• No legitimate govt can survive tolerating or negotiating with criminals
• Wants theatre command established in northwest
• 1,192 persons killed, 3,348 abducted in state in 2021, says report
The Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, yesterday tore into shreds, a federal government initiative, which supported reabsorbing criminals dubbed ‘repentant bandits and terrorists’ into the system, saying his government did not believe there was any phenomenon so identified.
According to the northwest governor, no legitimate government could survive, tolerating terrorists or negotiating with those, who constituted menace to law-abiding citizens.
Speaking yesterday after receiving the annual security report for 2021, at the Government House, Kaduna, El-Rufai said any person, who made a conscious decision to secure arms, challenge the authority of the Nigerian state and threaten the lives and property of Nigerians, did not deserve to live or be granted any concession by the society.
The governor, however, appealed to the federal government to create a theatre command similar to the situation in the North-East to confront the insurgency that has emerged in five states of the North-West and Niger state.
This was because according to the report presented by the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affair, Samuel Aruwan, a total of 1,192 people were reportedly killed in the year under review while 3,348 others were kidnapped by bandits across the state.
According to El-Rufai, “The creation of such a Theatre Command will enable holistic approach to counter-insurgent operations across the six affected states and the enhanced coordination of the resources of the armed forces, the police, the SSS, our respective state vigilance Services, hunters and other local volunteers to fight the insurgents.”
While calling for urgent national effort to strengthen the security forces and stressing that the military as well as the police needed modern technology, advanced armaments, equipment and more boots on the ground, the governor maintained that the security of communities depended on the robust projection of state power, which could only be done with sufficient security personnel to subdue and deter criminals.
El-Rufai said, “The prerogatives of the state need to be asserted, not merely proclaimed. The people we put in uniform must never be placed in avoidable danger, outgunned or outnumbered by non-state actors. It is when the terrorists are decimated that ‘soft’, non-kinetic peace building will gain traction.
“While the security agencies keep trying their best, the peacemakers on the ground should not be discouraged. Peace is worth every effort, despite the setbacks encountered. We’ll continue to emphasise that as a state government; we do not believe that there is any phenomenon like ‘repentant bandits’.
“Any person that makes a conscious decision to secure arms, challenge the authority of the Nigerian state, and threatens the lives and property of Nigerians does not deserve to live, or be granted any concession by the society. There are no immediate or remote causes to justify terrorist conduct.
“Those that hide behind these are either ethnic jingoists, religious apologists or fail to recognise that no legitimate government can survive by tolerating terrorists or negotiating with those that menace law-abiding citizens.”
The governor, however, condemned the escalation of violence in Zangon-Kataf Chiefdom, which according to him, “appears to be rapidly spilling into the Chawai part of Kauru Local Government. We condemn the disregard for human life and the violations of law that are fuelling the crisis.
“We sympathise with the affected communities. This outbreak of violence is a serious challenge to the community level peace process initiated by His Highness, the Agwam of Zangon Kataf and community leaders in the area,” the governor said.
He said the security report contained hard data, which reflected the pains inflicted on people across the state by criminals and outlaws, as well as provided background and an update on the steps being taken by the Kaduna State Government to manage the security challenges
“The report presented today shows that in 2021, an average of 9 persons were kidnapped daily across Kaduna State, mostly in the Kaduna Central senatorial district. There is also an escalation in the number of persons killed by a whopping 255 compared to those sadly killed by banditry and criminality in 2020 in spite of our best efforts in supporting the federal security agencies to bring an end to this phenomenon.
“As we digest these sad statistics, we pray for the repose of the souls of those killed, pay tribute to the victims of various crimes, reiterate our solidarity with them, and reaffirm our resolve to continue to protect our people, and stop the criminals…” El- Rufai said.
Continuing, he explained that, since 2015, the state government had supported the federal security agencies deployed to the state with vehicles and other logistics.
Presenting the report earlier, Aruwan disclosed that a total of 1,192 people were killed while 3,348 others were kidnapped by bandits across the state in 2021.
He also said 891 people sustained varying degrees of injuries as result of bandits and communal attacks during the period, adding that 45 women including 29 minors were raped in the state.
The commissioner said a total of 13,788 cattle were rustled in 2021, stressing that Kaduna Central Senatorial District topped the list of victims with 720 deaths while Southern Kaduna and Kaduna North Senatorial Districts recorded 406 and 66 deaths respectively.
Aruwan said Birnin Gwari and Chikun Local Government Areas in Kaduna Central Senatorial zone were worst hit by the bandits, recording 179 and 160 deaths respectively.
Similarly, 179 people were killed in Giwa LGA, Kaduna North Senatorial District, while Kajuru LGA in Kaduna Central District suffered “from a mix security challenges, recorded 44 deaths.
“Stoked by the intermittent incidences of the banditry, the clashes between spilling out of Atyap Chiefdom as earlier highlighted, accounted for 186 deaths recorded in Zango-Kataf LGA, 59 in Kajuru LGA, 48 in Kaura and 33 in Jema’a LGA.
“The total number of deaths linked to banditry and other forms of violence in 2021 is 1,192. This comprised 1,038 men, 104 women and 50 minors.”
