Ijaw Women Besiege Court, Want EFCC to Unfreeze Mrs Jonathan’s Account Davidson Iriekpen Over 100 Ijaw women yesterday besieged the Federal High Court in Lagos to show solidarity with the former first lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, whose suit against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) came up before Justice Babs Kuewumi.
In the suit, Mrs. Jonathan is seeking to unfreeze her accounts. The women stormed the court premises, chanting songs of protest, calling for the former first lady’s accounts to be unfrozen.
The respondents in the suit are the EFCC, Skye Bank Plc, and a former Special Assistant to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Waripama-Owei Dudafa. Also joined in the suit are: Pluto Property and Investment
Company Limited, Seagate Property Development and Investment Company Limited, Transocean Property and Investment Company Limited, and Globus Integrated Service Limited. The former first lady is
demanding the sum of $200 million from the commission as damages for infringing on her rights. She is also urging the court to issue an order discharging the freezing order, and to restrain the EFCC and its
Discos: No Plan to Raise Electricity Tariffs... Page 9
agents from further placing a freezing order on the said accounts. When the case was called yesterday, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo announced his appearance for the EFCC, while Mr. Granville Abibo (SAN) announced his appearance for Mrs. Jonathan. Addressing the court, Continued on page 8
Thursday 27 October, 2016 Vol 21. No 7861. Price: N250
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FG to Spend 61% of External Borrowing on Power, Rail, Other Infrastructure Projects
PDP opposes borrowing plan Three tiers of govt, private sector to fund reconstruction of N’East Buhari renews Kale’s appointment as statistician-general Tobi Soniyi, Ndubuisi Francis and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja Details of the federal government’s $29.96 billion External Borrowing (Rolling) Plan for 2016-2018 have revealed that 61.2 per cent of the foreign loans have been earmarked for bankable infrastructure projects while social programmes in health
and education, the federal government’s budget support facility, agriculture and the Eurobond issue account for the balance. Also, of the $29.96 billion to be borrowed, the federal government will take up 86.3 per cent of total borrowings, or $25.8 billion, while the 36 states of the federation and the Continued on page 8
BREAKDOWN OF $29.96BN EXTERNAL BORROWING PLAN Mambila Hydro-Electric Power Project - $4.8 billion Railway Modernisation Coastal Project (Calabar-Port Harcourt-Onne Deep Seaport segment) - $3.5 billion Abuja Mass Rail Transit Project (Phase 2) – $1.6 billion Lagos-Kano Railway Modernisation Project (LagosIbadan segment double track) - $1.3 billion Lagos-Kano Railway Modernisation Project (KanoKaduna segment double track) - $1.1 billion
Others - $6 billion Eurobond - $4.5 billion FG Budget Support - $3.5 billion Social (Education & Health) - $2.2 billion Agriculture - $1.2 billion Economic Management & Statistics - $200 million FG’s share - $25.8 billion; States - $4.1 billion
...Releases N25bn for Social Intervention Programme Capital expenditure records 50% implementation
Tobi Soniyi in Abuja After several months of touting its social intervention programme, the federal government finally announced yesterday that it had released N25 billion, translating to five per cent of the N500 billion earmarked for the programme
in the 2016 budget. The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this in Abuja while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting Continued on page 8
FG Appeals to Foreign Airlines Not to Suspend Operations... Page 10
NORTH EAST GETS SPECIAL ATTENTION…
President Muhammadu Buhari (right), in a handshake with the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on the North East Initiative (PINE), Lt.-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, while Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo (left) looks on shortly after the inauguration of the committee at the Presidential Villa, Abuja... yesterday godwin omoigui