₦airaland Forum

Ifeoluwa Adediran

The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said two deaths have been confirmed from the Lekki shooting that occurred on Tuesday.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said this in an interview with Arise TV on Thursday.

He had earlier said there was no death from the Lekki shooting.

On Wednesday, however, Mr Sanwo-Olu said one death was recorded in the hospital but the state was still investigating whether it was as a result of the shooting.

“Information reaching us now is that a life was lost at Reddington Hospital due to blunt force trauma to the head. It is an unfortunate and very sad loss. This is an isolated case. We are still investigating if he was a protester,” he posted on his Twitter handle.

On Thursday, Mr Sanwo-Olu said two deaths have now been confirmed among the protesters in Lekki. It is unclear whether the patient he formerly posted about is among the confirmed deaths.


Lekki Shooting

The Lekki shooting occurred around 7 p.m. on Tuesday when soldiers opened fire on unarmed protesters who were holding a peaceful protest at Lekki toll gate.

The #EndSARS protest, a campaign against police brutality and for the reform of the police, has been holding in different states of Nigeria for more than two weeks.

The protesters at the Lekki toll gate had been protesting peacefully for about a week before Tuesday’s incident, which has been condemned locally and internationally, including by Mr Sanwo-Olu.

While the protest in some parts of the country had turned violent, mainly after security officials attacked protesters, that of Lekki remained peaceful and well organised with the protesters even clearing their garbage.

However, on Tuesday, hours after a curfew announced by Mr Sanwo-Olu on the state was to commence, soldiers opened fire to disperse the protesters.

Amnesty International estimates that 12 people died from the Lekki shooting and a similar one in Alausa, Ikeja.

Mr Sanwo-Olu has condemned the attack and said he was not involved in the deployment of the soldiers.

Speaking on the shooting on Thursday, Mr Sanwo-Olu said he has “no knowledge about the protocols of the military and how they come out of their chain of command”.

“I don’t know how the officers got it all wrong because the instruction was that police won’t be out until 10-10:30 p.m. when all citizens should have gotten to their various homes. This is totally against what we stand for.

“The army does not report to me, I have reported the matter to the highest command in the military,” he said.

The governor said the state will investigate the incident and urged residents with factual evidence on additional deaths from the Lekki shooting to submit them to a panel of inquiry he intends to set up on the shootings.

“It’s not something we are going to gloss over. A judicial panel will be set up to investigate it. I have escalated it to the highest level of the military,” he said.

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), has said directed the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission to finalise new salary structure for members of the Nigeria Police Force.

Buhari made this known in a live broadcast on Thursday evening.

Better welfare package for police officers is one of the five-point demands of #EndSARS protesters in the country.

Addressing Nigerians on Thursday, the President said, “With regard to the welfare of police personnel, the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission has been directed to expedite action on the finalization of the new salary structure of members of the Nigeria Police Force. The emoluments of other paramilitary services are also being reviewed upwards.”

The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested a 42-year-old man, Mohammed Prince Momoh, for posing as an aide to the Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari, to defraud one Benson Aniogo of $50, 000.

Momoh attempted to defraud Aniogu, claiming he represented Gambari and needed the said amount to secure an appointment for him as a Special Adviser to the President on Oil and Gas.

Public Relations Officer, DSS National Headquarters, Abuja, Dr Peter Afunanya, who paraded the suspect, an indigene of Kogi State, on Tuesday, said their investigations revealed that Momoh and his group never acted on behalf of or for the Chief of Staff.

Afunanya said the suspect had approached Aniogu, from Bayelsa State, telling him he was a security aide attached to Gambari. Momoh had claimed that $25, 000 would be for the Chief of Staff while the remaining would be for the “boys” who would help secure the appointment.

The DSS Spokesman said Momoh had worked briefly some time ago as an aide to someone in the Presidential Villa and had some knowledge of the workings of the environment.

Momoh and his team had visited Aniogu in his house in Abuja to collect the money.

Afunanya said Aniogu suspected they were fraudulent and alerted authorities leading to a sting operation that was conducted by the Service, where Momoh was nabbed.

Afunanya said Momoh would face the full weight of the law.

The DSS Spokesman advised that people who use social media should mind the kind of information they drop in their space, as there are always criminal elements harvesting information to use and defraud unsuspecting people.

He called on Nigerians to be cautious and avoid being greedy and desperate so as not to fall victim to fraudsters.

“They should be wary and ask questions when and where they need to to. For every suspicion of crime please relate to appropriate security agencies and pass information timely to them so they needful can be done,” he said.

He said Nigerians should be aware such syndicates exist, adding that the Service would continue to disrupt their activities and continue to do all that is needful within the law to ensure that no law abiding citizen is taken advantage of by criminal elements.

“We reassure Nigerians that the DSS as a responsible, foremost, domestic intelligence agency in Nigeria would continue to perform its duties without any fear or favour,” he said.

Momoh, who said he is married with two children, admitted to the crime.

He said he worked in the Villa between 2013 and 2014.

SaharaReporters gathered that Moshood was arrested in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, some weeks ago and has been kept in a DSS cell in Osogbo, Osun State.

Operatives of the Department of State Services have arrested and detained a tricycle rider named Lawal Moshood after the previous owner of the mobile phone he is using sent a text message to the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, through a different SIM card.

SaharaReporters gathered that Moshood was arrested in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, on the orders of the Ooni of Ife some weeks ago and has been kept in a DSS cell in Osogbo, Osun State.

Narrating Moshood’s ordeal, Olawale Bakare widely known as Mandate and one of the recently arrested and detained #RevolutionNow protesters in Osogbo released last weekend, said that the DSS operatives did not see the SIM used to send the message to the monarch yet arrested and had kept him in detention since that period.

He said the young man had been denied access to a lawyer or his family members since he was picked up from Ijebu-Ode by the secret police.

Shedding more light into the incident, another activist, Ifemosu Michael Adewale, in a post on Twitter said, “I have information at my disposal that @OoniAdimulaIfe ordered the arrest of one Lawal Moshood who has been in DSS detention in Osun State for the past few weeks.

“Lawal was arrested in Ijebu-Ode on the basis that the phone he uses was used by someone before with a different SIM card to send a message to Ooni.

“They never saw that very SIM in his phone but are keeping him till he says what they want to hear.

“Who would have thought that our highly respected king ‪@OoniAdimulaIfe will order the arrest of a young tricycle rider from Ogun State where he lives and dumped at the facility of the DSS in Osun State without charges and access to legal representation?”

Calls put across to the Chief Press Secretary to the monarch, Moses Olafare, over the issue were not answered nor returned as at the time of this report.

The National Assembly, as part of its oversight function, has been probing the activities of ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government, especially their revenues and expenditure.

Nigerians are, however, divided over how much the probes have achieved in saving the economy through blockage of leakages and prosecution of corrupt officials.


Close watchers of the probes have stated that leakages in the system can be stopped if only the legislature have been carrying out its oversight duties effectively by nipping the corrupt activities in the bud.

Several members of the National Assembly have, by way of motions and bills, raised the alarm over the alleged corruption and mismanagement of public resources, leading to investigations by standing and ad hoc committees.

The panels either promptly carry out the probes and present their reports or differ the assignment till the Assembly winds down or the issues are overtaken by events.

The House, for instance, has set up an ad hoc committee to investigate the activities of the National Pension Commission and the violation of the PenCom Act.

The committee was mandated by the House to probe the withdrawal of N33bn by PenCom from a Central Bank of Nigeria account, the alleged non-remittance of funds to Pension Fund Custodians and administrators, among others.

Several staggering revelations were made during the investigative hearings by the panel. The probe, however, died with the 8th Assembly.

Another botched probe in the 8th National Assembly was done by the joint Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariff; and Marine Transport to investigate the revenue leakages in the import and export value chain valued at N30tn.

The committee had presented an interim report in 2017 in which it claimed that it recovered over N140bn from banks and companies. The final report did not come till the Assembly was terminated in June 2019.

Another major probe by the 8th Senate, which was inconclusive, was by an ad hoc committee, which investigated the local content elements and cost variations of the $16bn Egina Offshore Oil Project.


The panel recommended that the accounts of the project should be audited to ensure that Nigeria was not trapped in “perpetual debt” without any benefits from the project.

The project, which started in 2013 and is being undertaken by Total Upstream Nigeria Limited, was said to be almost 90 per cent completed as of January 2018.

Since the 9th National Assembly was inaugurated on June 11, 2019, the House alone is presently handling various cases bordering on public institutions and funds.

For instance, the House has begun one of the biggest investigations in terms of monetary value, to probe the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency for allegedly failing to remit revenue totalling N1.343tn to the Federal Government’s coffers.

On December 12, 2019, the House resolved to investigate the Federal Government’s MDAs over fraudulent insurance policies.

The Minority Whip, Gideon Gwani, had in a motion raised the alarm over some of the insurance ventures outside the country, which “tremendously promote money laundering and illicit financial flow to the tune of several billions of naira in the insurance sector.”


Gwani had said, “Several billions of naira are suspected to be paid as premium annually on either non-existent assets or on unverifiable data, with unadjusted premium in breach of Section 61 of the Insurance Act, 2003, by some Federal Government institutions and some security agencies in collaboration with insurance companies that do not pay claims.”

On December 17, 2019, the House started the probe of the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund over alleged illegal expenditure, especially the about N2.3bn spent on staff training without approval.

Also, on December 11, 2019, the House, based on a motion moved by Mr Benjamin Bem, commenced an investigation into the decadence of infrastructure at the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports and the roads leading to the ports in Lagos, causing Nigeria to lose N600bn revenue monthly.

Similarly, on November 27, 2019, the House started an investigation into the collapse of the Delta Steel Company built with $1.89bn.