Giving the statistics on kidnapping, the commissioner said, “from 3,348 people kidnapped in 2021, Kaduna Central District accounts for 2,771 and of that number, 2,449 were kidnapped within Birnin Gwari, Igabi, Giwa and Chikun local government areas”.
“Stoked by the intermittent incidences of the banditry, the clashes between spilling out of Atyap Chiefdom as earlier highlighted, accounted for 186 deaths recorded in Zango-Kataf LGA, 59 in Kajuru LGA, 48 in Kaura and 33 in Jema’a LGA.
“The total number of deaths linked to banditry and other forms of violence in 2021 is 1,192. This comprised 1,038 men, 104 women and 50 minors.”
Giving the statistics on kidnapping, the commissioner said, “from 3,348 people kidnapped in 2021, Kaduna Central District accounts for 2,771 and of that number, 2,449 were kidnapped within Birnin Gwari, Igabi, Giwa and Chikun local government areas”.
Reno Omokri, a socio-political activist, has suggested that President Muhammadu Buhari is against the much clamoured Igbo presidency.
Omokri wondered why the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, would file fresh corruption charges against an All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential aspirant, Rochas Okorocha, on the same day he declared his intention to run for the presidency.
EFCC had filed a N2.9 billion corruption charge against Okorocha, stressing that he misappropriated the money when he was the governor of Imo State.
In a series of tweets, the former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan wondered why EFCC had not arrested Bola Tinubu, another presidential aspirant after he declared.
Omokri stressed that the anti-graft agency’s action was an indication of bias against Igbos.
The socio-political activist said EFCC should charge Tinubu if it does the same to Okorocha.
He wrote: “The fact that the EFCC filed fresh 2.9 billion charges against Okorocha the same day he declared his interest to contest the 2023 Presidential election is not a coincidence. It is a sign to Ndi’Igbo by General Buhari that he does not believe in Igbo Presidency!
“Why does it have to be the same day? This is obviously a message. Tinubu declared. Why had the EFCC not charged him? We wrote a petition against Tinubu over his clear breach of the Money Laundering Act with his infamous bullion vans. Why charge Okorocha and not Tinubu?
“I have my own preferred candidate. But I can’t ignore this obvious bias against Ndi’Igbo. If the EFCC charges Okorocha, then they must charge Tinubu!”
A 35-year-old suspected ritualist has disclosed how he severed the hands and legs of a corpse at a cemetery in Ondo State after he was promised N30 million.
The suspected ritualist, Timothy Odeniyi, who was apprehended by men of the Ondo State Network Agency, also known as Amotekun Corps, stated that before he was caught, he was to deliver the human parts in Lagos State.
Odeniyi, who was paraded at the Amotekun Office on Monday, said that he got the human hands and legs from a cemetery at Sabo axis of Ondo town, the headquarters of the Ondo West Local Government Area of the state.
According to the suspect, who used to work as a truck driver for a brewery company, his former boss in the company’s waste department was the one who sent him to get the human parts to be used for money ritual.
“I went to the cemetery to cut the legs and hands of one of the bodies buried there. I had planned to deliver the parts to the person who sent me in Lagos before I was apprehended. Once I deliver the items, he promised to give me N30 million,” he said.
“The burial ground I went is in Ondo town’s Sabo axis to chop the parts; I didn’t kill anyone, and it was my first time. I used to drive a trailer.
“When I used to drive a truck, the man who sent me used to be my supervisor. I used to throw the parts in the trash, and he’ll send people to pick it up.”
Meanwhile, the state Commander of the Amotekun Corps, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, disputed the suspect’s story, stating that he killed someone on purpose before detaching the parts after which he buried the victim in a shallow grave.
“We have a suspect in our custody, Timothy Odeniyi who was caught and arrested with legs and hands of human being wrapped in paper,” Adeleye said.
“Upon interrogation, he took us to where he severed the body of the person killed and hurriedly buried the person in a shallow grave.”
Esseite: Why are Nigerians not feeling better with him as VP? Is he no longer in charge of the Economy?.
The only difference between VP and his oga is that one attended university while the other one entered bush with cattles, apart from that, there's no difference between them. They are both super clueless.
And it's even sad that some people are trying to wash Osinbajo clean from Buhari's failure.
In an article published on Monday, the newspaper said Nigerians will feel better if Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, was elected president.
inancial Times, the top London-based publication, has taken a swipe at the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration since 2014.
In an article published on Monday, the newspaper said Nigerians will feel better if Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, was elected president.
“If Yemi Osinbajo, the technocratic Vice President, were miraculously to make it through the campaign ticket and emerge as president, the hearts of Nigerian optimists would beat a little faster,” it said.
“But that may be to underestimate the depth of Nigeria’s quagmire. The problem is not so much who leads the government as the nature of government itself."
According to the newspaper, the Buhari administration failed to tackle the country's insecurity, Nigeria's debt profile increased under his watch.
“Buhari has overseen two terms of economic slump, rising debt and a calamitous increase in kidnapping and banditry – the one thing you might have thought a former general could control," the newspaper added.
“Next year, many of the members of government will change, though not necessarily the bureaucracy behind it.
“Campaigning has already begun for presidential elections that in February 2023 will draw the curtain on eight years of the administration of Muhammadu Buhari, on whose somnolent watch Nigeria has sleepwalked closer to disaster.”
