₦airaland Forum

Nigeria’s vice President, Yemi Osinbajo attended the highly anticipated APC youth Conference in Abuja on Monday.

Osinbajo, alongside Senate president, Ahmed Lawan, Minister of works and housing, Babatunde Fashola and Minister for interior, Rauf Aregbesola, attended the conference.

POLITICS NIGERIA has photographs from the event;

The Nigerian Army has debunked a video of a beast reportedly killed in Benue State by troops.

The video which has since gone viral, shows the corpse of a beast that looks like a werewolf. It was widely rumoured that the beast was killed during ‘OPERATION WHIRLSTROKE’ in Benue state.

In a statement seen by POLITICS NIGERIA on Monday, the army called on the general public to ignore the footage adding that it was from a Portuguese movie.

“The Press Release and video making rounds on social media of a mysterious beast with human body Killed by troops of operation whirl stroke is Fake.”

“The original video is from a Portuguese film “Lobisomem Morto a Tiros” Please disregard this video.”

The Northern Consensus Movement has stated that Northern Nigeria is the economic heart of Nigeria adding that Northerners are not ‘parasites’

Auwwal Abdullahi Aliyu, leader of the group, made these comments in a press conference on Saturday monitored by POLITICS NIGERIA. According to him, the discovery of Oil in Nigerian was achieved with ‘Northern sweat’.

In his words; “We, the northerners are the economic heart of Nigeria and nobody can address us as parasites. We are the economic heart of Nigeria. The oil that is so being bursted on today was discovered, harnessed and the refineries were constructed with Northern Nigerian sweat, with the Northern Nigerian economy, with the Northern Nigerian money.”

“The money of groundnut pyramids and cotton was the one that was used to research, discover and build the refineries that some other part of Nigeria are claiming to be their own personal property.”

“Our money was the money that was used to develop the oil. Those that got early education from the South-South, South-West and South-East got those education from the Northern economy, from our own money from the Northern sweat”.

The owner of an airbnb apartment rented out to the late Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Usifo Ataga, has been arrested and currently in police detention, [b]POLITICS NIGERIA exclusively gathered.[/b]

Sources familiar with the incident had confirmed the death of Ataga, who was murdered in Lekki, a city in Lagos state, last week. Mr Ataga, whose company promises video livestream at zero Internet cost, was found in a pool of his blood in the apartment after days of being incommunicado.

He had checked into the apartment with a lady, suspected to be his mistress on Sunday. This newspaper gathered that his wife and children, all resident in Abuja, were worried about his absence and their inability to get through to him.

After efforts to get across to his office and colleagues proved abortive, the family and close friends involved security agents who tracked him to the Lekki apartment. The door of the apartment was forced open but only his corpse was found there while his phones, debit cards and other valuables are missing.

He had multiple stab wounds on different parts of his body, according to an on-spot assessment by police officers. It was also gathered that a sum of Five Million Naira was withdrawn from his GTB account after the murder took place.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, said while his men are still on the trail of the lady who reportedly carry out the act, the airbnb owner is in detention. He also noted that investigations are still ongoing and the police will keep the public abreast as events unfold.

Nevertheless, the family of the TV executive, whose 50th birthday was on Thursday, has been thrown into mourning. In a Facebook post, the deceased mother, Sylvia Ataga, confirmed the incident.

"They murdered my son," the old woman lamented in the comment section of a post she made on Friday.

In a statement sent to POLITICS NIGERIA on Friday, the company called on the general public to ignore any rumour of a price increase.

"We are compelled to release this statement following requests from our distributors and customers seeking clarification as to whether BUA also intends to increase the price of its cement. This is in view of a purported increase of N260 by another major Cement producer – Dangote Cement.

["We are now aware that Dangote Cement has increased the price of its Cement (ex-factory) by N260 effective Monday, June 14, 2021. BUA is not a part of this increase and will not seek to increase the price of its cement (ex-factory) in the foreseeable future. BUA therefore restates its earlier position communicated on April 24, 2021 that it will not join in any increase in the prices of Cement for the foreseeable future."

