At Last, President Buhari Speaks From UK Amidst Death Rumour

Amidst speculations and rumours over his death, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday called and spoke with the minister of youth and sports development, Solomon Dalung, from London, where he is currently on vacation.

The president called to commiserate with the minister over the death of his wife, Mrs Briskila Dalung, who died after a brief illness in the early hours of January 29, 2017 in Jos, Plateau State.

President Buhari, who spoke to Dalung through the telephone, prayed God to grant the soul of the departed eternal rest.

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The special assistant, media, to the minister, Nneka Anibeze, in a statement on behalf of the minister, said the president expressed shock at the death of Mrs Dalung at an unripe age and prayed that God would forgive her sins.

He also prayed to God to give the family she left behind the fortitude to bear the loss and promised to support the Dalung family in their moment of grief.

Dalung had on Sunday, announced the death of his wife on his Facebook page, with a post which reads: “I AM BEREAVED:  For it is appointed for man to live thereafter comes death and judgement says the Holy Bible. While in the Quran, it states that it is appointed that every soul shall taste death.

“My heart is heavy, I cannot continue, I lost my first wife this morning. May her soul and the souls of the faithful departed rest in the bosom of the lord, amen. What a black Sunday.”

There have been speculations about the president’s health since he left the country for his annual leave, with a section of the population calling on him to address the nation from his holiday destination. This is in spite of several photographs of the president receiving guests including Ogun State governor, Ibikunle Amosun.

The president’s wife, Hajiya Aisha Buhari also visited him in London last weekend.

Special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, had in a statement announcing the president’s leave, said that: “During the vacation, the President will also undergo routine medical check-ups.”

He is expected to resume work on February 6, 2017.

Sympathisers from all walks of life have continued to troop Dalung’s Abuja residence to condole with him over the  unfortunate occurrence.

Among the early callers were the Ministers of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonaya Onu; Minister of FCT Mohammed Musa Bello; Minister of State for Solid Minerals, Mohammed Abubakar Bawa Bwari; Senior Special Assistant to the President on Political Affairs, Hon Gideon Samani; and Ambassador Anthem Wuyep.

Others are President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), Engr Habu Gumel; a former governorship aspirant in Plateau State, Architect John Alkali; immediate past permanent secretary of the Ministry of Youth & Sports Development, Christian Chinyeaka Oha; and Director-general of the National Sports Institute (NSI), Dr Chukwu Eke, amongst others.

Earlier in the day, Dalung was welcomed back home from London and condoled by the entire directors of the ministry, led by the acting permanent secretary, Mr Abdul Razak Salawu.

Although final arrangements for the burial of the late Mrs Dalung were still being worked out by the family, it is certain that her burial would take place at Sabongida, Langtang South local government area of Plateau State on Saturday, February 4, 2017.

She is survived by five children and her husband.

Coach Samson Siasia Settles Feud With Sports Minister, Dalung

Coach Samson Siasia, Africa's most decorated coach at the Olympics has revealed that he has ended the feud between himself and sports minister Barrister Solomon Dalung after the minister apologized to him.

According to Siasia, he was just angry and unhappy that the team and himself weren't appreciated by the government despite they were the only team to win a medal at Rio Olympics 2016.

Siasia’s  said in an interview with BBC World sports reporter Osasu Obayiuwana

“I was very surprised that he (Dalung) accused me of being a human trafficker. He has apologised to me for making that statement. The minister has made some mistakes and needs to be guided. But I have decided to let what he said go…” 

“If I had known that I will be in this situation (being owed five months), I would never have taken up this job. I have been relying on friends, in order to survive. There is no excuse for my being owed five months wage. My son asks me, “Dad, how can you be working and they don’t pay you?” 

“I am disappointed by how I and my team have been treated, after being the only ones to bring a medal home for Nigeria. On getting back from Brazil, we were put up at Sheraton Hotel in Lagos for a night, after which everyone went their separate ways.''

''No official ceremony, not even a handshake from the President. It was the same thing I experienced after winning the Silver medal at the 2008 Olympics. I don’t know whether it is my fate to be always treated this way.”

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RIO Olympics: Sports Minister Orders U-23 Players, Officials Back Home Over Insolvency

Two members of the Dream Team VI and three officials have been sent home on the of the Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung the ongoing 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil over insolvency

The two players who were said to be surplus and alternate are Stanley Dimgba and goalkeeper Yusuf Mohammed alongside the team’s media officer, Timi Ebikagboro, curator and the team coordinator were sent packing from the games and flew out of Brazil to Nigeria on Monday night.

According to the Nigeria Football Federation spokesman; “We said they should send them back home if they could not take care of them (players and officials,” Punch Newspaper said

Dalung had complained of the huge financial burden of taking care of the extra players and officials after the players were prevented from leaving the hotel over the unpaid bills of eight of their unaccredited players and officials.

Dalung said 84 players and four officials – unofficially accredited persons had been with the team since they left Atlanta for Brazil.

