IS THIS TRUE? MINISTER OF INFORMATION, LAI MOHAMMED , SENDS LETTER TO NBC TO BORROW' N13 MILLION FOR FOREIGN TRIP?? How come? There are troubling questions arising from this, if true... How can a federal ministry be borrowing money from an agency under it? Under the Single Treasury Account policy, are not all NBC Money supposed to go into the account first? So where would NBC find the Money? Can the NBC take money from single treasury account and 'borrow' the minister? OR are they going to borrow him money allocated for salary or ministry expenses or contractors? IF THIS IS TRUE, baba must hear this o! This is how fraud starts joor. Come to think of it, Is this not the kind of thing Jonathan and Okonjo Iweala did with Abacha stolen money that let to Dasuki gate? What is good for the goose must be edible for the gander too. THIS HAD BETTER NOT BE TRUE!

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CAN NIGERIA REALLY EAT ITS CAKE AND HAVE IT TOO? I have been inundated with criticisms for not out rightly condemning the recent oil pricing policy, and my patriotism and objectivity has been questioned by many, even by those who should know better. Even in the mass hysteria following the Fed govt's announcement about its new oil policy, most of those joining in the mob action did not bother to read the full text of the statement from govt. If they had, they would have observed that govt DID NOT INCREASE THE PRICE OF OIL. IT SIMPLY SAID ANYONE CAN IMPORT FUEL AND SELL FOR WHATEVER HE WANTS AS LONG AS IT IS NOT MORE THAN N145 a liter. In order words, government has simply agreed with what MOST NIGERIANS DEMANDED: NO MORE SUBSIDY... and then declared a free market with a cap. How can any right thinking person interprete that as hiking the price of fuel? Or do we want to have fixed price at N82 and still remove subsidy? Can anyone eat its cake and have it? I am DEFINITELY FOR REMOVAL OF SUBSIDY AND FREE PRICING STRUCTURE... And now I and others who have been arguing for removal of subsidy must now learn how to live with the natural consequences of removal subsidy. Every actions or solution begets its own problems. Here below are 12 reasons for supporting the removal of subsidy for those who really want to have a debate. You may not like it but don't call me unreasonable or unpatriotic. We are all looking for the best situation for our country and may not agree on how to get there. TWELVE REASONS WHY FUEL SUBSIDY REMOVERS IS RIGHT DECISION 01 Trillions of naira have been spent by successive administrations sustaining a corrupt, largely abused regime that has ended up in private pockets, creating overnight billionaires who continue to walk free 02 Petrol subsidies over the years have caused supply disruptions and engendered inefficiencies in their management 03 Under the current low oil price environment, dwindling oil revenue and shortage of foreign exchange, deregulation would partly reduce the pressure on the naira and foreign reserves 04 With deregulation, importers of petrol can source for their dollar requirements from autonomous sources, which would ease pressure on the naira and foreign reserves 05 Diversion of products will be minimised, as there will be no incentives for marketers to divert petrol to markets where they are guaranteed higher prices 06 The removal of subsidies will attract critically needed private sector investment in the downstream oil sector and lead to the construction of new refineries 07 As greenfield refineries come on stream in the medium to long-term and NNPC partly privatises its plants under whatever arrangement it chooses to call it, Africa’s largest oil producer would transit from an importer of products to a net exporter of products and end the export of jobs to other jurisdictions 08 The end of subsidies will end crude oil swaps and other opaque trading arrangements that have cost Nigeria billions 09 Savings made by government will be used to develop critical infrastructure that would create jobs, and funds redeployed to subsidise productive sectors of the economy such as agriculture, textile manufacturing and SMEs (wise countries subsidise production, not consumption) 10 With deregulation and the attendant competition, marketers and NNPC will be forced to adopt best practices in order to remain in business 11 Competition will also guarantee that prices will inevitably stabilise and drop over time; US shale oil and new oil discoveries in other parts of the world mean that oil prices are unlikely to ever rise to $100 a barrel, which has a knock-on effect on the price of refined products 12 Realistically, the official pump price of petrol has largely been enjoyed by dwellers in major cities in the country. In the hinterland, where up to 60 per cent of Nigerians still reside, petrol, when it is available, is normally sold way above the regulated price

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THE CHANGE VIGILANTES "STATE OF THE NATION" TOWN HALL MEETING - This is happening 10.00AM THIS MORNING, FRIDAY, APRIL 15TH @Rennaissance Hotel on 172, Awolowo Way. Ikeja. Come and have your say! Admission is FREE to all Nigerians, Activists, Politicians, Students, Labour Leaders, Bloggers, All Professionals, Traders etc, but seats are limited!

