Enugu APC Chieftain ‘Slaps’ Ex Governorship Candidate Over Ministerial Slot

The Enugu chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been hit with a major crisis after report emerged on Friday that the APC National Vice-Chairman, South-East, Mr. Emma Eneukwu, allegedly slapped the party’s governorship candidate, Mr. Okey Ezea, following an argument over ministerial slot in the forthcoming Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

The alleged incident took place on Thursday during a meeting of South-East APC leaders at the Imo State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja.

It was gathered that the closed-door meeting was chaired by Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, and had Senator Chris Ngige, Senator Osita Izunaso, Gen. J. O. J. Okoloagu (retd.), and others in attendance.

Ezea disclosed the development in a text message that was forwarded to journalists in Enugu on Friday.

Apparently, the meeting discussed the sharing of key appointments as Ezea, in the SMS, said Eneukwu slapped him because he (Ezea) told the South-East leaders that Nsukka zone, where he hailed from, should produce the minister.

He accused Eneukwu, who is from Udi, Enugu West Senatorial Zone, of wanting the ministerial slot for himself and trying to actualise the ambition through violence.

The text message read, “Emma Eneukwu slapped me today because I told South-East leaders that Nsukka has not been minister since 1999.

“He did this before Rochas, Ngige, Izunaso, J. O. J, Gen. Eze, Ucha etc.

“I just said the truth and requested justice and equity in the affairs of our party and Enugu State.

“Emma (Eneukwu) wants to be minister by violence. Emma is from Udi Local Government Area which has been producing minister since 2007, including the incumbent, Chinedu Nebo.”

When Punch contacted him on the telephone afterwards, Ezea confirmed that the text message actually emanated from him.

But Eneukwu denied slapping Ezea, adding that such incident never happened.

He said, “I am surprised about that, nothing like that happened, I am very surprised.

“That story is alien to me; I don’t know anything about it.

“Maybe it is a calculated attempt to mar my image. I didn’t attack anybody, I am not a thug. I don’t fight.”

Asked what transpired at the said meeting, he said, “We went to see Buhari, that was all I knew. “Nobody was talking about appointment.

“We will not be talking about appointment when the party has not decided on the positions that should come to the zone. We have not known the positions allocated to the zone.”

It was gathered that the alleged incident has thrown the Enugu State chapter of the party into confusion.

Meanwhile members of APC who are of Igbo origin are divided over who becomes the next secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), as the fight for the post has split them into three bitterly divided camps.

Fani Kayode's ex-girlfriend alleges threats to life

An ex-girlfriend of Femi Fani Kayode, Chief Mrs Adaobi Uchegbu, has alleged that there are threats to her life by unknown persons who have tapped into her telephone lines.

Mrs Uchegbu raised the alarm via her Facebook page this afternoon, May 1, claiming her life was in danger following interviews she made about her ex-lover, Fani Kayode and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

According to her posts:

In 2013, Femi Fani-Kayode, wrote a series of opinion articles on the Igbo ethnic nationality where he named three of his former girlfriends Bianca Ojukwu, Chioma Anasoh, and Adaobi Uchegbu, as Igbo women he once had “long-standing and intimate” relationship with as evidence he was not anti-Igbo.

Following the criticism that greeted his article, Mr Kayode later apolosized for naming his ex-girlfriends  in the article. He said  was inappropriate for him to have mentioned their names in the essay, to use them as a point of reference in a public discussion or to make any references whatsoever to the nature of their past association.

Popular Nollywood Actor Passes On In Asaba

The famous Nollywood actor Peter Bunor reportedly died on Friday, May 1, in Asaba, Delta state.

His popular son Peter Bunor Jnr made the announcement on Facebook:‘In the early hours of today,my father, friend, teacher, confidant passed on,’

The funeral arrangements are to be announced shortly, the son added.

According to reports, the late actor, who was a native of Ogwashi Uku in Delta state, passed on several months after he survived a stroke.

Among popular movies the late Bunor took part in before his death are the Cock Crow at Dawn, Memorial Hospital, Checkmate, Sound of Destiny, Second Chance, Third Eye and several movies which include Living In Bondage.

However, in 2013 Bunor had lamented that he had been neglected by his colleagues.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala reveals she has been living with cancer for the last 15 years

FINANCE minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has revealed shocking details of how she has survived cancer and battled on with her public life despite having to undergo several surgical operations.