On November 21, 2019, the House launched a probe into the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency over a contract entered into on behalf of the country with a foreign private company, HLS International Limited, for the supply of certain security and surveillance equipment and systems.


The contract was said to worth $214,830,000, including $195,300,000 for the actual contract and an additional $19,530,000 that NIMASA agreed to pay to HLSI for ‘Management Training Consideration.’

Also, on November 21, 2019, the House began a probe into the Turn Around Maintenance of the refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna, costing a total of $396.33m within four years.

On November 7, 2019, the House launched an investigation into the failure to refund $7bn withdrawn from the foreign reserves by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2006, which was paid to banks and assets managers.

Also, in November 2019, the joint Senate and House Committee on the Niger Delta Development Commission launched a probe into the indebtedness of the Federal Government and 17 local and international oil companies to the NDDC to the tune of N72bn and $73m, while the Federal Government alone owes the agency N1.2tn.

On October 25, 2019, the House queried the abandonment of the contract awarded for the installation of closed-circuit television cameras in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, for which $460m loan obtained was obtained from the China-EXIM Bank.

On September 25, 2019, the House resolved to investigate the debt portfolio of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria and the bad debtors on its list, whose debts totalled about N5.4tn.

On July 25, 2019, the House resolved to investigate the contracts awarded and payments made to contractors by the Federal Government to revive the power sector.

According to a motion unanimously adopted by the lawmakers, the probe will cover the $16bn spent by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration between 1999 and 2007.


In 2020 alone, the House is carrying out various probes. Prominent among them is that of the NDDC, especially its Interim Management Committee, over alleged illegal spending of N81.5bn.

Another is the N100bn allegedly “missing” in the North East Development Commission.

There is also the N613bn allegedly not accounted for by the Nigerian Correctional Service (formerly Nigerian Prison Service).

The House is also probing alleged annual revenue leakage due to racketeering of $30bn forex by multinational oil companies, banks and others.

Similarly, the lawmakers are investigating the $467m and N43.5bn spent by the Nigerian Communications Satellites Limited on NigComSat satellites, which have failed.

The Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, had on May 12, 2020, inaugurated an ad hoc committee to investigate the number and condition of capital projects abandoned by the Federal Government across Nigeria, valued at N230bn.

Earlier on March 19, 2020, the House had resolved to investigate the environmental hazards posed by a project of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited valued at $10bn.


The same day, the House also commenced a probe into the disbursement of the N104,226,956,985.10 released by the CBN for the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme.

The lawmakers are shedding the spotlight on the N81.5bn, which the borrowers have allegedly not refunded, out of the N86.6bn so far disbursed to them by the Bank of Agriculture.

On March 4, 2020, the House resolved to investigate the payment of $30,000 daily or N4bn annually as demurrage on a floating dock acquired by NIMASA for N50bn.

Also being probed by the House are funds donated by international organisations to finance projects in the agriculture sector, such as the FADAMA, amounting to over $1bn.

The Senate in recent times launched a series of probes with resolutions forwarded to the Presidency for implementation.

For instance, the Senate has probed the over N1.8tn Federal Government’s interventions in the power sector since privatisation of the sector from 2012 to date.

It demanded the review of the alleged financial waste from the agreements signed by the Federal Government and some power generation firms in 2015.

It lamented that the country was currently losing $30m every month to the firms for power that Nigerians were not getting.

The Presidency had since faulted the findings and recommendations of the Senate, an indication that the probe remained inconclusive.

The red chamber also probed the invasion of a court by the personnel of the Department of State Services sometime in December 2016 with the report yet to be treated by the Senate.


Perhaps, the celebrated probe by both chambers is the alleged mismanagement of N40bn by the Expanded Interim Management Committee of the NDDC between October last year and May this year.

The Senate had recommended, among others, the sacking of the IMC and the movement of the agency back to the Presidency from the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs for effective supervision.

The Presidency has yet to act on the Senate resolution just as it has ignored its call for the sacking of the service chiefs over worsening security challenges.

The Presidency has also overruled the resolution of both chambers on the planned recruitment of 774,000 jobseekers being coordinated by the Federal Ministry of Labour.

The National Assembly ordered the suspension of the programme and that the National Directorate of Employment should take charge, but the ministry went ahead with the exercise.

The Executive Chairman, Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Mr Debo Adeniran, criticised both the National Assembly and the MDAs it performs oversight on.

Adeniran pointed out that the government could recover so much from looters and tax evaders.

He said, “The National Assembly itself is an added problem to the problem of cost of governance in Nigeria.

“The so-called oversight function that they are supposed to carry out, they do it in breach of the rules and guidelines guiding the exercise.”

In his submission, a lecturer in the Department of Political Science, University of Abuja, Prof. Saleh Dauda, lamented that the National Assembly had not displayed adequate commitment to carrying out its oversight function.


Dauda said, “The National Assembly should intensify its oversight role, especially on how resources are dispensed and how they are being managed. I hope the National Assembly will have a rethink and change its style, otherwise, the way things are, it is like it is already compromised in carrying out its oversight function.

The Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Musa-Rafsanjani, said, “The National Assembly has a responsibility to ensure a proactive and responsive oversight.

“The executive arm of government also has a responsibility to ensure that the MDAs respect the resolutions of the parliament.”

The Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr Benjamin Kalu, explained that the parliament had the constitutional role to probe all bodies for which it approved their budgets.

LAGOS / AKURE – Ahead of the gov­ernorship elec­tion in Ondo State, there are pressures on Olusegun Mimiko, a former gover­nor of the state, to sup­port the Peoples Demo­cratic Party (PDP) to win the election with a reward of being a possible run­ning mate to the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential elec­tion, Daily Independent has gathered.

However, the former governor is yet to make up his mind concerning whom to pitch tent with, especially between former Vice President Atiku Abu­bakar, who was the party’s presidential candidate in the 2019 presidential elec­tion, and the governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Wazi­ri Tambuwal, who are the two prominent presidential materials of the PDP at the moment.

Atiku, through his son and current Commission­er for Works and Energy in Adamawa State, Adamu, disclosed that his father, who was the 2019 PDP pres­idential candidate, would contest the 2023 presidency.

In the same vein, some Northerners, ostensibly inspired by a former mil­itary ruler, are rooting for Tambuwal as presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 contest.

Curiously, Mimiko, who is the National Leader of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), has come under in­tense pressure from both camps for support and the planned springboard is the Ondo State governorship election scheduled for Oc­tober 10, 2020.

The sudden resurrection of political activities of ZLP in Ondo State ahead of the governorship election is highly connected with Mimiko’s 2023 vice presi­dential ambition.

A chieftain of ZLP, who spoke in confidence, said Mimiko’s acceptance of the Ondo State deputy gov­ernor, Agboola Ajayi, as the candidate of the party “is to prove to Nigerians that he (Mimiko) is still a big factor in the politics of the South West”.

He added: “Mimiko is keen in winning the gov­ernorship election for ZLP. It’s not just all about the party candidate but his am­bition to be vice president in 2023.

“You will remember that the Labour Party that ousted late Olusegun Agagu from power was launched three months to the election in 2007, the great Iroko (Mimiko) still has the magic. He still en­joys street credibility and that is why he is craving for Ajayi to win.

“If Mimiko supports Jegede, the PDP’s candi­date, and he defeats Ak­eredolu, the incumbent governor, it will be as­sumed that his influence played a huge role in it and his ratings will soar, espe­cially with the 2023 election around the corner.

“If Ajayi wins the gover­norship ticket under ZLP, both of them will return to the PDP and Mimiko might use that to bargain for the PDP vice presidential tick­et which is believed will be zoned to the South-West with a northern presiden­tial candidate.

“But the problem now is who does he support as presidential candidate? Tambuwal or Atiku?

“That is a major problem and it has really polarised the entire party. I mean the PDP, because both camps of Atiku and Tambuwal want him as running mate in 2023.

“He wants to prove that he is still a factor in Nigeri­an politics and winning the election for his party will boost his chances of clinch­ing the PDP running mate ticket.”

But another source close to the embattled deputy governor, Ajayi, confided in our correspondent that the major problem facing his principal was the pres­sure coming from Atiku and the Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde.

Atiku, it was gathered, had sent an emissary in the Oyo governor to plead with Mimiko to support the PDP’s governorship candi­date, Eyitayo Jegede, for a smooth sail at the contest.

According to the source, not only did Makinde as­sure Mimiko of Jegede’s respect, he indeed deliv­ered Atiku’s message to the former governor that the former vice president was poised to pick him as running mate if he worked for Jegede’s success at the poll.

It was unclear what the ZLP leader told the Oyo State governor. However, it was gathered that Mim­iko’s allies in the ZLP have given some impossible tasks to the deputy gover­nor, Ajayi, to fulfil ahead of his unveiling by the NEC of the party as governorship candidate.

When contacted, Mim­iko’s media aide, Eni Akinsola, said there was no truth in the report.

“No truth in such a per­mutation. We are in ZLP to win, full stop,” he said.

Also on Monday, the Ondo State deputy gov­ernor, Agboola Ajayi, re­signed his membership of the PDP 50 days after he defected from the APC.

Ajayi, who announced this in a statement by his media aide, Allen Sowore Ajayi, thanked members of the party for welcoming him during his short stay.

He said: “Today, 10th August, 2020, I resign my membership from the Peoples Democratic Party to join the Zenith Labour Party to further my aspi­rations.

“I appreciate the nation­al leadership and members of the party for their warm reception and acceptance in the short period I re­joined the party,” the dep­uty governor wrote on Twitter.

However, Ajayi is now set to contest the governor­ship race on the platform of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), having been cleared by the National Executive Committee of the ZLP to contest the October 10 gov­ernorship election.

Ajayi was cleared by ZLP after he was en­dorsed by Mimiko, who gave him some conditions to be met.

