RE:LAGOS GOVERNOR LAMBASTS JONATHAN,PDP Over Comment

Comment from: Bello, Suraj 

Fashola forget Jonathan, he is not a statesman. Do you know that he denied ever making such statement? Remember the 1st October bombing which MEND claimed responsibility? He insists it was the northerners that did it.

Comment from: Corriib

I do not think it's any issue that such a statement has been made by a PDP president. That unemployment is on the rise and that we're gradually having to face our own share of terrorism is not enough to cause him some worry. When people blindly cling to the reins of power, you shouldn't expect them to see the plank in their own eyes before they find the speck in their neighbour's.

Comment from: AMODU DAVID

I wonder why my two political God father (those i respect the most in politics) should engage them selves as gladiators, pls. Mr. governor, what ever the statement may be learn to show your leader some respect, we, i mean Nigerians knows quite well how the progressive change the face of the south-west on infrastructure and the free education, Mr. President like you is a good listener and a good leader, please lest take the nation to places. God bless Nigeria.

Comment from: HINDU

Fashola pls. come out and contest for the presidential seat.I personally urge you to go for it. We want someone like you with a vision and determination.

Comment from: AMODU DAVID  

The only true power in the world is spiritual. We can change the hearts of men, because what they are looking for is something that no one can give them. No matter what you do for them, they’d never be satisfied. And that is why we must preach the gospel very quickly. We must let our lights burn and shine so bright in 2011 that men may see the glory of God in us because we are the only ones that have the power to change the hearts of men. We are the light of the world!
Comment from: BANEGO PETER. O

Jonathan calling the ACN Governors rascals is indeed not a welcome idea. As a president of a country like Nigeria, he should endeavour to make choice of proper & appropriate words before voicing them out. What goes out of a man can make or mar him. However, Fashola should also know that irrespective of the statement made by the president, that he still owe him ( Jonathan) due respect as his president. Fashola has over-reacted. He should apologise to the president while the president should in future be conscious of the choice of languages he uses.

Comment from: AHMED

I´m sure, the president must have regretted his utterances. Don’t, get vex  Fashola, we hope to see you on that seat in Abuja soon. You have proved , not only to the Lagosians but to the whole Nigerians that you can make a good and hard working president in Nigeria. Don’t mind what they say or do , you are the best among equals.

Comment from: Joshua Ojo

A lot of people have commented about the utterances of the President at his campaign rally at Ibadan. It is a shame the President has lost the little respect I have for him as a loyal deputy to all his former bosses. Now that he is fully baptised by the arrogance of the PDP, Nigerians should not expect anything better than what is happening in all states ruled by PDP governors if Nigerians do allow them to win any election through their usual rigging again. The power of the tongue cannot be over emphasized. It can build and destroy. I will refer the President to the book of Proverbs and see what it says about the power of the tongue. The President has said things that cannot be retrieved. Let him know that Luck runs out.

Comment from: Tunde Ladigbolu

It is unpresidential to call your former contemporaries rascals irrespective of what they have done.

Comment from: Chyke Nzube

Na wah for this president. I don't think this man is capable of leading this country to any where. He behaves like a baby that is still being spoon-fed by his mother. The best option left for Nigerians now is to use our votes to remove him from that office which he does not know the importance else one day he will sell Nigeria by his unbridled tongue.