Speaking yesterday during the service of songs of presidential aide Oronto Douglas, Dr Okonjo-Iweala stunned mourners by revealing that she had survived cancer after being diagnosed with the ailment 15 years ago. Mr Douglas who died of cancer earlier this month, aged 49, was President Goodluck Jonathan's special adviser on research and strategy.

At yesterday's service of songs in Abuja attended by a cross section of society, President Jonathan was represented by Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, the secretary to the government of the federation. Also in attendance were former Ekiti State governor Kayode Fayemi and Pastor Tunde Bakare who brought greetings from president-elect General Muhammadu Buhari.

Former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission chairman Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, also attended, as did senator-elect Ben Murray Bruce and the deputy managing director of Thisday, Kayode Komolafe. Tributes from several speakers centered on how Mr Douglas built bridges across political divides but it was Dr Okonjo-Iweala who stunned everyone with her revelation.

Dr Okonjo-Iweala said: “Oronto and I had two similarities in life, we both had cancer. I had my last surgery 15 years ago and I shared my experience with him.”

Tributes also came from former Bayelsa State governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, Dr Sam Amadi, the chairman of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission, Reverend Nnimmo Bassey, Yinka Odumakin and Ken Saro Wiwa. An environmental lawyer, Mr Douglas used to be a champion of the deprived communities in the Niger Delta before following President Jonathan into government.

Corruption: Buhari to revisit past probe panel reports – Those indicted may refund public funds

The incoming administration of the President-elect, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), is set to revisit the reports of panels set up by the National Assembly to investigate various financial scandals in Federal Government’s agencies and ministries.

Saturday PUNCH gathered in Abuja, on Friday, that top among reports that the administration would examine include the fuel subsidy and N255m bulletproof cars scam probes by the House of Representatives as well as the pension scandal investigation by the Senate.

It was gathered that Buhari’s pronouncement that he would take another look at the missing $20bn was a precursor to the administration’s desire to retrieve illegally held public funds.

A former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, now Emir of Kano, Mohammed Sanusi II, had alleged that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation did not account for $20bn due to be remitted to the Federation Account.

A competent source close to Buhari, who pleaded for anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said the general knew that he had limited time within which to turn around the nation, as such, he had no intention of wasting public funds on endless probes.

This, it was gathered, informed a tentative decision by the incoming administration, not to embark on fresh probes, but review reports and recommendations of “compelling” cases handled by the National Assembly.

Also, a top member of the All Progressives Congress, who confided in Saturday PUNCH, said, with the current fuel scarcity, it had become necessary for the administration to examine the fuel subsidy regime.

The APC chieftain said that the administration would find the report of the House of Representatives’ investigation into fuel subsidy in 2012 useful.

He said, “For now, we have decided not to comment on the issues of probes so as not to heat up the transition, but what I can tell you is that we will not encourage the culture of impunity.

“With the fuel scarcity in many parts of the country, the report of the House of Representatives investigation will be among those to be examined. We suspect that there is massive fraud in the fuel subsidy.”

According to him, the incoming administration will not dissipate energy embarking on fresh probes.

He explained that the administration would look at ways of implementing recommendations of panels set up by the National Assembly.

The APC top member stated, “If you recall, during the campaigns, any time he (Buhari) accused the outgoing administration of corrupt tendencies, he made reference to recommendations contained in reports which he said, the Jonathan administration, has shown a lack of political will to implement.

“What you are likely to see happening is a revisit of investigations into scandals such as the missing $20bn, the pension funds and the fuel subsidy. Where reports recommend that individuals refund public funds, these funds must be refunded.

“Where they recommend that individuals or institutions be prosecuted, that will be done.

“The anti-graft agencies will be repositioned to perform the functions for which they were established. It is certainly not going to be business as usual.”

The insider also referred Saturday PUNCH to what the President-elect said about his approach to fighting the scourge of corruption, during his presentation at Chatham House, London, shortly before the elections.

Buhari had during the lecture said, “On corruption, there will be no confusion as to where I stand. Corruption will have no place and the corrupt people will not be appointed into my administration.

“First and foremost, we will plug the holes in the budgetary process. Revenue producing entities such as NNPC and Customs and Excise will have one set of books only.

