Newspaper Roundup 30/06/15: Buhari Really Pissed With Saraki and US Diplomat Jerks Around With Nigeria

National Economic Council accuses former Minister of Finance and coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Okonjo Iweala of spending the whooping sum of $2.1b from the ECA without authorization.
This statement was taken from The Punch.
"We looked at the numbers for the Excess Crude Account. The last time the former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, reported to the council, and it is in the minutes, she reported by November 2014 that we had $4.1 bn.
"Today, the Accountant-General Office reported we have $2.0bn. Which means the honourable minister spent $2.1bn without authority of the NEC and that money was not distributed to states, it was not paid to the three tiers of government," Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole told State House correspondents after the NEC's 58th meeting in Abuja.
Consequently, the Federal Government has constituted Oshiomhole, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai; Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel; and Gombe State Governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo, into a panel to probe the NNPC and the ECA between 2012 and May, 2015.
The Punch reports that the President is not happy with Saraki and Dogara for flaying Party rules in appointing key officers in the NASS. Quoting an APC chieftain,
'He said the President was in support of the candidacy of Senator Ahmed Lawan for the senate presidency and had told Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, to support APC's candidates for the principal posts.
"The President has refused to see Saraki and Dogara since they emerged as senate president and speaker respectively. Both Saraki and Dogara have done everything possible to see the President but he has shunned them because he is not happy about their conduct. You can see that the President has seen the Lawan group; this shows where his support lies,"
This certainly contradicts the notion being sold during that rancous NASS election period that Buhari being pro-democracy is not willing to interfere with the politics of the legislators. Heck, the president even called to congratulate Saraki and co after their victory.

All Progressive Congress insists on removal of Ekweremadu as deputy speaker to ensure performance. This was taken from The Punch this morning.
'The APC leader said, "As deputy senate leader, Ekweremadu is automatically the Chairman, Senate Committee on Constitution Amendment. This is a sensitive position that, statutorily, should not be held by the minority.
"Ekweremadu and his PDP co-travellers will hamper the policies of the Buhari government. By the virtue of Senate rules, a member of the minority is not supposed to be the deputy senate leader; so, he is occupying the post illegally.
"We know the body language of some of these elements to anti-corruption. Nigerians know the stance of Buhari on corruption and insecurity. These elements occupying positions in the National Assembly must be removed. Otherwise, this administration is dead on arrival."
So people, if God forbid, this adminstration of change fails, it will be because of Ekweremadu and his PDP co-travellers.
The pioneer Executive Secretary of Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and immediate past Executive Secretary of Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), Dr. Oluwole Oluleye has Revealed why the Obasanjo administration was regularly hiking the price of petrol. This excerpt was taken from Thisday newspaper.
"Under the civilian administration of former Obasanjo, the price of petrol was adjusted seven times.
Speaking at a Roundtable organised at the weekend in Lagos by NewsDirect Newspaper, Oluleye stated that Obasanjo reviewed the prices upward regularly to ensure that the subsidy bill was sustainable.
According to him, the subsidy claims rose from less than N300 billion when he was the Executive Secretary of PPPRA to the current figures of over N1 trillion because the government did not increase the price of petrol from 2007 when Obasanjo left to 2012."
Also from Thisday, the Debt Management Office says our foreign debt stands at $9.4bn. Read the breakdown.
"A breakdown shows that the highest sum is owed the World Bank Group with 5.6 billion dollars owed International Development Association and 89.4 million dollars owed International Fund for Agricultural Development.
It further states that Nigeria owes African Development Bank (AfDB) 200 million dollars and 513.7 million dollars owed African Development Fund (ADF), a debt incurred through AfDB Group.
Nigeria also owes Arab Bank Economic Development for Africa 4.4 million dollars, while its debts to European Development Fund and Islamic Development Bank are 75.1 million dollars and 19.6 million dollars respectively.
The record also shows that the country's indebtedness through bilateral agreement to Exim Bank of China and French Development Agency are 1.2 billion dollars and 140.2 million dollars.
It further states that Nigeria's external debt stock through government's