₦airaland Forum

The United States President, Joe Biden, has appointed two professionals who are of Nigerian descent as special advisers.

Both Osagie Imasogie and Chineye Ogwumike were part of the 12 members of the President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement in the United States.

The appointment was contained in a statement released by the State House on Wednesday.

The members include Silvester Scott Beaman who will chair the council, Mimi E. Alemayehou, Rosalind Brewer, Viola Davis, Helene D. Gayle, Patrick Hubert Gaspard, C.D. Glin, Osagie Imasogie, Almaz Negash, Chinenye Joy Ogwumike, Ham K. Serunjogi, and Kevin Young.

The members of the council will serve for the 2023-2025 term.

According to the statement, the establishment of the council was aimed at enhancing dialogue between United States officials and the African Diaspora.

“The Council’s members include individuals who have distinguished themselves in government, sports, creative industries, business, academia, social work, and faith-based activities.

“They will provide invaluable guidance to reinforce cultural, social, political, and economic ties between the U.S. and Africa, and promote trade, investment, and educational exchanges between the United States and Africa,” the statement read in part.

Below are the profiles of both Imasogie and Ogwumike


Osagie Imasogie

Osagie Imasogie is Chairman of the Investment Bank and SEC/FINRA registered Broker-Dealer, Quoin Capital and Quoin Advisors. In addition, Osagie is a co-founder of PIPV Capital, a private equity firm that is focused on the life sciences vertical and has invested over $1 billion into that industry. Prior to co-founding PIPV Capital, he established GlaxoSmithKline Ventures and was its founding Vice President. Osagie has held senior commercial and R& positions within pharmaceutical companies such as GSK, SmithKline Beecham, and DuPont Merck.

He has also been a Price Waterhouse Corporate Finance Partner as well as a practicing attorney with leading U.S. law firm, Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis. Osagie is a serial entrepreneur and investor who serves on the board of a number of financial institutions such as FS-KKR Capital Corp and Haverford Trust, institutions that cumulatively manage over $28 billion. He is an adviser to Brown Advisory, a firm that manages in excess of $140 billion. Osagie is the Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and a member of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Nominating & Governance Committee of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center.

In addition, Osagie is a Trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, a member of the Executive Committee of the University, and is also the Chairman of the Board of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, where he is an Adjunct Professor of Intellectual Property. Osagie holds LLM degrees from the London School of Economics and the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, and is a member of the New York State Bar in addition to being admitted to practice in other jurisdictions.


Chinenye Ogwumike

Chinenye “Chiney” Ogwumike is a 2-Time WNBA All-Star for the Los Angeles Sparks and a full-time, multi-platform ESPN host and NBA analyst. Chiney stars on ESPN daily on ESPN’s NBA Today and NBA Countdown, and also stars on the court as a forward for the Sparks. Chiney is a proud first generation Nigerian-American, born in Cypress, Texas. The 1st overall pick in the 2014 WNBA Draft, she graduated from Stanford University with an International Relations degree under the mentorship of Dr. Condoleezza Rice.

Chiney led Stanford to three Final Fours while distinguishing herself in academics, earning multiple honors for her academic success, including being named the 2014 Capital One Academic All-American of the Year and the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Chiney Ogwumike was the 2014 WNBA Rookie of the Year and is a 2-Time WNBA All-Star (2014, 2018). She served as the vice president of the WNBA Players Association (WNBPA) from 2018 to 2022, instrumentally helping negotiate the groundbreaking 2020 collective bargaining agreement.

In August 2020, Chiney became the first Black woman to host a national, daily sports-talk radio show. The 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree also holds the title of Executive Producer, producing an ESPN Films documentary “144” on the 2020 WNBA season. In 2018, Chiney became a full-time multi-platform ESPN NBA Analyst, becoming one of the youngest national sports studio analysts and one of the only full-time professional athletes to currently hold a regular national sports media position. She has made numerous trips to Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya, and South Africa with NBA Africa and other nonprofits to help launch youth empowerment and education initiatives, using basketball as a tool for development.

Nigeria has lost the joint bid with the Benin Republic to host the African Cup of Nations in 2027, as Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania are named joint hosts of the 2027 tournament, AFP reports.

This comes after the Minister of Sports Development Senator John Owan Enoh arrived in Egypt on Tuesday with representatives of the Nigeria Football Federation to bid to host AFCON in 2027.

PUNCH Online reports that Nigeria’s only hosting of the AFCON was in 1980 when Christian Chukwu led the team to victory in front of enthusiastic home fans, including former President Shehu Shagari.

The joint hosting with Ghana ended in disappointment as Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions claimed the trophy at the National Stadium in Lagos.

By Faruk Shuaibu


The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, says none of the ongoing road projects in the country can last for seven years.

He said this in Abuja Tuesday while meeting with contractors handling federal road projects.

He alleged that contractors cheated Nigerians with the materials used to construct roads.

He said: “There is no project being constructed right now in Nigeria that is going to last for seven years. The question is: are we going to be maintaining or reconstructing our roads after every 10 years? That is what we’ve been doing.

“I traveled from Abuja to Benin City through Lokoja, all the stretches of the road are on contract, ongoing. This is through the policy of the last administration, but how many of the roads are motorable? I travelled through the roads myself and I shed tears for the kind of pains our people are going through.

“I spent 14 hours on the road having started my journey from 10am and got to Benin City at 2pm the next day and I was very happy I experienced the pains. President Tinubu said I must travel through all the projects so that I’ll brief him on my experience and tell him the truth.”

He described the claims that cement price would hit N9,000 per bag if the government does concrete roads as false and a big campaign of blackmail against him by the cabals in the construction industry.

“I travelled to the South West, I’m not totally unhappy with the project there and supervision as I gave them 80 marks. I’m happy that the directors are doing their work. I went to the part of the North Central, I’m very dissatisfied with the quality work and supervision. I went to Kaduna and I disagree with the design of the Abuja-Kaduna- Zaria-Kano Road.”

He said the blood of road accident victims was on the ministry workers who failed to supervise contracts as expected.

“Unless Mr President does something about it, his lofty intention to help this country may not totally be achieved. Documents will be sent to the Bureau of Public Procurement for no objection certificate and it’ll stay for six months. How will the contractors do the additional job you directed them to do without a backup authorisation.”

The implementation of Rule 021210 which provides for a new tenure system is generating rumpus in the nation’s civil service.

Head of Service of the Federation (HoSF), Dr Folasade Femi-Esan, had on July 27, 2023, reportedly instructed some permanent secretaries, as well as the accountant-general of the Federation (AGF) and the Auditor-General of the Federation (AoGF), to implement the rule without further delay.

But a wide spectrum of workers in the civil service are insisting that at no time did former President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approve the compulsory retirement of permanent secretaries and directors who have put in eight years in the civil service.

Already, workers in the medical profession have embarked on a week-long warning strike to protest what they described as an obnoxious unilateral policy by the HoSF.

At the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), tongues are wagging, with a majority of the affected and serving directors already drafting petitions to Dr Esan, asking her to review the tenure policy which they insist is without foundation.

They cited the non-availability of circular to back up such a policy in proof that she acted unilaterally.

Investigations have shown that the civil servants may be correct that neither former President Buhari nor the FEC gave approval to any tenure policy in the approval obtained for the Revised Public Service Rules and Duty Tour Allowance, the major gravamen of the discontent in the system.

For instance, on August 27, 2021, a four-page memo with reference number EC (2021)238 sent to FEC by the president titled, “Approval for the Revised Public Service Rules, 2021 and Duty Tour Allowance”, indicate that only the issue as stated in the title was presented at FEC, and there was no mention of the tenure of permanent secretaries or directors mentioned anywhere in the memo.

Similarly, the nine-page EC Conclusion spread across 507 paragraphs discussed only the two aforementioned matters.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the revised PSR contains 17 chapters, spanning across appointment and leaving the service, prescribed examination for confirmation (virtual exams), emoluments and increments, performance management system, reward for outstanding work, virtual meetings and engagements, petitions, and appeals, allowances, compensation, inventions, compensation and insurance, among others.

The highlight of the differences with the 2018 Public Service Rules included the Performance Management System which replaced the old Annual Performance Evaluation Report (APER); Reward for Outstanding Work to Institutionalise Reward Recognitions Scheme (R&RE) in the Federal Public Service; Training and Capacity Development to provide more opportunities for continuous training and capacity development for enhanced service delivery, among other.

It further contained recommendations by the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC), sent to the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning (MFB&NP) and the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) for “a no-objection”.

Consequently, FEC approved new DTA ranging from N10,000 up from N5,000 for salary grade levels 01 to 04; N25,000 up from N12,000 (N16,000) for salary grade levels 14 to 15, ending at N80,000 up from N35,000 for Ministers, SGF, HSF and equivalent.

An innovation of the approved 2021 PSR is the introduction of Paternity Leave, to allow male workers to bond with their newborn children or adopted children of no more than four months old. This particular leave was solely enjoyed by the female workforce, which the approved PSF introduced.

These were the key highlights of the HSF memo presented by the President to the FEC and approved in 2021, which now has the eight-year tenure issue surreptitiously inserted, thereby raising some hairs.

However, the director of Information in the office of the Head of Service of the Federation, Mohammad Ahmed, explained that the rules have always been there and that only some provisions were revised and sent to the former president, Muhammad Buhari for approval.

“The tenure of permanent secretaries and directors has always been there and has been brought back, which was reported before in the media. So, there is no confusion about it. The rules were revised and sent to the former President, Muhammad Buhari and he approved it,” he said.

Oil marketers are increasingly worried they can’t import petrol due to the dollar shortage in the country. Despite the deregulation of the downstream sector, concerns have been raised about the potential comeback of the country’s persistent fuel scarcity, OPEOLUWANI AKINTAYO writes

Expectations were high when oil marketers canvassed for the removal of fuel subsidies, and deregulation of the downstream sector. Many were optimistic that the deregulation of the downstream sector would break the monopoly of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in petrol importation and bring an end to the country’s perennial scarcity of the product.

However, months after President Bola Tinubu pronounced an end to fuel subsidies on May 29, the country has not been able to end NNPCL’s monopoly in petrol importation.

After the first batch of 27 million litres of petrol imported by Emadeb Energy in July, independent oil marketers have not been able to bring in a single drop of petrol. The national oil firm has remained the sole importer of petrol.

The monopoly in the downstream sector has made a mess of the deregulation of the sector, giving NNPCL the power to continue to fix prices and putting the country at risk of fuel scarcity.

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and NNPCL had argued that other marketers were free to import petrol, as those who had applied for importation licenses had been given.

The National Controller Operations of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mike Osatuyi, told The PUNCH that marketers were not importing petrol because of forex scarcity and the increasing price of crude oil at the international market.

“Marketers are not importing because of the price. But the pro forma invoice still exists, and marketers can still pick it up from the NNPCL since it is still the only one importing,” he said.

Oil price rose to $94.95 per barrel on Thursday and a dollar was exchanged for N770 at the Investors’& Exporters’ forex window and 985/$ at the alternative market.

Emadeb Energy’s Chief Executive, Adebowale Olujimi, during the arrival of the product vessel in June, said petrol importation was not “sustainable”.

“Petrol importation is not a sustainable way for a country to run. From what we saw when PMS price rose to over N600 per litre, it is an indication that the dynamics of the business is a tough one. It requires huge US dollars to bring in this. The way forward is for local refineries to be revived,” he said.

A source in the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria told our correspondent that the market was deregulated so that other independent marketers could also bring in their products. He explained that it was supposed to give rise to healthy competition, which would eventually bring down prices. That dream, he said, was now a “mirage”, as marketers had not been able to access forex.