The newspaper also said financial strength has remained a crucial determinant of the country's election winners.
The media outlet said Nigeria’s presidential election is estimated to cost $2billion. “Familiar candidates to replace him (Buhari), mostly recycled old men, are already counting their money ahead of a costly electoral marathon.
"It takes an estimated $2billion to get a president elected. Those who pay will expect to be paid back,” it added.
Imo West Senator, Rochas Okorocha on Monday reacted to claims of police brutality in Nigeria.
Okorocha said there is nothing like police brutality in Nigeria.
The former governor of Imo State said what is obtainable in Nigeria is youths brutalizing youths.
He disclosed this in reference to a conversation he had about the EndSARS protest.
Speaking during the declaration of his presidential ambition in Abuja, Okorocha said: “There is nothing like police brutality. There are only youths brutalising youths.”
Nigerian youths in October 2020 protested over police brutality in Nigeria.
The protest tagged EndSARS shut down Nigeria for weeks as youths called for the reform of the Nigeria Police Force, NPF.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has said he will declare his presidential ambition in April.
Ngige, a chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), stated this in Awka, Anambra state capital, during the empowerment of some graduate trainees in the state.
Some beneficiaries of the empowerment had asked Ngige to join the 2023 presidential race without further delay.
Describing the former Anambra State governor as a man of the people who had shown demonstrable effectiveness in leadership, the beneficiaries, mostly women, said he was fit for the role.
Responding, Ngige said his Easter terminal date for consultation has not expired and urged the people to give him up to Easter to declare .
“Easter is not too far away. It is two months away. Easter is in April. So, let us be patient. By Easter, we shall have something like this (empowerment) again and we shall talk.”
According to Ngige the empowerment was phase II in the series for those who would use the items allotted to them to further their businesses.
“The generators here will help those who have barbing salon to increase the number of barbing salon they have. If you have one, you are starting a second one now. The women here who are also hairdressers, the generators will also help you in starting the second branch of your hair salon; even if you’re going to combine with another person so that you can share the profits.
“This generator will make you an investor and an entrepreneur. That is empowerment. Many people misunderstand empowerment. It is not a dash for you to go and carry the material and sell. If you sell any of these items, we will arrest you. You must use it to create further employment. It is a job creation programme.
“For the women again, you can see your grinders, industrial grinders called threshers. They are here for you. You will grind times 10 of whatever you have been doing before with these big ones. You will use them to earn a living.
“We do not want to discourage farmers. There are water pumps there to suck water from streams or rivers to irrigate your farms, mild irrigation especially vegetable producers. Most of the women produce vegetables that they sell.
“When women make money, they use it to buy food and other important things for their children. But when men make money, sometimes they may spend it at the beer palour but you spend your own at home. So, the water pumping machines are for mild irrigation, small scale agriculture. You use it to suck out water from the water reservoir into your farms.We have other things here but these bags of rice here are my own personal donation,” Ngige stated.
Bello Bodejo, national president of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, says the association will not support a southern candidate for the presidency in 2023.
In an interview with The Sun, Bodejo said northerners manage the country better than their counterparts in the south.
“Even though Nigeria is one, we are not going to support a southerner as president. A president from the north is better because northerners are better managers of the nation than southerners,” he said.
“The north has demonstrated that there is no difference among them in the region. They don’t show this is Fulani, this is Hausa, and this is this and that, unlike in the south. Northern people have managed the country better than southerners.
“If your enemy asks you to join him to scatter your father’s house, can you support him to break your father’s house? You shouldn’t do that. But if he overshadows you and you help him to accomplish that, you would cry later.
“It will be very difficult for a southerner to manage Nigeria the way a northerner would. The northerners that are ruling or governing were trained by our leaders that ruled the country before.”
Bodejo also spoke on the grazing routes, adding that states should return areas earlier marked for reserves to herders.
“RUGA is politicians’ language of politicians, while cattle colony is the language of people who want to eat government money. We have grazing reserves,” he said.
“All these governors, before they were born, we had these grazing reserves. Some were gazetted, while others were not.
“Why they don’t want to give us back the grazing reserves is what I don’t know. Last two weeks, the governor of Jigawa invited me to come and see the kind of grazing reserves they have and I spent five days visiting them.”
He also accused Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue, of “playing politics with the Fulani”.
“Ortom wants to be a hero by force. After the end of his tenure, even to be a councillor in his village, he can’t get it. He is doing politics with the Fulani,” Bodejo said.
“He was the first person that called for the stoppage of Fulani from grazing their cattle, but we went to court to stop his evil plot and that is why he is running here and there, asking Buhari to declare Fulani organisations as terrorist groups.
“Which name has he not called Fulani? Nigerians should ignore him. He is a joker.”
Mr Osinbajo said that APC is a ''party of the people and would continually ensure that the common man benefits maximally from government''.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, says the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government remains committed to the welfare of the ‘common man’.
Mr Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Friday in Abuja, said the vice president said this while receiving a delegation of the APC Professionals Forum at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said that APC is a party of the people and would continually ensure that the common man benefits maximally from government.
“This is a party of the common man; a party of the people, a party that takes as its cradle, the importance of ensuring that the common man benefits maximally from government.
“Which is why we have the big programmes like the Social Investment Programmes, the largest if its kind in the continent and several of such other programmes that emphasise how serious we take the lot of the common man.
