•TRIBUNE: Rain wreaks havoc in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo •Hundreds of houses affected* 4 Operation Burst members die in auto crash in Ibadan: FOUR men of the Oyo State Joint Security Patrol Squad, codenamed Operation Burst, lost their lives with five others critically injured on Thursday morning, in an accident involving a patrol van of the security outfit with number OB-11, a space bus and a motorcycle with registration numbers Lagos MH 226 KJA and OYO KEH 196 QA* Awo Foundation set to reward service* Pastor runs mad while praying for mad man* Gunmen kill PDP chieftain, wife, son in Plateau* Reps oil subsidy probe report: Culprits won't go unpunished - Jonathan* $3m bribery scandal: Reps panel grills Lawan* Kaduna curfew: Kerosene scarcity hits Abuja* DANA air crash: Reps give airline ultimatum to pay* compensation to victims' families* Nigeria loses N455bn annually to poor sanitation - UNICEF* Court dismisses suit against cash-less policy* Robbers invade banks, police station in Taraba* Soldiers destroy 50,000 drums of illegally refined diesel* Reps worry over lack of proper alignment between gas, power sectors* 180 corps members for re-run election in Kwara* Fulani cattle rears/farmers' clashes in Oyo to be resolved •As Gov Ajimobi constitutes committe* Crisis over Ondo ACN gubernatorial candidate lingers* Nigeria still safe for investment - Jang* ICPC drags HoS staff to court over pension funds scam* FCMB launches "Committed to Green" campaign in Ibadan* 54 persons survive food poisoning in Katsina* Niger: NSCDC nabs employment fraudster* OAU:NASU/management face-off deepens¤¤| PUNCH: N96m bribe: I collected money not bribe – Lawan* PDP chairman, wife, child killed in Jos* Akeredolu's choice won't stop my ambition – Agunloye* Fashola denies Jonathan's summons report* N96m bribe: Reps make a U-turn, grill Lawan in secret* Reps give Dana July 3 deadline to pay compensation* Fuel scarcity looms in S'West, S'South* PDP panics over Edo election••
Du Pont plans $150m investment in Nigeria* Osun expects bumper maize harvest – Commissioner* Bad seeds'proliferation, impediment to food security – Agency* UBA slashes ATM charges* GTBank's Eurobond best in Nigeria – EMEA•• BBC: Barclays boss Bob Diamond says he will not resign and blames a "small number" of staff for rigging the key lending rate between banks* Germany 1-2 Italy•Mario Balotelli scores two superb goals as Italy shock Germany to book a Euro 2012 final showdown with Spain in Kiev* EU leaders agree to use the eurozone's bailout fund to support struggling banks, an apparent concession by Germany to Spain and Italy* Two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal suffers a shock five-set defeat by world number 100 Lukas Rosol* China's space capsule returns to Earth after a mission which saw the country's first manual docking procedure and its first woman in space* A new once-a-day pill which combines four HIV drugs into a single daily treatment is safe and effective, according to a study* Wikileaks founder Julian Assange tells the BBC he almost certainly will not attend a police station on Friday after being served with an extradition notice•• SPORT: Britain's Andy Murray overcomes big-serving Ivo Karlovic in four sets to reach the third round of Wimbledon while Lukas Rosol outs Nadal in 5set cracker* Former England captain David Beckham is not selected for the Great Britain football squad for London 2012* Best night of my life - Balotelli•• GOSSIP: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/
Have a blessed weekend.
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Friday, June 29, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
•WHAT THE DAILIES ARE SAYING [Thursday 21 JUNE]•
PUNCH: We're doing God's work –Dying suicide bomber* Farouk Lawan: Battling to save a threatened integrity
Of Lawan's tragicomedy and Obasanjo's vindication* Bribery scandal not a House matter – Reps* Nigerians, top users of bleaching creams — WHO* Senate pledges to expose corruption, poor governance* Kaduna now a ghost town* FG can confer GCFR on deserving Nigerians – Jonathan* Bellview, ADC, Wings crashes still being investigated¤ ff @eBubaY
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Wednesday, June 20, 2012
More trouble for Farouk Lawan as Speaker, House committee chair deny custody of exhibit money- PREMIUM TIMES
Messrs Tambuwal and Jagaba disown the embattled lawmaker, saying they know nothing about the bribe cash
Police investigation into the $3 million bribery scandal engulfing the House of Representatives hit a brickwall Tuesday with Adams Jagaba, the lawmaker earlier said to be in possession of the marked dollar bills, refuting the claim made by Farouk Lawan who is at the centre of the scandal.