“NNPCL has reduced importation. And the whole idea was for private individuals to also import petrol to augment what NNPCL brings in. But marketers are not importing. So, NNPCL still remains the only importer,” he added.

The NNPCL’s spokesperson, Garba-Deen Muhammad, told our correspondent in June that the company would cut down its fuel imports programme in August when the Dangote Refinery commences operations.


NNPCL owns a 20 per cent stake in Dangote Refinery.

Corroborating Muhammed, while speaking to journalists after a meeting with oil marketers in Abuja in June, the Chief Executive of NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, said NNPCL had cut down on importation.

Since the end of subsidies, which cost the country about N12tr, prices of petrol have risen from between N180 and N200 per litre to between N614 and N700 per litre. There were fears that the price could go as high as N720 per litre due to the rising exchange rate and the rising price of crude at the international market, but the NNPCL has since allayed the fear.

“Nobody wants to run at a loss. So, we are all watching to see what happens. The foreign exchange is the problem because the naira keeps weakening against the dollar. No bank is willing to even stick out its neck to bankroll a deal. Now, depots are running out of stock, and may soon be forced to fall back to NNPCL for supplies,” another source told The PUNCH on Thursday.

The controversy surrounding products supplies got even messier when the IPMAN Mosinmi Depot recently threatened to institute a legal case against the NNPCL over failure to supply its members with products eight months after payment.

According to IPMAN Mosinmi Depot in a statement, each member had paid N25 million per 45,000 litres of petrol truck, but it had not been supplied.

A source close to the situation, told The PUNCH that the affected marketers were up to four thousand.

The spokesperson of NNPCL, Garba Mohammad, did not respond to inquiries on the allegation.

But a source at the NNPCL, who begged not to be mentioned because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said that NNPCL should not blamed for issues relating to petrol because it was not the only importer of the product.

“Why is everybody blaming NNPC for fuel scarcity? NNPC is no longer the sole importer because the sector is now deregulated. Other marketers should also go and import because they have been given licenses. Why are they still dependent on NNPCL for products?” the source queried.

The country has witnessed two incidents of fuel scarcity since the government announced the deregulation of the downstream sector and the removal petrol subsidy.

The Chairman of Satellite Depot of IPMAN, Akin Akinrinade, blamed one of the incidents on stock shortage.

“Nobody is saying anything to us yet. And as we speak, we are still not loading products here. In fact, the situation is worsening because the queues continue. Even some of NNPCL Retail stations also don’t have products for sale. I believe it is a stock issue, and the NMDPRA should be able to tell us what is really happening. I know they won’t want to say the truth,” he said.

However, the President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Festus Osifo, debunked the claim that NNPCL was out of stock of petrol.

“I can assure you that there are enough products in the country,” he declared.

The IPMAN national controller of operations also said there was no cause for alarm.

“NNPCL has assured us that there is no cause for alarm. So, let us take them for their words,” he remarked.

A source at the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency, who wanted to be anonymous, told The PUNCH that there was more than enough stock in-country.

According to him, a total of 200,000 metric tonnes, equivalent to 450 million litres, were in shore tanks at various depots in Lagos as of early September.


Dangote refinery misses production deadline

With marketers unable to import petrol, they are now bagging on Dangote’s 650,000 barrels per day refinery, which had been scheduled to commence operations in October.

It was earlier planned to start operations in August, but it missed the target.

The President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, during the opening of the refinery by former President Muhammadu Buhari in May, said the ceremony was the “beginning of a great journey, a milestone in a new and exciting trajectory for the downstream sector of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

“It is our firm commitment that we will replicate in this sector what we have achieved in the cement and fertiliser markets, where Nigeria transited from being the largest importer of these products to a net exporter.

“Your excellencies, distinguished guests, our first product will be in the market before the end of July or beginning of August this year,” Dangote said.

However, findings revealed that the management of the facility was unsure of when the refinery would begin production.

A source from Dangote Refinery, who spoke on condition of anonymity, informed The PUNCH that there have been numerous negative reports on the refinery ever since it was launched.

“Some said it would be in 2025. There was even a report that the refinery was issued a license to import petrol as a cover-up for the commissioning that was done in May. The management will institute legal suits against the paper that wrote that report, and the reporter would be the first to be picked up.

“For now, the management has not come out with any official date.

“But I wonder why people are so interested in someone else’s business. It is a private refinery and not government-owned, and the management is also eager for it to start production. Billions of dollars have gone into that place, and they also want to start making a profit,” the source noted.

According to the source, nobody is busy probing why NNPCL refineries are yet to start refining despite billions of allocations that have gone into revamping them.

The source wondered why everyone was busy probing a private refinery.

Another source told The PUNCH that the volatility in the country’s forex market had stalled the importation of some equipment needed in the Dangote Refinery.

The $20bn project was conceived in 2013 and planned for completion by 2016, but construction did not start till 2017.


Experts’ advice

The president of PENGASSAN advised the Federal Government to focus on completing the Port Harcourt Refinery instead of waiting for the Dangote Refinery.

“We should rather focus on making other refineries work because it would cut down on freight rates from importation, and reduce prices. Dangote is a private businessman and can decide tomorrow that he will not refine again, although the government has a 20 per cent stake in the refinery. We should rather push for our own refineries, and ask the government when the Port Harcourt refinery is going to start refining petrol,” he stated.

On his part, IPMAN’s Osatuyi said there was no cause for alarm as far as petrol supply was concerned as the NNPCL was still importing.

According to him, management of the Dangote refinery may have delayed production at the facility due to some internal challenges.

“There is nothing to worry about because Dangote refinery is a private business, and he may have one or two issues that did not make the refinery commence production. It is better to be sure and then commence production at the right time than start now and then start facing challenges. Let’s be patient with them,” he said.

He also advised the Federal Government to ensure that other local refineries come on stream rather than depend on the Dangote Refinery.

The embattled deputy governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, has begged his principal, Governor Godwin Obakeki, for forgiveness over their political differences.

Shaibu, who disclosed this in an interview with journalists currently ongoing in his Benin City residence on Thursday, asked Governor Obaseki to forgive and forget.

The Trade Union Congress has urged the Federal Government to hasten its plan to provide palliatives for Federal Government workers following the removal of the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit.

The TUC Also noted that workers were getting more impatient due to hardship occasioned by the removal of subsidy.

The TUC president, Comrade Festus Osifo, stated this during a meeting with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong on Tuesday, September 19, in Abuja.

The meeting was a follow-up to the September 4 meeting called on the instance of the minister to address the demands of organised labour.

Osifo said workers were facing enormous pressures that are making life very difficult, which makes the leadership of TUC have sleepless nights.

The TUC president said, “Congress was hopeful that between the next two weeks, President Bola Tinubu would have done everything possible to arrive at a conclusion which the workers are eager to hear in order to douse the tension and threat for withdrawal of services.”

Director, Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Olajide Oshundun said this in a statement before the meeting went into a closed-door session.

“After the meeting, the TUC said it held fruitful discussions and hoped that the government will live up to its promises and responsibility for ensuring the welfare of workers and Nigerians in general,” the statement said.

Lalong said he called the meeting to brief the leadership of the TUC on the efforts made by the federal government to address their grievances.

The minister, in the company of the Minister of State, Nkeiruka Onyeajeocha, told the TUC that after their last meeting, he met with President Bola Tinubu to highlight some of the issues raised by organised labour.

He appealed to the TUC to exercise more patience, explaining that before the President left for the United Nations General Assembly in New York, he was fully briefed and gave further directives on the implementation of issues put before him, particularly when he met with the labour leaders.

Before the meeting went into a closed-door session, the Minister thanked the TUC for accepting to come for the briefing, noting that it showed that they are committed to the Nigerian project and are open to dialogue for greater industrial harmony,” the statement said.

Some of the demands of Labour are wage awards, tax exemptions and allowances to public sector workers, provision of Compressed Natural Gas buses, the release of modalities for the N70bn for Small and Medium Enterprises, release of officials of the National Union of Road Transport Workers by the police among others.

Also speaking via his official X handle, the minister said, “I had the privilege of meeting with the leadership of the Trade Union Congress once again, marking the second time in as many weeks. My purpose was to personally update them on the efforts that the Federal Government has been making to address their concerns since our last meeting,” he tweeted.

“In the company of Minister of State Hon. Nkeiruka Onyeajeocha, I spoke to the TUC members, explaining that following our previous meeting, I had a conversation with the President. During this discussion, I emphasised the critical issues raised by the labor union.

“I implored the TUC to exercise patience, sharing that, before the President’s departure for the United Nations General Assembly in New York, he was fully briefed on the matters at hand. Furthermore, he provided clear directives on how to proceed with the issues, especially after his personal interaction with labour leaders.”

The Nigeria Police Force has commenced moves to recover unlicensed firearms from politicians and Very Important Persons across the country.

This followed the directive of the acting Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, who ordered the various state police commands to recover arms in the hands of uncertified bearers.

Egbetokun had last week set up an ad hoc committee tasked with the comprehensive review of firearms licensing and regulations by the NPF in line with the Firearms Act and other extant laws.

The police high command revealed that the committee’s mandate would encompass a thorough assessment of current firearms licensing procedures and regulations to enhance their effectiveness, transparency, and accountability.

Accordingly, the Delta State Police Command has assured that no one would be spared, including politicians, cultists and other bearers of illegal arms in the state.

The command spokesman, Bright Edafe stated this in an interview with The PUNCH in Asaba, the Delta State capital.

Our correspondent had asked the command’s spokesman if the illegal firearms seizure would be extended to cultists and VIPs, including politicians.

He said, “We have been doing that even before the directive. They (illegal arms bearers) are part of those we have been parading.

“Nobody has a licence to bear arms apart from the vigilante whom the police had approved.

“Remember that the last time, following Commissioner of Police Abass’ directive, we mopped up some illegal arms in the Ekpan area of the state and the command will continue in that direction to ensure all illegal arms are mopped up.”

Also speaking, the Osun State Police Command spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola, said the command would enforce the IG’s directive to the letter and ensure that illegal arms were retrieved across the state.

She said, “Since IGP has given the directive, no one with illegal arms in the state will be spared. We will do our work and spare no one.”

The Gombe State Police Commissioner, Oqua Etim, pledged the readiness of the command to enlighten the public before a clampdown exercise would begin.

Etim disclosed this in a telephone interview with our correspondent while reacting to the IG’s order to police commands nationwide.

He urged the public to provide relevant information that would help his men in tracking those possessing arms illegally.

He said, “You know it’s a directive; we will do our part. It’s a civic responsibility. We will work based on information from public-spirited people like you. If you know two or three people who have acquired arms illegally, let us know.

“You can also help us sensitise others because it’s for our common good. That’s exactly how we intend to go about it. We will sensitise people.

“I can’t clampdown on anybody I don’t have information on; It’s only when someone sees someone carrying arms or I see you knowing that you were not given an official permit to carry it.”

Meanwhile, the Sokoto State Police Command said it was awaiting further guidelines from the appropriate authority to know how to go about the exercise.

The spokesman for the state command, Ahmad Rufa’i, explained that “the directive was yet to reach the command.”

“I cannot comment for now. I’m sure you know the IGP only set up the committee recently and the committee will have to come up with their guidelines.


“The issue of arms is a very sensitive matter, so when it gets to the command, we can comment on the modalities,” he said.

But a security expert, Timothy Avele, argued that mopping up arms with the spate of insecurity in the country would achieve little or no result.

He said, “What method do they intend to implement this time around that’s different from others before now? Increasing insecurity is pushing citizens into acquiring more arms all over the country.