“While it was formed about nine years ago, the VP noted that the party has made an impact and is determined to improve the wellbeing of Nigerians; the party is also where many young people are.”
According to him, APC is the ruling party in Africa’s largest democracy which by itself is a phenomenal achievement for such a young party.
Mr Osinbajo said the APC is determined to ensure the country’s further growth and development as the party carried with it, the hopes and expectations of millions of Nigerians.
“The party is not a mere platform for running for political office; it carries with it the hopes and expectations of millions of Nigerians and we must make it a place where they are comfortable, a place where they feel this belongs to us; we can even put our resources into it.
“It is not just for politicians; it is for us all.
“Our people, the Nigerian people, need hope; they need to be able to believe in the politicians.
“They need to be able to believe in their leaders and if the leaders are within the political party, that political party must have an ideology that is attractive to them, that makes them feel wanted, that makes them feel cared for and I think that role is so crucial.
“It is the role this Professional Forum must take on to itself; and what it entails aside from that logical objective of the forum; what it entails is actually defining in writing in various ways what our party stands for.”
He acknowledged the significance of the forum in the scheme of things and urged the forum to play more important roles in shaping the party’s ideology.
The vice president said that professionals are integral to ensuring that the party stayed focused on the wellbeing of Nigerians and its ideals, as stated in the Constitution and Manifesto respectively.
 “If the professionals cannot do that, then our party becomes all comers, anything goes so long as we have a platform to run for political office; but I think that we, especially professionals, have a unique advantage.
“We have many who have run their businesses, who have professional organisations or who have excelled in their own professions and we know that the only way to do things properly is if we are able to press on without relenting.”
The vice president said he hoped that the forum would also carry the hopes and expectations of millions of the party’s supporters nationwide.
He also believed that the forum, made up of professional elites, would be of great benefit to the party and Nigeria because of its leadership and quality of professionals on its board of trustees and as members.
In his remarks, a former Governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda, who is the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the forum, said that professionals in the party felt the need to identify with the vice president being a professional.
He invited Mr Osinbajo to the forum’s upcoming event in Abuja.
The delegation also included Deputy Chairman, Board of Trustees and former APC National Secretary, Waziri Bulama, Board of Trustees Secretary, Dapo Akinosun and the National Coordinator, Akeem Akintayo.
Over 10,000 Boko Haram suspects and others are projected to be prosecuted with the money, according to the breakdown of the federal ministry of justice’s approved 2022 budget.
The federal government has voted N500 million for the prosecution of Boko Haram cases and other criminal suspects in the year 2022.
Over 10,000 suspects are projected to be prosecuted with the money, according to the breakdown of the federal ministry of justice’s approved 2022 budget.
Described as a “new” project in the budget, the allocation is to be expended on fresh Boko Haram and other criminal cases filed in court by the ministry.
The federal ministry of justice has a mass trial arrangement with the Federal High Court that enables judges to be deployed to try terrorist suspects at the various military detention facilities holding the suspects in different parts of the country.
Under the arrangement, the logistical challenges of moving a large number of terror suspects to face trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja or other divisions of the court, is conquered, but there have been local and international concerns about the fairness and thoroughness of the process.
Three phases of the mass trial have been held so far.
The new N500million provision voted for the prosecution of Boko Haram suspects and other criminal cases is different from the over N300million voted for the prosecution of other “ongoing” cases, some of which are also Boko Haram-related.
The “ongoing” cases tagged as ‘Prosecution of prison inmates, maritime/offshore offences, Boko Haram suspects, offenders of government recovered assets, and improving asset recovery and monitoring process’ is to gulp a total of N308,647,164, the budget stated.
Representing about 2.95 per cent of the total N17 billion budget of the ministry, the prosecution of the new Boko Haram cases is the project with the third-largest allocation among the 12 projects listed in the ministry’s 2022 budget.
It comes directly behind ‘Establishment of a Federal Taskforce and Development of a Federal Contracts Administration System (FCAS) in Nigeria’, with N821million allocation.
The project with the highest allocation, tagged as ‘Intervention fund to support the FGN’s Reform Initiatives at the Disposal of Terrorism Cases, prison reforms and decongestion programme as well as the activation on the national cyber security coordination centre to support ongoing reform,’ is billed to gulp N5billion.
Nigeria contends with years-long accumulated terrorism cases with thousands of suspects held in military detention facilities in different parts of the country awaiting trial.
Amnesty International had serially reported deaths of Boko Haram suspects in military detention facilities, as they swell in number over the years without trial.
In December 2020, the human rights organisation claimed that over 10,000 detainees had died in detention since 2011, a charge the Nigerian Army denied.
Delayed prosecution
Of the thousands of detained Boko Haram suspects, only 800 of them were being prepared for trial as of May 2021, according to an official.
PREMIUM TIMES reported in May that a Deputy Director, Chioma Onuegbu, who was then heading a team of prosecutors handling the ministry’s “complex cases”, said the 800 suspects were among about 1,000 terrorism suspects whose case files were analysed by prosecutors in her team.
According to her, out of the 1,000 case files that were reviewed in 2019, 800 had prima facie evidence with which to proceed to trial, while 170 lacked evidence and the suspects in them were recommended for release.
