Arsenal wouldn't sell Walcott - Wenger

Arsene Wenger said he is confident Theo Walcott will sign a new contract at Arsenal and ruled out a summer exit for the England international.

According to Soccernet, Walcott’s current Arsenal contract is due to expire next year and, although talks are now taking place over an extension, the forward’s lack of first-team football since recovering from a long-term knee injury has led to doubts over whether he will be willing to commit.

Liverpool have been linked with a move for the 26-year-old, but Wenger said he is optimistic a new deal will be agreed.

“We are already talking to him,” Wenger said. “Today, I am not in that mode of thinking because I want him to stay. When you go into negotiations with a player, it is with a desire for him to stay.

“He looks keen to do it. I’m keen to do it. Let’s see what comes out.

“The press always ask what we do in case of failure. We want to be successful. In case of failure, that will only be in December next year (season).”

Wenger also said he has no plans to sell 23-year-old full-back Carl Jenkinson, who has impressed during a season-long loan at West Ham.

“I met Carl Jenkinson this week to speak about his future,” Wenger said. “We will sit down together again at the end of the season. My target is to keep him here at the club. He had a great season and has moved forward.

“Overall, he has gained a lot of confidence at West Ham and the decision I have to make is: ‘Do I bring him back now or does he need one more year to play somewhere in the Premier League?’ That is what I have to decide at the end of the season.

“I agree that he needs experience. He is a very promising right-back with good quality and he has had a year where he has moved forward.”

Iheanacho can become our Messi - Taribo West

Taribo West believes Manchester City wonderkid Kelechi Iheanacho has   the potential to be as good as Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi “If nurtured properly”.

The 18-year-old striker joined the Premier League giants in the summer of 2013 – after guiding Nigeria to their fourth FIFA Under-17 World Cup triumph in the United Arab Emirates.

Iheanacho was a sensation at the UAE 2013 tournament, scoring six goals and seven assists to emerge as the championship’s Golden Ball winner. He also won the Silver Ball.

The ex-Golden Eaglets forward, whose career at Man City has been plagued by injuries, was on course for a place in the first team following his head-turning performances in their pre-season tour, scoring a goal against Sporting Kansas. However, the Citizens failed to secure a work permit for the player Man City manager Manuel Pellegrini described as “a very important player for us in the future”.

And former Nigeria defender Taribo lavished praise on Iheanacho, who has been in terrific form, scoring goals for the Blues’ youth team since returning from injury, insisting the ex-Taye Academy star can be in the class of Messi.

But the former AC Milan and Inter Milan defence ace expressed concern over the future of the young player, who has been penciled in for a place in Man City’s first team next season.

“Yes, Iheanacho can be as good as Messi or Neymar if nurtured properly,” Taribo, who represented Nigeria at the France ’98 and Korea/Japan 2002 World Cups, told our correspondent on the telephone during the week.

“Messi, Neymar and (Cristiano) Ronaldo are products of a good academy system. They are great players today because they passed through a system with people who have a deep knowledge of football.

“We saw what Messi and Neymar did in the Champions League semifinal between Barcelona and Bayern Munich on Wednesday. We have such players in Nigeria and Iheanacho is one of them.

“If the NFF has a good plan for youth development, Iheanacho will transform into one of the best players in the world.

“(Iheanacho’s UAE 2013 co-winners) Taiwo Awoniyi, Isaac Success and Musa Muhammed are also good players, and they are the future of the Super Eagles.

“I’m happy they have graduated from the Golden Eaglets into the Flying Eagles and will be representing the country at the Under-20 World Cup in New Zealand (from May 30 to June 20).”

The Atlanta ’96 Olympic Games gold medallist added, “It’s unfortunate that ex-internationals are not respected in Nigeria. They would be of help to players like Iheanacho and Awoniyi if given an opportunity to work with them in the national team.

“Ex-internationals who played the game in Europe understand the language of football and know how they develop young players into champions (in Europe).

“We should be given an opportunity to work with players at the NFF and National Sports Commission levels.

“Nigeria is the only country where a player who played for the national team for many years is jobless.

“(The NFF President) Amaju Pinnick is the one travelling to Europe to discuss with some of our players instead of Austin Okocha and Nwankwo Kanu, who are our soccer ambassadors. It’s not so in Europe.”

The ex-Kaiserslautern player, who helped Nigeria win silver at the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations, backed the NFF’s decision to renew Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi’s contract after months of protracted negotiations.

He said, “It’s a golden opportunity for Keshi to prove his worth again. He can help us make the Eagles better. But he must learn from his mistakes and experience with the NFF.