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ARE YOU COMING ON FRIDAY? COUNTDOWN TO CHANGE VIGILANTES' TOWN HALL MEETING ON "STATE OF THE NATION" - 10.00AM ON FRIDAY, APRIL 15TH @Rennaissance Hotel, Ikeja. COME AND HAVE YOUR SAY as we discuss the following hot topics: • Promises, Policies And Change Realities • Let There Be Light! • The Recurring Scarcity That Never Ends • Banking With Eyes Wide Open • Corruption Fights Back • Nigerian Naira On The Ropes • Unemployment Epidemic In A Land Of Plenty We inviting people from ALL SIDES OF THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM to come and have their say! APC, PDP, SDP, LABOUR, CONSUMER ADVOCATES, PROFESSIONALS, CONCERNED CITIZENS, STUDENTS ETC!! Come and have you say in this no-holds barred town hall meeting! www.ChangeVigilantes.com

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“CITIZENS DIE FOR LACK OF ACCESS TO OFFICIAL FOREX WHILE DANGOTE GROUP GETS MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR INVESTMENT IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES AT OFFICIAL RATE?” Is The Govt And EFCC Turning A Blind Eye To Forex Violations By Banks, Dangote And CBN? We at Change Vigilantes International have closely followed the ongoing national discussions on the allocation of the scarce foreign exchange earned by the Nigerian government and how the super-rich, particularly the Dangote Group, appears to have been sidetracking the CBN Guidelines on allocation of the scarce official Foreign exchange allocations to banks, apparently with the active participation of the banks and possibly the CBN, and indifference by the government and EFCC. While lots of gossip often fly through social media without any basis in fact, we were shocked to discover, after looking at the different documents available to us in this alleged illicit transactions foreign exchange allocations, that the allegations appear to be true in fact. We at CVI will like to go on record that this kind of shenanigan in our banking system is NOT the Change we fought for, and it is about time somebody calls out the Banks, CBN, the Dangote Group and the EFCC in what is clearly a collusion to circumvent the laws of the country. Furthermore, it boggles the mind to discover that the proof of the allegations is not even shrouded in any secrecy, since many of the banks complicit in this illegal transaction are actually bold enough to list the proof of their curious transaction in their monthly declaration of official forex allocations from CBN in various Newspapers publications. In this respect, we refer to the declarations of forex allocations declaration in THISDAY, and other newspapers by First bank (February 16th, 2016, page 11), Access Bank (Thursday, March 31, 2016 page 4) and several other banks where they clearly stated that they allocated different millions of dollars to DANGOTE GROUP for investment in DANGOTE CEMENT CONGO at the official rate! These official rate allocations for investment in Congo Cement is a CLEAR VIOLATION of CBN guidelines, (unless the CBN secretly changed the rules overnight for Dangote) and we are clearly shocked that the EFCC has not thought it fit to investigate any of these publications. We also have in our possession several correspondences by Dangote Group to Access Bank and First Bank requesting them to transfer millions of dollars at the official rate to their subsidiary in Congo, Liberia and elsewhere outside Nigeria. This again will appear to be illegal under the CBN Guidelines. Documents are attached to this publication. For those who may not be aware, the long standing CBN rule is that official forex allocations from CBN to banks should NOT be used for investments abroad or for clearing goods in a foreign country’s ports as these banks appear to have done. Those kind of transactions are supposed to be financed by funds from parallel markets. As a matter of fact, the approval letter by CBN that we could lay our hands on clearly stated that those approvals are subject to the funds being sourced from the parallel market, and NOT the official rate makes. Yet, many of these banks listed DANGOT CEMENT CONGO as a direct beneficiary of official forex in their monthly publications of breakdowns. This was ostensibly for direct investment and even payment of port charges in countries such as Congo and Liberia. These admissions of patent irregularity by the banks as evidenced by their own public notifications in several newspapers, is enough proof that they violated the law in allocating funds for Dangote Cement Congo and our question today is why is the EFCC not looking into this clear violations of the law? Specifically, we at Change Vigilantes believe that the ongoing debate over Dangote Group’s improper access to Forex at official rates raises the following questions 1. Why is Dangote Group, with its heavily laundered image of being a pro-Nigerian employer, spending billions of naira in official foreign exchange rate to invest in factories and companies in Congo, Liberia and other African countries when millions of Nigerians at home are unemployed? How is our economy supposed to benefit from investment that creates employment for Congo and Liberia? 