The General Overseer of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), Dr Daniel Olukoya, has directed that members to extend the ongoing 30 Days Prayer Retreat which marks third session.
According to a release signed by the chairman, MFM Media Committee, Pastor Oladele Bank-Olemoh, the members will from Wednesday commence a special prayers programme for July tagged ‘Power Must Change Hands’.
“The prayer points for the programme will be distributed through our social media platforms.
“We start with praise/ worship songs, then confess Psalms 91 and 46. This is followed by the singing of three choice songs on the blood of Jesus and then the prayers. This should be done daily,” Pastor Bank-Olemoh stated.
It is recalled that the MFM directed its members to embark on a 30-day prayers retreat which ran from Sunday, 22 March, through Monday, April 20. The Ministry distributed a 62-page prayer pamphlet to her members and prayer lovers alike, within and outside the ministry as the Covid-19 pandemic forced a lockdown of the nation in March.
At the expiration of the first and second rounds of the monthly prayer retreat, Dr Olukoya directed a repeat, making it three, which is still being prayed daily by everyone till today.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes Anthony Martial settling into the number nine role has prompted his good run of form which has seen the Manchester United forward reach 20 goals for the season.
The Frenchman scored his first career hat-trick against Sheffield United last month and followed it up with a perfectly-struck strike against Bournemouth at the weekend, taking him to 15 Premier League goals this season.
It is already Martial’s best goalscoring season and United still have five league games remaining, an FA Cup semi-final and the Europa League to continue. And Solskjaer explained the secret behind unlocking the attacker’s potential.
“I think the team creating chances, Anthony working hard, being the number nine in a settled position, but also once in a while rotating with Marcus [Rashford] and switching positions,” Solskjaer said.
“For his goal (against Bournemouth), he started off on the left and curled it into the top corner.”
The Delta State Government has opened up over the controversy surrounding reopening of schools in the State, advising Deltans to disregard those who are posting fake dates for reopening of schools.
The State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Chief Patrick Ukah, in a statement in Asaba on Monday, said once all modalities for the safe reopening of schools in the state are concluded, a date for the reopening will be announced officially.
Chief Ukah assured parents and guardians of students and pupils that primary and secondary schools closed in the state due to the COVID-19 pandemic will soon be reopened, stressing that that the reopening will be in line with the directive of the federal government that only graduating classes, that is, primary six pupils, JS 111 and SS 111 students, who have external examinations, will resume classes.
The Commissioner disclosed that a meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday between the federal and state governments to fine-tune modalities for the reopening of schools. He also disclosed that several meetings have been ongoing with critical stakeholders in the educational sector in the state, and that all are working towards the eventual reopening of schools.
He said that the educational advancement of students and pupils in the state is of paramount importance to the state government, adding however that the necessary protocols to curtail the continued spread of the infection must be in place before schools will reopen.
The commissioner advised students to continue to take advantage of the state government’s teleclass educational programmes on several radio and television stations in the state to update themselves in their academic studies.
Chief Ukah advised Deltans to disregard those who are posting fake dates that schools will reopen in the state describing their action as not only unauthorized but meant to deceive members of the public.
The Basic and Secondary Education Commissioner stated that once all modalities for the safe reopening of schools in the state are concluded, a date for the reopening will be announced officially.
The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mr Olukayode Popoola, on Monday said consultations were on for another phase of repair works to begin on the Third Mainland Bridge.
Popoola told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the consultations were towards evolving perfect traffic management architecture.
“We want to do maintenance work on Third Mainland Bridge very soon. Most likely on the 24th. We may close it from 24th of July.
“We are still working out the modalities and when we perfect the traffic management plan we will move to site.
“Everything being expected for the repairs of the bridge arrived the country that is why we want to start the repairs now,’’ he said.
NAN reports that the bridge which has gone through series of rehabilitation works was last shut in August 2018 for a three days investigative maintenance check.
Thereafter, some components needed for completion of repairs were sourced abroad because they were not available locally.
The 11.8km Third Mainland Bridge is the longest of three bridges connecting Lagos Island to the mainland.
