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President Muhammadu Buhari has just signed Executive Order 009 to end open defecation in the country by 2025.

The new order states, among others, “That by this Order, Nigeria is committed to being open defecation-free by 2025.

“That the National Open Defecation-Free (ODF) Roadmap developed by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources with support from other key sector players across Nigeria be put into effect.

“There is established in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources a National Secretariat called ‘Clean Nigeria Campaign Secretariat.’

“The Secretariat is authorised on behalf of the President to implement this Order by ensuring that all public places, including schools, hotels, fuel stations, places of worship, market places, hospitals and offices have accessible toilets and latrines within their premises.

“All Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government shall cooperate with the Clean Nigeria Campaign Secretariat.

“The National Assembly and the State Houses of Assembly shall enact legislation on the practice of open defecation, with appropriate sanctions and penalties.”

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Mr Kayode Makinde, the father of 10-year-old Joseph Makinde, who was beheaded by two siblings, Saheed and Ayodeji Obadimeji, on Monday, narrated to a Lagos State High Court in Igbosere how the duo killed his son and held on to his parts at the police station.

PUNCH Metro had reported that Saheed, 19, and Ayodeji, 18, had on November 27, 2018, around 8.30pm, allegedly beheaded Joseph in an uncompleted building at Sapati, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, over N200,000.

The siblings allegedly lured Joseph into the uncompleted building by sending him to buy a beverage drink for them and when he brought it, they held him and cut off his head with a knife.

The duo alleged that they were contracted by one Sodiq Abefe to produce a human head for N200,000.

The defendants were arrested by the anti-kidnapping operatives of the Lagos State Police Command and were subsequently arraigned before Justice Adedaye Akintoye on two counts of conspiracy to commit murder and murder.

They pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The offences, according to the prosecution, contravene Section 222 (1) (a) and are punishable under Section 233 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

At the resumed hearing on Monday, Kayode, who is the first prosecution witness, told the court how he saw one of the defendants holding his son’s head, while the other was holding his torso at the police station.

Kayode, who told the court that he knew the defendants and that they live in the same area of Sapati town with him, noted that they were from the same mother but different fathers.

The bereaved father, while being led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Yusuf Sule, noted that one of his neighbours, identified simply as Femi, had sent Joseph on an errand on the next street to help him withdraw money from an Automated Teller Machine when he was accosted by the defendants.

Kayode said his son left for the ATM around 6.30pm and did not come back, and when a search party was constituted to look for him, he could not be found and a case of a missing person was reported at the Elemoro Police Station, Ibeju-Lekki.

He added, “The following day, I returned to the police station and the police took me to where a patrol van was parked and showed me the rear of the van, where I saw the dead body of my son. The first defendant was holding his head, while the second was holding the body.

“The police arrested Femi, who sent my son on an errand to the ATM; they took the defendants to Panti and at Panti, I was asked what happened and I narrated what I knew to them and they told me they were working on it.”

Under cross-examination by the defence counsel, Emma Nidiyo, Kayode reiterated that he saw his son’s body parts with the defendants and that they confirmed at the police station that they killed Joseph, adding that his son was not a friend to the defendants before he was killed.

Justice Akintoye adjourned the matter till January 20, 2020, for the continuation of trial.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that 149,576 votes were cancelled in Kogi State due to violence, ballot box snatching and other incidences that characterised last Saturday’s governorship election.

The commission declared Governor Yahaya Bello as the governor-elect for another four-year term.

Bello, who contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), scored a total of 406,222 to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Musa Wada, who polled 189,704 votes.

Natasha Akpoti of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) came third with 9482 votes.

The State Collation Officer and Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Prof. Ibrahim Garba declared Bello as the winner, adding that he met the requirement of the law to be so declared.

He put the margin of victory at 216,518. A total of 636,202 voters were accredited from the 1,646,356 registered voters with 610,744 valid votes cast, while 13,770 votes were rejected.

Bello got majority votes in 12 of the 21 local government areas.