2. If Dangote is really as patriotic as his image makers have made us believe, why is he helping to develop the economies of other countries and creating employment for other countries when over 20 million Nigerian youths are unemployed at home? Really, one must wander what is so special about working in a cement factory that people in Liberia and Congo can provide that workers in Nigeria cannot. 3. Why should our government be giving Dangote Cement essentially subsidized foreign exchange for investment in Congo when we don’t have enough forex to pay for importation of fuel to power our own economy, with long lines of cars at filling station and long lines of the unemployed? 4. With people dying for lack of access to dollars at the official rate to treat themselves abroad, and with students dropping out of school abroad because their parents can no longer afford to get the dollars they need to remit for their school fees, why are the richest among us as personified by Aliko Dangote, getting access to these scarce funds at the official rate just to go and invest it in foreign countries, so they can make more money while their fellow citizens die of sickness and unemployment at home? 5. With the evidence gathered from the newspaper publications clearly showing that some banks, i.e. First Bank and Access Bank, appear to have violated foreign exchange laws of Nigeria by allocating official rate forex to Dangote Group for investment in foreign companies, contrary to CBN guidelines and extant laws, why is the EFCC not wading into this matter? Really, considering the fact that the richest man in Africa has been a beneficiary of largesse and uncompetitive patronage from practically all governments in Nigeria for the last 16 years, one cannot but wander if EFCC is actually protecting this mogul that seems to have developed a talent for ingratiating itself to any government in power. Is the government of Change now giving one of the biggest pillars behind the past corrupt government a pass when it comes to scrutinizing his activities? 6. Why are the banks granting forex at official rates to Dangote group for investment in Dangote Cement Congo and in Liberia, and actually publishing those figures in Newspapers, if they did not have the approval of CBN (the documents we have been able to obtain so far show that all CBN special approvals for international remittances to Dangote Group clearly directed that such remittances be funded from parallel funds.? Yet, the publications of First Bank and Access Bank in This Day Newspapers clearly showed that DANOTE CEMENT CONGO were beneficiaries of money at the official rate, and NOT the parallel market as directed by the approvals. This anomaly begs the follow-up questions: Why is CBN not sanctioning these banks? and why is the EFC not investigating this obvious corruption in the system? 7. Is Dangote above the law or rules of CBN? We have read in many publications where some so-called financial analysts have argued that the Dangote Group is too big to be allowed to fail, and that as one the biggest employers of labour in Nigeria they deserve preferential treatment. We disagree vehemently with this school of thought. On the contrary, we believe that the richest in society have a responsibility to the less fortunate. The richest among us should not be getting preferential treatment to buy dollars to invest in the economies of other countries, while our own citizens are dropping out of school for lack of access to forex, and our sick are dying because they have no access to obtain official forex to treat themselves. The law in any sane society should apply equally to both the rich and the poor and nobody should be above the law. We believe that most Nigerians, including the undersigned, voted for President Muhammadu Buhari because of his earned reputation for fighting corruption in all its forms. We believed the President when he promised that nobody, and no entity will be spared of any allegations of corruption. It is time that the President delivers on that promise in the area of foreign exchange allocations and manipulations by our institutions including the Banks and Central Bank. In a season where we have people dying of lack of access to Forex and long queues at our filling stations due to scarce foreign exchange, it is also time that the President lives up to is reputation for fighting corruption at the highest levels by ordering a public probe into the way forex is being handled in Nigeria Having fallen in love with our President for his career long stance against corruption, we at Change Vigilantes International, USA