Ms Onuegbu added that charges had been filed at the Federal High Court in 280 of the 800 cases. The charges had been served on the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (LACON) which defends the suspected terrorists, the prosecutor explained further.
The Complex Casework Group (which was established some years ago,) has conducted three different phases of trials of the suspects at various military detention facilities, the then head of the group said.
The fourth phase was originally scheduled to take off in 2019, after the review of the files of 1,000 suspects, but had to be postponed on at least two different occasions.
Ms Onuegbu said the prosecutions of the suspects were delayed due to the escalation of the Boko Haram attacks in 2019 and was further hampered by the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020.
No new date has been fixed for it.
Perceived inadequate domestic efforts to deliver justice for the crimes committed by Boko Haram and the atrocities committed by the Nigerian military in the ongoing conflicts in the North-eastern part of the country made the International Criminal Court (ICC) made to decide in December 2020 to investigate the country. On Tuesday, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, assured that the trial of suspected perpetrators of terrorist activities and members of the terrorist group, Boko Haram, would soon commence.
“’Machineries’ are in motion to ensure the continuation of courts sitting in Kainji, New Bussa for the prosecution of Boko Haram cases,” Mr Malami said, while receiving the Nigerian Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Eniola Ajayi, in Abuja on Tuesday.
Boko Haram, which started in Maiduguri, Borno State, in about 2009, has waged deadly war leading to the death of tens of thousands and displaced millions of residents in the North-eastern part of Nigeria.
Mr Malami said in May last year that the federal government had identified 400 suspected Boko Haram sponsors being prepared for trial.
He promised that the suspects would soon be prosecuted, but no serious step is known to the public to have been taken in that direction since then.
Ministry’s budget highlight
With a total budget allocation of N17, 061,387, 398, to the Federal Ministry of Justice in the 2022 appropriation, personnel cost will gulp N3, 907, 581, 732.
In the 2022 fiscal year, total overhead and recurrent expenditures will cost N4,901,943,073 and N8,809,523,805, respectively.
The ministry will spend N8,251,863,593 as total capital expenditure.
While sensitisation exercises on the role and responsibilities of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria will swallow N170 million, citizens’ rights, sexual and gender-based violence response and torture reduction will cost the government N90,303,254.
Local and international travel will cost N84,862,831 and N106,560,252, respectively.
According to the 2022 fiscal year document, another budget item similar to the prosecution of 10,000 Boko Haram suspects is the “prosecution of prison inmates, maritime/offshore offences, Boko Haram suspects, offenders of government recovered assets, and improving asset recovery and monitoring process,” which will cost N308,647,164.
The Arewa Youth Assembly, have urged some prominent Nigerians in the private sector to join the 2023 presidential race.
The northern youths said people like Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Mike Adenuga, among others, should contest for the presidency in 2023 to rescue Nigeria from its current state.
They noted that these Nigerians in the private sector have the managerial acumen and leadership skills to lead the country.
Arewa youths made the call in a statement entitled, “Private Sector Players to Join the 2023 Presidential Race,” and jointly signed by its Speaker, Mohammed Danlami and National Clerk, Desmond Minakaro.
In the statement, Arewa youths pointed out that political leadership should not be left to the present crop of politicians.
The statement reads partly: “In a country like Nigeria that has great and intelligent minds with positive reputations all over the world, the likes of Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Mrs Ibukun Awosika, Bode Augusto, Segun Agbaje, Fola Adeola, Tunde Folawiyo, Mr. Atedo Peterside, Kola Adesina, Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola, Mr. Mike Adenuga, Mr Akinwumi Adesina, Herbert Wigwe and Aig Imoukhuede, who are boardroom czars with a vast wealth of knowledge on entrepreneurship, why let Nigeria be run by others who lack such knowledge?”
Stressing that Nigeria’s economy would do well under any of these names leading the country, the youths noted that they are already an employer of labour and will create employment.
“We are calling and pleading with the successful private sector players to join the 2023 presidential race, they need to stand up and be counted,” they added.
The likes of Bola Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC; Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu; Anyim Pius Anyim, Dave Umahi, Governor of Ebonyi State, Bukola Saraki, former Senate President, have all declared to run for the presidency in 2023.
However, Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President, is yet to declare his intention, but there are indications that he would join the race.
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, says All Progressives Congress National Leader, Bola Tinubu, is the most capable candidate to succeed the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) in May 2023.
The governor said this on Thursday when he drummed support for the Tinubu candidacy during the formal inauguration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Movement’s Working Committees in Ikeja GRA.
The movement was conceived and set up by members of Governor’s Advisory Council in Lagos for the actualisation of the presidential ambition of the former Lagos governor.
In 2023, Sanwo-Olu said the country was in need of a capable leader with progressive ideas to succeed Buhari and build on the progress recorded by the current administration.
According to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Gboyega Akosile, Sanwo-Olu said, “Our country is the most populous black nation in the world and the responsibility that comes with that is enormous. No doubt that the destiny of the entire black race is tied to the greatness of Nigeria. If our country must be great, we have the responsibility to choose the leadership that will bring about true transformation across every facet of our national life. Who is that rallying figure that should lead us in this journey?
