The Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi, on Saturday knocked former President Olusegun Obasanjo for ordering the traditional rulers at a function to stand up and honour him.

On Friday, Obasanjo, at the opening of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology College of Agriculture and Renewable Natural Resources in Iseyin, Oyo State, was angry that the monarchs failed to honour him when he mounted the podium to speak.

Oluwo, in a statement by his press secretary on Saturday, described Obasanjo’s display as condemnable, saying it was an affront, desecration and sacrilege against revered stools of Yorubaland.

“An injury to one is an injury to all. Yoruba traditional rulers are not uniform men anyone can command at will. I don’t blame him, those royal fathers who stood up to obey such an embarrassing direction are to be blamed,” he said.

“Yoruba traditional institutions demand an apology for the open desecration to molest and bring down the institution. He needs to prove himself as a core Yoruba man with an apology letter. Kings are not toddlers. We are fathers. He will never dare that against the Northern Emirs.”

He said Obasanjo’s action should be a great challenge to Yoruba, most especially the royal fathers.

“This is the result when monarchs joined Ogboni confraternity and became junior to a road side mechanical engineer or carpenter. As a responsible monarch, you don’t have to join any secret society where you may be controlled by a teacher or even a herbalist.

“I trust myself and my stool. At death, there are certain things my soul will not take let alone when alive, active and kicking. I only blame the monarchs who stood in obeisance to such an ignoble and desecrating of traditional institutions from the old man. Respects should be earned not demanded.

“Traditional rulers respect their subjects too. There is a way respect is accorded to people of old age and position by monarchs. Kingship is an institution of God. As such, relating with kings requires a high sense of modesty, courtesy and respect.”

Nasir el-Rufai, ex-governor of Kaduna state, says the second term of former President Olusegun Obasanjo was the “most successful” in terms of economic growth, job creation, and inflation rate in Nigeria.

From 2003 to 2007, Obasanjo completed his second term in office, after a preceding four-year tenure.

El-Rufai said Nigeria returned to “proper integrated planning and we also got lucky” at the time.

The former governor spoke on Friday during a session at the Africa In the World conference in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

He emphasised the need for proper planning to aid the economic growth of any country.

“We (Nigeria) have a planning commission in Nigeria but it has not been as effective,” the former governor said.

El-Rufai said planning committees are “absolutely relevant” in most developing countries.

"If you look at Nigeria’s economic trajectory, the most successful four to five-year period of economic growth, job creation, and reduced inflation was the period of the second term of President Obasanjo in 2003 to 2007, when for the first time, the country went back into proper integrated planning and we also got lucky,” he said.

“Oil prices began to rise but we did not waste the windfall because we had planned. We had an excess crude account (ECA) that was based on fiscal rule that any surpluses above a certain benchmark price of crude oil goes to that savings account.

“And with that, we were able to get rid of all our foreign debt.”

El-Rufai said Nigeria’s fiscal health was at its best in 2007, such that when the global financial crisis took place in 2008, “Nigeria did not feel anything”.

“Nothing was felt in Nigeria because Nigeria had a big savings account; we had huge reserves and we were able to absorb the shock without any internal problems unlike most countries,” he said.

To achieve accelerated economic growth, el-Rufai said long-term and coordinated planning as well as the inclusion of all stakeholders are crucial.

PRESIDENT TINUBU NOMINATES NEW CBN GOVERNOR AND MANAGEMENT TEAM FOR SENATE SCREENING AND CONFIRMATION

President Bola Tinubu has approved the nomination of Dr. Olayemi Michael Cardoso to serve as the new Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for a term of five (5) years at the first instance, pending his confirmation by the Nigerian Senate.

This directive is in conformity with Section 8 (1) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, which vests in the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the authority to appoint the Governor and Four (4) Deputy Governors for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), subject to confirmation by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Furthermore, President Bola Tinubu has approved the nomination of four new Deputy Governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for a term of five (5) years at the first instance, pending their confirmation by the Nigerian Senate, as listed below:

(1) Mrs. Emem Nnana Usoro
(2) Mr. Muhammad Sani Abdullahi Dattijo
(3) Mr. Philip Ikeazor
(4) Dr. Bala M. Bello

In line with President Bola Tinubu's Renewed Hope agenda, the President expects the above listed nominees to successfully implement critical reforms at the Central Bank of Nigeria, which will enhance the confidence of Nigerians and international partners in the restructuring of the Nigerian economy toward sustainable growth and prosperity for all.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
September 15, 2023

Kano State Commissioner of Lands, Adamu Aliyu, on Thursday, issued a death threat to the judges of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.

Mr Aliyu also promised to unleash mayhem on residents of the state, one worse than what residents of neighbouring Kaduna and Zamfara are going through.

Residents of mainly rural communities in Kaduna and Zamfara are being attacked, killed and abducted by terror gangs locally called bandits.

These attacks have continued for more than a decade.

Suggesting that judges of the tribunal may have been bribed to rule against his party, Mr Aliyu said if the tribunal judges ruled against his party, the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in the petition before it, they may pay with their lives.

The election of the governor of the state, Abba Yusuf, is being challenged at the tribunal by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nasiru Gawuna.

The tribunal is yet to fix a date to deliver its judgement on the petition.

Mr Aliyu made the statements, on Thursday, while addressing members of the NNPP during a solidarity protest of the party.

The gathering also doubled as a prayer session for an outcome favourable to the party at the election tribunal.

A video of the commissioner issuing the threat was later posted on Facebook by both NNPP and APC. members.

“I am sending this message to the tribunal judges, any judge that allows himself to be used and collect bribes and pass judgement that is not right, we want to tell him he must choose between his life and the bribe money he collected.

“We are promising you (our supporters), we are receiving your complaints, the votes you cast on his excellency (Governor Yusuf) will not go in vain unless we lose our lives or the Kano state will fall.

“Another message for the leaders. You have seen the conflict (banditry) in Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina, I swear because of this governorship seat, everyone will die. The conflict that will start in Kano will be more deadly than the ones in those states and Borno,” Mr Aliyu said.

The protests and the prayer sessions simultaneously took place at six locations – Katsina Road, Gwarzo Road, Madobi/Sharada Road, Zaria Road, Maiduguri Road, and Hadejia Road.

The event was attended by the Secretary to the Kano State Government, Baffa Bichi, a former deputy governor of the State, Hafiz Abubakar, top members of the state’s executive council and special advisers and assistants to the governor.

On 26 August, the state’s governor and his political godfather, Rabiu Kwankwaso, led a similar mass event for the success of their party at the election petition tribunal.

During the initial event, an Islamic cleric Sani Shir described those challenging the election of the state’s governor, at the tribunal as enemies of the state, and prayed for God to destroy them.

Ban on gatherings over tribunal judgement

The police in Kano State, on Monday, banned all forms of protests being planned by the members of the NNPP and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in preparation for the governorship election tribunal judgement in the state.

Tension is high in the state as members of the NNPP and APC await the outcome of the governorship election petition.

A few weeks ago, the tribunal accused an unnamed Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) of attempting to bribe her with N10 billion to temper with justice in the course of delivering judgment.

The police accused both the NNPP and APC of deliberate plans to foment trouble by sponsoring protests in the state.

The police commissioner in the state, Muhammad Gumel, in a statement, said the command had banned all forms of protest to prevent possible clashes and uprisings.

When reached for clarification on the statement Friday afternoon, Mr Aliyu confirmed that he made the statement and he stands by it.

“I made the statement. This is our stand because people have voted for us and in the last hundred days the government have performed and people have witnessed development.

“But we are not happy with the way things are going. If there is justice, there will be peace and we need nothing but justice. My statement was not targeted at the fair and just judges, but at the opposite ones and this is our stand,” Mr Aliyu told PREMIUM TIMES.

A Nigerian lawyer, Monsieur Avril, has said he was removed from the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ikeja WhatsApp Platform for calling the leader of the Lagos chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo an “executive thug”.


MC Oluomo is an ally and loyalist of President Bola Tinubu.

On his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Mr Avril shared screenshots of the WhatsApp messages.

The legal practitioner said before he was removed from the platform, there were a series of hot discussions on the judgements recently delivered by the Presidential Petition Election Court in Abuja.

The lawyer wrote: “Ronu pipo have taken over NBA IKEJA WhatsApp Platform. If you speak against the PEPT judgement or argue against the Emergency Patriots of the Judiciary on the group. They tag it a person against the Judiciary and You risk been removed.

“I was removed from the NBA Ikeja Platform for using a derogatory caption against MC Oluomo. The Derogatory Word = "Executive Thug,” he added.

SaharaReporters had reported how MC Oluomo mobilised some thugs to be on standby in case the ruling of the Presidential Election Tribunal did not favour President Tinubu.

SaharaReporters gathered that the hoodlums mobilised by MC Oluomo to Abuja include members of the Lagos State Parks Management Committee.

In March, SaharaReporters reported how MC Oluomo threatened Igbo people in Lagos, warning them against coming out to vote in the governorship and state legislative elections if they did not want to vote for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates.

Addressing a gathering, MC Oluomo warned Igbo people not to bother going to the polling units if they intended to vote for candidates other than the ruling party's candidates.

In October 2018, MC Oluomo described himself as a loyalist of Tinubu in an Instagram post.

According to MC Oluomo, Tinubu owns him and the APC and whatever he (Tinubu) wants is what he (MC Oluomo) will support.

He wrote on his Instagram page, “I am an Asiwaju Bola Ahmend Tinubu Jagaban loyalist, I wear the Jagaban jersey, I've been a loyalist since 1999, the first mecca i went is through his execellence in the year 2000, moreso, he as done alot for me, he made me who i am today our relationship has been was very cordial and strong in the area that I grew up in.

“So I'm one of his loyalist that have strong believe in him, he own the party and any where his interest belong I Musiliu Ayinde Akinsanya Mc oloumo belong. I and my people in Oshodi formerly endorse HE Akinwunmi Ambode for 2nd term because his government is still working in the shadow of the party national leader, but now the case is vice-visa i have to follow the interest of Bola Ahmend Tinubu and the party decision.

“If Asiwaju Bola Ahmend Tinubu again says is no more Babajide Sanwoolu but someone else, so shall it be.”

The outgoing Finance Director at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Benjamin Fakunle, has been arrested and detained by the Department of State Service (DSS).

Fakunle is being grilled over his role in the seven-year audited accounts of the apex bank alleged to have been fraudulently prepared, findings by InsideBusinessNG revealed.

He was reportedly arrested by the secret police at the post-retirement party being held in his honour on Wednesday.

He was said to have been arrested Wednesday at his retirement party in Abuja and has since been in detention.