Comment from: Daniel - USA

Governor Babatunde Fashiola in my own opinion is a god. I am personally apologizing to you for such a reckless characterisation by someone who is supposed to be at the mantle of reform.
For a single person who single handedly is transforming the swamps of the environment of Lagos into domicilable domains and to be characterized amongst rascals, is quite thought provoking.
Governor, remember this is a guy who does not know how he first of all became a vice president then, and now being manipulated into becoming a president. Among all those office how many of them did he come out and established himself for? Some hidden, and latent demi-goD thieves spoke for him and place him where he is at. Just a happy go lucky guy sailing to the top of a stupendously rich nation like our Nigeria. A rich domain, sitting duck to be pilfered by these modern day thieves called leaders.
They got offended when a God sent human like Babatunde Fashiola, the great came on stage. They have to offend you with silly comments like rascals. Who is a rascal amongst us? The great Governor or the radical thieves?
Mr. Governor, God, Allah, Chineke, Oluwa, any and all gods protect you, and the people line up in supporting you. Let me say this to you, you are our Marcus Garvey, our Martin Luther King Jr., you are our Mathmaha Ghandi, our Malcom X, so give them (so called….and PDP) if they try to question your able and magical transformation of Lagos. What they like is State like Abia State that is fast becoming a swamp. Have you been to Abia, Governor? Abia is now a mountain of refuse.
Mr Presidents and PDPs, and the other…………, remember Egypt? You guys must leave Governor Fashola alone, instead go and  see what this super Governor is doing in Lagos and try duplicating his work on a national level. This kind of action will help begin to heal the wounds of the nation but you rather call him names. I bet you Egypt will visit you soon.

Comment from: Zara Hawer

The statement is taken out of proportion. It is not necessary
to criticize Good Luck as if he committed a crime
It is only in Nigeria would such remark become an offence
I have seen David Cameron reduce Gordon Brown to a little
rat when he was leader of opposition, Gordon Brown brushed it
off because it is politic. Political language should never be taken
as personal attack

Comment from: OLORUNWA

It has been noted that, president Goodluck has never done something good since he was sworn in as the president of Nigeria.He lack so many things and he is not worthy to be the President of Nigeria. Nigeria as a country need a president that could provide for their needs and wants, in terms of infrastructural facilities, electricity and many other amenities that are beneficiary to people. Goodluck can never compare his work with Lagos state governor...if Fashola were to be the president of this country Nigeria, I believe strongly that Nigeria and people of Nigeria will enjoy so many things and the country will drastically become good, in all aspect of life. Fashola is doing good and fine, infact, here I was in eastern part of Nigeria, the very day I step my foot in Lagos, my home state. I give kudos for Governor Raji Fashola. He had transformed the whole of Lagos State. that is what we need in Nigeria not talking like a child in presidency. Think well and act wise.......Eko o ni baje ooo

EFCC Arraigns Former Ecobank Manager Over N200m Fraud

Henry Orosanye, the suspect

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has arraigned one Mr Henry Oronsanye before a Lagos High Court in Igbosere, on a 102 count charge bordering on fraud, diversion of funds and stealing  the sum of 200 million naira,  contrary to Section 390 sub (7) of the Criminal Code Cap c 17 Laws of Lagos State 2003.

Oronsanye , a former staff of the EGC Securities Limited, a subsidiary of Ecobank Plc,  is alleged to have sometime in 2008 while he was the officer in charge of posting of funds to shareholders’ accounts at EGC defrauded the bank to the tune of N200 million. 

The accused  was first arrested in 2008 following a petition by the bank and had been enjoying administrative bail until his arraignment today. Following his arrest, investigations reveal that Oronsanye had been involved in “dry posting”, which is the jargon for the fraudulent act of creating fictitious figures and post them as funds into shareholders’ accounts after which the money is diverted to private use.

He sustained this nefarious practice for almost a year before the bank noticed and raised a query. He was confronted with the facts but denied, claiming the postings were genuine. Further queries from the bank however discovered the fraud and hence the petition. Oronsanye  was however  re- arrested on January 7^, 2011 after the EFCC preferred charges against him at the Lagos State High Court, Igbosere.

One of the charges read: ‘‘that you Henry Oronsanye on or about the 19^th of May,2008 while being the Financial Controller of EGC Securities Ltd., a subsidiary of EcoBank Plc in Lagos within the Lagos State Judicial Council with the intent to defraud stole the sum of 4,957,000 naira.’’

After the charges were read to him, the accused pleaded not guilty. His counsel, Osahon Ihenyen immediately urged the court to grant his client bail.

He argued that  the accused has a right to bail and assured the court that his client  will make himself available whenever the matter comes up for hearing.

