APC Targets 1m Members In Imo As Okorocha Declares Registration Open

FROM LEFT: FORMER GOVERNOR OF ANAMBRA, SEN. CHRIS NGIGE; GOV. ROCHAS OKOROCHA OF IMO; FORMER PDP SENATOR REPRESENTING ORLU WEST, SEN. OSITA IZUNASO; FORMER NATIONAL SECRETARY, ALL NIGERIA PEOPLES PARTY (ANPP), CHIEF GEORGE MOGHALU AND OTHERS AT THE ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS (APC) REGISTRATION IN ORLU 

Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo has said that he was targeting over one million people to register in the ongoing All Progressives Congress (APC) membership registration in the state.

Okorocha expressed the hope while kick starting the APC membership registration exercise at the Ahiajioku Convention Centre, Owerri, on Thursday.

He said that the exercise had commenced in full in all the polling units and called on Imo residents to identify with the party.

“Identifying with APC will ensure continuity of free education with 305 modern primary schools, massive road construction and rehabilitation, improved healthcare delivery, youth and women empowerment and adequate security to lives and property.

“APC as a party is free and fair in all its dealings especially in the selection of candidates for elections”, he said.

He expressed optimism that over one million members would be registered in the state but warned against double registration.

The governor also charged officials handling the registration to guard against manipulation in the discharge of their duties

Contributing, the Chairman, APC Registration Committee in the State, Dr. Alex Ibe explained that the members would be provided with temporary identity cards before the state congress scheduled for March.

He said that only card-carrying members would participate in the party’s congress and convention and expressed the hope that the exercise would be a huge success. (NAN)

HOUSES, CARS, JETS AND THE BACKDROP...

HOUSES, CARS, JETS AND THE BACKDROP...
She was your dream come true, you ace, your love, your boo...she meant everything to you, her beauty resonated beyond face value, she made you smile, she built your confidence in you, you married her, because, even in her imperfection, she was perfection for you...she supported you, did bits and pieces to make sure you could get the qualifications you needed to be a better man, husband and father, she stood by you making ends meet, taking care of you and the children. On graduation day, you gave a speech and it was all about her, how GOD has so blessed you; on your first management promotion celebration, you gave thanks to GOD, referred to her as your beautiful wife; at the dinner for franchise owners, which you've now become, you said you had two people to thank, GOD and her...then you got more franchises, expanded to other arenas, now you are in business journals, being called to speak at seminars, the zeros behind the figures in your bank accounts are astronomical, you have houses everywhere, you have cars and jets...

Houses, cars, jets...

So...now, she needs to pull her weight, she needs to change and modernise herself. You got invited to the White House and you took your PA, because someone needed to attend to the kids and you don't like the idea of leaving them with the nanny, besides, your PA needed to be there, she looks good carrying your briefcase while clutching to your arm, yeah, suddenly, you start seeing your wife as not so attractive, you see her as a hindrance, you even suggested she should get a job, a job? She got you yours and there is more than enough money for her to never work for a hundred years...

What happened? The status and money you so wanted to use to say thank you to your wife and family has quadrupled, you don't need her any more? She's only good for looking after the children now, you've outgrown her, and your PA is younger and more sophisticated...you've let the money change you, look at her, she has not changed, she is the same woman you could not wait to marry, she has shown you nothing but love all through, she stood by you when the PA would not even look at you, she taught you how to knot a tie, now you stand against her, create issues to cause fights with her, slowly turning her into what you know she is not, just to justify your ill actions, you want her to ask for a divorce, so you can use this same money to settle her and get her out of the picture, why? Please don't forget that even if she has no power, she was not the only one you thanked for your success, you thanked GOD and HE has power...I rest! ≈KDL®™©2014

Rivers Police Commissioner Joseph Mbu Transferred To Abuja

After sparing him in previous transfer exercises, the Police Service Commission has finally moved Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mbu, who has been severally accused of highhandness in the state to the Federal Capital Territory Command.

He is to be replaced by the Commissioner in charge of the Special Fraud Unit, Johnson Ogunshakin.

SaharaReporters had 3 days ago hinted Mbu’s removal citing Police headquarters sources.

“The removal of the police commissioner, known to be a crony of Patience Jonathan, the wife of Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan, is coming on the heels of threats by opposition party All Progressives Congress (APC) to block all legislative proposals by Mr. Jonathan until the political crisis believed to be instigated in Rivers State by the President and his wife is resolved,” the online news platform had reported.