Mimiko was reported to have told Ajayi that he must be willing to complete some of his abandoned policies and also pick his deputy governorship can­didate from his camp.

An associate of Ajayi said he would formally join the ZLP on Thursday.

Bristow Helicopters has sacked 100 pilots and engineers following negative impact of Coronavirus on its business and the nation’s economy.

The company, in a statement on Tuesday said the spread of the COVID-19 virus had severely impacted all sectors in the aviation industry, including its market, which primarily served the Nigerian oil and gas sector.

It said in addition, the ongoing downturn in the global oil and gas market continued to influence and determine the demand for our services and that the combined effects of these ‘arisings’ had resulted in very significant reductions to its business, particularly a reduction in the number of contracted aircraft in Nigeria.

“As a result, the company must now restructure all aspects of its business model (both Rotary & Fixed Wing), including an extensive review of its operations and we continue to drive efficiencies, but with zero compromise to safety and our core values.

“One of these measures includes the right sizing of the business to ensure that the company has the optimal level of personnel to continue the safe delivery of its services to its clients, whilst allowing the appropriate capacity for future growth.

“Accordingly, and with much regret, the company has taken the very difficult decision to release over 100 pilots and engineers (both National and Expatriates) over the next couple of weeks,” it said.

The statement added that in compliance with the relevant labour and local content laws and also best practices; the company had engaged the leadership of the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) to negotiate a fair and equitable redundancy compensation for the affected individuals.

As the countdown to the determination of who occupies the seat of Lagos East Senatorial District at the upper chamber begins, there is a need to examine the gladiators in the race.

Although the procedure requires the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the agency saddled with the responsibility of organising election in Nigeria to announce when the election will take place. Of course, it cannot be earlier than 90 days after the demise of the late senator.

Although, the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic has been altering the programme of the electoral umpire; so many engagements have been put on hold due to the pandemic, including elections.

You will recall that since the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan declared the seats of Bayelsa Central and Bayelsa West Senatorial Districts vacant in February, following the election of their occupants as governor and deputy governor of Bayelsa state, election dates have not been announced by the INEC. The governor, Sen. Diri Douye represented Bayelsa Central while his deputy, Sen. Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo represented Bayelsa West.

Analysts have predicted a similar delay in the conduct of by-election in the Lagos East Senatorial District, except there is pressure from the constituency and or the party, in this case, the APC.

Section IV of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), establishes the National Assembly, which has both the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate consists of 109 members, while the House of Representatives consists of 360-members. The role of the Legislature, according to the Constitution is mainly to make laws for good governance, peace, and welfare of the people while also serving as a check on the executive arm of government.

Senator Adebayo Osinowo, the late senator representing the Lagos East Senatorial District had passed on, on Monday, 15th June 2020. His death was reported to be due to complications from COVID-19. He was buried the same day at his Ijebu-Ode residence. Since the passing of the former lawmaker, different political gladiators have been jostling to take over his coveted seat in the red chamber.

While the party is still in the mourning mood, considering the status of the late senator, there are indications that leaders are already silently canvassing for different candidates, a capable one that would be able to fill the vacancy. The parties have been looking for a sellable candidate, who apparently will be without blemish, considering the anti-corruption posture of Mr. President.

From the side of the APC, one of the prominent names on the list being mentioned is Adeyemi Ikuforiji, a former speaker of the Lagos House of Assembly. Aside from the fact that he was the speaker for 11 years, he also represented Epe.

There has been a debate that anyone who must occupy the seat should not be from Epe, because Epe division through Ikuforiji had 11 years of the top job in the state legislature. Another Epe man; Akinwunmi Ambode, the immediate past Governor of the state also served for 4 years, so they argued that for equity sake it won’t be wise to parade another Epe candidate for the Senate seat.

Another slag to the former speaker’s senatorial ambition is his impeding case with the EFCC. Ikuforiji is presently defending himself on a money laundering charge. He recently appeared before a Federal High Court in Lagos, over alleged N338.8 million money laundering charges, alongside his former Personal Assistant, Oyebode Atoyebi.

Other names being mentioned are Dr. Tola Kasali and Chief Lanre Razak. Tola Kasali, a two-time state Commissioner, is a party chieftain and also worked closely with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. His performance as commissioner remains one to be admired. Kasali who also had a shot at the governorship slot had to step down for consensus candidate of the party. However, constituents have argued that age is not on the side of both Kasali and Razaq, they believe sending old men to the senate might be counter-productive.

Most people in the district spoken to believe that the choice of either Mr. Babatunde Gbadamosi or Dayo Bush-Alebiosu would be a plus for the zone, and an interesting contest. A community leader in the zone who spoke on the condition of anonymity said a contest between Gbadamosi of PDP and Dayo Bush of APC would be very interesting, they are both young and experienced.

Babatunde Gbadamosi, who recently returned to the PDP was a former governorship aspirant of the party. Although going by the performance of the PDP during the last election, it would be convenient to rule out their chances during the bye-election. This, as declared by a PDP leader, provoked the decision of the party to bring Gbadamosi back to contest the seat.

Princess Abiodun Oyefusi contested at the last senatorial election against Senator Osinowo. Dayo Bush on his side has very intimidating credentials, a wealth of political experience, and distinguished performance while at the National Assembly.

He was a two-term representative of Kosofe Federal Constituency, Lagos State, in the House of Reps. He is an Architect by profession, a profession he actively practiced before being appointed as Special Assistant to the Governor on Housing by the former Governor of Lagos State.

He was elected in 2007 to represent Kosofe Federal Constituency of Lagos State in the House of Reps in Abuja as a member of parliament and re-elected in 2011 and held the position till 2015.

Beyond all these, there has also been a valid argument that Kosofe should be made to continue the 4-year term of Late Senator Osinowo, who is also from Kosofe in the senate, these people are also of the opinion that someone with a rich legislative background and experience should be made to continue the term of Osinowo, not necessarily a starter who would be using a whole year to garner legislative experience. This, they argue, may not augur well for the zone and the state in general.

However, underground horse-trading is currently going on to fill the vacant seat. But one thing is sure, the powers that be in the Lagos APC will decide where the pendulum swings.

Two men have been arrested by the Niger State Police Command for butchering an 18-year-old girl after raping her.

The suspects, 25 years Abdulkadir Ibrahim of Doko village and 29 years Abubakar Idris of Dabban village in Lavun Local Government Area of Niger State confessed to having lured the deceased, Hauwa Saidu, to the place where she was raped and killed.

According to the suspects, they had given Hauwa a lift with their motorcycle to her destination, only for them to divert into the bush along the way.

The victim, who is from Kpada village in Patigi, Kwara State, was unwillingly driven to Effa village in Lavun Local Government Area where the suspects carried out their evil plans on her.

The duo allegedly attacked and killed the deceased with their cutlass after raping her, dismembering her body, taking some parts to an unknown destination and leaving her remains in the bush.

Paraded by the police, one of the suspects, Abdulkadir Ibrahim, said they wanted to use her for rituals but could not just let her go without “enjoying her first”.

He said: “We did not know that we would be caught. We had been looking for someone to use for the ritual, and when she approached our motorcycle to ask for a lift to Effa, we saw it as an opportunity that should not be missed.

“We wanted to do rituals because we were tired of being poor. But before we killed her, we decided to enjoy her since she would soon die and no one else would enjoy her again.”

Asked where they took parts of her body to, the suspects were silent, refusing to reveal the place or whether the intended ritual had been carried out.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Wasiu Abiodun, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, said the suspects were arrested based on information received by police operatives attached to SARS in Minna.

He said that the suspect had confessed to the crime and led them to where the victim’s remains were left.

Abiodun said the case was under investigation, adding that the suspects would be arraigned in court as soon as investigation was concluded.

A 29-year-old man has paid the supreme price for telling his friend about a heavy sum his South Africa based elder brother sent to him for the completion of his (elder brother’s) housing project back home in Nigeria.

Abuchi Wisdom Nwachukwu, was allegedly murdered by Moses, his friend and colleague, after informing the latter that his elder brother had sent him the sum of N13 million to complete his housing project.

Nwachukwu, a native of Isiala-Mbano, Imo State, was allegedly hacked to death by Moses on January 7, 2020, during a night shift at the table water company where they worked in Auchi, Edo State, after which he took possession of Nwachukwu’s phone and ATM card.

Moses also went on to behead Nwachukwu’s lifeless body so that it would be recognized, dumping the headless body in a bush close to the company.

After getting rid of Nwachukwu, Moses took the latter’s phone and ATM card to some internet fraudsters in Auchi who helped him to withdraw the sum of N2.2 million from Nwachukwu’s account.

Thereafter, Moses approached various POS points in the city to withdraw various sums of money.

The police were puzzled when they Nwachukwu’s headless body but could not identify him. They took the body to the mortuary while Nwachukwu’s relatives in Imo State as well as his brother in South Africa worried about his sudden disappearance and their inability to reach him on the phone.

His South Africa based brother was said to have written a petition to the Inspector General of Police, Adamu Mohammed, months after he could not locate his brother or hear from him. Operatives of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), headed by Abba Kyari, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, swung into action to unravel the mystery behind Nwachukwu’s disappearance.

It was gathered that weeks into their investigation IRT operatives were able to trace the POS transactions Moses did with Nwachukwu’s ATM cards to Benin, Ore and Auchi parts of Edo State.

They later arrested him in a hotel in Auchi where he was hiding.

Upon interrogation, Moses admitted killing Nwachukwu. He also led IRT operatives to arrest suspected internet fraudsters—Yusuf Sagiru, Tony Bright and Terence Okochukwu—as well as businessman Jahswill Ogbonnaya, who were said to have helped Moses to pull out the sum of N6 million from the account.

Upon interrogation, Moses a 27-year-old native of Auchi, said his friend’s ghost had been hunting him since the day he killed him.