“I think Daniel Amokcahi is still relevant to the team. He has been loyal to Keshi. If there is any problem between them, they should resolve it. Keshi needs Amokachi as his assistant, because he’s a good coach.”

Taribo urged the Eagles manager to focus on the domestic league for players to strengthen the team.

“We need players who are hungry for success in the Eagles,” the 1998 Europa League winner said.

“We failed to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations because some of our players are no longer hungry for success. We won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations because there were many players hungry for success in the team.

“(These days) some of the players are not good enough for the national team. Keshi should focus on the domestic league for strikers and defenders who he can make better players.

“Iheanacho, Awoniyi and Success should be considered, because they are hungry for success.

“There are other players in the Flying Eagles playing in Europe who are also good. They should be given a chance to prove themselves. (Esperance striker) Emem Eduok and (Enyimba striker) Mfom Udoh are good strikers. They should also be given a chance.”

More revelations to come- Emmanuel Adebayor

Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor says he will soon be revealing more about his family after a series of astonishing accusations against them earlier in the week.

According to the Daily Mail, the Togo international said he could not “take it any more” and insisted that the explosive claims he had previously made were true.

It follows accusations about several members of his family, including his mother, sister and brothers, in which he accused them of a variety of misdemeanors.

“What I have written is the truth,” he told the Sun. “I don’t tell lies. Keep reading my Facebook page because I will be writing more. It has been going on for too long. I can’t take it any more.”

He added on Facebook and Instagram, “When the time is right Rotimi Adebayor’s story will come out in Part 2.”

In Tuesday’s 877-word Facebook post, Adebayor claims one brother, Rotimi, stole 21 mobile phones from a French football academy he had got him a place in.

The Premier League ace says he was not allowed to see his now-deceased sibling Peter when he was “seriously ill” and was instead told by his mother to “just give money”.

He also says he paid for another brother, Kola, to fly to Africa from Germany to attend Peter’s funeral but he did not show up.

The 31-year-old Premier League striker, who played down reports suggesting he kicked his mother out of his house back in November, also listed the items he has bought his family during his time as a professional footballer.

Adebayor insists he has decided to alert the public to his argument with his family in order to ensure “other African families learn from this”.

The former Arsenal player, who returned to first team action against Manchester City on Sunday after spending just under two months on the sidelines, revealed incredibly personal matters in his statement.

It's my time to honour Gerrard - Mourinho

Jose Mourinho has paid tribute to Steven Gerrard ahead of the Liverpool midfielder’s final visit to Stamford Bridge on Sunday, AFPreports.

Gerrard and his Reds team-mates are expected to provide a guard of honour for Mourinho’s Chelsea side after the London club secured the Premier League title last weekend.

But Mourinho said on Friday that the match would also provide him with an opportunity to recognise Gerrard’s career at Liverpool which will come to a close at the end of the season when the former England captain joins LA Galaxy in the United States’ Major League Soccer.

The Chelsea manager admitted he tried to sign Gerrard on four different occasions at three different clubs but was denied by the player’s unstinting loyalty to Liverpool.

Friday saw the Portuguese boss say he was more concerned about acknowledging Gerrard, who has never won the Premier League title, than he was about Liverpool honouring his team.

“Liverpool is a giant club and if they want to do that (provide a guard of honour) my players will accept with respect,” Mourinho told a news conference at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground.

“But speaking about Liverpool and honouring the champions, it is my time to honour the champion.

“It’s my time to honour Steve Gerrard and say with opponents like him that I am the manager I am. I learn with my players and my best opponents.

“Steven Gerrard is for sure one of my favourite enemies and for sure my dear enemy, the one who made me a better manager,” he explained.

“I need people like him to make me a better coach.”

Drawing comparisons with Frank Lampard’s departure from Chelsea at the end of last season, Mourinho said, “I am sad he is leaving the same as our Frank Lampard, but Frank is a Chelsea legend and it’s a different situation because Steven was always on the other side.

“I tried to bring him (Gerrard) to Chelsea, I tried to bring him to Inter, I tried to bring him to Real Madrid but he was always with the enemy. I want to honour him and I hope Stamford Bridge has the same feeling.

“It’s too late to sign him,” lamented Mourinho.

“He can’t play against Liverpool, he refused to play in other big clubs, other big leagues to play only for Liverpool.

“Who knows, I play against Steven as a Liverpool manager someday?”

No one can defend against Messi - Moyes

Real Sociedad head coach David Moyes has followed Pep Guardiola in claiming that it is impossible to defend against Lionel Messi.

