President Jonathan’s Social Media Aide Reno Omokri Exposed As Author Of Fake Document Linking Ousted CBN Governor To Boko Haram

Reno Omokri, the outspoken Special Assistant on Social Media to President Goodluck Jonathan, was today unmasked as the brain behind a fraudulent attempt to link Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to the recent spike in Boko Haram violence in Borno and Yobe States. In one of the recent attacks, Boko Haram terrorists slaughtered some 60 secondary school students at their boarding house.
Posing as “Wendell Simlin,” Mr. Omokri circulated a Word document linking the former CBN Governor to the recent attacks. The ruse was however uncovered when some Internet-savvy Nigerians traced the IP address of the source document and it turned out that it had been authored and circulated by Mr. Omokri.
This scandal, the latest in a series of ethical and corruption issues rocking the Jonathan administration, set Twitter on fire today. Outraged Nigerians called for Mr. Omokri's sack. The timing of Mr. Omokri's fraudulent act is particularly insensitive, with many commentators questioning why a member of President Jonathan’s inner circle would seek to capitalize on the blood of slaughtered innocent children by forging documents to implicate a perceived "enemy" of the Jonathan administration.
Mr. Omokri’s callous forgery began to unfold today at about 11.54 a.m. (Nigerian time) when certain media outlets and editors received an email from one Wendell Simlin (wendellsimlin@yahoo.com) with the headline “Increased Tempo of Boko Haram/Terrorist Activity in the Wake of the Sanusi Saga”.
The email included a Word document which sought to use spurious circumstantial evidence laced with a heavy dose of innuendo to suggest that the renewed Boko Haram attacks in the Northeast were linked to Mr. Sanusi's recent suspension as CBN governor.
Curiously, the document also contained attacks on Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, the father of the jailed Christmas Day Underwear bomber, Umar Farouk Mutallab.
Several tech-savvy individuals tried to ascertain who the author was and why such critical information was emerging from a “strange” and unknown name. The investigations turned up the following evidence:
1. They found a Wendell Simlin on Facebook with only one photo. That photo had Mr. Reno Omokri in it. While the photo has since been deleted, a screenshot was taken before the deletion and it is hereby published.
2. Further circumstantial evidence, such as friendships on Facebook, including ‘liked’ pages, strongly linked the account of Mr. Simlin to Mr Omokri. Some Internet investigators also discovered that there was a lot of interaction linking the “shadowy” Mr. Simlin to Mr Omokri as far back as 2010.
3. A check of the IP address from which the email was sent indicated somewhere around the Kubwa area in Abuja with the IP address of 41.78.81.189.
4. But the most damning evidence was found in the   Word document “Simlin” sent out as news, which had the author's name as Reno Omokri. Those who received the original email have also done a check and confirmed that Mr. Omokri’s name was on it. Investigations further confirmed the person who saved and edited the document to be Mr. Omokri. Both screenshots are reproduced here.
Prior to today’s development, Mr. Omokri had already developed a reputation for a pattern of using a variety of identities (aliases and screen names) on the Internet to attack and smear the names of perceived enemies of Mr. Jonathan.
Analysts say that, even if Mr. Omokri was acting alone, the fact that he is officially a Special Assistant to the President implicates the Presidency in his callous effort to exploit a shocking tragedy in order to smear the former CBN Governor. The unmasking of Mr. Omokri as the author and mastermind of the grave forgery is likely to dent the Presidency as it sends the message that Mr. Jonathan may secretly encourage the very dirty tactics to which he publicly objects.

President Jonathan Suspends CBN Governor Sanusi 

 

President Goodluck Jonathan today ordered the suspension of Nigeria's Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, weeks after the CBN Governor exposed the theft of at least $20 billion by officials of  Nigerian petroleum ministry.
 A press release issued by the spokesperson to the President, Reuben Abati explained that the CBN governor was suspended because of reports by the Financial Reporting Council claiming the CBN governor had engaged in "financial recklessness and misconduct". The release did not specifically name any particular financial crime but goes ahead to announce a replacement for Mr. Sanusi.
SaharaReporters could not reach the CBN governor who is currently traveling in Niger for his reaction by an aide who spoke on his behalf said he was not aware of his suspension as the President did not communicate his intention to suspend him to the governor.
 Mr. Sanusi had recently refused to back down from allegations that the NNPC and the Petroleum minister, Diezani Allsion-Madueke could not account for over $20 billion of crude oil exports carried out by the NNPC.