“The answer is deeply connected to our mission and purpose here today. That person must be a detribalised Nigerian and a bridge builder, who has been tested and trusted. A thinker who must sustain the legacy our current president is leaving behind. That person is the reason we are inaugurating this Movement for the actualisation of his presidential ambition. That person is our great leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“Let us tell the naysayers and those who are still in doubt that we are ready to work for the realisation of this ambition, because Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the Number one salable candidate for the president. We will preach this gospel with diligence, dedication and high sense of commitment. Asiwaju is an unfolding success story our nation deserves at this time.”
The statement was titled, ‘2023: Tinubu Is Most Salable Candidate For President – Sanwo-Olu’.
Sanwo-Olu further quoted as saying, “We must see ourselves in line with Asiwaju’s political ideals. To be open to all, tolerate various interests and embrace everyone. We must reflect those ideas of our leader in our utterances and actions. You cannot afford to disappoint us on this mission.” The governor was at the event with his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat; Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa; and all members of the State Executive Council.
Also, APC leaders across the State’s 57 local councils and a large number of party supporters thronged the event’s venue to lend their support.
• Vows to continue to recruit, equip security personnel
• Optimistic about winning battle against criminals
• Says govt policies on job creation, economic diversification working
President Muhammadu Buhari has taken a holistic look at the security challenges facing the nation and gave an assurance that his administration is committed to ensuring that peace reigns in all the nooks and crannies of the country.
The president, who spoke Thursday in Sokoto at the inauguration of a new 3 million metric tonnes per annum BUA Cement Sokoto Line 4 Factory, emphasised his commitment to bring peace and stability to all parts of Nigeria, listing a raft of measures undertaken by his administration to ensure that normalcy returns to the country.
According to him, ”We continue to recruit and equip security personnel while expanding our social investment programmes to support the youth and some of the most vulnerable members of our communities.
”You should all be reassured that we will win this battle against the criminal elements looking to destabilize our nation by hindering the progress of our economy.”
He also expressed delight that the federal government policies on economic diversification, job creation and creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive are working.
The president pledged that his administration would continue to support serious investors to set up businesses that will take advantage of huge reserves of resources in different parts of the country.
He said: ”As you all know, one of the key economic pillars of our administration has been to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive. This is necessary for job creation and indeed, for our economy and national security.
”In the past few weeks, I visited Ogun and Kaduna States where I observed many private sector investments in action. And today, I am here in Sokoto to commission this multi-billion naira project.
”It is therefore very clear for all to see that our policies are working. Progress is gradually being made in all parts of the country.”
President Buhari thanked the Founder of BUA Cement, Abdul Samad Rabiu, and the entire team for the great work they are doing in supporting the government’s economic diversification and job creation agenda.
He noted the company, which has completed four new cement plants of similar capacity in the last five years in different parts of the country and is set to complete two more plants soon, had shown through these investments that they believe in Nigeria and its potential.
Commending BUA and other entrepreneurs for making Nigeria self-sufficient in cement and a net exporter of the strategic product, the president said: ”I am pleased that through these investments, BUA Cement has created employment opportunities for our citizens. Today, BUA is the largest employer of labour in the North-west region.
”I always remind Nigerians that every region, indeed every state in Nigeria sits on huge reserves of resources. For example, in this area, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara can boast of rice production, gold and other precious metals development and of course, heavy industries like cement manufacturing.
”As a government, we introduced policies and mechanisms to support such investments in a legal, ethical and inclusive manner.
”For example, we have the National Food Security Council on Food Security Matters and the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative to develop local artisanal gold mining and ensure health and safety of mining workers and protect the environment.
”We remain prepared to support serious investors to set up businesses that will take advantage of these opportunities through value addition so as to take advantage of the huge market here, as well as in the greater African region and the world at large.”
Highlighting other efforts to bring even development to all parts of the country, President Buhari expressed confidence that the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) gas project, when completed, will bring gas for domestic and industrial purposes from the South-south region to the South-east, North-central and North-west geopolitical zones.
He said the AKK project would significantly reduce cost of operations for industries in the regions.
The president also reassured Nigerians that his government would continue to invest heavily in roads and rails to ease movement of people, goods and services, with a view to facilitating trade while lowering logistics costs associated with the inefficiencies of bad roads and bridges.
”I want to now call on all entrepreneurs and businesses to emulate what is being done here.
”The task of nation building requires all hands to be on deck. The public and private sectors must collaborate if we are to achieve our aim of collective peace and prosperity across the entire nation”, President Buhari further said.
Speaking earlier, the Chairman, BUA Cement, Abdul Samad Rabiu, who commended the president for creating the enabling environment for businesses to thrive, acknowledged the support of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and its governor in setting up the gigantic project.
According to him, ”So far, we have invested over a billion dollars in the past four years and we urge the CBN to continue to support industries like ours that use locally sourced raw materials to add value.”
He pledged that BUA would continue to invest more in the cement industry until Nigeria is self-sufficient and the commodity is made available, accessible and affordable for all Nigerians.
His words: ”In the past six years, we have completed four plants — two in Obu, Edo State and two in Sokoto (of which this Sokoto line 4 is the fourth) with BUA’s total production capacity now standing at 11.5 million tonnes with the completion of this plant.
”Next year, we intend to complete the construction of two new plants of 3 million metric tonnes each for which construction is ongoing – one in Edo and the other, here in Sokoto.”