According to Goal, the Argentina forward was at his stunning best on Wednesday, scoring twice in Barca’s 3-0 success over Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.

That double included a wonderful individual goal that helped put his side on the verge of reaching the final, with Sociedad next up in La Liga on Saturday.

Moyes’ side have already beaten Barca this term, but, as the Scot targets a famous double, he waxed lyrical about Messi’s talents.

“No-one can defend against Messi,” the former Manchester United boss said. “He may have the odd off day, but he’s one of the best players of all time. Teams try and stop him but he carries on, makes no fuss.

“I admire Messi for what he represents, his fantastic football and the fact that he doesn’t dive or fake injury – things that repulse me in the world of football.”

Barca lead rivals Real Madrid by two points at the summit going into the final three games of the campaign.

With Luis Enrique on course for a treble in his first season at the helm, Moyes added,“They have a great team aside from Messi and can call on the likes of Neymar, [Andres] Iniesta and Xavi.”

Way out of fuel scarcity debacle.

AN ongoing nationwide fuel scarcity, coinciding with reports that the National Assembly passed the 2015 Appropriation Act without providing for fuel subsidies, has revived the long-running debate on subsidies in Nigeria. The ensuing clarification that N143 billion was later included in the N4.49 trillion budget has not doused the raging discourse about whether subsidies should be retained or removed. The two perspectives to the debate have their own merits and demerits, but it is only a well-thought-out plan of action that will resolve the dilemma.

The government and its agencies, arguing that subsidies are not sustainable, and do not reach the poor, who are the target, want them scrapped. Their case is compounded by oil prices that have fallen sharply over the past year, averaging half of the $100 per barrel price of 2014. They add that the savings from subsidy removal will be deployed in improving social services, education, health and infrastructure. This argument is as old as fuel importation regime, which started in the 1980s.

Tim Okon, the Group Coordinator, Corporate Strategy and Planning at the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, said, “Since the government does not control crude oil price, its fluctuation often creates fiscal instability in the country, which negatively impacts on Nigeria’s revenues … it (subsidy) is something that should go….” The position of the NNPC tallies with that of global organisations like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the International Energy Agency.

While these are tenable arguments, they, however, grossly downplay the economic and social implications for the Nigerian nation. The concomitant effects of fuel subsidy removal will lead to inflation, closure of factories and widespread loss of jobs. Indeed, the poor will end up totally marginalised economically from the expected increment that will follow the removal.

As we have repeatedly argued, subsidies are a product of the large-scale inefficiency and corruption in our oil industry. These factors have made Nigeria, one of the global leaders in oil-production, to be dependent on imported refined petroleum products. And though we produce 2.3 million barrels of oil per day, the nation’s four refineries have been comatose for decades, leading to importation to augment a daily need for petrol that is estimated by NNPC at 33 million litres. This is the crux of the matter: refine petroleum domestically and government subsidies, attended by massive corruption, will fizzle out.

Also, the argument for removal is not cast in stone. No responsible government will totally surrender its economy to the vicissitudes of the market. According to the IEA, many governments around the world are subsidising energy costs. It estimated the global oil subsidy in 2013 at over $274 billion. The IEA lists the United States – the global beacon of capitalism – as the biggest energy subsidiser in the developed world after Luxembourg, as it supports gas and diesel at two per cent. Yet, America refines what it needs domestically and is even now Nigeria’s largest supplier of kerosene. Venezuela subsidises petroleum prices (eight per cent), Iraq (14 per cent), Egypt (9 per cent of GDP) and Uzbekistan, natural gas, at 26 per cent of GDP.

Nigeria is experiencing the pangs of scarcity, reduced oil income and the jobs that would have lowered our 23.9 per cent unemployment rate from the oil sector simply because our government has been bereft of initiatives. Several administrations have allowed corruption to obviate progress in the downstream oil industry. The opportunities that came our way were misused due to government’s incapacity. But the sudden removal of subsidies will cause more harm than good to the economy.

Arguing for the refurbishment of our four refineries, Diezani Alison-Madueke, the Petroleum Resources Minister, forcefully persuaded the National Assembly in 2012 to approve a $1.6 billion loan for the exercise.

Three years on, the refineries, located in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna are worse off. Instead of the 90 per cent capacity utilisation the minister promised the repair would achieve, the latest NNPC report put their effectiveness at only 10.4 per cent. The loan has not been fully serviced. This is double tragedy.

In an unprecedented case of looting, in which nobody has been successfully prosecuted, several probes conducted after the subsidy riots of January 2012 agreed that the Goodluck Jonathan Administration fraudulently shelled out N2.53 trillion to petrol marketers in 2011, who did not import the petrol they were paid for. The National Assembly approved only N245 billion as subsidy for 2011.

