GoldeNaija

Nigeria have moved up two places in the latest
FIFA ranking released on Thursday.
The Super Eagles are now 43rd in the world,
gaining 22 points in the month under review to
be on 681 points.
The new position puts the 2013 Africa Cup of
Nations winners as seventh-best in Africa
behind Algeria (21st), reigning African
champions Ivory Coast (24th), Tunisia (29th),
Ghana (34th), Senegal (36th) and Cape Verde
Islands (38th).
Guinea (45th), Congo (47th) and Cameroon
(49th) complete the CAF top 10.
Chad, who will be facing Nigeria in the
qualifiers for the 2017 AFCON, are ranked
172nd after moving downward by 20 places
from last month’s ranking.
The other teams in Nigeria’s AFCON qualifying
group, Tanzania and Egypt, also lost points and
slid down the rankings.
The East Africans recently posted poor
performances at the COSAFA Cup.
Tanzania are joint 127th in the world with
Vietnam, down 20 places and with 89 points
fewer on 215.
Egypt, who are re-building after a disastrous
few years, are 55th in the world with 596
points, down four places with 13 fewer points
than they had last month.
Tanzania’s Taifa Stars are 38th in Africa, Egypt’s
Pharaohs 13th, and Chad 46th on the
continent.
World champions Germany remain number 1,
but Belgium overtook Argentina to move into
second place, their highest-ever position since
the launch of the world ranking. France also
return to the top ten in ninth place at the
expense of Switzerland (11th, down 2).
Source :

 www.punchng.com/sports/nigeria-move-up-fifa-ranking/ 

Former Kaduna State Governor, Alhaji Balarabe Musa

FOURTEEN opposition parties under the aegis of
Credible Alternative Alliance on Thursday in
Abuja said it was “too early” for the
administration of President Muhammadu Buhari
to be relying on foreign countries for support
and direction on certain policy issues pertaining
to governance.
The CAA, which also includes 13 civil society
organisations, restated their resolve to provide
a credible opposition to the All Progressives
Congress.
Congregrating under the CAA are the Social
Democratic Party, Peoples Redemption Party,
Fresh Democratic Party, Nigeria Advance Party,
People’s Salvation Party, Change Advocacy
Party, United National Party for Development,
Peoples Progressive Party and the Action Party
of Nigeria.
A former governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji
Balarabe Musa; elder statesman, Dr. Tunji
Braitwaite and former Minister of Finance, Chief
Olu Falae, who spoke at a press briefing by the
National Coordinator CAA, Dr. Damian
Ogbonna, on Thursday, said Buhari’s
administration’s “ability and readiness to
meaningfully govern Nigeria remain in doubt.”
The elder statesmen said, “We note that APC
appears to want to cultivate and rely too much
on the support of foreign governments. This is
not good for the sovereignty of our nation. CAA
calls upon APC to rely less on foreign support.
The party should do more to cultivate domestic
support and more so from political parties in
the country. You cannot govern effectively
when you do so alone; it is not sustainable.
“In conclusion, we wish the new administration
well. However, its ability and readiness to
meaningfully govern Nigeria remain in doubt.
We pray, wait and hope for clarity in the days
to come.
“Both the President and other leaders of APC
have been in government for decades to
warrant knowing exactly what they want to do
and how they want to do it. Even those of us
here at CAA with less than a year into our
formation do have bold and visionary plan upon
which we predicate our drive to govern
Nigeria.”
According to them, when people lay claim to
the ability to solve problems, it is taken for
granted that they have diagnosed the problem
and have ready solutions “otherwise, it
amounts to a claim in deception and an
exercise in futility.”
The CAA, according to its promoters, is formed
to defend and advance progressive, democratic
and patriotic entities and ideals in Nigeria
“against reactionary tendencies of a rudderless
and immensely corrupt governing system.”
Ogbonna said that after a careful review of the
inaugural speech of Buhari and the current
state of the nation, the CAA found the speech
“embarrassingly tall on promises but
depressingly short on vision and boldness.”
He said, “We searched for a silver lining in the
speech laying out a new framework for the
emergence of the new Nigeria of our dreams,
and found none. There is no qualitative
difference between the 2015 Presidential
Inauguration speech and the inaugural
speeches of past presidents.
“The President talked about enormous
challenges; insecurity, pervasive corruption, fuel
and power shortages and so on, but in no
paragraph of his speech did he lay out new
initiatives, new directions, new structures, new
federation, new constitution or even new sets
of legislation to tackle these enormous
challenges.”

