₦airaland Forum

A deadline of August 1, 2022 has been set by the Ondo State Security Network Agency, often known as “Amotekun Corps,” for some public institutions to install Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) in their facilities.

The ultimatum was issued, according to the corps, as part of its determination to crack down on acts of terrorism and other criminal activities in the state.

The state commander of Amotekun, Chief Adetunji Adeleye gave this indication in a press statement issued in Akure, Ondo State capital one Wednesday.

Adeleye insisted that the purpose of installing the CCTV cameras was to aid security forces in tracking criminals who have been terrorizing the state for a while.

He said that by providing real-time videos of criminal activity, the action was in keeping with international best practices in intelligence operations.

Over the weekend, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu signed an executive order requiring the installation of CCTV in all public and private organizations.

“Penalties for non-compliance, failure of any of the concerned operators/owners to comply with this directive will attract sanctions.

“The premises shall be closed down indefinitely and the owners shall be prosecuted.”

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said that there is no evidence that the reported cases of monkeypox in Nigeria were transmitted through gay sex.

The NCDC Director-General, Ifedayo Adetifa, stated this during a zoom media briefing monitored by THE WHISTLER on Tuesday.

The briefing was tagged “Monkeypox Spread, Infodemic and Public Health Response in Nigeria”

Adetifa, while responding to a question on whether or not there’s a link between gay sex and monkeypox cases in Nigeria, said “This is not the situation in Nigeria”

The question came against the backdrop of a public health advisory issued for gays and bisexuals, amongst others, by the World Health Organization (WHO).

WHO had warned that “Some of these cases are being found in communities of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men,” adding that “Transgender people and gender-diverse people may also be more vulnerable in the context of the current outbreak.”

But the NCDC, in order to enable the media, health advocates, and stakeholders to better understand the Monkeypox situation in Nigeria and important facts, organized a virtual media dialogue on Monkeypox.

Its Head of Risk Communication, Disu Yahaya Oyewoga, said at the briefing that monkeypox was “more likely to become an infodemic than a pandemic with serious consequences to the world without a proactive and collective response”.

Speaking also, Dr. Lateefat Kikelomo Amao, the Incident Manager, National Monkeypox Emergency, shared a slide which stated that there was “no documented evidence of sexual transmission (of monkeypox) in Nigeria” adding that “Genomic sequencing of all positive samples ongoing and Clinical manifestations have remained the same (symptoms profile, virulence)”.

Amao said as of Tuesday, the total reported cases of monkeypox from January 1 to June 26, 2022, were 204, the total confirmed cases were 62 while the total deaths for the same period were 1 (1.6%)”

She also mentioned that there’s no vaccine for monkeypox in Nigeria at the moment, but that the WHO is working on a framework for granting access to very limited vaccine doses. Also, evidence has shown that the smallpox vaccine offers some level of protection against Monkeypox.

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, has said the country’s moribund refineries cannot be quickly restored.

Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday when he appeared before the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Kyari said the situation was regrettable but the NNPC was making efforts to bring the refineries back to work.

The committee is investigating the increase in prices of diesel and cooking gas.

“The refineries will not come back tomorrow. There is a process going on. We have decided to do a quick fix for the Warri refinery,” the NNPC boss said.

He said no one could guarantee the security of petroleum supply, adding that countries were preserving excess volume that they had in their kitty.

He said, “The world has never seen this kind of uncertainty. Today countries are stockpiling products. Shortly before COVID-19, the world was already facing a shortfall of 3 million barrels of supply of oil.”

The GMD said there had been no control to manage the energy crisis across the world, adding that, “to guarantee energy security means you just make products available at any time and at any cost.”

He disclosed that across the country, making over 200 illegal refineries were being operated.

He said the solution was to restore crude oil production, adding massive intervention was ongoing and by the end of July “we will restore production to a level that is reasonable.”

Kyari added, “Many European countries are asking for rationing gas, they are asking people to alternate their Air Conditioning.

“Today, countries are toying with subsidies because prices are so high because they don’t think they can manage inflation associated with it.”

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) have pledged to support, campaign and do everything within their power to ensure the Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi wins in 2023.

The NLC and TUC Presidents, Comrade Ayuba Wabba and Quadri Olaleye made the pledge in their different welcome addresses during the 10th anniversary lecture in honour of the third President of NLC, the late Pascal Bayau, on Tuesday in Abuja.