The bridge starts from Oworonshoki which is linked to the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway and the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and ends at the Adeniji Adele Interchange on Lagos Island.
It was constructed in 1990 and was the longest in Africa until 1996 when The 6th October Bridge in Cairo was completed.
A Twitter user that goes by the handle, @AmeeraYusuf_ has cried out, alleging that a Big Brother Naija (BBNaija) organizer asked her to sleep with him to get a slot into the BBNaija house.
The Twitter user made the tweet on Saturday, vowing to expose the organizer while describing the BBNaija show as fake.
“I’m BIGGER than BBNAIJA so they can start their stupid show without me. How can Mr. Olushola Akande ask me to sleep with him to get a slot. I’ve receipts… I will expose your fake show and how you take advantage of people. You will hear from me,” @AmeeraYusuf_tweeted.
Celebrated Egyptian actress Ragaa al-Gedawi died aged 81 on Sunday in a quarantine hospital weeks after testing positive for the new coronavirus, state media reported.
In late May, al-Gedawi, a former model, was transferred to a hospital in the coastal city of Ismailia, north east of Cairo, after displaying symptoms of the virus.
She was quarantined in the hospital until her death early Sunday, the online edition of state-owned newspaper al-Ahram reported.
Several days ago al-Gedawi was placed on a ventilator at an intensive care unit in the hospital due to her old age and her deteriorating health.
Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country of nearly 100 million people, recently loosened virus-related restrictions to boost its economy.
Health authorities have so far reported a total of 74,035 virus cases and 3,280 related deaths.
….citizens insist El-Rufai must probe officials in charge of food Palliatives
…Civil servants lament contributions of N374,450,000 from salary
…Publish what you spent on Covid-19 prevention and management now, CSOs tell El-Rufai, other governors
By Emmanuel Bagudu
Predictions and prophecies by anti-corruption activists that the Covid-19 pandemic will be a fertile ground for aggravated corruption in Nigeria are already coming to pass. Corruption becomes inevitable in the Covid-19 era due to the scarcity of resources as well as disrupted supply chains of those resources caused by the painful but necessary quarantine laws also referred to as lockdown.
At the receiving end are petty traders whose means of livelihoods are largely dependent on daily income. Government at national and sub-national levels amass funds to fight the dreaded pandemic as well as make life easy for its citizens by providing palliatives in the form of either cash or kind. But the oliver-twist-like greed of some politicians and government administrators couldn’t allow them to resist temptation- the urge to steal and divert resources meant to reduce the pains citizens faced in the lockdown.
Here in Nigeria, among the citizens that suffered from these pains of syphoning of resources are Citizens of Kaduna State. With over N600 million generated funds from deducted salaries of civil servants, political office holders and donations from private companies, one will think the Kaduna State government has successfully tamed the pains of most of its vulnerable citizens during the seventy-five days lockdown in the state. But this was not so. This piece therefore explores and make bare the traces of corruption in the management of the so far over N600 million Covid-19 funds generated by Kaduna State during its seventy-five days Lockdown.
Instances of corruption in the Kaduna Covid-19 war are visible in the distribution of food Palliatives and the Non-disclosure of spendings on Covid-19 prevention and management.
Investigations show that the two phases of the food Palliatives distribution in the state which took place in April and May respectively were all marred by politicians and government officials.
Reports monitored by Thenewsguru. com (TNG) coming from members of civil societies as well as testimonies from a good number of citizens confirmed the failure of the state government in food Palliatives distribution.
This Investigation covered areas like Kakuri, Tirkaniya, Television Market, Ungwan Ma’azu (Kaduna South), Television Village, Television Garage, Nassarawa and Romi in the state Capital, Kaduna. TNG investigations also x-rayed outside the state capital where Citizens from Zaria, Soba, Saminaka, Zonkwa, Kafanchan and Kwoi where eligible citizens for the food Palliatives gave their story. All these areas apart from one person in Nassarawa community in Kaduna had respondents expressing bitterness on video recording interviews over the corruptions citizens witnessed during the food Palliatives distribution.