" Whilst we believe it is the prerogative of any company in a free-market economy to determine the prices of their products as they deem fit, based on their urgent business needs, our position not to increase our own prices is anchored on the following:

"We are aware of the feedback and outcry from the public, and the government on the high retail price of cement in a period of economic recovery. BUA is also of the firm belief that the current retail prices of Cement are higher than normal, hence our earlier communication not to increase ex- factory prices in the foreseeable future."

"Since our last communication to our customers and the public, we have noticed a slight decline in the price of cement due to the commencement of the rainy season - during which demand is reduced. We believe that any further increase in prices will hamper a continuous downward trend as well as hamper a normalization/stabilization of prices of the commodity."

"As a responsible corporate entity, we refuse and reject associations with any actions that are deemed capable of projecting any industry we operate in as a cartel. Hence, whilst we respect that the said company has decided to increase their prices, we are not questioning the reason(s) why, but would like to make clear BUA’s position on a price increase."

"The Timing is not right for any increase on BUA’s part, and we do not have any justifiable business reason to increase our prices (ex-factory) anytime soon. We hope that despite this producer’s price increase, the overall retail price of cement and current downward trend in prices will not be affected negatively."

The senator representing Edo south in the Red Chamber, Mathew Urhoghide has said that Nigeria’s wealth is being stolen by civil servants and not politicians as widely believed.

Urhoghide made this comment in a recent interview with Roots TV monitored by POLITICS NIGERIA. He said that civil servants(accounting officers) are responsible for siphoning and embezzling huge sums of public funds.

“Everybody believes that any evil thing that happens in Nigeria is politicians of the political class but when you keep telling them that all the political parties including membership and everything, we are not up to 10% of our population.

“We do not form the majority of our population but findings that we have seen, the wealth stolen, the wealth of the public, the wealth of the citizens, the wealth in our system is not stolen by politicians. From our findings, look at the billions and billions we are talking about, tell me the politician that has that kind of money to steal at once.”

“Chief Executives, Accounting officers, when you say accounting officers, it’s ministries. We are not talking of ministers, we are talking of permanent secretaries. We believe there is no how money can be misappropriated by the minister without the connivance of the account officer who is the permanent secretary.”

“Nigerians must know that the greatest misuse of public funds comes from people within the bracket of the civil service”, he said.

Apex-Igbo organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has rejected calls to take over the management of the Eastern security outfit, Ebubeagu.

The group in a statement sent to POLITICS NIGERIA on Thursday, signed by its secretary-general, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, turned down requests from private citizens to takeover the management of the outfit stating that it was not 'constitutionally empowered' to do so.

"Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has rejected the calls from well-meaning Igbos to take over Ebubeagu Southeast Security Outfit, saying that there were no consultative meetings and people's approval or authorization for the outfit before its formation."

"Southeast governors should be encouraged to sufficiently provide necessary logistics and reinstate the chairman of southeast Governors Security Committee who resigned based on logistics deficiencies in operation."

"Unlike the Amotekun, where the southwest Governors provided adequate facilities and logistics, Ebubeagu was built on emotional ground and sentiments".

"Ohanaeze Ndigbo are not saddled with the Constitutional rights of protection of lives and properties in the Southeast, and we are independently funded through communal support of Ndigbo without any governments consent, it will be horrible to compound the responsibility of Ebubeagu on us, Southeast Governors are capable of providing logistics and we are in full support of them."

A northern group known as the Northern Consensus Movement(NCM) has declared the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu wanted.

The group also placed a N100 million bounty on Kanu. POLITICS NIGERIA gathered that this was announced at a press conference on Thursday by the president of the group, Dr. Auwal Abdullahi.

