Innocent Ojefia Blog

The Federal Government has declared Tuesday, 5th and Wednesday, 6th July, 2016 as public holiday to mark Eid-el Fitri Celebrations.  This was contained in a statement issued in Abuja ans signed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Mr Basse Akpayung. The statement said the Minister of Interior, Lt Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd), who made the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government, “enjoined all Muslim faithful and Nigerians in general to extend the spiritual benefits of Ramadan, which are love, peace and justice to their daily living and through this contribute to the development of the nation”. He urged “Nigerians to use the opportunity of this spiritual rejuvenation to reflect on the imperative of unity and peaceful co-existence in strengthening the bond of togetherness for a strong, virile Nation. While wishing Nigerians a peaceful celebration, Dambazau urged total support for President Muhammadu Buhari’s avowed determination to bequea...

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation [SGF], David Babachir Lawal has asked the principal officers of the National Assembly, Senate President Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu to resign.  The SGF was reacting to the allegation by Saraki that a “cabal” had hijacked the government of President Muhammadu Buhari. Mr. Lawal stated this in a statement he personally signed on Wednesday in Abuja. He was also objecting to Ekweremadu’s statement that Buhari was exhibiting dictatorial tendencies. He described their statements as unfortunate, stating that the Federal Government was not deciding the trial of the duo. He also said the honourable thing for the duo to do was to resign as former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Salisu Buhari, who was accused of certificate forgery, did. He maintained that the Senate was not on trial for forgery, hence that the Senate should not feel threatened. Rather, that only the actors in the alleged act, the Sena...

Aisha Yesufu, a member of the #BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) campaign group, says President Muhammadu Buhari has chosen to dine with the influential members of the society, neglecting the poor who welcomed him to campaign rallies.  Commenting on the decision of the president to break his fast with only privilege members of the society, Yesufu wondered why some internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the north-east have not been invited. She said Buhari would have been breaking his fast in IDP camps if the election had been scheduled after the Ramadan season. She also criticised the president for attending a conference on Syrian IDPs but refusing to visit Bama in Borno state, which has a high population of those displaced by insurgency. “If this was election period President Buhari would have been going from one IDP camp to another to break fast as it is not he meets his kind ,” she wrote on Twitter. “With the pictures from IDP Camps and the hunger and death reporte...

An Abuja Federal High Court, presided over by Justice Valentine Ashi has come to the rescue of Nigeria’s troubled former ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), by sacking factional National Chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff.  The court this afternoon nullified the 2014 PDP Constitution Amendment upon which Sheriff was appointed PDP Interim Chairman. The court described the amendment as illegal and a violation of the Electoral Act and declared all actions carried out with it, including anybody parading as an officer of PDP, to be illegal. It was a double setback for Sheriff, as men of the Nigeria Police Force had earlier in the day cordoned off the entrance to Stadium Road by Akenzua Junction in Benin City with vehicles and ensured that the gates to the stadium were locked. Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium had been the scheduled venue for the planned Edo governorship primary of Modu Sheriff-led faction of PDP. Mathew Iduoriyekemwen and Rep. Johnson Agbonayinma a...

The All Progressives Congress in Kwara State on Tuesday backed the claims by embattled Senate President, Bukola Saraki that “there is a government within the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.” The party also faulted the President’s response in a statement by his media aide, Mr. Femi Adesina. The party made this known in a statement by its state Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Sulyman Buhari. Instead of embarking on a “futile drive to denounce and dismiss the obvious,” the APC in the state said it expected the Presidency to embrace introspection and take right steps in the interest of the nation. He also accused Adesina of trying to create discord between the President and the Senate leadership. Buhari said, “The statement by Mr. Femi Adesina on behalf of Mr. President is not only unpresidential, it also failed to convincingly dismiss the widely held view of Nigerians that, indeed, there is a government within the government of Mr. President. “It is instructive to...

