The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Senate to pass 2013 amended budget Thursday

    Senate to pass 2013 amended budget Thursday

    All things being equal the Senate would  pass the 2013 amendment budget on Thursday.

    The controversial budget scaled second reading in the Senate on Tuesday with Senate President, David Mark, directing the Appropriation Committee to work and return the budget for consideration within 24 hours.

    The upper chamber had earlier vowed not to consider the budget due to some differences with the Presidency on some areas of the proposed amendments.

    The bill seeks to authorize the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation the total sum of N4, 987, 220,425,601.

    In line with the directive of the Senate President, Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Ahmed Maccido (Sokoto North) presented the report of his committee to the Senate in plenary on Wednesday.

    The upper chamber should have considered the report immediately after presentation of the report, but Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, said the lawmakers should be given some time to go through the work of the Appropriation Committee.

    Ndoma-Egba said that it was necessary for Senators to acquaint themselves with report of the Appropriation Committee.

    A source told our correspondent that barring other considerations, the budget would be considered and passed on Thursday.

    He noted that it became necessary to expedite action on the budget because the Senate would be proceeding on its vacation.

    Mark urged Senator to take their oversight function more seriously to ensure faithful implementation of the budget.

     

  • How I will rejoin Northern Governors’ Forum – Suswam

    How I will rejoin Northern Governors’ Forum – Suswam

    The Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam, on Wednesday gave conditions to be met before he would reconsider going back to the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF).

    In the wake of the crisis that engulfed the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) in May, Suswam had renounced his membership of the NSGF as he believed that the NSGF leadership sold out in the NGF election which saw Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi retaining his chairmanship seat with 19 votes against Plateau Governor Jonah Jang’s 16 votes.

    But speaking with State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Suswam said that he would only return to the NSGF if it would begin to abide by decisions collectively reached by members.

    He said: “I won’t say that I vowed, I would better say that I have issues with the way that things are going. I believe that as a northerner and as one of the present leaders, we should as leaders be able to have confidence and have integrity enough for us to take a decision and follow it through. Once that is absent, I have an issue with that.

    “And if I establish that we can now jointly and collectively take a decision on behalf of the north and also on behalf of this country and stand by that decision, then I would have no problem. But for now, I have an issue and that issue to me is germane and as far as I am not satisfied that the issue had been addressed, I maintain my position,” he added.

    Suswan, who was at the Villa to brief President Goodluck Jonathan on the measures being taken to stop the fatal crisis between farmers and Fulani herdsmen in Benue and Nasarawa States said that community committees have been set up in 14 local governments areas in the two states.

     

  • UK probes Shell, ENI Nigerian oil block deal

    UK probes Shell, ENI Nigerian oil block deal

    British police is investigating a money-laundering allegation related to a big oil field bought by Shell and ENI spa from Nigeria for $1.3 billion, after most of the cash they paid ended up in a company linked to a former Nigerian petroleum minister.

    The probe concerns offshore block OPL 245, which industry sources say contains up to 9.23 billion barrels of crude – more than enough to keep China running for two and a half years – the ownership of which had been in dispute for more than a decade.

    “The proceeds of crime unit is investigating a money-laundering allegation in the United Kingdom in connection with OPL 245. The investigation is at an early stage,” a UK spokesman told Reuters.

    Transparency campaigners, who asked the UK to look into the matter, assert that Shell and ENI used the Nigerian government as a go-between to obscure the fact that they were dealing with former oil minister Dan Etete, who also has a 2007 money-laundering conviction in France related to bribes he was alleged to have taken when in government.

    In his capacity as petroleum minister, Etete awarded block OPL 245 in 1998 for a payment of just $2 million to Malabu Oil and Gas, a company in which he played a prominent role.

    The critics claim that Shell and ENI, which haven’t been accused of any legal wrongdoing, wanted to distance themselves from Etete given his reputation and his involvement in the original award of the oil block to Malabu.

     

  • Dickson accuses oil companies of double standard

    Dickson accuses oil companies of double standard

    The Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson, on Wednesday berated oil companies and accused them of operating with double standard in the Niger Delta region.

    Dickson spoke in Yenagoa when the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Nigeria, Ambassador Bert Ronhaar, visited him.

    He insisted that the oil-producing companies had refused to embrace international standards and best practices in their operations.

    He said such actions by the companies had contributed significantly to environmental degradation and endemic poverty.

    He lamented what he described as “the brazen manner resources of the Niger Delta are expropriated,” adding that activities of the companies had placed the region in a precarious situation.

    “The ecosystem and livelihood of people in the Niger Delta have been negatively impacted upon as a result of oil exploration and exploitation activities over the years,” he said.

    Dickson traced the history of oil exploration and said the Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum Company struck oil in commercial quantities at Oloibiri in Bayelsa State in 1956.

    But he said the area had suffered neglect.

    He said: “We have major issues of how to combat flooding, erosion of our communities and damaged ecosystem. There are also frightening scientific predictions that if urgent steps are not taken, most of the communities in the Niger Delta will be wiped away in the next couple of years.

    “There is now a disconnect arising from the decades of what is perceived to be nonchalant attitude by the international oil companies. The communities now see the operating companies as buccaneers who do not care about them and their conditions.

    “Their (IOCs) concern is only the oil and not the people’s well-being. The activities here are such that you have double standards in terms of adherence to environmental rules, regulations and procedures.”