Mbu, who has had issues with the state government had been accused of ‘tormenting’ Governor Rotimi Amaechi and frustrating his interests in the state because of his differences with President Jonathan.

13 senior officers were affected by the transfer exercise.

Breaking: Sanusi insists “Let us know what happened to the remaining $20 billion.

CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, sparked the investigation.

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Meeting is adjourned to next Thursday 10 am. Mr. Makarfi said the committee will go into actual examination of issues when it receives all responses from the parties.

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Mr. Makarfi said some issues raised by CBN governor, Sanusi, in his letter to the committee, do not relate to the immediate subject of investigation.

But Mr. Sanusi said the issues raised by him relate directly to why the NNPC has not remitted money to the government account. Mr. Sanusi said what must be agreed is that NNPC shipped $67 billion worth of crude, but what came to the CBN after all reconciliation, stands at $47 billion.

“Let us know what happened to the remaining $20 billion.”

We have confirmed that the FIRS received $16 billion which was paid by IOCs. CBN has accepted that. We have accounted that out of $67 billion that NNPC shipped, $47 billion has come to CBN.

Mr. Sanusi said NNPC’s claim on subsidy on kerosene cannot stand since a presidential directive had long barred such subsidy. “NNPC must show where it got the authority to buy kerosene at N150 and sell at N40, and then put the burden of loss on the federation account,” he said.

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Mr. Okogu: I know that they have made progress with the PPPRA. This one week we are seeking will be enough for us to bring this to closure.

He said the need to deliver a satisfactory, and thorough job.

FIRS is asked by the committee whether it received part of the money as NNPC claimed, and if they did, how much, and did they remit the amount to government?

A representative of the FIRS said at the inter-agency reconciliation committee, FIRS was to account for “$15 billion” of the total $49.8 billion.

The FIRS representative confirmed the agency received “$16 billion” and remitted same.

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PPPRA representative said we have been working on the reconciliation and we have gone far. Probably before the end of the week, we would be able to conclude. PPPRA said they are still “looking for some documents”.

Makarfi said the committee cannot wait forever. The PPPRA must be able to state on the date given to them how far they have reconciled (10%, 30% or 90%, or what figure). That must be provided to the committee in writing.

Bukola Saraki: Said the process does not “instil confidence”. “For a letter that was written September, and was only made public later, why did the reconciliation not start? “It’s not the amount now, but the issue of process.”

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Bright Okogu, DG Budget:

The figure has come down from $49.8billion to about $10.8 billion. That figure has been on the table since. He said the inter-agency committee asked NNPC to provide all necessary documents to account fully for the outstanding figure.

He said the last time NNPC/ and Ministry of Petroleum were contacted last week, informally, and they said they have gone very far with the PPPRA on the reconciliation of the outstanding amount. The NNPC requested for more time.

Mr. Okogu requested for one more week to sort out all outstanding figure.

Makarfi has asked PPRA to respond. “We want to know exactly what is going on at this point,” he said.

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Mr. Makarfi said the two ministers, likely Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Diezani Allison-Madueke, have the permission of the committee to be absent due to ill health. But the committee expects that by next week, all of them will appear before it.

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Mr. Makarfi said NNPC has made submission which the committee finds not comprehensive. NNPC asked to re-submit latest Feb.14.

NEITI’s response also covered only 2011. The committee wants it to send in more info by February 7.

The committee said it has yet to receive the inter-agency reconciliation report on the alleged unremitted funds.

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Ahmed Makarfi: All should know that this particular hearing is basically on the issue of unremitted revenue by the NNPC.

Recalls that the first hearing last December was suspended to allow the parties involved reconcile the figures.

Mr. Makarfi said the committee wrote letters to finance ministry to ask whether the NNPC has outstanding unremitted funds.

To CBN, the committee requested the copy of the letter Mr. Sanusi sent to President and any other letter

To NNPC: The committee asked if there are unremitted funds; whether they received the CBN letter and responded. If they did, they should furnish the committee with a copy.

The committee also wrote to the Department of Petroleum Resources, FIRS, NEITI, and the ministry of petroleum resources.

Ogala EmmanuelAN HOUR AGO

Ahmed Makarfi, chairman of the committee, has confirmed the hearing is to investigate the alleged missing oil billions. OPEN the floor then. He is reading an address.

Jonathan In A 5-Hour Closed Door Meeting With Service Chiefs

President Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday met with the new service chiefs behind closed doors for 5 hours.

The service chiefs were reported to have refused speaking to journalists who saw them after the meeting.