As finance director, Fakunle oversaw the finance department of the bank and was also in charge of the audited accounts and their preparation.

The position entails supervising processes and following accounting best practices in line with the enabling act of the institution. It also involves liaising with the auditors of the bank.

However, reports say discrepancies and irregularities were discovered in the audited accounts, which came on the heel of the interrogation of Shuaib Ahmed, the Executive Secretary of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) and his deputy, Iheanyi Anyahara on Tuesday by the team of the Special Investigator.

Ahmed and Anyahara were quizzed over the ‘Accounting Guideline for Financial Reporting by the CBN’ prepared by the FRC and in use by the apex bank for the preparation of the audited accounts from 2017 to 2022.

The guidelines, about six in all, were issued and sold to the CBN by the trio of the late Daniel Asapokhai, the former executive secretary, his deputy, Anyahara, and Ahmed, the current executive secretary at a total cost of N401.75 million according to findings.

In July, President Bola Tinubu appointed Mr. Jim Obazee as the special investigator to investigate the apex bank and related entities.

In the appointment letter dated July 28, 2023, President Tinubu said the special investigator would also work on a comprehensive report on public wealth currently in the hands of corrupt individuals and establishments.

Part of his job schedule is to strengthen key Government Business Entities (GBEs), block leakages in CBN and related GBEs and provide a comprehensive report on public wealth currently in the hands of corrupt individuals and establishments.

Fakunle would also be required to explain why N401 million was allegedly paid for the document as against the rules laid down by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria.

He will also be expected to give reasons for the advance payment of N300 million fee to both KPMG and EY, the two auditors of the CBN when work for the 2022 audited accounts had not started.

The DSS earlier arrested and later released the Deputy Governor of the CBN in charge of Economic Policy, Dr. Kingsley Obiora, after interrogating him.

Obiora is in charge of Economic Policy in the bank.

Meanwhile, the suspended Governor of the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele has been in the DSS custody since his arrest on June 10, 2023.

Emefiele was arrested shortly after President Tinubu suspended him.

Smart DNA, a leading DNA testing center based in Lagos, Nigeria, on Wednesday, released a startling findings about the reasons people seek testing, the demographics of those tested, and the outcomes of the tests.

The comprehensive data analysis of all relationship DNA tests conducted at its facility between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, on thousands of users, provides an unprecedented insight into the DNA testing trends across Nigeria.

Findings of the report showed that Lagos accounted for the highest percentage of tests, with 82.89 per cent of the total, followed by Oyo (3.29 per cent), Ogun (3.07 per cent), FCT (2.63 per cent), and Rivers (2.41 per cent).

This heavy concentration in Lagos, particularly the Mainland (68.14 per cent) compared to the Island (31.86 per cent), is likely due to the location of Smart DNA’s office in Lagos, the purchasing power of the state’s residents, and the high population density of the state, the report revealed.

On the test type, the report disclosed that the majority of tests (89.10 per cent) were conducted for ‘Peace of Mind’, followed by ‘Immigration’ (8.97 per cent), and ‘Legal’ (0.64 per cent). This suggests that individuals primarily seek DNA testing to confirm biological relationships for personal reasons rather than legal or immigration purposes, the report averred.

On gender of test requestors, the report averred that men were the predominant initiators of contact, making up 86.44 per cent of the first contacts, compared to 13.56 per cent made by women. This indicates that men are more likely to have doubts about paternity or other relationships and take the initiative to seek testing, it stated.

The report also disclosed that positive results, indicating that the man tested is the biological father of the child, accounted for 73.88 per cent of tests, while negative results made up 26.12 per cent.

“This suggests that in the majority of cases, the men seeking testing are indeed the biological fathers, but in more than 1 in 4 cases, the tested father is not the biological father of the child,” the report further revealed.

As regards ethnic group, the Yoruba ethnic group had the highest percentage of tests (61.23 per cent), followed by Igbo (19.07 per cent), Edo (6.78 per cent) and others (12.08 per cent), the report showed.

More tests were conducted on male children (56.62 per cent) compared to female children (43.38 per cent), the report averred, as it disclosed that this may suggest a cultural preference for confirming paternity of male offspring, although further research would be needed to confirm this hypothesis.

“The most tests were conducted on children aged 0-5 years (58.02 per cent), followed by the 6-12 age group (25.95 per cent). This indicates that paternity tests are mostly done on children when they are younger rather than when they get older. Men between the ages of 31-40 (40 per cent) and 41-50 (23 per cent) conducted the most DNA tests. This age group is likely to have young children and may be in a financial position to afford the testing,” it stated.

The report, however, assured that “Smart DNA is committed to providing fully accredited DNA testing services to clients in accordance with the highest international standards. This report aims to shed light on the current trends in relationship DNA testing in Nigeria, contributing to a better understanding of this important aspect of our society.”

By John Owen Nwachukwu


The camp of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar has said that the Federal Capital Territory minister, Nyesom Wike, cannot escape expulsion from the main opposition party.

Don Pedro Obaseki, Atiku’s Director of Research, Strategy and Documentation, said Wike had earned himself a sack by his recent call for the expulsion of Atiku, his countless vertipurations against the PDP and his serial acts of betrayal.

According to him, the former Rivers State Governor has had a hand in all of the internal crisis of the PDP.

Addressing journalists in Abuja on Monday, Obaseki said, “Wike [is] the problem of the PDP and to expel Wike now is a task that must be done by the PDP.”

He was reacting to Wike’s recent call for the PDP to expel the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku, and some party chieftains, Aminu Tambuwal and Sule Lamido.

“The person who deserves to be expelled from the party is the man who is calling for the expulsion of others from the party,” Obaseki added.

“Wike is the one who created a cult within the party and called it the G-5. Against the will, constitution and structures of the party, he campaigned against the party.

“If anybody had done anything anti-party, it is Nyesom Wike. He has fought every known person within the party.

“Wike has crossed the red line and now, he should be ready. We are coming at him like a thousand bricks.

“He has unleashed the dogs of war and we will not sit back and watch him ride roughshod over the party.”

President Olusegun Obasanjo, who twice led Nigeria — first as military head of state (1976-1979) and later as an elected civilian president (1999-2007) — can claim to have seen it all. Born on March 5, 1937, the 86-year-old retired general has been a constant in Nigeria’s history in and out of office, offering comments — even if controversially — on political and economic issues. In this interview with TheCable, he gives his opinions of a wide range of issues.


TheCable: Increasingly, we are witnessing an era of military coups in Africa again. What do you think is going on?

Obasanjo: In 2021, when Col Mamady Doumbouya overthrew President Alpha Condé of Guinea, I recall that I travelled to Conakry. I spent two nights there. The coup leader didn’t want to meet with me because he didn’t know what I would say. They said he was out of town, which was not true. But I met every other important government official. I met his No 2 and his speaker. I listened to them and concluded that we had a new phenomenon on our hands. I realised that they had the support of the youths and were not thinking of staying in power for four, five years years. They are in for a generation.

When I noticed this, I went to Addis Ababa to meet the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat. I told him that maybe he had not seen what I was seeing. That I saw this in Guinea Conakry. He said I was talking about Guinea Conakry, what about his own country, Chad? He said Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea Conakry, and Chad were thinking the same way and they were connected. I said that was a new phenomenon in Africa. I said I was the one who in 1999 advocated that if you are not a government backed by the constitution, you should be suspended from the African Union, and these chaps don’t even mind any suspension. I told him that all the instruments we had used in the past would not work and asked what he would do about it. He told me about his challenges, especially with his country. So we have a situation where we have a continent where we have to rethink democracy. The liberal democracy we are copying from settled societies in the West won’t work for us.


TheCable: What type of democracy would work for us?

Obasanjo: I don’t know. But we have seen that the liberal type of democracy as practised in the West will not work for us. We have to put our heads together.


TheCable: Some would say it is working in Nigeria, that it has survived 24 years…

Obasanjo: I won’t answer you (laughs).


TheCable: But can work?

Obasanjo: You have to put your heads together to fashion it out. You can give it any name. But we have seen that this is not working. Out of the six countries that have experienced coups, three of them are directly from elections. Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry, and Gabon that we have just had are directly from elections. The other three are indirect, if you like.


TheCable: Would you say ECOWAS could have handled the Niger coup differently?

Obasanjo: What I said about the Niger is now what we did with Gabon, not a threat of force. Tinubu said “we are watching”. In Niger, ECOWAS has beaten the drum, and they have seen that it didn’t work. The point is this: where in Africa have the people benefited from the dividends of democracy? Tell me.


TheCable: Maybe Botswana…

Obasanjo: You don’t know the inside of Botswana. Ian Khama, the former president, cannot go to Botswana today. His father was the first president. I worked with him. As they were settling down, I thought they were making progress because the president after his father was the one who became minister of finance. When I was military head of state, he used to come and visit us, and we would render assistance to them, and he later became vice president and president. The next one was the same way. Ian Khama, who became the head of the army, moved the same way. The one that succeeded him now is chasing him from pillar to post. That is not liberal democracy.


TheCable: What of Ghana?

Obasanjo: (laughs)


TheCable: Even if not in terms of dividends of democracy but liberal democracy…

Obasanjo: Maybe Namibia is the closest to it.


TheCable: Coming back home now. There is a raging issue regarding Mambilla hydropower over the award of a $6 billion contract to Sunrise Power by your government in 2003. It is now a subject of arbitration. Sunrise is asking for $2.3 billion in compensation, alleging breach of contract. But the federal government is arguing that the contract was invalid…

Obasanjo: Did you say my government awarded the contract to Sunrise?


TheCable: Dr Olu Agunloye, your minister of power in 2003, wrote to Sunrise announcing the award of the contract…

Obasanjo: Who gave him the authorisation? When I was president, no minister had the power to approve more than N25 million without express presidential consent. It was impossible for Agunloye to commit my government to a $6 billion project without my permission and I did not give him any permission. If a commission of inquiry is set up today to investigate the matter, I am ready to testify. I do not even need to testify because all the records are there. I never approved it. When he presented his memo to the federal executive council (on May 21, 2003), I was surprised because he had previously discussed it with me and I had told him to jettison the idea, that I had other ideas on how the power sector would be restructured and funded. I told him as much at the council meeting and directed him to step down the memo.

I find it surprising that Agunloye is now claiming he acted on behalf of Nigeria. If I knew he issued such a letter to Sunrise, I would have sacked him as minister during my second term. He would not have spent a day longer in office. When I was in office, Leno Adesanya, the promoter of Sunrise Power, ran away from Nigeria. I would have jailed him if he was in the country because of the things I knew about him. After I left office, he returned and I saw him. I told him that he was lucky I was no longer president. Otherwise, I would have jailed him.