    He vowed that his administration would join forces with other stakeholders to champion the need for environmental rights and justice in the country.

    “The environment has to be respected in the Niger Delta the same way it is protected and preserved in Europe and America.

    “An oil spill is an oil spill wherever it occurs, whether it is in the Niger Delta or in the Gulf of Mexico,” he said.

    He commended the visiting Ambassador for deepening diplomatic relations between Nigeria and the kingdom of the Netherlands.

     

     

  • Minister of State for Health Pate resigns

    Minister of State for Health Pate resigns

    The Minister of State for Health, Dr. Muhammed Pate, on Wednesday resigned from the Federal Executive Council.

    The minister in his resignation letter dated July 22 and addressed to President Goodluck Jonathan, said he was leaving the cabinet to take up the position of Professor in Duke University’s Global Health Institute, United States.

    At the institute, Pate would participate in a university-wide Africa initiative, and also serve as Senior Adviser to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation based in Washington DC.

     

  • Dubai club sets deadline for Odemwingie

    Dubai club sets deadline for Odemwingie

    Dubai-based team Al Nasr has issued West Bromwich Albion an ultimatum over the transfer of Nigeria striker Osaze Odemwingie.

    Al Nasr, who had a bid of £850,000 for Osaze rejected last week, is understood to have now given WBA until the end of the Tuesday to name its price for the player, MTNFootball.com reports.

    Al Nasr believe Odemwingie should be available for £1m, but The Baggies’ is holding out for a bid of £2m for the Nigeria international, who joined the club from Russian Premier League side Lokomotiv Moscow in a £2.5m deal in August 2010.

    Newly promoted Crystal Palace is understood to be showing an interest in the forward, while reports in the Middle East say Sunderland and Fulham are also in the mix for a deal.

    Osaze was disciplined by WBA for trying to force a move to Queens Park Rangers in the January transfer window after falling out with club officials.

    He has only made seven appearances for ‘The Baggies’ since then, all of which came from the substitutes’ bench.

     

  • Royal baby’s name ‘yet to be decided’

    The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have spent their first night at home with their new son, whose name they have yet to decide upon.

    The BBC reports that the third in line to the throne and his parents emerged from St Mary’s Hospital in west London on Tuesday evening.

    Speaking outside the hospital, the duke said they were “working on a name” and would choose one “as soon as we can.”

    They described becoming parents as “very emotional”, before the duke drove his family home to Kensington Palace.

    Although the couple had not decided on a name it is known that the newest royal will be styled HRH Prince (name) of Cambridge.

    George is the bookmakers’ favourite for the first name of the prince, who is destined to be king one day. James and Alexander are among other names on a short price.

    The prospect of him being named after his father has been virtually written off by the bookmakers, with both Ladbrokes and Paddy Power rating William as a 50/1 shot.

    Asked by the BBC if the baby had already been named George, Prince William replied: “Wait and see, Peter, wait and see.”

    Royal fans waited seven days before the name of a newborn Prince William was announced in 1982, and there was a wait of a month following the Prince Charles’s birth in 1948.

     

     

  • Mother’s death: First lady cuts short Geneva trip, returns home

    First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, is on her way back to Nigeria following the tragic death of her mother in a car crash on Minday in Port Harcourt.
    Reliable sources told our correspondent in Abuja this morning that Patience and the entourage, who were in Geneva on official assignment, are on their way back to the country following the orders given by the distraught woman who could not attend to scheduled engagements.
    The news of the death of the woman popularly known as her foster mother, Mrs. Iwarioba (Sisi), was said to have been broken to her in Geneva by President Goodluck Jonathan through the telephone yesterday.
    Though it was not clear if some of her close friends would be waiting to console with her at the Presidential Wing of the Abuja Airport, but our correspondent gathered that one of her aides had called to inform The Presidency that the Presidential jet that coverage the entourage to Geneva is on its way back to Abuja,
    Mrs. Iwarioba was reported to have died yesterday in a road crash at Elele in Rivers State. She was on her way to neighbouring Bayelsa State. Her body was deposited  at the Kpaima Mortuary on Elechi Beach, Mile One, Diobu, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, around 6 pm, by the self-acclaimed “Speaker” of Rivers House of Assembly, Evans Bipi, accompanied by many policemen.

  • British royal baby is a boy

    British Prince William’s wife Kate gave birth to a baby boy on Monday, their first child who will be third in line to the British throne.

    Agency reports said the baby was born with William at Kate’s side at 4:24 p.m. London time and weighed 8lbs 6oz.

    “The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry and members of both families have been informed and are delighted with the news,” Clarence House, Prince William’s office, said in a statement.

  • MANDELA CHALLENGE : Ameobi fit, healthy, says Keshi

    Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, has said that Newcastle striker, Shola Ameobi is healthy and fit for next month’s Mandela Challenge in South Africa. 
    Ameobi was taken to hospital for X-rays after injuring his hand in Newcastle United 3-1 friendly defeat to Rio Ave on Saturday with reports suggesting that the 31-year-old striker’s return to the Nigerian national team may have to be put on hold.
    However, Keshi who put a call to the experienced attacker to find out the true situation of things when the reports broke out on Sunday, was told by Ameobi that he had only a knock on the arm and he would be ready for the friendly against Bafana Bafana.
    “I have spoken to Shola and the guy is fit and healthy and will be available for the Mandela Challenge. He told me so himself, so any other news to the contrary I don’t believe”, the Big Boss stated.