Story&Photo-EFCC

LAGOS GOVERNOR LAMBAST JONATHAN,PDP OVER COMMENT

*Fashola says PDP Federal Government 

 Bereft of Ideas, Lack Planning

By Lateef Lawal 

The Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) controlled Federal Government has been described as an administration bereft of ideas and planning to develop the country and move it to greater heights.

This was how the Governor of Lagos State,Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola responded to the statement of the President,Goodluck Jonathan during the flag off of his party’s campaign in Ibadan, Oyo State early in the week where he referred to opposition controlled Sate Governors in the Southwest as ‘Rascals’.

Speaking with journalists yesterday on his return from Abuja., Fashola noted that the statement by the president was unbecoming of the person of Jonathan who was presently occupying the exalted office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He told the president to channel his energy toward addressing the infrastructural decay that dotted the country’s landscape such as bad roads instead of engaging in cheap diatribe and name calling  which was unbefitting of the exalted office of the President.

Expatiating on his challenge to President Jonathan, Governor Fashola asked the president to  come to Lagos and see lots of abandoned  Federal roads adding that if  governors qualify as " Rascals" ,  Jonathan himself is a ' president of rascals'.

Fashola went on: "I think that I am happy that you have put the remark in its very appropriate perspective. The office of the President  of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a very high office and I do not think that that kind of language coming from the PDP presidential candidate is unpresidential.

And it is interesting that these remarks are being made from outside Lagos, so I hope that when they come here they would be able to call us rascals again. And if we are rascals it means that some of the other governors he has been presiding over are in a republic of rascals’.

He added: ’But I leave him to decide his own choice of words. Why should they be worried about our success in Lagos? If it(our success) gives them sleepless night and it makes them uncomfortable, I make no apologies, that is why I am in government, to succeed  here, to improve the quality of lives of people as best as I can.’ 

Governor Fashola pondered:, ‘Look. This  party, PDP ,  has spent 12 years trying to provide electricity. We have provided  three  major electricity plants in Lagos, the next one will be completed in a few weeks. And clearly therefore they are deficient in ideas , they are deficient  in planning. They spent four  years trying to build 400 meters bridge in Ota, Ogun State and on the day that they finally came to open  that bridge instead of apologizing to the people Lagosians, they inundated us again, they were fighting themselves about who will cut the tape." 

Said Fashola : " Meanwhile the road that leads to the bridge is not completed. We built Okota  link bridge in 18 months. It is longer  than that bridge in which they were fighting. So, that is what we expect them to come and talk about. Apapa- Oshodi-Oworoshoki Express Road is their  road, is potholes ridden. The road to the biggest airport to this country is a national embarrassment.

“ We cleared Oshodi, asking them to finish their roads so that Nigerians can even begin to change our image to foreigners who come here. These are the issues that we expect them to come and address our voters about. We are waiting for them.’ 

‘But Lagosians will have to  be determined  to see clearly the pattern of the candidacy of the PDP candidates who seek to continue to lead this country into poverty, into inefficiency, into insecurity.  But having said that I think that I  have asked myself whether the president is more concerned about who is governor of Lagos or about becoming president.

The governor continued,:’I think that if the PDP wants to swap candidates for the governor of Lagos I will be ready to face him because his candidate is not talking about what he wants to do in Lagos. And I will leave our own presidential candidate on issues that are germane to Nigerians. 

Why the federal roads in Lagos have not been fixed? Why  Lagosians do not have electricity? Why Lagosians have to bear the cost of their own security in spite of the enormous votes every year in the federal budget? 

‘These are the issues that concern Lagosians and those are the issues about which their votes will be deployed.  Lagos voters will not vote on the basis of luck. I did not win this office on the basis of luck, it was won on the basis of very clear manifesto of the ACN, very clear ideas about how to propel this economy, very hard work that we have done since 1999 as a people, progressives who have shown our common touch with the people." 

He further said : "  Elections will not be won by resulting to derogatory  language and by claiming luck, elections require those who seek elective offices to focus on the people over who they plan to exercise authority and to communicate to them in a very clear and practical manner how they intend to improve thier lot. I think that the PDP led federal government has a lot of questions to answer in Lagos."