Speaking to the congregation of high-profile labour leaders and members who gathered at the lecture, Wabba stated that Obi was among the finest Nigerians and the first presidential candidate of the Labour Party to be recognised by the labour Centre.

The NLC President said the Congress was solidly behind the Labour Party candidate and would fully mobilise to ensure the victory of the party come 2023 general elections.

He also recalled that workers’ unions have realised that strikes and protests alone cannot change the narratives in Nigeria, which informed the full venture into politics and work hard to support candidates whose mantra will make life better for their members and Nigerians at large.

Olaleye said Obi was a face among the presidential candidates all labour unions are pleased and ready to work with, and that the entire labour movement had accepted, adopted and would support, and ensure workers massively voted for him in the 2023 presidential elections.

He further said the Labour Party was stronger, one and formidable.

The TUC president added that the party had a widespread structure, as there was a worker and a member of either TUC and NLC in every family across Nigeria.

He insisted that the Labour Party was the only party for Nigerian workers.

The former Anambra Governor said his visit to the leadership of the two labour centres was not to campaign but for a courtesy call; to honour the Organised Labour on whose party and interest he was seeking Nigerians’ vote in the 2023 general elections.

Obi said: “My commitment is to move Nigeria from consumption to production and you can’t talk about production without labour. Labour is the engine of production, capital and machines can do anything but labour is what makes it work. Because labour is the greatest contributor to production, it has to be properly remunerated.

“I don’t need to tell you how bad things are in this country today. if you are on wages, today Nigerians spend 100 per.cent of their wages on just feeding. So many don’t even know where their next meal will come from. They pay to train their children only for them to finish school and stay at home without work.

“These are issues we need to discuss. Nobody can be president without sitting down with the labour organisation to decide the future of Nigeria.

“We can no longer have a situation where the leaders are here and workers are there. They must sit on the same table and talk. That is the beginning of the solution, that is what is happening all over the world.

“Nigeria is not a producing country. The collective effect of what we are suffering today is bad leadership. We have a leadership that concentrates on sharing. So you have to move from sharing formula to production formula.

“This is a country of 200 million people sitting on 923,000 square kilometers of land. They can’t feed themselves, they can’t export anything.

“Total Nigeria’s export including oil is under $2 billion for 200 million people. A similar country, not a first world country, one with the same trajectory with Nigeria in the year 2000, Vietnam, sitting on 331,000 square kilometers of land, a third of Nigeria’s land space and 100 million population, with half of Nigeria’s population, their total earnings last year was $ 312 billion.”

He said that more than half of the country’s youths of productive age were unemployed, stating “This is what the Labour Party is seeking to sit down to discuss for the future.

The Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ebonyi State, Mr Nwoba Chika Nwoba has been invited by the Department of State Services (DSS) over his wedding cake which was prepared with insignia of the defunct Biafra Republic.

This newspaper had reported how Mr Nwoba and his wife, Onyinyechi, surprised their guests at their wedding reception on the ground when they unveiled a cake designed with everything that has do with the defunct Biafra Republic.

The wedding took place on Saturday at St. Joseph Anglican church, in his country home, Ekpelu community in Ikwo LGA of the State on Saturday, June, 25, 2022. The reception also took place in the community primary school.

Confirming his invitation by DSS, Mr Nwoba, in his verified Facebook wall on Monday at about some minutes past 9p.m, wrote that the DSS, had summoned him to appear in their Abakaliki office by 12 noon tomorrow, Tuesday.

Nwoba wrote, “Got an invitation from the DSS, Abakaliki office tomorrow by 12 pm. I knew I would be invited. As a law-abiding citizen, if the road is clear tomorrow, I will honour it.”

Mr Nwoba’s invitation by the DSS may not be unconnected to his wedding cake.

Recall that the Nigerian government banned everything that’s associated with the defunct Biafra Republic after the proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which is one of the foremost Igbo separatists agitating for a breakaway from the Nigerian State.

Since the prosecution of IPOB by the Nigerian government, anyone found with an item bearing Biafra insignia faces arrest and prosecution by the Nigerian government.


Nwoba had told this newspaper in a telephone chat on Sunday that he did his wedding cake with Biafra insignia as a show of solidarity with Biafra agitation.

According to him, every Igbo man no matter your political affiliation ought to embrace the struggle for the creation of Biafra.

He, however, said he was not in support of violent Biafra agitations.

“I actually did it to passage a message, that no matter our political inclinations, we still have the interest of Igbo nation at heart. It is to show my love and my commitment to ensuring that the gospel for the creation of a country of Igbo extraction, comes to fruition.

