TheNewsGuru

Tag: Aides

  • None of my aides has gone into hiding to evade EFCC areest – Okorocha

    None of my aides has gone into hiding to evade EFCC areest – Okorocha

    Former Imo governor Rochas Okorocha has denied reports claiming that some of his aides had gone into hiding to evade arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    A media report had claimed that aides of the former governor had disappeared from the state ostensibly to avoid being arrested by personnel of the anti-corruption agency.

    But Okorocha, in a statement issued by his media aide, Mr Sam Onwuemeodo, described the report as “totally false”.

    “The report claiming that my aides have gone into hiding did not mention any of my aides alleged to have gone into hiding.

    “The report has no iota of truth because no name was mentioned. In the whole story, the reporter could not mention any of the aides or the EFCC officials who came to Imo, to arrest them.

    “The report did not mention the offence which my aides committed, that made EFCC to come to Imo,” the statement added.

    He accused the purveyors of the report of mischief, and described the attitude as “sad and tragic”.

    “EFCC does not need to come to Imo for any of my aides; all the agency needs to do is to send an invitation and it will be honoured,” the statement said.

  • Gov. El-Rufai appoints Chief of Staff, 7 other aides

    Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has appointed Muhammad Sani Abdullahi, the immediate past Commissioner for Planning and Budget, as Chief of Staff.
    This was contained in a statement by Samuel Aruwan, Commissioner-Designate, Internal Security and Home Affairs, on Friday in Kaduna.
    The statement said the governor also appointed seven other officials, including new heads of the State Primary Health Care Development Agency (SPHCDA) and the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).
    According to the statement, Bala Yunusa will serve as the Deputy Chief of Staff, Legislative, Hamza Abubakar as Executive Secretary, SPHCDA and Ben Kure, Special Adviser, Political Matters.
    Others are Dr Omano Edigheji, Special Adviser, Research and Documentation and Maimuna Abubakar Zakari, Executive Secretary, SEMA.
    The governor also appointed Dr Habiba Ibrahim Mohammed as Special Assistant, Geographic Information Service and Jamilu Albani, Director-General, Interfaith Matters.
    Abdullahi, the new chief of staff, was appointed Commissioner for Planning and Budget in 2015 and served in that capacity throughout the first term of Gov. El-Rufai.
    He had served as a Policy Adviser in the Executive Office of United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon in New York and was a member of the Secretary General’s core team that designed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
    In 2018, Muhammad was appointed as a member of the World Bank’s Advisory Council on Citizen Engagement.

  • Akeredolu’s aides defects to PDP

    Two aides of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State have resigned their appointments.

    The two politicians who resigned were Mr. Akopebi Lubi and Dr. Benson Enikuomehin, who were both Senior Special Assistant and Special Assistant to the governor, respectively.

    Both Lubi and Enikuomehin were said to have joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Meanwhile, Governor Akeredolu has approved the resignation of his two former aides.

    He said the resignation was not unconnected with the political mood of

    the nation, saying everybody is free to join any political party or parties of their choice.

    He said, “It must, however, be noted that the resignation and defection of the two former aides would not affect the chances of President Muhammad Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC).”

    The governor who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Segun Ajiboye, said the defection of his aides would, in no way,  affect his administration.

    He urged the APC members in the state not to be worried by the development, but continue to work for the progress of the party.

  • 2019: Amosun’s defection plan thickens as top aides move to dump APC for ADP, others

    2019: Amosun’s defection plan thickens as top aides move to dump APC for ADP, others

    Indications emerged on Sunday that Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State may have perfected his defection plans despite holding peace meetings with President Muhammadu Buhari and other stakeholders last week.
    Baring any last minute change of plans, some close associates of the governor might likely defect this week as a precursor to the governor’s impending defection.
     
    They are aggrieved by the rejection of the nomination of Amosun’s anointed governorship candidate, Mr. Adekunle Akinlade and a few others by the national leadership of the party.
     
    It was gathered that the governor’s loyalists have already cut deals with other political parties, including the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) and the Action Democratic Party (ADP), ahead of their defection from the APC.
     
    It was learnt as well that a serving commissioner in Amosun’s government co-ordinated discussions with the DPP while one of the three vice chairmen of the APC in the state handled the deal with the ADP.
     
