During President Buhari, APC Campaign in Kebbi State today, something funny happened.

Rotimi Amaechi threatened to shoot somebody.

While talking to the crowd today at the APC presidential rally in Kebbi State, the crowd shouted SAI ATIKU.

Amaechi then responded by saying:

"I go shoot am o. No talk Atiku, say Bagudu."

Note, Atiku Bagudu is the name of the Governor of Kebbi state.

But it appears Amaechi doesn't want to give any chances. That's why he preferred they said 'Bagudu' instead of Atiku.

Meanwhile, some observers claim President Buhari who was spotted in the video hold his head/face with his hand. They claim the President looks stressed.

Nude pictures on Bilyaminu Bello’s phone led to the fight that eventually led to his killing, Maryam Sanda, who is standing trial for allegedly killing her husband, has reportedly revealed.

Mrs Sanda in was charged for the murder of Mr Bello, a son of former PDP chairman, Haliru Bello, in November 2017. She was charged alongside her mother, Maimuna Aliyu; her brother, Aliyu Sanda; and their house-help, Sadiya Aminu.

During a court session on Tuesday, a police officer involved in the investigation of Mr Bello’s death, Josephine Onyinyedu, told the court that Mrs Sanda had written the statement herself, “without being forced to do it”.

In the statement which was tendered as an exhibit before the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High court in Maitama, Mrs Sanda said she saw nude pictures a lady had sent to her husband’s phone and confronted him.

According to her, during the fight in their Maitama residence, Mr Bello had slipped on a wet floor and then fell over a broken shisha pot. She added that she drove husband to the General Hospital in Maitama where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The trial continues.

Barcelona have announced the signing of midfielder Frenkie De Jong from Ajax for £75m.

The 21-year-old has signed a five-year deal at the Nou Camp after interest from a host of top European clubs, including Manchester City and PSG.

MySportDab report De Jong will now end the current season with Ajax and move to Barcelona in the summer.

His arrival was announced on the club's Twitter page, via a video of tweets telling the Catalan giants to 'announce de Jong'.

President Josep Maria Bartomeu tweeted: "With the arrival of Frenkie De Jong we add talent, youth and Barca style to our sporting project.

"We are convinced that he will be a key part of our team for years to come. Welcome, Frenkie!"

 

The Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) says it will put up Polaris Bank for sale after the 2019 general elections, KDBlog learnt on Wednesday.

AMCON Spokesman, Jude Nwauzor, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday. A copy of the statement was made available to KDBlog.

Nwauzor had said that electioneering activities have slowed things down.

In his words, “The election season has slowed down things. We would advertise for expressions of interest from investors after elections and commence the sale process.”

KDBlog reports that in September 2018, Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, had announced the revoking of the licence of defunct Skye Bank. Polaris was established as a bridge bank to assume the assets and liabilities of the bank. It was then transferred to the state-owned bank for sale to investors. AMCON has previously sold three other nationalised banks.

“The capitalisation of Polaris Bank Limited is being done by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria through the injection of about N786 billion to return the bank to soundness and profitability so as to enable its subsequent sale to credible and financially sound third-party acquirers,” Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, had said when the licence was revoked.
He added that “As a responsible and responsive regulator and in consultation with the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), we have decided to establish a bridge bank, Polaris Bank, to assume the assets and liabilities of Skye Bank. The strategy is for the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) to capitalise the Bridge Bank and begin the process of sourcing investors to buy out AMCON. By this decision, the licence of the defunct Skye Bank is hereby revoked.”
He had also noted that the CBN invested about N800billion in Polaris Bank, and as such, the bank’s name had to change in order to reflect the new ownership structure.

Speaking on plans to sell Polaris bank, Nwauzor said the corporation is already working on recovering the non-performing loans owed to Polaris and that AMCON has asked for repayment proposals.

AMCON was set up in 2010 to absorb non-performing loans from banks as part of efforts to resolve a financial crisis at that time.

A US Journalist, Joe Penney who shared false claims about Atiku Abubakar following his recent visit to America, has given his reason for deleting the tweet.

This came after he was called out by social media influencer, Stanley Nwabia who accused him of being paid to peddle false claims against the PDP Presidential candidate. He wrote;

THE YEYE OYINBO JOURNALIST HAS DELETED THOSE TWEETS...I HOPE HE VOMITS THE MONEY APC PAID HIM. HE THOUGHT BECAUSE HE IS 'OYINBO' ANY NONSENSE HE TWEETS ABOUT @ATIKU , WE GO JUST CARRY AM FOR HEAD.

