smellgist.com: 2016-06-19

Saturday, 25 June 2016

INEC Commission to mark maiden `INEC Day’ at NYSC orientation camps

The Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), says it will mark the maiden edition of the `INEC Day’ at National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), orientation camps across the country, on Monday, June 27.

INEC’s daily bulletin issued on Friday in Abuja stated that the decision was in furtherance of the commission’s "Voter Education drive.’’

It stated that INEC would use the occasion to engage NYSC members, 2016 Batch A stream II, on various topics such as Voter Education/INEC Ambassador; and role of youth corps members.

The Nigerian Army says it will not be distracted in its resolve to end Boko Haram terrorism in the North East.

Maj.-Gen. Lucky Irabor, the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole disclosed this while speaking with newsmen in Maiduguri on Saturday, June 25.

Irabor was reacting to an online publication alleging diversion of money meant for the prosecution of the war by the military high command.

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has held the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state responsible for the protest staged against him, calling for his resignation.

He said the call for his resignation is "laughable and absolute balder dash.”

A coalition of civil society organisations and the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties in Ado Ekiti on Friday, June 24, marched in protest against the Governor.

Indonesia's foreign minister said on Friday a halt on coal shipments to the Philippines will remain until Manila can secure its waters after seven Indonesian sailors were kidnapped, the latest in a string of abductions.

Philippine authorities could not immediately confirm the hostage-taking but said a Filipino woman held since September was freed on Friday by Abu Sayyaf, an Islamist militant groupthat has amassed tens of millions of dollars from kidnappings for ransom.

The Nigerian Army, has dismissed a media report that the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Tukur Buratai, and his two wives joint owners of a Dubai property that was paid for in one transaction.

The report, which was published by Sahara Reports, had claimed that the money for the purchase of the property may have come from a vehicle contract scam while Buratai was the Director of Procurement at the Army HQ, before his appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari as COAS.

When it comes to sex, there are certain concerns most of us have. Sure, men and women are different in a lot of other instances, but our sex fears are actually pretty similar.

A survey has revealed the top 10 most common fears women have about sex.Here are the top ten things Women fear the most when it comes to sex.

Buhari’s wrong medicine for workers’ ailments By Olalekan Adetayo

Despite the fact that they work inside the Villa, many of the civil servants working in the seat of power have never seen successive Presidents one-on-one. The best these workers get is when they see them on television or on the pages of newspapers like every other person.

One can then imagine how excited the workers were when they resumed on Wednesday and saw a circular directing them to attend a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari by 2pm. Those who were already at work started putting calls across to those who were still on the way. That was not the type of meeting that anybody would want to miss. Even those who are on vacation but are within reach will naturally want to be part of it.

My column last week was on Mexico, a country I visited last month. I tried in the article, to point out how Mexico which might become a major economic power in less than a decade, had benefited from its close proximity to the US through tourism. In fact, Mexico receives one of the world’s largest numbers of tourists in a year according to statistics. Yet, its tourism strengths —weather, historic sights and the seas —are not greater than ours. If anything, Nigeria has a more diverse weather. Gov Ambode The major differences are in our cost of living, our infrastructural development and our attitude to service. Last week’s article was not my first on our tourism potential.

And each time I tried to emphasise on the advantages of our coastal towns. There is something about nature and the ocean that frees the minds and attracts tourists in droves. Badagry in my mind, has always seemed a good example of how a coastal town can feed off an industrial city while boosting the revenue of both. I hadn’t been to Badagry in years despite the fact that I lived in Festac Town for almost 30 years. But there was a time, especially during my bachelor years that I visited the historic town often. It took about an hour from Mile Two and less from Festac to get to

Let me quickly apologize for my difficulty in continuing this week with our discussion points on the implications of funding better universities instead of more. The debate, just like the federal government’s tenure policy in the public, sector is not abolished; it is only suspended. But while one is not sure that the suspension of the tenure policy for the permanent secretaries and directors will be lifted before 2019, I am sure I will return to our symposium on better universities. I will be an ethical promise keeper until something good happens to the university system in Nigeria, our Nigeria. I had to suspend the timeless issue because a lot of hot and perishable stories are just breaking forth so fast. And we can’t ignore them as newsmen, lest we should be the last.

“Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad”. When Prometheus, Henry Longfellow’s character in the 1875 poem, “The Masque of Pandora”, uttered those timeless words, the author never anticipated a Mr. Fayose of Nigeria putting life into such immortal lines in 2016. However, driven by the imps of gross miscalculation and wanton lust for reckless ‘popularity’, Fayose has audaciously sallied forth from one needless controversy to another – criticizing, pontificating, puffing, huffing and making allegations that elicit the amazement of both contemplative citizens and featherbrained fans. Yes!

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose’s rascally impetuousness and sheepish political pranks have become parts of the nation’s somewhat sickening democratic trajectory. His self-professed disdain for a Muhammadu Buhari presidency explains the relentlessness with which he stalks every move made by the administration. At the silliest height of his rant, he invoked the spirit of death against the President. Fayose it was who told a stunned nation that octogenarian Buhari should be on diapers just like his (Fayose’s) mother! He equally has ranted severally about a presumed life-threatening disease impeding the ability of Buhari to govern well. He has accused the President of leading a herd of corrupt people to ‘ruin’ Nigeria. As long as the topic is Buhari, Fayose has never failed to unleash bareknuckle punches. For him, Buhari is not just the gravest mistake in Aso Rock; he is a tragedy in governance.

WHAT is news? That is one big question I try to answer in this wonderful career of mine where every day, every time, every moment, I train my mind, my heart, my soul to look at everything from the angle of news.

For me as a newsman and a Bible scholar, nothing can beat the definition of news as an event of miraculous proportion. Yes, every miracle is news even though every news item doesn’t necessarily have to be miraculous. But the more miraculous, the bigger the news.

The Bible for me is the “Good News,” a book filled with timeless, relevant and often questionable and controversial news items. Even though the events reported are sometimes strange and fantastic, even though they are situated in the foggy past, they are still fresh, newsy and timelessly topical. Each time they are retold, they give us hope, faith, love, strength and trust in the Almighty Father who created the universe and is still in charge of our fates. The Old and New Testaments are still credible stories, carried on the wings of faith and belief that they actually happened. Without faith and belief, some of these biblical stories sound mythical and fictional. So, it all depends on your faith—whether you believe them or not. As for me, I am a believer in the Bible and I believe the fact that God from the beginning is a journalist and journalism is one profession practised in heaven. I believe God is the Supreme Editor who is the word, a wordsmith who edits our lives and everything in this world.

STORIES that have been making the rounds in the media since the sudden death of two former Nigeria’s national team coaches, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi and Amodu Shuaibu, have not been quite pleasant. Of particular interest is the angle that accuses the Edo State Government and the Nigerian Football Federation of failing abysmally to support the two coaches when it mattered most. What I could easily deduce from the stories is that the coaches would not have died if the government had taken adequate care of them.

If what the media had written so far were anything to go by then the government should be blamed for their deaths. I read a most disheartening story last week told about Amodu’s life of misery by his close relation, one Afegbua. According to Afegbua, Amodu wrote several letters to the governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, drawing his attention to the huge debts owed him by the state government and the need for expedited action to enable him meet some of his pressing needs. Going further, Afegbua stated that Amodu was forced to resign his post as a coach with the state government since the government through the Accountant general of the state stopped his salary since mid last year.

Forget all the lies you have been told about Multi Level Marketing, we make a lot of money from Tiens or Tianshi Multi Level Marketing.

I and My wife are Tiens Multi Level Marketing Professionals. Unfortunately, most people in Nigeria and different parts of the world have had reasons to develop negative impressions about Multi Level marketing business. I sincerely concur. Tiens or Tianshi distributors have in the past, painted Tiens business as a “get rich quick scheme” They talk about it as if when you join today, money starts flowing tomorrow even when you do nothing. They hype the business as if it doesn’t require any effort on your part. Some even suggests that you don’t need to sell the products, that all you need to do is just bring people and have them registerd. These are all Lies, and I mean, absolute lies!