TheCable: You took a different route over the power sector, coming up with the power sector reform and building power plants such as Geregu, Papalanto, and Omotosho. But the problems of the power sector remain. What else can we do?

Obasanjo: You can only get the power sector right when you get all the fundamentals in the power sector right. In 2006, we ordered 42 turbines that should have been completed if not by 2007 then in 2008. My target was 10,000 megawatts of power by 2007. Up till today, I understand that five of the turbines have yet to be installed. I have been out of the office for 16 years. If after 18 years when those turbines had been ordered, five have still not been installed, what are you talking about?


TheCable: One major issue was that the turbines could not be transported to location because of issues with bridge and water depth in some places. The feeling was that you did not do a proper assessment before ordering the turbines.

Obasanjo: We did what we should do before I left office. I targeted 10,000 megawatts but today, we are still struggling with 4,000. Then you had President Goodluck Jonathan doing privatisation. If that privatisation was done the way we did privatisation, it would have been okay for the country. When you see these things and still ask me the questions you ask, I feel like punching you (laughs).


TheCable: Let’s discuss the refineries. They are still not working…

Obasanjo: They will not work as long as the government is keeping hold of them. When I was president, I invited Shell to a meeting. I told them I wanted to hand over the refineries for them for help us run. They bluntly told me they would not. I was shocked. I repeated the request and they stood their ground. When the meeting was over, I asked their big man (MD) to wait behind for a little chat. Then I asked him why they were so hesitant on not taking over the refineries. He said did I want to hear the truth? I said yes. He listed four reasons. One, he said Shell makes its money from upstream and that is where its interest lies. Two, he said they only do downstream or retail as a matter of service. Three, he said our refineries would be bad business for them, that globally, companies are going for bigger refineries because of the economics of refineries. Four, he said there is too much corruption in refineries.

I thanked him for his honesty. I knew we had a big problem in our hands. I had virtually give up hope on the refineries when God did a miracle. Alike Dangote and Femi Otedola approached me and said they would be interested in buying two of the four refineries. They said they would buy 51 percent stake in Port Harcourt and Kaduna. I was over the moon. I said, finally, this burden would be taken off the neck of the government. They offered $761 million and paid in two instalments. Unfortunately, Umaru (President Yar’Adua) cancelled the sale and returned the refineries to NNPC. Today, we are still where we were. Someone told me Tinubu said refineries would work by December. I told the person the refineries would not work. This is based on the information I received from Shell when I was president.


TheCable: When you were military head of state, you believed in state ownership. You were a changed man when you returned as president in 1999. What happened?

Obasanjo: When I was military head of state, we ordered 19 new ships to be built for the Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL), which was owned by the federal government. We had about five at the time, and with 19, we were to have 24 ships. We took delivery of some before we left office. President Shehu Shagari took delivery of the remaining balance. When I returned after 20 years, the shipping line had been liquidated. Not one ship left. Let me tell you the story of one of the ships. They sold it for half a million dollars. Then, they started the Oron merchant navy school and needed a ship for training. They bought the ship they had sold for half a million dollars for $2 million and spent another $1.5 million to refit it so it could be seaworthy.

The ship went on the first voyage a week after I became president in 1999. One of the first things they brought to me was that the ship had been arrested for not being seaworthy and that I should bring $1 million to pay as fine for the ship that had been detained. I requested that they allow me time to look at the issues, and when I studied the issues, I told them to inform those who arrested the ship that I had gifted them the ship. The following day, the ship was released without Nigeria paying a dime. You can guess what happened there.

We left 32 aircraft for Nigerian Airways in 1979, but we had only one serviceable aircraft 20 years after I left office. When you look at that and what happened to Nigerian Airways, some directors formed an offshore company, and it was the company that they gave the maintenance and repairs to. The same company would then engage the people that would actually carry out the maintenance and repairs. The payment would be to the offshore company who, in turn, did not pay the contractors. When I returned in 1999, I took a stance that I didn’t owe Nigerians an airline. What I owed Nigerians was secure and safe traveling. So, when they talked about this Nigeria Air project, you would know it is nonsense. When I say certain things, people say Obasanjo has started again. It is because I know what I am talking about.


TheCable: Our economy is currently in a bad shape with a heavy debt burden. With your experience, how do you think can we come out of this?

Obasanjo: Tinubu said the other day that it was unacceptable that he would spend 90% of his revenue to service debts. I wasn’t spending 90% when I went worldwide to get debt relief. Do you think that anybody would give you debt relief today? Buhari was spending money recklessly. I know Buhari didn’t understand economics. I put that in my book. But that he could also be so reckless, I didn’t know. Who would you go to today and ask for a favor? Tinubu says he has trimmed the number of people attending the United Nations General Assembly. Is that news? He will meet with Justin Trudeau, and he will meet with Emmanuel Macron. That will not solve any problem.

TheCable: [/b]You’ve pointed to a number of your policies reversed or abandoned by President Yar’Adua. Since he was never an insider in your government, why did you support him to be your successor?

[b]Obasanjo: See, I set up a committee headed by Dr Olusegun Agagu, of blessed memory, to search for a successor. They considered many names and did an extensive assessment of all them. They made their recommendation. Umaru was top on the list. Their biggest argument in his favour was that he had integrity and would not steal. The issues concerning his health were raised and I gave his medical reports to an expert for an opinion. Umaru’s name was redacted so that the expert would not know who it was and why I was seeking his opinion. After assessing the reports, he said the patient appeared to have done a kidney transplant and if that was the case, there was nothing to worry about and he would be as healthy as any other person. That was it. All insinuations that I knew he was going to die and that was why I supported him to be president were false. This is the true story I have told you.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has expressed concern about Nigeria’s bloated civil service payroll at the national and sub-national levels.

The president bore his mind on Monday while speaking at a meeting in the State House, Abuja, with the Global Vice President of Oracle, Mr. Andres Garcia Arroyo.

He told his guest that with cutting edge technology, the country would digitize the public service and surgically apply public money for growth.

He said: “Each time they give me the payroll number, I get so frightened. Where am I going to get the capital to develop the infrastructure we desperately require if the payroll of 1% – 2% of the population is consuming all the revenue? I think we need a tight technological control that can check and balance all necessary control points of our transaction processes. I’m looking forward to working with Oracle because I have the belief and confidence that you can do it as you have in the past.”

President Tinubu expressed his support for new partnerships with global technology companies to ensure that data from public institutions were accurate and transparent in providing templates on which proper public sector planning and accounting could occur across sectors.

The president, who welcomed the company’s commitment to Nigeria’s civil service reform process and data management sector, stressed the need for greater knowledge transfer through the establishment of academies and training institutions in the country.

Aiming to promote the ease of doing business, digital innovation, effective identity management, efficient payroll administration and qualitative citizen-centred service delivery, the President cited Oracle’s proven success in the automation of the Lagos State payroll system during his tenure as Governor and lauded the positive impact of technological solutions in enhancing accountability, and expediting timelines for service delivery without sacrificing quality in the process.

“I have tested Oracle and it has worked for our success. In Lagos State, what we did in effective collaboration with you, has been copied across the states of the Federation. We can only build our institutions with accurate data and cutting edge data management capabilities that are reliable and effective. We can only rely upon our human resources for excellent service delivery to Nigerians, if they are well trained and ready to learn.

“The transfer of knowledge is essential for our nation and the continent. In this government, we believe that the only way to build our country is a bottom-up-approach and from one single sheet of paper, we can create an end-to-end solution for public administration that will rid our service of its worst tendencies in favor of effectiveness and reliability,” the President declared.

In his remarks, the Global Vice President of Oracle proposed a comprehensive digital transformation of work process at the federal level of administration, in order to achieve greater macro-economic visibility; streamline government processes for cost and time savings; and to provide the desired skills development opportunities for Nigerians.

“You have shown tremendous practical leadership throughout your career, Mr. President. We have partnered with you and we know how determined you are to achieve all that you set out to achieve. This is why we are offering Nigeria a free national diagnostic of the present situation in the public service with a view to dimensioning across sectors the scale of solution required. We look forward to partnering with you again,” the Oracle VP concluded.

Residents of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital have commended the member representing Jere federal constituency at the House of Representatives, Hon Ahmed Satomi for selling 100,000 litres of fuel at the rate of N430 per litre as against N637 per litre in Maiduguri.

The residents made the commendation yesterday during the dispensing of 100,000 litres of fuel by the lawmaker in 24 petrol stations within Maiduguri Metropolitan Council ( MMC) and Jere local government area.

Welfare officer National Automobiles and Technicians Association (NATA) Ibrahim Helma, while commending the lawmaker urged well meaning individuals in the state to emulate the gesture by Satomi and give succour to the masses due to the high cost of living and transportation as a result of fuel subsidy removal.

He said most commercial tricycle ( Keke Napep) riders and motorists in the areas of the distribution are smiling to the chosen petrol stations to benefit from the gesture , adding that it goes a long way in ameliorating the suffering of the beneficiaries.

A commercial tricycle operator, Modu Tijani, who said he has been out of business since the sudden rise in price of fuel as a result of the fuel subsidy removal, said the gesture from the lawmaker will enable some of his colleagues that are out of business to bounce back.

“We are very grateful to Hon. Satomi for coming to our aid in this trying period. We want more of this from other lawmakers and good spirited members of the public to assist the poor in passing through the hardship ravaging them,” Tijani said.

Addressing journalists, the donor and member representing Jere federal constituency, Hon Ahmed Satomi, who is also the chairman House Committee on National Security and Intelligence at the National Assembly, said the programme which was flagged off on Saturday in eight petrol stations is a continuous process, adding that 100,000 litres of fuel have been made available for dispensing to the motorists and residents irrespective of political affiliation.

He however called on well-to-do individuals and organisations to emulate the gesture so as to impact positively on the living condition of all Nigerians, as according to him, palliatives should not be carried out by government alone.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has challenged Olu Agunloye, the former minister of power and steel, to tell Nigerians where he derived the authority to award a $6 billion contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission Ltd in respect of the Mambilla Hydropower Project in 2003.

Sunrise Power is currently in arbitration with Nigeria at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Paris, France, over an alleged breach of contract by the federal government.

In the first arbitration, Sunrise is asking for a compensation of $2.3 billion, claiming it had spent millions of dollars on financial and legal consultants before the contract was jettisoned.

In the second one, the company is asking for a $400 million settlement being the terms of the agreement it entered with the federal government in 2020 to end the arbitration.