Source : punch

Hearing in the case of the N8bn currency scam,
involving six Central Bank of Nigeria officials and
other bankers, continued at the Federal High
Court, Ibadan, on Wednesday as the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission alleged that
one of the accused persons, Mr. Ayodeji Alase of
First Bank, had property worth hundreds of
millions of naira.
It was alleged that Alase, a primary six
certificate holder, had a duplex at Oluyole Estate
in Ibadan, a shopping complex in the city, a
warehouse at Podo area of the city, a fenced
plot at Dugbe, a block of four flats at Apeye, two
plots of land and five-bedroom flat in other
parts of the Oyo State capital.
He was alleged to have a credit balance of
N132m in one of his bank accounts.
The commission also alleged that Alase
possessed a block of five-bedroom flat at Apete,
Ibadan and a supermarket at New Garage,
Apata area of Ibadan.
Other accused persons, including Olaniran
Adeola, Ayodele Adeyemi, Isiaq Akano and
others were also said to own property in South
Africa, filling stations, cement shops, schools,
supermarkets, exotic cars and buildings in
several locations in Nigeria.
A woman, Mrs. Afolabi Olunike, was alleged to
be an owner of a duplex, several plots of land, a
storey building and another three acres of land.
Earlier, during the hearing, Alase had delayed
proceedings of the court when he claimed not to
understand English Language when charges
were read to him.
Lead prosecution for EFCC, Mr. Rotimi Jacob
(SAN), faulted his claim, alleging that although
Alase was employed as a guard, he rose to
become a cash assistant in First Bank Plc.
Justice A.O. Faaji later ruled that an interpreter
should be provided to ease communication
between the court and the accused.
On Wednesday, cases were heard before Justice
Faaji in batches with the first set of accused
persons arraigned on 28 counts
They are Kolawole Babalola, Olaniran Adeola,
Toogun Phillip, Ayodele Adeyemi, Isiaq Akano,
Oyebamiji Akeem, Alase, Ajiwe Adegoke and
Idowu Oguntade, who is still at large.
Three officials of the CBN were among the
accused, while others were from Wema Bank Plc
and First Bank Plc.
Prosecution counsel, Mr. Rotimi (SAN), told the
court that the accused persons were charged
with 28 counts, which included forgery of
documents, conspiracy and stealing.
According to the charge sheet, the accused
persons were charged with intent to defraud
and conspiracy to commit an offense punishable
under the Nigerian law.
They all pleaded not guilty to all the allegations.
Efforts of counsel for the accused persons to
secure bail for them through oral application,
failed as Justice Faaji ruled that they should be
remanded in prisons pending further hearing.
The case was adjourned till June 8, 2015 for
hearing of the bail applications.
 source : punch 

