I hope other governors will stand for their people like Fayose – Pastor E.A. Adeboye

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has admonished state governors in the country to emulate their Ekiti State counterpart, Mr Ayodele Fayose, in standing up for and protecting the interest of their people.
He stated this in Ado-Ekiti on Saturday at the palace of Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe Aladesanmi 111.
The renowned cleric, visited the monarch before attending a crusade at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium, described Governor Fayose as a great defender of his people and their cause.
Adeboye also commended Fayose for taking great risks to defend and protect the interests of his people.
”Your Excellency, we thank God for your life, courage, boldness and being willing to take the risk so that your people can be protected and I know you know what I am talking about.
You can be sure that we are praying for you and you will succeed. I hope other governors will stand for their people like you and defend their people and say enough is enough,” Adeboye said.
Adeboye, who prayed for the restoration of the lost glory of Ekiti, also commended Oba Adejugbe for leading his people in the way of the Lord.
Earlier, Governor Fayose said Nigerians appreciate the efforts of Adeboye at taking the gospel round the world.
”We know that it is at this time of the year that you go round and we pray that God strengthens you.
Your visit is annually and when a man of God passes by, we want to take that advantage for him to bless us. We appreciate your efforts at taking the gospel round the world,” he said.
Oba Adejugbe also described Adeboye’s visit as a blessing to the palace, and the people of the state in general.
Pastor Adeboye later held a revival at the stadium and later visited Ilawe and Ogotun-Ekiti.

2017 Budget: Presidency plans to spend N6.5bn on cars, animals, kitchen equipment, others

The Presidency has proposed a N6.5 billion capital expenditure with which to buy cars, kitchen equipment, feed the animals in the Villa zoo, and rehabilitate office, as well as, residential buildings.
Specifically, N100.8 million has been earmarked for the purchase of canteen and kitchen equipment and N223 million for State House headquarters food and catering materials supply; N114. 967 million for food stuff /catering services for President and N53.494 million for the office of the Vice President. Office furniture and fittings were allocated N 61.949 million.
It has proposed to buy three SUVs with N100.8 million as well as, N97.2 million for three 16-seater buses. Tyres for various categories of cars and trucks will take N94.575 million.
N103.9 million will be used for the purchase of computers , while a total of N40 million has been earmarked for both wild and domestic animals in the State house.
The maintenance of infrastructure and technical facilities in the Defence House and other Safe Houses will gulp N367.980 million. Similarly, the rehabilitation and infrastructure of security quarters in the villa will also take N284. 587 million. The quarters comprise of 8 Nos, Block of 16 units of 2-bedroom flats.
A total of N4.95 billion has been budgeted for the annual routine maintenance of mechanical/electrical installations, building/civil and environmental services within and around the Villa. These will include the offices and residences of the President and the Vice President, the Banquet Hall, the Conference Centre, the old and new complexes , the Villa Power House.
That President Muhammadu Buhari is determined to fight corruption in the 2017 fiscal year is evident by the N17 .202 billion allocated to the Economic and financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the largest single allocation among the agencies under the presidency. It consists of N7. 127 billion for personnel; N3 billion for overhead and N7.074 billion for capital.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) got N1.386 billion which comprised of 727 million for personnel; 152 overhead and N506 for capital.
The figures were gathered from the 2017 Budget Proposals.

RCCG Holy Ghost Congress is here again!

EFCC recovers over N55bn from fraudulent fuel marketers in Kano

The Kano zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) says it has recovered about #55 billion from petroleum marketers involved in diversion of products during the last fuel crisis in the country.
In the same vein, the agency disclosed that it has also recovered $622,200, and secured convictions of about 23 persons in the last ten months in the states under the zone.
Briefing journalists on the performance of the agency in the zone on Tuesday, Nnagbe Obon Itam, zonal head of operations stated that several landed property which includes 8 houses, 9 plots, and 3 trucks were also recovered.
According to Itam, N54 billion of the total amount recovered were made after the Agency`s concluded an investigation into complaints about diversion and fraudulent schemes brought against some fuel marketers operating under the zone.
He revealed that the money the Agency were recovered from marketers who collected fuel products, sold them, but refused to remit the monies back to the government.
“I consider it auspicious to brief you on the activities of the commission within the last 10 months particularly as it relates to the achievements and unrelenting zeal of the personnel of the zone in the fight against Economic and Financial Crimes including the albatross ‘corruption’.
“The operations of the north-west zone cover: Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi states. I must from the onset appreciate the leadership drive and determination of the Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, whose passion to be the difference has re-defined operations of the agency.
“I also salute the political will provided by Mr. President to fight corruption and all forms of fraudulent manifestations in the conduct of our national life. On a daily basis, hitherto ‘untouchable’ ‘sacred cows’ are being investigated and some undergoing prosecution” he noted.
Itam further disclosed that the agency has also recovered tax revenue worth several millions on behalf of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) from businesses, particularly, in commercial city of Kano, within the period under review.
“I will also like to draw your attention gentlemen of the press to our proactive enlightenment campaigns within the zone to draw attention to what we all can do to reduce corruption by not joining the corruption chain.
“Our NYSC integrity club school campaign and essay competitions are on-going. Our media department is liaising with states in the Zone using NYSC outreach programmes to enlighten and foster the needed anti-corruption culture to build integrity among the citizens” Itam added.