“Therefore, the move will yield very little positive results, if any, and not until such a time when the citizens’ security can be guaranteed. People will continue to source for illegal arms which are readily available in the country if they have money to buy. “

He advised the police to engage in intelligence-led policing in order to contain the pockets of insecurity across the country.

“I would rather advise the security agencies, especially the police, to re-strategize into intelligence-led policing than the current reactive policing being practised,” he added.

An analyst, Oladele Fajana said, “I do not know the approach they want to deploy to mop up arms. Will it be voluntary or the application of force? It will be beneficial if it can be done because the proliferation of arms is one of the reasons insecurity is on the rise in the country.

“Also, would the politicians and VIPs be willing to release theirs? How do they intend to carry it out is my issue.”

Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Femi Falana and Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, have waded into the dispute between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and the Senator representing the FCT, Ireti Kingibe.

The senior lawyers noted that the FCT minister in terms of execution of duties was not answerable to Kingibe or the National Assembly.

The FCT lawmaker had warned Wike to desist from working without the supervision of the National Assembly.

Kingibe also noted that the FCT minister does not have executive powers but must operate within the constitutional frameworks of the country’s legislative arm.

Kingibe said, “You also have to remember that the minister of the FCT – I’m not sure we have had a former governor as a minister, I think we have had one. Some [former] governors may think that as an FCT minister, the minister does not have executive powers. He works hand-in-hand with the National Assembly and the president to administer the FCT.”

However, interpreting the constitution, Falana stated that Kingibe was wrong to have said that the minister was answerable to the National Assembly in the discharge of his duties.

He said, “The distinguished senator is wrong. The power of the executive with respect to the FCT lies with the President. Making laws and passing laws for the FCT are the business of the National Assembly.

“Section 299(a) of the constitution provides: The provisions of this constitution shall apply to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja as if it were one of the states of the Federation; and accordingly

“(a) all the legislative powers, the executive powers and the judicial powers vested in the House of Assembly, the governor of a state and in the courts of a state shall, respectively, vest in the National Assembly, the President of the Federation and in the courts which by virtue of the foregoing provisions are courts established for the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.”

He further explained that since the executive powers of the FCT are vested in the President who then delegates them to the minister as he pleases, the minister can act in the capacity of the President who is the governor of the FCT.

Falana said, “The executive powers of the FCT are vested in the President, the legislative powers are vested in the National Assembly, while the judicial powers are vested in the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory.

“To that extent, it is very wrong to say that since there is no governor in the FCT, the executive powers are vested in the National Assembly; those powers are vested in the President.

“So, whenever the president appoints a minister, the minister is performing in the powers delegated to him or her by the President.”

He added, “If you are dissatisfied with the decision taken by anyone in the FCT, you go to the FCT High Court.”

Corroborating his colleague, Adegboruwa said that the minister was answerable to the President and not the National Assembly as posited by Kingibe.

The SAN explained, “The ministers are all appointed by the President, and they owe their duties solely to the President who has the power to remove them or have their decisions overturned.

“Among the ministers, only the Attorney General has specific responsibilities that are recognised by law as stated in Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution.”

Adegboruwa further explained, “The rest of the ministers have no specific statutory duties unless assigned to them by the President.

“So, to that extent, the ministers of the FCT, like other ministers, report to the President for his day-to-day activities. He is not responsible to the National Assembly or members of the legislature except with respect to defending the expenditure or budgeted estimate or whenever he is summoned to appear before the National Assembly when they are carrying out their oversight functions or they are passing a law that requires some investigations or contributions.”

The senior lawyer further clarified that other than that, the minister is not answerable to the National Assembly for his day-to-day execution of functions as long as it aligns constitutionally and it’s in line with the mandate of the President that appointed him.

He added, “As it pertains to the FCT generally, I think that it is important to recognise that it is a no man’s land by the law of our land, although the constitution also recognises the natives and the indigenous people.

“By designation, anybody could be appointed to hold any position in the FCT. Just like in the case of the FCT, you’d see that all FCT High Court judges are occupied by people all over the country.


“So, it is not correct to say that appointment into the FCT must be limited to the indigenes, though I believe they should be carried along. But that cannot be a validation to discredit the minister.”

Meanwhile, the senior lawyers kicked against the demolition of structures stating that proper procedures must be followed for such activities to be carried out.

Falana said that neither the President, the minister nor the governor of a state had the power to demolish the property of any citizen in Nigeria without following the proper process.

Falana said, “The President, governor, or minister cannot decide that a house has been built without approved plans and then proceed to demolish without a court order.”

He stated that in each of the states and the FCT, the relevant law is the Physical Planning Act, under that the relevant law is the Urban and Regional Planning law and under these laws, there is a provision for demolishing a house or property.

He expressed, “Without complying with such a law, nobody has the power to demolish a house. In fact, under any of such laws, there is usually an agency set up to investigate whether somebody has violated the urban and regional planning law.

“If you’re dissatisfied with the decision of that agency, there is an appellate committee. In other words, if a demolition notice is pasted on my building or structure, I have the right to disagree with you.

“So, an agency in the Ministry of Physical Planning would examine my complaint and make a decision and if I also disagree with that decision, there is an appellate committee to review the decision of the agency.”

Falana added, “In the case of Lagos State, if you’re dissatisfied with the decision of the appellate committee, there is a provision to go to the High Court which shall within a specified period of time decide the case.

“Just as a private person cannot demolish someone else’s property, the government cannot also demolish the property of a citizen.

“So, you cannot come out to say these structures were not on the building plan. Who are you? Because you’re a governor or a minister? So, you have now constituted yourself as the complaint witness.

“Since the government operates under the Rule of Law, the government is under a duty to conduct its duties under the relevant laws.”

He explained that if the government was going to demolish any building, there was a procedure, and the government could not just wake up and surround a person’s house with bulldozers and raze the building to the ground without a court order.

“That is the position of the law,” he posited.

Falana further added that a lot of demolitions in Nigeria were politically motivated.

He said, “Most of the demolishment is targeted at the poor. The rich are often allowed to regularise illegal and defective structures, but it is the poor whose properties are demolished.

“Most times, except for political reasons, you don’t demolish the house of the rich.”

Similarly, Adegboruwa said that it was wrong for the government to destroy the properties of its citizens except for violation of environmental laws.

Adegboruwa said, “On the issue of the demolition, I think it is generally wrong for the government to demolish properties of citizens except for challenges such as environmental issues such as flooding.

“If people build houses without complying with relevant approval, they can be invited to regularise it. They are Nigerians and we are in an economy that is challenging.

“I’m generally opposed to government demolishing people’s houses. There should always be an option of correcting whatever was done wrongly.”

Written by Maryam Rabiu


The spokesperson for the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has has been appointed as the Special Adviser on Political Matters to Vice President Kashim Shettima.

Hakeem, a retired Federal Permanent Secretary, is the older brother of Datti Baba-Ahmed, the running mate of the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in the February 25 election.

Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, who made the announcement of his new appointment via a post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle on Monday, said he can no longer sit on the fence when he can be part of the system to contribute his quota to national development.

He expressed his eagerness to contribute to the nation’s development in his capacity as Special Adviser on Political Matters to the Vice President.

He wrote: “It is time to make it public that I have accepted the call to serve as Special Adviser (Political) to the VP.

“This is not the time for fence-sitting or criticism when you can be useful in turning the country round. I am honored and humbled. Please pray for me & Nigeria.”

LEADERSHIP reports that prior to his latest appointment, Baba-Ahmed held the position of Chief of Staff to former Senate President Bukola Saraki from 2017 to 2019.

No fewer than 20 persons with links to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and its immediate past governor, Godwin Emefiele, have so far been questioned by the special investigators appointed by President Bola Tinubu to probe the apex bank, The Nation can now confirm.

Among those interrogated were the four deputy governors of the apex bank, some directors and some drivers including Emefiele’s, sources said yesterday.

According to one of the sources, the drivers were interviewed because “they were the ones who carried the big men around.”

The sources added: “Many directors, especially the ones directly under the deputy governors, were interviewed.

“They have also invited officials of the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC) and those in charge of all those intervention programmes were also invited.”

Some officials of NIRSAL Microfinance Bank (NMFB), Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS), were similarly summoned.

The special investigators paid a quiet visit to the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL Plc) on Friday in furtherance of their assignment.

But no arrest was made on that occasion, it was gathered.

Sources also said Shuaib Ahmed, the Executive Secretary of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC), and his deputy, Iheanyi Anyahara, were invited to appear before the panel in connection with the preparation of the CBN audited financial statements from 2016 to 2022.

One source said: “Some of those summoned are detained till the following day if their interrogation takes longer than anticipated or if they need some documents from their office and they did not bring them along. They will be detained while they send for the documents.

“Also if they are interrogating someone and he is being linked with someone else, the person is kept there till they invite the other person, and they will be interrogated separately.

“We can’t put a number to those invited yet. Let’s just say close to 20 have been invited.

The special investigator’s invitation may also be extended to retired directors.

“Any director who has retired and has anything to do with the case will be invited. Even board members who have retired can be invited,” the source added.

A parallel investigation of the CBN is being carried out by the Department of State Services (DSS) under the inter-agency committee.

It was the inter-agency committee that detained deputy governors Aisha Ahmad and Kingsley Obiora.

Continuing, the source said: “The DSS investigative team is different from Obaze’s team.

“What I don’t understand is where they submit their own report. Or do they just want to keep it for their own (inter agency) information since it is not stated anywhere who ordered them to do that.

“Everybody knows Obaze’s team gets its directives from the President.”

President Tinubu, in a July 28, 2023 letter, appointed Obaze, the founding Executive Secretary of the FRC, to probe the activities of the apex bank and its related entities.

He is looking into the books of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Ltd (NNPCL), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and other government business entities, which the President, in the letter he personally signed, said was in continuation of government’s anti-corruption fight.

The letter reads: “In accordance with the fundamental objectives set forth in section 15(5) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), this administration is, today, continuing the fight against corruption by appointing you as a Special Investigator, to investigate the CBN and related entities.

“This appointment shall be with immediate effect and you are to report directly to my office.”

By Abdulrahman Abdulmalik


The Oyo Mesi, a group of kingmakers, selected a new Alaafin of Oyo last year to replace the late Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, who passed away in April 2022, according to documents obtained by PREMIUM TIMES.

Nearly 18 months since the throne became vacant, there has not been an official announcement of a new monarch by the Oyo State Government, with many blaming the kingmakers for delaying the selection process.

However, a proclamation document and a court judgment seen by this newspaper have now shown that the Oyo Mesi selected Lukman Gbadegesin and forwarded the name of the prince from the Agunloye Ruling House to the government since last year.

“We hereby proclaim Prince Lukman Adelodun Gbadegesin the new Alaafin,” the proclamation reads, signed by the five living Oyo Mesi members and two warrant chiefs selected by the government to replace deceased Oyo Mesi members.

The kingmakers said they received a list of 82 aspiring princes from the Baba Iyaji of Oyo, the head of all princes, Mukaila Afonja. By Oyo tradition and the Alaafin Chieftaincy Declaration, Baba Iyaji is empowered to collect the names of aspiring princes from the next ruling house and transmit them to the Bashorun, the head of Oyo Mesi.

The Bashorun would then convene a meeting of the kingmakers to take a vote and the prince with simple majority is to be proclaimed Alaafin.

As the proclamation shows, all the kingmakers signed for Mr Gbadegesin, whose grandfather, Alaafin Bello Gbadegesin Ladigbolu II, was the predecessor of the immediate past Alaafin Adeyemi III.

The proclamation was signed on September 30, 2022. According to the law, an aspirant or the ruling house has 21 days to petition the government to challenge the selection. But no such petition was written.