A source at the meeting who pleaded anonymity, however told  Thisday that the president charged the new service chiefs to as a matter of urgency, put and end to insecurity across the country especially in the North where the Islamic sect, Boko Haram had been unleashing mayhem on innocent people.

The meeting which started at 10.30am and ended at 3.30pm had in attendance the new service chiefs: Chief of Defence Staff Air Marshal Alex Badeh, Chief of Army Staff Major-General Kenneth Tobiah Jacob Minimah, Chief of Naval Staff Rear Admiral Usman O. Jibrin.

Others were Chief of Air Staff Air Vice Marshal Adesola Nunayon Amosu, the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar and the Director-General of the Department of State Security Service, Ita Ekpeyong.

Jonathan’s Eligibilty: Kwankwaso, Others Should Better Shut Up, Northern Group Warns

As President Goodluck Jonathan’s eligibility to contest the 2015 presidential elections takes centre stage in national discourse, a northern group in Kaduna on Sunday asked those in the region using the issue as a campaign tool to stop overheating the polity and allow the court to decide the president’s fate.

The group, known as Arewa Peoples Patriotic Front, while reacting to a statement credited to Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State on the eligibility of the president to contest the 2015 election, said the governor was not competent to determine the eligibility of Jonathan.

The group however noted that Jonathan was qualified to seek a second term in office.

Kwankwaso had last week alleged that President Jonathan’s second term ambition was akin to a ‘third term’, which he said would be resisted by well-meaning Nigerians when the time comes.

In a statement by its Chairman and Secretary, Mordecai Ibrahim and Sam Otitolaye respectively, the APPFasked Kwankwaso and other critics of President Jonathan in the North not to distract him from carrying out his official duties.

The statement read, “On whether President Goodluck Jonathan is eligible to contest the 2015 election, since Kwankwaso is not a lawyer and is also not ready to go to court for the interpretation of the constitution on the matter, he should better shut up.

“We have a constitution and the courts are there to perform their constitutional functions of interpretation and adjudication. Nigerians should therefore be spared these ‘mango tree’ discussions’”.

Komla Dumor listed among 10 most powerful men in Africa 2014

The late Christian author, Leonard Ravenhill once wrote ”the opportunity of a lifetime must be seized within the lifetime of the opportunity,” and some of the business moguls and entrepreneurs, emerging political leaders, rising corporate titans from Africa are seizing the opportunity of turning the continent around.

The 2014 list of the “10 Most Powerful Men In Africa” follows the inaugural list of The 10 Youngest Power Men In Africa in 2011.

Much like the annual The 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa list, the 2014 list of the “10 Most Powerful Men In Africa” distinguishes and celebrates the accomplishments of Africa's most outstanding male game changers.

Our list is distinctive in that it identifies African men who are innovative, courageous, daring and often disruptive in their fields.

The list highlights African entrepreneurs, corporate executives, social entrepreneurs, political and civil leaders who are changing the continent and the world around them, often times without much fanfare.

Africa's emerging power brokers – meet the 10 powerful African men who are carving a name for themselves and simultaneously changing their communities and the continent.

January Makamba, Tanzania, Deputy Minister of Communication, Science & Technology and Member of Parliament

Makamba is one of Tanzania's rising stars in government. He is currently theDeputy Minister of Communication, Science and Technology and is rumored to run for President in 2015. Makamba is a Member of Parliament for Bumbuli constituency in the National Assembly of Tanzania.

Before running for the Bumbuli parliamentary seat, Makamba was aide to Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete for 5 years. Named Young Global Leader class of 2013 by the World Economic Forum, Makamba comes from a political family; his father, Yusuf Makamba was Secretary General of the ruling CCM party.

In 2013 Makamba was awarded an NDI Democracy Award by the National Democratic Institute which “honors individuals and organizations that have exhibited a sustained commitment to democracy and human rights, and have demonstrated leadership, integrity and courage in their dedication to democratic values and practices”.

Chinedu Echeruo, Nigeria, Tech Entrepreneur & Founder of Hopstop.com and Tripology.com

Echeruo is a Tech entrepreneur and founder ofHopStop.com which he reportedly sold to Apple in the “billion” dollar range.

HopStop.com is a mobile and online application that provides mass transit directions door-to-door mass transit, taxi, walking, biking and hourly car rental directions in major metropolitan markets throughout the U.S., Canada, U.K, France, Australia, New Zealand and Russia.

In 2001, HopStop was named one of the 100 fastest growing companies in the US by Inc. magazine.

Chinedu also founded Tripology.com, an interactive travel referral service focused on connecting travelers with travel specialists which was later acquired by USA Today Travel Media Group.