“So, I’m a fan of Biafra agitation. That’s why I said, okay, in order to contribute to the Biafra struggle, I have to do my cake, giving it a Biafra colors. I’m not against Biafra agitation, but I’m against going about it violently. I did it just to show my concern,”he said.

A newly posted Divisional Police Officer (DPO) to Birnin Gwari local government area of Kaduna State, ‎has been abducted.

The DPO was abducted along the notorious Kaduna-Birnin Gwari highway around 9am on Monday on his way to assume duty at his new place of assignment, according to sources who confirmed the incident to journalists on condition of anonymity.

Although it was not clear whether the police officer was travelling alone in the vehicle when he was abducted or not, as the Kaduna State Police Command was yet to issue an official statement on the development.

Recall that the Birnin Gwari local government area of the State has been in the news lately for various attacks and abductions by terrorists, and it was on Sunday that a Terrorist group known as Ansaru issued a statement banning political activities in some communities of the local government area.

Meanwhile, when contacted on his mobile phone for reaction, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of Kaduna Command, DSP Mohammed Jalige, neither not pick his calls nor return calls placed to his known mobile line by our correspondent as the time of filing this report.

SoapQueen:
I tell you. I left my house for the Mainland at 5am today. I was just praying to God to lead me safely because the driver was like a daredevil. I wonder how pregnant women manage to survive their driving.

These drivers are something else. I'm back home nursing the craziest headache ever.

Naijanascam:
Hisbah is not aware of this offense like the beer sellers

Romanoff:
They won't stone this one o.

The N10 per litre sugar tax was introduced in the Finance Act which was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on December 31, 2021.

In its bid to combat non-communicable diseases, the Federal Government has commenced the implementation of the N10 per litre sugar tax on carbonated drinks and beverages.

Chief Superintendent of Customs, Department of Excise, Free Trade Zone, and Industrial Incentives, Dennis Ituma made this known while speaking at a Policy Breakfast meeting in Abuja last week.

The event was organised by the National Action on Sugar Reduction (NASR) to look into the introduction and implementation of tax and other interventions to reduce the consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSBs) in Nigeria.

Ituma said the policy was implemented on Wednesday, June 1, 2022.

The N10 per litre sugar tax was introduced in the Finance Act which was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on December 31, 2021, alongside the 2022 Appropriation Bill.

Ituma said, “The N10 per litre of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages has been implemented on June 1, by July 21, all excise duties must have been collected and paid into the federation account.

“It should interest you that taxation on SSBs was a policy of the Federal Government in 1984 but was stopped in January 2009.

“Previously both SSBs, alcoholic drinks and tobacco were all taxed until 2009 when SSBs was removed from taxable beverages.

“Only alcoholic drinks and tobacco generates N414 billion, SSBs will further increase the revenue generated from drinks.”

The FG is bent on the implementation of the tax despite pleas by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and some related stakeholders.

juman:
Political campaign strategy.

Ansaru terrorist group has banned political activities in many communities in the Eastern part of Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, according to Birnin-Gwari Emirate Progressives’ Union (BEPU).

Ishaq Kasai, BEPU Chairman, who raised an alarm on this, said the group regularly recruits young residents and marry off young girls in the area.

According to him, the Ansaru group have camps in seven political wards in the eastern part out of the Local government area.

He also said that the militants usually beat up anybody found with posters of any political parties or symbols within the communities under their control.

The Chairman said the Ansaru group continues to gain strength in the area whereby locals, particularly the youth are being recruited.

“In fact the group continue to gain acceptance from many members of the commonities particularly in Old Kuyello and Damari of Kazage Ward. Even this week, two members of the group were engaged for wedding with two girls and will be tying the nuptial knots by the coming Saturday.

“The Ansaru (grooms) laid down some rules to the in-laws for the wedding. They ruled that, after the wedding, they will take the brides to the forests and live there with them and do not want the brides to go along with any furniture except plates (coolers) and mattresses because anything other than that is not in tandem with their beliefs and and convictions.

“A disturbing scenario is where the group banned all political activities in many communities such as Damari of Kazage Ward. Politicians from these communities have to go far away secretly to the neighboring communities before they hold political meetings.

“For instance this week an Okada rider who lives in Unguwar Makera of Kazage Ward was seen with a sticker of one of the candidates vying for the Kaduna State House of Assembly and he was thoroughly beaten by the Ansaru.

“People in these communities are now disenchanted and frustrated about participating in political activities.