However, after the expiration of the 21-day window, a prince, Hakeem Ladigbolu, approached the court to set aside the selection process. But in a judgment given on December 19, 2023, an Oyo State High Court in Oyo Town, upheld the process leading to the selection of Mr Gbadegesin, court papers show.

However, despite the proclamation by the Oyo Mesi and the court judgment upholding the process, the government has yet to make a formal announcement, giving rise to concern that political interests might want to undermine the Oyo Mesi and foist another person on the ancient Yoruba town.

When contacted, the Bashorun of Oyo, Yusuf Akinade, confirmed the process has been concluded.

He, however, refused to disclose the name of the prince selected. Instead, he said, “we have submitted everything to the government, direct all other questions to the government, but we have completed the process.”

No fewer than 35 lecturers in the nation’s tertiary institutions have been indicted and dismissed over sexual misconduct in the past five years, analysis of media reports by Sunday PUNCH has revealed.

Sexual harassment has been recurring in Nigerian higher educational institutions with a survey conducted in 2018 by the World Bank Group’s Women revealing that 70 per cent of female graduates from tertiary institutions in the country were sexually harassed in school, with the main perpetrators being classmates and lecturers.

Although the Senate had in 2021 passed a bill that randy lecturers be subjected to 21 years imprisonment, Sunday PUNCH reports that most of the lecturers indicted and found guilty after the bill was passed were simply sacked.

According to the reports compiled by our correspondent, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, topped the list of institutions with the highest number of lecturers indicted for sexual misconduct.

In April 2018, the OAU announced the indefinite suspension of a Professor of Accounting, Richard Oladele, over sexual harassment.

In 2021, the university also dismissed three lecturers from the Departments of English Language, International Relations and Accounting over sexual harassment.

In February 2020, the institution also announced the suspension of a lecturer at the Centre for Distance Learning, Monday Omo-Etan, for sexually molesting a 19-year-old female student.

In 2019, Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma, announced the suspension of an associate professor, Monday Igbafen, over allegations bordering on sexual harassment of female students.

Igbafen, who was the AAU branch chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities at the time, had accused the vice-chancellor of the institution of trying to frame him up.

The senior lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at the university in a letter written to the school by his lawyers, Osahon Irebhude & Co, demanded a written apology from the school.

In September 2020, the management of the Imo State University announced the suspension of two lecturers, who were alleged to have been involved in sexual misconduct with female students.

In February 2021, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, announced the suspension of a lecturer in the Department of Archaeology and Tourism, Dr Chigozie Odum, over allegations bordering on sexual misconduct.

The Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, similarly suspended a lecturer in the Department of Media and Theatre Arts in June 2021 for sexual misconduct.

In the same month, the management of the University of Lagos announced the dismissal of two lecturers over similar offences.

In August of that year, the University of Port Harcourt announced the dismissal of a lecturer in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature for sexual misconduct.

In October 2021, the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, also announced the dismissal of two lecturers from the departments of Nutrition/Dietetics and General Studies over sexual misconduct.

A lecturer from the Department of Sociology, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education was dismissed for impregnating a female student.

In December 2021, the Kwara State University, Malete, announced the dismissal of a lecturer for harassing a student in the Department of Pure and Applied Sciences.

In January 2022, the Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, Rivers State, announced the dismissal of a lecturer for harassing a female student.

In April 2022, OAU again launched a probe into allegations of sexual harassment against a professor in the Department of Linguistics and African Studies. So far, two professors have been affected in the institution.

In June 2022, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Abuja, Prof Abdul-Raheed Na’allah, announced the dismissal of two lecturers for sexual misconduct. Both of them are professors.

Earlier in 2023, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission arraigned Dr. Balogun Olaniran of the Tai Solarin University of Education who was said to have demanded sexual gratification from a female student to alter her results in 2021.

In March 2023, a lecturer at the Kogi State Polytechnic, Abutu Thompson, was dismissed on account of sexual harassment and victimisation of a female student in the Department of Computer Science.

In May, the management of the Ambrose Alli University in Edo State reportedly dismissed an unnamed lecturer over allegations bordering sexual harassment.

Reports noted that the lecturer was dismissed on the recommendations of the institution’s Staff Disciplinary Committee, which found him guilty of the offence.

According to AAU’s vice chancellor, Prof. Asomwan Adagbonyin, the dismissed lecturer had claimed to only make advances, yet he went to the girl’s church to plead for forgiveness.

In July 2023, the VC of UNIABUJA, Na’allah, said two lecturers were dismissed following allegations of sexual harassment.

In August, the management of the University of Calabar suspended the embattled Dean, Faculty of Law, Prof. Cyril Ndifon, over allegations of sexual harassment.

On September 7, 2023, the University of Lagos suspended a lecturer, Kadri Babalola, who was accused of raping a 21-year-old student.


ASUU reacts

The National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, urged students to report cases of sexual harassment to the school authorities and the student union.

He added that the union had an Ethics and Grievances Committee that looked into such cases, stating that boxes where students can anonymously report such cases were placed on campuses.

The ASUU president said, “In the cases that happened in OAU and UNILAG, the lecturers were jailed and in the case of UNICAL, the university has taken action and suspended him.

“If students have any issues, they should be reported to the Student Union as they did in Calabar and if they have become notorious, what was done in UNICAL should be done and the university should take it up from them.

“The system follows the process but the student has to report if there is a case. We are in a country where a criminal case must be proven beyond reasonable doubt but as a union, in all our campuses, we have an Ethics and Grievances Committee that anyone can go to report any case.

“In many universities, we have boxes where students can write about the problem without having to put their names and drop them in the box. These boxes help to serve as checks but many students are not willing to do so.”

Osodeke further noted that some universities had established dress codes for students while on campus as measures to reduce such cases.

“But they also arouse lecturers so it also works in two ways. A student coming to school scantily dressed. There has to be some dress code and many universities have now established dress codes to ensure students, both male and female dress decently and to also remove this temptation from the system.

“In the good old days, it could be controlled because all students lived on campus but today, 90 per cent of students live off-campus so one does not know what is happening,” the ASUU president stated.


Stakeholders speak

Speaking with one of our correspondents on the matter, the Director of Programmes, Reform Education Nigeria, Ayodamola Oluwatoyin, urged President Bola Tinubu to sign the sexual harassment bill into law.

Oluwatoyin said, “The President signing the bill will be a game changer. We need to make schools safe for our students. The most unfortunate part of the issue is that some of these students even when harassed, are scared to come out in the open for fear of victimisation and other issues.

“However, if there is a concrete law in place and these lecturers see that their colleagues are being made to pay the price for their unbecoming attitude, they will stop. So we are using this opportunity to call on the President to sign this bill into law.”

The Programme Manager- Gender Justice at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation, Nafisa Atiku-Adejuwon, urged institutions to prevent survivors from being further victimised into silence and provide safe anonymous pathways for them to report such incidents.

Atiku-Adejuwon also called for the building of a system of trust between university management and the student population.

“The response system has to be survivour-centred and holistic: mental and physical health concerns must be taken seriously. The response system shouldn’t be created to make the university look good; it should be to take care of the survivors,” she added.

Similarly, a gender and child rights activist, Omolola Pedro, said, “Generally, the lack of punishment for an offence is one of the factors that may further encourage. Most of the time, in institutions where this happens, the highest form of punishment we see is suspension of erring lecturers.

“When attention is no longer on the matter, institutions reinstate the lecturers and they move on to do it over and over again because they are aware that there’s no serious consequence for their actions.”

Pedro added, “Formation of anti-sexual harassment committees which would include representatives of school authorities and the Students Union Government is one of the ways management and students can work together to curb this behaviour.

“Also, leaving the committees to carry out their duties without any form of interference would make meaningful differences. We see situations where erring lecturers are shielded from facing their crimes because they’re popular, or are in close relationships with university heads.”

The lawmaker representing Adamawa North Senatorial District, Senator Ishaku Abbo, has asserted that the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, along with his associates, were the ones who disseminated the story about his rumored intention to impeach him.

Abbo further added that the narrative was purportedly orchestrated by the Senate President to create discord between President Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and northern politicians.

The PUNCH reports that Akpabio has strongly denied allegations of an impending impeachment against him. He labelled these reports as both malicious and untrue.

There were media reports on Saturday stating that plans were underway to unseat Akpabio as the president of the 10th Senate when the Senate reconvenes on September 26, 2023.

The report also noted that two prominent senators from the North West and other senators across the national assembly are already meeting and mapping out plans to carry out the daring move.

The reports also alleged that the senators believed that the Senate President was a rubber stamp for the presidency and may be unable to carry out his duty effectively.

He stated, “I woke up today to find over 10 mainstream Nigerian newspapers all carrying news of a plan to impeach Senator Akpabio by senators from Northern Nigeria. The Whistler Newspaper even went on to name Senator Abdulaziz Yari, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, and Senator Ogoshi Onawo, among others, as the senators behind the move.”

Abbo added, “As a Northern senator and an official of the Northern Senators Forum, I boldly affirm that this news is intentionally disseminated and propagated by the ‘camp’ of Senator Akpabio solely to pit President Bola Tinubu against the North. I call on Senator Akpabio to rein in his camp, as the seeds of discord and deep ethno-religious division they are sowing will not bode well for the country. Why the North? Why in Saudi Arabia?”

He remarked, “If Akpabio and his camp wanted a united Senate, much like Ahmed Lawan, they would have known exactly what to do during Senate Standing Committees allocation and supplementary budget resources allocation. But the camp of the SP continued to treat the senate as a conquered territory where the winner walks away with the spoils of war. A classic case of the winner takes all.”

Expressing his frustration, the Adamawa lawmaker said, “How do you justify a situation where out of Category A Committees, only two were granted to his perceived rivals? How will you explain a senate where 83.1% of those appointed Chairmen of Category A Committees also serve as Vice Chairmen of Category A?

“How do you explain a third-term Senator being denied the Chairmanship of a Committee? How do you justify the leadership of the Senate, all being Vice Chairmen of Category A Committees? You cannot treat us as conquered people and then return to manipulate us with planted and paid newspaper reports to set us against the President.”

Abbo also claimed that the 10th Senate was the most condescending parliament. He further referred to the screening of ministerial nominees, where the Senate President sought clearance for certain nominees at the Villa. He added that the Senate was not given the opportunity to decide on the fate of rejected nominees.

Before embarking on its annual recess, the Senate screened 48 ministerial nominees sent by the president, with 45 receiving approval and three being rejected. Among the rejected three was former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai.

Reflecting on the screening, Abbo queried, “Let me pose this question: During the ministerial screening, when three ministerial nominees were denied clearance by the senate, which committee examined the petitions against them? Was it Ethics and Privileges, an ad-hoc committee, or the committee of the whole? Was the report deliberated and debated during plenary? Was there any voting, either AYE or NAY?

“The Senate President simply absented himself during plenary, leaving the Senate waiting in the Chamber for over three hours while he was at the Villa. This is something that has never occurred in the history of the Senate. Then he returned and read out the names of those cleared and ‘waved’ papers in his hand, citing security reports from NSA or DSS as the reason for not clearing some ministers.”

Abbo added, “In my opinion, this is the lowest the Senate has ever descended. Who granted NSA, DSS DG, or IGP the authority to correspond with the Senate? What kind of communication is that? Executive communication or reckless communication?

“Are we telling Nigerians that the Presidency and the Security agencies did not conduct due diligence before sending the list to the Senate, or is the Senate being used as a pawn in the power play of Presidential aides?”

He went on to assert that Akpabio knows what it takes to maintain a peaceful Senate, akin to Ahmed Lawan, and “not blackmailing Senators from Northern region and using newspaper report to hoodwink the President.