Nigeria is fighting the claims on the grounds that Agunloye, who suspiciously awarded the contract one week to the end of his tenure as power minister in 2003, acted illegally.

TheCable understands that Agunloye and some officials of the ministry of justice have been quizzed over the Sunrise affair and may soon be charged to court.

In an interview with TheCable at the weekend, Obasanjo stringently denied authorising Agunloye to commit Nigeria to the $6 billion “build, operate and transfer” contract.

“When I was president, no minister had the power to approve more than N25 million without express presidential consent. It was impossible for Agunloye to commit my government to a $6 billion project without my permission and I did not give him any permission,” Obasanjo told TheCable.

The former president challenged Agunloye to explain where he got the power and authority.

“If a commission of inquiry is set up today to investigate the matter, I am ready to testify. I do not even need to testify because all the records are there. I never approved it,” Obasanjo said.

“When he presented his memo to the federal executive council (on May 21, 2003), I was surprised because he had previously discussed it with me and I had told him to jettison the idea, that I had other ideas on how the power sector would be restructured and funded.

“I told him as much at the council meeting and directed him to step down the memo. I find it surprising that Agunloye is now claiming he acted on behalf of Nigeria. If I knew he issued such a letter to Sunrise, I would have sacked him as minister during my second term. He would not have spent a day longer in office.”

Obasanjo also said Leno Adesanya, the promoter of Sunrise Power, ran away from Nigeria when he was president.

“I would have jailed him if he was in the country because of the things I knew about him. After I left office, he returned and I saw him. I told him that he was lucky I was no longer president. Otherwise, I would have jailed him,” Obasanjo told TheCable.

THE MAMBILLA DISPUTE

Sunrise had on October 10, 2017 taken Nigeria to arbitration for “breach of contract” in relation to the agreement to construct the 3,050MW plant in Mambilla, Taraba state.

Nigerian authorities insist that the contract award was irregular and did not pass through due process.

Agunloye issued a letter awarding the contract a day after the federal cabinet reportedly told him to step down his request for approval and explore other sources of funding for the project.

In his letter to Sunrise, Agunloye also listed pre-conditions for the contract to be consummated and none was met by the firm.

But Sunrise initiated legal action when a bid process for the civil works was announced by the federal government in 2007 and a series of litigation has since stalled the project.

To get the project off the ground, the federal government had attempted to settle the arbitration in 2020 with a compensation offer of $200 million but a lack of funds is believed to have truncated it.

Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin



Ashe-goat named nanny has allegedly delivered a half-human-half-goat in Kwara state.

The incident was said to have happened last week Wednesday at Adigun-Oke community, Ifelodun local government area of the state.

It was gathered that people have been visiting the area since the incident happened to see the creature.

Wife of the goat’s owner, Aishat Umar, who spoke in Hausa language, said that the wonder she-goat actually gave birth to two kids.

She added that one was a complete goat while the other was in human being form, except for the ears and the hands.

Also speaking on the incident, one of the community leaders in Adigun-Oke village, Pa James Adeoye, said that people were just seen rushing to see the astounding discovery, adding that one of the creatures had hairs all over the body just like a goat while the second looked exactly like human being, without hair but with teeth like human being.

It was also gathered that the kid goat, which looked like human, died just after it was delivered and was immediately buried by the owner, Umar, when he returned from his farm, while the nanny was busy taking care of the other kid.

The community leader, who said that the nanny had produced kids before the incident, added that it had never given birth to such creature and that the people had never witnessed a human being mating with a goat that could lead to such astonishing incident.

Another resident of the area, Lukman Onaade, said that the incident was surprising to every villager, as well as people from neighbouring communities, who, he said, thronged Adigun-Oke community to witness the incident.

He said that those, who had never known or visited Adigun-Oke community before now, had come to the village since the incident happened to confirm whether it was true that a goat could give birth to human being.

An Abuja land owner, Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim Kamba, has charged the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and the Director of Development Control to court for demolishing his building under construction at Plot 226, Cotonou Street, Wuse Zone 6, Abuja.

This was contained in an official statement on Thursday by his lawyer, Okechukwu .C. Uju-Azorji, an associate of Festus Keyamo Chambers.

The statement reads, “On Monday, August 29, 2023, our client was greeted with the news of demolishing his structure under construction at Plot 226, Cotonou Street, Wuse Zone 6, Abuja. In the interview granted shortly by the Director of Development Control, he stated, “We demolished the duplex because somebody built on someone else’s land without valid title…”

“The plot itself belonged to the predecessor in title of our client, Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim Kamba, who had built a guest house (popularly called “Boys’ Quarters”) on the Plot where he was collecting rent for upwards of 25 years before selling and handing over possession to our client in 2019. Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim Kamba in turn bought the property during the lifetime of the original allottee, Oyebade Lipede.

“When our client commenced the development of the Plot including the renovation of the existing guest house, a certain Abuja-based legal practitioner took out a Direct Criminal Complaint against our client at the Grade 1 Area Court, Abuja for trespass, claiming that the property belonged to Oyebade Lipede, the late Alake of Egbaland. The suit was dismissed on 1/9/2020 with the Grade 1 Area Court Judge specifically urging the parties to refer the matter to FCT High Court since it has become issue of title to land (CTC of Ruling attached).

“Rather than bring an action in Court for declaration of title to the land, the said Abuja based legal practitioner was busy approaching different segments of the Federal Capital Territory Administration where it has become obvious that he enjoyed the cooperation of some persons, who unfortunately bought into his narrative that the plot belonged to the late Alake of Egbaland. On one occasion, our client saw from this lawyer that the only root of his title claim is a portion of a Will allegedly belonging to said late Alake of Egbaland, where a portion made reference to a piece of land in Abuja. The plot number, location, and other details were however not captured in the alleged Will.”

It added, “When the Department of Development Control demolished our client’s fence on 23rd June, 2023, a fence which had existed for the past 25 years, our client was surprised. Acting within the bounds of the law, we took out an action in the FCT High Court against the Minister of the FCT for trespass (Writ is attached).

“Since the Director of Department of Development was not a party to the suit having sued his principal, the Minister of FCT, we deemed it wise to also notify him of the pendency of the suit via a letter received in his office on July 4, 2023, attaching the Writ of Summons. The letter was also copied to the Director of Legal Services in his Department. For the Department to have proceeded to demolishing the entire structure while Suit No: FCT/HC/CV/6616/2023 on the subject-matter was pending is reckless and beyond the powers of the Minister of the FCT.

“Nigeria is not a lawless Nation, and with these events, it will be unlikely that we will fail to take out contempt proceedings against the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory for abuse of the processes of the FCT High Court. It must be noted that under the current regime of the Rules of the FCT High Court, it is mandatory that a Writ of Summons for filing in that court must be endorsed that parties are to maintain status quo. The implication of this is that once an action has been filed in that Court, no party can claim that there was no formal Order of Injunction granted, for that endorsement on the Writ serves that purpose.

“Again, the law is clear that once a public officer like the Director of Development exceeds the scope of his powers in the discharge of his duties, he is personally liable in an action by an aggrieved party. We will therefore not hesitate to join the Director of Development Control of the FCT Administration to the pending suit for abuse of office. This is because he had no powers to demolish our client’s property on the allegation that our client built on someone’s land. Thank you.

The African continent has had a number of leaders who have spent decades in office despite claims to democracy.

These leaders have been in power for extended periods due to a combination of factors, including constitutional changes, electoral fraud, and the suppression of political opposition.

Despite the length of their tenure, some of these leaders have been criticized for human rights abuses, corruption, and poor governance.

Below is a list of top African current heads of state including royalty, arranged in order of length of time they have held such positions continuously.


Teodoro Obiang (44 years)

The longest serving president in Africa as of today, he is the current and second president of Equatorial Guinea, a position he has held since August 1979. He is the longest-serving president not just in Africa but of any country ever.

Obiang Teodoro came into power after he ousted his uncle, Francisco Macías Nguema, in an August 1979 military coup.


Paul Biya (41 years)

Paul Biya has served as the president of Cameroon since 6 November 1982. He is the second-longest-ruling president in Africa and one of the oldest presidents in the world.

His regime is supported by France, one of the former colonial powers in Cameroon, which supplies it with weapons, aids and trains its military forces.


Denis Sassou Nguese (39 years)

The Republic of the Congo’s President Denis Sassou Nguess has spent 34 years in office, but not in one go. He first served from 1979 to 1992 and returned in 1997 at the end of a civil war. He is the third longest serving president in Africa.


Yoweri Museveni (37 years)

Yoweri Museveni has been the president of Uganda since 1986 making him the fourth longest serving African president. He took office in January 1986 after winning the war that toppled Ugandan presidents Milton Obote and Idi Amin.

Records indicate that none of the Ugandan elections have been found to be free and transparent since Museveni took over.


King Mswati III (37 years)

Mswati III is the king of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and head of the Swazi royal family.

He was crowned as Mswati III, Ingwenyama and King of Swaziland, on 25 April 1986 at the age of 18, making him the world’s youngest king at the time.

He co-rules the nation with his mother, Ntfombi Tfwala, who is currently Queen Mother (Ndlovukati).


Isaias Afwerki (30 years)

Isaias Afwerki is the first president of Eritrea. The Eritrean leader Isaias Afwerki has been in charge since the country got its independence from Ethiopia in April 1993.

He is the sixth longest serving president in Africa.


Letsie III (27 years)

Letsie III is the current King of Lesotho and the 7th longest serving ruler in Africa. He succeeded his father, Moshoeshoe II, after he died in a car crash in 1996. His coronation took place in October 1997 at Setsoto Stadium and was attended by current King Charles of England. As a constitutional monarch, most of King Letsie’s duties as monarch of Lesotho are ceremonial.


Ismaïl Omar Guelleh (24 years)

Ismaïl Omar Guelleh is the current President of Djibouti. He has been in office since 1999, making him the 8th longest-serving ruler in Africa.

Guelleh was first elected as President in 1999 as the handpicked successor to his uncle, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, who had ruled Djibouti since independence in 1977. He was re-elected in 2005, 2011 and again in 2016.


Mohammed VI (24 years)

Mohammed VI is the King of Morocco. He belongs to the ‘Alawi dynasty and ascended to the throne on 23 July 1999, upon the death of his father, King Hassan II.

Mohammed is the 9th longest serving ruler in Africa and is also regarded by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre as the seventh most influential Muslim in the world in 2022.