cannot understand why Dangote seems to be an exception to this anti-corruption rule of the Government of Change that we all fought for. It has been several weeks now since these allegations of corruption in the allocation of Forex by the banks have been levelled by many knowledgeable insiders and other international companies like the BUA group, both in newspapers and many social media sites, but so far we have not heard any official explanations from the Banks, the CBN or EFCC. We believe that individual and corporate impunity was supposed to have died with the previous administration, and it is our job as ardent supporters of the Buhari government and the CHANGE it represents to raise the alarm when it becomes obvious that some people appear to be above the law, as it appears in this case of Forex Allocation. We at Change Vigilantes hereby call on President Buhari to order an investigation into the allegations of corruption in the allocation of official forex by the Banks and the CBN. In a situation where the difference between the Official Exchange rate and the Parallel Market rate, is more than N100 per dollar, the possibilities of abuse and round-tripping are too obvious to ignore. Also, the temptations for the super-rich and those with access to collude with the banks, and possibly CBN to take advantage of that disparity in exchange rates to further enrich themselves at the expense of the country, is just too much to dismiss these allegations of corruption by many in the country out of hand. We demand an investigation by EFFC now! Dr Ope Banwo Oluyinka Oyeniji Chairman/Founder Legal Adviser Change Vigilantes International

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WHY I THINK FASHOLA HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO INCREASE ELECTRICITY TARIFF - I have been on record for criticizing the highly recommended minister of Power for asking Nigerians to pay more for electricity without first increasing the supply of it. However, since the massive criticism of the power hike went viral, I have had cause to actually INVESTIGATE why our Change Government would choose to embark on what may be considered a ‘suicidal’ move in a time of hardship for Nigerians. On reflection and checking out the facts on ground, I actually came to the painful conclusion that the minister really had no choice but to raise tariffs if he really wanted to set a good foundation for abundant power supply in the economy. In a season of bitter economic pills, I actually think this is one pill that Nigerians should swallow if we are really serious about improving our power situation. THERE CAN BE NO CHANGE WITHOUT PAIN. Before I am attacked as blindly supporting this Tariff hike issue, here are some reasons why I believe we all need to support the minister in creating the viable structure for our power resurgence as a nation: 1.INVESTORS WONT COME WITH OUR CURRENT PRICING STRUCTURE- It is agreed by everyone that we need more power generation, more transmission and better distribution of our current power supply. We all also agree that to do this, we will need more investments and in the era. However, when oil prices continue to decline, and has now dropped to $27 from about $80 in less than 2 years, Nigeria does not have the money to invest in such as mindboggling investment exercise. We need third party investors, local and foreign, to inject capital, right? Problem is the investors, while understanding that there is better transparency from Buhari Govt, will still not come because the costing of in the power industry right now does not make economic sense. Apparently, right now, it costs more to generate power than what Nigerians are paying for it. Which investor will want to invest in a project where your cost is more than your income? So if Fashola is really serious about attracting local and foreign investors into the sector, the price has to be first adjusted. He can’t do it after the investment. IT HAS TO BE BEFORE the power generation since you need the investment to create the generation. 2. DISCOS Can’t PERFORM UNDER CURRENT PRICING STRUCTURE - My investigation also showed that most of the people who obtained disco licenses and other power licenses not could not live up to it because they could not attract financial investors. As our power is currently priced, no foreign or local bank was going to give them money to invest in an industry where the business economic does not make sense. As long as your cost is more than your income, it does not matter how much you sell. The more you sell, the more you lose. Seriously, if you were a banker, would you lend money to a businessman who tells you he would be making less than he spends? It is economic reality. The cash flow has to make sense to the Lender or investor. Right now at the current pricing, it simply does not make sense and Minister Fashola has no choice but to bite the