N500 Million was the cost of the entire food Palliatives in the state where eligible families captured in the social register are to be given at least food packs worth N11,000 each according to the state government. But the exercise didn’t happen that way. A lot of diversions took place. The register wasn’t used. “….it was a thug of war, in my area, there was suppose to be armed security men monitoring the strict regulations of sharing these palliatives, but no, officials just came and select who they liked and give what they like, people only got food in pieces not in packs as the government arranged….” Auwal Mohammed, a resident of Kakuri community in Kaduna stated in an interview. Mohammed also disclosed that he witnessed the sharing of the palliatives where he noticed that most people qualified for it were denied.
Hauwa Abdullahi a 53-year-old mother of three in Kakuri is among the supposed beneficiaries of the food palliatives. Her survival and that of her three kids depends largely on begging for alms. On several occasions, Hauwa finds herself in trouble with the Kaduna State Rehabilitation Board who are enforcing the ban on street begging laws created by Governor Nasir Elrufai. With the emergence of Covid-19 and its prevention strategies by the state government, Hauwa and her likes are in a double whammy; no begging for alms, no movement and more heart aching, no jobs because of the lockdown. Food Palliatives now remains the only option of survival for Hauwa. On hearing the announcement in April by the Kaduna government that food Palliatives will be distributed to reduce the sufferings of poor persons in the state during the Lockdown, Hauwa was very happy. But her happiness didn’t last because she didn’t get the food items. “…. I was asked to come out and join the line…. But the food didn’t get to me….” Hauwa said in the Hausa language. She was embittered. “Wanda Suka ci Suka koshi Suka yi amai, su aka ba, ba muba….” Hauwa added in Hausa, meaning, “only those who have eaten enough and have vomited, got the food Palliatives, not us”.
From Kakuri to Barnawa, to Ungwan Ma’azu, Television Village, Tirkaniya, Romi, and other towns in the outskirts of Kaduna metropolis, the story is the same. The Injustice in the sharing of food Palliatives was very conspicuous. Mr. Jude Okoh, a truck driver who was given the food Palliatives to take to Barnawa and Television Village narrated how officials diverted the food items in their favour. In his words, “…. I am among the people that carried the food Palliatives for Barnawa here… my brother it was war….one woman before my presence, right in front of me without shame came with Siena bus and load more than thirty(30) Cartons of different food items, she was even fighting with those civilian JTF who were there to maintain law and order….” Okoh said. Mr Okoh also narrated how he was instructed to pick some of the food items and deliver to Churches without the protection of security personnel. “….we carried some of the foodstuffs, dropped in ECWA church, Television Village, in Anglican Church, and in some other churches. The next day we returned to witness the sharing …some women only got one (1) cup of rice. Some stayed the whole day on the queue but saw nothing” Okoh said.
For his part, Malam Hamza a popular shoe seller in Television Market, said it was a pathetic situation. “It’s not that I was told, no, I witnessed the sharing of the palliatives in my area, two in every ten vulnerable persons did not get the palliatives …. I saw someone being given three (3) pieces of noodles, (not carton), another was given two (2) pieces, I saw a group of five persons given one (1) carton of noodles to share…. I even went to other places where the palliatives are shared, I saw over two hundred persons, but the food that was brought to the place can only serve three persons…. how will two hundred persons jostle for food meant for only three persons….” Hamza said while speaking in Hausa.
Communities outside the State Capital witnessed the second phase of Palliatives Distribution. Although the Secretary to the Kaduna State government Balarabe Lawal stated that there was no rancour in the second phase, officials still diverted the food items. In Soba, residents express gratitude to the government but reported acts of Injustice by officials. “It was a party affair, if you are not from their Party, you will not get the food Palliatives….” Mairo Inuwa a food vendor in Soba said in an interview. Residents of Saminaka, Zonkwa, Kafanchan and Kwoi made the same complain. “The palliatives showed the government have the people in mind, but some corrupt officials will not let people eat….” Mr Gaius Manzo a civil servant in Kafanchan said in an interview. Mr. Manzo said civil servants in the state are not happy seeing that the 25% deduction of their salaries is being played with. “….you will recall that we contributed over N300 million to this war against Covid-19 when they government said it will deduct 25% of our salary for the months of April and May…but look at how some politicians are busy diverting the food Palliatives, the governor and the SSG (referring to Secretary to the state government) should please probe these Palliatives Distributors to avoid future occurrence….” Manzo said.