“Their revenues will be publicly disclosed and regularly audited. The institutions of state dedicated to fighting corruption will be given independence and prosecutorial authority without political interference.”

When contacted, the Director of Media and Publicity of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Mallam Garba Shehu, said, he was not in a position to comment on policy issues.

He said, “…Even on the issue of the missing $20bn which he (Buhari) was reported to have said he would take a look at, I was not at the event. Our concern now is to ensure a seamless transfer of power.”

Following the nationwide protests that greeted the move by the Jonathan administration to remove fuel subsidy in January 2012, the House of Representatives set up an ad hoc committee which investigated the management of the subsidy regime.

The House in April 2012 approved recommendations of its Ad Hoc Committee on Monitoring of the Subsidy Regime.

Among others, the panel recommended that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency and 72 other firms refund N1.07tn said to have been fraudulently paid to oil marketers.

To be part of the refund is also the Office of the Accountant–General, which allegedly paid N127.8bn within 24 hours to unknown beneficiaries. The AGF paid N999m 28 times in one day to the “unknown entities.”

All members of staff of the NNPC, PPPRA and DPR involved in the processing of applications for fuel imports were recommended for investigation for “negligence, collusion and fraud.”

Another report, which Saturday PUNCH gathered would attract the attention of the incoming administration, is the N255m car scam that led to the removal of the Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah.

Although the President removed Oduah as recommended by the House, it was gathered that the APC leaders believed that there were other aspects of the report that should be implemented.

Oduah was accused of approving expenditure of over N643m for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority to procure 54 vehicles.

The House noted that the approval exceeded her limit as approval limit as a minister which was N100m.

The NCAA purchased two bulletproof BMW cars at the cost of N255m without the approval of the National Assembly.

The House further recommended the ministry and the NCAA to terminate all the transactions relating to the bulletproof cars because they “were neither provided for in the Appropriation Act, 2013, nor was due process followed in their procurement.”

In addition to terminating the transactions, the House ordered that “all money so far spent on the entire transactions should be recovered by the Ministry of Finance and paid back into the Consolidated Fund of the Federation.”

The House faulted the diversion of waivers meant for other purposes to import the bulletproof cars and asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to “investigate the chassis number (DW68032) of one of the vehicles on the one reported to have been delivered and the one inspected by the committee members.

It also asked the EYCK to “investigate and if found wanting, prosecute all persons/institutions involved in the transactions.”

Coscharis Nigeria Limited, which supplied the controversial cars, was not left out.

The House directed that the company should be investigated on the “issue of waiver” and also to determine the “exact cost of the two BMW vehicles.”

It also ordered the company to pay the value of the waiver to the Federal Government.

Attempts to get an official reaction from the APC were unsuccessful.

Phone calls to the mobile telephone number of the party’s national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, were neither picked nor replied. A response to a text message sent to him was still being awaited as of the time of filing this report 8:05pm.

Source: The PUNCH

Want to boost your brain power? Try regular sex

Apart from the enjoyment, medicinal value, stress reduction and superlative pleasure that sex offers, it appears that couples who engage in the act regularly may, be enhancing their brain power and intelligence, especially for people who are new in love.

Medical experts have always said that sex is good for the health, but a new study has found that ‘doing it’ could boost intelligence. The researchers that carried out the study said sex stimulates the growth of brain cells in the part of the brain responsible for memory and learning. They also said they found out that sex protects the brain cells against decline.

In other words, couples with active sex lives are more likely to have increased memory, brain power and intelligence, all of which tend to be stronger when the relationship is still new.

The study found that regular intercourse could make the brain more alert and boost overall intelligence.

However, according to findings, other health benefits of regular sex include lower blood pressure, emotional well-being, reduced migraine pain, increased level of testosterone, lower risk of prostate cancer among men, fewer menopause symptoms among women and higher level of cranial nerve growth.

In addition, a Canadian study found out that in an average 25 minutes of sex (equivalent to walking uphill for 20 minutes), men used up an average of 100 calories while women used 69, which corroborates the fact that sex is a form of exercise.

Notably, the link between regular sex and increased alertness has to do with the high levels of nerve growth (as a result of falling in love and having sex) and brain cells that are essential in human’s well-being and mental alertness.