Former President Goodluck Jonathan; his deputy,
Namadi Sambo; immediate past ministers and
presidential aides as well as non-returning
federal lawmakers will wait till next year before
collecting their severance allowances,
investigation by The PUNCH has shown.
Their severance allowances as contained in the
remuneration package put together by the
Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal
Commission is valued at about N3.24bn.
Sources at the Ministry of Finance in Abuja
confided in our correspondent on Thursday that
the allowances of the political office holders that
left office last weekend were not captured in
this year’s budget.
The 2015 budget, which was passed by the
National Assembly and signed by Jonathan on
April 28, makes a provision of N2.3bn for
“entitlements of former Presidents/Heads of
state and Vice Presidents/Chiefs of General
Staff.”
Explaining the reason why the severance pay
was not captured in this year’s budget, the
official said as of last year when the 2015
budget was being prepared, the outcome of the
April 2015 elections could not be ascertained.
He said since the outcome of the elections could
not be predicted, there was no way the Budget
Office could have determined the number of
political office holders that would not be re-
elected.
The official added, “You will recall that the 2015
budget was prepared sometime last year and
during the budget preparation, the elections had
not been held.
“So it would be wrong to include the severance
package of political office holders in the budget
because as of the time the budget was
prepared, these people were still holding
political offices.
“Secondly, including their severance package
before the elections were conducted would
mean that we were pre-empting the outcome of
a political process.
“So what we do is to wait for the outcomes of
elections and on the strength of this, we can
know the number of people that have left office
and those re-elected.
“As for those political office holders that are
leaving office this year, their severance package
would be included in the 2016 budget which
would be prepared later in the year.”
Under the severance package put together by
RMAFC, Jonathan is entitled to 300 per cent of
his annual basic salary.
The President’s annual basic salary is put at N3,
514,705 and therefore his severance allowance
will be N10, 544,115 after May 29.
The severance allowance is without prejudice to
his other constitutional entitlements as a former
head of government.
Similarly, Vice-President Sambo, who left office
the same day as Jonathan, is entitled to 300 per
cent of his annual basic salary put at N3,
031,572.50. This means that his severance
allowance after May 29 is N9, 094,717.50.
For having held the office of vice-president,
Sambo also has some constitutional entitlements
and perks.
About 76 senators are not returning to the
National Assembly either because they did not
stand for election or because they lost their bids
to return. They are however entitled to
N462,019,200 at the expiration of their tenure
on June 5.
Like Jonathan and Sambo, they are entitled to
300 per cent of their annual basic salaries as
severance allowances. This amounts to N6,
079,200 per senator.
In the House of Representatives, about 290
members are not returning to the 8th National
Assembly to be proclaimed into existence by
Buhari on June 5.
Each of the members is entitled to N5,
955,637.50 as severance allowance. This means
that the 290 members will be paid N1,
727,134,875.
The former ministers, on the other hand, will be
collecting a total of N253, 967,212.5. There were
42 ministers in Jonathan’s cabinet. Thirty one of
them were senior ministers and 11 ministers of
state.
Each of the former senior ministers is entitled to
N6, 079,200 as severance allowance while each
of the ministers of state will receive N5,
872,740.
This means that collectively, the senior ministers
will get N188, 455,200 while collectively, the
erstwhile ministers of state will receive N65,
512,012.5 .
The aides to the former President comprising
special advisers, senior special assistants and
special assistants will get N775, 207,125.
They were 23 of them that worked with the
president as special advisers. Apart from this
number, however, there were several others
estimated at 110, who worked with the vice-
president, the wife of the former President and
special advisers that were designated either as
senior special assistants or special assistants to
the President.
This means that there were about 133 aides to
the president and each of them is entitled to
300 per cent of their annual basic salary which
amounts to N5, 828,625.
http://www.punchng.com/news/no-n3-2bn-
severance-pay-for-jonathan-others-till-2016/

Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi has rejected talk of a rift with Mikel Obi, saying the Chelsea midfielder is still in his plans.

Keshi has left the 28-year-old out of his squad for next month’s 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Chad.

“It’s true that I couldn’t reach him when he was injured but that’s not the reason for his omission,” Keshi told BBC Sport.

“We’ve spoken and contrary to reports (in the local media) there is no problem between us at all.”

Mikel has not played for Nigeria since November but Keshi insists the door remains open for the midfielder.

“He’s an integral member of this team who brings a lot to it. Right now we are only giving opportunities to some new players,” he added.

Another notable foreign-based absentee is defender Elderson Echiejile, who plays for Monaco in France’s Ligue 1.

But there is a surprise recall for Slovakia-based Rabiu Ibrahim, who has yet to make his senior debut, while Watford’s Odion Ighalo is expected to make his competitive debut against Chad in Kaduna on 13 June.