Yet, inexplicably, the government seems to be content with this state of affairs, preferring instead to remove fuel subsidies when it has not taken any concrete steps to build the three Greenfield refineries it promised after the 2012 riots. To eradicate fuel importation and the need for subsidies, the incoming Muhammadu Buhari government has to carry out a comprehensive reform of the NNPC. The country will undoubtedly save money from this.

However, the most critical factor in ending the debacle is the immediate privatisation of the four refineries. Two of them were once sold to the Bluestar Consortium in 2007, but the sale was reversed by the Umaru Yar’Adua Administration the same year. The present government, through Alison-Madueke, said the refineries would be sold in the first quarter of 2014, but the will to do so was lacking as she was immediately countermanded by the Presidency. A serious government can privatise them within three months.

Also, the Federal Government has to implement a new plan that will encourage investors to build refineries, just as the Dangote Group is doing with the 650,000 barrels per day facility it is constructing in Lagos.

David Cameron, four Nigerians won in UK elections.

In one of the most keenly contested general elections in British history, four Nigerians won seats to the revered parliament, making it the first time such feat would be recorded

Against all odds, David Cameron has won his re-election bid in one of the fiercest polls in British history.

Cameron, Prime Minister of Britain, led the Conservatives to almost a landslide victory against the Labour Party – a development that forced arch-rival – Ed Miliband to step down as head of the opposition.

With the victory, Cameron returns to the iconic Number 10 Downing Street, the official residence of British Prime Ministers to continue with his work of massive reforms and making Britain greater.

But it is not only Cameron that has been left smiling following the announcement of winners – four politicians of Nigerian descent also tasted victory during the general elections in the Queen’s land.

Before Thursday’s keenly contested polls in Britain, not many within and outside it were familiar with Chuka Umunna, Helen Grant, Chi Onwurah and Kate Osamor. But by mid-day Friday, the four have almost become celebrities of sort after an elaborate media focus on them.

The four Nigerians won seats into the British parliament, making it the first time such would be happening in the highly conservative United Kingdom. While Umunna, a Labour Party politician who has served Streatham as Member of Parliament since 2010 and has enjoyed a meteoric political rise in recent years is a relatively known face outside Britain, the profile of the other three was largely unknown until Friday, a day after the keenly contested elections, even though Grant and Onwurah had been Members of Parliament over the last five years.

Umunna

Born on October 17, 1978 to a Nigerian father – Bennett and British mother – Patricia, Umunna began his education at Hitherfield Primary School in Streatham, South London, and the Christ Church Primary School in Brixton Hill. He later moved to St. Dunstan’s College, Catford, Southeast London where he played the cello and became a respected prefect in the school.

Pursuing higher education, the eloquent Umunna bagged an upper second class in English and French Law from the University of Manchester before going to study for one term at the University of Burgundy in Dijon, France. He would later pick up an MA at the Nottingham Law School.

Umunna did not just get to the top all of a sudden – he slowly but vigorously climbed his way to the centerpiece of British politics. In 2002, after graduating from the university, the 37-year-old began working as a solicitor for Herbert Smith, a law firm based in the heart of London. Four years later he joined Rochman Landau, specialising in Employment Law.

However, he soon began writing and providing commentary on the Labour Party, as well as broader social and economic issues, usually in his capacity as a member of the Management Committee of the Labour-aligned Compass pressure group. He also wrote articles for the Financial Times, Tribune, The Voice, The Guardian and the New Statesman, and began to appear on various radio and television programmes as a commentator. Umunna would later go on to establish and edited an online political magazine, The Multicultural Politic.

In early April 2013, his law firm was linked to favourable updates made on his Wikipedia page in 2007, which included a reference to him being tipped as the “British Barack Obama”. Earlier in June 2010, he was elected a member of the Treasury Select Committee while in October of that year, he was appointed to serve as a Parliamentary Private Secretary and, in May 2011 rose to the position of Shadow Minister for Small Business and Enterprise until his promotion to the Shadow Cabinet.

Grant

Grant, born on September 28, 1961, is a Conservative Party politician and solicitor who was first elected into the British parliament in 2010. By that feat, she became the first black woman to be selected to defend a Tory seat and the Conservatives’ first female black parliamentarian. She has served as Minister for Sport, Tourism and Equalities.