HUNGRY OYINBO JOURNALISTS PAID BY APC HAVE STARTED WORK. SO, ANY INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL WANTED BY US GOVT SIMPLY NEEDS TO COUGH OUT AT LEAST $1M, HIRE LOBBYISTS AND HE'S FREE TO TRAVEL IN AND OUT OF AMERICA? @JOEPENNEY REALLY BELIEVES ALL NIGERIANS ARE STUPID LIKE BUHARISTS.

However replying the allegation against him, the US Journalist wrote;

THANKS FOR THIS. I DELETED THIS TWEET DETAILING A REPORT I READ BECAUSE THE CONTRACT WAS SIGNED IN SEPTEMBER, NOT NOVEMBER, AND BECAUSE SOURCES I SPOKE TO SAID HE WOULD'VE GOTTEN THE VISA W OR W/O THAT CONTRACT. THE FACT REMAINS THAT HE WAS INITIALLY DENIED VISA FOR CORRUPTION.

NO. IF THE STATE DEPARTMENT DECIDES THAT IT IS IN US INTERESTS TO GRANT A VISA, THE CORRUPTION BLOCK CAN BE OVERRULED

However reacting to Joe Penney's rejoinder, Stanley Nwabia wrote;

WOW...SO, @ATIKU'S VISIT TO WASHINGTON WAS IN US BEST INTERESTS? IS ATIKU HELPING PRESIDENT TRUMP BUILD HIS WALL?
MY BROTHER, GO AND SIT DOWN SOMEWHERE. STAY AWAY FROM NIGERIA'S INTERNAL POLITICS.

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele has warned that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate’s suggestion that the exchange rate should be free float is a recipe for disaster.

“The MPC reviewed it and concluded that it would be wrong. It is as good as saying that we should go back to the era of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in Nigeria,” Emefiele said.

“The implication can better be imagined. It will certainly lead to capital flight, lead to massive depreciation or devaluation of the currency and ultimately to currency crisis in Nigeria and I think we should all know that it is a road to perdition to ever go in that direction.”

Addressing reporters at the end of the bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, the first for the year, Emefiele added: “There is no capital control in Nigeria today because you cannot find the CBN trying to intervene in the market for demand and supply of foreign exchange.”

“Normally, the Central Bank as an independent institution is apolitical but it is also important that at the MPC meeting today we asked ourselves if there is any merit in it to begin to say that we should look at free-floating the currency or that we should allow free import of goods that we have restricted. The MPC came to a conclusion that this was a wrong premise.

“We cannot be talking about allowing import of items that can be produced in the country today, exporting jobs from Nigeria to foreign countries, and we say we have the interest of Nigeria at heart? We don’t agree with anybody. It is a wrong premise to say that you will allow imports to just flood the country just because you want to please anybody. It is not in our interest.

“We will remain apolitical. We will not want anybody to drag the central bank into issues that are within our remit otherwise, we would respond to it.”

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in his policy document condemns what he calls the “Poor exchange rate management”, which bred “multiple exchange rates that were exploited by opportunists, rent-seekers, middlemen, arbitrageurs, and fraudsters”. By imolication, he wants the naira to be on a free-float.

The CBN governor admitted that the apex bank has instructed banks to suspend interest on loans for fuel imports.

According to him, “we have indeed told banks to suspend interest on those loans from July 2017. They should collect whatever credit notes have been issued and credit the account of petroleum marketers immediately. If any bank refuses to do so, the marketer or their association are free to report to CBN, mention the name of the bank and we will appeal to the bank to please carry out this instruction.”

With regards to forex restrictions on imported items, Emefiele said CBN would get even more aggressive to see to it that any or all food items that can be produced in Nigeria and consumed in Nigeria and are currently being imported into Nigeria may face forex restrictions.

“We would go through our records and once we convince ourselves that these products can be produced in Nigeria, we will place them on the FX restriction list. It means that you cannot source foreign exchange from Nigeria foreign exchange market to import those items into Nigeria. If you have free dollars, you can bring it in but you will not be able to even make payments for those goods with dollars from the Nigerian foreign exchange market. This is because we think that the initiatives that CBN has put in place in the past to cut imports and diversify the structure of the Nigerian economy is yielding results and we will continue to be that aggressive.