    Sources said the first move by the Amosun camp to leave the APC was made as soon as the APC national secretariat refused to accept the result of the primaries that produced Akinlade as governorship candidate.
     
    The move has the full backing of the governor although he himself has vowed to stay on in the APC.
     
    One of the governor’s allies involved in the deal said: “It is a move serious politicians should expect.
     
    “We know we are the popular ones across the state. APC cannot win in Ogun State without Amosun and his people.
     
    “But we can do it alone if APC refuses to recognize our worth. We saw the treachery going on and we thought of pre-empting the situation. What you are seeing playing out didn’t just happen. We saw the need and we acted.”
     
    The group was locked in a strategic meeting at press time to determine which of the two platforms -DPP and ADP- is best placed to help Akinlade in realizing his governorship ambition.
     
    Another source in the group said the affected associates, aides and supporters of the governor will announce their defection from the APC in a matter of days.
     
    The source said: “They will also announce their new political party. Many of them will emerge as substitute candidates of the chosen party upon their official defection during the week.
     
    “All is set for Amosun’s people to call the bluff of the APC and its national leaders.”
     
    On Amosun’s continued membership of the APC, the source said: “That is one of the issues that delayed the move till now.
     
    “While some of our leaders see the need for Amosun to remain in the APC for strategic reasons, some others are of the opinion that it is better and more effective for him to lead his camp out of the APC.
     
    “Before now, there was the fear that even Amosun might be denied the Ogun Central Senatorial ticket. But he got it and two of our people also got the other senatorial tickets.
     
    “There is need to decide whether they should hold on to the tickets or drop them and pick the tickets of the party to be adopted. All these will be ironed out at the meeting today. But one thing is sure; our group will not stay in the APC and work for Dapo Abiodun.
     
    “Already, we have our people as candidates of both the DPP and ADP across the state. The deals with the party will be ready to substitute the names they submitted to INEC with the names of our people once we join their party. While DPP submitted the names of people who gave them to stand in for our real candidates across the state, the ADP assured us that once we choose their party, our candidates will be forwarded as substitutes.”
     
    Some prominent aides and associates of Amosun have already been named as candidates of the DPP in the list of National Assembly candidates released last week by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
     
    The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye; a Senior Special Assistant to Amosun, Alhaji Bola Adeyemi and the Governor’s Special Adviser on Energy, Chief Taiwo Fagbemi, are named as DPP’s senatorial candidates for Ogun East, Central and West district respectively.
     
    Also, former APC chairman for Egbado South Local Government, Odebiyi Safiu Abiodun, is DPP’s House of Representatives candidate for Egbado South /Ipokia Federal constituency, a younger brother

  • Trouble for Tambuwal as he loses 252 aides to APC

    Trouble for Tambuwal as he loses 252 aides to APC

    In what appears like a political earthquake, 252 Special advisers and Special assistants appointed by Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto state have resigned their appointments.

    And they have returned to the All Progressives Congress, instead of working under a PDP government.

    Alhaji Ibrahim Haske, a special adviser to the renegade governor and spokesman for all the aides, announced this at a news conference in Sokoto on Sunday.

    He said their decision followed Gov. Tambuwal’s defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    “Our appointment is based on the position that APC is the political party governing the state and now that the government belongs to PDP, we have no option other than to resign.

    “We are bonafide members of APC and our position has always remained same; we, therefore, resign voluntarily from the PDP government,” Haske said.

    Haske, who was a former Sokoto South Local Government Chairman, further explained the decision was based on their desire to support APC to deliver on its mandate after the 2019 general elections.

    Alhaji Abdullahi Sokoto, also a special adviser to Tambuwal, restated the former aides’ commitment and dedication toward ensuring the success of APC across the state.

    “We will continue to remain in our party APC and as such we sacrifice our political appointments to clarify people’s doubt and show our stand on party supremacy.”

    He restated the group’s loyalty and support to the policies and programme of the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of APC.

    In his reaction, the APC Chairman in the state, Alhaji Sadiq Achida, commended the former aides to Gov. Tambuwal for their demonstration of loyalty to the party.

    He said, “the sacrifice of the Special advisers is highly recommended and will surely be rewarded by the people and APC in future.”