In September 2012, Grant received her first government appointment when she earned the dual roles of Under-Secretary of State for Justice and Under-Secretary for Women and Equalities. She was born in Willesden, North London to an English mother and Nigerian father but grew up with her mother’s family after her parents separated. She lived with her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

Onwurah

Onwurah, born on April 12, 1965, is a Labour Party politician, who was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne Central. Onwurah is Newcastle’s first black MP.

During the depression of the 1930s, her maternal grandfather was a sheet metal worker in Tyneside shipyards. Her mother grew up in poverty in Garth Heads on Newcastle’s quayside. Her father, from Nigeria, was working as a dentist while he studied at Newcastle Medical School when they met and married in the 1950s.

After Chi’s arrival in 1965, her family moved to Anambra State when she was still a baby, only two years before the Nigerian Civil War. The situation forced her mother to take the children back to England while her father stayed back to fight for the Biafran army. She had been a strong voice in the parliament and her victory this time around only goes to confirm her rising reputation in British politics.

Osamor

Osamor, a National Health Service manager, would be representing Edmonton constituency in London on the platform of the Labour Party. A respected trade union activist and women’s charity trustee, she made funding the NHS and standing up to government cuts the main theme of her campaign.

Emerging one of the Labour Party’s shining lights during a generally poor election outing, Osamor was declared winner in the North London seat with 25,388 votes. Her closest rival, Gonul Daniels of the Conservative Party ended up with 9,969 votes, making it an overwhelming victory for her.

The triumph of the four parliamentarians is seen as a major boost to Nigeria’s international image especially at a time when leadership has also changed hands at the centre in the oil-rich country. The victory is also viewed as cheering news for Nigerians resident in the United Kingdom who are often the subject of racism and segregation in the highly conservative region.

Obasanjo Foundation fires CEO, for money laundering.

The Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation has sacked its London-based Chief Executive Officer, Anne Welsh, following video evidence allegedly showing that she had been involved in money laundering activities for many years.

It was learnt that Welsh, a former investment banker, met the former president during a conference in Brussels, Belgium in 2011 when she was the Chairperson of the Sickle Cell Society.

The video footage, which was discreetly shot by one of the participants at a United Kingdon meeting in December 2014, showed how Welsh allegedly plotted a $4.9m (N980m) scheme to exploit the Ebola Virus Disease tragedy in West Africa through helping a group of ‘Lebanese businessmen’ who wished to donate money to Obasanjo Foundation for some work in Sierra Leone.

The video, which was obtained bySaharaReporters and viewed by Saturday PUNCH, revealed that the group demanded that it would make a donation of $2m (N400m) to the foundation if it helped it launder the balance of $2.9m.

Welsh assured the potential ‘donors’ that it would not be a problem as she was well-grounded in the art of being discreet.

“I had to go through training, through president Obasanjo, political training for one year to become discreet,” she said in the video.

She added, “Sometimes, we get dollars from people who give money to our foundation and they say they don’t want it to be known that they donated the money, but they want to have a letter on our letterhead paper and a letter from Obasanjo just to say ‘Thank you for your kind donations to the foundation for the work to support Ebola’. That’s it. That is what we normally do.”

The group, however, told her they did not care how the money given to the foundation was spent as long as their interest was protected.

Welsh then demanded from the group an interest of 30 per cent of the $2.9m. “At least 30 per cent; think about the hard work I’m going to put into this, you will be so grateful to me,” she proposed.

The video evidence also showed that the group agreed to give her the 30 per cent, which was $900,000 (N180m), and detailed how the money would be transferred via a Nigerian bank which she uses.

In an apparent reaction to the allegations, the Obasanjo Foundation had sacked Welsh for plotting to help some Lebanese businessmen to launder millions of dollars.

The former president, Obasanjo, toldSaharaReporters that he and other trustees of the organisation as well as staff members of the foundation were deeply saddened and disturbed by the allegations against Welsh.

He said the foundation had forced her to resign and had launched a full-scale investigation into the allegations. He also said the matter had been reported to the London Metropolitan Police and the UK Charity Commission for a thorough probe.

“We have asked the two authorities to investigate the matter exhaustively,” Obasanjo said.

In her reaction, Welsh confirmed details of the meeting, stating that she was indeed present, but denied that any wrongdoing took place.

She also confirmed that she clearly stated her name over the course of the meeting, but refused to disclose any of the “so much secret things” she said she had done with Obasanjo.

When our correspondent contacted the office of the former president to seek more clarifications on the issue, it was gathered that he had left the country.

His Chief of Staff, Mr. Victor Durodola, however, confirmed the development to our correspondent.

“It is true and it is sad, “he briefly said.

