Jibrin Gives Lawmakers 3 Days To Return Illegal Allowances

Suspended lawmaker, Abdulmumin Jibrin, on Thursday gave his colleagues in the House of Representatives three days to return all questionable allowances they paid themselves.

Mr. Jibrin said any lawmaker who fails to heed his call should be prepared for the backlash that would follow when he publishes details of how such official perpetrated the fraud.

Mr. Jibrin’s statement came a day after he was suspended by the House for 180 legislative days —approximately a full calendar year as the House sits three times a week— after being found guilty of violating House ethics and lawmakers’ privileges.

It also came a month after Mr. Jibrin accused his colleagues of raking in millions in illegal allowances, and after he indicted himself as having received N650 million illegally.

To return their loot, Mr. Jibrin advised his colleagues to individually approach the appropriate authority and make arrangement on how to pay everything back into the federal purse.

“I have written to the Clerk of the National Assembly to stand by in anticipation,” Mr. Jibrin said.  “In the face of the revenue challenges and biting hardship the country is currently facing, there is no better time the country needs such money than now.”

Mr. Jibrin said he resolved to take this action after receiving numerous enquiries from different corners on the need for him to back his allegations against the House leadership and other lawmakers with evidence.

“I have come under intense public scrutiny and pressure to prove that there exists systemic corruption in the House,” Mr. Jibrin said.

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Lost Toddler Survives 3 Days In Siberian Forest Alone

A Russian toddler who went missing in the Siberian taiga was found three days later, alive and healthy, Russian media and the emergencies ministry reported.

Three-year-old Tserin disappeared from his home in a remote village in Tyva in southern Siberia last weekend. Left unattended, he had chased after his dogs, who led him into the taiga – a forest between the tundra and the steppes populated by wild animals ranging from bears and wolves to lynx and foxes.

Three days of searches by more than 100 police and rescue workers, sniffer dogs and a helicopter yielded no result. Eventually, the boy heard his uncle calling and replied. He was just a few kilometers from his house.

The first thing the little boy asked for was his toy car, a rescue worker said, according to local media.

Tserin probably survived because he didn’t panic, a local emergency worker was quoted as saying. The first thing he did after he got lost was finish some chocolate in one of his pockets. Then he laid down in a dry spot under a larch tree and fell asleep.

Quite predictably, he has already been nicknamed Mowgli.

Credit: reuters

Investors Pump N760bn Into Stock Market In 3 Days

The unveiling of the new foreign exchange guidelines for the country by the Central Bank of Nigeria has prompted stock investors to pump huge amount of funds into the market.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange reacted positively to the news of the unveiling of the new foreign exchange guidelines by the CBN last Wednesday as the market capitalization soared by over N760bn, with investors committing huge sums to acquire more shares.

The move by investors to acquire more stocks at this time is hinged on their desire to re-enter the market when share prices are at their lowest, as the market is expected to recover after months of persistent fall.

Prior to the three-day straight gains last week, the NSE market capitalization had stood at N9.284tn on Tuesday. But as of the last day of trading last week on Friday, the value of the market had soared to N10.044tn.

Credit: Punch