₦airaland Forum

Members of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) can participate in the burial ceremony of Nnamdi Kanu’s parents, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has said.

The police said for that to happen, members of the proscribed group must confine themselves at the premises of the burial.

Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed group whose parents will be buried will not be attending the funeral, possibly because he jumped bail after his residence was raided by the Nigerian Army in 2017.

The Abia State Police Commissioner, Ene Okon, had earlier warned IPOB member to stay away from the event.

Mr Okon said his men will deal decisively with anyone identified as a member of the group in or around the vicinity during the funeral.

But rising from his last meeting with community leaders of Afara Ukwu on Thursday, the police boss said members of the proscribed group can now attend but their activities must be restricted to only the compound.

“We are aware through intelligence that many IPOB members had arrived Kanu’s home on Wednesday night,” Okon said during the gathering

“But we advise him (Nnamdi Kanu) to let them remain in his house and if he wants them to bury his parents, let them do that within his compound while the elders sit down and watch them. Let them and posterity judge that,” he added.

Okon maintained that the state police command was ready to provide security during the burial of the monarch and his wife, adding that he had no plans to scuttle the burial.

Shehu Sani, a former lawmaker during the 8th Senate has advised President Muhammadu Buhari not to give excuse on the rising state of insecurity across the nation.

Mr Sani said this is because the president while in the opposition promised to perform instant miracles on insecurity.

Mr Buhari leveraging on the insecurity during the past administration was elected to the tackle the security situation. It was one of his major promises to Nigerians when he sought to be president.

He had promised in no distant time to exterminate Boko Haram terrorists who where at the time the major threat to the security of the country. Although his administration claims to have decimated the terror group, attacks from them is still being felt majorly in the Northeast region. Five years after, the president expressed surprise at the continued existence of the terrorists.

Aside Boko Haram attacks, there has been a rise in criminal activities including kidnappings and killings across the nation.

Advising the president not to give excuses for his inability to secure the country, the former representative of Kaduna Central said it was for this reason that the past administration was booted out.

“Insecurity was the major factor used for the ejection of the past administration and the most attractive reasons for the installation of the present one,” Mr Sani in a tweet on Friday.

“Those who promised to perform instant miracles should not deny or give excuses of not having the magic wand,” he added.

Adams Oshiomhole, the national chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has been described as a nobody in his home state.

Mr Oshiomhole, a former governor of Edo State who has been battling with his successor, Godwin Obaseki, for the sole of APC in the state, has also been warned to steer clear of Bayelsa State.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gave the description and warning while reacting to the comments of the APC helmsman regarding the verdict of the Supreme Court in Bayelsa gubernatorial election.

The former governor had claimed that only his party met the requirements to be declared winner of governorship election in the South-South state despite the verdict of the apex which sacked the party’s candidate, David Lyon.

Constitutionally, a candidate in a governorship election is required to score the highest number of lawful votes, in addition to securing 25 per cent of votes in two-thirds of the local government areas in a state before he can be declared winner.

ALSO READ: Amotekun no longer a regional security outfit - South-West govs

This, Oshiomhole said the candidate of the PDP, Diri Duoye, who is projected to benefit from the apex court verdict, has not met saying the oath of office expected to be taken tomorrow should not be administered to the opposition candidate.

Diri polled 143,172 votes, while Mr Lyon who won the November 16 election got 352,552 votes. The later was sacked due to false documents submitted by his deputy Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo.

“The people of Bayelsa State know as a fact that the INEC under our laws, cannot take instructions from any individual, let alone a factional national chairman of a dysfunctional political party like the APC,” Kola Ologbondiyan, spokesman of the PDP, who earlier described the comment as empty, said in a statement Thursday.

“The PDP calls on the people of Bayelsa State to remain calm as their mandate has been restored and cannot be taken away by the ranting of any individual who has no stake whatsoever in the wellbeing of his own home state,” it added.

The All Progressive Congress (APC) will participate in the governorship election of Bayelsa State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said.

The presidency has given reasons why some political appointees at the seat of power have been relieved of their duties.

Before now, there has been online reports that aides attached to Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, were relieved of their duty in a bid to whittle down the influence of the number two citizen.

Although, presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, in a statement on Friday confirmed that some aides of Osinbajo and others who worked at the seat of power during the first term of his principal were unlucky to have their appointments renewed, he said the action was not targeted at the vice president.

Mr Shehu said the move was to cut down the cost of governance, multiple authorities and streamline decision-making.