Emulate Ed Miliband, resign as PDP Chairman ; Fayose tells Mu'azu

Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has described the resignation of British Labour Party leader, Ed Miliband, and that of Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, as a vindication of his call for the resignation of the Peoples Democratic Party National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu.

The duo resigned after their parties’ woeful performance in Thursday’s British general elections.

Fayose, who said in a press statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Mr. Lere Olayinka, that he had no personal scores to settle with the PDP National Chairman, added that it was morally wrong for Mu’azu to remain in office after leading the party into its first national electoral loss.

The statement read, “Alhaji Mu’azu should be honourable enough to follow the same path as the British LP and Democrats leaders.

“Mu’azu’s case is even worse than that of the British party leaders, who resigned immediately their party lost because majority of PDP members no longer have confidence in his (Mu’azu) leadership and there is no way a willing leader can be forced on unwilling followers.”

“This is not about any personality and I am also not operating here on empty boast because Ekiti State was delivered to the PDP 100 per cent.

“Rather, it is about issues. Imagine the PDP not getting up to five per cent of the votes in Bauchi State, the National Chairman’s home state and someone is still not being honourable enough to resign.

“Haven’t we now seen what operates in saner climes with the resignation of the British LP and Democrat leaders? Shouldn’t our party National Chairman also take a cue from this and allow for fresh minds to steer the ship of the party at this difficult time?

“Leaders in this country should learn from their counterparts in other climes because like I said earlier, when a war commander leads his troop to an embarrassing defeat, such commander does not need anyone to tell him that he needs to leave the war front for another commander to take over.”

Military recovers video recording of Boko Haram - Olukolade

The Director, Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, has confirmed that troops of the Nigerian Army recovered video recordings of the heinous acts perpetrated by the Boko Haram insurgents.

Olukolade, however, refused to disclose further information about the crimes against humanity captured in the videos in possession of the military.

“It is true that troops have captured some video recordings of the terrorists but I would not want to say anything on that for now,” he said.

He also confirmed to an Abuja based media consultancy firm to security agencies, the PR Nigeria, that the videos were being analysed by the military.

“A number of vital materials, apart from arms and ammunition, have been recovered which are being subjected to intelligent analysis. We don’t want to say much about that now.” Olukolade was quoted as saying.

Investigation revealed that the videos have scenes of trials, stoning of condemned people to death, amputations, beheading of victims with knives and summary execution through shooting.

It was learnt that the Joint Investigating Panel of the security agencies had commenced investigation into the activities of the terrorists and would soon present those found to be culpable of these heinous acts for trial.

It was stated that the military was taking the issue of the videos seriously because they were being prepared for posting on YouTubeto create fear in the civil populace.

PR Nigeria quoted a military as saying, “Some of the video were meant for release through their normal channels to the public before they were dislodged from their camps. They also show the barbaric life in their so-called caliphate.

“The media and the public are advised to be careful in handling or sharing sensitive and offensive videos depicting atrocities that some viewers may find disturbing.”

Senators and HoR members to get N9B, under Buhari’s Presidency

Senators and members of the House of Representatives that will constitute the 8th National Assembly and ministers to be appointed by President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), will on assumption of office receive welcome perks amounting to N9bn.

The perks of office include the housing allowance which each of the incoming office holder is entitled to receive once a year, the furniture allowance which they are entitled to once in four years and motor vehicle loan which they are entitled to once in their tenure.

The perks are some of the non-regular allowances that the political office holders are entitled to as prescribed by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission.

There are other allowances, both regular and irregular ones, but housing, furniture and motor vehicle are paid at the beginning of the tenure of the office holders to ensure that they settle down appropriately.

Housing allowance for the political office holders is 200 per cent of their annual salaries; furniture is 300 per cent and motor vehicle loan is 400 per cent.

The eighth National Assembly will be inaugurated by Buhari on June 5 after the expiration of the tenure and dissolution of the 7th National Assembly on the same date.

Membership of the eighth National Assembly include 109 senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives elected on the platform of different political parties from across the country.

Investigation by one of our correspondents showed that each of the senators would be paid N4, 052,800 on the assumption of office as housing allowance. They will also be paid the same amount every year because the housing allowance is on annual basis.

This means that 107 senators will be paid a total of N433, 649,600m as housing allowance annually.

The Senate President and the Deputy Senate President are not entitled to this allowance because their own accommodation is to be provided by the Federal Government.

Similarly, each member of the House of Representatives will be paid N3, 970,425 as housing allowance on assumption of office.

