News Update: Investigations Revealed How Former President Spent $6.9million Non-remitted NNPC Fund on Mobile Stages; Blood Diamond Arrest...

 News Update Headlines: 
* Investigations Revealed How Former President Spent $6.9million Non-remitted NNPC Fund on Mobile     Stages.
*The Arrest Of Nigerian-Based Journalist Condemned by Cameroonian Journalists Union, CPJ and  Others
*Jonathan’s Economic Achievements Fake says Presidency in Response to PDP Claims.
* Cross River Government Commended Over Mass Employment by Widows
On the Foreign Scene
* Many Dead and Dozens Injured in Saudi Oil Giant Housing Complex Fire Outbreak
* American Arrested on Sierra Leone "blood diamond" Charges

Investigations Revealed How Former President Spent $6.9million Non-remitted NNPC Fund on Mobile Stages.

Federal government investigators and security agencies through their investigation have revealed that between former president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, his Chief Security Officer and the former Petroleum Minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke,  the former President  spent in just one deal $6.9 million to buy three 40-feet mobile stages for use during mass public speaking events. This happens to be the less of the countless corrupt practices which the immediate past government where allegedly of condoling.

Besides the fact that the sum for the stages have been incredibly inflated according to mobile stages industry experts, government investigators say there is no evidence as yet that any stage was purchased at all. And such outlandish stage construction is mostly done by big European or US musicians and hardly spend more than $2 million for a stage.

The purchase was initiated by Mr. O.J. Obuah, through a memo he sent to the former president on October 17, 2011 asking for the purchase of three mobile stages, as further investigations revealed. In the memo to the former president, Obuah wrote: “My earlier discussion with Your Excellency on the security implication of your public appearances and your subsequent directive on the need to procure a secured presidential platform.” Which the president approved that same day, sending the approval to then Minister for Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.

By the next month, an NNPC payment voucher number 3840336 was already in place revealing that the money was released. NNPC directed that the money be taken from one of its accounts in New York Citibank with sort code CITIUS 33, and Routing number 021000089.

It was first routed from the US bank to an NNPC account in Zenith Bank account number 5000026593, Maitama branch in Abuja, from where the money was sent to a private account. The sum of $6.9 million was then credited to a Sterling Bank account of one J. Marine Logistics Limited, Abuja, a company investigators say was registered by Obuah.

According to a reliable source, the former president and the former minister with the collusion of the CSO decided to dip their hands into the public till and steal public funds for other purposes since no one has found the stages as we speak.”

This lead to raised questions during the June 29th meeting of the National Economic Council at the state House, over the non-remittance of the finances generated by the NNPC into the federation account.

NEC found out that whereas the NNPC claimed to have earned about N8.1trillion in the last two years, what NNPC paid into the Federation Account in the same period was about N4.3 trillion, keeping the balance in its several secret accounts, allowing the former president and his cronies access to such unknown accounts to do as they please.

Consequently, NEC set up a four-man committee to investigate the missing money.

The committee made up of Governors of Edo, Kaduna, Akwa Ibom and Gombe, submitted an interim report to NEC but in addition appointed financial experts to conduct forensic audit of the accruals into the federation account and the withdrawals from the excess crude account.

The Arrest Of Nigerian-Based Journalist, Condemned by Cameroonian Journalists Union, CPJ and  Others

The Cameroon Journalism Trade Union president,  Dennis Nkwebo, the President of the Cameroon Union of Journalists, Charles Ndi Chia, and the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, CPJ, have condemned the arrest of a Nigerian-based Cameroonian journalist, Simon Ateba, who is being detained by the country’s military authorities on charges of espionage.

Mr. Ateba, a Cameroonian who has worked as a journalist in Nigeria for over a decade, was arrested on Friday afternoon at the Minawao refugee camp and taken to Makolo in the far north of Cameroon and has been accused of spying for the Boko Haram insurgency group which is waging a Jihadist war in north east Nigeria. He has spent two nights in detention.

Condemning the arrest Mr Dennis Nkwebo said the arrest is high handed, which further indicates how Cameroonian journalists are being oppressed from speaking freely. But they won't relent in writing the truth he asserted.

Mr Mr. Chia is also reported to have condemned Ateba’s arrest and promised to do everything possible to effect his release.

Jonathan’s Economic Achievements Fake says Presidency in Response to PDP Claims.

The presidency has advised the Peoples Democratic Party “to stop its pathetic efforts to play down President Muhammadu Buhari’s achievements in his first 100 days in office and bury its head in shame for subjecting Nigeria to the worst economic plunder through corruption in its recent history”.

Reacting to a statement issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, that the economy has been going down under the APC administration, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said Nigerian economy “was gasping for breath under the egregiously corrupt PDP administration, and that the country was witnessing an acceleration of poverty which united Nigerians for change”.

According Mr. Shehu, “the excruciating hardships experienced by Nigerians under the PDP misrule was unprecedented, it is ridiculous to for any sane government to artificially rebase the economy and claim to transform Nigeria into the largest economy in Africa as the PDP administration did”.

He said the former ruling party was artificially manipulating statistics to create the illusion of impressive economic performance record.

According to the presidential spokesperson, one falsehood built on another cannot stand, adding that if the PDP’s claim of economic successes in terms of GDP, employment generation, poverty alleviation and others were genuine, Nigerians wouldn’t have voted the party out of power.

