‘I am dying in hospital bed’, NUPENG’s Frank Kokori – Newstrends
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‘I am dying in hospital bed’, NUPENG’s Frank Kokori

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Chief Frank Kokori

‘I am dying in hospital bed’, NUPENG’s Frank Kokori

Elder statesman and former General Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Chief Frank Kokori said he is dying in a hospital bed.

In a distressed call made to our correspondent at about 12:40 a.m. on Thursday, the Abacha nightmare said life was fast ebbing out of him where he’s receiving treatment for kidney-related ailment.

Kokori, who’s a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC in Delta State, described himself in a voice laden with excruciating pains that he’s “dead and risen.”

He lamented how NUPENG had abandoned him in the hospital where the air conditioner was switched off by the hospital management possibly owing to a shortage of diesel.

The Ovu-born fiery labour leader complained over the idea of being abandoned in what he described as a “third class” hospital in Warri by those who should cater for his wellbeing.

Hear him: “Tell the world that Kokori is dead and risen. The only man in Warri who can handle kidney problems is Horeb Hospital Warri.

“But I’m facing other challenges. The Air Conditioner is not working. And AC can keep alive till morning. What a country!

“Mobilise yourselves. I have something to tell this country, please. Please, do your best.

“Tell them that I can pay any amount, but let them switch on the AC for me because I’m dying.

“The AC went off. Please do your best. Flash it. I can come alive again but I just want the world to know that if I survive, I’ll shame the leaders of this country.

“Shame on them. How can Kokori be in a third-class hospital? The People are trying their best O because I know it’s a diesel issue.

“The AC is off. Two of my foster children are here with me. I’ve sent one to meet the hospital management that they should do everything that the AC is switched on, that when I’m out, I’ll pay. That I’m dying.

“I’ve called on NUPENG that this is what they’ve done to their leaders. That NUPENG could not even take care of me. It’s sad. God bless everybody.”

The septuagenarian is said to have been in the hospital for some time, now before his distress call came in the wee hours of Thursday.

Recall that Chief Kokori was at the forefront of the struggle to reclaim the mandate of the late winner of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, which was annulled by the then President Badamosi Babangida and sustained by his successor, the late General Sani Abacha.

‘I am dying in hospital bed’, NUPENG’s Frank Kokori

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BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

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BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

The federal government has unveiled a proposed budget of N47.9 trillion for the 2025 fiscal year.

Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, disclosed this to journalists on Thursday following the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu.

Bagudu revealed that the council had approved the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2025-2027.

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According to the minister, the government has pegged the crude oil benchmark at $75 per barrel, with an oil production target of 2.06 million barrels per day (bpd).

The budget also sets the exchange rate at N1,400 per dollar and aims for a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6.4%.

 

BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

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EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

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EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told FIJ that they have arrested Timber Wabote, the former executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCMB), on the grounds of a failed $35 million Bayelsa refinery project fraud.

Dele Oyewale, the EFCC’s spokesperson, confirmed this to FIJ on Thursday.

“It is true,” Oyewale responded to FIJ’s inquiries.

Wabote is accused of misappropriating public funds for a refinery project that should have improved local energy production.

Vanguard reported that the NCDMB under Wabote paid $35 million to support the development of energy infrastructure in the Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa, yet there was nothing to show for it.

The EFCC picked Wabote up following the arrest of Akintoye Adeoye Akindele, the Managing Director of Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited, for alleged misappropriation, money laundering and diversion of $35 million in public funds.

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“NCDMB under the watch of Wabote allegedly paid the $35 million to Akindele to build a 2,000 barrel per day (BPD), refinery, jetty, gas plant, power plant, data centre and tank farm at Brass free trade zone (FTZ), Okpoama Community in Brass LGA of Bayelsa State,” a source with the EFCC had explained.

Since December 2020 when the payments were made, Akindele abandoned the project with little or nothing to show for the huge sum he received.

Preliminary investigations showed that Wabote’s NCDMB financed 17 different projects, including the 2,000 BPD refinery in Brass LGA.

There has been a series of public fund misappropriation cases in the energy sector in recent times.

FIJ earlier reported that members of the House of Representatives summoned three ministers to defend how over $2 billion was spent on renewable energy with not much to show for it.

A recent FIJ report also recently detailed how residents of Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa, have not had power in their homes since July due to the vandalisation of the Ahoada-Yenagoa transmission towers caused by unidentified persons.

The Bayelsa state government told FIJ it was the federal government’s responsibility to provide electricity for residents. The state has no renewable energy options reliable enough to power its capital despite the multi-million-dollar NCMB energy project.

Transparency in the energy sector has become necessary at a time when Nigerians have suffered power instability due to frequent grid collapses.

EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

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Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27

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Yahaya Bello

Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has requested an adjournment in the new case against the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, stating that the 30-day window for the previously issued summons is still active.

The commission has granted administrative bail to his co-defendants, Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, and asked the court for an extension of time for Bello to appear.

At the resumed hearing before Justice Maryann Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, EFCC Counsel Jamiu Agoro noted that the court’s order from October 3rd had not yet expired.

“In that wise, we feel it will not be appropriate for us to take proceedings while that 30 days is still running. So we have discussed and agreed to come back on the 27th day of November, 2024, my lord,” he told the court.

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He also mentioned that the previously set date of November 20th was not convenient for the prosecution counsels.

Counsel to the second defendant, Aliyu Saiki, SAN, confirmed that his client had been granted administrative bail by the prosecution and had no objection to the adjournment request. The third defendant’s counsel, ZE Abass, concurred.

The prosecution counsel also requested the court to allow the notice of hearing to be pasted on the last known address of the first defendant.

After hearing from all counsels, the judge granted the EFCC’s application for adjournment and the issuance of the hearing notice.

“I have considered the application for adjournment by the complainant and issuance of hearing notice and the submission by the second and third defendants. The application is granted,” she said.

Justice Anenih then adjourned the case to November 27th for arraignment.

The former governor, alongside Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, are being prosecuted as 1st to 3rd defendants, respectively, in a fresh 16-count charge instituted against them by the EFCC.

Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27

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