According reports from PREMIUM TIMES, The hard and soft copies of the 2016 budget documents President Muhammadu Buhari handed over to the National Assembly on December 22, 2015, have been declared missing, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report.
The Nigerian Senate was scheduled to commence deliberation on the proposed budget Tuesday (today).
But Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, shocked lawmakers at a closed-door session, when he told them the budget documents had been stolen, people familiar with the matter told PREMIUM TIMES.
Mr. Ndume, our sources said, explained that deliberation on the budget could therefore not begin until fresh copies of the documents were obtained from the presidency, the Ministry of Finance or that of national planning.
The Chairman, Senate Committee of Appropriation, Danjuma Goje, was subsequently mandated to lead a search for the documents and liaise with the presidency, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Ita Enang, and the national planning ministry on the matter.
The Senators also resolved that the matter be kept under wraps, saying making it public could embarrass the presidency, the National Assembly and the country.
Our sources said senators of the Peoples Democratic Party accused the presidency of being behind the theft of the documents, an accusation rejected by their All Progressives Congress’ counterparts, who reportedly said it was too early to speculate.
Some lawmakers told PREMIUM TIMES they are suspicious that the presidency might have colluded with the management of the National Assembly to quietly withdraw the documents after detecting some discrepancies in them.
“Can you imagine this kind of national embarrassment?” one senator asked. “Documents that were presented to us with fanfare have been stolen.”
The spokesperson for the senate, Aliyu Abdullahi,could not been reached for comments. So also is Mr. Goje, the chairman of the appropriation committee.
Tanzanian music star, Diamond Platnumz recently shared these photos of himself and his babymama, Zaria, with their adorable little daughter, Tiffah on the daughter’s Instagram page.
Mavin Record first lady and mother of one, Tiwa Savage kicks off radio tour for the promotion of her new album RED as she visited City 105.1 FM today.
The singer wrote;
kicked off my #RED album radio promo today. First stop was @city1051 I love them over there, they always show me love #RedNation #RED #IamRED #standingovation
The ‘Woju’ singer, was involved in a car accident last night but thankfully he is alright.
The music star took to his instagram page to share his near death experience with fans, warning them not to use their phones while driving.
Kiss Daniel wrote
“Morning guys.. don’t press ur phone while driving fam, it’s never a good idea. Crashed into a canal last night @ lekki, all thanks to dese guys and some loyal fans that help get I and my producer out and the car… I wanna say a very big thank u to @djcoublon for screaming like a Yankee baby before the crash.. Bro u nailed it . We thank God, we still alive.”
American singer, Miguel is engaged to his longtime girlfriend of 12 years, Nazanin Mandi.
The music star finally popped the question recently and model Nazanin is wasting no time in flaunting her huge rock on her Instagram page.
According to E! News, “Nazanin and Miguel are really excited to get married! They’ve been together for some time and knew that they were going to spend their lives together. All of their friends and family think they are the best couple and really complement each other.”
Davido is yet to reveal to us who is new signee is but he is getting us excited about it!
Davido wanted Lil Kesh to win the recent Next Rated Awards but he was snubbed. The HKN chief has aired his disapproval that the 20 year old did not win.
Recall Olamide famously ranted after his artiste didn’t win and Davido has promised he will do worse than Olamide did by pulling a Kanye on them (the Headies organizers) when the time is right.
CANT WAIT TO SHOW THE WORLD MY NEW ARTIST .. AND IF THEY EVER DO HEADIES AGAIN AND HE DOESN'T WIN NEXT RATED IMMA PULL WORSE THAN A KANYE ?
DoubleStar unlocks his first Official single of the year 2016. He titles this One “Igbeyawo Mi”, this is a must listen tune which is sure going to take over various media library and get massive air played by radio stations in a couple of days.
It is a must have for all wedding reception DJs as the reception is incomplete without this song
Minister of Power, Road and Works, Babatunde Fashola, has unveiled his 13-point agenda for the power sector in Nigeria.
Fashola unveiled his plans during the maiden meeting he had with power generation, distribution and transmission companies, and other stakeholders in Abuja today January 11th.
