Pres Buhari says the Govt needs credible information in order to rescue abducted Chibok girls

President Buhari during a meeting  with the former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon at the Presidential villa, Abuja on Tuesday, said that in order for the government to successfully rescue the abducted Chibok girls, they need credible information on their exact location and the cooperation of the relevant persons.

General Gown said he talked about various issues with the country including the governments efforts at fighting corruption in the country. He said:

“We discussed the general affairs of the country, the problems of the country, his fight against corruption, and all the efforts that he is making to deal with it and of course, the impatience of the public to see results of the fight which have yet to be found, since people have not been prosecuted yet, that would soon begin.

“These are some of the issues we talked about. One appreciates his efforts and determination to rid the country of corruption, which is one of the problems that have held the country down and has created serious set backs to the country both nationally and internationally and then, of course, the current situation about the Chibok girls and the efforts the government is making to rescue them.

He said the government needed to get credible information about the whereabouts of the girls and also those that would assist the government achieve that.

“I believe that the government is certainly determined to ensure that a number of these girls are brought back home safely as soon as possible. To achieve that, certain credibility must be established of our sources on information on their location, but as at now, no one knows where these girls are, and all this information that you have been getting, I don’t know their sources, but all efforts at engaging the international media and sources are necessary so that this matter can be resolved once and for all”, he said.

Man sentenced to 19 years for raping friend’s daughter

A man who who allegedly raped a family friend’s daughter after he got her drunk at a party, was yesterday sentenced to 19 years in prison. The man, Sheriff Oyewole who had known the family for 10 years, was found guilty on charges of rape and assault. According to prosecution, the incident took place last week in a hotel in Yaba area of Lagos.

Oyewole reportedly took the lady to a hotel in Yaba after getting her drunk at a party and stripped her naked, recorded her nakedness and threatened to release the video on social media if she refused to have sex with him. After he raped her, he, soaked her clothes in water and then asked her to put them on but kept her underwear in a bag.

After that he took her home to her mother's shop around 10pm. Her mother noticed that her daughter looked distressed and asked her what was wrong, but out of fear, the lady told her mum that she had had a disagreement with some of her friends at the party.

However, after much pressure from her mum, she told her mum what had actually happened. She raised an alarm which caused Oyewole attempt to flee but he was apprehended by neighbours who heard the mum's alarm.

After his arrest, Oyewole claimed that he didn't rape the lady saying that she was his girlfriend and that they had been dating for three years and that the sex they had that night was consensual.

Chief Magistrate Ayeye held that a case of rape had been established beyond reasonable doubt and according to her, sexual consent cannot be proven through duress, intimidation or under the influence of alcohol even if the parties involved are lovers.

During the trial, some hotel attendants testified that they heard noise coming from the room, but by the time they got there,  Oyewole and the victim were already exiting their room.

They also testified and confirmed seeing the lady's dress as being wet and the that the bed sheet was wet as well. They decided to leave the room that way incase a police investigation was launched.

List of banks CBN barred from foreign exchange transactions

The Central Bank of Nigeria CBN yesterday barred 9 commercial banks from participating in Foreign Exchange transactions. The banks were suspended for failing to remit funds from NNPC into the Treasury Single Account TSA. See the list of the nine suspended banks and how much they failed to remit below:

- United Bank for Africa (UBA) -$530m

- First Bank of Nigeria (FBN)- $469m

- Diamond Bank Plc-$287m

- Sterling Bank Plc-$269m

- Skye Bank Plc -$221m

 -Fidelity Bank -$209m

- Keystone Bank- $139

- First City Monument Bank (FCMB) -$125m

‎- Heritage Bank-$85m

There suspension will be lifted once they remit the NNPC funds into the TSA

Minimum wage is N18,000 but a bag of rice costs N23,000, NLC laments

Jerry Nnubia, chairman of the Anambra state chapter of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), wants to know why workers should be victims of an economic downturn when they are not remembered in times of economic prosperity.

Speaking on Tuesday at a rally in solidarity with Nasarawa workers who were allegedly brutalised by the police while protesting the reduction of their wages by the state government on July 29, he said that any governor who could not pay salaries should resign. “Why should workers be victims of every economic doom? When we have economic boom nobody remembers workers,” he said. “Our position is that any governor that can’t pay workers’ salaries should resign. Why haven’t the governors sliced their wages and those of their aides?

“We are here today to show solidarity with our members in Nasarawa state who were killed and injured by overzealous policemen at the gate of government house, Nasarawa for opposing a slice in their salary by the state governor, Tanko Al-Makura.”

The Anambra NLC chairman said it was laughable that salary paid when a bag of rice was sold for N9, 000 is the same salary being paid now that the price a bag of rice has risen to N23,000.

“A bag of rice today is N23,000 or more and their minimum wage is N18,000. This is laughable,” he said.

CBN bans 9 banks from FX market for aiding NNPC’s TSA breach

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has banned nine deposit money banks (DMBs) from the foreign exchange market, for hiding over $2 billion belonging to Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) from the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

According to Channels TV, President Muhammadu Buhari has been briefed on the breach by the banks, and they have all been mandated to move the monies to the  treasury single account.