Another glaring instance of corruption in the management of Covid-19 funds in Kaduna is the Non-disclosure of spendings for the pandemic. Those that Contributed over N600 million Naira for the war against Covid-19 deserve to know what the money is used for. Questions need to be asked. Government openness and Transparency must come to play and Kaduna State being the pioneer of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in Nigeria should not in any way be found wanting in area of openness. Only N500 million for food Palliatives was disclosed. Citizens deserve to know the cost of testing, and maintenance of Isolation centres. Nondisclosure of spending these funds is termed as corruption as declared by the Federal Government’ framework for managing Covid-19 Funds (FMIC). Paragraph two of the objectives of the FMIC states that the “…Framework is… designed to articulate the measures put in place by Government for the transparent and accountable management of COVID-19 Donor Funds as an expression of its commitment towards bridging the trust gap.”
Though the Framework is designed by the Federal Government, the government of Kaduna State which signed to the OGP should see this framework as a way of meeting its obligation as an OGP compliant state. On transparency, the framework states that “…..Failure to publish timely report of COVID-19 activities in the prescribed format and at the stipulated intervals or to respond to FOI request will constitute early warning signs of mismanagement….”
Once Kaduna government key into the FMIC like the way it started the OGP, it will sustain its reputation. Kaduna has about three testing centres presently; the DNA laboratory, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Zaria, and a new community testing vehicle.
TNG also gathered that the Infectious disease control centre (IDCC) Kakuri which has been upgraded to an isolation centre also conduct Covid-19 tests.
Apart from the IDCC Kakuri, Hamdala motel is another isolation centre while the Barrau Dikko Teaching Hospital also has an isolation unit.
Recall that all Federal Stadia were to be used as isolation centre and Ahmadu Bello Stadium Kaduna was to be used as isolation centre but nothing of such is happening there.
It would also be recalled that the first set of covid 19 positive patients in Kaduna State with the Governor Malam Nasir el-Rufai being the index case were all attended to by health workers in an undisclosed private facility except for the governor who disclosed that he was being attended to in an arm of the government house by health workers. The IDCC is equipped with ventilators but no one knows whether the other isolation centre at Hamdala motel has ventilators, it is not impossible however following reports of ventilators donation to the state government recently.
The extent to which the isolation centres are equipped and amount spent on such is also not disclosed.
Conclusion:
Advocacies by the Civil Society Communities on asking questions about Covid-19 spending must be taken serious. Two civil societies in Nigeria; “Budgit” and “Socio-economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP)” have been calling on government at national and sub-national (state) level to desist from the habit of non-disclosure of spendings. Budgit sometimes in the end of June disclosed in their Twitter handle that “so far only Oyo State has disclosed how much it spent on Covid-19” and by July 3; just few days later Kwara state released how much it spent on Covid-19 too. For SERAP, it’s a daily routine. They seek explanation on all funds spent. This kind of advocacies is the way forward. Nigerians must keep asking these questions until they get very good and well comprehensive answers.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State has raised concern over the composition of a committee set up to recruit 10,00 youths by Federal Government in each local government in the state.
Some APC chieftains, in a petition, addressed to the Minister of Labour, Dr Chris Ngige, and made available to newsmen on Sunday in Enugu, said that the state government had hijacked the process.
A copy of the petition, which was sent to the National Assembly, was signed by Chief Ben Ezeamuna and Chief Tobi Odinwankpa from Udi and Ezeagu Local Government areas of the state, respectively.
They alleged that the leadership and membership of the committee for Enugu State were mostly loyalists and members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), while members of APC were excluded.
The petition read in part: “As the ruling party in Nigeria, we were perplexed to see that members of our party are conspicuously missing.
“The list contains only PDP loyalists and members apart from few inclusions outside party lines.
“It is a worrisome development as our party is marginalised and this is an embarrassing development that has plagued APC development in the state,” it read.