U.S. officials have “solid evidence” of the alleged misconduct Ambassador James Entwistle reported to House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, high-level diplomatic sources have told PREMIUM TIMES.

In a letter dated June 9, the U.S. Ambassador in Nigeria, Mr. Entwistle, accused three Nigerian lawmakers – Mohammed Garba Gololo (Bauchi APC), Samuel Ikon (Akwa Ibom PDP) and Mark Gbillah (Benue APC) – of soliciting sexual favours from hotel staff in two separate incidents.

Mr. Gololo allegedly grabbed a housekeeper in his hotel room and solicited her for sex while Messrs. Ikon and Gbilla allegedly requested hotel parking attendants to assist them to procure prostitutes.

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman Ibrahim Magu vowed yesterday that the agency would go after banks being used for the looting of the nation’s treasury and money laundering.

He asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop private banking in the country and pledged the determination of his team to give corruption a brutal fight.

Magu was reported by the agency’s in-house magazine, Alert, as telling Channels Television in an interview that the era was gone when treasury looters kept their money under the guise of private banking.

He said there was no more hiding place for banks to be used by corrupt public officials and fraudsters.

As part of the options of resolving the crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), some governors and leaders of the party have started consultations on how to concede the National Chairman to the South West.

The development may lead to the party asking both the sacked National Chairman of the party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, to step aside.

The ceding of the slot to the South-West was said to be a midstream approach (otherwise dubbed the third alternative) to the crisis which had been purportedly fuelled by PDP leaders from the North.

It was not immediately clear if the two warring factions will buy into this option.

According to investigation, some governors and leaders of the party have started looking beyond the court to resolve the unending crisis in the PDP.

Civil servants in Ekiti State on Friday suspended their 30-day-old strike following the signing of an agreement between labour leaders and the state government.

The meeting agreed to a seven-point resolution which included that no worker and representatives of labour should be punished or victimised as a result of the strike.

On the government side were the Secretary to the Government, Dr. Modupe Alade; the Head of Service, Dr. Gbenga Faseluka and the Chief of Staff, Chief Dipo Anisulowo.

On the side of the labour were the Chairman, Joint Negotiating Council, Oladipo Johnson; the State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Ade Adesanmi and State Chairman of the Trade Union Congress, Odunayo Adesoye.

According to a copy of the memorandum of understanding made available to journalists in Ado Ekiti, the parties agreed that the state government should, within seven days, conclude its request with commercial banks to restructure personal loans granted public servants with a view to giving them relief from loan repayment.

Ahead of their trial on Monday for alleged forgery, the Federal Government has listed 14 witnesses against the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, and the Deputy President of the Senate, Chief Ike Ekweremadu.

Others for trial on Monday are the immediate past Clerk to the National Assembly, Salisu Abubakar Maikasuwa, and the Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly, Benedict Efeture.

But there was anxiety last night, following the police report which indicated that the 7th Senate leadership, headed by a former President of the Senate, Chief David Mark, was also culpable on the amendments to the Senate Standing Rules 2015.

The Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly, Efeture, told the police that the 7th Senate leadership ordered the 2015 Standing Rules as amended by their convention and practice.

The alleged involvement of Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State in the sharing of N4.7 billion released for the 2014 governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states yesterday sparked a massive protest in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.

Thousands of protesters stormed the streets, condemning what they termed the looting of the treasury in the midst of widespread suffering by the majority of the people.

They asked the governor to resign, having failed to pay civil servants for the sixth month running while he has billions of naira in his own personal account.

The protesters declared their support for the anti-corruption crusade of President Muhammadu Buhari and called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to bring Fayose and others who have been indicted to book.

The anti-corruption agency during the week named Fayose as a major beneficiary of the slush fund.

Consequently, it restricted the governor’s Zenith Bank accounts, which it said were used in sharing the alleged loot.

The Federal Government and 10 other states lost over N538bn to thousands of ghost workers in the last five years, investigations by Saturday PUNCHhave revealed.