” And we also went further to say that the Economic Intelligence Department of the CBN together with EFCC would investigate any company, any individual suspected of bringing these items through smuggling or any means for money laundering and economic sabotage. And that if we discover and conclusively too, that these companies or individuals that are are involved in bringing these goods, we would write to all the banks that they should blacklist all those companies and individuals running those companies that they can no longer operate any bank accounts in any Nigerian bank. We don’t need to talk about prosecuting them but just to say we will not allow you to do business in Nigeria and of course you know the implications of that.”

Highlighting his successes and achievements as CBN governor, Emefiele argued that “Dangote is today establishing the biggest refinery I have ever seen. The size of Dangote refinery is at least 10 times the size of Victoria Island. By April 2019 when Dangote Fertiliser Plant begins to roll, we will place a ban on the importation of fertiliser because Nigeria will both be self-sufficient and even export.”

He also disclosed that he has “written to governors in the South south and South east that time has come to stop importation of crude palm oil. A barrel of crude palm oil is more expensive than crude petroleum per barrel. I told them that we will re-establish the oil palm belt in the South south and Southeastern parts of the country. Edo State has reacted positively like some other states. With support and intervention from CBN and government, we would reverse the trend. That should be the direction. It is important to say this so that people can know that the economy is doing well. A lot of work still needs to be done, there are still a couple of vulnerabilities and fragilities that we see in the economy but we are determined to resolve them.”

At the end of the MPC meeting, all 11 members voted to keep the policy parameters unchanged from their current levels. By this decision, the MPC decided to retain the MPR at 14%; retain the asymmetric corridor of +200/-500 basis points around the MPR; retain the CRR at 22.5 per cent; and retain the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent.

In his assessment of the economy so far, Emefiele said: “It is important for me to say that if we think about where we are coming from, I would say I like to use some numbers: for instance, in September 2008, Nigeria’s reserve was about $62 billion, GDP was growing 7.2%; inflation was 15%.

“By January 2014, GDP was 6.2%, inflation had trended downwards to 8% and external reserve was 40%. Let us not forget that we were in a period of prosperity, in terms of crude prices between 2009 and 2014 which is five straight years, with no shut-ins in pipelines, with high crude oil price, reserve still dropped.

“From the end of 2014, we started another round of global crises. The global crises resulted in stagflation in Nigeria. GDP dropped, to 2.79% in 2015, went further and contracted to negative of 1.58% in 2016, improved in 2017 and then we are hopeful that 2018 would end at about 1.8%.

“Inflation was 15% in 2008, dropped to 8% in 2014 and it moved up to about 9.5% and by January 2017, it had moved up to 18.7% but today, through the activities of monetary and fiscal authorities, inflation had gone down to 11.4%.

He also stated that “by 2008, with higher reserves, with higher productivity reserves dropped to $40 billion in January 2014 anmd ended 2014 at $35 billion, went further down in 2015 to $28 billion and indeed by October 2016 as a result of economic crises, reserves had plummeted further to $23 billion. Today as a result of all the actions and activities of both the monetary and fiscal authorities supported by the government, reserve is up, went to $39 billion in 2017 and 2018 we closed at $42.5 and I said so in my communique that even as at now, as a result of the confidence in the management of the Nigerian foreign exchange, the confidence in the management of the country, we’ve seen confidence even in foreign investors returning, reserves as at yesterday was $43.28 billion.”

“We have seen FX stability in the market and as if all of you will recall, that sometime in 2016 and up to early 2017, we saw a situation where exchange rate even in the black market had moved up in February to N525/$ and I was being told that by March, it will hit N1000/$. But as a result of the actions of CBN today, the all markerts in fact BDC has come down to about N360/$ and even slightly lower. The I&E Window, which is a market that we set up as a free in-free-out market today is about N362/$. So we have seen a substantial convergence in the foreign exchange market in Nigeria.”

On balance of trade developments, the CBN governor noted that “when people say nothing has happened in the economy, they should know that it is not a fair comment to make both on government and also on the monetary authority. In 2008, imports stood at $86 billion. By 2017, it had dropped to $45.8 billion as a result of the activities of government and of monetary and fiscal authorities.”

