Tag: United States

Buhari departs Abuja today for UN General Assembly in New York

Aminu Imam

President Muhammadu Buhari will depart Abuja today, Sunday, for New York, United States of America, to participate in the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA76). The session opened on Tuesday, September 14. According to an issued statement by presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, the theme for this year’s UNGA is: “Building Resilience Through Hope – To Recover from Covid-19, Rebuild Sustainably, Respond to the Needs of the Planet, Respect the Rights of People and Revitalise the United Nations”. President Buhari will address the Assembly during the General Debates…

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Alleged crude oil sales bribery: ‘$272m paid to Diezani’– Ex Glencore trader tells U.S. Justice Dept.

Aminu Imam

Nigeria’s former minister of petroleum resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, was part of a grand kickback scheme involving officials of state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and middlemen that delivered mouth-watering deals to foreign oil companies by softening the contracts’ terms. According to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, a former trader with Glencore, a Swiss-based commodity trading firm, Anthony Stimler made this revelation to the US Department of Justice, (DoJ). Stimler, himself a subject of a related graft case being heard in the U.S., has named seven other accomplices, four of whom…

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President Buhari to depart for US tomorrow for UN meeting

Aminu Imam

President Muhammadu Buhari is set to travel to the United States to attend the 76th Session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. It was gathered that the President will depart Abuja tomorrow, Sunday, to attend the conference which will be declared open on Tuesday, September 14, and end on September 27. According to a presidential source, Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, has already travelled out of the country. The UN programme is starting on September 18. The Chief of Staff has already left for the USA on…

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Tension, as U.S. moves to name Boko Haram sponsors

Aminu Imam

…’Nigeria needs any available help’ – Security experts Some concerned Nigerians have expressed doubts about the willingness of the Federal Government to embrace the offer by the United States government to help and identify the sponsors of Boko Haram, which has waged an insurgency war on Nigeria in the last 12 years. Some security experts, former diplomats, and leaders of some socio-cultural/civil society organisations in the country have said embracing the proposal was the best option for the country at this point, but were skeptical about President Buhari’s disposition to…

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U.S. charges 3 businessmen for trying to smuggle arms, ammunition into Nigeria

Aminu Imam

A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging three Maryland men for the federal charges of conspiracy, violation of the Arms Export Control Act and the Export Reform Control Act, related to the export of firearms and ammunition from the United States to Nigeria.   The indictment was announced by Acting US Attorney for the District of Maryland, Jonathan F. Lenzner; along with others. Charged in the indictment are: Wilson Nuyila Tita, age 45, of Owings Mills, Maryland; Eric Fru Nji, 40 yrs-old, of Fort Washington, Maryland and Wilson Che…

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Toddler shoots mum dead while she was live on Zoom call in US

Aminu Imam

A 21-year-old mother on a Zoom call was accidentally shot to death by her toddler who picked up a loaded gun. Shamaya Lynn, 21, from Florida, was taking part in the conference call on Wednesday, when the other participants heard a huge bang and the mum fell backwards. Those on the Zoom call then saw a toddler in the background who had picked a gun that had been left “unsecured” in the home, said Altamonte Springs Police. When Lynn failed to get back onto the call, one of her colleagues…

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Twitter’s suspension in Nigeria worrisome – US

Aminu Imam

The US consulate in Lagos has stated that the suspension of Twitter by the Nigerian government is deeply worrisome. This remark was made by US consul-general, Claire Pierangelo at a programme titled: “Conversation on Press Freedom, Freedom of Expression and Civic Space in Nigeria”, which held in Lagos. According to Pierangelo, the government’s intention to introduce registration requirements for social media platforms, banning or restricting social media with threats of prosecution, undermines the human rights and fundamental freedom of Nigerians. “Nigerian government’s ongoing suspension of Twitter and stated intent to…

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‘FG not bothered by US lawmakers’ moves to halt $875m defence equipment’ – Security sources

Aminu Imam

Against the backdrop of insinuations that United States’ lawmakers are putting pressure on the President Joe Biden administration to halt the delivery of the remaining six Super Tucano Aircraft and subsequent sale of military hardware to Nigeria, security sources have said the Federal Government was not perturbed, as all necessary agreement indices reached on government-to-government basis were adhered to. According to earlier reports, US lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee called for delayed clearing of another batch of 12 AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters and accompanying defence systems to be…

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‘Religious extremism fueling violence in Nigeria – Former U.S. ‘ambassador’

Aminu Imam

Escalating bloodshed in Nigeria is fueled in part by religious extremism – and the United States must recognise this in order to achieve peace, says a former U.S. religious freedom ambassador. According to former Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, who was speaking on the violence in Nigeria, “This thing is going to blow upon us, as we would say: ‘bigger than Dallas’, if we don’t get in there and really start taking this seriously at this point”, on Wednesday. Recall that due to the scope of violence against…

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Buhari-Blinken meeting: FG seeks US help to tackle security challenges

Aminu Imam

…Asks US to relocate AFRICOM President Muhammadu Buhari has canvassed for the support of the United States in the move by Nigeria and the West African sub-region to tackle the security challenges bedeviling them. The President, in a virtual meeting held yesterday with the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, charged the international community to support Nigeria and the sub-region in tackling growing security challenges to avoid spillovers in order to avoid spillovers. He also urged the United States to consider relocating US Africa Command (AFRICOM) from Stuttgart, Germany, to…

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