Of the amount, the Federal Government paid N220bn to 103,000 ghost workers between September 2013 and May 2015.

The remaining N318bn was paid by 10 states of the federation. The states are Katisna, N30bn; Kano, N17bn; Rivers, N60; Benue, N10.2bn; Oyo, N18bn; Abia, N26.5bn; Adamawa, N20.4bn; Akwa-Ibom, N15bn; Bayelsa, N120bn and Ekiti, N1.2bn.

A breakdown of the amount showed that the sum of N170bn involving 60,000 ghost workers was saved during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, while the balance of N50bn, involving 43,000 ghost workers, was saved between February and May this year.

Britain’s stunning vote to leave the European Union, buoyed by a frenzy of nationalism and populist anger, was a crushing rejection of the political elite. Republican Donald Trump hopes it is also a preview of November’s U.S. presidential election.

The referendum result reverberated immediately in a U.S. presidential campaign dominated by Trump’s rapid rise to capture the nomination, fueled by a similar brew of anti-establishment and anti-globalization sentiment.

The vote in Britain reinforced the notion that the insurgent campaign launched by the wealthy real estate developer had tapped into a global political movement that might be hard to stop.

“This is a protest vote against globalization and there is one presidential candidate who won the nomination who has put globalization in his crosshairs – and that’s Donald Trump,” Republican strategist John Feehery said.

Trump, who has spent much of his campaign warning of the dangers posed by immigrants who illegally enter from Mexico and proposing a temporary ban on U.S. entry for Muslims, has matched the global mood with his rhetoric.

The wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha, has reportedly breached a major protocol during the recent meeting with Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, the Alaafin of Oyo.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaking following the results of the EU referendum. REUTERS/UK Parliament via REUTERS TV

A second Scottish independence referendum is “highly likely”, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Friday, raising the prospect that the United Kingdom could tear itself apart after voting to leave the European Union.

Scotland, a nation of five million people, voted decisively to stay in the EU by 62 to 38 percent in a referendum on Thursday, putting it at odds with the United Kingdom as a whole, which voted 52-48 in favor of an exit from the EU, or Brexit.

“As things stand, Scotland faces the prospect of being taken out of the EU against her will. I regard that as democratically unacceptable,” Sturgeon told a news conference in Edinburgh.

“I think an independence referendum is now highly likely.”

Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton regained a double-digit lead over Republican rival Donald Trump this week, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday.

The June 20-24 poll showed that 46.6 percent of likely American voters supported Clinton while 33.3 percent supported Trump. Another 20.1 percent said they would support neither candidate.

Trump had enjoyed a brief boost in support following the June 12 mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, as he doubled down on his pledge to ban Muslims from entering the country, cutting Clinton’s lead to nine points.

But Trump’s rise in popularity appeared to be only temporary, unlike his lasting surge among the Republican field last year after the attacks in Paris and in San Bernardino, California.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday tried to limit the fallout from Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, which threatens to harm the U.S. economic recovery, derail his trade agenda and distract U.S. allies from global security issues.

Obama, who had argued passionately against Britain leaving the EU in a trip to the country this year, vowed that Washington would still maintain both its “special relationship” with London and close ties to Brussels.

“While the UK’s relationship with the EU will change, one thing that will not change is the special relationship that exists between our two nations. That will endure,” he told an event at Stanford University, referring to close ally Britain. “The EU will remain one of our indispensable partners,” Obama said.

He spoke to outgoing British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel after the stunning result of Thursday’s referendum, the biggest blow to the European project of greater unity since World War Two.

A group of ex-militants under the aegis of National Coalition of Niger Delta Ex-Agitators (NCNDE-A) have asked President Buhari to approve the payment of the outstanding allowances owed them.

The group said the payment of the stipends will help most families feed in this harsh economic period.

The President of the group, Israel Akpodoro also said militancy will reduce in the Niger Delta if the outstanding allowances are paid.

Ngozi Ezeonu

Ngozi Ezeonu , the pretty Nigerian Actress was born on May 23, 1965 to Mr. and Mrs. D.O. Ikpelue. She is an indigene of Ogbunike in Anambra State, Nigeria. She is

married and blessed with four Children.