In the study, the researchers carried out a test on the blood of three different groups of people; those who had just fallen in love, those in long-term relationships and singles.

At the end of the study, reviewed by Daily Mail, the researchers from the University of Pavia, Italy, found that people in new relationships showed significantly high levels of nerve and brain cells growth compared to those in long-term relationship and those who are still single.

Interestingly, the levels of the growth of the nerve and brain cells fell the longer a couple stayed together, which implies a distinct health benefit derivable by people in new relationships.

Thus, the study found that frequent sex not only reduces stress, it increases nerve health and boosts brain power, especially in people that are in love newly than in those with long-lasting relationships or those in no relationship at all.

The study said, “Sex could also encourage growth of brain cells in the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory and learning, and it protects against mental decline by bringing more nutrients to the brain.

“Madonna, who has never made her love for sex a secret, is said to have an IQ of 140, which puts her at ‘near genius level.’”

One of the lead researchers, Dr. Arun Ghosh, pointed out that there is some evidence that older people who are sexually active are less likely to have dementia. “But as well as boosting brain cells, sex could also sharpen a woman’s mind due to a surge in sex hormones, particularly testosterone, which can help improve concentration and reaction times.

“A huge amount of brain stimulus occurs during intercourse, that is why we feel so overtaken when we orgasm. When researchers do MRI scans on people in orgasm, they observe both sides of the brain being stimulated, including parts of the brain we would not normally use,” he added.

The researchers further pointed out that stress and depression shrink the hippocampus but that exercise and sex are good ways to get rid of such factors.

Also, a professor of psychology and expert in sex and neuroscience at Rutgers University, New Jersey, United States, Barry Komisaruk, noted that sex causes an increase in the flow of blood to the brain, thereby increasing oxygen levels.

“MRI scans have shown that during orgasm, the neurons in the brain are more active and use more oxygen. It appears that the more active the neurons, the more oxygen they withdraw from the blood, so more oxygenated blood is supplied to the region, delivering a fresh supply of nutrients,” he said.

In another comparative study, researchers at Princeton University in the US examined the mental health of rats, by dividing male rats into two groups. One group had sex once a week while the other group had sex daily for two weeks. After the study, it was found that the rats that had sex daily experienced more nerve cell growth and lower levels of stress hormone in their system.

According to iheartsintelligence.com, there are good reasons for couples to have sex daily or as much as couples can. The reasons highlighted include the fact that sex keeps people fit, young, due to the stimulation of anti-ageing hormone,and healthier.

The site pointed out that, “A study done in Scotland showed that people who had more sex, specifically women, had lower blood pressure than women who abstained from sex. Researchers at Brigham Young University found the exact same results. Also, a study in Australia also found people who climaxed at least three times a week had a 50 per cent lower chance of dying for any medical reason than those who only climaxed once a month.

“Sex is good for the skin, it can make someone’s day memorable; it helps women to get rid of menstrual cramps, as it is good for all sorts of period-related issues. Also, sex gets rid of pain, as scientists have found that orgasms and vaginal stimulation can block general pain and chronic back and leg pain.”

In an article by HuffPost, it pointed out that even though there are usually legitimate reasons not to have sex, couples should endeavour to have it. It noted that regardless of stress, being too tired, distracted, not being in the mood, couples having sex with one’s spouse on nearly daily basis comes with some advantages.

“It provides some much-needed time for couples, it leads to more romantic gestures outside the bedroom, a good form of exercise, builds trust, breeds closeness, creativity and understanding between partners, and improves self-esteem and mood,” it added.

Reacting to the study, a professor of psychology, Oni Fagboungbe, said sex involves a lot of cognitive activities and activation of cells, including the brain cells, adding that the more the cells are activated, the more they grow and the more they perform. He stressed that sex has a lot to do with the brain.

He said, “Having sex is like engaging brain cells in active performance, and if you do it regularly, the probability of growing the cells is higher. Sex is hooked on the brain and it consumes a lot of energy, even more than when one is involved in activities that are more physically rigorous.

“Sex involves a lot of energy and it involves brain cells to keep it going. And some of the drugs people use during sex to prolong orgasm and have more satisfaction work on that aspect of the brain that has to do with the release of hormones. So, the more sex one has, the more the cells are activated.”

Source: PUNCH