The party said that such type of neglect of party members had dwarfed the progress of the party in the state.
The APC chieftains sought for the intervention and directive of the minister to review the membership of the committee and for a member of their party to be at the head.
Meanwhile, the state Commissioner for Labour, Mr Uchechukwu Ogbonna, said he was not aware of the identity of members of the recruitment committee.
Ogbonna said that no memo was sent to him from any quarter, adding that he would seek information about the scheme from the relevant quarters.
The Federal Government had initiated a scheme to gainfully engage 10, 000 youths in each local government area in the country. The Federal Government also announced that a selection committee would be put in place to drive the recruitment.
The suspended management of the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has said all training, contracts and rehabilitation carried out by the NSITF received the approvals of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige and the National Assembly (NASS).
The suspended management of the NSITF, which stated this in Abuja on Saturday, also denied the allegation of contract splitting made by the Minister of Labour and Employment.
“There was no contract splitting as claimed by the Minister. The training referred to were budgeted for in the year 2017, 2018 and 2019 appropriations for over 5,000 staff nationwide, and Procurement Planning Committee Meetings were held for the procurement of goods, works and services to commence the procurement activities. All these details were included in the budget for these years, taken for budget defence in the supervising Ministry, officially endorsed by the Minister himself, approved and transmitted to the National Assembly for necessary approval during the budget defences for these years,” the suspended management stated.
Recall that the allegation that the project of construction of 14 Zonal/Regional offices in 14 states running into billions of Naira was a policy that was done without Board or ministerial knowledge not to talk of approval, was also levelled by the Minister against the suspended management.
The suspended management debunked the allegation, saying the projects were in the 2019 budget, again brought for the budget defence in the supervising Ministry, chaired by the Minister himself, approved accordingly, endorsed by him, the Permanent Secretary, MD and General Manager Finance before it was forwarded from the supervising ministry to the National Assembly for further necessary action and budget defence.
To buttress the above claim, the suspended management said the Minister personally increased the constructions by adding Akwa and Asaba sites.
It added: “It is therefore not true that such policy issues were being done without Board or Ministerial knowledge, not to talk of approval.”
Responding to claims by the Minster that the projects were done in 2019 by the Managing Director and his three-man executive and that some of the projects are duplications and hence a waste of funds, the suspended management said such claim was false, saying the sites can be seen as approved in the budgets to confirm whether or not there were duplications as alleged.
The management also debunked the claim by the Minister of Labour and Employment that construction of any new regional offices was executed. It explained that what was done was a renovation of abandoned NSITF offices to enable the Fund to move out from rented offices where such abandoned properties were located.
“However, the only new office proposed for construction was in Awka at the direction and approval of the Minister himself. Consequently, we can see that the renovation works were approved in the Fund budget by the Minister and the National Assembly. For further clarification the management of the Fund advertised the projects in Federal Tender Journal and national dailies and that the bids were competed for, opened publicly, evaluated and awarded through transparent processes,” it stated.
The suspended management also hinted that it has records of pictorial evidence of all the training programs done in the last three years and procurement of goods, works and services are all available in the Fund emphasizing that relevant approvals were gotten before the projects were executed.
They explained that all the projects approved by Parastatals Tender Board Meetings (PTB) were within the approved threshold of the Fund for the procurement of goods, works and services.
“Any other projects above the prescribed Threshold of the PTB were taken to the Ministerial Tender Board Meeting (MTB) of the Ministry of Labour and Employment through the Office of the Minister,” it added.
The suspended management alleged that suspending the top officials of the Fund even before a panel of inquiry is inaugurated could deny the officials the right frame of mind and official space to adequately respond to the allegations.
They maintained that they are willing to defend all the allegations levelled against them before an independent panel of enquiry that should consist of relevant government agencies such as the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Head of Service of the Federation, Office of the Auditor General of the Federation, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and not handpicked officers by the Minister.