“We are declaring Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB and ESN wanted for the killings, destructions of properties of Northerners residing and undertaking their lawful businesses in the South-Eastern part of Nigeria.”

“We of the northern consensus movement, NCM, an amalgamation of more than 75 organisations of northern extraction have taken it upon ourselves as active and responsible citizens of this country to state in clear, unequivocal terms and without any form of ambiguity that;Nigeria is a democratic nation under a democratically elected government.”

“We call on all countries of the world to respect our sovereignty as a nation. Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB, is the man and brain behind the killings and destruction of properties belonging to innocent northerners residing in South-Eastern Nigeria carrying out their legitimate business using his proscribed terrorist organization, IPOB/ESN.”

“Northern Consensus Movement in collaboration with these organisations are hereby declaring Nnamdi Kanu, the spiritual leader of IPOB and ESN wanted for crimes against humanity and for instigating the killings of innocent northerners residing in south-eastern Nigeria.”

“We call on the US government, German government as champions of democracy, rule of law and freedom of speech and expression to humbly and kindly respect Nigerian sovereignty and facilitate the repatriation of Nnamdi Kanu back to Nigeria so that he can face his terrorism and genocide charges against innocent citizens of Nigeria.”

“Northern Consensus Movement with these organisations has placed a bounty of N100 million as an offer to anyone who can produce Nnamdi Kanu alive, hale and hearty to us for onward delivery to security agencies for continuous prosecution”.

As the hearing of a sexual assault case involving popular nolly-wood actor, Olanrewaju Omiyinka, also addressed as Baba Ijesha, commences in court on Wednesday, tightly held in his hand is a copy of a popular Christian book.

The 96-page book titled "How to thrive in perilous times" was authored by Happy Caldwell, late American pastor and author. In the book, Caldwell revealed how to live in victory regardless of circumstances - by knowing God's promises of provision and protection and releasing your faith to receive.

"Jesus says in Matthew 24 that when troubling times come, you are to be wary of religious deception and to keep your heart from worry. Instead, stay close to God through prayer, fellowship, and the Word - trust Him to take care of you. In the book of Timothy, the Apostle Paul counsels believers to continue in the things they have learned and to know what the Word of God promises them.

By strengthening themselves in these four areas, believers can prosper even when trouble is all around them: Believers who know their Lord and learn to follow after the peace in their heart can avoid trouble. By faith, they can rise above the faulty world system of health, finances, and success, and prosper with the favor of God," excerpts from the book read.

POLITICS NIGERIA learnt that the embattled actor appeared at the Yaba Magistrates’ Court in Lagos State following the incident reported in April.

The Lagos State Police Command had arrested him for allegedly sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl under the watch of popular comedienne, Adekola Adekanya, popularly known as Princess.The case has been stalled due to the industrial action by the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria.

Although he was granted police bail, Omiyinka could not get a civil servant to stand as a surety for him.

The bail condition included two relatives of Baba Ijesha, one civil servant of grade 16 and a refundable sum of N500,000 to be paid into the Lagos High court account, this newspaper gathered.

UPDATE: He has pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him.

The National leader of the All progressives Congress, APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has returned to Nigeria after a brief vacation abroad.

Contrary to widespread reports that the former Lagos governor is 'ill' and being secretly treated abroad, Tinubu popularly known as 'Jagaban' looked hale, hearty and full of life as he returned to the country on Tuesday.

On landing at the airport, he was welcomed amidst celebration from his supporters. POLITICS NIGERIA has Photos from the scene.

Officers of the Lagos state police command have fired teargas at peaceful June 12 protesters in Ojota, Lagos.

Photographs sent to POLITICS NIGERIA reveal that the protesters quickly took to their heels as the fierce looking officers advanced shooting canisters of tear gas at them.

Some Protesters were also arrested at the popular Gani Fawehinmi Park.

Claiming of unauthorised certificates and honours from foreign institutions by Nigerian politicians is one of the major ‘diseases’ affecting the nation’s political atmosphere.