On the controversial elevation of the president of the Court of Appeal into the Supreme Court, Fashola said : " Seriously, I don’t have all of the facts, and you know that until I have the facts it is dangerous to make conclusions, more importantly I think I read somewhere that there is now a court action so I more than anybody should respect and not make the work of the court difficult in this matter. Except of course to say on a general basis that I know as a fact that the president of the court of appeal has opted on occasion not to be elevated to the supreme court, he made that choice. And therefore many of his colleagues some of whom were his juniors have been elevated to that place. And it is common knowledge in our profession that if we were colleagues or classmates on the day that I get appointed to the court even if I were your junior, on the day I get appointed to a court and you come after me, you become my junior in that court.

‘ So, if his colleagues and juniors have gone to the Supreme Court ahead of him and we are promoting him, is there a real promotion there? Because he is going to take a queue behind them. If it is a promotion, is that a real promotion to go and queue up behind those you presided over? " 

Attack of the Drones

Unmanned aircraft are now a vital tool in war zones, but our skies could soon be buzzing with spy planes that feed information back to the police – and even the paparazzi

There is a second-and-a-half delay between the RAF operator pressing his button and the Hellfire rocket erupting from the aircraft he is controlling, circling in the sky above Afghanistan.

That's a long time in modern warfare, but the plane is an unmanned "drone" and its two-strong crew are 8,000 miles away at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada. Right now, the Reaper is being commanded from a console with twin video screens shaped to resemble a plane's cockpit.

The UK has five Reapers like this one operating in Afghanistan. With a wingspan of 66ft, they are 36ft long, reach a top speed of 250 knots and usually carry four Hellfire rockets and two laser-guided bombs. These Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) – which rely on fibre optic cables, European "upstations" and satellite links – are part of an international trend towards remote combat. RAF-controlled Reapers used their weapons in Afghanistan 123 times in the first 10 months of 2010.

British forces are also using smaller drones, such as Lockheed Martin's hand-launched Desert Hawk. The lightweight surveillance aircraft is flown by Royal Artillery controllers to provide army patrols with "over the hill" vision for improved reconaissance. Last summer the Ministry of Defence ordered £3m worth of an enhanced version that will give troops in Afghanistan "greater situational awareness" and upgraded "target acquisition" capabilities. On the US side, there were more than 100 CIA-led drone strikes in Pakistan last year and the Pentagon is about to deploy its intimidatingly named Gorgon Stare airborne surveillance system, a multi-image video device for tracking suspects across large areas.

But interest in UAVs is not limited to the military. Advances in remote control, digital imagery and miniaturised circuitry mean the skies might one day be full of commercial and security drones.

They're already being used by the UK police, with microdrones deployed to monitor the V festival in Staffordshire in 2007. Fire brigades send similar machines to hover above major blazes, feeding images back to their control rooms. And civilian spin-offs include cheaper aerial photography, airborne border patrols and safety inspections of high-rise buildings.

Despite this development, not everyone, even within the miltary, thinks that drones will eventually replace all other planes. Wing Commander Christopher Thirtle is responsible for the RAF's strategy on remotely piloted air systems (RPAS) — the term preferred in air force circles.

"Reapers will not replace Tornados. Human beings bring flexibility like no computers," he told an audience at the Royal Society in London.

It may be just as well: there has been international criticism because a significant number of those killed in drone attacks have been reported to be innocent tribesmen misidentified as al-Qaida leaders, or villagers caught up in targeted explosions.

But Thirtle insists the RAF is bound by international laws governing armed conflict – specifically the principle of attacks being discriminate and proportionate. "We have a targeting directive which sets down who are combatants and sets out rules on how we can engage [them]."

A ground pilot's extreme distance does not necessarily result in greater collateral damage, he argues. Aircrews in Kosovo conducted bombardments from 22,000ft. "If I was asked where I make the best decisions about people on the ground, then my clarity of thought is much more conducive at a ground control station [without] a 10lb flying helmet on my head."