There were first-time call-ups for William Troost-Ekong, Kingsley Madu and Anderson Esiti.

The 15 foreign-based stars will join other locally based players at their Abuja camp next week.

Keshi, who won the Africa Cup of Nations as a player with Nigeria in 1994 and as coach in 2013, is confident he can revive the Super Eagles after their failure to qualify for the recent finals in Equatorial Guinea.

“We have a big task ahead to rebuild this team and I am confident we are going to bounce back,” said Keshi.

“The door is not shut on anyone; those invited must show they deserve it by giving their best.”

Source: Punch

Catholic Bishops in Nigeria have appealed to rescued women who are pregnant for Boko Haram members not to consider abortion. The Catholic Bishops, under the aegis "Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN spoke through the Chairman, Health Committee of the CBCN, Most Reverend Anselm Umoren at a press conference in Abuja today May 25th.

The Bishops in their submission, said the life of every baby was distinct from that of the parents. They insisted that aborting such children amounted to visiting the sin of the terrorists, who impregnated the women, on the innocent child.

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church, who has made waves of connections reaching out to disaffected Catholics and insisting on making the poor a top priority, hasn't watched TV since July 15, 1990, he revealed in an interview published in the Argentinian newspaper La Voz del Pueblo.

The pontiff did not reveal why he gave up watching TV, except to say he decided it wasn't for him, before promising the Virgin Mary he wouldn't watch again.



That promise has kept him from watching his favorite soccer team, Buenos Aires-based San Lorenzo, but he told the paper a member of his Swiss Guard tells him the scores and keeps him up to date on the standings.

Pope Francis said he really misses the tranquility of just walking the streets.
The Pope concluded that he would like to be remembered as a "good guy" who tried to do good".

CEO of Capital Oil, Ifeanyi Ubah made an announcement on Sunday that his company would release 13 million liters of fuel to help out with the fuel scarcity situation in the country since then officials of the Nigerian Army have taken over the Ojodu Berger outlet of Capital Oil, buying petroleum products in drums, after they had scared away thousands of prospective consumers.

The armed personnel came pretending to maintain peace and order, but they soon abandoned their primary responsibility and started buying fuel in drums.

They shoved, maltreated and chased off those who were on queue to tend to themselves.

The military officials who were fully dressed had taken over the only two pumps that dispensed the Premium Motor Spirit.

There was an unregistered white Isuzu truck the soldiers had been using for the ‘deal’ and this truck had visited the filling station for the fourth time and each time bought fuel.

The fourth truck was loaded at 8:50pm on Monday night.

The vehicle, on each visit, left with at least 14 drums and dozens of gallons filled with fuel.

Helpless consumers, some of who slept at the filling station, suspected the soldiers were buying fuel to sell to sell in Lagos black market.

Those who complained about what was going on were severely beaten

By 9pm on Monday, not more than a hundred cars left the station with fuel.

Source: Punch

Military officers pictured above during a military parade rehearsal ahead of Friday's inauguration ceremony at Eagles Square Abuja. More photos after the cut...



I can feel the wind of change!!!

Photo credit: Lola Shoneyin

Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN, have reportedly agreed to call off their strike action over unpaid subsidy claims and commence lifting of petroleum products nationwide in the next six hours.

The oil marketers agreed to call off their strike at a meeting with the Chairman, Senate committee on petroleum resources, Magnus Abe, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, ‎ Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, MD of NNPC Joseph Dawha and other stakeholders in the oil and gas sector in Abuja today May 25th.


At the meeting, the oil marketers agreed that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) should immediately revoke the license of any oil marketer that refuses to lift petroleum products across Nigeria.

Members of PENGASSAN, NUPENG, MOMAN, IPMAN and all other officials also addressed the press where they affirmed the resolutions and agreement and called off their strike action as well.

Congratulations to all Nigerians...