Since the return of democracy in Nigeria, many public office holders and aspirants have been enmeshed in various scandals with academic fraud topping the list. While some are accused of altering their school certificates, some have gone as far as claiming false honours from international universities.

Although a small percentage of these cases were mere allegations without concrete evidence to nail the accused individuals, Most of them involving top political figures have turned out to be true and embarrassing.

Anti-corruption crusaders disclose that the desire to rack up excellent certificates by Nigerian political figures is largely to deceive the unsuspecting electorate into believing that the individual possesses the right education and qualification for office.

POLITICS NIGERIA beams a light on some politicians who have been caught red-handed forcefully and falsely attaching themselves to universities through either fake qualifications or certificates.

Salisu Buhari

Salisu Buhari is a former Speaker of the House of Representatives who resigned after being caught for falsifying his certificate in 1999 and was even sentenced to two years in prison with an option of a fine. He paid the fine instead. He was busted in February 1999 in an investigation by TheNews magazine, that he falsified his age and also claimed to have graduated from the University of Toronto, Canada, which he never attended.

Although he first denied the allegations against him, the magazine wrote to the University of Toronto, requesting confirmation of whether Mr Buhari was an alumnus. The university disowned him, ultimately leading to his resignation and prosecution.

Later in July that same year, disgraced Buhari admitted that he falsified his certificate and was quoted as saying to TheNews that: “I apologize to you. I apologize to the nation. I apologize to my family and friends for all the distress I have caused them. I was misled in error by a zeal to serve the nation, I hope the nation will forgive me and give me the opportunity to serve again”.

Stella Oduah

A former Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah was in 2014 exposed for lying to have acquired a Masters degree from the St. Paul’s College in the United States and for lying on oath to the Nigerian Senate, that another American ‘university’, Pacific Christian University awarded her an honorary doctorate degree in 1998.

Investigations proved otherwise as no university called Pacific Christian University exists in the USA.

Also authorities at St. Paul’s College, where Mrs. Oduah claimed she studied for Bachelor and Masters degrees, noted that they did not award her an MBA at anytime because the school does not even have a graduate school or graduate programme.

Following the national embarrassment she caused herself, Mrs. Oduah, and her associates cleaned up her biographies on the website of the Ministry of Aviation, Wikipedia and even her personal website was reviewed with no reference to St. Paul’s College.

Dino Melaye

In 2017, Sahara Reporters reported that former Senator Dino Melaye did not graduate from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

In reaction to the report, he said publicly that “to say that I did not graduate from Ahmadu Bello University is to say that I am not a senator of the federal republic of Nigeria. Aside from pursuing my masters in the school, I’m also a graduate of University of Abuja, I’m a graduate of London School of economics and political science and I am also a graduate of Harvard university…”

But Harvard University in Boston, United States, refuted the claim saying he never graduated from the institution. The school said that the former senator in 2016 only presented himself for a one-week seminar in leadership but the seminar doesn’t qualify anyone to become a Harvard alumnus.

Ademola Adeleke

Former Senator Ademola Adeleke was embarrassed some weeks to Osun State Governorship election in 2018. The candidate of the PDP lied that he graduated from Jacksonville State University (JSU), in Alabama, United States.

His profile on the National Assembly website stated then that he had a Diploma in Criminology from JSU and graduated in 1986. But the ICIR in a fact check report punctured Mr Adeleke’s claim. The newspaper confirmed Mr Adeleke did not get any certificate from Jacksonville State University.

The Director of Public Relations at the university, Buffy Lockette told ICIR in an email seeking confirmation that truly he enrolled at the tertiary institution, but he was not awarded any degree.

Abdullahi Ganduje

The chief press secretary of Kano State governor, Abba Anwar, told journalists on Tuesday that Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has been appointed a visiting professor at East Carolina University College of Business in America. He said the appointment letter was sent through Victor Mbarika, a lecturer of International Center for IT and Development at the school.

