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ICPC SEIZES 62 HOUSES FROM ONE PUBLIC OFFICE HOLDER

The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) said it has seized 62 houses from a female public office holder.

ICPC Chairman, Ekpo Nta, said this while answering question during an interaction at the Akwa Ibom Anti-Corruption Summit in Uyo on Tuesday.

He said the properties will be released to the Federal Government after litigations have been concluded.

Nta said the anti-corruption war was yielding positive results.

He said the commission had interim power to seize property of any public officer whose property was above the accruable income and could not be explained.

“There are many facets of corruption in Nigeria.

“The commission will stop at nothing to bring anyone found to have contravened the anti-corruption crusade to book,” Nta said.

Nta added that the commission has recovered 40 vehicles stolen by retired directors of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.

He said the commission had taken a step further by launching the campaigns in institutions of higher learning and the National Youths Service Corps, NYSC.

- Ynaija

Osinbajo meets private sector operators over economy

Private sector operators on Monday proffered ways to realise the goals and objectives of the National Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, currently being developed by the federal government.

The operators highlighted the need for deliberate structures to be established by government for diligent implementation, effective monitoring and thorough evaluation of the plan.

Consisting captains of industry and heads of the various Chambers of Commerce and Industry across the country, the operators spoke at a consultative forum in Abuja organized by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning on the development process of the national economy plan.

Noting the engagement of key interest groups in the process, the operators said this showed a genuine desire by government to rapidly grow the economy, pointing out that past development plans failed as a result of inattention to the above factors.

Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, who presided over the session, assured that government was determined to put the Nigerian economy back on a strong footing through diligent implementation of the recovery and growth plan.

Acknowledging the sufferings Nigerians are facing as a result of the current economic downturn, the vice president said years of deterioration and corruption cannot be remedied overnight.

Notwithstanding, he said it was the government’s responsibility to ensure the economy was put back on a track, and the slide in economic fortunes arrested for the benefit of the people and the country.

“Government has intervened in several ways to mitigate the sufferings of the people, including giving bailouts to state governments to enable them pay salaries of workers,” he said.

He said the government was determined to diligently implement the plan, with major emphasis on implementation, monitoring and evaluation, saying a specially staffed delivery unit would be established to handle the implementation process.

The medium-term plan, he explained, expected to drive the country to a minimum gross domestic product, GDP, growth rate of seven percent within the plan period.

“Our goal is to have an economy with low inflation, stable exchange rates, and a diversified and inclusive growth,” he said.

“The key to success lies in the seriousness of the execution aspect of the process. Immediate execution priorities include agriculture and food security; energy (power and petroleum); small businesses and industrialization and stabilizing the macroeconomic environment,” he stated.

Also speaking, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udoma, said the forum was in keeping with government’s promise to consult widely, to harvest inputs from the relevant sectors and professionals to enrich the plan and make it all inclusive.

Mr. Udoma said the forum was specifically to enable private sector operators review the context for plan, share its structure, discuss potential key initiatives and solicit feedback from them.

The basic principles of the plan include tackling constraints to growth, including fuel, power, foreign exchange, and even business unfriendly regulation; leveraging the power of the private sector.

Other principles include promoting national cohesion and social inclusion; allowing markets to function, by prioritizing the use of the market as a means of resource allocation and supporting a more business friendly economic environment.

Also, the principle is to uphold core values that define Nigerian society, notably discipline, integrity, dignity of labour, social justice, religious tolerance, self-reliance and patriotism in the bid to reposition and grow the economy in a sustainable manner.

- Premiumtimes

Man to receive seven strokes for trespass, possession of stolen items

A Gudu Upper Area Court, Abuja, on Tuesday ordered that an 18-year-old man, Aminu Abdullahi, be given seven strokes of the cane for criminal trespass and being in possession of stolen items.

Mr. Abdullahi, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to the two-count charge of criminal trespass and being in possession of stolen items.

The judge, Umar Kagarko, advised the convict to stay away from crime and learn a trade.

He said he gave the light sentence because the convict showed remorse and admitted quickly that he committed the offence ,without wasting the time of the court.

“You are still very young, go and learn a trade to secure your future,” the judge admonished.

The prosecutor, Joshua Ayanna, had told the court that one Titus David, of Area 1, reported the matter at Durumi Police Station on February1

Mr. Ayanna said that the convict criminally trespassed into the complainant’s compound and was arrested.

“He was immediately arrested and a bunch of keys, a Stanbic IBTC Bank ATM card belonging to one Adamu Yahaya were recovered in his possession.

“Four sim cards were also found on him,” Mr. Ayanna said.

The prosecutor said that the offence was contrary to Sections 348 and 319(a) of the Penal Code.

(NAN)

Join US at the Upper Room

One of the hormones secreted by the adrenal gland is called ADRENALIN. Medical experts have arrived at a conclusion that this is the hormone responsible for, or is used to stimulate human beings to fight, to flee or to be frightened. It increases glucose and cardiac output to the muscles and is stimulated by the emotions.