Paul Kagame (23 years)

Paul Kagame who assumed office in 2000 is the fourth and current president of Rwanda, and the 10th longest serving president in Africa. Kagame had been de facto leader since 1994, but focused more on military, foreign affairs and the country’s security than day-to-day governance. He only went after the top job when the then president Bizimungu resigned. Kagame was sworn in as president in April 2000.


Previous long serving presidents

– Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie holds the record for the Longest Serving President in Africa.

He was ousted in 1974 after ruling for 44 years.

– Libya’s Ghadafi ruled for nearly 42 years before he was killed in 2011 after a protest movement turned into an armed conflict sponsored by NATO.

– Gabon’s Omar Bongo died in June 2009 after more than 41 years in power.

– Angola’s Jose Eduardo dos Santos stepped down in September 2017; he ruled for 38 years.

– Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo ruled for 38 years from 1967 to his death in 2005.

– Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe was forced out in November 2017 after 37 years at the helm.

– Chad’s Idriss Deby ruled for 31 years before his death on 19 April 2021. He died due to complications from injuries sustained during a terrorist attack.

Despite the positive mood in Nigeria’s legal team that the country will succeed in its challenge against the arbitral award to Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID), a trio of influential Nigerians are mounting pressure on the presidency to settle out of court, TheCable understands.

A former governorship candidate in Kwara state and two top executives of a Lagos-based oil company known to be close to President Bola Tinubu are leading P&ID’s lobby, according to presidency sources who briefed TheCable.

They stand to share over $500 million as commission if they succeed in persuading Tinubu to enter into a settlement agreement with P&ID.

They have also reached out to senior officials of the ministry of justice to help pile pressure on Tinubu, who is said to believe that P&ID does not have a good case against Nigeria.

Presidency officials informed TheCable that the three lobbyists are trying to organise a meeting between P&ID officials and Tinubu during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York next week.

In what was described by a presidency official as “scare mongering”, the three “musketeers” are saying should P&ID win the impending case before an English high court, Nigeria would have to pay the original award currently running into over $11 billion, interests inclusive.

However, Nigeria’s lawyers, led by Mark Howard, a British lawyer, are very confident that the arbitral award to P&ID will be upturned by the court based on a number of reasons:


• The “industrial scale of corruption” involved in the award of the ill-fated contract which P&ID did not deny but instead classified as “cultural obligation”

• The alleged forgery of engineering drawing which was discovered to be for another project in another country

• The legal infighting between P&ID and its litigation funder, VR Capital, over non-disclosure of corrupt payments to Nigerian officials in securing the contract.

Nigeria’s lawyers also believe it is near impossible for P&ID to enforce the award because of Nigeria’s sovereign immunity which protects the country’s assets.

The largest arbitral award in history — about $50 billion — was secured by former owners of the Yukos oil company against the Russian Federation in 2014, but it has become impossible to enforce.

Nigeria will also have a right of appeal if the high court rules in favour of P&ID.


LANDMARK CASE

Nigeria’s legal team sees the P&ID litigation as a test case in arbitration.

They are hoping to establish that the process by which a contract is secured can be of material significance to its legitimacy.

“Our case is: it was bribery to get the contract, ongoing bribery to keep everyone on board, bribery of lawyers,” Howard told the high court, alleging that two London-based British lawyers previously involved in the case had committed “serious misconduct”.

Developing countries are seen as victims of corruption-induced contracts that are not meant to be executed in the first place but are mere scams designed in connivance with unscrupulous government officials.

In a self-damaging move, VR Capital, a hedge fund firm backing P&ID, had filed a case in the US alleging that the company made illegal payments to Nigerian officials that violated the law.

This is considered injurious to the P&ID case and is expected to feature in the final judgment of the high court expected anytime soon.

In 2019, the hedge fund managed by VR Capital Group had bought a large stake in P&ID in anticipation of the pay-out.

In February 2022, a US court of appeal for the second circuit permitted Nigeria to request documents from P&ID stakeholders, including VR Capital.

One of the documents revealed that there was in-fighting between VR Capital and P&ID over failure to disclose material facts.

A division of VR Capital had written in May 2021 in a confidential London court of international arbitration filing that “regardless of whether or not these payments were made for corrupt purposes, they were unlawful”.

“As a matter of Nigerian law, any undisclosed payments to a public official by someone seeking a government contract is prima facie unlawful,” the court document reads.

The report said the payments VR Capital referred to as “unlawful” in its May 2021 filing were those made by companies linked to P&ID to Grace Taiga and Taofiq Tijani — two petroleum ministry officials around the time the gas contract was signed.

Taiga is facing prosecution for allegedly taking bribes to facilitate the award of contract in the P$ID case.


ROAD TO ARBITRATION

P&ID had entered into an agreement with Nigeria in 2010 to build a gas processing plant in Calabar, Cross River state, but the company said the deal collapsed because the Nigerian government did not fulfil its end of the bargain.

Claiming Nigeria breached the terms of the contract, P&ID took a legal recourse and secured an arbitral award against the country.

On January 31, 2017, a tribunal ruled that Nigeria should pay P&ID $6.6 billion as damages, as well as pre- and post-judgment interest at 7 percent.

Following the judgement, Nigeria applied for an extension of time and relief from sanctions.

The application was granted by Ross Cranston, a judge of the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales, in September 2020, thereby returning the case to arbitration.

Nigeria had alleged that the gas deal was a scam conceived to defraud the country.

Lawyers representing the federal government told the court that P&ID officials paid bribes to get the contract.

But P&ID denied the allegation and accused the Nigerian government of “false allegations and wild conspiracy theories”.

The show of no love lost between Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki and his deputy, Philip Shaibu continued over the weekend during the state’s 32nd anniversary thanksgiving church service held at the Festival Hall, Government House on Sunday.

Both Obaseki and Shaibu have been at loggerheads over the latter’s ambition to contest the 2024 governorship polls in the state.

In an apparent move to wade off any show of public affection, security aides attached to Obaseki reportedly barred Shaibu from approaching the governor during the event. Again, the following day, on Monday, August 28, at the 60th anniversary of the Midwest Referendum celebration, Shaibu’s media aides were reportedly denied entry to the venue of the event, despite pleas from the deputy governor who later stormed out.

All these developments only mean one thing, that both men are far from sheathing their swords even though the deputy governor had a few times downplayed their disagreement.

In the larger context, feuds between a governor and his deputy are not new to the Nigerian political space. Infact, since the return of democracy in 1999, several states have had their fair share of such battle royales.

In this piece, we highlight a few of those notable tussles between state governors and their second-in-command.

Bola Tinubu vs Femi Pedro

President Bola Tinubu as governor of Lagos State had a go with his then deputy, Otunba Olufemi Pedro.

Pedro was said to have got on the wrong side of his principal over Tinubu’s choice to back his Chief of Staff, Tunde Fashola, as his successor.

The animosity between both men forced the deputy governor to defect to the Labour Party and contest against his boss anointed heir, Fashola.

After the election, which he lost, Pedro got an impeachment notice from the House of Assembly. He promptly sent in his resignation letter, but the lawmakers were said to have rejected the letter leading to his eventual impeachment.

Rochas Okorocha vs Jude Agbaso & Eze Madumere

Former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, had two deputy governors for his two terms in office and fell out with both of them at different points.

Jude Agbaso was deputy governor of Imo State till March 2013 when he was impeached. It was said that Agbaso’s battle with his principal began when he challenged the then-governor for a second tenure, citing a supposed gentleman’s agreement that stipulated that Okorocha would rule Imo State for only four years. He was sent packing and summarily replaced by Prince Eze Madumere.

If Agbaso and Okorocha’s relationship was a political necessity, Madumere’s relationship with Okorocha was seen to be more cordial. However, he too fell out with his principal in similar circumstances.

Madumere was said to be against the choice of Okorocha’s son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, as his successor. Miffed, Madumere threw his cap into the ring, creating a breakaway faction full of his loyalists in the All Progressives Congress.

Abdullahi Ganduje vs Hafiz Abubakar

When Prof Hafiz Abubakar resigned as the deputy of then-Kano State governor Abdullahi Ganduje on August 4, 2018, he said the decision was taken due to ‘irreconcilable differences’ on matters relating to governance and government operations.

He further stated he suffered “immeasurable and unjustifiable humiliation” for over two and a half years on issues of governance and the desire to keep government on track.

Though Ganduje denied those allegations, observers said the Ganduje’s feud with Abubakar began when the latter failed to disassociate himself from the governor’s predecessor, Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso.

Obong Victor Attah vs Chris Ekpenyong

Former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Obong Victor Attah’s not-so-cordial relationship with his then deputy, Dr. Chris Ekpenyong, degenerated to the point that the latter was impeached.

Despite efforts by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo and the PDP to halt the impeachment, the state House of Assembly voted to remove Ekpeyong in June 2005.

Ayodele Fayose vs Abiodun Aluko

Governor Ayo Fayose was alleged to have instigated the removal of his deputy, Abiodun Aluko in 2005.

The state House of Assembly impeached Aluko after finding him guilty of 16 offences. The lawmakers claimed all the offences were grounds for impeachment.

Isa Yuguda vs Garba Gadi

Alhaji Garba Gadi was said to have crossed the red line with his principal, Isa Yuguda, owing to the latter’s refusal to defect to the PDP from the ANPP that brought them to power.

Gadi was impeached but later re-instated by a High Court in Bauchi due to irregularities in the proceedings leading to his impeachment.

Olusegun Mimiko vs Ali Olanusi

Former Ondo State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, was said to have enraged his principal, Olusegun Mimiko when he defected to the All Progressives Congress instead of joining him in the Peoples Democratic Party.

He was impeached by the state House of Assembly in 2015 but two years later, a court declared the impeachment illegal and restored Olanusi to his office. But it was too little too late for him as his tenure with Mimiko had already elapsed.

By Oluwakemi Adelagun


In a perhaps unprecedented development since 1999, the Lagos State House of Assembly deviated from its usual path of clearing all commissioner nominees transmitted by the executive arm of government.

On 25 July, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu submitted 39 names to the legislature for screening and clearance for appointment into his cabinet.

Days later, the legislature disqualified 17 of the 39 nominees, including six who served as commissioners in the first term of the governor. The former commissioners are Gbenga Omotoso (Information and Strategy), Akin Abayomi (Health) and Sam Egube (Economic Planning and Budget).

Others are Cecilia Dada (Women Affairs and Poverty Aalleviation), Olalere Odusote (Energy Resources) and Folashade Adefisayo (Education).

The confirmation was done through a voice vote as the speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, read out the name of each nominee.

The development generated divergent opinions in the public space, with many interpreting that the governor and the speaker were at loggerheads.

In the wake of the development, it was said that Mr Sanwo-Olu had supported another candidate against Mr Obasa in the race for the seat of speaker.