“The organisers of the Games, the International Olympic Committee, are only responsible for 25 accredited players and officials including feeding, flights and accommodation. We have been carrying the rest along. In Manaus, we were forced to pay camp allowances to the extra four players making 29,” Dalung added.

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Sports Minister, Dalung Killing Sports In Nigeria - Supporters Club

By Akeem Busari. 

The crisis that recently engulfed the Nigeria Football Supporters Club, came up with a new twist as the club in a release, blamed the NFF and the Minister of Sports, Barrister Solomon Dalung, for its troubles. 

According to the press release made available by the Secretary - General of the NFSC, Rev. Sam lkpea, what seemed like an internal matter was taking to another level with the unwarranted interference of the sports minister. 

"Ever since the Minister of Sports was appointed to the office, his ill-advised moves and meddlesome nature has brought more discord and lack of development to virtually all the sports associations in the country, "Ikpea lamented. 

The NFSC scribe went on to do a recap of the problems that has bedevilled the club recently. 

" Dalung recently unsuccessfully tried to infiltrate into the award winning and globally renowned NFSC by encouraging discord within the club. 

"Against all reasonable justifications, the minister decided to line behind an impeached acting national chairman, Vincent Okumagba, who was appointed in acting capacities pending a new election, after the resignation of the substantive national chairman, Otunba Yisa Bashorun, due to ill health and eventual death. 

"Okumagba became power hungry and began to display flagrant acts of indiscipline, blackmail, harassment and indiscriminate arrest of members, and disregards for the constituted authorities of the club, including the elders and the board of trustees. 

"While claiming that he has the backings of the federal powers, Okumagba, went ahead to set up a dissident group that included members who had been suspended on various offences such as stealing, blackmail and anti-club activities. He also recruited band boys from the streets,supposedly as members of the club, "he explained. 

He continued,"Even when the club called a meeting of its national executive council in Lagos, ostensibly to look into the happenings within the club and to also feel the pulse of members on the plans for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, in view of the fact that members would as usual, cough out their personal money to be part of the event. 

"Okumagba declined the invitation and rather called up an illegal meeting in Ilorin,to destabilize the Lagos meeting. And testing his popularity before the illegal gathering, he boasted that he has the federal powers and that of the sports minister. And thereby, promised to take the few errant members, free of charge to Brazil. "

According to Ikpea, all the state chapters of the club, except Delta, Bayelsa and Oyo states attended the Lagos meeting. Where after deliberations, a unanimous decision was taken by the members and it duly impeached Okumagba, for several offences including anti-club activities. And his impeachment was duly communicated to all football and sports stakeholders, as well as the Nigeria Police. 

"There are documents and video recordings of his impeachment. I also have documents to prove that Okumagba in connivance with the minister came up with a list of 177 names of dismissed and suspended members which was submitted to the Brazil Embassy for visas. 

"Investigations by the embassy revealed that 43 of the applicants submitted fake bank statements and letters written on a forged NFSC letterhead. Eventually, the embassy invited the Interpol into the matter, and a suspended member of the club, Kemi Popoola, who had earlier gone to the NFF and the sports minister to accuse and blackmail me of visa racketeering, was arrested for forgery after it was revealed that  huge sums of money was paid into her account by those fake members, "he further disclosed. 

The NFSC scribe went on to express total dismay on the blatant complicity of the office of the minister of sports, on the now combustive issue. 

" To our dismay, a letter came forth from the office of the minister, directing that Okumagba should be recognised as the chairman of the NFSC. Other letters were sent to the Nigeria Police for support, as well as the Cross Rivers state government seeking for funds to go to Rio. 

"The office of the minister of sports also wrote to our sponsors, Globacom to recognise Okumagba as the chairman and to pay him our sponsorship money. All these smirks of gross abuse of office on the part of the minister, "he stated. 

Conclusively, he admonished the federal government to be wary of placing the fortunes and future of Nigerian sports and particularly, the youths in the hands of myopic and clueless officials. 

" It is a fact that sports, particularly, football has been a rallying point, as well as a unifying factor to bring peace, unity and love to the people. "Therefore, the presidency should call the office of the minister to order. He should not be allowed to destroy our sports, which has continued to serve as panacea to our myriad of political and socio-economic problems," he added.

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Top Secret: Buhari Shuns Ministers Seeking His Audience On Burning National Issues

SignalNG- Members of the Nigerian Federal Executive Council have suffered shabby treatment at the hands of their principal, President Muhammadu Buhari after the President turned down a request by his Ministers who were seeking audience with him to engage him on pressing matters of governance, SIGNAL can report.

A top government source informed about the development told SIGNAL on Friday the Ministers received a rude shock when they approached the President with a request seeking audience with him on issues relating to the challenges they were facing in the management of their various Ministries and other assignments they were carrying out for the Federal Government at the President’s behest.