ECU said the letter Mr Ganduje got from a member of its faculty was unauthorised, hence, denied honouring the governor.

“It has been brought to my attention that you received a letter from a faculty member dated November 30, 2020, that appeared to offer an unpaid appointment in the “International Center for IT and Development” at East Carolina University College of Business.

“I must inform you that the letter you received from Dr. Victor Mbarika, on November 30, 2020 does not convey an authorized offer of appointment or establish any position of scholar or professor at East Carolina University (“ECU”). Only the Chancellor, myself, or another official identified in ECU’s published statement on Delegation of Contracting Authority for the Division of Academic Affairs may authorize or sign appointment letters under which faculty are employed,” the school said.

Ridiculous actions

Nigerian laws, both the Criminal and Penal Codes that apply in the southern and northern parts of Nigeria frown at forgery in Sections 463 and 362 to 364 respectively with punishment of up to 14 years imprisonment with option of fine or both.

Speaking with our correspondent, Olowolafe Dunsi, an anti-corruption advocate and human right activist said failure of the government to prosecute previous offenders is encouraging new cases of forgery.

“It is sad that this is still happening in present day Nigeria just because politicians want to be respected for their affiliation with western universities. That is legally and morally wrong”.

“Why should a leader lie using an international university if they are proud of Nigeria’s educational system. We simply have folks promoting education bankruptcy and until we have a system that prosecutes forgery, this will continue to be the order of the day”

President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed that he is preparing the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC to remain in power for as long as possible.

In an interview on Friday night on NTA monitored by POLITICS NIGERIA, the president revealed that the survival of the party is largely dependent on his administration.

"We are preferring APC to remain in power for as long as possible. in the sense that we say registration of members from bottom to top."

"From polling units to wards to local government to states and here in Abuja. We want to have a reliable number of people registered in APC in every state of the country. We are going to give it a lot of Publicity. The success of this administration will depend on the survival of APC,"

"The party should continue," he said.

Former Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar has subtely reacted to a ban on social media platform, Twitter by President Muhammadu Buhari's government.

On Friday evening, the Nigerian government announced that it will be suspending all Twitter operations in Nigeria. This development is coming a day after the platform deleted a tweet and a video from the President's official handle.

President Buhari had issued a tweet threatening genocidal violence on the South-East over its rising Insecurity. Reacting to the suspension, Atiku tweeted;

"Hopefully, this isn't my last tweet. #smile"

The Nigerian Government has suspended Twitter Operations in Nigeria.

This was announced on Friday by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed in a statement sent to POLITICS NIGERIA.

"The Federal Government has suspended, indefinitely, the operations of the microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, in Nigeria."

He cited the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria's corporate existence.

The Minister said the Federal Government has also directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.

Nigeria's communication minister, Isa Pantami, on Thursday claimed that the policy of requiring Nigerians to obtain a National Identification Number (NIN) has significantly reduced occurrences of banditry and kidnapping.

He made this claim in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, while giving the account of his stewardship since assuming office, in 2019.

"Within less than 15 days in the office, we have engaged the NCC as a regulator. We have directed them to carry out an audit exercise to enable them to come up with unregistered and partial registered sims. They came with around 9.4 million which is enough to populate another country. It was the first time we didn’t know the total number of unregistered sims in the country."

"And we went further to direct NCC, to ensure that by 25th September 2019, that is only one month and a few days in office, I spent there to ensure that by the end of September 2021, no sim that is not registered will be on our network. NCC as a regulator implemented that effectively."

"From the end of September 2019, to 2020, you will discover that even kidnapping and banditry has been reduced to the barest minimum. It was a time that hardly can you spend one month or more without hearing about kidnapping. The more you come up with policies to make the system effective the more criminals will come up with another strategy to compromise the policies," he was quoted.

But how true is this?