    According to the report, the IGR of Lagos State of N268 billion is higher than that of 32 States combined. Fifteen Nigerian states may go bankrupt due to their poor Internally Generated Revenues (IGR) in 2015, which were as low as 10% of their Federation Account Allocations (FAA) in one year from June 2015 to May 2016, an investigation by the  Economic Confidential  has shown. According to the report, the IGR of  Lagos State  of N268 billion is higher than that of 32 States combined together, excluding Rivers, Delta and Ogun whose IGRs are very impressive. The 32 other states merely generated a total of N257 billion in 2015, it said. In its latest report on IGRs, Economic Confidential, an economic intelligence magazine, revealed the total allocation each state in Nigeria received from the Federation Account Allocation (FAA) between June 2015 to May 2016 which signified one year of the President  Muhammadu Buhari  adminsitration. ...

A Federal High Court in Abuja has sacked the Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu. The court ordered the governor to vacate office immediately. Governor Ikpeazu was accused of submitting false information to his party, the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] for the party’s governorship primary in December 2014. Details later...

BEFORE last year’s presidential election, no one thought it necessary to ask president Muhammadu Buhari, who was then candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), how he hoped to work the magic of achieving his promised exchange rate parity between the naira and dollar. It was, however, apparently sufficient for him and many hopeful others that his unorthodox financial and econometrics models soared on the wings of nostalgia. He offered no real plan, nor explained the economic dynamics by which that parity would be procured, nor yet did he take into account the eventful intervening years since parity last reigned. All he said was that once the killer, corruption, was destroyed and discipline established, nothing was impossible, not even an exchange rate that incongruously widened shortly after he was overthrown as military head of state. Thus, after assuming the presidency last year, he still felt and spoke of the possibility of some sort of exchange rate parity. But o...

Two things to learn from the Ben Bruce loan saga: One is that motivational oratory is often half the truth. You'd think that brilliant, eloquent Ben would know his way around his own shit. Business isn't always the sum of power-point slides and figures, nor will life always fit into a graph. And there's no absolute formula to success. Reason I plug my ears whenever most inspirational speakers get started. They think it's all about pleasant alliterations, religious verses, and what John Maxwell said about leadership. They know nothing, Jon Snows. Second lesson is that Nigeria is filled with bitter people who want to sweeten their pain with the misery of others. I used to think all those whines about haters and enemies were exaggerated. We celebrate downfalls here: celebrity divorces, political enemies falling sick, etc. Even people who can't be allowed to borrow N1,000 from their village meetings were throwing flaks at Ben. You have to add value to be loaned N...

Mikel Obi, Odion Ighalo, and Alex Iwobi, are in the 35-man Olympics list, which Samson Siasia, head coach of the U-23 team, released on today. The list is expected to be trimmed down to 21 ahead the competition, which kicks off in Rio, Brazil, on August 5. Some of the young talented players in the list are: Ogenekaro Etebo, Musa Muhammed, Stanley Amuzie, Kingsley Madu, Taiwo Awoniyi. Nigeria will face Sweden, Colombia and Japan in Group B of the preliminary round of the 2016 Olympics men’s football event. Expectations are high that the current squad will repeat the feat of the Kanu Nwankwo-led ‘Dream Team’, which won the championship in 1996. The last time Nigeria got to the final round of the Olympics was at Beijing 2008. The team lost out to the Argentine side inspired by Lionnel Messi in the final. Interestingly, it was Siasia who led the Nigerian Squad to pick a silver medal at that competition. Below is the 35-man list: §   Daniel Akpeyi (Ch...

It is true that one of the cardinal projections of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s administration is the vision not only to develop Delta State but take the State to utopian heights of sustainable development. And, in just one year, so much has been done to ensure the attainment of the lofty ideals it has set for itself.  One can also understand the plight and anxiety of the people of the State and why they are desperate to witness overall sustainable development. This is so, given the level of unemployment and the hardship that is traumatising the common man on the street. It is well known everywhere that unemployment is one of the propellants to all forms of criminality in any society. The current   estrangement between employers and their employees within the private sector are proofs that Nigeria’s economy is experiencing turbulent times. In spite of the paucity of funds, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa is breaking new grounds to ensure his campaign promises mater...