“We don’t know how the coming Elections will take place in those areas because even the last Local Government Election did not hold in the Area due to the escalating insecurity which made the election results to be declared inconclusive and a Sole Administrator was appointed overseeing the affairs the Local Government up till now.

“In short, the Ansaru are now in charge of many of the communities in area and the group is expanding its occupation. They now call the shot and determine what is to be done in the villages they are dominating,”‘ he said.

He said the people are disturbed that despite the worrisome development, no meaningful response from authorities in the state.

“Our communities are being attacked, people kidnapped and killed daily without a response, acknowledgement or report from Government.

“We call on Government to please organise a coordinated security operation both aerial and ground to the hideouts of these criminals in our forests in order to flush them and stop daily killings of our people by the unchallenged terrorists groups sorrounding our communities,” he said.

The State Commissioner Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, could not be reached because he was at an emergency security meeting at the time of filing this report.

But the State Police Command Public Relations Officer, DSP Mohammed Jalige, said he needed to study the statement before commenting.

Waterlilly:
Back entry comes to mind

doggedfighter:
Deep-rooted


Are some shallow?

The Federal Government has said issues around the ongoing industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other three university based unions are not as simple as Nigerians think.

The Minister of information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said this Wednesday while briefing State House reporters on the outcome of the virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He also announced that council approved the establishment of e-learning centers for primary schools across the 36 States of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

The ASUU had started strike on February 14, 2022, over unresolved issues with the federal government.

Subsequently, other university-based unions, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Union of Universities and Associated Institutions (NASU) as well as the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) also followed the path of ASUU over the alleged government insensitivity to their demands.

Mohammed, who was asked to explain the motive behind the approval given to the establishment of e-learning centers at a time the government was unable to resolve problems with unions in the public universities for the students to go back to school, said the issues with the unions were not as simple as many people thought.

He said the government was equally worried over the long closure of the public universities and was making frantic efforts to ensure that all the contentious issues were resolved.

The minister, who briefed on behalf of the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, said, “And then the other question has to do with the with ASUU strike. I think if I remember this e-learning, I think has to do more with primary schools and not universities.

“And I don’t think because we’re having challenges with the university lectures, we should stop primary school students in continuing with their education. And I wish that the ASUU issue is as simple as many of us think it is. I don’t think it’s that simple. But I want to assure you that a lot is going on behind the scenes.

“And I think probably the Minister of Education will be better positioned to give the details. But like any government, if we’re not concerned, we would not set up all the committees which have been working on. If we are not concerned, we will not be looking for means to even assuage the feelings of the Union.

“We’re worried, we’re concerned, and we’ll continue to work towards finding an early resolution of the problem.”

On the approval by FEC, Mohammed said, “The Honourable Minister of Education has sought approval from Council for the award of contracts for the provision of a satellite- based education system for 109 e-learning centers across the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

“The contract was for the sum of N964 million and is in favour of Messrs Nas Navigation. The purpose of the memo is to provide each senatorial district in the country with e-learning provision, each states has three senatorial districts and the FCT has one senatorial district

“The scope of the project is the provision of satellite based education system for about 4,360 users in the 109 senatorial districts and it was through the installation of 109 receiver satellite unit model antenna in three schools in each state.

“Installation and provision of 109 vast mile server in three schools in each state connecting up to 100 device installation of 109 server units for receiver terminals and deployment of 4,360 Android tablets.”

The World Bank on Tuesday estimated that the increase in global price of crude oil will push the fuel subsidy budget of the federal government from the current N4trn to about N5trn by the end of this year.

The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, disclosed this while releasing the bank’s latest Nigeria Development Update report, titled, “The continuing urgency of business unusual.”

Crude oil price rose to its highest level in 14 years hitting $123.7 per barrel last Thursday, following higher demand for the black liquid as a result of the energy crisis caused by the Russian-Ukraine war.

This is the highest amount which the product would be sold since 2008. The last time the price of crude oil was as high as this was in 2008 when it sold for $145.31 per barrel.

In 2009, crude oil sold for $81.03, while in 2010, 2011 and 2012, it sold for $91.48, $113.39 and $109.39 per barrel respectively.

In 2013 the highest price of crude oil per barrel was $110.62, in 2014 $107.95 while in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, it was sold for $61.36, $54.01, $60.46, $77.41, $66.24, $63.27, and $84.65 per barrel respectively.

The rise in oil prices was underpinned by robust demand in the world’s top consumers as the war between Russia and Ukraine intensifies.