Labour unions in Osun State on Monday declared a total strike to press home their demand for payment of their six-month salaries.
The Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Jacob Adekomi, who read the address of the labour unions at a press conference in Osogbo, said the strike would begin on Tuesday, May 26, after the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum given to the state government.
The address read, “That an indefinite strike action be commenced by all the workers in the State of Osun as from Tuesday, May 26, 2015 due to the failure of the government to accede to our legitimate demands, as contained in our letter to the government dated May 12, 2015.
“The indefinite strike action will be total and by this billeting, workers are advised to stay at home while pressing home our demands. That no worker should resume work until announcement is made by the labour bodies to that effect.”
The labour union alleged that apart from the salary issue, the state government had refused to remit the contributory pension deductions from their salaries to their respective retirement saving accounts.

Management of the University of Ibadan has asked all its students to vacate the school premises and proceed on a mandatory two weeks mid-semester break due to the prevailing fuel scarcity.
The directive was contained in a statement sent out by the school’s director of Communication, Mr Muhammed Oladejo today May 25th. The directive came after students of the Independence hall, one of the hostels in the campus, staged a protest over the unavailability of power & water in their hostel.
God come and help us in Nigeria ooooo :)



- Source: http://www.naijaloaded.com.ng/2015/05/25/university-of-ibadan-shuts-down-school-due-to-fuel-scarcity/#sthash.PWCr4Yjx.dpuf

The Federal Government has declared Friday May 29, 2015 as Public Holiday to celebrate the 2015 Democracy Day.

The Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, made the declaration on behalf of the FG in a statement signed by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Abubakar Magaji, on Monday in Abuja.

The minister urged Nigerians at home and the diaspora to support the incoming government and to pray for the success of Nigeria’s democratic process.

Moro used the opportunity to congratulate President Goodluck Jonathan and Nigerians for the successful conduct of the 2015 general elections.

He also congratulated the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, on his electoral victory, wishing his administration good luck.

Source: http://www.punchng.com/news/fg-declares-friday-public-holiday-2/

Real Madrid have announced they have sacked Carlo Ancelotti as head coach.

The Italian coach has been widely expected to leave the Santiago Bernabeu this summer after a disappointing end to the 2014-15 season, which saw Madrid lose out to Barcelona in the Liga title race and exit the Champions League at the semi-final stage at the hands of Juventus.

The reigning European champions have now confirmed they have parted ways with the man who delivered La Decima to the club.

Madrid president Florentino Perez said: “I want to tell you that we have decided to relieve Carlo Ancelotti of his duties as Real Madrid coach. It’s been a very difficult decision for the board but as I always say, we haven’t come here to take the easy decisions but the best decisions for the institution.

“Carlo Ancelotti in these two years, has won the affection of the board and my personal affection and that of the fans. Carlo is part of our history. But as we all know, in Madrid the demands are great. We think it’s time for a new impulse which can allow us to win new titles and achieve our maximal level of competitiveness.

“With our great team, talent and hard work we can give satisfaction and success to our fans. I want to thank Carlo for his hard work in the last two years and tell him this is still is house and home. Next week we will know the name of the new coach of Real Madrid.

When asked about the possible candidates for the job, Perez added: “It would be good if the new manager spoke Spanish.”

Ancelotti delivered four trophies at Madrid in a remarkable 2014, as the Blancos won the Copa del Rey, Champions League, European Super Cup and Club World Cup.
Source: Punchng.com

We're glad to return to regular banking hours (8am to 5pm) from tomorrow 26|05|2015


