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HOME NEWS Special Reports Articles & Opinions PHOTO NEWS INTERVIEWS LETTERS PRESS RELEASES REJOINDERS & EDITORIALS COLUMNS Femi Fani-Kayode Mac Odu Paul Nnodim Home Exclusive How Umar Looted Taraba Funds +Blew N500m to stop removal, N74m on single Abuja trip, N36m on public toilet Documents have revealed how the former acting governor of Taraba State, Alhaji Garba Umar shared over N500 million Naira to lawyers to stop his removal by the Supreme Court. According to the documents obtained only about half of the sum was documented as “legal fees” and gifts”. In a particular case, Umar approved N19 million as “wedding gift” to the son of the immediate past Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mariam Mukthar Aloma. It is not clear what form the gifts took and what became of them. Pointblanknews.com nonetheless gathered that Umar had passed N1.5 million US dollars through a front to bribe the then CJN, but that “the money ended up in th...

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the missing trillions [1] Charles Soludo PoliticsFebruary 2015 Nigeria's Largest Newspaper Directory I read some of the responses to my article, “Buhari vs Jonathan: Beyond the Election”, and I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the debate. I am glad that the debate has finally taken off. I have decided, for the record, to re-enter the debate if only to set some records straight and hopefully elevate the debate further. Whom do I respond to? First, let me thank Gov Kayode Fayemi for his very mature and professional response on behalf of the APC. It forms a great b asis for deepening the conversation. Pat Utomi, Oby Ezekwesili, Iyabo Obasanjo, and thousands of other patriotic Nigerians have raised the content of the debate. Femi Fani-Kayode made me laugh, as usual. The Gov. Jang faction of the Governors’ Forum played the usual politics, although I know what most of them think privately. Who else? Oh, Peter Obi. Well, since he can...

The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential candidate, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and his All Progressives Congress counterpart, Maj.Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) may meet before the March 28 presidential elections. The Punch gathered on Sunday that the meeting which might hold outside the country was to establish rapport between the two contenders before the election. A source close to the Presidency said, “We are trying to broker a meeting between the two leaders. “The way the presidential electioneering is going may create serious divisions among Nigerians. We need to stop this. “Apart from this, I think there is serious apprehension in the camp of the President that if Buhari wins, he’s going to jail a lot of President Jonathan’s supporters for alleged corruption. “This is one of the issues that is causing serious tension in the camp of the President and we also need to make sure that in whatever we do, there must be peace in the c...

– Obasanjo’s devastating attacks against Jonathan, sometimes through letters, at other times through public lectures have taken a heavy toll. – Sambo has nothing of the political drive and ambition of, say, Atiku Abubakar. – The president contributed to his party’s current predicament in three ways. (Daily Trust) – 1. Alhaji Bamanga Tukur His disastrous tenure as PDP’s national chairman was the biggest game changer for the PDP from which it might never recover. Bamanga’s tenure also coincided with the period when three major opposition parties were consolidating into one mega opposition party, but the chairman failed to recognise the emerging threat. Instead, he encouraged the Party Leader to settle personal scores within the party. It was a cover for Bamanga to also settle personal scores of his own. He suspended a state governor for refusing to answer his phone call; he watched askance as seven governors formed a f...

The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential candidate, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and his All Progressives Congress counterpart, Maj.Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) may meet before the March 28 presidential elections. The Punch gathered on Sunday that the meeting which might hold outside the country was to establish rapport between the two contenders before the election. A source close to the Presidency said, “We are trying to broker a meeting between the two leaders. “The way the presidential electioneering is going may create serious divisions among Nigerians. We need to stop this. “Apart from this, I think there is serious apprehension in the camp of the President that if Buhari wins, he’s going to jail a lot of President Jonathan’s supporters for alleged corruption. “This is one of the issues that is causing serious tension in the camp of the President and we also need to make sure that in whatever we do, there must be peace in the c...

THis is HOW NEWSPAPERS' HEADLINES ON FEBRUARY 17TH, 2015 WILL LOOK LIKE: 1. "INEC declares Buhari President-Elect with 26.4 million votes! PDP rejects result" -VANGUARD! 2. "Buhari declared winner!". "This is the worst election in Nigeria's history" (Olisa Metuh) - PUNCH! 3. "APC in a historic victory!". "Godswill Akpabio flee to Ghana, begs for forgiveness". - PM NEWS! 4. "This is the most rigged election in the world, Jega must be arrested and imprisoned immediately. We are heading to court" (Ruben Abati) - DAILY INDEPENDENT! 5. "South-south boils as INEC declares Buhari winner, Militants threatened war." - NIGERIAN TRIBUNE! 6. "APC wins Aso Rock, 70 Senate seats and 65% House of Reps. We are studying the results" (Mimiko) - SUN NEWSPAPER! 7. "Militants Protests Buhari's Victory, Demands Cancellation Of Polls In 21 States" - TRIUMPH NEWSPAPER! 8. "How Jeg...