He said President Muhammadu Buhari who is currently on a private visit in far away London issued the directive.

“It is also an appropriate response to the general perception that the Presidency has an oversized and bloated workforce which acts as a drag on efficiency,” the statement partly read.

“As may have been noticed by discerning members of the public, a number of political appointees among the few that served in the office of the President were not returned for the Second Term.

“The office of the Vice President, His Excellency Yemi Osinbajo has, in compliance with the directive of the President, equally been shed of a number of such appointees.

“In carrying out these exercises, the overriding objective is to save taxpayer money and deliver needed service to the public.

“As far as the President is concerned, there is no scope for an excuse for administration after getting a huge mandate to run the country for four more years.

“In the light of this, the Presidency wishes to strongly deny rumours of a rift between President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

“The relationship between the two leaders remains excellent and trusting. Together, they will script a glorious future for the nation.”

NO RIFT BETWEEN OSINBAJO AND BUHARI

“The media reports of a soured relationship are originating from the minds and mouths of mischief makers, who are desperate for entertaining stories from the Aso Rock Villa with which to titillate the public.

“This ulterior motive is the basis of the wrong interpretation given to the recent exercise in the Presidency.

“There has been a streamlining of staff going on for a while. The President has always had fewer staff than the Vice President, and there were always plans to reduce the number of staff at the Villa.

“The streamlining was not personal or targeted to undermine the Vice President’s office, as the so-called insider sources quoted by the media appear to make it seem.”

BUHARI IS IN CHARGE

“The President is in absolute control of his government. The media should stop attributing non-existent powers to some people. There cannot be anyone too powerful for President Buhari to control,” the statement added.

Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB), has replied Justice Binta Nyako, the judge presiding over his trial.

Mr Kanu, a fugitive, absconded in 2017, at the heat of clashes involving members of his proscribed group and personal of the Nigerian Army.

The warring factions had clash during an annual show of strength exercise by the military in Abia, the home state of the secessionist leader.

The fugitive who jumped bail is facing trial largely bordering on treasonable felony for demanding an independent state of the defunct Biafra Republic.

Although he resurfaced outside the country, the judge who ordered his Re-arrested by revoking his bail, said the trial must continue wether he is present or not. At the resumed hearing on Thursday, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, lawyer to Kanu notified of his client’s intention to return back to the country for his trial.

Mr Ejiofor who said an application to that effect was filed in April and his ripe for hearing, urged the court to restore the revoked bail condition of the IPOB leader to enable him return to the country for the continuation of his trial.

The lawyer also said his client will return immediately if the court could guarantee his safety.

The presiding judge, Justice Nyako, said the court can only guarantee the safety of the IPOB leader if only he is kept in prison.

“Even judges are being abducted in the country. So prison is the only safest place for him,” she said.

Replying, Mr Kanu, in turn recommended a prison for the judge and her family members since no where is safe any longer.

“According to Justice Binta Nyako, “Nigeria is NOT safe for anyone, including judges,” Mr Kanu said in a tweet Friday afternoon.

“If in her view prison is the safest place to live for Nigerians, I suggest her family move into the nearest one to avoid being abducted. Nigeria is lawless, confirmed!” the secessionist leader added.

lalasticlala

The Federal Government has made known its intention to regulate the social media.

This was made known by Lai Mohammed, Information Minister.

Mr Mohammed at a press conference said the government would not fold its arms and watch while activities on social media set the country ablaze.

“It has reached a level that the government may just no longer fold its arms and allow this to continue,” the minister who has severally denied reports that the present administration intends to gag the media said.

Social media has been one of the channels where purveyors of fake news circulate false information to mislead the public.

The decision to regulate the social media comes weeks after the government increased fines for hate speech, an action that has been described as a move to silent critics of the administration.

Carmit:
Shey traveling on official duties is a crime ni?

President Muhammadu Buhari has been described as a tourist who junkets around the globe at any given opportunity.

Inibehe Effiong, a Human Rights lawyer, gave the description while reacting to Mr Buhari’s scheduled visit to the United Kingdom where he is expected to spend two weeks.

The president who returned to the country last week after an engagement in Russia, left the country yesterday for an economic summit in Saudi Arabia.

After the visit, he will journey from the Arab country to London on a private visit which will expire on November 17.

A similar journey he embarked upon in April without transmitting power to his vice earned him a lawsuit from Mr Effiong who said the action of the president was a violation of the Nigerian Constitution.