Source: https://twitter.com/gtbank/status/602922562981593088

Capital Oil and Gas owned by Ifeanyi Ubah is currently selling fuel in Nnewi, Anambra State at N100 per litre. Mr. Ubah had on Sunday promised to open his facility to “approximately 400 trucks of petroleum products” because “of to the immense hardship witnessed by Nigerians following the suspension of loading activities in all depots”. In Lagos, Capital Oil is selling fuel at N87. The entire country has been hit by an unprecedented fuel crisis that has grounded the nation’s economy with banks, telecommunications firms and media organisations limiting their hours of operations. Capital Oil and Gas Ltd had on Sunday commenced the loading of 13 million litres of petrol from its depot in Apapa for distribution to the various states to reduce the current scarcity. The Chairman of the company, Ifeayin Ubah, told journalists in Lagos that more than 2,000 trucks would be loaded before May 29 to boost the country’s economic activities. He said the company’s facilities had the capacity to load 13 million litres of the product within the period. “This comes to approximately 400 trucks of petroleum products on daily basis. With this, it is our belief that once again our citizens will begin to smile and return to normal family and work life. “We call on other petroleum marketers to follow suit and save our nation from this impending economic and social crisis,’’ he said.


http://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/ssouth-east/183637-capital-oil-sells-petrol-at-n100-per-litre-in-nnewi.html

Although the Petroleum products marketers and the Federal Government, Monday, reached an agreement over the lingering fuel crisis in the country, there are strong indications that commercial banks may close their business offices and even shut down Automated Teller Machines, ATMs, across the nation if petroleum products are not readily available. Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN, had agreed to call off their strike action over unpaid subsidy claims and commence lifting of petroleum products nationwide. Meanwhile, some of the commercial banks in Lagos including Guarantee Trust Bank, First City Monument Bank, FCMB, among others on Monday sent text messages to their customers on the possibility of shutting down banking operations if the situation continues. Given the shortage of petroleum products in the country, some of the commercials on Monday, according to Vanguard Hi-Tech findings were compelled to close down banking operations by 1:pm as against 4:pm official closing time. FCMB in a text message sent to its customers stated clearly that, “Dear customer, our branches will close at 1pm from Monday May 25th, 2015 due to the shortage of petroleum products. All our alternative channels will remain available” What this means is that majority of Nigerian commercial banks will not be working at full capacity if the scarcity had continued. Just last weekend, some of the ATMs located in Ikeja city had network problems as the inverters that power the network had little or no power to run the machines. “The ATMs will be affected in the current scenario. It is inverter that powers ATMs after daily banking operations. By the time the inverters runs down, the ATM will seize to work. That is the simple truth about it”, a bank official in one of the banks located in Ikaja told Vanguard Hi-Tech in an interaction. According to her, the commercial banks will be compelled to be running half day if the situation remains. Telecoms to shut down operations The warning from MTN, Airtel and Etisalat was a sign that the scarcity was hitting hard on their operations Airtel on Sunday had said that the situation was impacting negatively on its commitments to delivering quality services and seamless telephony experience to Nigerians. Airtel said in a statement: “We are currently doing everything within our means, as well as going the extra mile, to ensure that all our base stations and switches are up and running. “It is sad to note that it is becoming increasingly difficult to replenish current stock of diesel due to the lingering scarcity of the products. “We are also concerned that, if the situation persists, it may have adverse effects on our network, impacting both voice and data services. Similarly, MTN has warned that its network faces shut down due to fuel shortages that had crippled the nation. The company, the biggest subsidiary of South Africa-based MTN Group, said it needed a “significant quantity of diesel in the very near future to prevent a shut-down of services across Nigeria. “If diesel supplies are not received within the next 24 hours, the network will be seriously degraded and customers will feel the impact,” it added on its Twitter account, @MTNNG, weekend. “Diesel generators power most of MTN’s base stations and switches across the country, but fuel supplies are running low,” MTN Corporate Services Executive, Akinwale Goodluck, said. Also reacting, Etisalat Nigeria on Monday announced possible disruptions to its operations and services as a result of the nationwide scarcity of petroleum products. “Management stated that the company is working assiduously to minimise the impact given the circumstances. “The scarcity of petroleum products has impacted every sector of the economy and the provision of telecommunications services is no exception. We are however working with partners and doing all that is possible to continue to deliver quality services in spite of the challenge. Such a prolonged situation threatens our ability to re-fuel all our sites and thus negatively impacting service. Source:http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/05/fuel-scarcity-banks-to-shut-down-atms/