This means that the 358 representatives will be collecting a total of N1, 421,412,150 as housing allowance. Again, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives are excluded from this allowance as the Federal Government is to provide their own accommodation.

Following the monetisation of entitlements of public officials, the lawmakers lost the right to occupy houses built and maintained by the government. Consequently, the Federal Government sold the houses previously occupied by the lawmakers to them.

The principal officers of the National Assembly also benefited from the sale of the houses. As a result, the Federal Capital Territory Administration is at present building new houses for the lawmakers that will emerge as the Senate President, the Deputy Senate President, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker.

For furniture, each of the senators is to get N6, 079,200. The furniture for both the Senate President and his deputy are to be fully provided by the government. This means that 107 senators will get a total of N650, 474,400 as furniture allowance. Furniture allowance is paid once in four years.

Each member of the House of Representatives will be paid N5, 955,637.50 as furniture allowance. This means that 358 representatives (excluding the speaker and his deputy) will collect a total of N2, 132,118,225 for furniture.

For vehicle, each of the senators is entitled to N8, 105,600 while each representative is entitled to N7, 940,850.50. This means that 107 senators will collect N867, 299,200 for vehicle while 358 representatives will collect N2, 842,824,479 for the same purpose.

The allowance for vehicle had been controversial. According to RMAFC, this allowance payable once in four years is a loan for any member that wants. This means that it is repayable.

In 2007, each senator had been given the loan to purchase vehicles. Few months after they had received the loan, the current Senate President, David Mark, demanded that the money totalling about N856m should be converted to grants for official cars.

Mark made the request in a letter addressed to the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission.

In the letter dated November 15, 2007 and titled “Monetisation policy as it affects senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” Mark said the senators were not properly briefed that the money was given to them as loan.

He said if senators had known that the money was loan, they would have had the opportunity to exercise the choice of refusal.

He therefore requested that the money should be converted to official car allowance although according to the monetisation policy of the Federal Government, only the President of the Senate and his deputy are entitled to official cars. The funding for cars for other lawmakers had been built into their salaries which are paid on monthly basis.

RMAFC insisted that the money was a loan and could not be converted to a grant as the lawmakers’ benefits had been monetised. It is not clear how the matter ended as both parties refused to respond to media requests on the issue.

On the executive side, each minister that will serve in the cabinet of Buhari is entitled to a housing allowance of N3, 915,160.

There are indications that the President-elect will shrink his cabinet by doing away with the ministers of state. However, there is a limit to how far he can reduce the cabinet positions. Constitutionally, each state of the federation must be represented in the cabinet.

This leaves him with at least 36 ministers as against the 42 ministers in President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. Cumulatively, the ministers are to receive N140, 945,760 as housing allowance.

Each minister is also entitled to a furniture allowance of N6, 079,200. Cumulatively, this comes to N218, 851,200. Each of them is also entitled to a vehicle loan of N7, 830,320. This comes to a total of N281, 891,520.

When put together, the housing, furniture and vehicle allowances payable to the lawmakers and ministers will amount to about N7.3bn. The remaining N1.7bn will cater for other perks of office such as motor vehicle maintenance, fuelling, and others.

Apart from these irregular allowances, there are other regular perks of office that are paid to lawmakers on a monthly basis. These include motor vehicle maintenance and fuelling. 

This is pegged at 75 per cent of their monthly salary.

Others are personal assistant, 25 per cent; domestic staff, 75 per cent; entertainment, 30 per cent; utilities, 30 per cent; newspapers/periodicals, 15 per cent; wardrobe, 25 per cent; house maintenance, five per cent; and constituency, 250 per cent.

There are other entitlements that they do not receive direct payments for but are provided and paid for by the government. These are special assistants, security and legislative aides. 

What this means is that those engaged in these capacities are paid directly by the government as the allowances cannot be claimed by political office holders. These allowances apply to senators and members of the House of Representatives.

Medical expenses are also borne by the government when they have need for them.

The lawmakers are also entitled to tour duty allowance, estacode (when they travel) and recess allowances. For a senator, the tour duty allowance is N37, 000 per night; the estacode is $950 per night and the recess allowance is 10 per cent of their annual salary.

For a member of the House of Representatives, the tour duty allowance is N35, 000 per night; the estacode is $900 per night and the recess allowance is 10 per cent of their annual salary.

The allowances for ministers vary slightly from those of the lawmakers. The allowances of the ministers include motor vehicle fuelling and maintenance – 75 per cent of their salaries. Others are personal assistant, 25 per cent; domestic staff, 75 per cent; entertainment, 45 per cent; utilities, 30 per cent; monitoring, 20 per cent and newspapers/periodicals, 15 per cent.