 Below is the text of Mr. Abati's press release announcing President Jonathan's action.
Having taken special notice of reports of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria and other investigating bodies, which indicate clearly that Mallam Sanusi Lamido  Sanusi’s tenure has been characterized by various acts of financial recklessness and misconduct which are inconsistent with the administration’s vision of a Central Bank propelled by the core values of focused economic management, prudence, transparency and financial discipline;
Being also deeply concerned about far-reaching irregularities  under Mallam Sanusi’s watch which have distracted the Central Bank away from the pursuit and achievement of its statutory mandate; and 

Being determined to urgently re-position the Central Bank of Nigeria for greater efficiency, respect for due process and accountability, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has ordered the immediate suspension of Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi from the Office of Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

President Jonathan has further ordered that Mallam Sanusi should hand over to the most senior Deputy Governor of the CBN, Dr Sarah Alade who will serve as Acting Governor until the conclusion of on-going investigations into breaches of enabling laws, due process and mandate of  the CBN.

The President expects that as Acting Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Alade will focus on the core mandate of the Bank and conduct its affairs with greater professionalism, prudence and propriety to restore domestic and international confidence in the country’s apex bank.

The Federal Government of Nigeria reassures all stakeholders in Nigeria’s financial and monetary system that this decision has been taken in absolute good faith, in the overall interest of the Nigerian economy and in accordance with our laws and due process.


Reuben Abati
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
February 20, 2014

 

Senate confirms Obanikoro, Gusau, eight others as ministers

 

The Senate on Tuesday approved the nomination of 11 out of the 12 ministerial nominees forwarded to it by President Goodluck Jonathan two weeks ago.

Those whose nominations   were confirmed by the Senate as ministers are a former Nigeria’s ambassador to Ghana, Musilu Obanikoro, (Lagos State); an ex-National Security Adviser to both former President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan, Gen. Aliyu Gusau (Zamfara State); a former governor of Adamawa State,  Boni Haruna (Adamawa);  Ambassador Aminu Wali (Kano);  Mohammed Wakil (Borno State), Dr Khaliru Alhassan (Sokoto State), and Alhaji Abdujelili Adesiyan (Osun State).

Others are Mrs Akon Etim Eyakenyi ( Akwa Ibom State), Asabe Asmau Ahmed (Niger State), Mrs. Lawrencia Labaran Mallam (Kaduna State); and Dr. Tamuno Danagogo (Rivers State).

The Senate however deferred the screening of the 12th nominee, Hajia Jamila Salik, from Kano State, because she did not appear before the Senate on Tuesday.

Three members of the upper chamber from Osun State, Senators Olusola Adeyeye, Babajide Omoworare, and Mudashiru Hussein, had made futile efforts to stop the confirmation of Adesiyan, the ministerial nominee from their state.

Adeyeye, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, had raised a point of order to stop the final confirmation of the nomination of Adesiyan on the grounds that he was allegedly linked to the assassination of the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, the late Chief Bola Ige, in December 2001.

The Senator said the nominee did not convince the three senators that he was innocent of the death of Ige.

Adeyeye argued that the Senate tradition of not confirming nomination of any nominee that lacked the support of any of the senators from his/her state should be respected.

He said, “Judicial acquittal or not, the albatross of the death of the late Ige is still hanging around the neck of Adesiyan and few others, which made his nomination as a minister very difficult to accept.

“We are of the opinion that there are many other people in the state that can be nominated for such sensitive position by the President and, even if we are to put that apart, the fact that the entire three Senators from Osun State are against him clearly shows that his nomination should not be confirmed by the Senate in line with its convention”

Adeyeye, who said Adesiyan’s nomination was the first of such to be kicked against by Senators from Osun, said five other similar nominees from the state in the past had been supported by them in spite of party differences.

He said, “This opposition against Adesiyan’s confirmation is not being brought forward through any frivolous reasons or interest bordering on partisanship but rather genuine interest of Osun indigenes and by extension, that of concerned Nigerians.