Flashback

On December 15 2020, the federal government ordered all telecommunication service providers to instruct their subscribers to link their NIN with their SIM cards or risk blockage of their cards.

The announcement triggered outrage on social media, with many civil society organisations threatening to sue the federal government for ordering the integration of SIM cards with NIN. Also many individuals, who ordinarily would not have taken the enrolment seriously, trooped out to visit nearby NIMC registration centres, to avoid losing their SIM cards.

The government has since then repeatedly extended the deadline for the operation.

Insecurity in Nigeria

Bandits are fast taking charge of most parts of Nigeria particularly in the northern region of the country. Kidnappings of students have consistently been the order of the day as abductors often pull up on motorbikes at various schools.

The bandits continue to kill, rape, and plunder across the northwest, forcing more than 200,000 people out of their homes.Kidnapping is now an established criminal industry in Nigeria.Criminal gangs inhabit the vast forests that fringe the state – where there is little to no government presence and clandestine paths criss-cross the region.

Has NIN-SIM integration reduced kidnapping? 

POLITICS NIGERIA in an analysis published on Thursday revealed that no fewer than 939 students have been abducted from various secondary and tertiary institutions from December 2020 and May 2021. According to a security report reviewed by our correspondent, 420 students were abducted at various schools in December.

While 333 students were abducted in Kankara in Katsina State, 84 students were abducted in Dandume LGA in the same state. Three others were kidnapped in Edo and Delta states. In February, 27 students, three staff members and 12 of their relatives were abducted in Kagara, Niger State. Another 279 students were again abducted in the same month at Jangebe in Zamfara state.

POLITICS NIGERIA reported how 39 students were abducted in Afaka, Kaduna state in March and 23 abducted in Greenfield university in the same state in April.

On May 30, another 136 students were kidnapped in an Islamic school in Niger.

Scary death figures

In April 2021 alone, 723 people were killed in violent attacks across Nigeria. A  report by a non-governmental organisation, Nigeria Mourns revealed.  Interestingly bandits were responsible for the death of 425 people killed that month. The report also showed that 407 people were abducted in the same month.

An earlier report by the initiative showed that at least 1,603 people were killed in violent attacks across Nigeria between January and March 2021. On the aspect of perpetrators, the report revealed that 921 people were killed by suspected bandits. It also showed that 1,774 people were abducted within the three months under review.

The rising insecurity has further led to agitation by many citizens for state police. Aside from ordinary citizens, different state governors – Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Babagana Zulum of Borno, and Hope Uzodinma of Imo, among others, have been victims of violence as they or their properties were attacked.

It would be recalled that the 17 governors in southern states recently asked the federal government to “convoke a national dialogue as a matter of urgency.” They called on President Muhammadu Buhari to “address Nigerians on the challenges of insecurity.

The National Assembly had also called for a national security summit with the House of Representatives already announcing modalities for one of such.

Verdict

Considering all of these facts, the claim by Mr Pantami that NIN-SIM integration has reduced banditry and kidnapping is not just UNPROVEN but outrightly FALSE.

Social Media Giant, Twitter has yet again deleted another tweet from President Muhammadu Buhari’s account on Thursday evening.

Twitter made headlines on Wednesday after it deleted a controversial tweet made by President Muhammadu Buhari threatening ‘Genocidal’ violence against the Igbos.

The development struck a nerve with the Nigerian Government and they wasted no time in condemning the platform.

Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed branded the move as ‘suspicious’ accusing Twitter of having ‘double standards’. However, on Thursday the platform also deleted a video of President Buhari making controversial statements about the 1967 civil war.

The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami has reacted to a report that he wrote a memo to the President, Muhammadu Buhari, seeking the suspension of Nigeria's constitution and a declaration of Martial law over rising Insecurity in the country.