The governor got majority votes in Ogori Magongo, Ijumu, Adavi, Okene, Kabba Bunu, Kogi/Kotonkarfe, Okehi, Mopa Moro, Ajaokuta, Olamoboro, Ibaji and Lokoja local government areas.

The PDP candidate won in Dekina, Bassa, Ofu, Ankpa, Yagba West, Yagba East, Idah, Igalamela Odou and Omala local government areas.

Bello also got the mandatory one third in 20 local governments.

The agent of the PDP at the Collation Centre, Captain Jerry Agada, refused to sign the result sheet, saying he did not agree with the figures.

According to him, the party would take the process further by testing the outcome at the tribunal.

He claimed that about three people died in Lokoja metropolis due to violence, stressing that a report of the casualty figure was not reflected in the result presented by the collation officer for the local government.

He added that the party agents submitted a report on four areas within Lokoja, the state capital, where election did not take place.

Agada said what is contained in the report by the local government collation officer is a report of three places.

He demanded to know from the Inspector-General of Police what happened to the policeman arrested for shooting a voter on the line, adding that elections were cancelled in about 147 polling centres.

He also claimed that the Collation Officer did not include in his report that a helicopter flown by an officer of the Counter-Terrorism Unit (CTU) of the police shot and killed a voter waiting to cast his vote and was later brought down and the officer arrested.

He presented the State Collation Officer a report from his PDP agents in the local government to back his claim.

But the presentation was politely declined by the Collation Officer, Prof. Ibrahim Garba.

Prof. Garba told him that after completing his assignment of collating the results and announcing the winner of the election, he would have nothing to do with the electoral process as he was not an authority.

He asked him to compile his evidence and submit to the appropriate authorities at INEC, which has the powers to examine his presentation and act on it where necessary.

Bello described the outcome of the election as a victory for true democracy.

In a statement by his Director-General, Media and Publicity, Kingsley Fanwo, the governor said the victory will spur him to do more.

He said: “This victory is for Kogi people that value true democracy. And, we can assure that Governor Bello will not abandon his campaign slogan, which expresses his desire to do more for Kogi people.

“We thank Kogites who voted for us. We also thank Kogi people who did not vote for us; they have challenged the governor to do more for them to earn their confidence.

“We urge the Peoples Democratic Party to act to exemplify the spirit of sportsmanship by accepting the verdict of Kogi people. We also thank the party hierarchy for throwing their weight behind the governor.

“We thank INEC, security operatives and other public institutions for ensuring that the election was free, fair, credible and peaceful. Governor Bello will do more for Kogi, Kogites will be better for it.”

Also yesterday, Wada described the election as a coup against the Kogi people.

At a news conference in Abuja, he vowed to challenge Governor Bello’s victory.

The PDP candidate said the overwhelming majority of the people rejected the election’s outcome.

Wada said: “It is clear to all that there was no election on Saturday, November 16th 2019 but a declaration and execution of war against the people.

“What happened in Kogi was an organised war against democracy; coup against the people and seizure of power through brigandage and the barrel of the gun with members of the police and other security agencies coordinating the stealing of people’s votes.

“The police aided armed APC thugs to invade polling units with impunity, shoot and kill voters and carted away ballot boxes to government facilities where results were written in favour of APC and handed over to INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) to announce against the will of the people.

“Police helicopters were used to attack polling units, fire tear gas on voters and provided cover to APC hoodlums and policemen who brutalised the people of Kogi state and stole their mandate.

“The APC turned our state into a theatre of war. No fewer than nine innocent Nigerians were killed. Many more were maimed and injured by the APC in their desperation to seize power at all cost.

“It is, therefore, distressing that INEC went ahead with a shameful collation and declaration of fabricated results despite the glaring disruptions that characterised the shambolic exercise.”

Wada accused INEC of cancelling votes cast for the PDP in the party’s strongholds, subtracted from PDP votes in many other areas and padded the votes of the APC to give a semblance of victory to APC.