“We do not believe that the President of our country would be best served by the appointment of Mr. Adesiyan in any way in relation to late Chief Ige’s murder over 12 years ago.”

The Senate president however, ruled Adeyeye out of order and argued that the matter of Bola Ige’s murder had long been taken to court and decided upon and that Adesiyan was thoroughly grilled over the matter in the Senate last week.

Mark said, “We must put all these things behind us since the court of law had ruled over the matter.

“This senate is not a law court and we all heard the voice vote from Senators confirming the nomination of Adesiyan along with 10 others as ministers.”

The senate president added that Adeyeye’s privilege was not breached in any way.

Mark however advised the newly-confirmed minister to “bring additional value on board” since, according to him, the Senate would no longer “see their break lights again.”

“Those whose nominations are confirmed today must bring additional value on board. If they don’t have value to bring, their nominations and confirmations would then be in vain,” he said.

 

How 45 Directors At The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Colluded With Nigeria’s Attorney General And Minister ToReverse Their Retirement

 

Some 45 directors at the federal ministry of foreign affairs have colluded with the highly corrupt Attorney General of the federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke and the supervising minister of foreign affairs, Professor Viola Onwuliri to frustrate their retirement from plum foreign ambassadorial positions in a situation that may yet redefine retirement of federal civil servants in Nigeria.
The AGF interfered in their retirement after receiving hefty sums of bribe money from the career civil servants.
  AGF Adoke, who is one of the most remarkably corrupt ministers in the cabinet of President Goodluck Jonathan, issued a memo to the president requesting that 45 directors who are currently acting as ambassadors in several foreign missions who had earlier retired in December 2013 after completing an 8 year tenure be recalled to continue as directors.
 The directors had been asked to proceed on retirement according to a federal civil service directive, but a source knowledgeable about their plot to sit tight in power told SaharaReporters that the directors, instead of retiring met and contributed millions of naira which was passed to the AGF and minister of justice Adoke, who then advised them to sue the federal government to frustrate their retirement and removal from their plum positions.
After receiving the bribe, Mr. Adoke then reportedly recommended to the 45 directors lawyers that would file a lawsuit in Abuja to the ambassadors.

Soon as the ambassadors filed a bizarre lawsuit he wrote a strong memo to President Jonathan asking that he recalls the directors pending the determination of the lawsuit, last week President Jonathan reversed the retirement of the 45 director based on Mr. Adoke’s recommendation, however, the federal civil service commission rejected his legal advice saying it portends danger for the civil service as more civil servants would engage in such acts of insubordination to frustrate their retirement from service.
President Jonathan then turned to the supervising minister of foreign affairs, Professor Viola Onwuliri to carry out to the order.
With few hours left in the position, Mrs. Onwuliri then requested the permanent secretary in the ministry to implement Attorney General Adoke’s advice but the Permanent Secretary reportedly refused the directive citing the position of the federal Civil service commission on the matter and urging the minister to recall the directors to Abuja while the minister of justice is pressured to fight the lawsuits.
Our sources stated that since Mrs. Onwuliri was part of the scam she bypassed the Permanent Secretary by issuing a poorly worded telex riddled with spelling errors to foreign missions asking that the missions maintain the “ status quo ante”  by retaining the retired directors at their respective positions. The telex a copy of which was obtained by SaharaReporters had to be corrected in some instances with a red pen.
Mrs. Onwuliri hurriedly sent the telex instead of waiting for the new minister ministry to properly interpret the AGF’s directive. Her action was described as  a breach protocol according to our sources.
Mrs. Onwuliri is expected to be replaced by a new minister of foreign affairs; Ambassador Aminu Wali, who is currently Nigeria’s ambassador to China.
 The Nigerian Senate cleared Wali yesterday after President Jonathan nominated him as minister early this year.

 

Valentine Aftermath!!! This Man was Thoroughly Beaten by His Girlfriend’s Lover
 
Mr Eric (33), who lives at Jejelaiye Street in Olodi Apapa, Lagos state, woke to the bright Friday, Valentine day morning, strong and smarting to see Bolanle his heartthrob for a pre-planned early day Valentine date. Unknown to him, Bolanle his girl who also live around Wilmar Crescent in Olodi Apapa, Lagos, was double dating. Eric according one of his friends borrowed money to buy Valentine gift to his girlfriend.

