I have been abused because of some Buhari’s appointees – Odigie-Oyegun

The national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun as part of the ceremonies to mark the two year anniversary of his party in power spoke in an interview on the journey and how the administration has fared in office.
Excerpts:

Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC)

By Omeiza Ajayi
Two years in power, how has it been for the All Progressives Congress APC especially with series of crisis in the party and people threatening to pull out?
It has been challenging, it has been delicate but I think at the end of two years I can say that I have largely succeed in moulding a party which is now ready to do battle.
There is no likelihood (of a pull out) but should it happen, the threat and damage it will do to the party will be very minimal today. Which part of the country, the South West? So the mainstream of the party is now well placed and the point has been proven clearly from Ondo State that in a free and fair election nobody’s word is certain.

Is it safe to say that APC has been completely democratised?
Totally! People don’t see it but there is a new party, totally new and stronger party.
We didn’t work to dislodge anybody. We worked to establish permanently that the party is supreme. But when any part of the party wants to prove they are larger than the party then the party has to stand and fight and of course the president has always said that the party is supreme.

When he came back from his first medical trip I welcomed him and all his courtesies before his statement and when he mentioned ‘our oga pata pata’ he meant it. The supremacy of the party is one thing he has always hammered on. I heard the question one of you asked about the relationship between me and him; you have to work with the nature of the man you have hired as president. He is quiet. I know what he likes and I know what he doesn’t like. He is the kind of man that doesn’t like crowd, he would prefer a one on one which we had; the minute he sees five people and he doesn’t know two out of them and so he can’t trust them, he cramps up and so you won’t get value.

How PDP trounced APC in Osun bye-election

…Makarfi, Sheriff claim victory as Aregbesola, others congratulate Adeleke
By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor, Gbenga Olarinoye, & Dirisu Yakubu All Progressives Congress, APC, grandees in Osun State were yesterday trying to absorb the shock that came from the resonating clamour of the people for a change. Governor Rauf Aregbesola had for the last seven years tried to change Osun State into his image.
He had changed the designation of his possession from its constitutional appellation into the State of Osun. He had redefined for workers the “sufficiency” of going home with half pay and seemingly made the failure of governance of none effect. That was until Saturday.
Last weekend, the people of the state, or at least, a third of the state representing Osun West Senatorial District removed the veil from their eyes when they voted against the governor’s anointed candidate in the Osun West Senatorial District bye-election.

Ademola Adeleke

The APC lost nine out of 10 local governments in a senatorial district it had handsomely won in the last two general elections in 2011 and again in 2015.
Even more, the APC had come to dominate the political space within the state having won all three Senate seats and eight of the ten federal constituencies in 2015.
By the time the results distilled yesterday, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP which had been losing elections almost everywhere, even in its strongholds in Ondo and Edo States was basking in an unusual victory.
How did it happen, Vanguard asked one leading PDP chieftain yesterday?
“This is a result of the failure of governance all over Osun,” Mr. Bamidele Salam, a leading chieftain of the PDP and former local government chairman of Egbedeore Local government area of the state said over the telephone.

How FG spent $4.8bn foreign loans in two years

 

While Nigeria’s rising indebtedness is generating ripples as to the sustainability and the interest element, the Federal Government has given details of some of the foreign loans it has raised in the last two years, expended on programmes rather than development projects, EVEREST AMAEFULE writes

The Federal Government obtained about $4.8bn from various foreign sources in the last two years, The PUNCH has learnt. The loans were expended on various programmes.

The Economic Governance, Diversification and Competitiveness Support Programme was the highest single financing item on which the government expended $600m of the borrowed funds from external sources in the last two years.

Responding to an enquiry from The PUNCH under the Freedom of Information Act, the Federal Government, through the Debt Management Office, said it received $600m from the African Development Bank for the EGDCSP.

The AfDB said on its website that the programme would help the government to create the fiscal space to facilitate a smooth implementation of the government’s budget, support fiscal and structural reforms, and improve the targeting of social sector spending to protect the most vulnerable segments of the population.

While the first tranche of the programme costing $600m was approved in 2016, the second tranche costing $400m is expected to be approved this year to take the total value of the loan to $1bn.

Another major loan of $500m came from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for Nigeria’s development finance institutions. The item also attracted $400m from the AfDB in addition to another $400m secured from the African Development Fund.

The Federal Government secured $500m from the International Development Association, an arm of the World Bank, for the Saving One Million Lives, which is a scheme to expand access to essential primary health care services for women and children.

Three states, Rivers, Ogun and Lagos, benefitted from the foreign debts secured in the last two years. The Federal Government secured UA3.3m ($5.06m) and $200m for the Urban Water Sector Reform and Port Harcourt Water Supply and Sanitation projects, and $33.17m for the Ogun State Urban Water Supply Project.

It also obtained $100m from the AFD for the Lagos Integrated Urban Development Project.

From the International Development Association, the Federal Government secured $200m, $70m, $140m and $70m for the Polio Eradication Support Project, Higher Education Centres of Excellence Project, Community and Social Development Project, and African Higher Education Centre of Excellence Project, respectively.

Another $140m was obtained from the World Bank for the Community and Social Development Project. The Polio Eradication Support Project received another $200m from the IDA, while the Nigerian Partnership for Education Project also received $100m from the same organisation.