Accustomed to the 20th-century gadgetry of cruise missiles, CCTV, satellite phones and radio-controlled model aeroplanes, technical experts and peace campaigners have only belatedly become alarmed by the combination of such capabilities.

The International Committee for Robot Arms Control (Icrac), founded in Britain in 2009, marked the beginning of a global – if small-scale – protest movement. The organisation held its first workshop in Berlin last summer and called for a ban on the "further development of armed autonomous robots", limits on numbers operated by any state and restrictions on the use of armed drones for "targeted killings in sovereign territories not at war".

Even the UN human rights special rapporteur, Philip Alston, has warned that US drone killings may violate international law. He has called on the US to explain the legal basis for its attacks. Others have taken direct action: peace protesters recently breached the gates of the Creech base – 14 of them were arrested for invading the site. Kathy Kelly, their spokeswoman, said: "We protested because . . . the US is, at an alarming rate, moving into robotic warfare, kind of a mission creep, that could lead us into perpetual war."

Opponents of drones fear they will lower the threshold for wars to start in places such as Yemen and Somalia, where the US is not involved in any formal conflict. Yemen was the site of one of the earliest CIA-co-ordinated Predator drone attacks on al-Qaida targets as early as 2002. There have been further drone strikes there since the failed Christmas Day attack on a transatlantic airliner. A fresh onslaught, it is suspected, is being planned in the wake of the recent Yemeni-based plot to destroy cargo planes.

Noel Sharkey, professor of robotics and artificial intelligence at Sheffield University, told the Royal Society meeting there are credible estimates that one in three casualties from drone attacks is a civilian. His chief anxiety is the development of "autonomous targeting", where unmanned planes are engineered to lock automatically onto what their onboard computers identify as the enemy. The military are keen on this because it would no longer have to worry about radio signals being jammed.

"There's a really big drive to get autonomy," he says. Manufacturers are even working on "swarms" of vehicles that can co-operate. "The big problem is there's no system capable of consistently distinguishing [between] targets. The Pentagon is funding research labs and saying these things can 'think': that's strong anthropomorphic language."

However, Thirtle is adamant we will never reach a Terminator-style situation where robots run out of control. "There will be an enduring need for a man in the [control] loop for the foreseeable future," he maintains.

The Oxford-based Fellowship of Reconciliation is "seriously concerned" the UK might be sanctioning a culture of "convenient killing . . . Our core concern is with 'PlayStation warfare', where the geographical and psychological distance between operator and target lowers the threshold for launching an attack."

Thirtle dismisses the accusation. "The people doing this are adults," he said. "They understand flying and the effects they are having on the ground. They are not remote. One pilot told me he had never felt more connected to the ground than in flying a Reaper."

But Steve Graham, professor of cities and society at Newcastle University, who studies urban battle grounds, warns that the US military's "technophilia" and "fantasies of omnipotence" blur the distinction between surveillance and killing. As he puts it in his book Cities Under Siege: "The possibility of deploying swarms of armed and unarmed robots to loiter persistently across regions of the world deemed trouble spots is clearly a good fit with the Pentagon's latest thinking surrounding the long war."

The growing popularity of UAVs can also be witnessed in the UK's congested skies. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has conducted two safety inquiries, the first of their kind involving UAVs, into the use of drones over Salisbury Plain following reports of near-collisions with helicopters. (It concluded that the ground operator avoided a risk of collision.)

Border patrols present a further opportunity for deployment. The US Customs and Border Protection Agency has announced that it is patrolling all 2,000 miles of the Mexican border with Predator drones equipped with night vision cameras. Frontex, the European border agency, has held a drone demonstration conference in Bulgaria, while the UK Border Agency says: "[We] do not rule out the use of drones in the future if they can be shown to provide a value for money increase in our border security."

At least four police forces – Essex, Merseyside, Staffordshire and the British Transport police – have bought or used microdrones. Last summer the Serious Organised Crime Agency published a tender notice requesting information on "a fully serviced, airborne, surveillance-ready platform for covert observation" provided by either drones or manned aircraft. And several fire brigades – including West Midlands and South Wales – regularly send up drones to check on the spread of blazes.