Fashola in his address said the agenda involves continuous public engagement on tariff collection, debts, power generation, maintenance, ancillary services, dispatch orders and discipline, gas requirement and constraints, transmission constraints, 33KV load off take, imbalances-locations of excess, overload safety, service quality, new captive and embedded generation, franchising and other issues relevant to the growth of the sector.
He promised to work for a great improvement in power distribution.
For a while now, the hashtag #YorubaGuys has been trending on twitter. This hashtag carries all the presumed bad habits of Yoruba boys, especially in a relationship.
In fact, they have been tagged ‘Yoruba demons’ in the dating game, with many girls narrating their ugly experience with them. However, the table turned yesterday, when a twitter user came out to assert otherwise.
According to her, Igbo guys are worse than ‘Yoruba demons’ when it comes to disappointments in a relationship.
In 34 tweets, @maryannivy narrated how her relationship with an Igbo guy, simply named Obiora, left her feeling bad. Red the tweets below:
I want to tell a story of my encounter with an igbo demon. The truth is igbo guys are the real demons.. they're just on a low key.
Veteran Nollywood actor, Richard Mofe Damijo aka RMD, is definitely one of Nollywood’s biggest actors.
RMD recently revealed during a broadcast interview with Africa Magic’s magazine TV show ‘Jara’, on how much movie producers pay him to feature in a movie.
“It’s safe to say you’re definitely one of the most sought after and respected actors in Nollywood, it must cost a producer millions of dollars to have you in his movie”, The host of the show Uti Nwachukwu asked RMD.
RMD replied saying: “I don’t know what you are talking about, I mean we are in Nigeria”.
I find ironical that I cost a lot less either because I’m blackmailed constantly by producers and directors. They’re my boys or their younger, no money. You’ll be amazed that for every three films, I’ll probably do two free, practically for next to nothing. It’s just hard to say no”.
Barcelona forward, Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’Or award for the fifth time.
The 28-year-old Argentine had 41.33% of the vote, with Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo (27.76%) second and Barca’s Neymar (7.86%) third.
Here are pictures from the star studded event that took place in Zurich, Switzerland.
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – JANUARY 11: FIFA Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi of Argentina and Barcelona poses with his award after the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala 2015 at the Kongresshaus on January 11, 2016 in Zurich, Switzerland. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi of Argentina talks with guests after receiving the World Player of the Year award during the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2015 ceremony in Zurich, Switzerland, January 11, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
An atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand:
‘You’re a Christian, aren’t you, son?’
‘Yes sir,’ the student says.
‘So you believe in God?’
‘Absolutely. ’
‘Is God good?’
‘Sure! God’s good.’
‘Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?’
‘Yes.’
‘Are you good or evil?’
‘The Bible says I’m evil.’
The professor grins knowingly. ‘Aha! The Bible! He considers for a moment. ‘Here’s one for you. Let’s say there’s a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?’
‘Yes sir, I would.’
‘So you’re good…!’
‘I wouldn’t say that.’
‘But why not say that? You’d help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn’t.’
The student does not answer, so the professor continues. ‘He doesn’t, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Can you answer that one?’
The student remains silent. ‘No, you can’t, can you?’ the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax ‘Let’s start again, young fella. Is God good?’
‘Er…yes,’ the student says.
‘Is Satan good?’
The student doesn’t hesitate on this one. ‘No.’
‘Then where does Satan come from?’
The student falters. ‘From God’
‘That’s right. God made Satan, didn’t he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?’
‘Yes, sir…’
‘Evil’s everywhere, isn’t it? And God did make everything, correct?’
‘Yes.’
‘So who created evil?’ The professor continued, ‘If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.’
Again, the student has no answer. ‘Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?’
The student squirms on his feet. ‘Yes.’
‘So who created them?’
The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. ‘Who created them?’ There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. ‘Tell me,’ he continues onto another student. ‘Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?’
The student’s voice betrays him and cracks. ‘Yes, professor, I do.’
The old man stops pacing. ‘Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?’
‘No sir. I’ve never seen Him.’