Echeruo obtained an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S from Syracuse University.

Mohammed Dewji, Tanzania, Group Chief Executive Officer of Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Limited

Dewji is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Limited (MeTL) and at 39 is the youngest member of the Forbes'Africa's 50 Richest list with an estimated net worth of USD $500 million.

The MeTL Group began as a family business, a small trading company which Mohammed transformed into one of the largest industrial conglomerates in East Africa, with interests ranging from real estate, agriculture, finance, distribution and manufacturing.

The company employs more than 24,000 people acrossTanzania and according to Dewji, generates annual revenues of USD$1.3 billion. Dewji has been a Member of Parliament in the National Assembly of Tanzania since 2005. Dewji graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in International Business and Finance with a minor in Theology.

Kola Karim, Nigeria, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Shoreline Energy International

Karim is the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Shoreline Energy International, a Nigerian conglomerate with interests that span oil & gas, power generation, engineering, commodities trading, infrastructure and construction across sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2012, Shoreline Energy partnered with U.K-based Heritage Oil in acquiring a stake in OML 30, an oilfield asset in Nigeria for a reported $850 million. An avid polo player, Karim was named Young Global Leader class of 2008 by the World Economic Forum.

Ashish J. Thakkar, Uganda, Founder and Managing Director of Mara Group, Mara Foundation and Mara Online

Thakkar is the Founder and Managing Director of Mara Group, a diversified conglomerate with approximately USD $100 million in revenues, according to Thakkar. The group operates in operates in 19 of the 46 sub-Saharan African nations, as well as in India and the United Arab Emirates.

Headquartered in Dubai, Mara Group participates in sectors ranging from financial services, information and communications technology, manufacturing, real estate and agriculture. Thakkar also launched Mara Online, a portfolio of online and mobile platforms that allow users to communicate, interact and collaborate with each other.

The serial entrepreneur advises the Presidents of Tanzania and Uganda and runs Mara Foundation, a social enterprise that mentors young African entrepreneurs. He signed up for Virgin Galactic's first mission to space.

Mamadou Toure, Cameroon, Founder and Chairman of Africa 2.0

Toure is the founder and Chairman of Africa 2.0, an initiative-driven advocacy group that brings together emerging leaders representing African countries and the diaspora, who share a common vision of the continent's future.

In 3 years of existence Africa 2.0 has already grown into an organization with a global footprint in 26 countries and rallied some of the most influential continental and global leaders.

As the Managing Director with General Electric (GE) Africa, Toure currently leads a regional Investments and Project Finance team supporting all GE businesses (power, water, mining, oil & gas, transportation, healthcare, aviation) with financing solutions across sub-Saharan Africa. Toure received a distinction as “New Leader for Tomorrow” by the Crans Montana Forum in 2011.

He was selected in 2012 as of one of the 100 Most Influential Africans by the New African Magazine. In 2013, Toure was ranked among the “25 Faces of the new Africa” by BRICS Business Magazine

Amadou Mahtar Ba, Senegal, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the African Media Initiative

Mahtar Ba is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the African Media Initiative (AMI), a pan-African organization aimed at strengthening the media sector in Africa.

Ba is also a co-founder and Chairman of AllAfrica Global Media, Inc – owner and operator of AllAfrica.com, one of the largest distributor of African news and information worldwide.

For three years in a row, Mahtar Ba has been selected as one of the 100 Most Influential Africansby the New African Magazine, in 2011, 2012 and 2013 respectively. He was also listed in the top 500 Africans contributing to the rise of the continent by the Africa24 magazine published in March, 2011.

Simdul Shagaya, Nigeria – Tech Entrepreneur and Founder of Konga.com and DealDey.com

Shagaya is the founder and CEO of Konga.com, Nigeria's largest online shopping portal and DealDey spinoff site. Konga.com, Africa's answer toAmazon.com, is an e-commerce platform that sells goods and services directly to consumers.

Shagaya is also the founder & Executive Chairman of DealDey Limited, which offers services and products at discounted prices. In 2013 Shagaya won the All Africa Business Leaders Awards' Entrepreneur of the Year award. HumanIPO selected Konga.com as one of the African technology startups of 2013. Shagaya is a graduate of George Washington University, Dartmouth College and holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Ben Magara, Zimbabwe, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Lonmin

Recently appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and as a Director of Lonmin, the world's third-largest platinum mining company, Magara is tasked with improving industrial relations and guiding the platinum miner's turnaround strategy after strikes last year triggered violence which killed 46 people including 34 strikers shot dead by police in a single day at its Marikana mine.