  • Photos: Again, Buhari receives Lai Mohammed, Adeshina, others, insists ‘Only my doctors can tell when I’ll return to Nigeria’

    President Muhammadu Buhari has again insisted on Saturday that only his doctors can determine his return date to Nigeria.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that President Buhari traveled for medical check-up in London on Sunday, May 7, more than a month he came back into the country from a previous medical vacation.

    According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President spoke at the Abuja House, London, United Kingdom, when he received his members of his media team led by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

    Buhari who has been receiving medical attention in the British capital since May 7 was reported to have told the team that visited him that there is tremendous improvement in his health and that indeed, he wished to return home,

    “I have learnt to obey my doctor’s orders rather than be the one issuing the orders. Here, the doctor is absolutely in charge,” the President was quoted as saying.

    Mohammed was said to have led the team that included Adesina; Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu; Personal Assistant on Digital/Online Media, Lauretta Onochie; and the Senior Special Assistant on Diaspora Matters, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa,

    According to Adesina, when the team expressed delight at the much-improved health of the President, Buhari reportedly said, “I feel I could go home, but the doctors are in charge. I have now learned to obey orders, rather than be obeyed.”

    On how he felt hearing different conjectures about his health, Buhari was reported to have said he followed events at home closely.

    He was said to have lauded Nigerian television stations, and the media generally, for keeping him informed.

    When told that prayers were going on fervently for him, not only in Nigeria, but all over Africa, and round the world, the President reportedly said, “What we did in The Gambia early this year fetched us a lot of goodwill on the African continent. It gave us a lot of latitude. I thank all those who are praying. May God reward them.”

    Adesina said the President sent appreciation to all Nigerians, expressing hope that he would be with them soon.

  • Saraki sacks 98 aides

    Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki has reportedly sacked 98 of his aides.

    Sources in the Senate said most of the affected aides are staff of the National Assembly Management who were deployed in the Office of the President of the Senate.

    However, both Saraki’s Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu; and his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Sanni Onogu, however, denied knowledge of the sackings.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Saraki had earlier in the year ordered a staff audit exercise, while indications had emerged that 100 of his aides would be affected.

     

    Details later…

  • Sun Trust Bank denies withholding National Assembly aides’ salaries

    The management of Sun Trust Bank on Wednesday denied reports that it withheld the salaries of legislative aides in the National Assembly salaries.

    Mr Usman Abdulqadir, Executive Director for Finance and Risk, made this known at the press briefing in Lagos.

    Abdulqadir said the bank had executed all mandates given to it with respect to making payment on behalf of its customers promptly.

    “In this vein, as banker to some of the NASS accounts, the bank has received the mandate to make payment to various beneficiaries and those payments have since been relayed, some via REMITA, to the relevant banks.

    “We advice that persons who are yet to receive payments executed by us should have first checked with his/ her bankers to trace where such payments are held.

    “We categorically restate that we do not fail to honour any obligation to our clients,” he said.

    The executive director said the bank deeply regretted report that an individual lost his life.

    “We extend our deepest condolences to his family and the entire NASS family,” he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that legislative aides at the National Assembly protested the nonpayment of their salaries on Tuesday in Abuja.

    The protest was due to the death of one of the legislative aides, Hassan Abiodun, over a ruptured appendicitis because he could not pay N165,000 medical bill for the recommended surgery.

    The deceased, who died on Friday, June 9, was a legislative aide attached to the Deputy Speaker, Honourable Yussuff Sulaimon Lasun.

    The aides, who all dressed in black attire, met Senate President Bukola Saraki, who is also the Chairman of the National Assembly Commission.

    Dayo Fadugba, the spokesman of the aides, accused the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr Sani Omolori, of having an ulterior motive over his preference for a new bank to pay their salaries.

    According to him, “From all indications, it is manifest that the bank does not have the capacity and infrastructure to handle the volume of transaction the Clerk has foisted on it.

    “Indeed, we are convinced that the decision is motivated by ulterior motive aimed at bolstering the financial standing of the micro finance bank masquerading as a commercial institution.”

    Abdulqadir said Sun Trust Bank Nigeria Ltd., is a commercial bank duly licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.