From the Export-Import Bank of China, the Federal Government obtained $325m for 40 plants under the Parboiled Rice Processing Plant Project; and $280m from the AfDB for the Enable Youth Nigeria Programme.

Also from the AfDB, the Federal Government obtained $250m for the Inclusive Basic Service Delivery and Livelihood Empowerment Integrated Programme.

From the IDA, the government also obtained $200m for the Multi-Sectorial Crisis Recovery Project for North Eastern Nigeria and $90m for the Regional Surveillance Systems Enhancement.

The government’s response to The PUNCH’s enquiry, which was directed to the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, did not indicate how far it had gone in implementing the projects for which it obtained the foreign loans in the last two years of the current administration.

Experts have at various times expressed fears that governments across the country borrow funds that are not tied to projects but to finance routine expenditure such as salaries and overheads.

While this may be true of local debts, foreign agencies hardly lend without knowing what the funds will be utilised for.

The response of the Federal Government to PUNCH’s enquiry showed that local debts were not tied to any specific projects but warehoused in the Central Bank of Nigeria for financing budget deficits.

Some stakeholders say the government should only borrow to finance capital projects and infrastructure that have the capacity to generate funds for both debt servicing and repayment of the principal.

This is hardly the case as most of the debts are spent on programmes and routine expenses.

Bamaiyi: EFCC re-arraigns Ajudua over $10.3m fraud

Lagos—Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, yesterday re-arraigned a Lagos socialite, Fred Ajudua, before Justice Josephine Oyefeso of an Ikeja High Court for allegedly defrauding a former Chief of Army Staff, retired Lt-Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi of $10.3 million.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to a 28–eight count charge bordering on conspiracy to obtain money by false pretences and obtaining money by false pretences brought against him by the commission.
Ajudua was arraigned after Justice Oyefeso had in a ruling dismissed his application   dated Jan. 6 challenging the jurisdiction of the court to try him.
According to EFCC, prosecutor, Mr. S.A. Atteh the defendant committed the alleged conspiracy and fraud in 2004 alongside five alleged accomplices while he was in prison.
The alleged accomplices are – Mrs Oluronke Rosulu, Alumile Adedeji also known as Ade Bendel, Mr Kenneth, Mr Jonathan and Princess Hamabon William.
ask that the bail granted to the defendant by the Court of Appeal to continue,” Quakers said.
Justice Oyefeso acceded to Norrison’s request and granted bail to Ajudua on the subsisting bail conditions granted to him by the Court of Appeal.

We’ll soon sign anti-grazing bill into law— Gov Ortom

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, yesterday, said the anti-open grazing bill will soon be signed into law to curb clashes between herdsmen and farmers.
The governor stated this in Abuja after briefing Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, on the security situation in the state.

Gov Samuel Ortom

According to him, the state looks forward to receiving the same cooperation from farmers and herdsmen so that all can live together as brothers and sisters, adding “we can do it; it is achievable. Living without strife, fighting and killings— we can live.
“Human life is very precious to some of us and we will do everything to protect lives and properties in the state.” The governor noted that the state was on top of the security situation in terms of the relationship between herdsmen and farmers.
On his demand that anyone with corruption allegation against the state should expose it, he said such person should also provide concrete evidence.

I’ve never had an orgasm

I am a married mother of three and in the 23 years I’ve been married to my husband I’ve never had what you could call an orgasm.

Despite having been sexually active for over half of my life, the sex life with my husband has never been ‘electric’.

I’ve tried to talk to him in the past about this but he gets defensive. He says he finds nothing wrong with our sex life but I know I need to inject spice into our life without upsetting him. Any ideas?
Diana, by e-mail.
Dear Diana,
To have an orgasm you have to let go of your own inhibitions too. If you can’t feel I00 per cent relaxed, it won’t happen. First, you need to get in touch with your doctor to have your hormone levels checked. Next, you indulge in a good vibrator – several newspapers and magazines carry adds on where to get them.
Don’t be ashamed or embarrassed – this is 2017 not 1960!
In the comfort of your bedroom, with no one else around, get familiar with your vibrator and let your imagination take over. Through your vibrator, you will have an orgasm and will now have to show your husband which buttons to press to give you one himself. But first cook him a nice dinner, open a bottle of wine before letting him know you have a surprise for him! Good luck.

Leadership problems rooted in individual Nigerians—Idiodi

 

By Oboh Agbonkhese
The problems of leadership in the country are rooted in the problems of individual Nigerians. So for the country to survive the current recession, everyone must imbibe self-mastery, desire higher knowledge, be creative, have strength of will and experience spiritual attunement.

These were the conclusions reached by Dr. Kenneth Idiodi, Grand Administrator and Director, Supreme Board, The Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, at the organisation’s Lagos zone 2017 conclave, held on the theme Rosicrucianism for Socio-Economic Development.
According to Dr. Idiodi, “the greater the number of individuals equipped with the techniques of resolving personal problems, the better the society will be and, by extension, the better the leadership of that society and, of course, the better the nation will be. And this is what Rosicrucianism is all about.”
Other resource persons at the conclave were Professor Victor Kiri and Ekanem Koffi-Ekanem, while Dr. Augustine Agugua of the Department of Sociology, University of Lagos, gave a lecture on Nigeria’s Socio-Economic Development: An Improvement Agenda.