With a mining career that spans 26 years, Magara was previously the Chief Executive Officer of Anglo Coal South Africa responsible for Anglo American total coal business in South Africa and revenues of around USD $2 billion. Magara, who speaks seven languages, has a degree in Mining Engineering from the University of Zimbabwe.

Komla Dumor, Ghana, Lead Presenter on “Focus On Africa” and BBC World News' European morning segment

In memoriam. The highly-respected presenter of “Focus on Africa”, BBC's flagship and first-ever dedicated daily TV news show on BBC World News died of cardiac arrest on January 18 earlier this year at his home in London. Dumor, who was named one of “100 Most Influential Africans” in 2013 by New African magazine, had “established himself as one of the emerging African faces of global broadcasting.”As a lead presenter for BBC World, Dumor had considerable influence on how the continent is covered.

He leaves behind a powerful and enduring legacy; how the continent is reported. “There's so much more to tell about Africa than the usual stories about war, famine and disease.”

2015: Drop Sambo As Running Mate Or Risk Losing Northern Support – PDP Stakeholders Tell Jonathan

The uncertainty surrounding the political future of Vice President Namadi Sambo has refused to go away as pressure from President Goodluck Jonathan’s associates continue to mount over the former Kaduna governor’s unsuitability as a running mate material in the 2015 presidential elections.

Lately, Sambo has been under intense pressure from certain interest groups within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), particularly from his North-west geopolitical zone, over his suitability to continue with President Jonathan beyond 2015.

The heat on Sambo increased following the recent gale of defections from PDP to the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the North-West zone and his home state in particular, a move those against his choice as Jonathan’s possible running mate in 2015 see as an indication of his loss of political clout in the region.

To drive home their argument, foot-soldiers of the president in the 2011 presidential election under the aegis of the Northern PDP Stakeholders, have threatened to dump PDP and work for the presidential candidate of the APC if all their entreaties to Jonathan to drop Sambo for another candidate they consider a “core northerner” fails.

They claimed that it would be risky for the PDP to ignore the clamour for Sambo’s replacement.

In a statement they issued in Kaduna yesterday, which was signed by Alhaji Shehu Aboki Maishanu, the group said it was working with powerful northern politicians and the intelligentsia, “who are not happy with the leadership style of the vice president”.

The anti-Sambo group alleged that he lacked leadership and political skills to mobilize the North’s support for Jonathan in the 2015 election, should he decide to contest.

“The ongoing moves to bring back some aggrieved governors elected on the platform of the PDP who left the party will not work if President Jonathan insists on contesting the presidency with Sambo in 2015. Sambo is not representing the North very well and northerners are not happy with him; if all the outstanding issues concerning the status of the vice president are not tackled the removal of Bamanga Tukur as PDP chairman will not change anything in the fortunes of the party in the North”, the statement read.

The group further alleged that the vice president was sidelining experienced, qualified and dedicated party members in the North when it comes to political appointments, claiming that he was only interested in recommending and influencing the appointments of his friends and cronies into political offices instead of the larger interest of the North.

“The recent defection of some members of the PDP to the opposition APC in Kaduna, the home state of the vice president, is an indication that Sambo cannot mobilise support for the PDP in the North. He is surrounded by political neophytes mainly from Kaduna State, people who cannot win elections even in their polling units. As the highest ranking political office holder in the North, the vice president is yet to prove that he is in charge of the north politically.

“Even though many have not been forthcoming on the issue, we believe that, in the present Nigeria, the president and the vice president should not come from the same zone; while we accept that the vice president was born in the North, President Jonathan needs a core northerner to balance the political equation in the country.

“Stakeholders of the PDP in the north are disenchanted with the leadership style of the vice president and President Jonathan should not be deceived that all is well for him to run with Sambo in 2015”, the statement added.

Why they are after me – Sambo

In reaction to the latest onslaught against him, Sambo said he had done nothing to warrant being dropped from the 2015 race just as he described those seeking his replacement as “certain interests with some defeated desires”.

Speaking through his media aide, Umar Sani, Sambo, however, stressed that his continuation in office as vice-president beyond 2015 depended on Jonathan.

“The issues around the noise being made about the vice president’s possible replacement or not are not for us to discuss on the pages of newspapers because the Presidency has always said it that the two leaders will run together.

“But then, you can understand why such issues come up always; people want to be relevant politically; most of those sponsoring the media attacks are on their final laps in politics, so they want to be fixed, but in the wrong way”, Sani said.