Mr. Shehu wondered which contented electorate would have voted a performing party out of office.
He explained that if the former ruling party was doing so well, the opposition parties would have found it difficult to defeat a popular ruling party.
Mr. Shehu said that the PDP assumed performance was nothing more than window dressing, and a detachment from reality.

The Presidential spokesman said no economy can grow with corruption, an area in which the
PDP administration demonstrated more competence.
The presidency said criticism for its own sake is not the hallmark of credible opposition.

According to Mr. Shehu, “Nigerians no longer face exploitation at filling stations because the government is taking punitive measures against marketers that punish poor Nigerians.

He noted that queues had disappeared at filling stations, adding that the naira is also enjoying favourable exchange rate”.

The media aide said the Buhari administration had successfully blocked leakages and other avenues for corruption, practices which he said the previous PDP administration lacked the will or the desire to stop.

As a result of the measures to block leakages, he said the Buhari administration has frustrated the efforts by corrupt elements to divert public funds to private pockets.

Mr. Shehu said once the trial of corrupt officials formally begins, “the PDP might no longer have the moral legs to stand on, let alone talk down on Nigerians with fake claims of economic miracles under its most incompetent and grossly purposeless and sleazy administration”.

Premium News Report.

Cross River Government Commended Over Mass Employment by Widows

The Cross River State government has been commended by some windows over its plan to offer mass employment in its newly-established garment factory. 

A cross section of the widows made the commendation in Calabar in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday.

The factory was inaugurated to mark Gov. Ben Ayade’s 100 days in office, in which 85 per cent of the workforce will constitute of widows.

Some of the widows speaking to NAN have expressed their gratitude to the government for making the effort of reducing widows burdens in the state.

he former governor spoke, yesterday, in Port Harcourt, while addressing loyalists of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Amaechi said he was in the Rivers State capital  to quietly attend a church program and will leave same day, adding that he had clear documents pointing at the alleged corruption acts  of the governor.
Amaechi vowed never to appear before  the Justice  George Omereji Commission of Inquiry investigating alleged sale of  the  assets of the state by his government, insisting that the establishment of the commission did not comply with constitutional provisions.
The former governor said he will appear before any properly constituted commission in the state.
“I have been listening while in Abuja to  Nyesom  Wike accusing me of corruption and I laugh.
Even Nyesom Wike knows that I don’t like money, he knows that”, he stated.
“The pressure Wike is putting on us  is to  let somebody call us together to a meeting to withdraw our case  challenging his election from court.. The party has a right to go to court. The law of Nigeria says there is no independent candidate. Even if I, Amaechi, Peterside withdraw, APC will carry on with the case.
“The funny thing about the young man is that he knows I know him. I was his governor, I have documents to show that he is a contractor. I am not a thief; so I don’t know what this young man is talking about.”
The former governor said he had had only one  local bank account since he became governor.
According to him, he never handled any contract while he was governor.
The former governor, who accused INEC, SSS, Army and militants of  conniving to rob the APC of victory in the last gubernatorial election  in the state, said he and his party will continue to fight until they get justice from the court.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/amaechi-fires-back-wike-also-corrupt-i-wont-appear-before-his-commission/#sthash.NzojhNow.dpuf

On the Foreign Scene

Many Dead and Dozens Injured in Saudi Oil Giant Housing Complex Fire Outbreak

At least six people were killed and 206 injured in Saudi Arabia Sunday when a fire broke out at a residential complex housing employees of oil giant Saudi Aramco, authorities said.

The fire started in the basement of a tower in the eastern city of Khobar, the kingdom’s civil defence said on Twitter.

It added that several of the injured were in a “critical condition” and that the casualties were from “various nationalities,” without giving details.

Photographs published on the civil defence website showed plumes of black smoke rising from the windows of one of the buildings.

Authorities said that residents of nearby towers were evacuated as helicopters took part in the firefighting operations.

Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company in terms of crude production and exports, released a statement confirming the fire at the residential complex, adding that the incident was being investigated.
The company says it employs more than 61,000 workers worldwide from 77 countries.

American Arrested on Sierra Leone "blood diamond" Charges.

Spanish authorities have arrested a American man on charges of enslavement and diamond pillaging during Sierra Leone's civil war, a victims' association said on Saturday.

Michel Desaedeleer, who has U.S. and Belgian citizenship, is suspected of forcing enslaved civilians to mine for diamonds in Sierra Leone's eastern district of Kono between 1999-2001, according to Swiss-based Civitas Maxima.

During Sierra Leone's long conflict, the diamonds were sent to neighbouring Liberia where former President Charles Taylor used the proceeds to finance weapons for rebels.

"(The case) will help to raise awareness of the pivotal role played by financial actors in the trade of mineral resources that fuel armed conflicts in Africa and elsewhere," said Alain Werner, director of Civitas Maxima, which has been working for years to document the crimes and assist victims.

A Belgian investigation led to a European arrest warrant being issued against Desaedeleer earlier this year. He is normally resident in the United States.

More than 50,000 people died in the 11-year conflict and many more were left maimed by the notorious Revolutionary United Front. Taylor is now serving a 50-year sentence for war crimes. (Reporting by Emma Farge)

Source: Reuters.