Beware plastic bottles cause cancer, diabetes

Scientists and researchers have identified plastic bottles to be dangerous to health because they contain hormone-disrupting chemicals that can cause cancer, diabetes, ADHD and autism.
They said endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) interfere with the body’s hormonal system, affecting development and leaving the body open to a staggering range of diseases.
They are found in thousands of everyday products, ranging from plastic and metal food containers, to detergents, flame retardants, toys and cosmetics.
According to Daily Mail Online, these chemicals are responsible for scores of illnesses – costing the US an eye-watering $340 billion in health-related costs each year, the bombshell report by NYU Langone revealed.
(Read more at Daily Mail)
The most common EDC-related illness is neurological – including attention-ADHD, autism and loss of IQ.
The invisible but dangerous chemicals also boosted obesity, diabetes, some cancers, male infertility and a painful condition known as endometriosis, the abnormal growth of tissue outside the uterus.
In a country where plastic is rife, these illnesses are not as rare as we may think.
The landmark new study by NYU Langone reveals the economic impact of the chemicals leaves a huge, two per cent dent in the US’ gross domestic product (GDP) each year.
‘Our research adds to the growing evidence on the tremendous economic as well as human health costs of endocrine-disrupting chemicals,’ said lead investigator Leonardo Trasande, an associate professor at NYU Langone in New York City.
‘This has the potential to develop into a much larger health and economic issue if no policy action is taken,’ he told AFP.
Some of the chemicals highlighted in the report, including phthalates used in bottles, are banned in the European Union – and would therefore not be on sale in Britain.
MailOnline is attempting to find out whether some of the toxins may still be in UK plastic products. But a similar study last year estimated that the chemicals cost the EU health systems $271 billion.
The chemical affect the body’s endocrine tissues, which produce essential hormones that help regulate energy levels, reproduction, growth, development, as well as our response
to stress and injury.
Mimicking naturally occurring hormones such as estrogen and androgen, EDCs lock on to receptors within a human cell and block the body’s own hormones from binding with it.
Recent research has raised red flags showing that ‘environmental contaminants can disrupt the endocrine system leading to adverse-health consequences,’ according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.
In the US, the biggest chemical culprit by far among the thousands of manmade molecules suspected of interfering with human hormones are so-called PBDEs, found in flame retardants.
Bisphenol A, used to line tin food cans, along with phthalates in plastic food containers and many cosmetics, were also held to be responsible for upward of $50 billion worth of health damages.
A similar study concluded last year that health-related costs of EDCs in the European Union were some $271 billion, about 1.28 percent of GPD.
Crucially, the main drivers of disease and disability were different on either side of the Atlantic, Trasande said.
‘US costs are higher mainly because of the widespread use in furniture of brominated flame retardants,’ which were banned in the EU in 2008, he explained.
The blood level of these chemicals in the average American would be in the top five percent of Europeans today.
By contrast, the health costs associated with pesticides in food were 10 times higher in the EU than in the United States, where more stringent regulations were put in place to protect pregnant women and children
To put a figure on the impact of EDCs, the researchers reviewed blood and urine samples from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which has gathered data since 2009 on major disease risk factors from 5,000 volunteers.
Computer models were then used to project how much each of 15 diseases or conditions was attributable to chemical exposure, and the estimated health costs for each one.
The study was published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, a medical journal.
Flame retardants and pesticides in particular are known to affect the developing brain and can lead to loss of IQ.
‘Each IQ point lost corresponds to approximately two per cent in lost productivity,’ Trasande explained.
The costs and benefits of regulation should be openly debated, the authors argued, citing the decision in the 1970s to ban lead in paint, and then 20 years later in gasoline.
Commenting in the same journal, Michele La Merrill, an expert in environmental toxicology at the University of California in Davis, said the new findings ‘provide a lesson on the lasting economic effects of harmful chemicals.’
They should ‘inspire a policy shift to end the cat-and-mouse game currently employed the US government and industry.’
The EU set broad criteria in June for identifying potentially harmful EDCs, but consumer and environmental groups said they fell far short of what is needed.