“President Bola Tinubu worked hard to make Senator Akpabio the Senate President, but it is only Senator Akpabio who can effectively manage his colleagues, not Tinubu managing them on his behalf.”

The Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi, on Saturday knocked former President Olusegun Obasanjo for ordering the traditional rulers at a function to stand up and honour him.

On Friday, Obasanjo, at the opening of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology College of Agriculture and Renewable Natural Resources in Iseyin, Oyo State, was angry that the monarchs failed to honour him when he mounted the podium to speak.

Oluwo, in a statement by his press secretary on Saturday, described Obasanjo’s display as condemnable, saying it was an affront, desecration and sacrilege against revered stools of Yorubaland.

“An injury to one is an injury to all. Yoruba traditional rulers are not uniform men anyone can command at will. I don’t blame him, those royal fathers who stood up to obey such an embarrassing direction are to be blamed,” he said.

“Yoruba traditional institutions demand an apology for the open desecration to molest and bring down the institution. He needs to prove himself as a core Yoruba man with an apology letter. Kings are not toddlers. We are fathers. He will never dare that against the Northern Emirs.”

He said Obasanjo’s action should be a great challenge to Yoruba, most especially the royal fathers.

“This is the result when monarchs joined Ogboni confraternity and became junior to a road side mechanical engineer or carpenter. As a responsible monarch, you don’t have to join any secret society where you may be controlled by a teacher or even a herbalist.

“I trust myself and my stool. At death, there are certain things my soul will not take let alone when alive, active and kicking. I only blame the monarchs who stood in obeisance to such an ignoble and desecrating of traditional institutions from the old man. Respects should be earned not demanded.

“Traditional rulers respect their subjects too. There is a way respect is accorded to people of old age and position by monarchs. Kingship is an institution of God. As such, relating with kings requires a high sense of modesty, courtesy and respect.”

Nasir el-Rufai, ex-governor of Kaduna state, says the second term of former President Olusegun Obasanjo was the “most successful” in terms of economic growth, job creation, and inflation rate in Nigeria.

From 2003 to 2007, Obasanjo completed his second term in office, after a preceding four-year tenure.

El-Rufai said Nigeria returned to “proper integrated planning and we also got lucky” at the time.

The former governor spoke on Friday during a session at the Africa In the World conference in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

He emphasised the need for proper planning to aid the economic growth of any country.

“We (Nigeria) have a planning commission in Nigeria but it has not been as effective,” the former governor said.

El-Rufai said planning committees are “absolutely relevant” in most developing countries.

"If you look at Nigeria’s economic trajectory, the most successful four to five-year period of economic growth, job creation, and reduced inflation was the period of the second term of President Obasanjo in 2003 to 2007, when for the first time, the country went back into proper integrated planning and we also got lucky,” he said.

“Oil prices began to rise but we did not waste the windfall because we had planned. We had an excess crude account (ECA) that was based on fiscal rule that any surpluses above a certain benchmark price of crude oil goes to that savings account.

“And with that, we were able to get rid of all our foreign debt.”

El-Rufai said Nigeria’s fiscal health was at its best in 2007, such that when the global financial crisis took place in 2008, “Nigeria did not feel anything”.

“Nothing was felt in Nigeria because Nigeria had a big savings account; we had huge reserves and we were able to absorb the shock without any internal problems unlike most countries,” he said.

To achieve accelerated economic growth, el-Rufai said long-term and coordinated planning as well as the inclusion of all stakeholders are crucial.

PRESIDENT TINUBU NOMINATES NEW CBN GOVERNOR AND MANAGEMENT TEAM FOR SENATE SCREENING AND CONFIRMATION

President Bola Tinubu has approved the nomination of Dr. Olayemi Michael Cardoso to serve as the new Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for a term of five (5) years at the first instance, pending his confirmation by the Nigerian Senate.

This directive is in conformity with Section 8 (1) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, which vests in the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the authority to appoint the Governor and Four (4) Deputy Governors for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), subject to confirmation by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Furthermore, President Bola Tinubu has approved the nomination of four new Deputy Governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for a term of five (5) years at the first instance, pending their confirmation by the Nigerian Senate, as listed below:

(1) Mrs. Emem Nnana Usoro
(2) Mr. Muhammad Sani Abdullahi Dattijo
(3) Mr. Philip Ikeazor
(4) Dr. Bala M. Bello

In line with President Bola Tinubu's Renewed Hope agenda, the President expects the above listed nominees to successfully implement critical reforms at the Central Bank of Nigeria, which will enhance the confidence of Nigerians and international partners in the restructuring of the Nigerian economy toward sustainable growth and prosperity for all.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
September 15, 2023

Kano State Commissioner of Lands, Adamu Aliyu, on Thursday, issued a death threat to the judges of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.

Mr Aliyu also promised to unleash mayhem on residents of the state, one worse than what residents of neighbouring Kaduna and Zamfara are going through.

Residents of mainly rural communities in Kaduna and Zamfara are being attacked, killed and abducted by terror gangs locally called bandits.

These attacks have continued for more than a decade.

Suggesting that judges of the tribunal may have been bribed to rule against his party, Mr Aliyu said if the tribunal judges ruled against his party, the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in the petition before it, they may pay with their lives.

The election of the governor of the state, Abba Yusuf, is being challenged at the tribunal by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nasiru Gawuna.

The tribunal is yet to fix a date to deliver its judgement on the petition.

Mr Aliyu made the statements, on Thursday, while addressing members of the NNPP during a solidarity protest of the party.

The gathering also doubled as a prayer session for an outcome favourable to the party at the election tribunal.

A video of the commissioner issuing the threat was later posted on Facebook by both NNPP and APC. members.

“I am sending this message to the tribunal judges, any judge that allows himself to be used and collect bribes and pass judgement that is not right, we want to tell him he must choose between his life and the bribe money he collected.

“We are promising you (our supporters), we are receiving your complaints, the votes you cast on his excellency (Governor Yusuf) will not go in vain unless we lose our lives or the Kano state will fall.

“Another message for the leaders. You have seen the conflict (banditry) in Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina, I swear because of this governorship seat, everyone will die. The conflict that will start in Kano will be more deadly than the ones in those states and Borno,” Mr Aliyu said.

The protests and the prayer sessions simultaneously took place at six locations – Katsina Road, Gwarzo Road, Madobi/Sharada Road, Zaria Road, Maiduguri Road, and Hadejia Road.

The event was attended by the Secretary to the Kano State Government, Baffa Bichi, a former deputy governor of the State, Hafiz Abubakar, top members of the state’s executive council and special advisers and assistants to the governor.

On 26 August, the state’s governor and his political godfather, Rabiu Kwankwaso, led a similar mass event for the success of their party at the election petition tribunal.

During the initial event, an Islamic cleric Sani Shir described those challenging the election of the state’s governor, at the tribunal as enemies of the state, and prayed for God to destroy them.

Ban on gatherings over tribunal judgement

The police in Kano State, on Monday, banned all forms of protests being planned by the members of the NNPP and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in preparation for the governorship election tribunal judgement in the state.

Tension is high in the state as members of the NNPP and APC await the outcome of the governorship election petition.

A few weeks ago, the tribunal accused an unnamed Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) of attempting to bribe her with N10 billion to temper with justice in the course of delivering judgment.

The police accused both the NNPP and APC of deliberate plans to foment trouble by sponsoring protests in the state.

The police commissioner in the state, Muhammad Gumel, in a statement, said the command had banned all forms of protest to prevent possible clashes and uprisings.

When reached for clarification on the statement Friday afternoon, Mr Aliyu confirmed that he made the statement and he stands by it.

“I made the statement. This is our stand because people have voted for us and in the last hundred days the government have performed and people have witnessed development.

“But we are not happy with the way things are going. If there is justice, there will be peace and we need nothing but justice. My statement was not targeted at the fair and just judges, but at the opposite ones and this is our stand,” Mr Aliyu told PREMIUM TIMES.

A Nigerian lawyer, Monsieur Avril, has said he was removed from the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ikeja WhatsApp Platform for calling the leader of the Lagos chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo an “executive thug”.

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MC Oluomo is an ally and loyalist of President Bola Tinubu.

On his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Mr Avril shared screenshots of the WhatsApp messages.

The legal practitioner said before he was removed from the platform, there were a series of hot discussions on the judgements recently delivered by the Presidential Petition Election Court in Abuja.

The lawyer wrote: “Ronu pipo have taken over NBA IKEJA WhatsApp Platform. If you speak against the PEPT judgement or argue against the Emergency Patriots of the Judiciary on the group. They tag it a person against the Judiciary and You risk been removed.

“I was removed from the NBA Ikeja Platform for using a derogatory caption against MC Oluomo. The Derogatory Word = "Executive Thug,” he added.

SaharaReporters had reported how MC Oluomo mobilised some thugs to be on standby in case the ruling of the Presidential Election Tribunal did not favour President Tinubu.

SaharaReporters gathered that the hoodlums mobilised by MC Oluomo to Abuja include members of the Lagos State Parks Management Committee.

In March, SaharaReporters reported how MC Oluomo threatened Igbo people in Lagos, warning them against coming out to vote in the governorship and state legislative elections if they did not want to vote for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates.

Addressing a gathering, MC Oluomo warned Igbo people not to bother going to the polling units if they intended to vote for candidates other than the ruling party's candidates.

In October 2018, MC Oluomo described himself as a loyalist of Tinubu in an Instagram post.

According to MC Oluomo, Tinubu owns him and the APC and whatever he (Tinubu) wants is what he (MC Oluomo) will support.

He wrote on his Instagram page, “I am an Asiwaju Bola Ahmend Tinubu Jagaban loyalist, I wear the Jagaban jersey, I've been a loyalist since 1999, the first mecca i went is through his execellence in the year 2000, moreso, he as done alot for me, he made me who i am today our relationship has been was very cordial and strong in the area that I grew up in.

“So I'm one of his loyalist that have strong believe in him, he own the party and any where his interest belong I Musiliu Ayinde Akinsanya Mc oloumo belong. I and my people in Oshodi formerly endorse HE Akinwunmi Ambode for 2nd term because his government is still working in the shadow of the party national leader, but now the case is vice-visa i have to follow the interest of Bola Ahmend Tinubu and the party decision.

“If Asiwaju Bola Ahmend Tinubu again says is no more Babajide Sanwoolu but someone else, so shall it be.”

The outgoing Finance Director at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Benjamin Fakunle, has been arrested and detained by the Department of State Service (DSS).

Fakunle is being grilled over his role in the seven-year audited accounts of the apex bank alleged to have been fraudulently prepared, findings by InsideBusinessNG revealed.

He was reportedly arrested by the secret police at the post-retirement party being held in his honour on Wednesday.

He was said to have been arrested Wednesday at his retirement party in Abuja and has since been in detention.

As finance director, Fakunle oversaw the finance department of the bank and was also in charge of the audited accounts and their preparation.

The position entails supervising processes and following accounting best practices in line with the enabling act of the institution. It also involves liaising with the auditors of the bank.

However, reports say discrepancies and irregularities were discovered in the audited accounts, which came on the heel of the interrogation of Shuaib Ahmed, the Executive Secretary of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) and his deputy, Iheanyi Anyahara on Tuesday by the team of the Special Investigator.

Ahmed and Anyahara were quizzed over the ‘Accounting Guideline for Financial Reporting by the CBN’ prepared by the FRC and in use by the apex bank for the preparation of the audited accounts from 2017 to 2022.

The guidelines, about six in all, were issued and sold to the CBN by the trio of the late Daniel Asapokhai, the former executive secretary, his deputy, Anyahara, and Ahmed, the current executive secretary at a total cost of N401.75 million according to findings.