“Trade balance in 2008 was $46.2 billion, went down during the period of global crises to $6.4 billion and today it is up. In 2017 it was $13.15 billion and closed at $18.7 billion in 2018. When you talk about activities that related to issues on the restriction of foreign exchange for the importation of certain food items you will also find for instance that rice which is a major staple in Nigeria: data from the Thai Rice Exporters Association says that in 2014, Nigeria imported 1.2 million metric tonnes of rice. In 2015, it had dropped to 644 metric tons. In 2016 to 58,000 metric tons. In 2017, to 23,000 metric tons and 2018 to 6,000 metric tons” he pointed out.

While reading the communique, Emefiele lamented that “on external borrowing, committee noted the increase in debt levels, advising for caution, noting that it could fast be approaching the pre-2005 Paris Club exit levels...

The Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) has signed an agreement to concession terminal ‘B’ of the Warri Old Port to Ocean and Cargo Terminal Services Limited.

According to a statement signed by Alex Okoh, BPE director general on Tuesday, the concessionaire emerged the preferred bidder after submitting a technical and financial bid of $100.78 million.

“The NCP at its meeting held at its meeting held on 12 June 2018, approved the technical bid and the Finacial bid of $100,782,147.53 submitted by Ocean and Cargo Terminals Services Limited which emerged as the preferred bidder for the Terminal B Warri Old Port,” the statement read.

“Upon completion of the rehabilitation and reconstruction works, there was a need to concession the terminal to a private operator who would be responsible for the operation of the terminal and carrying out further development of its facilities in line with the Ports Concession Programme.

“Following the approval by the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), advertisements inviting Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from prospective concessionaires for the concession of the terminal were carried out by the Bureau.

“At the closing date for submission, 13 EOIs were received and subsequently evaluated. After the evaluation, seven firms achieved the minimum qualification mark and were prequalified for issuance of Requests for Proposals (RFP) and Information Memorandum.”

Speaking on the objective of the concession, Okoh said it will increase the Nigerian port efficiency, service delivery, reduction of cost of shipping and clearing of goods at the port across the country.

He urged the concessionaire to focus on the objectives as it performs the business, adding that as the federal government expects adherence to the terms of the concession agreements.

Just coming in, a multiple automobile accident just occurred at Palmgrove axis inward Anthony, at the Ikorodu expressway in Lagos.

The accident featrured a tanker and 2 other smaller vehicles.

The accident caused heavy traffic backlog that stretched as far as Ojuelegba. It also made the main carriageway is inaccessible.

Officials of LASTMA are making spirited effort to divert traffic to the service lane.

See photos below...

Enugu—The Army said yesterday that soldiers have been patrolling flashpoints in Ebonyi State, following “credible security reports of likely politically motivated violence” in the build-up to next month’s general elections in the state.

The Deputy Director of Public Relations, 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Col Sagir Musa, said in a statement that, “Based on credible intelligence reports of likely impending politically motivated violence in the build-up to elections and electioneering campaigns by contending parties, troops of Sector 4, in 24 Support Engineer Regiment AOR, Ebonyi State, have jointly been conducting robust patrols in major identified flashpoints across the state.

“Consequently, there is an increased presence of security agencies on patrols and snap checkpoints in some areas such as Afikpo, Ekpoamaka, Alike Achara and Nwankpa communities in Afikpo and Ikwo LGAs of the state. “Similarly, key areas like Ikwo junction, Enugu road, Presco Roundabout and Vanco Water Works, witnessed an increased presence of security personnel. “These efforts are aimed at providing a conducive environment for socio-economic and political activities by proactively checkmating anticipated crisis before, during and after the 2019 general elections in line with the directive of the Chief of Army Staff.” According to Musa, the deployment of soldiers on the Operation Python Dance 111 (Egwu Eke 111) to the troubled area was aimed at ensuring peace before, during and after the election period.

He further said that, “One major gain of Exercise Egwu-Eke III (Python Dance III), just like others before it, is in the maintenance of peace and security in the entire South East geo-political zone,” adding that “due to sustained mobile patrols, targeted raids, stop and search operations as well as aggresive intelligence drive across the zone, miscreants/hoodlums and criminals were denied freedom of action.”