Obanikoro makes shocking revealtions, says he gave Fayose N2.3bn

Former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, has said that he gave the sum of N2.3bn to the Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, in the run-up to the Ekiti State governorship election in 2014.
Obanikor accompanied by his lawyer, Mr. James Onoja(SAN), at the EFCC office in Abuja said according to sources ‘ “the sum of N2.2billion was transferred to Sylva Mcnamara for onward transfer to Mr. Ayodele Fayose on the instruction of the NSA.
The sum of N1.3billion cash was brought in a bullion van by Diamond Bank on the instruction of the NSA.
“In addition, the sum of N60million was converted to dollars at the rate of N168 per dollar and altogether the sum of $5,377,000 was handed over in cash by me to Mr. Fayose while the N1.3billion was received by Mr. Fayose’s associate, Mr. Abiodun Agbele in the presence of my Aide-de-Camp (ADC), Lt. Adewale who also accompanied them to the bank along with the bank officials.
On how the cash was transferred to Fayose, Obanikoro said that “two flights were used to convey the money from Lagos.
The ex-Minister said he “took off with the first flight with part of the money while the second flight brought the remaining funds to Akure local airport and I directed that it should be handed over to the same person.”
The source said Obanikoro however maintained that part of the cash was used to ward off Boko Haram aggression in Lagos and in the South-West in general.
The source added: “He told us that he is not the owner of the company in question but introduced the owner, Mr. Kareem Taiwo to the NSA, Mr. Sambo Dasuki when the threat of Boko Haram became more visible in Lagos.
“He said the government wanted to “incorporate local input into the intelligence gathering and prevention of terrorist attack on Lagos and the South-West in general.”
The EFCC had discovered that Sylvan Mcnamara Limited, allegedly owned by Obanikoro and his sons, was used to launder the N4.745billion.
The company, which was incorporated in November 2011 had the following as its directors: a close aide of the ex-Minister, Ikenna Ezekwe(700,000 shares) of 51 Simpson Street, Ebute-Metta; Idowu Oshodi(299,000 shares) of 8, Prince Tayo Adesanya Street, Park View Estate, Ikoyi; and Elizabeth Adebiyi(1,000 shares) of 3, Adedoyin Street, Ijeshatedo, Surulere.
But Ikenna Ezekwe has had his accounts de-frozen by the EFCC since the slush funds were not traced to him.
A document said: “To set the stage for the use of the company for money laundering, the board of directors on May 7, 2012 passed a resolution that the company should open an account and appointed Mr. Gbolahan Obanikoro, Ikenna Ezekwe, Ms. Theresa Matuluko (Secretary) and Mr. Babajide Obanikoro as the signatories to the account.
“The board added that the signing combination be that any of the signatories can sign alone.”
According to EFCC, when it was time to illegally draw the N4.745billion from ONSA as war chest for Ekiti Governorship poll, ex-Minister Obanikoro made the account of Sylvan Mcnamara Limited available and coordinated the disbursement.
The breakdown of the disbursement was as follows: N N759, 384, 300 changed into dollars through Bureau De Change firms; N160million used to purchase cars through Balmoral International Limited; N1, 219, 490,000 ferried by Obanikoro in two flights to a branch of Zenith Bank at Plot 13, Alagbaka Estate, Akure to evacuate the cash and received by Fayose’s associate, Abiodun; balance of about N2billion withdrawn by Obanikoro and his two children in cash.
Some of the Bureau De Change companies involved in the transactions and the amounts credited to them include A.A.G.B.S OIL AND GAS (N168,000,000.00); SYLVAN MCNAMARA LTD (N167,500,000.00); NORTHLINE LTD (N835,000.00); NORTHLINE LTD (N83,750,000.00); FIVE STAR LTD N(37,600,000.00); A.B.A TRADING ENT (N268,301,500.00); VILLAGOLF BUREAU DE (N1,425,000.00); AHMAD &OMAR (N350,000.000); NORTHLINE LTD (N1,680,000.00); NORTHLINE LIMITED A (N2,325,300); REHOBOTH HOMES (20,000,0000); NORTHLINE LTD (N5,932,500.00); NORTHLINE LTD (N842,500); NORTHLINE LTD (N842,500.00).

My love for Clinton, and why I dedicated award to her— I Go Dye

Hotshot ace comedian, Fracis Agoda, known simply as I Go Dye, has dedicated his latest award, United Nations World Habitat Ambassador award to the US Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, citing a number of reasons why the former Secretary of State has won his heart.
To the humour merchant, the woman embodies values he believes every woman should aspire to attain.
“I dedicated the award to Secretary Hillary Clinton, one, because she’s a fundamental advocate of peace and mother in thoughts and in actions. When her husband was passing through difficult times, she was standing there like a true friend. Today, she is a mentor to women all over the world, bridging the gap of gender inequality; inspiring women to self-believe and greatness.
“Her continuous advocacy for peace, is a reminder to us, to sacrifice all within our reach to achieve peace; affirming the fact that without peace, humanity will be in bondage. Indeed, women are the greatest victims of all conflicts, they become widows, lose their sons in wars and they are raped and traumatised for the most part of their lives. Peace is priceless and the world’s habitat can only be sustained when there is peace,” mused I Go Dye.
Speaking on her chances of defeating her biggest rival, the Republican candidate, Mr Donald Trump, I Go Dye minced no words in giving the race to Clinton, saying, “All the stats are there to see. Throughout the campaign the woman has shown sound traits of a true leader while her rival has only achieved the feat of being a hater who is against basic values on which America was founded.”