Ngozi Ezeonu obtained a Diploma Degree in Journalism and worked as a Journalist for some time before she joined Nollywood in 1993.

According to a new study from "The Journal of Marriage and Family", house chores can be made sexy if only they are shared by both partners.

When the Marital and Relationship Survey from 2006 and the National Survey on Families and Households from the early '90s asked married couples how they divided household labor and just how often they got it on? The result was shocking!

Ibrahim Mustafa Magu

Ibrahim Mustafa Magu, the new acting Chairman of Economic and financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) a is a Kanuri from Borno state.

Ibrahim Magu attended the University of Maiduguri where he obtained a degree in Accountancy. Hence he is now a certified accountant, a trained financial crimes investigator with background in forensic accounting, and he also trained at the FBI institute and the London Metropolitan Police institute.

Zion stands by hills surrounded,
Zion, kept by pow’r divine;
All her foes shall be confounded,
Though the world in arms combine;
Happy Zion, what a favored lot is thine!

Ex-Clinton official got Boeing bucks while pushing Iran nuke pact – before $25B jet deal

A former top Clinton administration diplomat who used his political sway to garner support for the Iran nuclear deal apparently was being bankrolled the entire time by Boeing — which is set to make billions off a jet deal with Tehran now that sanctions have been lifted.

Thomas Pickering, who also served as co-chairman of the board examining the Benghazi attack response, publicly pushed for the nuclear deal before its approval last year. He did so by penning op-eds, writing to high-level officials and even testifying before Congress.

With the deal in place, Boeing has since moved forward on a $25 billion deal with Iran Air made possible by the nuclear agreement.

While Pickering never denied being on Boeing’s payroll during the talks, he didn’t regularly disclose it either, according to a new report in The Daily Beast. And that’s the problem, transparency advocates say.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission( EFCC) has traced three posh houses to an associate of Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose.

The houses, one in Abuja and two in Lagos, are believed to have been bought with part of the N1.219billion pumped into the 2014 governorship election. The cash believed to be from the office of the National security Adviser (NSA). Fayose has denied having any dealing with the office while Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.) was in charge.

The cash, detectives believe, was from the N4.745billion allocated to a former Minister of state (Defence) Musiliu Obanikoro by the ONSA as a war chest to win the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states in 2014.

The EFCC has facts to believe that the associate allegedly acted as a front for the governor, who is under investigation.

The agency may seize the properties under the Interim Forfeiture Clause of the EFCC Act.

British Prime Minister David Cameron announces his resignation after the United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union.

Cameron told the nation he had spoken to Queen Elizabeth Friday morning
Cabinet is to meet on Monday to work out next steps forward
Britain to have a new Prime Minister before party conference in October, he said
Final tally released — Leave: 17,410,742 beats Remain: 16,141,241
European markets tumble, pound crashes to its lowest levels in 31 years

Sheriff: Fayose’s conduct shameful …….. NATION

Embattled Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) “National Chairman” Ali Modu Sheriff has described the public conduct of Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose as shameful.

Sheriff was reacting to Fayose’s comment that he was removed as chairman because he was scheming for the 2019 presidential ticket of the PDP and was also baiting some party chieftains with the vice presidential ticket.

At a media briefing in Abuja yesterday, Sheriff said: “I am ashamed at the way and manner Fayose is conducting himself in the country. I was once a governor; so, I know that the position of governor is a very serious one that demands responsible behaviour”.

There was rancour in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, on Thursday, following an armed invasion of Rhythm FM radio station, owned by Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, by some members of the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide.

The angry youth, who stormed the studio in buses and other vehicles, were after two executive members of the IYC and guests of a live radio programme, Talk of the Town, anchored by Lishman Onisodemuya.

They invaded the station in large numbers, causing panic as they released volleys of gunshots into the air and forcing employees in both the radio and television studios of the Silverbird Group to scamper for safety.

A former Deputy Governor of Osun State, Otunba Iyiola Omisore, yesterday urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to bring all the findings against him on alleged receipt of N1.3billion to the court.