Nbotee: No b company error. There are a lot of fake LG products in the market
You are right bro. Around may/June last year I bought same 32inch LG for 80k at one electronics shop like that in onitsha and december last year I took my guy to iweka to price same 32inch LG and we were told 120k. But, one funny thing is that the same man showed us another 32inch LG and told us that the price is 80k and we asked him how come, he said that this 1st one he showed us is original LG TV while the second one is fake but you won't know unless he tells you.
@ Dollywood, you bought a fake LG TV, go back to where you bought the TV may be they will change it for you.
The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), on Wednesday, said any action taken on fuel subsidy removal must directly benefit the people, and not just a few wealthy individuals and their cronies.
The forum’s chairman and Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, stated this when he met with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC ) in Abuja.
Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, Head, Media and Public Affairs, NGF in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, quoted Fayemi as saying that the nation’s economy was at the precipice and that it had become necessary for the NGF and organised labour to verify the claim on fuel subsidy by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
According to Fayemi, governors must be part of the solution providers because subsidy removal has remained an on-going conversation.
“Nigerian governors cannot ignore the economics of petroleum, this is because all the countries surrounding Nigeria including Niger, Mali, Cameroon and Ghana have their fuel pump price that is equivalent to a U. S dollar, while Nigeria has a pump price that is far less than a dollar.”
He continued, “We need a partnership with the NLC to confront the challenges of what the NNPC is about, because there is a lot of fraud in the consumption and distribution figures that the country is getting.” NAN quoted him as saying,
Fayemi stressed that if the NLC engages all those who are knowledgeable in the field like PENGASSAN and conducts a thorough research into the sector there will be progress.
He, however, pleaded with NLC to jettison the decision to embark on nationwide protest.
Fayemi urged them to join hands with governors to consider the dimensions at play on the subsidy removal.
THE Police Service Commission has directed the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, to deepen investigations into the connection between the suspended erstwhile head of the Intelligence Response Team, Abba Kyari, and an internet scammer, Abbas Ramon, commonly known as Hushpuppi.
The commission, it was learnt, gave the IG two weeks to turn in the report which would be reviewed by the PSC Standing Committee on Discipline.
The directive to the IG was sequel to the advice from the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN.
A four-man Special Investigation Panel headed by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Force Criminal Investigations Department, Joseph Egbunike, had earlier probed Kyari, a Deputy Commissioner of Police.
Kyari had been suspended in July 2021 for alleged involvement in a $1.1 million Internet fraud allegedly perpetrated by Hushpuppi and four others; AbdulRahman Juma (Abdul); Vincent Chibuzo (Kelly); Rukayat Fashola (Morayo); and Bolatito Agbabiaka (Bolamide).
The Federal Bureau of Investigation had alleged that Hushpuppi paid $20,600 to two bank accounts allegedly provided by Kyari on January 20, 2020.
Kyari denied wrongdoing.
The PUNCH gathered on Wednesday that the AGF said the facts contained in the police investigation report were not strong enough to convict the DCP.
Malami was said to have informed the commission that the police investigation on Kyari was not water-tight and that more facts were needed to establish the relationship between the ex-IRT commander and Hushpuppi, who is awaiting sentencing after striking a plea bargain deal with the United States authorities.
Based on the AGF’s advice, the commission was said to have asked the IG to carry out a further probe into Kyari’s relationship with Hushpuppi.
A senior official, who confided in our correspondent, stated, “The advice from the AGF is that the case needs further investigation; that the evidence produced on Abba Kyari was not enough to convict him despite the fact that they have established a prima facie case against him. But the facts cannot convict him in the court of law.
“So, the police report was returned and the IG was asked to set up a special panel to look at the case. We have given them just a short period of two weeks to turn in their report.
“The final report is expected to return to the standing committee which will review and send recommendations to the plenary where the final decision on Kyari will be taken.”
Meanwhile, spokesman, US Attorney Office for Central District of California, Thom Mrozek, has said Hushpuppi would be sentenced on February 14.
A senior official, who confided in our correspondent, stated, “The advice from the AGF is that the case needs further investigation; that the evidence produced on Abba Kyari was not enough to convict him despite the fact that they have established a prima facie case against him. But the facts cannot convict him in the court of law.
“So, the police report was returned and the IG was asked to set up a special panel to look at the case. We have given them just a short period of two weeks to turn in their report.
“The final report is expected to return to the standing committee which will review and send recommendations to the plenary where the final decision on Kyari will be taken.”
Meanwhile, spokesman, US Attorney Office for Central District of California, Thom Mrozek, has said Hushpuppi would be sentenced on February 14.
An All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain and the Special Adviser to the Governor of Lagos State on Drainage and Water Resources, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, has said that in terms of experience, vision and management of human resources, APC Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu would be the best President of Nigeria in 2023.
He also said that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) would never win governorship election in Lagos state.
Speaking on the ARISE News Channel, The Morning Show programme yesterday, Igbokwe said Tinubu remained the man to beat and he is unequivocally in support of his presidential campaign.
“I am Asiwaju person. I cannot look right or left to take decision on my support for him. My vote will go to Tinubu. Asiwaju has prepared himself over the years for this position and his time has come. I will vote for him. It is not where you came from but what you can do,” Igbokwe said.