At the full implementation of the TSA in 2015, the CBN had warned that banks who not totally comply with the TSA remission plan of possible fine and stringent punishment.

While unveiling the guidelines for foreign exchange trading in June, the CBN reiterated the need for banks to comply or face suspension from the forex market.

The CBN may take action against any FXPD that fails to comply with the standards set forth in these Guidelines. Such action will vary depending upon the type of non-compliance, but may range, for instance, from fines, suspension from any or all FX operations for a period of time to termination as an FXPD,” CBN had said.

In October 2016, the CBN fined two leading banks  for the same offence repeated in 2016, leading to the payment of over N4 billion to the apex bank.

This time around, all the banks involved are barred from the forex market until they fully refund the $2.1 billion held up in their coffers.

You inherited a big problem, Kerry tells Buhari

John Kerry, United States (US) secretary of state, has assured President Muhammadu Buhari of his country’s support because Buhari “inherited a big problem”. Kerry said this at the state house when he visited Buhari in Abuja on Tuesday.

US secretary of states John Kerry and President Muhammadu Buhari

Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, issued a statement saying that during the meeting with Kerry, Buhari pledged that the anti-corruption crusade in the country would be deepened and institutionalised to outlast the current administration. “We will insist on the standards we’re establishing. We are laying down administrative and financial instructions in the public service that must be obeyed. Any breach will no longer be acceptable,” the president was quoted as saying.

“We will retrain our staff so that they understand the new orientation. And those who run afoul of these rules will be prosecuted, no matter who is involved. But we will be fair, just and act according to the rule of law. “Anyone perceived corrupt is innocent till we can prove it. We will work very hard to establish documentation for successful prosecution, and those in positions of trust will sit up.”

Adesina said Buhari appreciated the intervention of the US before the 2015 polls, demanding free and fair elections in Nigeria, and saying: “America did not do it because of what it stands to benefit from us. You did it for the Nigerian people. It tells so much what the U.S stands for in the world.”

On the Boko Haram insurgency, he thanked the US for both hard and soft military help.

“The training and intelligence that we could not muster ourselves, we received. The training has made Boko Haram less of a threat to Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin region, while the military hardware has given our troops added confidence,” he said.

“Although militancy in the Niger Delta has impacted negatively on the economy and affected the positive intentions of international and local investors, government is showing restraint not to use real force except when constrained to do so.”

On the economy, he said that the focus of his administration was on the diversification of the economy having learnt our lessons from years of over dependence on oil.

Kerry commended the courage of Buhari in fighting corruption, saying: “We applaud what you are doing. Corruption creates a ready-made playing field for recruiting extremists.

“You inherited a big problem, and we will support you in any way we can. We will work with you very closely. We don’t want to interfere, but will offer opportunities as you require.”

He also pledged to assist in tackling the humanitarian challenges in the north-east, adding that his country would get the UK, France, and others “to augment the support”. “Nigeria is priority for us,” Kerry was quoted as saying. “We won’t miss the opportunity to work together, because you are making significant progress.”

We will stop work in states owing 3 months’ salaries – NLC

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says all state councils where salary liabilities of up to three months exist will apply no pay, no work’ rule. NLC President Ayuba Wabba made this known when he featured on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum on Sunday in Abuja.

“We have given instructions to all of our state councils that where there is liability of salary up to three months, they should also apply the rule of `no pay, no work’ it is not only `no work, no pay’.

“You can also apply the rule in a reverse order of `no pay, no work’ and that is legitimate because the law provides that after 30 days of working, the worker is entitled to be paid. “How can we encourage people that have put in their best or even those that are still in the system trying to put in their best without addressing this very fundamental issue? “Those are the situations we have found ourselves across states and across different employments; I feel very sad with that situation but I think we will do all we can within our means and power to try to continue to protect all those workers.’’

He said that workers must be seen as an asset to our county instead of shifting all the challenges to the workers. “The challenges have been there; instead of looking inward to try to address these challenges, the bulk of the issue have been shifted to the workers and that is why I think that you can effectively say that yes these workers are under attack.’’

Wabba said that NLC held a meeting with the state councils, where they took inventory of the liability of pension, gratuity and salaries, adding that the data was alarming. “When you see the data of how much it stands today of liabilities that workers have not been paid, the worst is that of gratuity which some states have a liability of up to 10 years. “Workers have worked for 30 or 35 years in service; they retired following the normal process but yet after retirement, they were not paid a dime.

“Therefore, it is like they were slaves; It is only slave that will work and not be paid his entitlement.

He decried a situation where the political leaders do not see the payment of workers’ salaries as important but rather they see it as a waste.

The president noted that some governors would prefer to award bogus contracts rather than pay workers their wages. He noted that everywhere in the world workers were seen and placed appropriately for them to contribute their quota.

According to him, due to the neglect and non-payment of workers’ salaries, productivity has been at the lowest point. (NAN