‘Then tell us if you’ve ever heard your Jesus?’
‘No, sir, I have not…’
‘Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?’
‘No, sir, I’m afraid I haven’t.’
‘Yet you still believe in him?’
‘Yes.’
‘According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn’t exist… What do you say to that, son?’
‘Nothing,’ the student replies… ‘I only have my faith.’
‘Yes, faith,’ the professor repeats. ‘And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence…only faith.’
The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. ‘Professor, is there such thing as heat? ’
‘Yes.’
‘And is there such a thing as cold?’
‘Yes, son, there’s cold too.’
‘No sir, there isn’t.’
The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain. ‘You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don’t have anything called ‘cold’. We can hit d own to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest –458 degrees. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, ‘cold’ is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.’
Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.
‘What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?’
‘Yes,’ the professor replies without hesitation… ‘What is night if it isn’t darkness?’
‘You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it’s called darkness, isn’t it? That’s the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn’t. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?’
The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. ‘So what point are you making, young man?’
‘Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.’
The professor’s face cannot hide his surprise this time. ‘Flawed? Can you explain how?’
‘You are working on the premise of duality,’ the student explains… ‘You argue that there is life and then there’s death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure.
Sir, science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but it has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.’
‘Now tell me, professor… Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?’
‘If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.’
‘Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?’
The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.
‘Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?’
The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided. ‘To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.’ The student looks around the room. ‘Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor’s brain?’ The class breaks out into laughter.
‘Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor’s brain, felt the professor’s brain, touched or smelt the professor’s brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir.’ ‘So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?’
Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable. Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. ‘I guess you’ll have to take them on faith.’
‘Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,’ the student continues. ‘Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?’ Now uncertain, the professor responds, ‘Of course, there is. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.’
To this the student replied, ‘Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God.
God did not create evil Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.’
Davido who recently announced he kicked off an Artiste off his record label arrived into Lagos yesterday when he was mobbed by fans who were asking for him to bless them.
The HKN Gang Frontman dipped his hands in his pocket, brought out cash and threw it in the air..
It was a mixture of coldness and disapproval from worshipers when the general overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church Of God (RCCG) hinted his impending death.
The annual Holy Ghost Congress of the church left millions of worshipers in attendance in a great shock. During the one-week programme which ended on Saturday, with a three-in-one service, (comprising anointing, communion and impartation), the man of God had a transfer of anointing. Adeboye, who will be 74 in March 2016, said he would not be too young at 73 to go back to his saviour.
While explaining the importance of transferring anointing, the man of God said the transferred anointing is always more potent than the index case, using Moses and Elijah as examples. Using the scripture, Adeboye pointed that where Moses, who got his anointing directly from God failed, Joshua, who got his fire from Moses, excelled.
He also cited the case of Prophet Elijah who performed 7 miracles while Elisha who got his anointing from Elijah when God was taking him away, performed 14 miracles. He also went further to explain how the transfer of anointing to recipients was done just when their masters were about passing away.
He said he would anoint his wife and other very senior pastors who, in turn, would anoint other pastors, from where the worshippers would experience their own anointing fire. After the explanation, he looked at the congregation and said:
“You may be wondering if I am about to go. Will it be too early for a 73-year-old man to die? If I go now, who will say it is too early? “
This got a chorus of disapproval from the new auditorium. The pastor however said: “I am not too young to die.”
Again, the crowd screamed their disapproval. To calm everyone down, Adeboye later said: “okay, it is not now (I’m not dying now).”The crowd roared a thunderous “Amen.”
Just yesterday, Sunday, January 10, the revered man of God was at Lagos Province 12, Dominion Cathedral, Gowon Estate, Lagos, where he prayed that everyone present will have a ‘dedication miracle’.
His visit was geared at celebrating the 12th year anniversary of the province.
Wizkid announced this Jam earlier on his twitter, he tweeted “Let’s start the year with some @iamkissdaniel x starboy!”.
This WIZKID version of “Good Time” is simply a little taste of the good things to come, as Kiss Daniel will be featuring WIZKID on his upcoming album scheduled to be released this year.
