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Buhari warned ex-Power Minister Mamman of imminent sack
The recently sacked Minister of Power, Engineer Sale Mamman, was aware of the fate awaiting him 24 hours before he was fired, The Nation gathered on Friday.
President Muhammadu Buhari was said to have personally informed Mamman of his imminent sack on Tuesday after inviting him to the Presidential Villa.
Buhari, according to Mamman’s Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Aaron Artimas, even gave the ex-minister the option attending the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday where news of the sack was broken.
Mamman, however, chose to stay away from the meeting.
Artimas said there was a mutual relationship between the President and the ex-minister which made Buhari personally pick him without lobbying from anyone and which also led to the President telling him why he had to be dropped.
Artimas was said to have been dropped to pave the way for the strengthening of the cabinet and alleged tension in the ministry.
Asked to confirm whether the ex-minister collapsed as reported in some newspapers (not The Nation), Artimas dismissed the reports as fake.
He noted that his principal had over stressed himself on his return from Chad and did not sleep for up to eight hours.
Mamman’s blood pressure, according to his aide, rose and he became a bit ill but never collapsed.
His words: “It is the wicked fake news as usual because Nigerians are becoming vindictive and making conditions extreme for people we don’t like having issues with.
“The true story is that on Tuesday evening, the President himself called the minister to the Villa and informed him personally of his intention to make changes and that he (Mamman) would be affected by the changes for the reasons they discussed between them.
“And the minister accepted in good faith and thanked the President for giving him the opportunity.
“And the President told him that he was doing it because he wanted to strengthen the government and reduce some tension within the ministry.
“The President had singlehandedly appointed him because nobody lobbied for Sale to become minister.
“So, he felt that as his own son, if there is anything, he can have a mutual discussion.
“When he got home, he was tensed because when he went to Chad and he came back, he had been ailing a little bit, he had not rested.
“So, he took drugs and went to bed.
“When he woke up, his body was ailing. His sugar level had gone up. Maybe it had been long he had eight hours sleep.
“And the doctor yesterday had to bring down the sugar level.
“So, if you go to his house now in Maitama, you will see him there.
“Yesterday, I insisted he should grant interview, he granted Hausa service interview.
“So there was nothing like collapse. He heard about his removal before everyone else. At least, the President honoured him with that prior information.
“The President even gave him the option whether he would attend the Federal Executive Council meeting that day or not so that he would make the announcement after the meeting. He said he would not attend. These are the facts.”
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Labour shuts NSITF head office over staff salary cut
Labour shuts NSITF head office over staff salary cut
Members of the organised labour, on Friday, protested and shut down the headquarters of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) over alleged cut of workers’ salaries in the agency by the management of the fund.
The aggrieved protesters, led by the President of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo and executive members of the Association of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFE), started their demonstrations at about 11:00am.
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Armed with placards with various inscriptions, the protesters alleged that the management led by Mrs Maureen Allagoa, the Managing Director of the Fund, had made deductions of consequential taxes from their salaries to the tune of N2.1bn which were not remitted.
Addressing the protesters, Osifo said the protest and subsequent shutdown of the Fund became imperative after efforts made by the leadership of ASSBIFE to resolve the issue amicably with the management failed.
The protesters urged President Bola Tinubu to sack the MD of the agency with immediate effect to avert “looming crises” in the Fund and called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe their claims.
Both the MD of the Fund, Mrs Allagoa and spokesman of the Fund, Mr Godson Nwachukwu could not be reached for comments at the time of filing this report.
Labour shuts NSITF head office over staff salary cut
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How ex-Head of Service Oyo-Ita diverted N3bn public funds to private firms
How ex-Head of Service Oyo-Ita diverted N3bn public funds to private firms
Hamma Bello, the eighth prosecution witness in the trial of Winifred Oyo-Ita, a former Head of Service of the Federation, has narrated how N3 billion was diverted to private companies.
The witness stated this while testifying before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja, on Thursday about how the defendant and her subordinates diverted public funds into their private companies.
Oyo-Ita, the first defendant, is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, along with her special assistants; Ugbong Effiok (seventh defendant) and Garba Umar (fourth defendant).
Others are six companies: Frontline Ace Global Services Limited, Asanaya Projects Limited, Slopes International Limited, U and U Global Services Ltd, Prince Mega Logistics Ltd, and Good Deal Investments, on 18 counts bordering on misappropriation, official corruption, money laundering, and criminal diversion of funds to the tune of over N3 billion.
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The witness, while being led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Faruk Abdullahi, and H.M. Mohammed, told the court that Oyo-Ita used Slopes International Limited and Good Deal Investments Limited – fifth and sixth defendants respectively, to fraudulently award government contracts to herself through the fourth defendant, Umar.
The first entry transaction of Good Deal Investment Limited. in February 2019 showed that N42,748,201.47 was paid into its Zenith Bank account.
Umar, the witness said, incorporated the company with Oyo-Ita’s full knowledge.
“We called for the account statements of these two companies, and upon analysing them, we realised he (Umar) was paid several sums of money from the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, where he is an employee.
“And upon interviewing the fourth defendant, he admitted that he was also a contractor. He also admitted to have paid the first defendant on several occasions from the proceeds of the transaction,” the witness said.
On April 27, 2019, the witness disclosed that a transfer of N20, 2027, 142 was made in the name of Ibrahim Madu to the Zenith Bank account of Asanaya Projects Limited.
The mandate card of the account bears the signature and photo of the seventh defendant, Effiok.
Investigation, according to the witness, also revealed that the seventh defendant incorporated Asanaya Projects Limited in his name with the knowledge of the first defendant and that approvals were granted and payments made to the seventh defendant either through his personal account or to the account of the company.
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The witness said, “The seventh defendant, upon interview, confirmed he had never travelled for most of the funds he received and that the first defendant was aware of and benefitted on several occasions from the funds. The account of U and U Global Services Limited was also opened by the seventh defendant.
“In summary, from 2015 to 2018, U and U Global Limited received several payments in the form of Duty Tour Allowances and estacodes. Sometimes, payments from the federal government were made directly to the account, for instance, on March 24, 2016, he received N40, 313, 453. 58. This particular payment was from the federal government.”
Further in his testimony, the witness stated that, “Exhibit O is the Fidelity Bank account of Prince Mega Logistics Ltd. On March 27, 2018, and April 6, 2018, there were four entries, N4, 950 000; N3,946,000, N4,676,000 and N1,478,000, from Thomson Titus Okure, who used to be a colleague of the seventh defendant in the Account Department.
“There were also outward payments to Ignom, Minaro Blessing, Winifred Oyo-Ita, Olarenwaju Godman Olushola and the seventh defendant is the sole signatory of this account.”
Speaking further, he said, “I also want to add that we invited the first, second and seventh defendant at different times to our office and interviewed them. In the case of the first defendant, we printed chats from her phone and saw conversations she had with contractors, subordinates, and permanent secretaries. She also voluntarily made a statement to the EFCC.”
The matter was adjourned till April 30, 2024.
(SAHARAREPORTERS)
How ex-Head of Service Oyo-Ita diverted N3bn public funds to private firms
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Why we made emergency landing at Lagos airport – Air Peace
A statement by Stanley Olisa, the airline’s Corporate Communications Lead, explained that some minutes before landing, the Captain noticed a fire warning indicator in the cockpit.
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