bullet and ask for price increase to make the economies of that industry attractive. I am for alleviating the sufferings of the masses but on this one it looks like we really need to be more sympathetic to the problems in that sector and what Fashola had to deal with. 4. CARRY-OVER PRIVATION MESS FROM THE GEJ ADMINISTRATION – Again, I have been on record as saying the Buhari administration cannot keep blaming the GEJ administration for the problem it inherited and it needs to start solving the problems now, whatever it takes. As strange as it sounds, I am persuaded that increasing the present tariff regime is the only way to solve the mess inherited by Fashola and Buhari on the Power sector. From presentations made by stakeholders to GEJ even at the time of privatization, it was made clear to him that the current prices NEEDED TO BE RAISED if the new licenses would be expected to become profitable and deliver. However, because of the looming elections, Jonathan apparently convinced the discos to accept a pricing structure that does not make sense on the promise of providing them with Subsidy for a while, until after the elections, when he can then announce new rates. Of course most of the licenses who only planned to resell the licenses to foreign investors anyway were happy with the subsidy promise, and were waiting for his re-election which never came. Before they knew it, a new Sherriff is in town and they were stranded with licenses to deliver power at a rate that is less than their costs. The foreign investors they planned to sell the licenses to and make a quick profit also took one look at our price regime and closed their wallets. So to really turn this thing around the federal government needs to recognize reality, and increase the tariffs to allow the operators operate profitably. 5. TERMINATE LICENSEES OF NON-PERFORMING DISCOS? It has been suggested that licenses of non-performing discos should be revoked, particularly since they promised to inject massive capital into the industry. However, it is my considered opinion that that move will not solve the problem. Those new people we give the licensees to will still need a financially sound tariff structure to deliver. So, either way, we really need to adjust this tariff to a level that is economically sustainable for the discos and other investors. 6. LACK OF METERING BEFORE HIKE? I also used to think that the least the minister can do is to insist that the discos cannot charge the new price tariff until they have supplied needed meters to all customers. Again, while this makes sense, it begs the question again. You still need the investment to be able to buy the meters and give everybody. Meters really should be given to customers for free as part of the investment since they would be collecting money on it forever. However, investors have to see the clear path to their profitability before embarking on such a large scale expensive distribution of meters. It would be worse if they distributed meters and there is no power to give the customer. Then they would have lost both ways. We need the price hike to give confidence for fresh inflow of investment to generate, transmit and distribute our power. I will personally encourage Nigerians to look at this stuff less emotionally and look at the reality on ground. We may need to make very hard choices today in order to have a better tomorrow. Moreover, I think there is no better time to take the plunge for a better tomorrow than now that we have a financially disciplined government and a leader who will ensure corruption among the government functionaries is minimized so that we can reap the benefits of our sacrifice. I say let’s give Fashola a Chance. So #ISupportNewPowerTariff. Pls like, comment and share with your friends. http://hardtalknaija.com/why-fashola-increased-electricity-tariff/

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RANT OF A BUHARIST ON THE CURRENCY EXCHANGE WOES: IT IS TIME FOR THE BUHARI GOVT TO OWN THE PROBLEM ...and EMEFIELE MUST GO IS THE STARTING POINT! - Dr Ope Banwo I am sitting down here in front of my computer, thinking about the insanity in our currency exchange, and just want to yell at somebody about the economy and the fluctuating Naira against the dollar!! As an increasingly bewildered Buharist, I feel like ranting this morning! WE DEFINITELY CAN DO BETTER THAN WHAT WE ARE DOING! Whether we like it or not, the time has come for the Buhari administration and by extension, Unrepentant Buharists like myself, to accept responsibility, for this mess of an economy. We must with love, but unsentimental analysis, urge this Government to take the bull by the horns and SOLVE this intractable naira exchange rate valuation that keeps going up and down like an ijebu waist bracelet (ileke idi. lol). No matter how Buharists like me would like to see it, the FACT of the matter is that we have gone from N150 - N1 