Last week, OPEC agreed to accelerate production increase to tame runaway fuel prices and slow inflation.
But experts said that the move will leave producers with very little spare capacity, and almost no room to compensate for a major supply outage.

Nigeria’s crude oil production averaged 1.42 million barrel per day in May. The figure is 70,000 bpd higher than the average crude oil production in April.

While there had been an increase in production, Nigeria is still struggling to meet up with its OPEC quota of 1.66 million barrels per day.

In the 2022 budget, the federal government pegged the crude oil benchmark at $73 per barrel with the projected oil production put at 1.88 million barrels per day.

According to the government, an oil revenue forecast of N3.362trn to fund the 2022 budget would be higher by N1.35trn or 67.18 per cent above the previous year’s target of N 2.011trn.

With higher crude oil price which is above the budget benchmark of $73 per barrel, experts are of the view that Nigeria may not be able to maximize the benefits because of rising fuel subsidy burden.

As of 2021 when crude oil price averaged $62 per barrel, the federal government spent a whopping sum of N1.2trn subsidizing petrol.

But with oil price hitting its highest level of $123.7 per barrel in 14 years, there are fears in government circles that the country may surpass its monthly fuel subsidy budget.

In January, February, March and April of this year, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd incurred N210.38bn, N219.78bn, N245.77bn and N271.58bn for payment of fuel subsidy respectively, giving a total of N947.51bn during the four-month period.

President Muhammadu Buhari had recently approved an increase in the estimated provision for Premium Motor Spirit subsidy for 2022 by N442.72bn from N3.557trn to N4trn.

Speaking on the Report, Shubham Chaudhuri, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, warned against the huge amount spent on fuel subsidy.

He said, “When we launched our previous Nigeria Development Update in November 2021, we estimated that Nigeria could stand to lose more than N3trn in revenues in 2022 because the proceeds from crude oil sales, instead of going to the federation account, would be used to cover the rising cost of gasoline subsidies that mostly benefit the rich. Sadly, that projection turned out to be optimistic.

“With oil prices going up significantly, and with it, the price of imported gasoline, we now estimate that the foregone revenues as a result of gasoline subsidies will be closer to N5trn in 2022.

“And that N5trn is urgently needed to cushion ordinary Nigerians from the crushing effect of double-digit increases in the cost of basic commodities, to invest in Nigeria’s children and youth, and in the infrastructure needed for private businesses small and large to flourish, grow and create jobs.”

Nnamdi Kanu’s family has threatened to sue the British government over its “silence” on the alleged illegal extraordinary rendition of Mr Kanu to Nigeria, according to a report by The Guardian UK.

The family accused the UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, Liz Truss, of ignoring “overwhelming evidence” that Mr Kanu was extraordinarily renditioned to Nigeria by the Nigerian government.

Mr Kanu, the leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is a Nigerian- British citizen.

The IPOB leader, who was granted bail in April 2017, fled the country after an invasion of his home in Afara-Ukwu, near Umuahia, Abia State, by the Nigerian military in September of that year.

He was re-arrested in Kenya and brought back to Nigeria in June 2021, about four years after he fled Nigeria. He is currently being detained in Abuja where he is facing trial for treason.

In a pre-action legal letter to Ms Truss, the family, through their lawyers, Bindmans LLP, accused the foreign secretary of failing to end Mr Kanu’s “unlawful” detention in Nigeria.

The family had previously threatened legal action against the British government over the lack of “consular assistance” for Mr Kanu.

In the latest letter to the foreign secretary through the lawyers, Mr Kanu’s family said the IPOB leader’s alleged extraordinary rendition to Nigeria might have breached international law.

They insisted that Ms Truss must take a view on whether there has been a breach of international law in the rendition of Mr Kanu or face legal action.

“If Mr Kanu has been subject to extraordinary rendition, this is a grave breach of international law which has a significant impact on the discretion which the secretary of state exercises in respect of the steps she should take to assist Mr Kanu under international and domestic law,” Shirin Marker, one of the family’s lawyers said in the letter.

“Forming a view as to whether a breach of international law has occurred, and if so the gravity of the breach, is, therefore, an essential prerequisite to the exercise of discretion on taking further steps at international and domestic law,” the solicitor added.

The letter said Mr Kanu was in Kenya in June last year when he was detained by the country’s security services, who took him to a house where he was chained to the floor and beaten for approximately eight days before being put on a private jet on June 27, and flown to Abuja.

Initially, the Nigerian government did not reveal in which country Mr Kanu was detained before being extradited, which raised more unanswered questions about the capture, although they later denied reports that he was illegally extradited to Nigeria.

But the lawyers said the flight believed to have been used in “unlawfully” transporting the IPOB leader from Kenya has been identified, citing testimony of the IPOB leader to his brother and lawyers.

They faulted the Nigerian government’s failure to provide details of how Mr Kanu – who did not have his British passport with him – was brought back to Nigeria.

Mr Kanu’s family laments UK govt’s silence

The IPOB leader’s family has expressed frustration with the British government on the continued detention of Mr Kanu by the Nigerian government.

“With every day that passes, I am increasingly concerned for my brother’s welfare in detention and increasingly frustrated by the UK government’s ineffectiveness in assisting him,” Kingsley, Mr Kanu’s younger brother, was quoted as saying.

“I hope the court will rule that the foreign secretary must recognise the seriousness of my brother’s situation and properly consider what other steps she can take to assist him in light of his extraordinary rendition,” Mr Kingsley added.

Background

Mr Kanu was earlier slammed with 15 count charges by the Nigerian government on terrorism and felony. But the charges have been reduced to seven.

In April, Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, struck out eight of the 15 charges in her ruling on Mr Kanu’s preliminary objection challenging the validity of the charges.

Mrs Nyako had ruled that counts 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 14 were incompetent for not disclosing any valid offences against the defendant.

Also, on May 18, following an objection by IPOB’s lead counsel, Mike Ozekhome, the Nigerian government withdrew a six-count charge, which was earlier amended.

The judge approved the seven existing counts of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 15, which Mr Kanu is currently being tried on.

The IPOB leader had already pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him when he was arraigned in January.

The judge earlier dismissed Mr Kanu’s claim that the Nigerian government illegally repatriated him from Kenya to Nigeria without following a formal extradition procedure.

Mrs Nyako insisted that there was a “surviving bench warrant” for the IPOB leader’s arrest and that his repatriation was in compliance with her order in 2018, for his arrest to face trial.

IPOB, a separatist group led by Mr Kanu, is agitating for an independent state of Biafra to be carved out from the South-east and some parts of South-south Nigeria.

The National Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress have called on the leadership of the party and the Progressive Governors Forum to narrow their search for the vice-presidential candidate to a northern Christian.

Their concerns stemmed from the raging controversy of the Muslim-Muslim ticket, which has seemingly heated the polity in the last few days.

Speaking at a programme to mark the June 12 Democracy Day, Convener of the APC National Stakeholders Forum, Aliyu Audu, disclosed that the need to reject the temptation of presenting another Muslim candidate as a running mate will ensure national inclusion and promote national unity.

He said, “Why we are conscious of the fact that religion should not be a determining factor in the our leadership selection proces. The peculiar circumstance the nation finds herself calls for reflection in the decisions we take, so long as they bother on our national lives.

“Today, the country is deeply divided within our fault lines of ethnicity and religion and we cannot afford to jettison this sensibility in critical decision making.

“This is why we think that the All Progressives Congress must be guided by the sense of these sensibilities in the selection of the Vice Presidential Candidate of the party.

Audu said that to do otherwise would be to further fuel what divides the masses and give room for mischief makers to take advantage of our differences.

According to him, Nigeria is in dire need of good governance, which can come from either a Muslim leader or a Christian leader.

He also noted that while some interests wanted the north to pick the ticket so as to put the contest between two northerners, others advocated for the All Progressives Congress to pick her flag bearer from the south in the spirit of nationalism, justice and fairness.

“But in the spirit of nationalism, justice and fairness which the northern governors demonstrated a few days ago, the leaders of the north on whose shoulder the emergence of the Vice Presidential candidate rests must also demonstrate this spirit by ensuring that the candidate comes from the Christian faith.

“The northern APC has in its fold capable individuals from the Christian faith with proven track record that can deliver just like anyone from the other faith.

“Their capability to deliver on the ideals of the party aside, they also have the capacity to win elections for the party. Suffice to add that no individual wins elections for any political party, it is the collective of all and we are sure the APC can achieve this,” he urged.

Candidlady:



If you like have the best hairdo. Drive the most expensive clean rides. Be built as king LeBron James. Gather pacs like dbanj. Get a thousand houses like the kingdom of heaven.


If your character ain't clean/built/fine to me you are still irresponsible.

He looks clean (responsible) because of haircut.
Body go tell some ladies.