Asked suppose the presidential candidate is zoned to South-east, Igbokwe said that he is a loyal party member, if that happens he would change and support whoever his party brings out as candidate.
On the controversy trailing Tibubu’s candidacy in terms of his age, his educational qualification and the fact that he brought bullion van to his house on the eve of 2019 presidential election, Igbokwe said age has nothing to do with leadership and cited the immediate past United States (US) President, Donald Trump who was President in his 70s and the current President, Joe Biden who is also US president in his 70s.
He also dismissed the criticism on bullion van and Tinubu’s educational qualification, saying that at the right time the support group of the former Lagos state governor would crush the criticisms.
“Age has nothing to do with it. Tinubu is coming with a lot of capacity and experience. We should pray for him. Is he older than Trump and the current US President? Tinubu is 69 years and he is qualified to be president; even if he is older,” he said.
Igbokwe dismissed the crisis in the ruling party and said that such is expected to happen but when the time comes the party would sort things out and bring out the best candidates to man strategic positions in the party and also bring out the most qualified presidential candidate who would contest on the platform of the party next year.
Igbokwe said Tinubu, being a Muslim would not injure his presidential ambition because in 1993 the late Chief MKO Abiola, who was Muslim contested the presidential election with another Muslim as the vice presidential candidate and won massive votes from different parts of the country, adding that Nigeria has put religious sentiments and bigotry behind them in elections.
He said that if the party zones the president to the South-east and he is asked to choose between Orji Uzo Kalu and Dave Umahi, the governor of Ebonyi state, he would chose Umahi because of the way he transformed Ebonyi state in the area of infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Igbokwe said that PDP would never win the governorship of Lagos state, saying that Lagos is too big to be put in the hand of mediocre persons, adding that Lagos needs experienced persons to rule the state.
He dismissed the influence of Lagos4Lagos movement chieftain, Abdulazeez Adeniran, known as Jandor, saying that Adeniran has very little influence in the state, so he cannot sway the votes to PDP.
But when I confronted my friend, what she told me was even worse. She said my husband was rubbish between the sheets and I would be better off getting myself a real man! I can’t believe the brazenness of this my so-called friend. I’m so upset.
Baba did not just disgrace himself and his wife, he also disgraced his ancestors
The presidency has asked Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue, not to blame President Muhammadu Buhari for the challenges experienced in the state.
In a recent interview with Arise Television, Ortom had said the All Progressive Congress (APC) has ruined Nigeria and that citizens regret voting Buhari into power.
On the allegations of non-payment of Benue workers’ salaries, Ortom had said he inherited over N70 billion arrears of pensions, salaries and gratuities from his predecessor and that despite that, he is trying his best.
But reacting to Ortom’s comments in a statement on Tuesday, Garba Shehu, presidential spokesperson, said there are two types of politicions — those who offer solutions to challenges facing the country and those that offer excuses “and instead blame others for problems they have either not solved or have themselves created”.
Shehu went on to say Ortom is an example of the second class of politicians who blame others for challenges.
He said Ortom “inherited unpaid salaries and pension arrears” and rather than find a way to raise funds to pay them, “he has blamed the President”.
“President Muhammadu Buhari is a leader. He inherited a treasury that had been emptied by successive previous administrations – and he sought and succeeded in repatriating billions of dollars of stolen funds from overseas,” the statement reads.
“And the President brought forward the first and only plan to address farmer-herder clashes in 100 years, supporting states to rediscover grazing reserves and create ranching lands that have successfully reduced tensions while increasing harmony and saving lives.
“This is a President who has not failed to pay the salary of those working for the federal government and declared the failure of states to do so; a national disaster.
“To avert this, he had, at various times lent money to the states in excess of N1.682 trillion, and Benue, Mr Ortom’s state, did not miss out on all occasions: Salary Bailout, Excess Crude Loan and Budget Support loan, each repayable in 20 years.
“Mr Ortom, an officeholder who collected on all occasions, currently holds the country’s longest record of unpaid salaries and pensions, has no reason, absolutely no reason, to blame President Buhari for the mess in which he put his state and its workers.”
Shehu said since Ortom claimed his predecessors created the arrears, it was his business to prove that he was better by paying salaries promptly.
“Instead of doing that, he joined them! And while he runs up even further salary and pension debts on top of those he was bequeathed, instead of respecting the voters who elected him to office, he publicly attacks them in unprintable words and has raised his own thuggish militia to harass and violate them,” Shehu said.
“The Governor now claims the voters wish to be ‘rescued by the PDP’ and ‘regret voting for Buhari.’ The voters, of course, will not be asked to vote for the President again because – as a leader – President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress, APC, respect term limits and the constitution, and will stand down next year at the end of his second democratically elected mandate.
“It seems unlikely, however, that any voter would seriously consider it possible to be ‘rescued’ by a party that would today, allow a politician such as Governor Ortom in its ranks.
“What is certain, however, is that Nigeria has had enough of failed politicians who blame others as a diversion for their inability to improve citizens lives."
Politics › Re: Airstrikes Hit Gwaska’s Camps, Eliminated 43 Bandit-Terrorists In Katisna by BeeBeeOoh(m): 7:18am On Feb 02, 2022