He said the people of Kogi were horrified, brutalised and dehumanised during the exercise.

“We, therefore, stand with the people of Kogi to state without equivocation that this brigandage and stealing of our mandate cannot stand.

“We will never despair but remain strong in our determination to retrieve the mandate freely given to us by the people in their desire for a change. We will pursue this course to its logical conclusion within the confines of the law of this country,” he added.

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja, Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan, Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo, Hammed Shittu in Ilorin, Francis Sardauna in Katsina, Daji Sani in Yola, and Benjamin Nworie in Abakaliki.

The federal government has finally released the circular on the implementation of the N30,000 new minimum wage to federal workers, setting the stage for the labour unions in the states to commence the negotiations on consequential adjustment to the new wage, THISDAY’s investigation has revealed.

THISDAY gathered that the circular, which originated from the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, was released at the weekend.

While Katsina and Borno States chapters of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have confirmed that they had received the circular of the new minimum wage consequential adjustment from the federal government, the Osun State NLC said the circular is expected to reach the state on Tuesday or Wednesday this week.

The President of the NLC, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, who confirmed the issuance of the circular to THISDAY at the weekend, said that with the development, state governments that have been waiting to use the federal government’s minimum wage consequential adjustment template to negotiate with their labour unions will now effectively commence negotiations with their workers.

He also said the release of the circular was an indication that the payment of the new minimum wage has commenced across board.

“The new minimum wage circular was just released yesterday (Friday) by the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission – that is the implementation circular for public service in the federal civil service. We received clear information that the circular was released Friday evening,” he explained.

When asked if the states have been availed of copies of the minimum wage implementation circular, Wabba said that the leadership of the labour movement is following up, adding that it would be made available to them.

According to Wabba the minimum wage consequential adjustment deal reached at the federal level is the benchmark that is supposed to guide state governments and other private sector employers of labour to also reach agreement with their workers.

He also said that the circular directed that implementation will take effect from April 18, the day President Muhammadu Buhari signed the new minimum wage bill into law.

Wabba said now that the circular for federal workers are out, labour will follow-up and ensure that states get copies to guide their negotiations.

“State branches of the NLC, Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Public Service Joint Negotiating Councils (PSJNC) are working assiduously with the state governments as a team and in many states process are ongoing.

“We are following up. It is our duty to make the circular available to states and we will do that. Once the process starts, you will see that it will move from state to state until it is concluded,” he said.

He cited Lagos, Katsina and Kaduna as states where the process of negotiations has already begun.

Wabba assured workers that the leadership of the various centres, NLC, TUC and the Joint Negotiating Council were collectively working and monitoring the process to see that every worker gets the new minimum wage.

He said it was not only in the public sector that the minimum wage issue was being taken up, adding that the private sector employers were also engaged in negotiations to comply with New Minimum Wage Act.

The NLC president said that states have expressed the commitment to pay the new minimum wage except two states, adding that labour intends to dialogue further with affected states and make them understand that it has capacity to do some level of engagement.

Under the agreement reached between federal government and representatives of labour, core civil servants on Grade Level 7 will get 23.2 per cent adjustment; Grade Level 8 (20 per cent), Grade Level 9 (19 per cent), Grade Levels 10-14 (16 per cent) and Grade Levels 15-17 (14 per cent).

Other workers on Grade Level 7 will be given (23.2 per cent), while Grade Levels 8-14 will earn (16 per cent) and Grade Levels 15-17 (10.5 per cent).

Meanwhile, in Katsina State, the state chapter of NLC said it had received the circular of the new minimum wage consequential adjustment from federal government and inaugurated a committee for its implementation.

The state NLC Chairman, Mr. Hussaini Hamisu, told THISDAY that negotiations would soon commence between NLC and state government to address issues in the consequential adjustment.

He said: “Consequential adjustment table is very explanatory. Therefore, NLC as a body would ensure that all workers in Katsina benefit from the new salary increment.