But some party loyalists said the main reason some nominees who are technocrats were rejected was because they were not known in their constituencies and had no electoral value.

Micheal Uju, a public affairs analyst, said the disqualification was political.

“Unfortunately, there is the sense that most of those rejected by the House are the technocrats among them who are not so much into party politics,” he said.

“People like Professor Akin Abayomi, we saw his role during the COVID-19 pandemic as the then Lagos commissioner for health.

“Look at Mrs Folashade Adefisayo, do you not know that woman’s efforts at transforming Lagos public schools to what parents are now proud of?

“Same with the former SA (special adviser) to the governor on works, Engineer Aramide Adeyoye, who spent not less than 15 years with a leading global construction company.”


Concerns

After the governor submitted the list to the House of Assembly, many groups, including legislators, raised concerns, particularly about not being represented.

Lawmakers in the state House kicked against the list, saying their councils and party faithful who contributed to the success of the APC were excluded.

Criticism trailing the list further heightened as a group of Islamic clerics and scholars described the composition of the nominees “as a continuation of the governor’s long-standing bias against Muslims in the state.”

They said the list exhibited a “callous insensitivity to diversity, equity, and fairness.” But the governor denied the allegation.

The list is said to contain 31 Christians and eight Muslims.

The Epetedo Indigenes Association also described Mr Sanwo-Olu’s proposed cabinet as a “disappointing” composition “that falls short of the expectations of the electorate.

The group in a statement signed by the group’s chairman, Maroof-deen Oshodi, and other executive members on Monday, said they do not deserve to be marginalised after shielding the governor from “electoral defeat.”

This is not the first time though some commissioner nominees would be rejected.

During the second term of Babatunde Fashola, some legislators expressed strong opposition to some of the nominees. But all of them were eventually cleared.


Consensus

Mojeed Fatai, the chief whip of the House who headed the 12-member committee that screened the nominees, insisted that the decision to disqualify some of them was not made by him but by the lawmakers.

The essence of the committee is to screen and not to “confirm or disqualify anybody,” Mr Fatai said in an interview with TVC.

He further declined to comment on the actual reason some nominees were disqualified, just like Mr Obasa.

In his attempt to clear the air on the matter, the speaker of the House said the lawmakers would not be forced to reveal what they discovered during the screening.

Mr Obasa, during the plenary, spoke specifically on the rejection of two of the former commissioners – Messrs Abayomi and Omotoso. He said both ex-commissioners failed to deliver in some aspects.

Although he said the lawmakers would not go back on their decision unless there is a “germane and convincing reason,” Mr Sanwo-Olu’s spokesperson, Gboyega Akosile, expressed optimism that the matter will be resolved.

“I believe that the governor will meet with the legislators and of course there will be a meeting ground for the two parties. And I am sure that things will pan out positively for the people of Lagos State at the end of the day,” Mr Akosile said in an earlier interview.

At least eight banks and 18 other listed companies have been fined N125m for failing to file their 2022 audited financial statements and quarterly reports for the first half of 2023 as required by Nigerian Exchange, The PUNCH findings have revealed.

The affected banks were Unity Bank, FBN Holdings, Access Holdings, Fidelity Bank, Jaiz Bank, Wema Bank, Guaranty Trust Holdings Plc and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated.

John Holt, PZ Cussons, Notore Chemical, Glaxo SmithKline Consumer Nigeria, Industrial Medical and Gases Nigeria and Juli Plc were also affected by the sanction.

According to the NGX’s post-listing rules, quoted companies are required to submit their audited results, not later than 90 calendar days, or three months, after the expiration of the period. The rules also require quoted companies to submit interim reports not later than 30 calendar days after the end of the relevant period.

Based on the latest X – Compliance Report issued by the regulatory arm of the NGX, FBN Holdings was fined for delay in submitting its 2022 financial results and its quarter one report for 2023. The lender paid N6.3m for the former offence and paid N3.3m for the latter.

For failing to submit its 2022 results on time, Unity Bank paid N6.4m and another N3.4m for the delay in submitting its interim reports for Q1, 2023.

The report showed that Fidelity Bank, GTCO and Wema Bank paid N2.7m, N1.4m, and N1.9m, respectively as fines.

While Access Holdings paid N2m, Jaiz Bank, Ecobank, and John Holt coughed out N600,000, N3.2m and N3.2m, respectively as penalties.

The NGX fined PZ Cussons N4.8m, Notore Chemical paid N500,000 and GSK, which announced the closure of its operations in Nigeria also paid a fine of N1.3m for failing to file its 2022 financial results as and when due.

Others also sanctioned for delay in filing their 2022 audited accounts include Industrial Medical and Gases Nigeria, which paid a fine of N1.2m, Juli Plc paid a penalty of N120,000 and NPF Microfinance Bank paid a fine of N1.8m.

The regulator also sanctioned Daar Communications, paying N1.7m fine, Champion Breweries and Abbey Mortgage Bank Plc were also fined N1.6m and N1.4m, respectively.

Regency Alliance Insurance and Thomas Wyatt Nigeria also paid N1.4m and N4.9m fines, respectively, for the same offence.

The NGX hammer also fell on Presco Plc (N24.8m); Ardova (N18.6m) and Universal Insurance Plc (N12.4) for flouting the filing regulations.

Conoil was also fined N7.9m for not filing its results within the stipulated period, while Caverton Offshore Support Group paid N5.7m as a penalty for the same offence.

Telecommunications services firm, Briclinks Africa Plc also cough out N590,000 fine during this period.

The Vice-chairman of Highcap Securities, David Adonri, said the fines were necessary to maintain the sanctity of the market.

“A lot of them relate to corporate disclosures. The capital market is information-driven. There is certain information that the listed companies must disclose at the appropriate time. If a company realised that it may not be able to disclose such information, the company can send a request to the exchange requesting additional time

Bandits have abducted the Organizing Secretary of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Hon. Kawu Ibrahim Yakasai, from his residence in Yakasai village in Kaduna State.

The abduction took place at around 10:00 pm on Friday when the bandits invaded Yakasai village in Soba LGA.

They specifically targeted Yakasai’s residence and forcibly took him, sources revealed.

Hon. Kawu Ibrahim Yakasai, a former Chairman of Soba Local Government, was seized by the assailants and subsequently transported to an undisclosed location.

Commenting on the incident, a resident of Soba, Lawal Sani, prayed to God to free the ex chairman from his abductors.

A member of the ruling party executive committee, who spoke anonymously, confirmed the incident, expressing concern over the safety of Hon. Yakasai.

Mohammed Lawal Shehu, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Uba Sani, also confirmed the incident, saying the governor had directed security agencies to go after the kidnappers and ensure Yakasai’s safe return.
He reiterated his administration’s commitment to safety of lives and properties of all citizens of Kaduna state.

He added that part of the steps taken to achieve this is his resolve to employ 7000 vigilantes, who will complement the efforts of the security agencies in the state.

Police Public Relations Officer in Kaduna, DSP Mohammed Jalige, is yet to reply messages sent to them on the issue as at the time of filling the report.

A Ghanaian driver was shot and injured and his truck was burnt by suspected terrorists while trying to bring food supplies from Niger Republic despite the difficult security situation in the area.

The driver was one of a handful of drivers who chose to bring crucial foodstuff to Ghana via the Burkina Faso route.

As a result of the military coup in Niger, its borders were closed, which raised tension with the regional bloc, ECOWAS.

According to Africanews, the drivers reportedly tried to continue beyond the Burkina Faso border on their own after unsuccessfully waiting for security escorts.

Unfortunately, terrorists attacked the convoy, destroying about four vehicles.

The owner of Damabala Enterprise, Massahoudu Dambala, described the terrifying occurrence to Joy News.

Damabala Enterprise uses about 35 trucks to convey food from Niger to Ghana.

He disclosed that when the drivers ignored the terrorists’ orders to stop, a conflict occurred.

He said, “When the expected escorts failed to show up, one of the drivers made the decision to proceed. Following their accomplishment, our drivers made the trip as well. They left, and the jihadists appeared. The drivers made every effort to stop the convoy, but it continued. Tragically, some went home, and some left their trucks behind.

“Our leading vehicle was targeted; they burned it along with about 450 bags of beans it was carrying, along with three or four other trucks.”

Meanwhile, ECOWAS has debunked the claims that the regional bloc was being sponsored by foreign powers to attack Niger Republic.

Omar Alieu Touray, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, disclosed this on Friday while addressing a press conference in Abuja.

He said, “Let me reiterate that fifth columnists have unfortunately been misrepresenting our decisions and actions, deriding regional authorities as being tele-guided by foreign powers with nefarious intentions.

“Let me remind everyone that ECOWAS is a community of rules and regulations, norms, and values. These principles, which have been accumulated over the 48 years of its existence, and they underpin its actions.

“We are, therefore, not under the dictates of any extra-regional power or interests. Our interest is rather the protection of the rights of our people with the objective of building a rules-based community and fostering peace and prosperity for all in our region.”

He also said the sub-regional body had not declared war on the people of Niger Republic and that there was no plan to invade the country.

The supremacy battle over the control of the soul of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has pitted key supporters of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu against governors and former governors elected on the platform of the party.

It was gathered that some key allies of the President are plotting to seize the party from the governors.

Immediate past governor of Kano State, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, was named National chairman of APC in early August to replace former Governor Abdullahi Adamu from Nasarawa State. Ganduje, a key ally of Tinubu, is facing his first litmus test since he assumed office. In many key states, especially in the North, Tinubu’s allies are making frantic moves to hijack the party from the firm grip of the governors. The latest development is the replacement of vacant positions in the National Working Committee (NWC) of APC.

On Thursday, protesters stormed the APC National Secretariat. The presence of the fierce-looking security agents at the secretariat could not deter the protesters from Cross River State, numbering hundreds, who barricaded the Barcelona Hotel end of the street and grounded both vehicular and human traffic.

Also on Thursday, Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello stormed the APC secretariat at 9 am with his supporters. His mission was to stop the inauguration of the anointed officers from Kogi, comprising the Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Duro Meseko, and the now replaced Zonal Organising Secretary (North Central Zone), Ikani Okolo.

Governor Bello, it was gathered, had decided to storm the secretariat to stop the inauguration after undertaking a fruitless visit to the house of the party’s National Chairman, Ganduje, on Wednesday night. That was after the NWC had allegedly settled for the candidates believed to have the support of James Faleke, a close ally of Tinubu. In a show of solidarity, all members of the National Assembly on the platform of the party from Kogi State and a serving minister from the state joined Governor Bello in the protest.