Commercial distributors and manufacturers are convinced drones will gradually displace expensive manned aircraft and expand into even more areas. Aviation experts already envisage a time when unmanned cargo planes, fitted with collision-avoidance detectors, circle the world.

Given this progress, it cannot be long before news organisations exploit microdrones to obtain picture exclusives: imagine aerial races between Hello! and OK! magazines. Last autumn a US academic claimed he was developing a "paparazzi drone". Ken Rinaldo of Ohio State University said it would have a lot of "flash and bling".

"UAVs will, to an extent, replace helicopters," believes Mark Lawrence, director of Air Robot UK. "Our 'air robots' cost £30,000 compared with £10m for a fully equipped modern helicopter. We have even been asked to put weapons on them, but I'm not interested in getting involved in that."

Alistair Fox, commerical director of Air Power Systems, which supplies microdrones to the fire service and the government's Health and Safety Laboratory, claims drones have "all sorts of commercial applications for safety inspections. With thermal imaging and air-sampling devices they could check for cannabis being grown under lamps in roof lofts." Another suggested use is perimeter patrols around prisons.

There are possible uses – drones have already been used for high-altitude research into hurricanes. And Israel lent the Chilean airforce several to inspect damage after the country's earthquake this spring. In Japan, drones are used to cropdust rice fields.

Many of the 70 permissions already granted by the CAA for drones to fly in UK airspace this year are thought to relate to civil engineering surveys or aerial photography companies. But the agency has warned: "In the wrong hands or used irresponsibly in built-up areas, or too close to other people or property, [drones] represent a very real safety risk."

The advent of effective "sense and avoid" systems would transform the technology, the CAA admits, opening up a future where unmanned UAVs could float safely above our heads. The first firm to design an acceptable system could make a fortune.

Part of the CAA's anxiety was due to postings on YouTube showing near–collisons in central London involving microdrones launched for amusement. Some of the latest models can be controlled by iPhones. Permission is now required to fly a drone "within 50 metres of a person, vehicle, vessel or structure" not under the control of the remote operator.

Even without these restrictions, it may be a while before our streets echo to the buzz of unmanned aircraft. John Moreland, general secretary of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Association, the trade body that represents the industry in the UK, suspects that security surveillance at the 2012 Olympics will be conducted from an airship rather than highly mobile drones.

The CAA, he says, is unlikely to allow UAVs to operate so close to large crowds because of "reliability" issues. The east London site, he also points out, is too close to London City Airport.

One airshow enthusiast has nonetheless contacted the Guardian to say he is convinced he spotted a drone passing over the Olympic site. "Its length was about 8ft and its altitude between 300ft and 400ft," he said.

The authorities denied any knowledge of the flight. "The public perception of drones at the moment is that they are a little bit sinister," Moreland adds, "but the technology is becoming more widespread and there are lots of applications. Everyone is feeling their way forward."

Source: guardian.co.uk 

TERRORISM

Abdel Nur Sentenced to 15 Years

*Nur Provided Material Support by Introducing Plotters to Violent Islamic Radical

The Eastern District of New York, U.S has sentenced Abdel Nur to 15 years in prison for providing material support to the conspiracy to attack John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, by exploding fuel tanks and the fuel pipeline under the airport.
Nur believed that the attack would cause extensive damage to the airport and to the New York economy, as well as the loss of numerous lives.
The sentence was announced yesterday by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in New York.
On June 29, 2010, Abdel Nur pled guilty to providing material support to the plot to attack JFK Airport. A federal jury subsequently convicted Abdul Kadir and Russell Defreitas in July 2010 of engaging in the terrorist conspiracy. On December 15, 2010, Kadir was sentenced to life in prison.
The court is scheduled to sentence Defreitas on February 17, 2011. A fourth alleged member of the plot, Kareem Ibrahim, faces trial on the same charges as Defreitas and Kadir.¹
The evidence established that Nur, a citizen of Guyana, provided material support to the plot by attempting to locate al Qaeda explosives expert Adnan Gulshair el Shukrijumah, and by introducing the plotters and presenting the plot to Yasin Abu Bakr, the notorious leader of the Trinidadian militant group Jamaat Al Muslimeen, who had previously engaged in violent terrorist attacks aimed at overthrowing the government of Trinidad and Tobago.
The government's case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Marshall L.Miller, Jason A. Jones, Berit W. Berger, and Zainab Ahmad.