at the time GEJ handed over power to over N300 - N1 in 6 months. THATS a 100% HIKE IN EXCHANGE RATE!! Now, I may even agree that with the mind-boggling corruption in the last administration and tumbling oil prices, we are lucky it is not even N1,000 - N1 by now, but what I won’t agree with is that the INSTABILITY is inevitable as well. Lack of stability at whatever realistic rate it is supposed to be is something our government should control with courage. One thing is sure: WE Can’t KEEP TAKING INCONSISTENT, SHORT-TERM DECISION AND THEN EXPECT LONG TERM STABILITY. We keep CHANGING POLICIES every week like we didn’t think before announcing them, and I can no longer keep quiet. WE NEED A COMPLETE OVERHAULING OF THE ECONOMIC TEAM AND SUPPORTING MDAs and V-P Osinbajo needs to start biting real hard at incompetent people around our economic structures and I don’t want to hear any whining about all the problems they inherited. NOBODY FORCED THEM TO CONTEST. THEY DID AND WE SUPPORTED THEM. So, let’s get going and stop looking back! The bitter truth for us Buharists is that, as useless as GEJ government may have been, we can’t keep blaming him forever. WE, THE CHANGE ACTIVISTS AND BUHARI PERSONALLY, OWN THIS PROBLEM NOW. WE CAMPAIGNED TO CHANGE G.E.J AND NOW THAT WE HAVE, WE OWN THE MESS AND WE BETTER START SOLVING IT OR WE OURSELVES WILL SOON BE CHANGED!! Nigeria is more important than any government or Personality Party or Political persuasion. Good intentions are no longer enough. We need consistent and COMPETENT actions. For instance, WHY EMEFIELE STILL HAS A JOB IS BEYOND ME. This is nothing about partisan politics (believe it or not, I am NOT really partisan). It is about ACCOUNTABILITY. He is the guy on the hot seat and he needs to be fried and we bring in a new thinker with a different mindset. This is the era of accountability. It does not matter if it was not his fault. Things are not going right in his area of responsibility and he should be the first casualty. This is how you make leaders own problems in their departments instead of pointing fingers. Common sense tells me, it is impossible to suddenly expect Emefiele to go from being a 'Yes Man' to any government memo on looting our treasury under GEJ administration, to someone who can dispassionately find solutions to our currency problems. I am sure he is a very intelligent man but he is NOT the man for this season. He belongs in the past that we are trying to break away from and has no business being the CBN Governor of a Govt of change.... With utmost respect to the decision makers this government, it is a fact that WE CANNOT SOLVE TODAY’S PROBLEMS WITH YESTERDAY’S THINKING and it is really too much to expect some of the people who created the problems to be left in charge of trying to solve it with an open mind. Self-preservation is one of the strongest instincts of man, and this instinct is particularly more pronounced among bureaucrats who will keep defending their past actions to the death, rather than admit they failed. Expecting officers in the past government to forget that is wishful thinking and bad leadership. Top functionaries in that Govt MUST GO in order for us to have clear thinking for solving the problems. The speed of change of direction in our economic and currency policies is DIZZYING. yesterday, we had a policy of 'NO DEPOSIT' in domiciliary accounts, today banks are begging us to come and deposit in the same Dom accounts. Today, we can’t charge more than $500 on our bank cards abroad, tomorrow you can charge anything. Yesterday, no more C.O.T of current account transactions, today banks can charge N1 per N1,000. what is wrong with us!!!!!! THIS YO-YO DANCE WITH FAR REACHING ECONOMIC POLICIES MUST STOP! I am sure the V-P is a nice guy but the time has come to start kicking some serious butts. I have no doubt that Prof Osinbajo has enough intellectual capacity and he is savvy enough to deal with this mess if only he can find the heart to be brutal about it. In my mind, Competence is not the issue for our V-P, but rather I believe it is an issue of showing ruthless Will Power to make things happen. If Emefiele is out of his depth, let them go find a tough unemotional guy who will take a look at the problem and solve the thing while he then keeps quiet and let his political bosses battle the political fallouts. This is not time for politics. Soludo may be flawed, but he took BALLSY ACTIONS that actually saved our banking industry. Forget the rest of the bullshit later. He came, he saw problems and started swinging. We need another Soludo with the CHANGE MINDSET that fits into the current agenda Yes, guys, its time even die hard Buharists like myself start calling out our government to get its act together and FIX this damn thing. We need our PRACTICAL ECONOMISTS to get their act together and come up with winning solutions to this nonsense. We can’t blame GEJ forever. We OWN this problem now and it is time WE (and by 'we' I am not talking APC. I am NOT APC. I am talking about those of Nigerians (regardless of party preference) who fought for CHANGE and who are big believers in the integrity and commitment of Muhammadu Buhari to restore our country back to glory), need to do better in the management of this economy, particularly the exchange rate. For the record, people should understand that it really does NOT matter what your currency is exchanging for. What really matter is the STABILITY OF THAT CURRENCY. Right now, our currency is as stable as a leaking canoe in a rain storm. WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING!!! We need to go beyond blaming the recklessness of the last administration (yeah, from the Dasuki-gate scandal alone, it is clear they were reckless, and most of them should be jailed even without bail!), but that does not solve our problems. We need to grow taller than dealing with past corruption and start working towards a glorious future. Right now, with all honesty, I am NOT feeling our economic team in this Change Government o. We need CLEAR AND CONSISTENT POLICY ON IMPORTATION (if we need to BAN ALL NON-ESSENTIAL GOODS. THEN DO IT AND FACE THE BACKLASH. It will blow over.) It is CLEAR that with our falling income from Oil, we need SOMETHING DRASTIC to curtail our forex spending. We don’t need to sugar coat it. We simply need to come out with COMPREHENSIVE LIST AND POLICY on what we want to ban. When we ban stuff that could be produced here, there will be a lot of shouting but We will be forced to live with rice from abakliki; and we will be forced to make our own cement right here in Nigeria or go back to mud houses; we will be forced to start wearing adire again and patronize our local tailors. We will be forced to rediscover being NIGERIAN. SLOGANS WONT DO IT. ACTION IS WHAT WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN. Note: Please FEEL FREE to discuss and comment on this RANT. You are free to agree, disagree, or simply write your own rant. BUT what you cannot do is be ABUSIVE OR PARTISAN WITHOUT OBJECTIVITY. I am also not interested in your self-serving ‘I-TOLD-YOU-SO’ – Regardless of my continuing criticism of Buhari, I am still a FUNDAMENTAL BELIEVER IN SAI BABA AND WHAT HE STANDS FOR, so save your ‘I-Told-You-so’ nonsense. Instead, Talk to me about the WAY OUT AND SOLUTIONS. We are in a serious mess as country. WE NEED THINKERS AND CONSTRUCTIVE IDEAS NOW. Elections have come and gone. So, no more partisan nonsense on my wall or you will be deleted without notice. STATE YOUR POINT RESPECTFULLY….and let’s put our country back on track together -PDP, APC, SDP, GREEN PART, NO PARTY... WHATEVER. Nigeria belongs to ALL of us.

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BUDGET-GATE TRAGI-COMEDY - SOME POINTED QUESTIONS FOR SENATOR SARAKI TO ANSWER- With the latest public statement from Senator Saraki on his social media handle, claiming that 'they found out there were 2 different copies of the buget and they sent it back to the Presidency to clarify; this scandal has just gone from being funny to something that can be seen as a criminal deception of the public. As a big supporter of the Change Revolution led by GMB, and a confirmed Buharist, I am honestly disappointed in this turn of events and I have some questions for the Senate President who all of a sudden has shifted base from laughing at journalists, to 'we are investigating', to 'no budget is missing', to NOW wher he is saying: "we found out there were 2 versions and returned the 2 versions back to president to which is real' If this were not so serious, I would be laughing but this is just TOOO MUCH from the legislature of Government of Change..... 1. How can there be 2 Versions of the SAME BUDGET when the PRESIDENT PERSONALLY DELIVERED A COPY HIMSELF? 2. IF THE President PERSONALLY delivered budget on National TV, WHY WERE THEY ACCEPTING ANY OTHER COPIES FROM anyone else? 3. WHO WAS KEEPING THE ORIGINAL COPIES THE PRESIDENT BROUGHT TO THE N.A.S.S.? 4. When did the Senate President find out there were 2 copies and didnt inform the public or the senate? or did he inform them and they all entered into a conspiracy of silence? More importantly WHEN DID HE RETURN THE 2 BUDGETS TO PRESIDENCY? Is it BEFORE the 'missing' story went viral (AND HE DIDNT TELL US? ) or AFTER it went viral (in which case again why not tell us? 5. IS THE PRESIDENCY OR PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESMAN AWARE THAT Saraki sent back the 2 allegedly different copies and then DENY KNOWING ANYTHING ABOUT THE MISSING BUDGET ON TV? Heavens Forbid!! This is a bungle of mythical proportions and Saraki and whoever is involved in deceiving Nigerians and making ASSES of the whole of Nigeria must be brought to book......THIS CANNOT BE OVERLOOKED AS BUSINESS AS USUAL....WE WILL STAY ON THIS THING..

