Timipre Sylva,former governor of Bayelsa state has denied ever owning forty-eight houses; property which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has linked to him, and for which he faces criminal prosecution. In a statement issued at the behest of the former Bayelsa state governor by his lawyer Mr. Benson Ibezim, Sylva claims that the entire charge against him by the EFCC was no more than hocus-pocus – a great sham aimed at witch-hunt.

I love the house I live in.  I call it “the secret place of the Most High.”  When I go home, I go to a haven of peace.  I pray by walking around the house.  I must have thanked God over one thousand times for that house.

Affiong Odebode is a seasoned banker who worked for 14 years at the International Merchant Bank, IMB. She was born into the family of Mfon, in Cross River State. Her father, late Asuquo Ima Mfon was an engineer with the Nigerian Ports Authority while her mother, late Amah Evelyn Mfon, nee Dadzie, was a Ghanaian and Cameroonian.

NOTE: The Commissioner of Information was sending his assault, written on behalf of the Government of Akwa Ibom, while Attah and Akpabio were in church on Christmas Day. The seven patriotic leaders, who started the peace process, as well as other Nigerians, must ask themselves: “what is the purpose of going to church if fighting continues during the service”?

The New Year,2013, has finally arrived with the usual challenges, hopes and expectations that characterise such occasions. Those of us that traveled to our different villages saw firsthand clear evidence that government is on holidays, so to speak.