According to the source who did not want to be named, the Ministers had confidently approached the President and were optimistic of getting a positive response, only for their expectations to be dashed on the rocks.

“The Ministers reached out to the President to give all thirty-six of them audience to discuss several challenges and frustrations they were facing at their various Ministries. But the President shocked them with a cold response. He told them; “Well, thank God there are only 30 days in a month”, as if to suggest that if he were to spare a day for each Minister, one whole month will not be enough. That was the end of the discussion”, the source said.

Another source familiar with the development defended the request by the Ministers stating that the Ministers were not asking for one whole day for each Minister. “The least the President should have done was listen carefully and ask questions if need be. The Ministers were not asking him to give one day each to every one of them, they just needed a forum where they could really engage their Boss and bring him up to speed on some knotty issues. But he shut them down”, the source disclosed.

Asked if the Federal Executive Council meetings were not sufficient for Ministers to engage the President, the source said the weekly Wednesday meeting of the Federal Executive Council was not the “convenient” place to discuss certain issues the Ministers had hoped to individually discuss with the President. According to the source, “The weekly Wednesday FEC meetings are not regular and on the few occasions they meet, the President makes it a very brief meeting, leaving no convenient room for any proper engagement”.

This recent development marks the second in a row where President Buhari is reported to have treated his Ministers with contempt.

Recently, an exclusive report by this newspaper revealed how the President walked out on a meeting with a team of Ministers sent by their colleagues to discuss the issue of their accommodation as Ministers with him. Although Solomon Dalung, one of the Ministers named in the exclusive SIGNAL report denied the report, Thisday newspapers, a Nigerian national daily corroborated the report, stating that such a meeting indeed happened.

President Buhari’s shabby treatment of his Ministers has been linked to a comment ascribed to him during an exclusive interview with France 24 TV’s François Picard where he declared to the astonishment of Nigerians and the world that Ministers are noisemakers.

Angry Buhari Walks Out On 'Stranded' Ministers Over Frivolous Demand

The ministers received a shock of their lives as President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly walked out on them over what could be termed as frivolous demand for accommodation allowances at a time the economy is biting harder even on the common citizens

Most of the Minister, which report says are still stranded 6 months after President Muhammadu Buhari swore them in, have still not settled down in Abuja and are groaning because the N4 million approved by the president as their yearly accommodation allowance have not been able to rent any meaningful house in Abuja, ThisDay says.

The scene, according to SignalNG, reportedly took place at last Wednesday saw President Buhari walked out on a meeting with a team of ministers who scheduled a meeting with the President last Wednesday on behalf of their colleagues to make a case for decent accommodation. The ministers, led by Youth and Sports Minister Solomon Dalung had sought the audience of President Buhari to acquaint him with what ministers in his cabinet were suffering when all of a sudden the President stood up and ‘excused himself’ leaving the ministers dejected and hopeless.

“The ministers have been facing serious challenges with accommodation and they put their heads together to go and see the President hoping that they could persuade him to do something. Dalung was the spokesperson of the ministers, Communication Minister Adebayo Shittu was also at the meeting. Where the problem started was when Dalung started making reference to how ministers got a nice accommodation package under previous governments. He actually said that under Jonathan, ministers were given N20 million each for accommodation. When he said that, Buhari asked if he meant N20 million for all the ministers and Dalung replied that it was N20 million per person. It was at this point that Buhari stood up and said he was taking his leave and leaving Osinbajo to “sort it out” with them”, the source disclosed.

Buhari’s ministers have been complaining about the meager N4 million approved by Buhari for their accommodation. The Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu was only recently able to get an accommodation in Abuja after his state governor, Abiola Ajimobi graciously helped him with an extra N2 million, a source who did not want to be named told this newspaper.

On his part, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung recently secured a low-key accommodation at Gwarinpa district of Abuja where he now resides.

However, not all ministers are groaning under the accommodation challenge, as a few of them are believed to be wealthy enough to afford any type of accommodation anywhere in the world. Conspicuously absent at the meeting with Buhari were the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola and Minister of Solid Minerals, Kayode Fayemi. The ministers are ex-governors and super ministers in Buhari’s cabinet.

Quoting a presidency source on Monday, Thisday reports that Buhari rejected the request by the ministers “because his hands are tied by the Remuneration Act, even though he empathises with their situation. They were asking for N20 million per annum for their accommodation. But prior to last week’s meeting, several other options had been proposed, including buying an estate or the FCDA (Federal Capital Development Authority) building one, but these were considered expensive and dropped. The final option was the request for N20 million per annum, because some ministers are squatting in Abuja and the situation is impacting on their jobs.”

A four to five-bedroom detached house in Wuse 2 district of Abuja, goes for anywhere between N8 million to N10 million per annum. The rate is almost the same in Gwarinpa Phase 1 and Jabi parts of Abuja, while a four-bedroom detached house in Maitama or Asokoro goes for between N10 million and N15 million per annum.