However, he swiftly resigned from the Congress in 1989 when he became the target of a probe. What is the offense? Wright was accused of using bulk of the funds raised from his own book to earn speaking royalties in excess of the maximum amount allowed under law. Not long after, Newt Gingrich ceased from being the House Speaker in 1998 mainly because he was reprimanded for mere ethics violation. That was the same story for Tom DeLay, the Majority Leader of US House of Representatives. DeLay stepped down from his position in 2005 following a House indictment and the cloud emanating from charges of illegal campaign funds.

It is worthy of note, however, that some of the public officials cited above — both from Nigeria and the United States — were later acquitted of the charges and went on to enjoy decent political future. Nigeria’s Chuba Okadigbo, for instance, ran for president not long after — before serving as the running mate to Muhammadu Buhari in the presidential election of 2003. Former Speaker Salisu Buhari recovered to become a member of Governing Council of University of Nigeria by 2013. Similarly, former US Speaker Gingrich eventually redeemed himself to emerge the leading Republican presidential candidate in 2012 before dropping out due to new revelations of unethical behaviours.

Bukola Saraki still has a bright future ahead of him. But that future depends on how he handles the moment. The moment calls on him to realize that the ‘clean hands’ maxim readily holds in the doctrine of equity. The point is that Senator Saraki no longer has the moral grandeur and audacity to head a Legislature vested to lead the war against corruption. Considering that societal virtue is the litmus test for Buhari’s political appointments, how plausible is it for the Senate President to look the prospective ministers in the eye during screening? The thought or sight of such phenomenon has failed to register.

Expecting Bukola Saraki to go away quietly is nothing but wishful thinking. His inordinate ambition has already placed his political party in shambles. Moreover, he has failed since June 9 to heed private as well as public calls to resign honourably. In short, it has become abundantly clear that Saraki does not give a hoot about what becomes of Nigeria insofar he clings on to the post of Senate President. Thus, it is incumbent upon the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to do the needful and remedy the fast fading image of the legislative body. The time is now to initiate the necessary proceedings to impeach without delay Dr. Bukola Abubakar Saraki as the President of Nigeria’s Senate before things get out of hands.

It is definitely a herculean task for the 8th Senate to willingly impeach Mr. Saraki, especially having passed a hasty vote of confidence on the same beleaguered leader during this ordeal. At the same time, there is the need for the senators to bear in mind that it is no longer business as usual. Nigerian masses are no longer helpless. The change movement that brought Buhari to power remains a potent force. The world is closely watching the current posture where the Hallowed Chamber is widely seen as aiding and abating corrupt practices.

By SKC Ogbonnia
Nigerian based in Houston, Texas