In July, President Bola Tinubu appointed Mr. Jim Obazee as the special investigator to investigate the apex bank and related entities.

In the appointment letter dated July 28, 2023, President Tinubu said the special investigator would also work on a comprehensive report on public wealth currently in the hands of corrupt individuals and establishments.

Part of his job schedule is to strengthen key Government Business Entities (GBEs), block leakages in CBN and related GBEs and provide a comprehensive report on public wealth currently in the hands of corrupt individuals and establishments.

Fakunle would also be required to explain why N401 million was allegedly paid for the document as against the rules laid down by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria.

He will also be expected to give reasons for the advance payment of N300 million fee to both KPMG and EY, the two auditors of the CBN when work for the 2022 audited accounts had not started.

The DSS earlier arrested and later released the Deputy Governor of the CBN in charge of Economic Policy, Dr. Kingsley Obiora, after interrogating him.

Obiora is in charge of Economic Policy in the bank.

Meanwhile, the suspended Governor of the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele has been in the DSS custody since his arrest on June 10, 2023.

Emefiele was arrested shortly after President Tinubu suspended him.

Smart DNA, a leading DNA testing center based in Lagos, Nigeria, on Wednesday, released a startling findings about the reasons people seek testing, the demographics of those tested, and the outcomes of the tests.

The comprehensive data analysis of all relationship DNA tests conducted at its facility between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, on thousands of users, provides an unprecedented insight into the DNA testing trends across Nigeria.

Findings of the report showed that Lagos accounted for the highest percentage of tests, with 82.89 per cent of the total, followed by Oyo (3.29 per cent), Ogun (3.07 per cent), FCT (2.63 per cent), and Rivers (2.41 per cent).

This heavy concentration in Lagos, particularly the Mainland (68.14 per cent) compared to the Island (31.86 per cent), is likely due to the location of Smart DNA’s office in Lagos, the purchasing power of the state’s residents, and the high population density of the state, the report revealed.

On the test type, the report disclosed that the majority of tests (89.10 per cent) were conducted for ‘Peace of Mind’, followed by ‘Immigration’ (8.97 per cent), and ‘Legal’ (0.64 per cent). This suggests that individuals primarily seek DNA testing to confirm biological relationships for personal reasons rather than legal or immigration purposes, the report averred.

On gender of test requestors, the report averred that men were the predominant initiators of contact, making up 86.44 per cent of the first contacts, compared to 13.56 per cent made by women. This indicates that men are more likely to have doubts about paternity or other relationships and take the initiative to seek testing, it stated.

The report also disclosed that positive results, indicating that the man tested is the biological father of the child, accounted for 73.88 per cent of tests, while negative results made up 26.12 per cent.

“This suggests that in the majority of cases, the men seeking testing are indeed the biological fathers, but in more than 1 in 4 cases, the tested father is not the biological father of the child,” the report further revealed.

As regards ethnic group, the Yoruba ethnic group had the highest percentage of tests (61.23 per cent), followed by Igbo (19.07 per cent), Edo (6.78 per cent) and others (12.08 per cent), the report showed.

More tests were conducted on male children (56.62 per cent) compared to female children (43.38 per cent), the report averred, as it disclosed that this may suggest a cultural preference for confirming paternity of male offspring, although further research would be needed to confirm this hypothesis.

“The most tests were conducted on children aged 0-5 years (58.02 per cent), followed by the 6-12 age group (25.95 per cent). This indicates that paternity tests are mostly done on children when they are younger rather than when they get older. Men between the ages of 31-40 (40 per cent) and 41-50 (23 per cent) conducted the most DNA tests. This age group is likely to have young children and may be in a financial position to afford the testing,” it stated.

The report, however, assured that “Smart DNA is committed to providing fully accredited DNA testing services to clients in accordance with the highest international standards. This report aims to shed light on the current trends in relationship DNA testing in Nigeria, contributing to a better understanding of this important aspect of our society.”

By John Owen Nwachukwu


The camp of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar has said that the Federal Capital Territory minister, Nyesom Wike, cannot escape expulsion from the main opposition party.

Don Pedro Obaseki, Atiku’s Director of Research, Strategy and Documentation, said Wike had earned himself a sack by his recent call for the expulsion of Atiku, his countless vertipurations against the PDP and his serial acts of betrayal.

According to him, the former Rivers State Governor has had a hand in all of the internal crisis of the PDP.

Addressing journalists in Abuja on Monday, Obaseki said, “Wike [is] the problem of the PDP and to expel Wike now is a task that must be done by the PDP.”

He was reacting to Wike’s recent call for the PDP to expel the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku, and some party chieftains, Aminu Tambuwal and Sule Lamido.

“The person who deserves to be expelled from the party is the man who is calling for the expulsion of others from the party,” Obaseki added.

“Wike is the one who created a cult within the party and called it the G-5. Against the will, constitution and structures of the party, he campaigned against the party.

“If anybody had done anything anti-party, it is Nyesom Wike. He has fought every known person within the party.

“Wike has crossed the red line and now, he should be ready. We are coming at him like a thousand bricks.

“He has unleashed the dogs of war and we will not sit back and watch him ride roughshod over the party.”

President Olusegun Obasanjo, who twice led Nigeria — first as military head of state (1976-1979) and later as an elected civilian president (1999-2007) — can claim to have seen it all. Born on March 5, 1937, the 86-year-old retired general has been a constant in Nigeria’s history in and out of office, offering comments — even if controversially — on political and economic issues. In this interview with TheCable, he gives his opinions of a wide range of issues.


TheCable: Increasingly, we are witnessing an era of military coups in Africa again. What do you think is going on?

Obasanjo: In 2021, when Col Mamady Doumbouya overthrew President Alpha Condé of Guinea, I recall that I travelled to Conakry. I spent two nights there. The coup leader didn’t want to meet with me because he didn’t know what I would say. They said he was out of town, which was not true. But I met every other important government official. I met his No 2 and his speaker. I listened to them and concluded that we had a new phenomenon on our hands. I realised that they had the support of the youths and were not thinking of staying in power for four, five years years. They are in for a generation.

When I noticed this, I went to Addis Ababa to meet the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat. I told him that maybe he had not seen what I was seeing. That I saw this in Guinea Conakry. He said I was talking about Guinea Conakry, what about his own country, Chad? He said Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea Conakry, and Chad were thinking the same way and they were connected. I said that was a new phenomenon in Africa. I said I was the one who in 1999 advocated that if you are not a government backed by the constitution, you should be suspended from the African Union, and these chaps don’t even mind any suspension. I told him that all the instruments we had used in the past would not work and asked what he would do about it. He told me about his challenges, especially with his country. So we have a situation where we have a continent where we have to rethink democracy. The liberal democracy we are copying from settled societies in the West won’t work for us.


TheCable: What type of democracy would work for us?

Obasanjo: I don’t know. But we have seen that the liberal type of democracy as practised in the West will not work for us. We have to put our heads together.


TheCable: Some would say it is working in Nigeria, that it has survived 24 years…

Obasanjo: I won’t answer you (laughs).


TheCable: But can work?

Obasanjo: You have to put your heads together to fashion it out. You can give it any name. But we have seen that this is not working. Out of the six countries that have experienced coups, three of them are directly from elections. Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry, and Gabon that we have just had are directly from elections. The other three are indirect, if you like.


TheCable: Would you say ECOWAS could have handled the Niger coup differently?

Obasanjo: What I said about the Niger is now what we did with Gabon, not a threat of force. Tinubu said “we are watching”. In Niger, ECOWAS has beaten the drum, and they have seen that it didn’t work. The point is this: where in Africa have the people benefited from the dividends of democracy? Tell me.


TheCable: Maybe Botswana…

Obasanjo: You don’t know the inside of Botswana. Ian Khama, the former president, cannot go to Botswana today. His father was the first president. I worked with him. As they were settling down, I thought they were making progress because the president after his father was the one who became minister of finance. When I was military head of state, he used to come and visit us, and we would render assistance to them, and he later became vice president and president. The next one was the same way. Ian Khama, who became the head of the army, moved the same way. The one that succeeded him now is chasing him from pillar to post. That is not liberal democracy.


TheCable: What of Ghana?

Obasanjo: (laughs)


TheCable: Even if not in terms of dividends of democracy but liberal democracy…

Obasanjo: Maybe Namibia is the closest to it.


TheCable: Coming back home now. There is a raging issue regarding Mambilla hydropower over the award of a $6 billion contract to Sunrise Power by your government in 2003. It is now a subject of arbitration. Sunrise is asking for $2.3 billion in compensation, alleging breach of contract. But the federal government is arguing that the contract was invalid…

Obasanjo: Did you say my government awarded the contract to Sunrise?


TheCable: Dr Olu Agunloye, your minister of power in 2003, wrote to Sunrise announcing the award of the contract…

Obasanjo: Who gave him the authorisation? When I was president, no minister had the power to approve more than N25 million without express presidential consent. It was impossible for Agunloye to commit my government to a $6 billion project without my permission and I did not give him any permission. If a commission of inquiry is set up today to investigate the matter, I am ready to testify. I do not even need to testify because all the records are there. I never approved it. When he presented his memo to the federal executive council (on May 21, 2003), I was surprised because he had previously discussed it with me and I had told him to jettison the idea, that I had other ideas on how the power sector would be restructured and funded. I told him as much at the council meeting and directed him to step down the memo.

I find it surprising that Agunloye is now claiming he acted on behalf of Nigeria. If I knew he issued such a letter to Sunrise, I would have sacked him as minister during my second term. He would not have spent a day longer in office. When I was in office, Leno Adesanya, the promoter of Sunrise Power, ran away from Nigeria. I would have jailed him if he was in the country because of the things I knew about him. After I left office, he returned and I saw him. I told him that he was lucky I was no longer president. Otherwise, I would have jailed him.


TheCable: You took a different route over the power sector, coming up with the power sector reform and building power plants such as Geregu, Papalanto, and Omotosho. But the problems of the power sector remain. What else can we do?

Obasanjo: You can only get the power sector right when you get all the fundamentals in the power sector right. In 2006, we ordered 42 turbines that should have been completed if not by 2007 then in 2008. My target was 10,000 megawatts of power by 2007. Up till today, I understand that five of the turbines have yet to be installed. I have been out of the office for 16 years. If after 18 years when those turbines had been ordered, five have still not been installed, what are you talking about?


TheCable: One major issue was that the turbines could not be transported to location because of issues with bridge and water depth in some places. The feeling was that you did not do a proper assessment before ordering the turbines.

Obasanjo: We did what we should do before I left office. I targeted 10,000 megawatts but today, we are still struggling with 4,000. Then you had President Goodluck Jonathan doing privatisation. If that privatisation was done the way we did privatisation, it would have been okay for the country. When you see these things and still ask me the questions you ask, I feel like punching you (laughs).


TheCable: Let’s discuss the refineries. They are still not working…

Obasanjo: They will not work as long as the government is keeping hold of them. When I was president, I invited Shell to a meeting. I told them I wanted to hand over the refineries for them for help us run. They bluntly told me they would not. I was shocked. I repeated the request and they stood their ground. When the meeting was over, I asked their big man (MD) to wait behind for a little chat. Then I asked him why they were so hesitant on not taking over the refineries. He said did I want to hear the truth? I said yes. He listed four reasons. One, he said Shell makes its money from upstream and that is where its interest lies. Two, he said they only do downstream or retail as a matter of service. Three, he said our refineries would be bad business for them, that globally, companies are going for bigger refineries because of the economics of refineries. Four, he said there is too much corruption in refineries.