The Auchi Polytechnic graduate of Mechanical Engineering said: “I work in a table water company in Abely area of Auchi, and I have been working in that company in the last four years.

“When Nwachukwu got a job in the factory, I was the person who taught him how to operate the machine, so we became very close friends.

“While we were working, Nwachukwu told me about his brother who lives in South Africa and how he has been sending money to build his house for him.

“He showed me the alert for the N13 million his brother had just sent to him, saying that he would be travelling to his village to carry out the project. I felt jealous and I decided to steal the money.

“Since we were friends, I tricked him and collected his phone password. I went through it and found the PIN for his ATM card.

“Few days before the day he would be travelling, we worked on the same shift. I lured him outside the company, stabbed him with a knife and killed him.

“I dragged his body into the bush, and because I don’t want people to recognise him easily, I cut off his neck and buried it. Then I took his ATM card to some fraudsters. I gave it to one Yusuf and told him that I needed to hack the account.

“We withdrew N2.2 million from the account. I had trouble with Yusuf because he and the people he brought in wanted to cheat me.

“I killed him on January 8, 2020 and travelled to Ore and Benin City. I stayed in several hotels and was carrying different women, but Nwachukwu’s spirit started disturbing me.

“Whenever I want to sleep, the boy’s spirit will appear to me and will be crying. The girls that were with me would run away, saying that I want to use them for money ritual.”

A student of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, has spent nearly two months in police custody for allegedly setting up a Twitter parody account of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

A parody account is a type of profile on social media that is named after popular persons and used mainly for comic purposes. Twitter rules allow for parody accounts on the condition that the operator of the account indicates this on his profile page.

On his Twitter profile page, Olusola informed his 46, 400 followers that the account was a parody one.

His profile read in part, “BrezzisLife, not GEJ.

According to several tweets, the student, Babatunde Olusola, reportedly set up an account on Twitter using Jonathan’s profile photo with the name Goodluck E. Jonathan but with the handle, ‘@jayythedope’.

Through the handle, Olusola reportedly fired many witty comments including some subtle jabs at Jonathan’s wife, Patience.

However, the student was said to have been arrested on May 23, 2020.

@djsheylex tweeted on Wednesday, “Twitter influencer @jayythedope has been in detention at the Force Crime Investigation Department over a tweet he made weeks ago regarding the ex-President’s wife. He’s been in detention for 53 days and he clearly stated it was parody.”

Speaking with The PUNCH on Friday, a human rights lawyer, Tope Akinyode, said the student was arrested after a complaint by the former President to the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu.

Policemen were said to have obtained information of Olusola’s call log record from a telecommunications service provider.

The call history linked him to his uncle, a pastor in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, who was immediately placed under house arrest by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad operatives and was ordered to invite Olusola to his residence for onward arrest, which was done.

Akinyode said Olusola was subsequently taken to Abuja.

He said, “I was informed that it was one of the aides to former President Jonathan that saw the parody account on Twitter and informed his boss. Jonathan immediately reported to the IG and that was how investigations began.

“Olusola was subsequently arrested at Ogbomoso and brought down to Abuja.”

The student was subsequently charged for impersonation and contravening the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act of 2015.

His bail was fixed at N500,000 while a civil servant of not less than level 15 is expected to stand as his surety.

“Olusola has no parents and has not been able to meet the bail conditions hence his continued detention. However, we believe he will be out soon,” Akinyode said.

The lawyer, however, said Section 22(3)(c) of the Cybercrime Act places the burden on Jonathan to show that Olusola had used the Twitter account to defraud members of the public or defame his character.

There have been calls for Olusola’s release on social media in the last three days with the #Freeshola trending at number one on Twitter on Tuesday.

The Spokesman for Jonathan, Mr. Ikechukwu Eze, had yet to respond to a text message two days after The PUNCH sent an inquiry.

The Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba, did not respond to calls.

Jonathan is currently on an ECOWAS assignment in Mali where he is leading peace talks.

A former Senate President, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has said the embattled acting Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)’s chairman, Ibrahim Magu, took the issue of his non-confirmation by the Senate under his leadership personally.

Saraki disclosed this in a statement he personally signed on Thursday which was made available to Daily Trust on Friday.

He maintained that the Senate followed due process in the non-confirmation of the former acting chairman for two consecutive times as could be seen in the records of proceedings.

“The records of the Senate during the period are there for the perusal of all Nigerians interested in the truth,” he said.

Saraki said the intention of the EFCC was to damage his reputation and that of his family, stressing the last five years “have been very challenging for me and my family.”

He lauded the judgement of the Federal High Court, Lagos, delivered by Justice Rilwan M. Aikawa, which dismissed the application by the EFCC for forfeiture order on his Ilorin home in Kwara State.

“I am particularly happy that the court specifically ruled that there was no evidence that the property was built with any illicit or stolen funds from Kwara State Government or any other institution or quarter, whatsoever.”

The court had, in December last year, granted an interim forfeiture order of Saraki’s house located at No 1 Abdulkadir road GRA, Ilorin. Saraki, a former governor of Kwara State (2003-2011) recalled that this would be the fifth case instituted against him by the EFCC where he triumphed.

He, however, declared that he holds no grudge against any individual for their role in his trials, pointing out that his experiences had strengthened his faith in Almighty Allah.

“I have endured and defeated one false allegation and malicious litigation after another, in an ill-motivated persecution, intimidation and harassment, through which some vested interests sought to damage my name and label me with charges of corruption but with the grace of Allah, I have always been victorious.

“I thank God for the outcome of this case which is the fifth victory in cases in which the EFCC was either the main investigating agency or the plaintiff,” Saraki stated.

According to the former governor, with the outcome of Thursday’s case, the EFCC “should learn that a serious issue like the fight against corruption should not be reduced to a forum-shopping means to execute personal vendetta or prosecute parochial agenda.”

“Fighting corruption and combating economic crime requires stakeholders to eschew coercion while employing upright diligence, due process, fairness, equity and broad mindedness in dealing with all cases and persons,” Saraki said.

Saraki restated his commitment to the fight against corruption, recalling how he sponsored a motion which exposed the fraud in the fuel subsidy regime in the 7th National Assembly.

He stated that the 8th Senate under his leadership passed five different bills aimed at strengthening the fight against corruption, particularly the law that created the National Financial Intelligence Agency (NFIA).

“With today’s decision of the Court, it is my expectation that the EFCC which has played significant roles in the various court cases against me from the CCT to Supreme Court and back at the Federal High Court, with the consequent media trial and malicious campaigns, will now leave me alone to live my life, and enjoy my unfettered rights to freedom of thought, expression, association, occupation and dignity, as a private citizen and focus on serious issues of national development,” Saraki added.

Magu is presently being investigated for alleged fraud in the EFCC by a presidential panel. He has since been suspended as the acting chairman of the anti-graft agency alongside 12 other top officers.

The Ambassador of Lebanon to Nigeria, Mr. Houssam Diab, on Thursday, walked out on the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Affairs.

Mr. Diab was summoned by the House Committee headed by Rep. Tolulope Akande-Shadipe, to respond to questions on the maltreatment of Nigerians in Lebanon, especially one Temitope Arowolo.

But as the hearing was about to commence, at about 10: 52am, the Lebanese envoy, walked out of the room and shut the House’ hearing room 348 door, behind him.

The Chairman of the Committee, who was miffed by the development, said they were “shocked that the Ambassador will just get up and walk out on us”.

Shortly after the development, she excused the Media from the room and called for an Executive Session.

The lawmaker after the session, however, recanted, saying the meeting was cordial, and the walk-out was a misunderstanding.

“It was an informal meeting because the Ambassador was nice enough to join us at the meeting. There is no law that says he has to be here today, but because he has an interest in the joint relationship between Nigeria and Lebanon.

“We have a lot of Nigerians in Lebanon, we have a lot of Lebanese in Nigeria. We have a relationship with Lebanon from the 50s so you can imagine how we have been.

“This meeting today has further reiterated the Lebanese community and the Nigerian community we always stand together to ensure that justice and respect for human lives is a priority and we will work together to bring modern-day slavery to an end”.

She also announced that the Lebanese government had agreed to release Ms. Temitope and other Nigerians held in the country. Ms. Arowolo, was in detention in the country, for alleged attempted murder of her master and on allegations of theft.

“I am happy to inform Nigerians that Temitope will be home before the end of the week, and so many other Nigerians who want to come home from Lebanon the opportunity will be provided for them to come home.

“We are also taking this opportunity, to look at the case of a Lebanese who is held in Illorin on charges of human trafficking, to ensure that there is merit in the case.

“We will continue to collaborate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ensure that we have continued relationship with Lebanon that our girls can go there legally to work and work in circumstances that are not dehumanizing”.

On the issue of the Ambassador bolting out of the meeting, she said “It was a misunderstanding, it meant to be an informal meeting and the Ambassador was not aware that even when we have our informal meeting is documented.

“Because of the law of diplomacy, he wasn’t expecting to have media there and it was immediately resolved that it was going to be an executive session. The Minister apologized on behalf of Foreign Affairs and he apologized on behalf of the country and the Embassy of Lebanon”.

She added that “You will be invited on the day Temitope arrives and you will see that this is not eye service and not just Temitope that flight is bringing in Ladies who want to come home and we will continue to bring home those who want to come home. The Lebanese Government is promising us now that it will ensure our girls work in very humane circumstances.

To Nigerians, keep your eyes open there is source at home that is fueling human trading. There are Nigerians that you and I need to monitor them and ensure that the human trafficking source here in Nigeria is brought to an end.

“So we need to be our brother keeper. If you know any of those agents you need to go and report them to NAPTIP”.