The governor spent over seven hours before he left the party’s secretariat by 4.33pm.

However, reprieve may have come the way of Governor Bello, as Ganduje has resolved the NWC impasse. A source told the reporter: “After a rigorous meeting with key stakeholders, the party resolved that Kogi State governor, Bello, should nominate a candidate for the position of Zonal Organising Secretary (North Central), who is to replace the earlier nominated, Shuaibu Okolo

“The nomination of Duro Meseko, who is also nominated to serve as the Deputy National Publicity Secretary earlier by James Faleke stands.”

In the South South, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, Saturday Sun has gathered, has hijacked the party structure. Oshiomhole is also a close ally of President Tinubu.

Despite having other members of NWC from Edo State, Oshiomhole is said to have grabbed the position of the National Women Leader of APC from Cross River State.

Current Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu was the National Women Leader of APC until her appointment by President Tinubu. She is from Cross River. Based on existing principles of the party, Cross River State ought to have nominated her replacement. But Oshiomhole, like other close allies of Tinubu, selected her replacement from Edo.

Saturday Sun has gathered that many APC governors are uncomfortable with the new development and may meet with President Tinubu soon to lodge an official complaint.

A source told Saturday Sun that the governors are worried that strategic placements of Tinubu’s men may soon affect their firm grip on the party ahead of key elections coming up later in the year.

He said Ganduje, who had yet to settle down as the APC National Chairman, may not succumb to the pressure from governors, who are unwilling to relinquish their control of the party.

The party chieftain said Tinubu might be worried that if the control of the party is left in the hands of governors, he might run into trouble during key elections in the near future. He added that unlike former President Muhammadu Buhari, the APC will be well funded by President Tinubu and the NWC of the party may not have to kowtow to governors to survive.

According to him, Buhari refused to fund the party when he held sway as President for eight years. He said the party had to depend on the benevolence of governors to survive, who in turn, exerted control on the party.

He said: “Tinubu faced great difficulties in securing the ticket of the party. In fact, governors decided the fate of Tinubu and he knows what that cost him. He doesn’t want a repeat of that.

“That’s why he’s already taking over the structure of the party. Since he can’t do that openly, he’s using his allies to achieve that. Tinubu is also targeting states where their governors appear to be ambitious and didn’t fully support him.

“As long as Tinubu remains the President, he will not relinquish the control of the ruling party. People need to understand that. Tinubu has seen the dangers in allowing governors to control the party.”

National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, told Saturday Sun that the issues are already being resolved, but he didn’t give a timeline.

“The issues raised by the protesters are being resolved,” he told Saturday Sun.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says the recent estimate of the country’s foreign exchange (FX) reserves by JP Morgan was presented “out of context”.

Hassan Mahmud, director of monetary policy department, CBN, spoke when he featured on Moneyline with Nancy, a programme on Africa Independent Television (AIT), on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, JP Morgan estimated that the CBN’s net FX reserves fell to $3.7 billion at the end of 2022, compared to $14 billion in 2021.

Reacting to the development, Mahmoud said that fluctuations, liabilities and encumbrances to the reserves were only natural and normal.

“We also read the JP Morgan numbers in-house and we didn’t panic over that. That’s not the first time we are seeing people, institutions reeling out numbers; they must have their intentions to do that, whether to rouse market sentiments, whether to mislead the public,” Mahmud said.

“But the central bank has tried as much as possible to be transparent. What I will say about those numbers is that it is just funny in the sense that number one, reserves like any account balance, is a flow; there are changes that go within it at any particular time.

“Two, even if you have outstanding liabilities, you don’t mark the outstanding liabilities to market on a day and say this is your net balance.

“I can have $20 million in my account and I am owing someone maybe $13 million that is supposed to be paid in 2027; you can’t come in 2023 and say if I remove that $13 million, your money is $7 million or you are having $7 million.

“Now, I am not having $7 million, I am having $20 million. Because before I took a facility of $13 million, I know in the next three years, I will get $17 million so I can pay you back.

“But for you to come and tell me that no, your balance is $7 million and you can’t pay back in three years; it’s just putting it out of context.

“I don’t know how they did their calculations and I don’t have any information about that, but we also saw those numbers that came out.”

Mahmud said the CBN owned about 80 percent of funds in reserves mainly to support the local currency in periods of volatility as well as to boost confidence of foreign investors.

“We have the numbers there. The central bank’s reserves are on our bank net. Yes, the figure you see today may not be exactly to the last decimal point but you have that picture that you are seeing there,” the CBN official said.

“We have $33bn, there is IMF facility there, the SDR is also there, we have the JP Morgan numbers that you mentioned, we have forwards, they are all there.”

Asked if the public should disregard the JP Morgan estimate, Mahmud said: “It is a ridicule for us (CBN) to come to the public domain, whether the CBN governor or deputy governor to speak on issues by JP Morgan. I don’t even know who said it in JP Morgan.”

“I don’t want us to get to that level where we will be ridiculing ourselves as a sovereign or country because of a private investor that has its own motives for giving those numbers. It could also be that those numbers were quoted out of context.”

By Aliyu Jalal


The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has launched a manhunt for a Lekki axis, Lagos-based drug dealer, Sowunmi Ayodeji Kayode, who is reportedly on the run after crushing one of its officers.





In a statement, spokesman of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, said the incident happened when the suspect was trying to escape arrest after operatives stormed his house last weekend.
“Anti-narcotics officers of the agency had on Friday 18th August stormed the residence of the wanted drug dealer located at 2/3 Adetola Ayeni close, Lekki, Lagos for a search and possible arrest following credible intelligence that he was dealing in illicit drugs in his house.”

“Although he was not in the house when operatives got into his compound, he however returned while a search of his apartment was ongoing.

“In a dramatic twist, as soon as he drove into the premises and sighted NDLEA officers, he engaged his car in reverse gear, knocked down one of the officers, pulled down his gate before plunging the vehicle into the fence of the opposite compound.





“The force of his car’s speed also pulled down the concrete wall of his neighbour’s compound and from there he dived out of the vehicle to escape,” Babafemi said.

He said a thorough search of his apartment however led to the recovery of 10.5kgs of Loud, while the operative knocked down suffered multiple injuries all over his body and compound fracture on his two legs, for which he is currently on hospital admission for treatment.

Following the unpleasant development, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) directed the deployment of appropriate operational assets of the agency to “smoke out the wanted suspect from his hiding”.

He also approved adequate medical care for the injured officer so that he can get back on his feet as soon as possible.

Daniel Bwala, an aide to the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has said that President Bola Tinubu may be forced to sacrifice the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike if he goes ahead with his planned demolition of structures in the FCT.

The PUNCH reports that Wike, upon assuming office on Monday, vowed to demolish houses illegally constructed within the nation’s capital, no matter whose property would be affected.

He said, “All those people who are distorting the Masterplan of Abuja, too bad. If you know you have built where you are not supposed to build, it will go down.

“Be you a minister of anywhere, be you an ambassador, if you know you have developed where you were not supposed to develop, your house must go down. Those who have taken over the green areas to build, sorry, our parks must come back; the green areas must come back. If you hate green, you must hate yourself.”

Meanwhile, Bwala while reacting to the threat in a tweet on Monday, charged the minister to learn humility while on his job.

He tweeted: “Hello sir, in case you need a refresher course, the basic needs of the residents of the FCT are: affordable healthcare facilities; access to good education facilities; clean sports and recreational centres; an affordable transport services system; efficient and workable street lighting in the city centre and the suburbs; and finally, security.

“You came with a bullish and vendetta spirit, venting fire and brimstone about demolition and revocation of titles. Abuja is not Port Harcourt.

“If you create chaos in the city, you will jeopardise your principal’s interests, and he will be forced to sacrifice your job. You will learn humility on the job.”

A former Kaduna Central Senator and human rights activist, Shehu Sani, argued that Nigerians will soon beg the Federal Government to leave them in poverty.

Sani who made the submission while reacting to the Federal Government’s promise to lift Nigerians out of poverty, said people will soon realise that the poverty they know is better than the unknown.

Recall the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, had assured that the Federal Government would lift 133 million Nigerians out of poverty.

Edu said the feat will be achieved through the backing of President Bola Tinubu, different interventions and initiatives meant to reduce poverty.

According to Edu: “What is most important is that we will keep our focus on lifting 133 million Nigerians out of poverty.”

Reacting, the former Kaduna Central Senator, faulted the same promises made by the previous governments.

Tweeting, Sani wrote: “The Past Government promised to lift the people out of poverty. The Present Government is promising to lift the people out of poverty.

“We are reaching a point where the people will beg the Government to please leave them in Poverty.

“The poverty you know is better than the one you don’t know.”

A recently rescued Chibok schoolgirl who was among the over 200 girls abducted by Boko Haram terrorists in 2014 at Chibok Secondary School, Mary Nkeki, has declared her readiness to properly marry her repentant Boko Haram “husband”.

She was forcefully married to the insurgent before the two of them escaped from the enclave of the terrorists in Dikwa local government area of Borno State.

She disclosed this yesterday during an interaction with journalists at the command and control centre of “Operation Hadin Kai” in Maiduguri, the state capital, where she was presented to the public by the theatre commander, Maj. Gen Gold Chibuisi.

The rescued girl who is number 55 on the list of missing Chibok schoolgirls said she escaped alongside her “husband” from captivity.

Nkeki said on the day of her escape, she disguised with her repentant terrorist husband to be a former fighter of the terrorists on the pretext of going somewhere, before escaping at night through the Dikwa area where they were rescued by the troops of the Operation Hadin Kai.

This year marks the 10th year she has been in the hands of the Boko Haram terrorists where she was forcefully married to two different jihad fighters.

Nkeki said she gave birth to a girl child, but lost the baby due to harsh conditions in the captivity.

“What I want to do now is to marry my husband that escaped with me. I don’t want to go back to school so as to avoid being abducted again as before. This is my 10th year in the hands of the terrorists. I married two different husbands during my captivity. We were suffering there until God gave us the opportunity to escape.

“My husband was formerly a Boko Haram fighter, but has now repented and surrendered. Two more Chibok schoolgirls are still in the place I escaped from. I gave birth to a baby girl to one of the fighters but she died after her birth,” Nkeki said.

In his comment, Maj-gen Chibuisi said a series of operations had been embarked by the troops towards realising its mandate of ridding the North-East of terrorists, adding that “Operation Hadin Kai” has continued to apply kinetic and no- kinetic strategies with positive results.