I thanked him for his honesty. I knew we had a big problem in our hands. I had virtually give up hope on the refineries when God did a miracle. Alike Dangote and Femi Otedola approached me and said they would be interested in buying two of the four refineries. They said they would buy 51 percent stake in Port Harcourt and Kaduna. I was over the moon. I said, finally, this burden would be taken off the neck of the government. They offered $761 million and paid in two instalments. Unfortunately, Umaru (President Yar’Adua) cancelled the sale and returned the refineries to NNPC. Today, we are still where we were. Someone told me Tinubu said refineries would work by December. I told the person the refineries would not work. This is based on the information I received from Shell when I was president.


TheCable: When you were military head of state, you believed in state ownership. You were a changed man when you returned as president in 1999. What happened?

Obasanjo: When I was military head of state, we ordered 19 new ships to be built for the Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL), which was owned by the federal government. We had about five at the time, and with 19, we were to have 24 ships. We took delivery of some before we left office. President Shehu Shagari took delivery of the remaining balance. When I returned after 20 years, the shipping line had been liquidated. Not one ship left. Let me tell you the story of one of the ships. They sold it for half a million dollars. Then, they started the Oron merchant navy school and needed a ship for training. They bought the ship they had sold for half a million dollars for $2 million and spent another $1.5 million to refit it so it could be seaworthy.

The ship went on the first voyage a week after I became president in 1999. One of the first things they brought to me was that the ship had been arrested for not being seaworthy and that I should bring $1 million to pay as fine for the ship that had been detained. I requested that they allow me time to look at the issues, and when I studied the issues, I told them to inform those who arrested the ship that I had gifted them the ship. The following day, the ship was released without Nigeria paying a dime. You can guess what happened there.

We left 32 aircraft for Nigerian Airways in 1979, but we had only one serviceable aircraft 20 years after I left office. When you look at that and what happened to Nigerian Airways, some directors formed an offshore company, and it was the company that they gave the maintenance and repairs to. The same company would then engage the people that would actually carry out the maintenance and repairs. The payment would be to the offshore company who, in turn, did not pay the contractors. When I returned in 1999, I took a stance that I didn’t owe Nigerians an airline. What I owed Nigerians was secure and safe traveling. So, when they talked about this Nigeria Air project, you would know it is nonsense. When I say certain things, people say Obasanjo has started again. It is because I know what I am talking about.


TheCable: Our economy is currently in a bad shape with a heavy debt burden. With your experience, how do you think can we come out of this?

Obasanjo: Tinubu said the other day that it was unacceptable that he would spend 90% of his revenue to service debts. I wasn’t spending 90% when I went worldwide to get debt relief. Do you think that anybody would give you debt relief today? Buhari was spending money recklessly. I know Buhari didn’t understand economics. I put that in my book. But that he could also be so reckless, I didn’t know. Who would you go to today and ask for a favor? Tinubu says he has trimmed the number of people attending the United Nations General Assembly. Is that news? He will meet with Justin Trudeau, and he will meet with Emmanuel Macron. That will not solve any problem.

TheCable: [/b]You’ve pointed to a number of your policies reversed or abandoned by President Yar’Adua. Since he was never an insider in your government, why did you support him to be your successor?

[b]Obasanjo: See, I set up a committee headed by Dr Olusegun Agagu, of blessed memory, to search for a successor. They considered many names and did an extensive assessment of all them. They made their recommendation. Umaru was top on the list. Their biggest argument in his favour was that he had integrity and would not steal. The issues concerning his health were raised and I gave his medical reports to an expert for an opinion. Umaru’s name was redacted so that the expert would not know who it was and why I was seeking his opinion. After assessing the reports, he said the patient appeared to have done a kidney transplant and if that was the case, there was nothing to worry about and he would be as healthy as any other person. That was it. All insinuations that I knew he was going to die and that was why I supported him to be president were false. This is the true story I have told you.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has expressed concern about Nigeria’s bloated civil service payroll at the national and sub-national levels.

The president bore his mind on Monday while speaking at a meeting in the State House, Abuja, with the Global Vice President of Oracle, Mr. Andres Garcia Arroyo.

He told his guest that with cutting edge technology, the country would digitize the public service and surgically apply public money for growth.

He said: “Each time they give me the payroll number, I get so frightened. Where am I going to get the capital to develop the infrastructure we desperately require if the payroll of 1% – 2% of the population is consuming all the revenue? I think we need a tight technological control that can check and balance all necessary control points of our transaction processes. I’m looking forward to working with Oracle because I have the belief and confidence that you can do it as you have in the past.”

President Tinubu expressed his support for new partnerships with global technology companies to ensure that data from public institutions were accurate and transparent in providing templates on which proper public sector planning and accounting could occur across sectors.

The president, who welcomed the company’s commitment to Nigeria’s civil service reform process and data management sector, stressed the need for greater knowledge transfer through the establishment of academies and training institutions in the country.

Aiming to promote the ease of doing business, digital innovation, effective identity management, efficient payroll administration and qualitative citizen-centred service delivery, the President cited Oracle’s proven success in the automation of the Lagos State payroll system during his tenure as Governor and lauded the positive impact of technological solutions in enhancing accountability, and expediting timelines for service delivery without sacrificing quality in the process.

“I have tested Oracle and it has worked for our success. In Lagos State, what we did in effective collaboration with you, has been copied across the states of the Federation. We can only build our institutions with accurate data and cutting edge data management capabilities that are reliable and effective. We can only rely upon our human resources for excellent service delivery to Nigerians, if they are well trained and ready to learn.

“The transfer of knowledge is essential for our nation and the continent. In this government, we believe that the only way to build our country is a bottom-up-approach and from one single sheet of paper, we can create an end-to-end solution for public administration that will rid our service of its worst tendencies in favor of effectiveness and reliability,” the President declared.

In his remarks, the Global Vice President of Oracle proposed a comprehensive digital transformation of work process at the federal level of administration, in order to achieve greater macro-economic visibility; streamline government processes for cost and time savings; and to provide the desired skills development opportunities for Nigerians.

“You have shown tremendous practical leadership throughout your career, Mr. President. We have partnered with you and we know how determined you are to achieve all that you set out to achieve. This is why we are offering Nigeria a free national diagnostic of the present situation in the public service with a view to dimensioning across sectors the scale of solution required. We look forward to partnering with you again,” the Oracle VP concluded.

Residents of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital have commended the member representing Jere federal constituency at the House of Representatives, Hon Ahmed Satomi for selling 100,000 litres of fuel at the rate of N430 per litre as against N637 per litre in Maiduguri.

The residents made the commendation yesterday during the dispensing of 100,000 litres of fuel by the lawmaker in 24 petrol stations within Maiduguri Metropolitan Council ( MMC) and Jere local government area.

Welfare officer National Automobiles and Technicians Association (NATA) Ibrahim Helma, while commending the lawmaker urged well meaning individuals in the state to emulate the gesture by Satomi and give succour to the masses due to the high cost of living and transportation as a result of fuel subsidy removal.

He said most commercial tricycle ( Keke Napep) riders and motorists in the areas of the distribution are smiling to the chosen petrol stations to benefit from the gesture , adding that it goes a long way in ameliorating the suffering of the beneficiaries.

A commercial tricycle operator, Modu Tijani, who said he has been out of business since the sudden rise in price of fuel as a result of the fuel subsidy removal, said the gesture from the lawmaker will enable some of his colleagues that are out of business to bounce back.

“We are very grateful to Hon. Satomi for coming to our aid in this trying period. We want more of this from other lawmakers and good spirited members of the public to assist the poor in passing through the hardship ravaging them,” Tijani said.

Addressing journalists, the donor and member representing Jere federal constituency, Hon Ahmed Satomi, who is also the chairman House Committee on National Security and Intelligence at the National Assembly, said the programme which was flagged off on Saturday in eight petrol stations is a continuous process, adding that 100,000 litres of fuel have been made available for dispensing to the motorists and residents irrespective of political affiliation.

He however called on well-to-do individuals and organisations to emulate the gesture so as to impact positively on the living condition of all Nigerians, as according to him, palliatives should not be carried out by government alone.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has challenged Olu Agunloye, the former minister of power and steel, to tell Nigerians where he derived the authority to award a $6 billion contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission Ltd in respect of the Mambilla Hydropower Project in 2003.

Sunrise Power is currently in arbitration with Nigeria at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Paris, France, over an alleged breach of contract by the federal government.

In the first arbitration, Sunrise is asking for a compensation of $2.3 billion, claiming it had spent millions of dollars on financial and legal consultants before the contract was jettisoned.

In the second one, the company is asking for a $400 million settlement being the terms of the agreement it entered with the federal government in 2020 to end the arbitration.

Nigeria is fighting the claims on the grounds that Agunloye, who suspiciously awarded the contract one week to the end of his tenure as power minister in 2003, acted illegally.

TheCable understands that Agunloye and some officials of the ministry of justice have been quizzed over the Sunrise affair and may soon be charged to court.

In an interview with TheCable at the weekend, Obasanjo stringently denied authorising Agunloye to commit Nigeria to the $6 billion “build, operate and transfer” contract.

“When I was president, no minister had the power to approve more than N25 million without express presidential consent. It was impossible for Agunloye to commit my government to a $6 billion project without my permission and I did not give him any permission,” Obasanjo told TheCable.

The former president challenged Agunloye to explain where he got the power and authority.

“If a commission of inquiry is set up today to investigate the matter, I am ready to testify. I do not even need to testify because all the records are there. I never approved it,” Obasanjo said.

“When he presented his memo to the federal executive council (on May 21, 2003), I was surprised because he had previously discussed it with me and I had told him to jettison the idea, that I had other ideas on how the power sector would be restructured and funded.

“I told him as much at the council meeting and directed him to step down the memo. I find it surprising that Agunloye is now claiming he acted on behalf of Nigeria. If I knew he issued such a letter to Sunrise, I would have sacked him as minister during my second term. He would not have spent a day longer in office.”

Obasanjo also said Leno Adesanya, the promoter of Sunrise Power, ran away from Nigeria when he was president.

“I would have jailed him if he was in the country because of the things I knew about him. After I left office, he returned and I saw him. I told him that he was lucky I was no longer president. Otherwise, I would have jailed him,” Obasanjo told TheCable.

THE MAMBILLA DISPUTE

Sunrise had on October 10, 2017 taken Nigeria to arbitration for “breach of contract” in relation to the agreement to construct the 3,050MW plant in Mambilla, Taraba state.

Nigerian authorities insist that the contract award was irregular and did not pass through due process.

Agunloye issued a letter awarding the contract a day after the federal cabinet reportedly told him to step down his request for approval and explore other sources of funding for the project.

In his letter to Sunrise, Agunloye also listed pre-conditions for the contract to be consummated and none was met by the firm.

But Sunrise initiated legal action when a bid process for the civil works was announced by the federal government in 2007 and a series of litigation has since stalled the project.

To get the project off the ground, the federal government had attempted to settle the arbitration in 2020 with a compensation offer of $200 million but a lack of funds is believed to have truncated it.

Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

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Ashe-goat named nanny has allegedly delivered a half-human-half-goat in Kwara state.

The incident was said to have happened last week Wednesday at Adigun-Oke community, Ifelodun local government area of the state.

It was gathered that people have been visiting the area since the incident happened to see the creature.

Wife of the goat’s owner, Aishat Umar, who spoke in Hausa language, said that the wonder she-goat actually gave birth to two kids.

She added that one was a complete goat while the other was in human being form, except for the ears and the hands.

Also speaking on the incident, one of the community leaders in Adigun-Oke village, Pa James Adeoye, said that people were just seen rushing to see the astounding discovery, adding that one of the creatures had hairs all over the body just like a goat while the second looked exactly like human being, without hair but with teeth like human being.