The Minister of State Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Zubairu Dada who was also at the meeting, said “We are willing and ready to work with the Committee to protect and defend the interest of Nigerians in diaspora. What we have done in the case of Temitope and other, we will continue to do our best”.

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State has accused two Governors and a Minister of being responsible for the crisis rocking the party in the state.

Ondo APC chairman, Hon. Henry Olu Olatuja, accused Ekiti Governor Kayode Fayemi; his Kaduna counterpart Mallam Nasir El’Rufai and Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi of instigating undemocratic process causing intra-party crisis in the state.

Olatuja also said ten of the governorship aspirants in the state for July 20 governorship primary may boycott the exercise should the Caretaker/Caretaker/Extra-Ordinary National Convention Planning Committee (CEONCPC) insist on indirect mode of primary for the party’s primary in the state.

Foreign students running degrees in the United States may have to leave the country or get deported if universities transition to an online-only form of teaching.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said this in a press statement on Monday while addressing forthcoming policies to be adopted for the fall semester to curb COVID-19 spread.

It said students under certain visas may not take a full online course load and remain in the US, noting that visas won’t be issued to students enrolled in fully virtual programmes for the fall semester starting in August.

Although those combining online and in-person lectures were exempted, the ICE suggested those enrolled online consider other measures like transferring to schools with in-person instruction.

“Nonimmigrant F-1 and M-1 students attending schools operating entirely online may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States,” the ICE explained.

“The U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will the U.S.

“Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States.

“Active students currently enrolled in such programs must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status.

“If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings.”

As the novel virus continues to spread globally, US varsities and many others across the globe had begun making arrangements to transition to online courses in place of in-person lecture delivery.

At Harvard, it is expected that all course instructions will soon go online, including for students living on campus and this opens the door to having international students leave the US.

One Taiwo Akinlusi, popularly known as Sir Tee among his football fans meet his untimely death on Saturday, when his head mistakenly touched a naked wire when he was coming down from the staircase of a plaza where he went to play football betting at Ile-Epo bus stop, Ejigbo.

An eyewitness, Mr. Abiodun Adaranijo, who spoke to DAILY POST, explained that while coming down the stairs after betting at the plaza, the unsuspecting deceased had touched a naked wire dangling with his head.

Adaranijo said he (the deceased) would have bent his head to avoid the wire but he did not take note of the clumsy dangling wires.

According to Adaranijo, it was not the first time Akinlusi would pass through the staircase and bypass the wire even on that fateful, due to his hurriedness to go back home after placing stakes, he forgot to bend his head to avoid the wire at the spot and mistakenly touched the wire with his head.

The deceased was said to be a footballer playing for Ejigbo All Stars FC.

His corpse was said to have been deposited in the mortuary at Isolo General Hospital.

The chairman of Ailegun Community Development Association ( CDA), Barr. Bimbo Olawale, who confirmed the incident, said it was unfortunate, saying the residents have been always warned to be cautious of their electrical wiring to avoid such incidents.

“We always warn people to be security conscious. We tell them that security include anything that can affect human life such as electricity in terms of wiring.

“The incident was an unfortunate one and we pray not to experience such again but we must always be conscious. The incident has affected the power supply in the community, the supply to the area has to be switched off but we have contacted Ikeja Electric to come and fix it.”

The Goodluck Jonathan Foundation (GJF) has presented items to 20 states in its ongoing distribution of palliatives since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic says Ms Gloria Dede, Head of the Bayelsa Office of the foundation.

According to her efforts are on the way to ensure that items get to other states of the country in the bid to ameliorate the hardship Nigerians are facing in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

States listed to have benefitted include Anambra, Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Bayelsa, Cross River and Delta States.

Others are Edo, Ekiti, Kebbi, Taraba, Zamfara, Sokoto, Oyo, Imo, Ebonyi, Enugu, Rivers and Akwa Ibom.

Dede who stated this on Friday while presenting some items to the Bayelsa State Government disclosed that the recent exercise is the second phase of distribution, as the organisation had earlier made an outreach to some Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in the Federal Capital Terretory (FCT) in April this year.

She explained that the gesture was to complement the COVID – 19 response efforts of the various state governments.

Ms Dede said: “Food items such as rice and beans, sanitizers and other sanitary materials have been shared to Internally Displaced Persons Camps (IDPs) in the FCT and 20 other states.

The COVID- 19 pandemic has brought about a devastating impact on economies and governance around the world, thereby affecting the lives and livelihood of millions of citizens.

For us, at the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, our gesture today is a way of complementing the efforts of different state governments by providing these palliatives to help cushion the economic impact in many homes. This presentation is an ongoing process and we are determined to cover other states in the country. So far, we covered 20 state and some IDPs in the FCT.

”For Bayelsa we are giving a token of 1,000 5kg bags of rice and beans to the state government as a way of complimenting their COVID- 19 response strategy”

The Bayelsa State, Governor, Senator Douye Diri, who was represented by his Chief Staff, Chief Benson Agadaga thanked the Foundation for its support.

He stated that, Bayelsa State aligns with the mission and vision of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation as it in tandem with the prosperity agenda of the present administration.

“We look forward to partnering with your Foundation in more areas so that we can build a peaceful prosperous and inclusive Bayelsa” Agadaga added.

The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the September 19 election in Edo State, Mr Godwin Obaseki has obtained a new discharge certificate from the National Youth Service Corps with number A 004280695.

The Independent National Electoral Commission in Edo State had late Thursday displayed the forms of the 14 governorship candidates that will contest for the election at the commission’s secretariat in Benin City.

Our correspondent, who visited the office on Friday, observed that Obaseki’s new discharge certificate was issued on June 19, attached with a memo entitled, ‘Re-correction of name and re-issuance of my certificate of national service’, and signed on behalf of the Director-General by Mrs K.N Okonofua.

The memo read, “We refer to your letter referenced OEG/ABJ/99/VOL.IV/172 dated 18th June 202, on the above subject matter

“I am directed to inform you that after the investigation, the management of the National Youth Service has approved a new certificate of National Service reflecting the surname OBASEKI be produced as earlier certificate number 063107 dated 6th August 1980 has been cancelled due to an error in the surname OBASEK

“Accept the assurances of the Director-General’s regard.”

Obaseki was, among other matters including credential discrepancy, disqualified by the All Progressives Congress screening committee from contesting the party’s primary.

On INEC’s notice board, Obaseki filled West African School Leaving Certificate, 1973, and Bachelor of Arts, 1979, as his qualifications.

His major contender in the election and candidate of the APC, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, has his highest qualification as LLB from the University of Benin.

The credentials of the other governorship candidates for the election were also displayed.

They include that of Obhafuoso Paul, Action Alliance; Akhigbe Ehiabhi, African Democratic Congress; Ibio Emmanuel, African Democratic Party; Lucky Idehen, All Progressives Grand Alliance; Igbineweka Osamuede, Allied Peoples Movement; Amos Areloegbe, All Peoples Party; and Osifo Isaiah, Labour Party.

Others are Agolebun Tracy, New Nigeria Peoples Party; Stevie Ozono, National Rescue Movement; Felix Obayangbon, Social Democratic Party; Jones Osagiobare, Young Progressive Party; and Akhalamhe Amiemenoghena, Zenith Labour Party.

The Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation has uncovered financial infractions in the records of the Nigerian Law School.

The infractions ranged from outright misappropriation to spending without approval and diversion of pension.

This is contained in the 2015 Auditor-General’s report submitted to the Senate Committee on Public Account. Nine queries were issued by the Office of the Auditor-General of Federation to the management of Nigerian Law School in 2015, according to the report.

The Auditor-General queried the payment of N36 million as dressing allowance through the account of one of the staff for 52 others without approval and in violation of Nigeria’s Financial Act.

“The Examination of payment records revealed that the Nigerian Law School several times paid N36 million to staff as dressing allowance in 2013 alone.

“The Management could not substantiate these payments with any approval from Salaries and Wages Commission to enable the audit team to determine the genuineness of these payments to staff. No appropriation in this request,” the report said.

The report also indicted the law school for paying N32 million to an unnamed cleaner over a period of 12 months against Nigeria extant laws. The queries also said that N34.3 million was paid for the training of staff without approval from the federal government.

The management of the institution, led by its Director-General, Prof. Isa Chiroma, appeared before the Senate panel on Thursday to defend queries.

The Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Prof. Isa Chiroma, while responding to the queries, said that he was not the Director-General of the institution during the period under review, though admitted that government is a continual.

On payment of N36 million as dressing allowance, the Director-General said, “I can’t imagine the Law School paying N36 million into one account on behalf of others.”

His defense was, however, not strong enough for the Senate panel to vacate the query. The Auditor-General’s report further revealed from the examination of payment voucher that the Law School, at various intervals, made use of the pension funds to offset expenses not related to payment of pension, contrary to extant Financial Regulation.

The Director-General of the Law School was asked to recover the sum involved and return the same into the pension account.

Alleged international fraudster, Ramoni Abass alias Huhspuppi, once sold second-hand clothes on the streets of Lagos State, British newspaper, Daily Mail, has reported.

The report read in part, “Mr Abbas started out as a secondhand-clothes trader in Lagos before claiming to be a billionaire property developer in Dubai.”

There were also reports by some of his old friends that his father was a taxi driver in Nigeria. The PUNCH could, however, not independently verify this.

Hushpuppi was arrested in Dubai last month for allegedly diverting over half a billion dollars from private accounts through a series of fraudulent activities.

He alongside others were subsequently extradited from the United Arab Emirates to the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation to face charges.

The alleged fraudster, who boasts of over 2.4 million followers on social media, was known to always put his ostentatious lifestyle on display.

Huhspuppi boasts of many luxury cars including two Rolls Royce, a Maybach, a Bentley, a Ferarri, Mercedes G Wagon, and many more.

He used strictly private jets for international travel where he videos himself consuming expensive champagne and food.