The Skuki duo, get an early start this year. This time hooking up with the serial Hitmaker Masterkraft, they once again deliver a massive dance tune for the clubs.The music duo dazzled last year with tunes like Gbemileke ft. Tina Savage & ‘Forever’ which grabbed a couple of nominations at the NMVA 2015.
This is Skuki wishing y’all ‘Zero Competition’ in all your endeavors this 2016… ‘no competition at all’ #ZeroCompetition
Street pop act and Mosquito Killer, Small Doctor is the headlining act for the first edition of Industry Nite in 2016.
Small Doctor, who is dropping his second studio album ‘Omo Iya Teacher‘ this month, will be joined by DJ Consequence on stage while Spanky will host the event.
The event will be held on Wednesday, 13th January at Spice Route, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Following an impressive delivery on Funke Akindele’s ‘Jenifa’s Diary’, rapper Falz aka FalzThaBahdGuy has dipped his toe into Nollywood by starring in a movie.
The ‘Stories that touch’ rapper plays Odewale in upcoming romantic comedy, Couple of Days which stars an array of new generation movie actors and actresses.
‘Couple of Days’ tells the story of three young couples who go on a getaway in Ibadan only to be faced with different intricacies of married life.
The movie also features ‘October 1’ actor, Ademola Adedoyin as well as Lilian Esoro, Adesua Etomi, Enyinna Nwigwe, Kiki Omeili and Okey Uzoeshi.
The movie will be released on Friday, February 5, 2016.
Mavin’s First Lady and Mother of a Cute Son, Tiwa Savage has been unveiled as the brand ambassador for pamper, also representing the brand is her Cute Son!
Tiwa Savage who dropped a free album for her fans in late last year, took to her instagram some minutes ago to reveal that she and her son, are the newest ambassadors for baby diaper company, Pampers.
She wrote:
Introducing the new Pampers Ambassadors #blessings #WeLovePampers #JamiLovesPampers #MomsKnowsBest.
Congratulations Tiwa Savage, more to come your way this year!
CADILLY Entertainment’s versatile singer, YQ kicks off 2016 with amazing visuals to his classic collaboration with multiple award winning rapper, ICE PRINCE titled ‘THAT GIRL’.
This crisp video was shot at a luxurious beach house in Lagos, Nigeria by Africa’s highly revered cinematographer, Clarence Peters with cameo appearances by Jaywon & label mates, ED iZycs & Rave.
Founder of Hip TV Ayo Animashaun and executive producer of Headies Awards was in an interview with THE PUNCH where he revealed that people try to lobby for headies awards and he has received death threats concerning Headies award nomination.
He also disclosed the process involved in choosing the award winners.
Read Excerpts from the interview below
Some artistes complain of being fleeced by television channels in a bid to air their music videos. Is your brand also guilty of this trend?
We do not ask for any form of gratification to play music videos. It is boldly written on our reception wall. If any member of staff requests for such, the person would be fired and I personally wrote down my phone number alongside the notice. That is one of the reasons we are loved and we have zero tolerance for such.
Some people are of the opinion that most Nigerian entertainment awards lack credibility.
It is obtainable everywhere, even abroad. There are always opinions, especially when nominees do not win. These artistes make an impact, so we would not be where we are today if it was not credible. That is not to say that every single person on the streets would support our idea. Some people would still go against it no matter how transparent it is, how well it is organised and how well you try to convince them.
Are you worried that the recent controversy may have marred the reputation you have built in 10 years?
I am not worried and there is nothing to worry about. I could if it was my meal ticket but it is not. Although we have had sponsors, but in the past five or six years, we have organised the Headies Awards singlehandedly, and this requires a lot of financial commitment. Artistes always disagree with awards. Some were vocal while others were not. This is not the first time something like this is happening. The screening team put in a lot of work.
What system was adopted for the voting process?