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MISSING BUDGET UPDATE - TRAGI-COMEDY OF THE ABSURD CONTINUES..... Now Bukola Saraki just twitted "The budget was never missing. While the President submitted one, the Special Adviser presented another one. Hence reason for investigation" Another tweet from Bukola Saraki, Senate President : We came to a resolution that Since we have 2 versions of the #2016Budget we will only accept the one presented by NGRPresident CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE ASK THIS MAN WHEN DID HE DISCOVER THERE WERE 2 VERSIONS? AND WHY DID HE NOT SAY THAT WHEN QUERIED? This is really a tragi-comedy of amazing proportions. Now the senate is basically saying Nigerians were idiots!!!

HardTalk Naija

BREAKING NEWS ON BUDGET-GATE- THE SENATE CONFIRMS THAT THE 2016 BUDGET IS INDEED MISSING! so, those blindly pro govt apologists who have been claiming that we were being ridiculous for believing such a crazy thing could happen had better start apologizing now - [I am defintiely pro-government but I am not blind when something smells! ] and it appears that Saraki wants to continue this shameful cover up by refusing the matter to go to floor debate when the issue was raised by a senator. Is this change government derailing? Is Saraki a saboteur? Or heaven forbid, could the president be aware of it all? Ha ha ha this thing that started out as a joke is about to take very sinister dimensions o and we won't support any cover up, Buharist or no Buharist http://theeagleonline.com.ng/senate-confirms-2016-budget-missing/

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3 QUESTIONS ARISING FROM NASS BUDGET-GATE - Now the some people are all over telling us no budget is missing, and that they are surprised that any of us would even believe that rubbish. Fair enough. The matter is indeed ridiculous. However, it is even more ridiculous for anyone to suggest those of us talking about it are the stupid ones... there is no smoke without fire.... So now i have some questions for the people trying to ridicule Nigerians who are upset at this development: #1. Why is it that a Nass session to DEBATE the budget was scheduled for this morning, YET, no Senator present had a copy of the budget to be debated with them? Is this not ridiculous when we all heard that the president delivered 100s of copies to them over a week ago? #2. The budget-gate apologists are pointing to the fact that Saraki the Senate president expressed surprise and claimed nothing was missing. YET, in all his denials he did NOT produce a copy of the budget to put th lie to the rumour. Yet, hundreds of copies were delivered to him and the senate? #3. With all this claim that nIgerians, MYSELF INCLUSIVE, are taking this rumour serious, how come NOBODY, NO SENATOR OR REP has been able to raise up one copy of this budgt and laugh it off. The budget as delivered in 100s of copies. By senate rules the senators were uspposed ot have copies of what was to be debated DAYS before the debate.... yet nobody has shown us anything.... So, my point is, I take very serious umbrage at ANYONE, whether APC or Presidency, saying it was unreasonable for Nigerians to be debating this issue. The NASS Leadership is claiming nothing is missing, yet they cant produce it. We fought for CHANGE to end this kind of shenanigans by our government, including the Saraki led Legisture, and i want to go on record, even as an unrepentant Buharist, that I VERY DISAPPOINTED with the National Assembly for tihs childish game they are playing with NIgerians. For the record too, I have NO problems with Buhari and the Executive since they delivered these documents and have told everyone they have not recalled them and Nass also agreed the documents were not recalled. SO HOW COME OUR REPRESENTATIVE SENATORS DO NOT HAVE COPIES AS AT THE TIME DEBATE WAS TO START ON TH 2016 BUDGET #WhereIsTheDamnBudget