The suspect usually puts inspirational captions beneath his posts in a bid to “encourage hard work among youths.”

Little is known of his personal life but he admitted to fathering a child in 2013 who he said he would like to set up an account for “in case anything happened to me tomorrow.”

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has said that henceforth, stamp duty will be paid on house rent and Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) in line with its new adhesive duty.

The FIRS Director, Communications and Liaison Department, Mr Abdullahi Ahmad, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Thursday.

Ahmad urged Nigerians and other residents to ensure that documents pertaining to rent or lease agreements for their homes or offices, C of O as well as a list of other common business-related transaction instruments are subjected to authentication with the new FIRS Adhesive Stamp duty.

He said this was necessary in order to give the instruments the force of law and make them legally binding on all parties involved in such transactions.

He added that the new FIRS Adhesive Stamp Duty came into being at the official inauguration of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Audit and Recovery of Back Years Stamp Duties recently in Abuja.

Ahmed quoted the Executive Chairman of FIRS, Mr Muhammad Nami as saying “chargeable transactions under the Stamp Duties Act as amended in the Finance Act 2019 are in two categories – Fixed Duty Instruments and Ad-Valorem Instruments.

“The following are the chargeable transactions in the Fixed Duty Instruments category, Power of Attorney (PoA); Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), Proxy form; Appointment of Receiver, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Joint Venture Agreements (JVA), Guarantor’s form, and Ordinary Agreements Receipts.

“While ad-Valorem Instruments chargeable under the Stamp Duties Act are Deed of Assignment, Sales Agreement, Legal Mortgage or Debentures, Tenancy or Lease Agreement, Insurance Policies, Contract Agreements, Vending Agreement, Promissory Notes, Charter-Party and Contract Notes.

“Stamp duty is basically charged in two forms, either ad valorem where duty payable is a percentage of the consideration on an instrument or a fixed sum irrespective of the consideration on dutiable instrument or document.”

According to him, the FIRS therefore, enjoins members of the public to make sure that any of the above-listed Instruments they give or receive in the course of their business or official transactions have the new FIRS Adhesive Stamp Duty affixed or stamped on them. This, he noted would authenticate or legalise such Instruments.

The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate the alleged secret account being kept by the Nigerian Ports Authority with a balance of over $1bn.

The move followed the unanimous adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved by Mr Kolawole Lawal at the plenary on Thursday.

The motion was entitled, ‘The Need to Investigate the Alleged Illegal Secret Account Opened by the Nigerian Ports Authority in Unity Bank to Collect Revenue from Vessels’.

Consequently, the House mandated the Committees on Finance; and Ports and Harbours to “investigate these allegations and counter-allegations, determine if the Nigerian Ports Authority or any of their personnel committed any infractions.”

Lawal, while moving the motion, noted the controversy generated by a whistleblower who claimed that while acting in line with the whistleblower policy of the Federal Government, he duly informed, in confidence, the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation about a hidden or secret account operated by the NPA in Unity Bank to collect revenue generated from sea vessels.

The lawmaker said the whistleblower alleged that the information he gave to the OAGF led to the exposure of an illegal secret account in a Lagos branch of Unity Bank, where the sum of $1,034, 516,000 was kept, contrary to financial regulations and the Constitution.

He said the whistleblower also alleged that the information was verified and approved by the OAGF as qualified for financial reward, as prescribed under the whistleblower policy of the Federal Government.

Lawal noted that based on the advice of the OAGF, a written agreement was reached between a representative of the whistleblower, Mamman Maiyaki & Co. Legal Practitioners, and the office as evidence of the transaction.

The lawmaker also noted that the NPA, in response to the allegation, admitted it operates an account with a Lagos branch of Unity Bank with Account Number 0013670344 and a balance of $1,057,772,000.03 as of December 4, 2019, but denied the sum of $1,034,515,000.03 as alleged by the whistleblower.


He added that the NPA further admitted that the bank account had not been operated since August 27, 2010, due to a Garnishee Order Nisi given by the Federal High Court, which was subsequently affirmed by the Supreme Court eight years after, in the case of Aminu Ibrahim & Co VS Nigerian Ports Authority (Suit No. FHC/L/CS/ 582/ 2010).

He stressed that the NPA claimed that upon the determination of the case at the Supreme Court, the judgment creditors continued with the Garnishee process, which resulted in the payment of the sum of $1,057,772,000.03 from the account to the judgment creditor on December 4, 2019, in line with the Garnishee Order Absolute.

Lawal said, “The House is concerned that the material particulars of the allegations by the whistle-blower have been contradicted by the NPA but since public fund is involved in the matter, it is imperative that the House intervenes in the crisis, with a view to establishing the true situation in public interest.

“The House is concerned also that the NPA may be operating from other accounts in similar situations.

“The House wonders if NPA or any Federal Government ministry, department or agency have authority to pay any public money to any judgment creditor in satisfaction of a judgment debt without obtaining the prior approval of the OAGF, in view of the clear provisions of Section 84 of the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act CAP 56 LFN 2004, which provides that the prior consent of AGF should be obtained before any MDA can transfer public funds to a judgment creditor in satisfaction of a judgment debt.

“The House also wonders if the NPA or any Federal Government MDA has authority to keep revenue generated in any commercial bank, in view of clear provisions of Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution, which provides all revenue collected by the Government of the Federation shall be paid into a special account called the Federation Account.”

Seaport terminal operators at the nation’s ports seem to be feeling the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses following the sack of five managers by one of the terminal operators, Josepdam Ports Services (JPS), operator of Terminal A of the Tin-Can Island Port in Lagos.

Aside from being the operator of Terminal A of the Tin-Can Island Port, Josepdam also operates three berths totalling 484 meters in length, while also serving as a multipurpose terminal.

According to some affected workers of Josepdam Port Services, the port operator recently sacked three senior workers in the level of Managers while also laying off 13 junior workers who were later re-absorbed following the threat of strike action by the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN).

The workers who wouldn’t want their names in print explained that “JPS has sacked five senior workers. They are the Commercial Manager; Human Resource Manager; Senior Accountant; Business Development Manager and Audit Manager.

“As I speak to you now, coming to work everyday maybe the last for everyone here because the company said it had to downsize due to the harsh realities of the economy which has nosedived due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Thirteen other junior staff were also sacked on the 15th of June, 2020 but were re-instated following the intervention of the President- General of MWUN, Com. Adewale Adeyanju, who had threatened strike action if the junior workers were not re-instated.

“We are living in fear right now. While some rumours have blamed the recent sack on restructuring effort of the company, others have said it’s due to Covid-19,” a cross-section of workers at JPS told a maritime journalist at the weekend.

An effort to get the reaction of JPS proved abortive as test messages sent to the Managing Director, Simon Travers were not responded to as at the time of filing in this report.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) national executive council (NEC) meeting may have come and gone, but the twists from that event are still unfolding.

The meeting, which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, was held at the federal executive council (FEC) chamber.

By using the chamber, which is usually for official government meetings, Buhari drew the ire of many Nigerians and groups including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which accused him of violating his oath of office.

But the issue is not just about the venue; there are also concerns about the proceedings such as the swearing-in of Mai Mala Buni, governor of Yobe state, as the APC caretaker committee chairman.

The NEC meeting was not called according to laid-down rules, according to members of the dissolved NWC, because the mandatory seven-day notice was not issued.

But Buni said it was a continuation of the March meeting that was postponed.

Buni was appointed the chairman of the caretaker committee which will run the affairs of the party pending when it elects new officials.

But his appointment is seen as a clear violation of the APC constitution which forbids officers of the party from holding any executive position in government.

Section four under article 17 reads: “No officer in any organ of the Party shall hold executive position office in government concurrently.”

The legal logic is that if you are not qualified to hold a substantive position, then you are not qualified to act.

This is contained in sections 11 (1) and (2) of the Nigerian interpretations act of 2004.

…MALAMI AS WELL

Also, by letting Abubakar Malami, minister of justice and attorney general of the federation (AGF), swear in Buni, the APC also violated another provision of its constitution which states how party officers should be sworn in.

Article 29 of the party’s constitution forbids its officials from taking oath of office before any person other than “an appropriate principal officer of the party.”

The article reads: “Every Officer elected or appointed as an officer of the Party shall subscribe to the Oath of Office as provided in Schedule II to this Constitution before an appropriate Principal Officer of the Party as may be approved by the National Working Committee.”

Is Malami a principal officer of the party? Not by any stretch, according to the party’s constitution.

In a statement on Saturday by Umar Gwandu, Malami’s spokesperson, the AGF said it is not out of place for him to administer oath of office on anyone whether at the federal level, political or to private individuals.

Edo State governor and standard flag bearer of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Godwin Obaseki, has said his present deputy governor, Philip Shaibu, will be his running mate in the September 19 governorship election.

Obaseki said he and his deputy are grateful to the PDP for offering them the umbrella when the All Progressives Congress (APC) threw them in the rain and pledged to be a true party man.

He noted that the level of response to issues in the PDP drives processes fast and assured the national working committee of the PDP that he will work with them to lead Edo rightly.

According to Obaseki: “I want to commit to you that in line with the ideal and motto of this party, me and my deputy, by the grace of God, is going to be my running mate, for the September 19 election, because you do not change a winning team. I want to commit to you that we shall promote the ideals of this great party and you can always count on us.

“I and my deputy are very grateful to this great party. Like I said, you will never know what God has destined for you. In our hours of tribulation, when we were pushed out in the rains and storm from our political party, you came out with that huge umbrella to give us cover and shelter.

“It was only when we entered the house that we then realise that this was the house we should have been in the first instance. Because we now saw that the values in the house ate the values we cherish and the values we live for, values of justice, values of law and order, values of care for our people, putting the people first. These are the values we have always been in pursuit of, which we found in this new house in which we have been graciously accommodated.