There was an online voting system which collects the phone numbers and email of voters and the votes are automatically counted. That way, you would see who won and who did not. It is devoid of any form of rigging because you cannot vote more than once in one hour. There are different voting categories and some are strictly left for the judges to decide. It is easy to discover if anyone voted or not. Two years ago, we stopped the SMS voting because our SMS partner complained that people came to them to lobby for votes. We did not want our credibility to become an issue. Artistes should learn to check the year under review and understand the definition of each category. People should always vote, or else another artiste will win over the one they like.
Were the awards lobbied for?
People try to lobby and it is not just right to mention names. Some have even offered to buy the cars. We bought three out of the eight cars that have been given out. We started giving out cars when the category became big and we did not want to stop. Revelation of the Year is supposed to be bigger than Next Rated but people attach more importance to it because it comes with a price and Nigerians like freebies. With all sense of humility and responsibility, the artistes cannot pay us and we cannot collect money from them. It is not in our character and we are not greedy. The award plaque is a 21-karat gold plaque and it is mounted on marble. We want to genuinely support the system.
Some people are of the opinion that some of the winning were undeserved.
If you do not vote, the win would be undeserved. It is the same thing as a political election. No one has the right to complain if they did not vote. The voting was poor this year. Most people took the voting for granted and did not vote, so how can they decide who should win and who should not? They should find out if the winners did anything other than just turning up for the awards. At least, someone would be angry enough to say we collected some money from him or her. We deserve some respect if that has not happened in 10 years, why should it occur at this time? We had an average of 500 nominees and over 109 winners.
Some also believe the results were influenced
I would feel offended if i’m ever asked whether we collected money from any artiste. I am like a father to them and I try not to meddle or prefer any artiste over the other. We did not influence the results submitted by the screening team and we also did not reveal the identities of all members of the jury. People have gone to the extent of threatening lives if their artistes do not win. I have reported some of them to the police too.
Fans believe Olamide should apologise to you. Has he?
Olamide is like a son to me. What he did was to the Headies and not to me but he has apologised to me personally. He knows the right thing to do because The Headies is a platform that has celebrated a lot of artistes including him. He and Don Jazzy apologised to me the next day. As the executive producer of the award, I do not act unilaterally, I have a board and we have a disciplinary team and very soon, they will come up with a statement on how to handle the whole issue. We would make it public.
Having enjoyed dominance for 10 years, do you think other award platforms should also spring up?
Of course they should. It is better to have more awards. You do not enjoy that kind of dominance when you spend your money all the time. Sometimes, I think I am crazy for still continuing every year, even without sponsorship. People go into business to make money; maybe others are smarter for not doing it. We do what we do because we have a passion for it.
How do you feel about P-Square boycotting the award?
You cannot have all the artistes in the country around every year. Just a few days before it held, we postponed the awards to two days and no one was given a prior notice. I cannot mandate artistes that were nominated to cancel their previous shows to be present at Headies. If they were billed to perform at another event, they would not return their payment because of Headies so as not to be sued. They performed last year at the Headies last year and they closed the show. I also saw Paul a day after the awards were held and we are fine.
It appears Davido has kicked out Ghanaian Singer – DeeKay From his label. Apparently, the artiste is not in the mood to keep redundant artistes in his label this lovely 2016.
The 23 year old last night tweeted couple of tweets that suggested he had kicked out one of his artistes, Ghanaian singer DeeKay from his label.
Read Below:
Davido further said that a new musician has been signed into his label and he can’t wait to show the world what he has to offer.
Legendary High-life musician J. Martins unlocks his first Official single of the year 2016. He has titled this One “Ikwusigo”, Ikwusigo is a must listen tune which is sure going to take over various media library and get massive air played by radio stations in a couple of days.
The Skuki duo, get an early start this year. This time hooking up with the serial Hitmaker Masterkraft, they once again deliver a massive dance tune for the clubs.The music duo dazzled last year with tunes like Gbemileke ft. Tina Savage & ‘Forever’ which grabbed a couple of nominations at the NMVA 2015.
The movie also features ‘October 1’ actor, Ademola Adedoyin as well as Lilian Esoro, Adesua Etomi, Enyinna Nwigwe, Kiki Omeili and Okey Uzoeshi.