While the matter is still pending at a Federal High Court in Lagos, the president has notified the public of another private visit to the UK which will begin November 2.

ALSO READ: Buhari leaves for Saudi Arabia, to visit UK thereafter

However, the lawyer, in his reaction on Tuesday, is describing the president as a lawless leader of the country who junkets around the globe at any given opportunity.


“In May, I sued President Buhari and Malami at the Federal High Court in Suit No: FHC/L/CS/763/2019 for refusing to transmit a written declaration to NASS to enable Osinbajo become Acting President during his vacation which he tagged a “private visit” from April 25 to May 5, 2019,” Effiong said in a statement reproduced on his social media accounts.

Human Rights Lawyer, Inibehe Effiong.
“While this case is still pending before Hon. Justice A. O. Faji, Buhari has now announced that he will be proceeding on another illegal and unconstitutional vacation to the UK which he also tagged a “private visit”. This President is lawless. Buhari has gotten away with murder.

“In the spirit of the rule of law, one would have expected Buhari to either comply with the mandatory requirement of Sec. 145 (1) of the Constitution by transmitting a letter to NASS to empower Osinbajo to become Acting President during his vacation or await the court’s decision.

“The Constitution does not envisage a situation where Nigeria will be without a President or an Acting President. Nigerians have been taken for granted by this President for too long. No responsible leader will abandon his country in times of crisis. The world is laughing at us.

“Buhari has shown disdain for the law. It’s a shame that we have a tourist as President. The same Buhari who has shut our land borders never misses an opportunity to flee the country in search of better foreign services like health care. Hypocrisy is Buhari’s nickname. Shame!” he added.

lalasticlala

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has dismissed media reports that the press was barred from covering the official activities of the Nigerian Senate.



The leader of the National Assembly stated this while reacting to reports that the media were shut out of the coverage of the budget defence at the various Senate committees.



Mr Lawan who gave his own side of the story described the report as misrepresentation of facts. He said it was normal for journalists to be barred from covering issues bordering on national security.

“There is no shut out of the press from what we do,” Lawan was quoted in a statement by, Ola Awoniyi, his aide on social media, as saying on Monday while addressing reporters.



“We need the press to tell Nigerians what we are doing. You (journalists) are our friends. That was a misunderstanding (of what happened),” the top lawmaker said.



The Senate President also said it should be expected that journalists, at some point, may be excused from such meetings when sensitive issues that bother on national security are being discussed.

“I want to assure Nigerians that whatever we do in this Senate and indeed in this National Assembly is in the best interest of Nigeria. We will not compromise on anything as far as the national interest is concerned,” Lawan added.

lalasticlala

IamNotWariz:
truth is bitter

IamNotWariz:
that's a retaaaard question

jlinkd78:
Why are we this way. Reno make a statement which everyone knows he said unadulterated truth but ppl still criticise him.

IamNotWariz:
go and sit down at the back... Far back oooo

IamNotWariz:
Reno always playing tribal sentiment.
He is not so wise

fk002:
This fool again........

May Chukwu ke Obiama help him

candidtalk:
You are dense. Wise Northerners worked out it was better to be equitable and sate an aggrieved SW than carry on dictatorially in power, as you are advocating now, for the greater good. The Yorubas had done enough to show the North they will not accept the robbery of MKO. Same will play out in 2023 because wise Northerners will work out that bridge-building is always best for all.

candidtalk:
Sarcasm bro. keep up. As for your BS on zoning, what did your Northern slave-masters do when Yorubas dedicated themselves to ensuring Nigeria would not have peace over June 12 till the SW got justice over the North , through Abacha, robbing Abiola of his mandate? Listen, stop yapping your mouth like the coward and slave you are.

Yorubas will never accept being second class to anyone in Nigeria as you Igbos are happy to do. The North know the region that are their conquered wives they never need to appease or give any concession to. They are also aware of those they cannot take a bullying or unfair attitude towards.

candidtalk:
Lol. This dude is even more deluded than the midget El Rufai. You marched all the way to Aso Rock and worked out with PMB, Kyari and others that the North must complete 14 years before any other region can contest? Bruv, board your night bus and return to Togo or wherever you are from. You are clearly not Nigerian.

LegendHero:
Can’t you see I’ve left you to your fate? Continuous dialogue with you will be a brain drain coz you’re so confused that you can’t even give a logical argument that needs a dignifying reply.

I don’t have time to go around in circles. Bye bro