DRAMA AT DSS AS MARILYN OGAR IS TRANSFERRED TO MAIDUGURI, THEN RECALLED

The changes at the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria’s secret police, entered another phase during the week with new postings and a series of reversals. TheCable understands that Marilyn Ogar, who was until recently DSS deputy director, public relations, has been transferred to Maiduguri, Borno state, but the posting has now been put on hold following insinuations that it was “punitive”. Ogar, as spokesperson, was responsible for defending the activities of the agency in the media and she is believed to be paying for some of her pronouncements, notably in the face-off with the Bring Back Our Girls movement and the DSS raids on the Lagos office of the All Progressives Congress (APC) last year. She has already lost her promotion following the nullification of the recent exercise. “Right now, she is just hanging around in Abuja awaiting the next order,” a source at the agency

AMAECHI, PASTOR BAKARE, OTHERS ON BUHARI’S 18-MAN DELEGATION TO US

Former Rivers state governor, Chibuike Amaechi and founder of Latter Rain Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare will accompany President Muhammadu Buhari on his three-day visit to Washington DC, United State on July 20.
They will be joined by five state governors, they are, Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo State), Rochas Okorocha (Imo State), Adams Oshiomhole (Edo State) and two others.
The five governors are separate from an 18-man delegation made up of top aides and political associates of the President. The former Governor of Rivers State Rotimi Amaechi, the former Vice Presidential candidate to Buhari Tunde Bakare, and former member of the House of Representatives Farouk Adamu will be on the Presidential delegation.
In addition to these delegates, President Buhari will bring along top civil servants, representatives from the Office of the National Security Adviser, and representatives from economic policy and foreign affairs think tanks.

DSS Officials & Lawyers on Free-For-All Tussle In Awka

A mild drama played out Friday between men of the Department of the State Security Service DSS and lawyers which has since been described as a national embarrassment and shameful bickering over an alleged show of power between the men of the bar and DSS operatives in Awka.

On investigation, it was gathered that a yet to be identify DSS official allegedly mal-handled a 57-year-old lawyer at the Awka South Magistrate Court entrance, where the later was said to use the untarred road that lead to the court, without negotiating to know  if an oncoming saloon car was driving out of the court premises.

Okonjo-Iweala Alleges Ex-President Jonathan Unilaterally Approved Withdrawal of $2bn from the excess crude revenue

The immediate past Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has shifted the blame on former President Goodluck Jonathan over the controversial withdrawal of $2bn from the excess crude revenue account (ECA) in December 2014.
“Payments made were used for paying for petroleum subsidies for the Nigerian people and were approved by Mr. President,” the former minister said on Tuesday through her media adviser, Paul Nwabuikwu. “Therefore, there is no question of mismanaging any resources here.”

Following an allegation by the Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, that she unilaterally approved the withdrawal of the money from the $4.1 bn left in the ECA “without authorization”, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala had dismissed it as “false, malicious and totally without foundation.”

Ebola: No plan to ban Liberia flights, says NCAA

                                  
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority says it has no plan to ban Liberian airlines from coming into Nigeria, following a fresh outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease in Liberia.

NCAA’s General Manager (Public Affairs), Mr. Fan Ndubuoke, said this on Friday while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.

NAN reports that a fresh case of Ebola was detected in Liberia, nearly two months after the West African country was declared free of the virus by the World Health Organisation.

Boko Haram Insurgents Attacks Grew Worse Under President Buhari

The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, on Thursday said the Boko Haram insurgency had worsened under President Muhammadu Buhari.

Ekweremadu said the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration had almost rolled back Boko Haram and its activities in the North-East.

The deputy senate president also expressed the fear the insurgents could also attack Abuja and the southern part of the country soon.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja, he chose not to answer questions on his alleged involvement in the forgery of senate rules but said he had been worried about the renewed attacks by Boko Haram.

He said, “I am worried about the resurgence of Boko Haram activities in Nigeria. Shortly before the inauguration of the present government, the country had almost rolled back Boko Haram and its activities in every part of Nigeria – from Adamawa to Borno to Yobe.

Tribunal Grants Peterside Access To Inspect Election Material

The Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja on Thursday reaffirmed its ex parte order made on June 11, 2015, granting permission to the All Progressives Congress and its candidate in the April 11, 2015 governorship election in the state, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, to inspect the electoral materials used for the poll.

Peterside and the APC had on May 3, 2015, filed their petition before the tribunal to challenge the victory of the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Nyemson Wike, in the poll.

The Justice Mu’azu Pindiga-led tribunal, in a ruling on Thursday, dismissed Wike’s application asking for the setting aside of the June 11, 2015 order.

Boko Haram Inmates In Ekwulobia Prison Have Been Relocated To Abuja-----Ebonyi Govenor

The Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, on Thursday explained why the planned protest by traders against the relocation of some Boko Haram suspects to Anambra State did not hold in the state.

He told journalists during an inspection tour of ongoing projects in Abakaliki that since the suspects had already been taken to Abuja, the protest was unnecessary.

He said, “The traders have the right to protest but there was no need for the protest because we (South-East governors) had enjoined the Federal Government not to relocate any Boko Haram prisoner to any prison in the South-East. Those suspects brought to Anambra State have been taken back to Abuja.

“The state decided against the protest for the reason that the governors of the region had intimated the Presidency on their opinion on the matter, and so no need for anyone to encourage people of the state to take to the streets.”

Umahi said that risking the lives of the people of the state on the streets was not the best.

It was gathered that the planned protest by the traders was expected to take place simultaneously across the five states of the South-East.

Julius Agwu Receives Treatment At Park Plaza Hospital USA Says God is healing Him

As fans of celebrated comedian, Julius Agwu, hope for his early return to the entertainment scene, he has given further details on the health issue that has taken him out of circulation for some time.

Agwu shocked many people earlier in the week when he revealed in YES magazine that he had undergone a surgery for brain tumour.

According to Agwu, the crisis started with a progressive weight loss until he suffered a seizure in May.

After his wife, Ibiere, and maid initially rushed him to their hospital in the Lekki area of Lagos, where he was stabilised, they had subsequently taken him to the United States for further treatment.

Photos: Buhari Turns Down Proposal for N400 Million Bullet-proof Vehicles

President Muhammadu Buhari has turned down an offer by the Federal Government to procure five new armoured Mercedes Benz S-600 (V222) cars for his use.

The cars which total cost is put at about N400m were planned to be purchased by the State House.

A Presidency source told journalists on Thursday that Buhari got to know of the plan when the Permanent Secretary, State House, Mr. Nebolisa Emodi, was briefing him of his ministry’s activities on Wednesday.