AGF Malami described the report as 'false' and 'fabricated'. This was conveyed in a statement  made available to POLITICS NIGERIA, signed by his media aide, Umar Jibril Gwandu. The AGF maintained that he is pro-constitutional democracy. The statement read;

"The attention of the Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN has been drawn to a false and fictitious report alleging that there was a secret memo emanating from the Office to the Presidency."

"General publics are hereby asked to disregard the media report as fabrications of anti-constitutional democratic stability in Nigeria. Malami remains a true democrat who believes in rules of law and tenant of democracy and Constitutional order."

"The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice is a constitutionally recognised one with its role and responsibilities embedded in the constitution."

"It is antithetical to common sense to think that the holder of such coveted Office as the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice will stoop to what was printed by the media. The Government does not operate in secrecy as it is not a clandestine operation. Hence, Malami discharges his constitutionally recognized mandates in compliance with principles of transparency, openness and accountability."

The Bayelsa State government has denied a Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on new media, Bodmas Kemepadei, after he was arrested by the DSS for making inciting statements against President Muhammadu Buhari.

POLITICS NIGERIA exclusively reported that the DSS arrested Kemepadei on Tuesday in Yenogoa. In response to the development, the Bayelsa state government disclosed that he was only speaking for himself.

A statement signed by the Director, New Media Bayelsa State Government, Kola Oredipe, and sent to POLITICS NIGERIA, read;

"Our attention has been drawn to the arrest of Mr. Bodmas Kemepadei by the Department of State Services (DSS) over alleged inciting posts on the social media against President Muhammadu Buhari. Let it be clear that Kemepadei lacks the authority to speak directly for His Excellency, Senator Douye Diri, Governor of Bayelsa State."

"Kemepadei, a known blogger, film editor and online reporter, was appointed into the Bayelsa State Government New Media Team as a Special Assistant on New Media and works under the direct supervision of the Director, New Media, who coordinates all government new media activities."

"Kemepadei, in the said video and other posts, must have obviously spoken as a private citizen and not as a government official because the Governor could never have authorised such comments against Mr. President."

Former Governor of Ekiti state, Ayodele Fayose has stated that President Muhammadu Buhari could not have been the one to make that 'Genocidal' tweet.

The President has been under fire for a tweet made on his official account on Tuesday night. He tweeted; “Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand,”.

The tweet generated a widespread criticism with many reporting the President's handle to Twitter for removal. On Wednesday afternoon, the social media giant removed President Buhari's Tweet stating that it violated its rules.

However, Fayose weighed in on the matter stating that Buhari could not have made that tweet, adding that the president could not even operate an android phone.

"When is Mr President Buhari using his power as Commander-in-chief to "show Twitter pepper" for deleting his tweets? Or Twitter will just delete our President's tweets just like that and there won't be consequences?"

"Nigeria is boiling everywhere and all that the President can do is to be threatening genocide up and down? Now that Twitter has dealt with our almighty President Buhari, won't he "deal" with Twitter too?  Like Trump, like Buhari."

"It is obvious that those using the President's powers for him do not know when and where to stop their power-madness. Regrettably, Twitter may not know that Buhari is not the one operating the handle. Can our President operate Android Phone not to talk of making genocidal tweets?"

"A president who cannot address his own people in time of crisis can certainly not be the one tweeting on the crisis. Twitter should rather hold Garba Shehu, Lie Mohammad and co accountable."

"A president who cannot address his own people in time of crisis can certainly not be the one tweeting on the crisis. Twitter should rather hold Garba Shehu, Lie Mohammad and co accountable."

The Department of State Security, DSS has arrested an aide to the Governor of Bayelsa state for inciting the public against President Muhammadu Buhari.

POLITICS NIGERIA exclusively confirmed that Kemepadei Bodmas, a Senior Special Assistant on new Media to Governor Duoye Diri, was arrested on Tuesday in Bayelsa state.

This paper also gathered that the arrest is in connection to inciting statements released by the Governor's aide on social media. In the video seen by our reporter, Bodmas stated that the country is no longer safe.