“I must thank members of the National Working Committee, the quality of governance, the quality of response that I have witnessed, that have enabled us achieve much in less than one week because of the responsiveness of the national organising secretary. They followed up on every issue and every document. When issues came up, the National Legal adviser was there to respond to all our inquiries. The National Publicity Secretary checked on us every day.

“We want to tell you that we are very grateful and to assure you that the Edo people told us that ‘where every you go, we will go’. On further consultation they told us that there was a party where most of us came from, go and explore the possibility of us going back there. So by the grace of God, we have no doubt that victory is going to be ours on September 19.

“What all these occurrences in the last forthright tell me is that there is a hand of God that orders things.

“Whenever the National Working Committee calls on us, we will be there. We have no choice because from what I have seen from my brother governors in this party, what they have done and what they did for us in the party, revived my political career, I have never seen that level of commitment,” Obaseki stated.

Chairman of the Party Uche Secondus said Obaseki’s entry into the PDP and subsequent emergence as the candidate of the party was an act of God.

He said the PDP received him because he is a performing governor who enjoys the support of his Edo people.

“When God intervenes in any situation, no one can query God. It was not planned, this was an act of God. And from that day all the processes that needed to be followed were followed. Every body believed that it was a miracle and we are going to have a miracle governor who will win elections for us because you can see clearly the hand of God on this governor and his deputy.

“With what happened to them in their former party, they decided that it will not be a war. When you desire something that is good and you have the support of your people, war is no alternative. They abandoned war in their former party in pursuit of good governance, justice and equity and fair play. They came to our party and we received them because we believe that they have performed.

“We have listened to everyone in Edo and in Nigeria. What was the reason that they were badly treated? The reason was very flimsy. Did they not perform well? The entire country even those that were against them believe that they have performed. He has provided succour, infrastructure in all facets of economic development in Edo state.

“Just one person or two persons who probably change their minds that they no longer like their face, that’s not democracy, it is not an individual thing. We must put our personal issues behind the interest of the people first if not we will be guided by sentiments and that is what is destroying the other side.

“Your Excellency, in PDP we are guided by rule of law, we are guided by our rules and we are guided by the peoples’ interest. We are driven by the fact that we must provide the best governance for our people. Since you came in you can see that we are guided by process.

“In PDP, the institution here has a system that is transparent, free and fair for all to see and you have witnessed it since the last few weeks. God has been our guide here, we are a people, a party that fears God and we put the interest of our people first not our personal interest.”

The party had earlier received the report of Senator Bala Mohammed led Edo guber Primary Committee stating that Obaseki emerged through the process inspire of the fact that all other three aspirants stepped down in the last minute.

The sack of close associates of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the just dissolved National Working Committee, NWC of the All Progressives Congress, APC is the first step towards redesigning political interests ahead of President Muhammadu Buhari’s exit in 2023, Saturday Vanguard has learnt.

While the move has seen the significant tilt of power from Tinubu towards the governors, the new dispensation according to Saturday Vanguard sources will set the template for the political re-balancing of both political and public offices ahead of 2023.

Despite assertions of a legal challenge to the decisions of the National Executive Committee, NEC, Saturday Vanguard gathered yesterday that the resolve of many of the former NWC members was weakening as a number of them were beginning to back out.

Besides the former NWC members, a few of the governors that had significantly backed Oshiomhole, including two Northwest governors were also said to be having second thoughts given the domestic political challenges they are presently confronted with.

The most significant development from the envisaged re-balancing, it was learnt, would be the rezoning of the office of National Chairman to the North with the prospect of shifting the presidency to the South in 2023, a source privy to the working of the president’s inner circle told Saturday Vanguard.

“Asiwaju’s people are not seeing the big picture,” one of the sources said yesterday in reference to reported muttering from associates of the national leader of the party that his influence had been curtailed with the sack of the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole led executive.

Pursuant to the rebalancing of the offices, the newly inaugurated caretaker committee is expected to initiate a nationwide mobilization of party members from the ward levels in the period leading to the election of the new national executive.

The exercise is expected to open up the party through membership renewal at the ward levels, a move a source said would loosen the tight control some political godfathers now have over the present structure.

“There would be a shaking from the ward through the local government level to the zonal before the National Convention,” the source said.

Under the blueprint for the caretaker committee as drawn out by the president’s inner circle, political party positions would be rebalanced as a way of fitting in with the 2023 plans, a source said.

“The new national executive to be elected is to be in office for four years and would guide the party through the next General Election. It is as such expected that the offices would be zoned in a way to fit in with the party’s 2023 posture,” one source said.

While that plan of getting a northern national chairman would be reassuring for the national leader’s presidential aspiration, it was, however, gathered that the writers of the script did not necessarily have him in mind.

One source revealed that even Tinubu’s hold in Lagos is now becoming a matter of debate among some of the associates in the inner circle of the president.

“You can imagine that before the moves against Oshiomhole that many of his associates were sounded out and they did not object to the moves that were taken,” the source said.

Tinubu has been praised for his political acumen in keeping Lagos under his control since leaving office in 2007. However, the Governor’s Advisory Council, GAC the group which dictates the pace and pattern of politics within his political realm was recently forced to ban all political groups within the APC including the Mandate Group and Justice Forum.

The ban echoed fears that political adversaries of the national leader were aiming to breach his Lagos fortress through some of his reliable lieutenants.

However, a key actor in the scheme against Oshiomhole differed on the outcome of the NEC in respect to Tinubu, saying that it was not directed against him.

“You have Governor Oyetola in the new executive and you also cannot say that the National Secretary and the new caretaker chairman are opposed to him,” one source said in respect to Senator John Akpanudoedehe and Governor Mai Mala Buni, respectively.

Many parents and teachers in Oyo State are in a dilemma over the decision of the state government to reopen schools on July 6, this year, amidst rising incidences of COVID-19 cases in the state and in the country. During the week, three Commissioners in the state and a number of medical experts tested positive for the virus.

Presently, Ibadan is not a city where many wear facemask or observe social distancing. Hustling and bustling in the major markets remain unchecked, as locals still believe that coronavirus “can infect only rich and powerful individuals who spend longer hours in air-conditioned rooms.”

The Minister of State for Education, Mr Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, had while speaking during the meeting of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, described the plan by the state government to re-open schools as insensitive.

“For you to decide to unleash this in the public in the face of the pandemic is to be insensitive. Nigeria has not gotten to optimal testing, so we cannot forecast where this epidemic is most positioned. The least we can do is to keep our children under lock and key until we are sure it’s safe.”

“When you say the education sector opens, you are opening transporters, food sellers, and the like. The country cannot afford it now,” he said. A widower and social worker in one of the private hospitals in Ibadan, Mr. Tade Oguntunsi, captured the mood of parents and teachers in the state.

He said: “I became a widower about four years ago. As a single father, I am struggling to cope with raising our four children and three of them are in a public secondary school in Mokola while the youngest is at a public primary school, also in the same area. We know the facility in all these schools; if my salary could cope with sending my children to private schools, I know good schools my children should attend.

“To me, it is suicidal to allow students to resume now. I won’t take that risk. I will rather take them to other states to continue their education. We know children will play and share things among themselves. Which other state in the Southwest is taking that risk? Why the hurry?”

For Mrs. Omotayo Mala-Adebayo, a mother and public affairs analyst, “to be sincere with you, my kids are going nowhere, except I am fully convinced that certain things are put in place for their safety. They have to be sure that two teachers will be available for each class, one teacher for monitoring and one for teaching. And do we have testing materials available? We need maximum prevention and protection in schools. These are the conditions that could make me release my children.”

Speaking in the same vein, Mrs. Busayo Oyewumi, said: “I can’t allow my children to go to school now. No proper provision has been made. Nobody knows what may happen on the way. It is not safe for them now because they use items like face masks together. Do the teachers have materials to test them? It is wrong at this period to let them go to school.”

Lady Ifeoma Patricia Amaechi-Obi, who is a mother of two, said:” I am a poor widow. I can’t allow my kids to go to any school. It is not safe to do so. Taking them to school now is not safe. They are too young, pliable and malleable. They are ignorant of what they do. Kids will definitely exchange facemasks. They don’t understand the implications. Even my kids exchange facemasks at home. My son even said we could pray not to catch COVID-19. Can you see how children think?


“Can the schools be decontaminated and disinfected before the resumption? How many schools can afford that? How potent would the materials for decontamination be? Can the schools meet the COVID-19 and Federal Government guidelines? How hygienic would other kids they would be mingling with in schools be? From the foregoing, we are not ready at all and it is not safe.”

Otunba Mojeed Olalere, who has two children in a private secondary school in the state, however, said he would allow his children to go to school because they needed to do their final examinations so that they can move to the next classes. “They need to regain the time they have wasted. They will abide by the guidelines of COVID-19. However, if my children are in primary school, I won’t allow them to go to school,” he said.

Also bothered about the decision of the state government to reopen schools were some teachers, who are expected to return to work on Monday, June 29. A teacher in one of the public primary schools in Ibadan, who pleaded anonymity, warned the state government not to play politics with the lives of innocent children who are supposed to be under the care of their parents during this pandemic.

The female teacher said: “We don’t know what the government wants to achieve with this decision. If all schools in the country, including universities with adults are closed, why should primary and secondary schools in Oyo State be in a hurry to reopen? I am sure the government took a wrong advise on this matter and it would be held responsible if any untoward spike happens in any school. We saw one firm in Ibadan with over 70 victims” .

A private school teacher, Mr. Ayodeji Ehinmola, said he was worried that the necessary things had not been put in place to guarantee the safety of school children.

“Teachers have not been given proper orientation. For me, I don’t think re-opening of schools is the next thing. Higher institutions should be reopened first,” he noted.