The suspended management said: “We hereby seek that due process be followed and the suspended staff should be allowed to return to their offices to prepare their defence to all allegations against them. There are already reports that some of the documents needed to defend the allegations are being carted away from the office. Consequently, it would be appreciated if the Minister would comply with the SGF Circular Ref No.: SGF/OP/I.S.3/T/163 dated 19th May 2020,”
But the Minster through deputy director, Press, Charles Akpan, said the NSITF management and some top officials were suspended because they violated the disciplinary procedure approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Akpan insisted that the Minister of Labour and Employment acted in line with the Constitution, Public Service Rules and NSITF Act.
He explained that the NSITF Act empowers the Minister to recommend fit and proper persons to Mr. President for an appointment for the post of chairman, Managing Director and three Executive Directors to manage the day to day affairs of the agency.
Although the Minister did not disclose the panel that indicted the suspended officials and how prima facie was established against them, he insisted that the suspension of the management became imperative after a preliminary investigation on allegations of corruption and prima facie infractions on the extant financial regulations and procurement Act and other acts of gross misconduct were established.
The Minister alleged that some of the infractions uncovered include N3.4 billion squandered on non-existent staff training split into about 196 different consultancy contracts in order to evade the Ministerial Tenders Board and Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval.
He also mentioned non-existent and un-executed N2.3 billion was documented and paid while N1.1 billion is awaiting payment without any job done, all totalling N3.4 billion. The Minister also indicted board members, who he claimed, watched as funds were frittered away.
He said: “Same goes for projects of construction of 14 Zonal/ Regional offices in 14 states running into billions of Naira – a policy issue being done without Board or Ministerial knowledge not to talk of Approval. This was done in 2019 by the MD and his three-man Executive. Some of the projects are duplications and hence waste of funds, yet you are in the Board supposedly supervising!”
Ngige maintained that he operated within the law in suspending NSITF management.
On its part, also, the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) has denied the board wrote a petition against the management team of NSITF on financial impropriety, which was allegedly presented to President Muhammadu Buhari.
The NECA Director General, Timothy Olawale said: “NECA is not against the Minister as head of the supervising Ministry taking whatever actions he deemed right in his capacity but takes exception to misrepresentation and misleading information to the public. It would be interesting in the public interest to divulge the identities of the board members behind the said petition. Some stakeholders may be fooled by misinformation and misrepresentations, but NECA refuses to fall for illegality as we owe contributors to the Fund who are employers of labour represented by us and the citizenry the duty of due diligence and forthrightness”.
The Ijaws in Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta have urged the Federal Government to give them ‘right of first refusal’ in marginal oil fields located in the kingdom.
Godspower Gbenekama, Spokesman of Gbaramatu Traditional Council of Chiefs, made the call on Sunday at a news conference held at Oporoza, the administrative headquarters of the Gbaramatu kingdom.
Gbenekama who spoke on behalf of the chiefs and other sons and daughters of Gbaramatu, some of whom held placards, alleged the marginalisation of the oil-producing kingdom.
Some of the placards reads: “FG should restart the Omadinor-Escravos road project, “Bring back our Dockyard, NIMASA”, among others.
“We have by this medium announced our total and unequivocal objection to a bidding process that has for long excluded well-to-do Gbaramatu indigenes from the marginal fields.
“The Federal Government should come up with modalities where competent companies owned by Gbaramatu indigenes will be given the right of first refusal on oil fields located in Gbaramatu and Warri South-West,’’ he said.
Gbenekama was unhappy with the ongoing bidding process for the 57 marginal fields by the DPR which according to him had excluded Gbaramatu-owned companies from partaking.
He appealed to the government to relocate to Gbaramatu the Floating Dock/Ship Building Yard originally planned to aid learning in the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko.
Gbenekama also appealed to the Federal Government to resume work on the abandoned Omadinor-Escravos road to boost socio-economic and peaceful co-existence of Ijaws and Itsekiris.
“We urge the Federal Government to restart the Omadinor-Escravos road project to improve the economic relations between the neighbouring Warri South and Warri South-West Local Government Areas.
“The Federal Government should also resume work on the multi-billion dollars Gas Revolution Industrial Park in Ogidigben and Deep Seaport in Gbaramatu both in Warri South-West, among others,” he said.