NEW YEAR BONUS: AS FED.,STATES &LGs Share $1bILLION

* From Excess Crude Oil Account

In what could be considered as 'Manna from Heaven', the Economic Confidential magazine gathered how a total sum of $1 billion was shared from Excess Crude Oil Savings Account among the tiers of government on the eve of New Year 2011.

The commissioners of finance from states and their accountants general were suddenly invited to attend an Emergency Meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) on December 31, 2010 were the allocation was shared in a foreign currency, US Dollar. The meeting came about two week after the December Allocation of over N500billions were shared and just about two week to the next meeting in January 2011 for another monthly disbursement.

There are no convincing reasons for the dollarized allocation when the country’s legal tender is Naira. Apart from the constitutional implication of promoting a foreign currency against local legal tenders which could trigger off inflation and turn Naira notes to worthless tissues, the release of the amount few weeks to primaries of political parties in Nigeria called for concern.

At the meeting, it learnt that the governors mounted pressure on the President to release the money so they can "tackle the huge infrastructure deficit" in their states.

The Chairman of the FAAC who is also Finance Minister of State, Hajiya Yabawa Wabi, said the fund was disbursed for beneficiaries to execute capital projects.

From the table of figures obtained by the Economic Confidential, the highest recipients of the dollar rain in the eve of the new year are from the oil producing states with Bayelsa surprisingly leading the pack as it received $47.1mn, followed by Akwa Ibom $43.6mn, Rivers $40.6mn, and Delta $33.0mn. The highest recipients from non-oil –producing states are Kano $20mn, Lagos $15mn and Katsina $15mn

The lowest recipients as revealed in the table below are Ebonyi $8mn, Gombe $8.3mn, Nasarawa $8.3mn, and Ekiti $8.4mn. The Economic Confidential can also confirm other disbursements from this special dollar allocation in December 2010: Federal Government $458mn, and FCT Councils $1.5mn. 