Eric went to pick Bolanle around 10am for a breakfast in a near by Buka (Restaurant) and later they proceed to their love nest. On embarking near Godday Cinema, Bolanle’s second and richer boyfriend emerges with 3 other guys and accosted them. They interrogated Eric and he innocently confessed that that Bolanle is his love, which enraged Bolanle’s second boyfriend. He ordered his ‘guy’ to teach Eric a lesson of his life.

The picture is what remain of the lover boy, Eric, when he woke up in a Hospital near Tin can, Apapa, after he was thoroughly panel-beaten. As at the time of this post, Bolanle is still at Eric’s bed side, while the visibly shaken Eric have not said a word to her.
 

Abia Governor’s Son 'IKUKU' Kills His P.A In Broad Day Light 

Son to Governor T.A Orji of Abia State, Chinedu Orji aka “IKUKU” yesterday displayed another level of his usual unruly and criminal behavior at the Okpara square, Umauhia, venue of the official declaration of his father’s senatorial ambition ahead of the 2015 general elections.

“IKUKU”, the self acclaimed Governor of the state, who was angered by the utterance of his late PA over a minor issue, directed his police orderly to shoot the late aide. All efforts to save the victim did not yield any result as he lost blood profusely. The ugly development did not allow the event hold as planned as people took to their heels leaving the place deserted.

An eye witness at the venue who spoke under anonymity stated that he was shocked when the Governor’s son, Chinedu directed his orderly to shoot the late aide over a minor misunderstanding. He decried the humiliation Abians have been subjected to, by the actions of the Governor’s son, since his father took over the mantle of leadership. He called on the Inspector General of Police to investigate the unlawful and unprofessional behaviour of the Governor’s son and his orderly respectively

Five things you didn't know about YouTube's new boss, Susan Wojcicki

 

YouTube has a new boss and she has a "healthy disregard for the impossible" -- according to Google CEO Larry Page.

In that case, 45-year-old Susan Wojcicki has quite the job ahead of her. Not least of which, trying to work out how the video-sharing giant should display advertising on its website -- and get online viewers to watch it.

Before she was head of YouTube, Wojcicki was senior vice president of advertising and commerce at Google -- the company, which instead of trying to compete with the popular video-sharing website, decided to buy it for $1.65 billion in 2006.

Ok, so apart from disregarding impossible things, what do we know about the highest-ranking woman at Google? Tip: there's your first clue.

Google started in her garage. Cast your mind back to 1998. Steve Jobs had just introduced the world's first iMac, the internet still had a dial-up tone, and a couple of computer-savvy Stanford University students were setting up a search engine in Wojcicki's Californian garage. Those students were Sergey Brin and Larry Page, and their search engine would eventually become the multi-billion dollar global technology company we know today: Google.

She's part of the Google dynasty. Since she first rented her garage to Brin and Page to help pay her mortgage 16 years ago, Wojcicki has been deeply rooted in the Google Dynasty -- yep, such a thing exists. She was the 16th person they hired and is married to fellow Google executive Dennis Troper. Her younger sister Anne married Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and her teacher and journalist mother Esther has consulted the company on education issues.

She was four months pregnant when she joined Google. Wojcicki's friends told her she was crazy when she left her job at Intel to join the start-up company while pregnant with her first child. Today, Wojcicki says it was one of the best decisions of her life. Family remains incredibly important to the mother-of-four, who always tries to be home in time for dinner and tells colleagues not to contact her between 6pm and 9pm when she's with her children.

As a kid she wanted to be an artist. "In some ways I think that's what actually led me to technology," Wojcicki told Makers.com. "I thought: 'This is like a new way of making things.'" One of three sisters, her father is Stanford University physics professor, Stanley Wojcicki, and her mother is journalist and educator, Esther Wojcicki. Susan is also a huge supporter of girls in technology -- you can read her open letter on the subject here.

She's behind Google Images and Google Books. When Wojcicki joined Google in 1999, she became the company's first marketing manager, later leading the initial development of high-profile projects like Google Images and Google books. As senior vice president of advertising and commerce, she was responsible for the company's advertising products -- accounting for 87% of its revenues in 2012. And when Google bought YouTube eight years ago, she was right behind it -- which seems all the more fitting, considering her new position.