Mr. Lawan had claimed he formally alerted Mr. Jagaba, who heads the House committee on Drugs, Financial Crimes and Narcotics, of the attempt by oil marketer, Femi Otedola, to bribe the House fuel subsidy committee which Mr. Lawan headed.
Attached to the letter written to Mr. Jagaba, was the sum of $620,000 which Mr. Otedola paid, Mr. Lawan had claimed.
Since the allegation broke last week, Mr. Jagaba, a second term member, defiedmedia inquiries, refusing to comment on the matter.
Police have said locating the cash, marked by security agents in the sting operation that caught Mr. Lawan, is at the centre of its investigations.
Mr. Lawan, who is the former chair of ad hoc committee on fuel subsidy returnedto the police Headquarters on Monday without the money, after earlier securing a bail on Saturday on the assurances of the House leadership the money would be returned to the police.
Speaking on a Radio Nigeria network programme, Police Diary, on Tuesday morning, a police spokesperson, Emmanuel Inyang, confirmed the money had not been surrendered still.
Mr. Inyang said Mr. Lawan had instead undertaken to work with all law enforcement agencies to recover the money. He claimed part of it was stolen byburglars.
In new details of communications between the police, and the Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal, and Mr. Jagaba, on Tuesday, June 19, 2012, Mr. Jagaba denied
"categorically and unequivocally" the money was in his custody.
The exchanges, seen by PREMIUM TIMES, shed new light into one of the most embarrassing scandals the lower chamber has ever witnessed.
Police wrote first to Mr. Tambuwal last Friday, June 15, asking him to secure therelease of the said money, since Mr. Lawan had told investigators he handed them to Mr. Jagaba.
The Police letter, signed by Commissioner of Police, Ali Amodu, requested the Speaker to make the amount available, and "any other material that maybe of use to this investigation."
Clearly the memo arrived as the House was in an emergency session convened to deliberate on the scandal. A response to the police was delayed.
As the House reconvened Tuesday, June 19, Mr. Tambuwal initiated a letter to Mr. Jagaba, for the first time - as indicated in the tone of the content - asking the lawmaker to respond to the police request as indicated in the letter, a copy which was attached.
The speaker's letter, signed by Chile Igbawua, his Special Adviser, Legal and Legislative, told Mr. Jagaba the police "was self explanatory" and that he should"react urgently" to the request.
But in a four-paragraph response, Mr. Jagaba said neither the funds nor any other exhibits were with him.
"I wish to categorically and unequivocally state that there was never a time I was in possession of the sum of $620,000 or any other exhibits(in my personal capacity or official capacity as chairman House committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes) relating to the subject matter..," he said.
"I hope this explanation lays to rest once and for all the claims that I or my committee is in possession of the sum of $620,000 USD purportedly given as bribe to the ad hoc committee on monitoring of fuel subsidy regime."
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Inside the Farouk Lawan bribe video: Mr. Integrity concealed bribe dollars in his cap and wore it- PREMIUM TIMES
And the story gets much more interesting. This is how PREMIUM TIMES is reporting it;
Inside the Farouk Lawan bribe video: Mr. Integrity concealed bribe dollars in his cap and wore it.
Dressed in a green agbada and a sokoto cap, the sources said, Mr. Lawan stuffed the wads in his pockets and under the cap possibly to conceal the package from Mr. Otedola's domestic aides since they hadn't seen him enter with a baggage.
Since this scandal broke, PREMIUM TIMES has consistently spoken to people who have seen the video clips of embattled lawmaker, Farouk Lawan, receiving bribes from oil mogul, Femi Otedola.
We bring you a brief narrative of what our reporters gleaned from the interviews.
For each of the visits, according to multiple sources, five video recordings, averaging a duration of eight to 10 minutes, were made.
Most of the recordings were made at Mr. Otedola's Abuja home in the Asokoro district of Abuja. Each time Mr. Farouk visited, Mr. Otedola's apartment was secretly fitted with audio and visual recording devices by the SSS.
The lawmaker negotiated the terms of the bribe with Mr. Otedola over a lunch on the first visit, the sources said. He later received the first part of $250,000 onthe second visit, which was around 11 p . m.
Then, he got the second part of the money on the third visit which was around 5.05 a.m.