“Government has already set up their negotiation team and we as NLC have also inaugurated our own negotiation committee. We will sit down together and commence the negotiation process soon,” he said.

In the meantime, Katsina State government has inaugurated the committee to negotiate consequential adjustment in salaries arising from the new National Minimum Wage.

The committee, headed by the Secretary to State Government (SSG), Dr. Mustapha Inuwa, has 21 days to complete its assignment.

Inaugurating the committee at Government House, Governor Aminu Bello Masari urged them to ensure that their recommendations were in accordance with the ‘limited resources” of the state.

In Borno State, the state chairman of NLC, Mr. Bulama Abiso, told THISDAY that the union had received the circular at the weekend.

He said the union would this week officially write the state government to kick-start negotiation.

The Chairman of the NLC in Osun State, Mr. Jacob Adekomi, said the circular on minimum wage on the consequential adjustment from the federation government would reach the state between Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

He told THISDAY that there were no negotiations yet because there was a directive that the union must follow the federal government’s templates.

THISDAY gathered that the 20-man Joint Negotiating Committee for the implementation of the new minimum wage and its consequential adjustment in Ebonyi State were still meeting.

The state Secretary of NLC, Mr. Chukwuma Onwe, said though the state chapter had not received the circular of minimum wage adjustment from the federal government, the joint committee had been negotiating on acceptable structure.

Also, the Special Assistant to the Ebonyi State governor on Inter-Party and Labour Matters, Ms. Jennifer Nwafor, told THISDAY that workers in the state would enjoy better days ahead.

The Adamawa State Chairman of NLC, Chief Emmanuel Fashe, said the Governor, Alhaji Ahmadu Fintiri, has directed that no state worker should receive below N32,000 as minimum wage this November.

Fashe said they were awaiting the circular on consequential adjustment.

The Kwara State Vice Chairman of the NLC, Alhaji Salihu Yusuf, told THISDAY: “The circular has not been sent to the NLC but hopefully next week. This is based on our resolution at the NLC leadership retreats at Enugu State recently. It was agreed upon that we should all wait until the template and the circular from National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission is made available to the leadership of the NLC.”

The Chairman of NLC in Oyo State, Mr. Bayo Titilola-Sodo, told THISDAY that the union was yet to get the circular of minimum wage consequential adjustment, adding that the circular was still being expected.

Evangelist Chidi Eke, a 46 year old clergyman, who was fasting to seek God's face as he plans to open his own ministry, has died while fasting for 40 days and nights in Eziala Nguru in Ngor Okpala council area of Imo State.

Eke who reportedly left his wife and children in Lagos after he claimed he got the call from God asking him to go into minsitry, relocated to Imo state where he said he would be seeking the face and power of God inside the ''Wilderness''. He had successfully concluded a 21 days fast and decided to go ahead to do a 40-days dry fast.

“During the first and second week of his fast, people who had gone to their farms heard him singing and praying loudly. But after the third week nobody heard his voice again and most people thought that perhaps he must have gone deep into meditation. But one of his church members, one Cyriacus Opara who became worried and insisted that he needed to visit him at the forest.

“When Opara approached the family that he wanted to visit Chidi Eke in the “Wilderness”, they told him that they don’t actually know the exact location where he was and that Eke had earlier issued a stern warning that he did not want any visitors because he had left his phone and money at home and had only gone with his Bible and gown.” a resident of the village told The Nation

Opara was told to contact one Cajethan Nwaneri as the only person who knew the location of the “Wilderness” since he had assisted the deceased evangelist in clearing it. Nwaneri led Opara to the place where they found out Eke had long died.

“Eke had abandoned his wife and two children, a boy and girl in Lagos and returned back to the village saying that he has come to answer the call of God. His corpse was discovered by one of his members who had gone to check on him in the bush where he had gone. Eke is the only son of his mother. In fact it was members of the community under the leadership of Tochukwu Ekeh (Angle 90) who are going to bear the burden of burying him” a relative said