He said he did not collect money from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and he never had any dealings with a former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.).

Omisore, in a chat with our correspondent, accused the EFCC of alleged attempt to blackmail the opposition.

He said: “The EFCC won’t stop at any height to blackmail the opposition. My AIT programme has attracted another falsehood to harass me.

“Only yesterday morning, I accused the EFCC of dodging summons. I did not collect any money from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA). I have not had any dealings with the NSA.

The Wife of the President, Aisha Buhari on Wednesday demanded a full retraction of a widely-circulated material distributed by Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, in which he claimed to have uncovered how Mrs. Buhari was allegedly mentioned as having transferred funds to a convicted former U.S. lawmaker, Williams Jefferson.

In a warning letter dispatched through her legal representatives, Mrs. Buhari said Mr. Fayose’s action was directly responsible for the publication of the “very wild and unfounded” allegations in the media.

PIC. 13. SILVERBIRD GALLERY BEING SEALED BY THE ORDER OF THE COURT IN ABUJA ON THURSDAY (23/6/16). 4568/23/6/2016/FOF/RI/HB/BJO/NAN

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) yesterday took over the assets of three firmss belonging Silberbird Group – the famiily firm of Senator Ben Murray-Bruce (Bayelsa East).

Affected are Silverbird Galleria Limited, Silverbird Promotions Limited and Silverbird Showtime Limited. They are located in Lagos, Abuja andPort Harcourt.

The Lagos’ property is located at 133 Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island; Abuja’s property is at Plot No 1161 (Silverbird Galleria), Central Area Cadastral Zone Apo, while Rivers’ is on Abonnema Wharf Road and Abali Park in Port Harcourt.

Elephant Group, one of Nigeria’s biggest commodity traders, is enmeshed in a fresh scandal following a near clandestine import last week of a vessel-load of rice using expired import papers.

In what would amount to a double exploitation of the already weak Nigerian economy, the company used questionable documents to by-pass approval for $5.52 million in foreign exchange from the Central Bank to import a commodity clearly listed by the Federal Government as unqualified for forex approval.

Under the current fiscal policy of the President Muhammadu Buhari government, aimed at conserving scarce foreign currencies and at relaxing pressure on the already weak Naira, rice is one of the 41 import items on the exclusion list of the Federal government and as such is excluded from forex approval.

At least one person was injured Thursday at the Borno State government house when soldiers and police exchanged fire as they fought over food items distributed by the government to mark the Ramadan fast.

The government has since Monday distributed large amounts of rice and Semovita to poor residents.

On Thursday, thousands of people converged at the entrance of the government building in Maiduguri, forming a lengthy queue of men, women and the aged who hoped for either a 25kg bag of rice or Semovita, or both.

Ado-Ekiti—Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has reacted to the alleged denial of the involvement of a second generation bank in the funding of his election in 2014, saying the bank should come out with an official statement on the matter.

The governor was reacting to a news report in the media claiming that the bank had dissociated itself from the funding of his election. Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, in Ado Ekiti yesterday, the governor said, “I stand by my claim that the bank majorly funded my election in June 2014.

”Rather, I expect it to issue an official statement not as feeble as this one being peddled in the media so that I can begin the second stage of my revelations. ”My statement was made in the open and if I can accuse an institution like that in the open, I expect the institution to give official reply.

FOR the fourth time since the death of Antonin Scalia February, a stymied Supreme Court has split 4-4 and failed to come to a decision. Of the four ties, today’s deadlock over United States v Texas, a challenge to Barack Obama’s immigration orders, carries the highest stakes. Up to 5m undocumented immigrants who were the intended beneficiaries of Mr Obama’s 2014 executive actions have lost their chance to apply for a programme that would have given them temporary permission to work and relief from deportation.

The programme, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), sought to protect “hard-working people who have become integrated members of American society” and to keep families from being wrenched apart. DAPA did not confer legal status and was not a path to citizenship, but it gave people whose children were American citizens or permanent residents a chance to “come out of the shadows”, pay taxes and live without the constant fear of immigration agents knocking on their doors.

Pages