Another teacher who simply identified himself as Tope, said: “It is a kind of data collection to test run the real re-opening. As far as I am concerned I want to support the way the government wants to go about it.”

Speaking on the matter, the state chapter of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), said their position on the safety of their members and pupils remains unchanged.

The state Chairman of the NUT, Mr. Tojuade Adedoyin, who spoke through Mr. Afolabi Oladele, said the union had demanded a safe working and learning environment for teachers and pupils from the government.

He said: Initially, when the government said the resumption should be June 29, it was based on the suggestion of NUT that there should be a test-run by the teachers. And the government listened to the suggestion made by the leadership of the union that they should test run the resumption by the teachers before the pupils would resume. That is what we have on ground now.

“The information received on the radio from the Commissioner for Education indicated that all schools will have all COVID-19 logistics and preventive items on ground and by extension, isolation centres. The private schools too would not be exempted and the government has set up a taskforce that will be monitoring everything that has been put in place.”

Reacting to the remarks by some parents that they would not release their children to return to school, the NUT Chairman said: “There is no way parents will be forced to release their children. All we are saying is that the lockdown should not be in perpetuity. But at the same time, safety should be paramount for everybody.”

Despite the concerns raised by parents and teachers, the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Olasunkanmi Olaleye, said the state government would go ahead with the plan.

According to him, the government was ready to intervene in any school and salvage the situation should a teacher or pupil become symptomic.

Last Wednesday, the federal Ministry of Education released the guidelines for the re-opening of schools following the announcement by the Oyo State government that all terminal classes, including Primary Six, Junior Secondary School Three (JSS3) and Senior Secondary School Three (SSS3) should resume on Monday, July 6.

The conditions were contained in a document, titled, “Guidelines for Schools and Learning Facilities Reopening after COVID-19 Pandemic Closure”, submitted to the National Assembly.

According to the document, each school is “required to create temporary isolation spaces and fully-equipped clinics before reopening.”They were also mandated to “ensure establishment of a school COVID-19 referral system including protocols and procedures to take if learners, teachers, administrators and other education personnel become unwell while in schools.”

Proprietors were also required to construct additional structures and employ more teachers to ensure that they accommodate their students by adhering to the two-metre spacing system in classrooms.

They were also asked to seek “grants to procure soaps and buckets, ensure regular safe water supply, ensure a constant supply of learning and instructional materials and pay salaries on time”.Investigations showed that the Oyo State government had not entirely met these conditions at the time of filing this report.

A motorist narrowly escaped death on Saturday when a big tree fell during a storm that followed a rainfall and destroyed his vehicle, but he came out unhurt.

The unnamed motorist, who drove a Honda CRV vehicle, was on the main road inwards Alhaji Masha close to the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, when the tree which was beside the road suddenly got uprooted and landed on the vehicle due to the storm that accompanied the rainfall.

The tree landed on the vehicle with the man inside, destroying its front side including the windscreen, the mirrors and the bonnet, but the man who rushed out of the vehicle, was not hurt.

The incident, which happened around 6.14 p.m., caused traffic gridlock on the ever-busy highway as many people rushed to the scene while some others made frantic efforts to cut the tree and remove it from the road.

According to the Lagostrafficreport, the twitter handle that reports traffic situation in Lagos State: “There’s a fallen tree on the roadside close to Teslim Balogun stadium, this has blocked off traffic heading inwards to Alhaji Masha.”

Another resident, Offem Lawrence @lawmuzik1, who uploaded the video of the incident on Twitter wrote: “This just happened 15 mins ago in front of Teslim Balogun stadium, Surulere. The driver came out without a scratch.”

It was also gathered that some officials of the Lagos State Transport Management Agency (LASTMA) who came to the scene of the incident, took the man away from the scene in their vehicle.

For the past one week tongues had been wagging within the country and beyond, over the ugly development whereby an unauthorized shooting incident occurred in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

In the course of a faceoff between aides and loyalists of the First Lady Aisha Buhari as well as others on the side of her husband and President of the country Muhamadu Buhari, over matters of protocol and privilege, there was a shooting incident during which the security details of the First Lady reportedly fired shots at one of the President’s aides.

The gravity of this Presidential family war by proxy, became more acute when the President reportedly ordered the removal from the Villa, of all officials from both sides who were implicated in the charade. When the incident occurred, the Presidential image laundering mill tried to conceal it – given its unquestionable odiousness, but was later compelled to let the Nigerian public into the situation.

Ever since the incident occurred, there has been a deluge of reactions in both the media and other opinion circles across the country, with virtually every commentary condemning the development as a sacrilege.

For those who are familiar with the security architecture of the Three Arms Zone in Abuja where the Presidential Villa, the National Assembly Complex and the Supreme Court are collocated, the incidence of any gunshot implies many factors that are beyond the intent of this article.

However, this author recalls an incident when a boa constrictor measuring about five metres in length, appeared near the first gate of the National Assembly also referred to as ‘Mopol Gate’ in the wee hours of the night, and the Police officers on duty had to contact soldiers in the presidential guard, who came and ‘arrested’ the beast.

The story that the serpent was roasted and feasted upon by its arresting party, is yet to be denied at press time! However, just as the Aso Villa shooting incident rankles the minds of well-meaning Nigerians, it comes along as just one episode in a long-drawn drama of the absurd, with respect to the flip-flop sequence of impunity-driven developments which serve as faces of the culture of mis-governance in Nigeria, at least in the most recent times.

If nothing else, the Aso Villa saga serves as one of the faces of the broken condition of the Nigerian state. And that is where the rest of the country need to revisit it, beyond whatever the government’s face saving measures being pushed into the public domain, are intended to achieve.

At least as is now clear, the threshold of impunity and indiscretion in exercising official power in the country’s public space spares nobody, including the President.

Only in a broken state or failed state, can such a situation be witnessed. Lamentably for Nigeria, such a tendency is becoming normal.

To accentuate the play-out of the broken state of the country is the daily build-up of a string of incongruities in respect of which there have always been stringent outcries by the Nigerian public, and which usually went unheeded by the government.

Some of these include the ongoing spate of horrendous security breaches whereby several states in the country especially from the North East to the North West are under siege by bandits and insurgents, with body counts rising on a daily basis.

It is no small matter that even the usually reserved and reverred Sultan of Sokoto – His Eminence Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar IV, has come out in wonder over whether the President and his team actually have “sleepless nights” in respect of the on-going carnage in the North and other parts of the country.

The state of insecurity across the country has even attracted stringent queries from foreign governments like the US and UK, with each calling on the Nigerian government to change the narrative for better.

Just as well Nigerians have also been calling on the President to rejig his team – especially the security service chiefs, and are hoping that his response to such laments, will not be like waiting for Godot.

Beyond the security front are grave instances of outrightly indefensible infractions of extant statutory processes, which are breached by government officials with impunity. One of the most disturbing of such tendencies is with respect to government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As at present there is an on-going investigation by the National Assembly into the questionable administration of palliatives to distressed Nigerians which features several bogus claims including that by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Sadiya Umar Faruk, in respect of feeding millions of Nigerian school children in a matter of days with the sum of N494 billion, and at a time they are supposedly all at home, courtesy of the nationwide stay-at-home order.

Many Nigerians are interested in that enterprise as they wonder over the modalities for its execution, even if such was through proxies as the minister claims. Some other witty commentators have put it that the feat was achieved through “remote and online processes”; whatever such means.

Meanwhile this is happening even as the country’s health facilities which should have been the primary target of anti-pandemic responses, await a critically needed, across the board up-grade.

The expansive threshold of infractions in government has been the subject of series of commentaries and is growing daily following the reluctance of the powers that be to accommodate public-take on the affairs of the nation.

And from the trend of events, the glaring dis-connect of the government from the governed is growing, leading to a diminished sense of worth of statutory authority, by the general public. This is the emergent state of affairs which the Aso Villa charade is introducing.

The more significant danger now is whether the country has not crossed the Rubicon of recovery. The way forward which has always been unutilized, is a new leadership template that is driven by a closer collaboration between the executive and the legislature with the latter playing a more assertive role, as the representatives of the people who are directly elected by the latter.

Observers who blame the legislature for the broken state of the federation have a point. Until the legislature defines for the executive what their constituents want, so long shall the country wallow in this journey to perdition where nobody is spared a raw deal, including the President.

As for the extreme instance of the Aso shooting charade, the National Assembly owes itself and the country the duty of intervening, even if it is only to read the riot act in the context of scrutinising and maintaining more than a passing interest, in the security of the nerve-centre of the present government – the Presidential Villa.

For if such can occur in the Presidential Villa which is next door, what guarantee is there that its precincts is insulated from such a future, wild-cat outcome?

ADAMAWA State Police Command has arrested a 30-year-old woman, Zainab Jafaru, said to be a member of a nine-man rape gang that violated her 33-year-old friend in Yola, the state capital.

Zainab allegedly deceived the victim into the rapists’ den.

The police said they have arrested five members of the gang, while four others are on the run.

Police spokesman Suleiman Nguroje, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said Zainab deceptively took her friend to the gang and disappeared.

Nguroje said: “On June 13, 2020, following a report received from a 33-year-old lady being raped by a syndicate of nine at Gerio, a remote area of Jambutu in Yola North Local Government Area, police operatives attached to the command’s monitoring team arrested five people: Ahmadu Ismail (20); Salu Buba (25); Muhammed Ali (78); Abubakar Ali (28) and Zainab Jafaru (Female) 30 years.

“The incident happened on June 12, 2020 when the fifth suspect, Zainab Jafaru, deceived the complainant to accompany her to a certain place to meet her boyfriend.

“Upon arrival, Zainab’s boyfriend (now on the run), invited his gang, who forcefully had sexual intercourse with the complainant one after another.”