"This country is no longer safe. The only person safe in this country is President Muhammadu Buhari and the only reason is that he understands that the country is not safe and so therefore has isolated himself."

"My fellow Nigerians nothing is working in this country. The security architecture of this country has fallen. We don't know our left, we don't know our right. We don't know where we are going as a people," he said in the 28 seconds video.

Kemepadei's case is similar to that of Salihu Tanko Yakasai, who was sacked for criticising President Muhammadu Buhari over the nation's problems of Insecurity.

Further findings by this paper reveal that Kemepadei is a loyalist of Niger-Delta warlord, Government Tompolo and was actively involved in protests against the Niger-Delta Development Commission, NDDC.

Governor Hope Uzodinma has described the murder of APC chieftain, Ahmed Gulak as a clear case of 'Political Assassination'.

The governor made this comment during a Press Conference on the unfortunate incident on Monday. Uzodinma expressed deep sadness over the occurrence adding that the late Gulak was a close friend.

"It is with a very heavy heart that I address you today. The pain of losing a person or loved one, the horror of holding your family member in his or her final moments, the anger of someone being so reckless, so thoughtless that their bullet destroyed your life, are emotions no individual should ever have to endure."

"I sympathize with the families of those who lost their lives through stray bullets during thi s period. As you know, the death of anyone diminishes mankind. But the brutal and callous assassination of Alhaji Ahmed Gulak yesterday, Sunday, May 30th, 2021 on his way to the Sam Mbakwe Cargo Airport, is painful because he did not deserve to die that way."

"The death of this compatriot is a personal loss to me because he was an invaluable friend and brother whose sense of justice, fairness and uprightness endeared him to me."

He disclosed that Gulak was on an official assignment in Imo state.

"Alhaji Ahmed Gulak was in Imo State for a national assignment. He came to Owerri with the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendment. Being a humble man, he chose to travel incognito according to his friend who was with him. Someone must have trailed him from the hotel to the airport. That is exactly why his gruesome murder appears to be a clear case of political assassination."

"According to reports by the police, he was shot in cold blood and the assailants did not remove a pin from him. It is most benumbing that people chose to waste such an innocent blood in such a dastardly and cowardly manner."

He vowed that those responsible for Gulak's death will definitely be brought to book. Uzodinma also revealed that his convoy was never attacked.

"Finally, let me also clarify the story trending on the social media platforms, that my convoy was attacked, my convoy was never attacked. That is the wish of those who murdered Gulak," he said.

The Federal Capital Territory Administration(FCTA) has debunked rumours that Terror Sect, Boko Haram launched an attack in Abuja recently.

The FCTA, in a statement shared via its Twitter handle, described the report as a “mischievous publication targeted at creating tension among residents” of the capital territory.

“The attention of the FCT Joint Security Team has been drawn to a viral publication in the social media purporting that the ‘Federal Capital Territory is under the attack of Boko Haram Terrorists’. The Joint Security Team of the FCT wishes to refute the mischievous publication targeted at creating palpable tension amongst the weil-spirited residents of the FCT.”

“Contrary to the speculation, the Heads of Security Agencies (HOSA) in the Federal Capital Territory in the bid to address security concerns within the FCT, held a strategic meeting on Thursday 29th April,2021, where the team resolved to deploy alternative proactive crime-fighting measures within the FCT particularly in areas with challenging terrain including aggressive motorized/foot patrols.”

“However, the patrols will be conducted in line with the peculiarities of every terrain within the territory, in other words, the team has adopted the use of motorcycles, horses and other technical means of gathering intelligence to checkmate criminality within the Federal Capital Territory.”

“In view of the above, the Joint Security Team chaired by the Commissioner of Police CP. Bala Ciroma enjoins residents to remain calm, law-abiding and verify information before circulating such information to avoid creating panic amongst members of the public.”