Their security personnel, medicals and special assistants are also provided. The tour duty allowance is N35, 000 per night; the estacode is $900 per night and the leave allowance is 10 per cent of their annual salary.

Special Advisers and Special Assistants to the President to be appointed by the president are also entitled to housing and furniture allowances, special allowances and motor vehicle loan but it is not certain how many of these advisers Buhari is going to appoint.

The housing allowance of a special adviser is N3, 885,750; furniture – N5, 828,625; motor vehicle loan N7, 771,500.

The regular allowances of a special adviser include motor vehicle fuelling and maintenance – 75 per cent of their salaries; personal assistant – 25 per cent; domestic staff – 75 per cent; entertainment – 45 per cent; utilities – 30 per cent; and newspapers/periodicals – 15 per cent.

Again, their security personnel, medicals and special assistants are also provided for. The tour duty allowance is N25, 000 per night; the estacode is $800 per night and the leave allowance is 10 per cent of their annual salary.

Severance allowance is paid to each of the office holders at the end of their tenure in government.

Our correspondents had reported that President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice-President Namadi Sambo, non-returning federal lawmakers, ministers and aides to the President will collect N3.24bn as severance allowance.

Although political office holders in the country are among the highest paid government officials in the world, our correspondents also reported that the worry of many Nigerians is not what they earn officially but what accrues to them through self-appropriation and corruption.

Senators-elect want pay cut extended to all arms of govt

Some senators-elect have supported the call for the cut in salaries and allowances of the National Assembly members.

The lawmakers, in separate interviews on Friday with Saturday PUNCH, said that such reduction must be extended to all tiers and arms of government.

The Senator-elect for Ekiti North Senatorial District, Mr. Duro Faseyi, expressed support for reduction in cost of governance.

Faseyi, in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents on Friday, said the reduction must cut across the tiers of government.

He said, “I am in support of reduction of cost of governance because we have to look at the Internally Generated Revenue and the state of economy.

“The executives and judiciary must also be in support. The executive, especially, should agree so that we can use the money for what will benefit the common man.

“I support whatever would make life meaningful and improve the living condition of people, but it should be for the benefits of the common man.”

Also, the senator-elect representing Rivers South-East, Chief Olaka Wogu, expressed the need for a review of the salaries or recurrent expenditures in every sector of the economy.

Wogu, however, cautioned that funds meant for constituency projects should be increased.

The senator-elect explained that the current economic situation in the country would not be able to sustain the huge cost of governance.

He added that rather than reduce funds for constituency projects, focus should be on recurrent expenditure.

Wogu said, “Funds for constituency projects must not be reduced. They represent the projects that are done on behalf of the representatives in their constituencies and they are executed by the executive. They are not executed by the members.

“I have not been to the Senate and I don’t know their salaries. But when I say all sectors should not be isolated in the review of salaries, I mean all sectors. So, if I go to the Senate, I want to attract projects for my senatorial district. I intend to ensure that projects come to my district. So, the volume of funds available for that should go up.

“But the earnings of senators and all functionaries of government, including the senators should go down; that is cost of governance. Our economy cannot carry it today. Our pay as representatives can go down, but cost of public good must go up. That, in itself, will promote development. It will also lead to a better economy. Our problem today is that we spend too much on recurrent and too little on capital expenditure.”

But the Senator-elect for Plateau South Senatorial District, Lt.- Gen. Jeremiah Useni, said he would not be able to comment on the slash in the cost of governance until the inauguration of the eighth National Assembly.

‘It is unnecessary’

The All Progressives Congress member representing Zamfara Central Senatorial District, Senator Kabiru Marafa, described as unnecessary, the calls for the reduction in the salaries and allowances of federal lawmakers.

Marafa, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said those making the demand were ignorant of the actual amount accruable as salaries and allowances to each senator or member of the House of Representatives.

He described as untrue, media reports that a senator earns a monthly salary of N29m and promised to resign as a senator if anyone could prove that his salary per month was up to N1m.

Marafa, who said his salary was not up to N1m a month, said the call for salary reduction could only be justified if members of the public could determine the actual amount that a federal legislator is being paid a month.

He said, “What Nigerians need to know about these allowances is that they should be educated properly about what a senator or House of Representatives member earns. The figure being branded as allowances and salaries of federal lawmakers all over the place is incorrect.

“Not quite long ago, some figures were posted on the Internet and they came up with a figure of about N29m per month but if you look at the rundown, you will see there are severance allowances there which they claimed formed certain percentage of the total salary per month.”