On one of the visits, Farouk came in, sat by Otedola's right, sorted the huge pileof dollar bills and put some in his pockets," a source said, citing visual details of the video.
Dressed in a green agbada and a sokoto cap, the sources said, Mr. Lawan stuffed the wads in his pockets and under the cap possibly to conceal the package from Mr. Otedola's domestic aides since they hadn't seen him enter with a baggage.
"In the video, Lawan was clearly seen stuffing wads of dollar bills into his pocket; when his pocket was full, to the utter shock of those who watched the video, he removed his cap and concealed the remaining wads of dollar bills inside it and replaced the cap on his head," the source said.
"Nigerians will reel with laughter if they ever get to watch this video. It is on theone hand hilarious, and on the other hand, shameful."
Another source told of an audio telephone recording, where Mr. Otedola informed Mr. Lawan that the bribe cash had arrived at the Abuja airport, and that the lawmaker should drive there to pick the package up.
The Committe chairman reportedly responded that he won't be able to make it tothe airport himself but that he could send some of his aides along to pick the package.
The video clip of the bribe payment, has been shown to only a few highly-placed Nigerians. They include President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice president Namadi Sambo, President of the Senate, David Mark, and the Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal.
It was also reportedly played to Nobel Laureate and social campaigner, Wole Soyinka, the only non-government figure to view the footage.
Mr. Soyinka had vowed to lead a devastating street protest if the subsidy scam report, produced by Mr. Lawan's committee, was swept under the carpet.
But after viewing the clip, a shocked Mr. Soyinka said he had never seen a thinglike that and appeared to be backing down, the sources said.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.
Inside the Farouk Lawan bribe video: Mr. Integrity concealed bribe dollars in his cap and wore it.
Dressed in a green agbada and a sokoto cap, the sources said, Mr. Lawan stuffed the wads in his pockets and under the cap possibly to conceal the package from Mr. Otedola's domestic aides since they hadn't seen him enter with a baggage.
Since this scandal broke, PREMIUM TIMES has consistently spoken to people who have seen the video clips of embattled lawmaker, Farouk Lawan, receiving bribes from oil mogul, Femi Otedola.
We bring you a brief narrative of what our reporters gleaned from the interviews.
For each of the visits, according to multiple sources, five video recordings, averaging a duration of eight to 10 minutes, were made.
Most of the recordings were made at Mr. Otedola's Abuja home in the Asokoro district of Abuja. Each time Mr. Farouk visited, Mr. Otedola's apartment was secretly fitted with audio and visual recording devices by the SSS.
The lawmaker negotiated the terms of the bribe with Mr. Otedola over a lunch on the first visit, the sources said. He later received the first part of $250,000 onthe second visit, which was around 11 p . m.
Then, he got the second part of the money on the third visit which was around 5.05 a.m.
On one of the visits, Farouk came in, sat by Otedola's right, sorted the huge pileof dollar bills and put some in his pockets," a source said, citing visual details of the video.
Dressed in a green agbada and a sokoto cap, the sources said, Mr. Lawan stuffed the wads in his pockets and under the cap possibly to conceal the package from Mr. Otedola's domestic aides since they hadn't seen him enter with a baggage.
"In the video, Lawan was clearly seen stuffing wads of dollar bills into his pocket; when his pocket was full, to the utter shock of those who watched the video, he removed his cap and concealed the remaining wads of dollar bills inside it and replaced the cap on his head," the source said.
"Nigerians will reel with laughter if they ever get to watch this video. It is on theone hand hilarious, and on the other hand, shameful."
Another source told of an audio telephone recording, where Mr. Otedola informed Mr. Lawan that the bribe cash had arrived at the Abuja airport, and that the lawmaker should drive there to pick the package up.
The Committe chairman reportedly responded that he won't be able to make it tothe airport himself but that he could send some of his aides along to pick the package.
The video clip of the bribe payment, has been shown to only a few highly-placed Nigerians. They include President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice president Namadi Sambo, President of the Senate, David Mark, and the Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal.
It was also reportedly played to Nobel Laureate and social campaigner, Wole Soyinka, the only non-government figure to view the footage.
Mr. Soyinka had vowed to lead a devastating street protest if the subsidy scam report, produced by Mr. Lawan's committee, was swept under the carpet.
But after viewing the clip, a shocked Mr. Soyinka said he had never seen a thinglike that and appeared to be backing down, the sources said.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Was she wrong to have put up the post?
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