1 S/NO	2 STATES	3 FED. & STATES ALLOCATION	4 TOTAL DERIVATION OIL & GAS	5 TOTAL (3+4)	6 STATE NET	7 LG NET ALLOCATION	8 TOTAL (5+6)	S/NO
		=$=	=$=	=$=	=$=	=$=	=$=
1	ABIA	5,603,018.13	1,302,652.26	6,905,670.39	6,905,670.39	3,737,246.28	10,642,916.67	1
2	ADAMAWA	6,255,041.66	-	6,255,041.66	6,255,041.66	4,809,472.13	11,064,513.79	2
3	AKWA IBOM	6,327,961.33	30,937,340.20	37,265,301.53	37,265,301.53	6,342,726.25	43,608,027.78	3
4	ANAMBRA	6,318,075.08	-	6,318,075.08	6,318,075.08	4,767,638.64	11,085,713.72	4
5	BAUCHI	7,327,842.42	-	7,327,842.42	7,327,842.42	5,514,081.08	12,841,923.50	5
6	BAYELSA	5,018,113.05	40,102,560.81	45,120,673.86	45,120,673.86	2,028,712.70	47,149,386.55	6
7	BENUE	6,754,525.03	-	6,754,525.03	6,754,525.03	5,606,701.11	12,361,226.14	7
8	BORNO	7,452,689.83	-	7,452,689.83	7,452,689.83	6,443,638.97	13,896,328.80	8
9	CROSS RIVER	5,871,901.64	1,095,803.80	6,967,705.44	6,967,705.44	4,004,274.33	10,971,979.77	9
10	DELTA	6,324,209.19	21,438,360.97	27,762,570.16	27,762,570.16	5,292,603.44	33,055,173.60	10
11	EBONYI	5,185,672.11	-	5,185,672.11	5,185,672.11	2,852,773.38	8,038,445.48	11
12	EDO	5,902,555.80	1,277,260.27	7,179,816.07	7,179,816.07	4,007,836.62	11,187,652.69	12
13	EKITI	5,230,829.37	-	5,230,829.37	5,230,829.37	3,260,183.61	8,491,012.98	13
14	ENUGU	5,901,631.39	-	5,901,631.39	5,901,631.39	3,862,697.93	9,764,329.31	14
15	GOMBE	5,517,765.50	-	5,547,765.50	5,547,765.50	2,818,607.94	8,366,373.44	15
16	IMO	6,300,662.47	1,261,327.08	7,561,989.55	7,561,989.55	5,592,903.51	13,154,893.06	16
17	JIGAWA	6,120,711.29	-	6,920,711.29	6,920,711.29	5,867,812.75	12,788,524.04	17
18	KADUNA	7,887,612.99	-	7,887,612.99	7,887,612.99	6,293,616.84	14,181,229.83	18
19	KANO	9,885,629.66	-	9,885,629.66	9,885,629.66	10,328,704.17	20,214,333.83	19
20	KATSINA	7,517,991.79	-	7,517,991.79	7,517,991.79	7,551,386.77	15.069,378.57	20
21	KEBBI	6,288,360.38	-	6,288,360.38	6,288,360.38	4,690,724.45	10,979,084.83	21
22	KOGI	6,272,665.17	-	6,272,665.17	6,272,665.17	4,861,782.19	11,134,447.36	22
23	KWARA	5,716,082.56	-	5,716,082.56	5,716,082.56	3,733,725.35	9,449,807.91	23
24	LAGOS	8,929,906.54	-	8,929,906.54	8,929,906.54	6,273,965.18	15,203,871.72	24
25	NASSARAWA	5,355,681.88	-	5,355,681.88	5,355,681.88	2,987,781.16	8,343,463.04	25
26	NIGER	7,314,722.25	-	7,314,722.25	7,314,722.25	6,054,616.32	13,369,338.58	26
27	OGUN	6,113,363.41	-	6,113,363.41	6,113,363.41	4,480,296.70	10,593,660.11	27
28	ONDO	5,862,791.22	4,178,158.01	10,040,949.23	10,040,949.23	4,135,547.96	14,176,497.19	28
29	OSUN	5,798,203.50	-	5,798,203.50	5,798,203.50	5,636,008.30	11,434,211.80	29
30	OYO	7,305,036.20	-	7,305,036.20	7,305,036.20	7,206,970.48	14,512,006.68	30
31	PLATEAU	6,134,768.73	-	6,134,768.73	6,134,768.73	4,125,364.91	10,260,133.64	31
32	RIVERS	6,858,507.76	28,406,536.60	35,265,044.36	35,265,044.36	5,401,971.04	40,667,015.39	32
33	SOKOTO	6,521,755.54	-	6,521,755.54	6,521,755.54	5,178,330.94	11,700,086.48	33
34	TARABA	6,177,377.31	-	6,177,377.31	6,177,377.31	4,122,044.19	10,299,421.50	34
35	YOBE	6,130,849.01	-	6,130,849.01	6,130,849.01	3,997,377.99	10,128,227.00	35
36	ZAMFARA	6,149,488.81	-	6,149,488.81	6,149,488.81	3,752,825.68	9,902,314.48	36
37	FCT-ABUJA	-	-	0.00	0.00	1,597,048.73	1,597,048.73	37
	SUB TOTAL	232,464,000.00	130,000,000.00	362,464,000.00	362,464,000.00	179,220,000.00	541,684,000.00
40	FGN	458,316,000.00	0.00	458,316,000.00	458,316,000.00		458,316,000.00	40
	GRAND TOTAL	690,780,000.00	130,000,000,000.00	820,780,000.00	820,780,000.00	179,220,000.00	1,000,000,000.00

Source: Economic Confidential