The State Campaign Council, of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Plateau State has accused the Governor Simon Lalong-led All Progressives Congress, APC in the state, of ferrying thugs from neighbouring States of Kaduna, Bauchi and Nasarawa as well as the Federal Capital Territory, saying the action led to the “intimidation and unruliness” that characterised the APC Presidential rally in the State.

The PDP also alleged that it has unearthed plans by the ruling APC to “train and arm” thugs for the coming elections.
The PDP, through the Chairman, Media and Publicity of the Council, Abraham Yiljap, said, “The State Campaign Council condemns in the strongest terms the intimidation and unruliness that characterised the APC Presidential rally.
“It notes with serious concern the intimidation of peaceful residents perpetrated by young people who made life most uncomfortable for the people all through the rally.
“PDP maintains that the crowd that made the President’s speech impossible was ferried into Jos from Kaduna, Bauchi and Nasarawa states as well as the Federal Capital Territory.
“The Council expressed dismay at the Plateau State government’s directive to traditional rulers to go and line up to welcome the President, who was not on a state visit to Jos, but was here for his personal political activities.
“We have also received information about a deadly plan by the state government and the APC to train and arm thugs for the upcoming election.
“This is a recipe for disaster in a state that has for some time now been traumatized by wanton killings and displacement of many communities.
“PDP cautions the ruling party and the government to rethink this borrowed concept, because it is totally unacceptable and retrogressive in a Plateau that is intensely hungry for development, not violence.”

However, the State Government has dismissed PDP’s claims as a figment of the imagination of the party because its leaders are yet to recover from the shock over the mammoth crowd that attended APC’s rallies in the state, indicating that PDP will lose the elections.
According to Mark Longyen, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to Governor Lalong, “President Buhari’s visit to Jos for his re-election campaign rally has finally put to bed the lies that the PDP opposition have been bandying that they stand a chance to win Plateau State in this year’s general elections.

Longyen said, “For instance, the mammoth crowd that besieged the entire Jos City, all in a bid to catch a glimpse of the President, was an eloquent testimony of the people’s love for him and the massive support base that the President, and indeed Governor Lalong, both have in Plateau State.
“Without a doubt, this will be replicated in the forthcoming elections.
“This is especially when you consider the mass defection that hit the main opposition party prior to the President’s rally.

“Indeed, with political juggernauts like Senator Victor Lar, Senator Satty Gogwim, Ambassador Chris Giwa, and their burgeoning supporters, among others, having defected from PDP to APC, I envisage that the election will be a walkover for APC.
“PDP is the vomit that nobody wants to swallow back and the Egypt that Nigerians, and indeed Plateau people, have left since the exodus of 2015, they do not want to return to, no matter what the prevailing circumstances may be.”

Cristiano Ronaldo criticized for posting private jet selfie while plane carrying Emiliano Sala is still missing

Christiano Ronaldo has been strongly criticized for posting a smiling photo of himself taken in a private jet while footballer Emiliano Sala is still missing after the plane he was in vanished.


As the search for Sala was called off for the night, fellow footballer Cristiano Ronaldo tweeted a photo of himself taking a selfie in a private jet. In another photo, he can be seen wearing a wide grin and giving a thumbs up in the aircraft as he left Madrid where he was given a suspended jail sentence for tax fraud

Fans, sports lovers, and pundits thought Ronaldo’s photo was insensitive and they called him out for it.

BBC pundit Gary Lineker retweeted Ronaldo’s photo and wrote:

Not the day for this tweet. It really isn’t.

Other Twitter users told him it was wrong and disrespectful for him to share such a photo at a time like this while some asked him if he had read the news about Sala at all.

See tweets below...

Liverpool star player, Mohamed Salah has deleted his Twitter and Instagram accounts. The Egyptian deleted both accounts after he made a tweet which confused many of his fans.

The tweet reads: “2019 Resolution: Time to get in touch, for real.”

When fans of Mohamed Salah looked for his accounts the following morning, they could find any of them. This has left them worried as to why he would remove himself from social media.

His last tweet as been taken to be as a result of a dispute he has with the Egyptian FA, while some see it as just a new year resolution.

Top Nigerian female Singer Simisola who recently Got married to Adekunle Gold Shares another beautiful set of photos as they both go on Honeymoon in Cape Town.

From the photos shared she's really having a great Fun time with her Hubby.