Emotion can then be said to be a subjective experience associated with mood, temperament, personality and disposition, root of which is motivation. Sometimes, we tend to associate truth to our feelings or our emotions; we tend to ask or are asked about what we feel on issues.

Adolph Hitler was described as a very persuasive and radical dictator. As an idealist, he became so powerful because to most Germans, he was their hope… he was their “Savior”. But his radical deliberations and goals were eventually too much for the world to brushoff, so he eventually led to the country’s eventual decline…

Adolph Hitler said, “I use EMOTIONS for the majority and reserve REASON for the few”. In other words, he discovered that many are ruled by their emotions and very few are thinkers.

For more, please join us at the Upper Room, Breakfast Meeting coming up on Saturday 11th of February 2017…0900Hrs.

For your invites, please send a mail to admin@oasis-community.org

See you there!

Court orders freezing of senior lawyer, Mike Ozekhome’s account

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday ordered the temporary forfeiture of N75 million in the account of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, domiciled with Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB).

The court, presided by Justice Abdulaziz Anka, gave the order while ruling on a motion ex-parte filed by the anti-graft agency seeking that Mr. Ozekhome’s account be temporarily frozen.

The sum is said to have been uncovered by The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

EFCC’s prayer is on the ground that the N75 million deposited in the said account on December 15, 2016, is suspected to be proceeds of crime.

Arguing the application which was filed by Rotimi Oyedepo, counsel to the EFCC, Idris Mohammed, informed the court that the application was brought pursuant to Section 29 of the EFCC Act.

Mr. Mohammed informed the court that three exhibits marked 01, 02 and 03 were attached to the motion ex-parte.

He also said that an affidavit of urgency, sworn to by an investigator of the agency, Tosin Owobo, was also attached to the application.

Mr. Mohammed, therefore, urged the court to grant the motion ex-parte and order a temporary forfeiture of funds in the account for 120 days.

Delivering a bench ruling on the motion, Justice Anka ordered that Mr. Ozekhome’s account with the sum of N75 million be forfeited for 120 days.

The judge however said that any party, dissatisfied with the ruling, could file an appeal. (NAN)

Rivers Rerun: Nigeria Police recover N111 million from 23 ‘corrupt’ INEC officials

The panel constituted to investigate the electoral and other offences perpetrated during the December 10 Rivers Parliamentary re-run election has said that it recovered N111 million from 23 INEC officials.

The Chairman of the panel, Damian Okoro, made the allegation while presenting the team’s report to the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, in Abuja on Tuesday.

He alleged that three senior electoral officers collected N20 million each out of the N360 million given to them by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers, while the remaining officers received N15 million each.

Mr. Wike has denied any wrongdoing despite an audio showing he may have compromised some INEC officials financially. The Rivers Governor also accused the police of bias and refused to cooperate or allow state officials cooperate with the police investigation team.

Mr. Okoro, a deputy commissioner of police, further alleged that there were some cases of misconduct on the part of some electoral officers, who were compromised in the line of duty.

“By this investigation, this panel has diligently unravelled what went wrong with the re-run election in Rivers, the details of which are contained in the report.

“We discovered that failure of leadership and followership rather than law enforcement was responsible for the political upheaval in the state,” he said.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the violence that characterised the elections leading to the death of a yet to be confirmed number of people including at least two police officers. Security officials have also been accused of complicity for their roles in the electoral violence.

Mr. Okoro added that the task given to the panel was challenging because of the tense political and security atmosphere in the state.

He said lawless elements targeted political opponents of their sponsors, and law enforcement agents, especially the police.

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike

He attributed some of the violent acts to inflammatory statements by some narrow-minded politicians.

“Apart from their utterances, politicians in their desperation for power, also armed thugs who unleashed terror on their opponents,” he said.

He said that six police officers, who were indicted, had been tried and dismissed from the force.

Speaking, the inspector-general of police, said that a report and recommendation would be forwarded to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice for his advice.

He said appropriate action would be taken against indicted persons to serve as deterrent.

“We are going to take appropriate action in conjunction with other security agencies to put an end to this problem,’’ he said.

He urged Nigerians to have confidence in the security agencies and believe the panel report.

Mr. Idris alleged that Wike refused to cooperate with the panel even when the team visited him in Port Harcourt.

He said that the investigation would go a long way toward ending electoral malpractices in the country.

“We will be failing in this country if we allow this to continue,” he said.

He said that the money recovered would be paid into government coffers.

It will be recalled that the I-G on December 22, 2016, constituted a 15-man special joint investigation panel to investigate electoral and other offences in respect of the Dec. 10, 2016 re-run election in Rivers.

The membership comprised 12 police officers and three officials of the Department of State Services.

The panel was, among other things, mandated to thoroughly investigate the various infractions, incidents and violence that marred the election.

- Premiumtimes