Chibuisi said these positive results are evident in the rescue of 16 Chibok Schoolgirls recently, revealing that those rescued so far include Ester Marcus on serial number 103 of the missing Chibok schoolgirls; Hauwa Marta serial number two; Aisha Greama on serial number 11; Hanatu Musa of serial number seven; Serah Luka on serial number 38; Ruth Bitrus serial number 41; Mary Dauda serial number 46; Hauwa Joseph serial number 18; Falmata Lawan serial number 3; Asabe Ali serial number 12; Yinkuyi Yamau serial number 20; Yana Pogu serial number 19; Rejoice Sanki serial number 70 , and Hassan Adamu on serial number 35.

The theatre commander said in line with international best practices and determination to consolidate on the gains recorded so far, troops of “Operation Hadin Kai have yet again rescued another Chibok Schoolgirl, Mary Nkeki on the 14th of August this year.

“Mary Nkeki was rescued by troops of 81 Task Force Battalion during operations into the terrorists’ enclave. She is on serial number 55 of the abducted Chibok Girls list. She is 27 year old , Kibaku by tribe from Kabur Mbula village of Chibok local government area of Borno State.

“While in captivity she was forcefully married to one Adamu, a Boko Haram fighter. She has been equally resuscitated and will be handed over to the Borno State government.”

She was later handed over to the officials of the Borno State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development for rehabilitation.

Global financial service firm JP Morgan has estimated Nigeria’s net foreign reserve to be around $3.7 billion.

The figure is far below the $33.8 billion as of August 17 on Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) website.

JP Morgan’s estimate is much lower than the net figure of $14 billion reported at the end of 2021.

The bank disclosed this in its latest report on Nigeria titled “Nigeria: Reform pause rather than fatigue”.

It noted that the lower-than-reported forex reserve is the result of larger currency swaps and borrowings against the forex reserve.


The global financial institution said: “Based on partial information from the audited financial accounts, we estimate that CBN’s net forex reserves were around $3.7 billion at the end of last year, from $14 billion at the end-2021.”

According to the bank, the assumptions followed an addition of $5 billion in International Monetary Fund Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to external reserves to arrive at total gross forex reserves of US$37.8 billion.

This, it said, was broadly in line with the 30-day moving average of US$37.08 billion previously published on the central bank’s website.

It added that by adjusting the gross external reserves with three key forex liability lines that include forex forwards ($6.84 billion), securities lending ($5.5 billion) and currency swaps ($21.3 billion).

It estimated currency swaps by backing out forex forwards and outstanding Over The Counter (OTC) Futures balances from an overall aggregate published in the financial accounts.

The bank said the CBN still can withstand the pressure accompanying the low forex reserve especially, as profit from swap arrangements between the CBN and commercial banks, the rates will continue to rise.

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted $20 million suspected to be counterfeit during a stop and search operation along Abaji-Lokoja road, within the Federal Capital Territory.

In a statement on Sunday, Spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi, said that the fake money was recovered from a bus coming from Lagos to Abuja, while the 53-year-old driver of the vehicle, Onyebuchi Nlededin, was arrested.

Following reactions from fans online slamming the Nigeria Football Federation after just three members out of the 23-woman Super Falcons were received by the wife of the President, Remi Tinubu, on Monday in Abuja, a top official of the NFF told The PUNCH that the body’s General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi told players and officials that the Presidency asked that the team list be “trimmed down.”

The Falcons crashed out of the ongoing Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand with heads held high after losing to England on penalties following a thrilling 120 minutes in the round of 16.

The 11-time Africa champions were the better sides of the two teams but were unlucky not to get to the quarter-finals of the tournament after Desire Oparanozie and Michelle Alozie missed from the spot.

Despite crashing out of the World Cup President Bola Tinubu and his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, commended the Falcons, with the First Lady adding that she would host the team on their arrival in the country.

She kept to her promise, but surprisingly only three members of the team were received by the Presidency, raising eyebrows among fans who watched the Falcons put up one of the finest performances at the women’s football showpiece tournament.

Our correspondent learnt Mrs Tinubu gifted each player $10,000, while officials got $2,500 each.

A photo posted on the NFF Twitter handle on Monday had the wife of the President, wife of the Vice President, Hajia Nana Shettima, wife of the Senate President, Ekaette Akpabio, NFF president Ibrahim Gusau; NFF 1st VP, Felix Anyansi-Agwu and the NFF General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi, with Falcons captain Onome Ebi, Christy Ucheibe and Tochukwu Oluehi.

Reacting to the post, Nnaji Obed Asiegbu wrote, “You are very unfair. Hosted only three players. Where are the other players and technical crew? This is ridiculous and I feel embarrassed to see Mr Felix joining to perpetuate this act of wickedness. It shows no organisation. The team is supposed to be arranged by the NFF to return to Nigeria officially then their return to their bases also to be sponsored. It’s a national assignment.”

Frank Obisike rhetorically asked, “Are these the full squad? Or it’s only three girls that went to the competition?”

“Shame won’t allow you people to post this rubbish, go and see how the Ireland team was welcomed. You are welcoming three players that already have their tickets paid for by FIFA? Why didn’t you pay for all the players to touch down in Abuja first?” Ezechukwuka wrote.”

Also wondering why only three players were received Akpati Nshiegbe equally asked, “@thenff why do we have only three players in attendance?”

Another fan with the username Shezzy wrote, “Why does it look like the players selected by the NFF are the ones loyal to them?”

However, it was learnt that an original list that had 21 names — four players, nine backroom staff and eight sports ministry and NFF officials — for the visit to the Villa was trimmed down to just six players and officials on the order of Sanusi.

An aggrieved senior official of the NFF told The PUNCH he was among those listed, but later omitted for the reception, adding that the federation left out some players for fear that they would “leak out some secrets.”

“I was surprisingly left out too,” our source, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being victimised, told The PUNCH.

“The First Lady said she would host the team, but suddenly we heard stories that the Presidency said the team that will attend the reception should be trimmed down. They (NFF) know that the players are aggrieved and will talk and leak out some secrets. The original list had most of the backroom staff but after some days, the GS (General Secretary) sent a message to Amina Daura (Head of Women’s Football, NFF) that they want only him, Anyansi and Gusau with just five players.

“Then after the First Lady received them, they were told to write down the names of the remaining members of the team who were not at the event, and their account details, but Sanusi told them to write down the names of only the players, leaving out other backroom staff members who were not at the ceremony. When the names of the other players shortlisted for the reception Glory Ogbonna and Nnadozie, who were absent, were announced, Sanusi went to collect their money but he was told they won’t deal with him or any other person except the team captain Onome Ebi.”

The PUNCH contacted two backroom staff members who were absent at the ceremony, but both said they’ve not been asked to submit their account details, while a player, who flew back to her base from Australia, said she had been told to send her details.

A senior Falcons player said the exclusion of some players from the reception was a reflection of how Sanusi handled the team’s matters.

“Some of the players are around. Why didn’t they go to Abuja? Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State received Rasheedat Ajibade and Rofiat Imuran, why were they not in Abuja? Asisat Oshoala, Gift Monday and Ajibade were also hosted by the Lagos Governor. Were they in Abuja? The Imo State Governor also held a reception for Desire Oparanozie, Chiamaka Nnadozie, Osinachi Ohale and Tochi Oluehi, who went for the reception in Abuja. Why was Desire, Nnadozie and Ohale not in Abuja?”

She added that the players had lost confidence in how the General Secretary managed issues concerning them.

“He had a meeting with us on one of our trips and told us — support staff, players coaches and Randy were there — that ‘if you think you are in the national team to make money, you better step down.’ But it’s this same man that collects his estacode steadily, he collected $600 per night at the World Cup while the players got $100 and its him saying this to people who left their families for months. Are they there to play? During (Amaju) Pinnick’s time, we were paid $5,000 win bonuses but GS told us we would be paid $3,000 in Australia. How do you think the girls will be happy? And the man feels he is doing the girls some favour.”

The PUNCH reported last month that shortly before the Nigerian contingent departed Abuja for Australia July 2, Sanusi, during a meeting with the players, told them that they would not be paid their $3,000 match bonuses by the federation, since FIFA had already announced that every player would get $30,000 in the group stage of the tournament in Australia and New Zealand.

The PUNCH was told that he also announced that the players would no longer be given 30 per cent from the $1,560,000 FIFA grant to all member associations for the group stage of the competition.

Efforts by our correspondent to reach the NFF General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi to comment on the issue proved abortive.

Sanusi didn’t pick his calls at about 1:57pm and 3:38pm on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, and he also didn’t respond to messages sent to his WhatsApp at exactly 2pm on Tuesday and 3:45pm on Wednesday.

However, NFF spokesman Ademola Olajire, who The PUNCH learnt was also on the list to the Villa but had his name removed, said only three players were available for the reception.

“Only three players were available. What’s difficult to understand in that, and where’s the negative slant?,” Olajire told The PUNCH.

“It’s time for pre-season activities for clubs ahead of the season, and most of them left immediately on arrival. The US-based girls flew directly from Australia to the USA.”

The division among some ex-militants has widened over planned visit to Aso Rock by one of the former warlords and alleged refusal by the presidency.

This is coming after the June visit to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at Nigeria’s seat of power by Asari Dokubo.

During the visit, Dokubo addressed State House correspondents from the press chamber. The picture of him sitting in front of Nigeria’s Coat of Arms triggered outrage.

Dokubo’s controversial remarks on oil theft and insecurity also generated backlash, after which the presidency allegedly barred all ex-militants from visiting Aso Rock.

This do not go down well with some other warlords who had planned to visit Tinubu as they blamed Dokubo over his “vituperations”.

Speaking with Daily Trust on Thursday, ex-militant leader who is also the Mayor of Urhoboland, Eshanakpe Israel a.k.a Akpodoro, called on the presidency to only bar and decline audience to Dokubo and not other warlords whom he described as reputable.

Akpodoro argued that Dokubo should be singled out for sanction since the leader of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF) was not elected to represent the body of ex-militants.

“Dokubo flies his own flag. FG should not treat vicariously other former warlords who willingly surrendered arms at the end of the armed struggle in the Delta”, Akpodoro who is the leader of the Coalition of Niger Delta Ex-Agitators (NCNDE-A) said.

Ex-militants he noted, are quintessential, astute, eminent and top-notch peace builders who are hungry to add their quota to the growth and development of thei country.

The law enforcement agencies have the dosier of all ex-militants, he said, if anyone is found wanting there shouldn’t be hesitation to rein in such character who runs foul of the law at any time rather than punishing others for the sin of one element.

He also said rather than turning vicious in our criticisms of the policies and programmes of the government, the citizens should support the President to build a virile nation where the people will be better for it in short term.