It was also gathered that the kid goat, which looked like human, died just after it was delivered and was immediately buried by the owner, Umar, when he returned from his farm, while the nanny was busy taking care of the other kid.

The community leader, who said that the nanny had produced kids before the incident, added that it had never given birth to such creature and that the people had never witnessed a human being mating with a goat that could lead to such astonishing incident.

Another resident of the area, Lukman Onaade, said that the incident was surprising to every villager, as well as people from neighbouring communities, who, he said, thronged Adigun-Oke community to witness the incident.

He said that those, who had never known or visited Adigun-Oke community before now, had come to the village since the incident happened to confirm whether it was true that a goat could give birth to human being.

An Abuja land owner, Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim Kamba, has charged the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and the Director of Development Control to court for demolishing his building under construction at Plot 226, Cotonou Street, Wuse Zone 6, Abuja.

This was contained in an official statement on Thursday by his lawyer, Okechukwu .C. Uju-Azorji, an associate of Festus Keyamo Chambers.

The statement reads, “On Monday, August 29, 2023, our client was greeted with the news of demolishing his structure under construction at Plot 226, Cotonou Street, Wuse Zone 6, Abuja. In the interview granted shortly by the Director of Development Control, he stated, “We demolished the duplex because somebody built on someone else’s land without valid title…”

“The plot itself belonged to the predecessor in title of our client, Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim Kamba, who had built a guest house (popularly called “Boys’ Quarters”) on the Plot where he was collecting rent for upwards of 25 years before selling and handing over possession to our client in 2019. Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim Kamba in turn bought the property during the lifetime of the original allottee, Oyebade Lipede.

“When our client commenced the development of the Plot including the renovation of the existing guest house, a certain Abuja-based legal practitioner took out a Direct Criminal Complaint against our client at the Grade 1 Area Court, Abuja for trespass, claiming that the property belonged to Oyebade Lipede, the late Alake of Egbaland. The suit was dismissed on 1/9/2020 with the Grade 1 Area Court Judge specifically urging the parties to refer the matter to FCT High Court since it has become issue of title to land (CTC of Ruling attached).

“Rather than bring an action in Court for declaration of title to the land, the said Abuja based legal practitioner was busy approaching different segments of the Federal Capital Territory Administration where it has become obvious that he enjoyed the cooperation of some persons, who unfortunately bought into his narrative that the plot belonged to the late Alake of Egbaland. On one occasion, our client saw from this lawyer that the only root of his title claim is a portion of a Will allegedly belonging to said late Alake of Egbaland, where a portion made reference to a piece of land in Abuja. The plot number, location, and other details were however not captured in the alleged Will.”

It added, “When the Department of Development Control demolished our client’s fence on 23rd June, 2023, a fence which had existed for the past 25 years, our client was surprised. Acting within the bounds of the law, we took out an action in the FCT High Court against the Minister of the FCT for trespass (Writ is attached).

“Since the Director of Department of Development was not a party to the suit having sued his principal, the Minister of FCT, we deemed it wise to also notify him of the pendency of the suit via a letter received in his office on July 4, 2023, attaching the Writ of Summons. The letter was also copied to the Director of Legal Services in his Department. For the Department to have proceeded to demolishing the entire structure while Suit No: FCT/HC/CV/6616/2023 on the subject-matter was pending is reckless and beyond the powers of the Minister of the FCT.

“Nigeria is not a lawless Nation, and with these events, it will be unlikely that we will fail to take out contempt proceedings against the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory for abuse of the processes of the FCT High Court. It must be noted that under the current regime of the Rules of the FCT High Court, it is mandatory that a Writ of Summons for filing in that court must be endorsed that parties are to maintain status quo. The implication of this is that once an action has been filed in that Court, no party can claim that there was no formal Order of Injunction granted, for that endorsement on the Writ serves that purpose.

“Again, the law is clear that once a public officer like the Director of Development exceeds the scope of his powers in the discharge of his duties, he is personally liable in an action by an aggrieved party. We will therefore not hesitate to join the Director of Development Control of the FCT Administration to the pending suit for abuse of office. This is because he had no powers to demolish our client’s property on the allegation that our client built on someone’s land. Thank you.

The African continent has had a number of leaders who have spent decades in office despite claims to democracy.

These leaders have been in power for extended periods due to a combination of factors, including constitutional changes, electoral fraud, and the suppression of political opposition.

Despite the length of their tenure, some of these leaders have been criticized for human rights abuses, corruption, and poor governance.

Below is a list of top African current heads of state including royalty, arranged in order of length of time they have held such positions continuously.


Teodoro Obiang (44 years)

The longest serving president in Africa as of today, he is the current and second president of Equatorial Guinea, a position he has held since August 1979. He is the longest-serving president not just in Africa but of any country ever.

Obiang Teodoro came into power after he ousted his uncle, Francisco Macías Nguema, in an August 1979 military coup.


Paul Biya (41 years)

Paul Biya has served as the president of Cameroon since 6 November 1982. He is the second-longest-ruling president in Africa and one of the oldest presidents in the world.

His regime is supported by France, one of the former colonial powers in Cameroon, which supplies it with weapons, aids and trains its military forces.


Denis Sassou Nguese (39 years)

The Republic of the Congo’s President Denis Sassou Nguess has spent 34 years in office, but not in one go. He first served from 1979 to 1992 and returned in 1997 at the end of a civil war. He is the third longest serving president in Africa.


Yoweri Museveni (37 years)

Yoweri Museveni has been the president of Uganda since 1986 making him the fourth longest serving African president. He took office in January 1986 after winning the war that toppled Ugandan presidents Milton Obote and Idi Amin.

Records indicate that none of the Ugandan elections have been found to be free and transparent since Museveni took over.


King Mswati III (37 years)

Mswati III is the king of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and head of the Swazi royal family.

He was crowned as Mswati III, Ingwenyama and King of Swaziland, on 25 April 1986 at the age of 18, making him the world’s youngest king at the time.

He co-rules the nation with his mother, Ntfombi Tfwala, who is currently Queen Mother (Ndlovukati).


Isaias Afwerki (30 years)

Isaias Afwerki is the first president of Eritrea. The Eritrean leader Isaias Afwerki has been in charge since the country got its independence from Ethiopia in April 1993.

He is the sixth longest serving president in Africa.


Letsie III (27 years)

Letsie III is the current King of Lesotho and the 7th longest serving ruler in Africa. He succeeded his father, Moshoeshoe II, after he died in a car crash in 1996. His coronation took place in October 1997 at Setsoto Stadium and was attended by current King Charles of England. As a constitutional monarch, most of King Letsie’s duties as monarch of Lesotho are ceremonial.


Ismaïl Omar Guelleh (24 years)

Ismaïl Omar Guelleh is the current President of Djibouti. He has been in office since 1999, making him the 8th longest-serving ruler in Africa.

Guelleh was first elected as President in 1999 as the handpicked successor to his uncle, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, who had ruled Djibouti since independence in 1977. He was re-elected in 2005, 2011 and again in 2016.


Mohammed VI (24 years)

Mohammed VI is the King of Morocco. He belongs to the ‘Alawi dynasty and ascended to the throne on 23 July 1999, upon the death of his father, King Hassan II.

Mohammed is the 9th longest serving ruler in Africa and is also regarded by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre as the seventh most influential Muslim in the world in 2022.


Paul Kagame (23 years)

Paul Kagame who assumed office in 2000 is the fourth and current president of Rwanda, and the 10th longest serving president in Africa. Kagame had been de facto leader since 1994, but focused more on military, foreign affairs and the country’s security than day-to-day governance. He only went after the top job when the then president Bizimungu resigned. Kagame was sworn in as president in April 2000.


Previous long serving presidents

– Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie holds the record for the Longest Serving President in Africa.

He was ousted in 1974 after ruling for 44 years.

– Libya’s Ghadafi ruled for nearly 42 years before he was killed in 2011 after a protest movement turned into an armed conflict sponsored by NATO.

– Gabon’s Omar Bongo died in June 2009 after more than 41 years in power.

– Angola’s Jose Eduardo dos Santos stepped down in September 2017; he ruled for 38 years.

– Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo ruled for 38 years from 1967 to his death in 2005.

– Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe was forced out in November 2017 after 37 years at the helm.

– Chad’s Idriss Deby ruled for 31 years before his death on 19 April 2021. He died due to complications from injuries sustained during a terrorist attack.

Despite the positive mood in Nigeria’s legal team that the country will succeed in its challenge against the arbitral award to Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID), a trio of influential Nigerians are mounting pressure on the presidency to settle out of court, TheCable understands.

A former governorship candidate in Kwara state and two top executives of a Lagos-based oil company known to be close to President Bola Tinubu are leading P&ID’s lobby, according to presidency sources who briefed TheCable.

They stand to share over $500 million as commission if they succeed in persuading Tinubu to enter into a settlement agreement with P&ID.

They have also reached out to senior officials of the ministry of justice to help pile pressure on Tinubu, who is said to believe that P&ID does not have a good case against Nigeria.

Presidency officials informed TheCable that the three lobbyists are trying to organise a meeting between P&ID officials and Tinubu during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York next week.

In what was described by a presidency official as “scare mongering”, the three “musketeers” are saying should P&ID win the impending case before an English high court, Nigeria would have to pay the original award currently running into over $11 billion, interests inclusive.

However, Nigeria’s lawyers, led by Mark Howard, a British lawyer, are very confident that the arbitral award to P&ID will be upturned by the court based on a number of reasons:


• The “industrial scale of corruption” involved in the award of the ill-fated contract which P&ID did not deny but instead classified as “cultural obligation”

• The alleged forgery of engineering drawing which was discovered to be for another project in another country

• The legal infighting between P&ID and its litigation funder, VR Capital, over non-disclosure of corrupt payments to Nigerian officials in securing the contract.

Nigeria’s lawyers also believe it is near impossible for P&ID to enforce the award because of Nigeria’s sovereign immunity which protects the country’s assets.

The largest arbitral award in history — about $50 billion — was secured by former owners of the Yukos oil company against the Russian Federation in 2014, but it has become impossible to enforce.

Nigeria will also have a right of appeal if the high court rules in favour of P&ID.


LANDMARK CASE

Nigeria’s legal team sees the P&ID litigation as a test case in arbitration.

They are hoping to establish that the process by which a contract is secured can be of material significance to its legitimacy.

“Our case is: it was bribery to get the contract, ongoing bribery to keep everyone on board, bribery of lawyers,” Howard told the high court, alleging that two London-based British lawyers previously involved in the case had committed “serious misconduct”.

Developing countries are seen as victims of corruption-induced contracts that are not meant to be executed in the first place but are mere scams designed in connivance with unscrupulous government officials.

In a self-damaging move, VR Capital, a hedge fund firm backing P&ID, had filed a case in the US alleging that the company made illegal payments to Nigerian officials that violated the law.

This is considered injurious to the P&ID case and is expected to feature in the final judgment of the high court expected anytime soon.

In 2019, the hedge fund managed by VR Capital Group had bought a large stake in P&ID in anticipation of the pay-out.

In February 2022, a US court of appeal for the second circuit permitted Nigeria to request documents from P&ID stakeholders, including VR Capital.

One of the documents revealed that there was in-fighting between VR Capital and P&ID over failure to disclose material facts.

A division of VR Capital had written in May 2021 in a confidential London court of international arbitration filing that “regardless of whether or not these payments were made for corrupt purposes, they were unlawful”.

“As a matter of Nigerian law, any undisclosed payments to a public official by someone seeking a government contract is prima facie unlawful,” the court document reads.

The report said the payments VR Capital referred to as “unlawful” in its May 2021 filing were those made by companies linked to P&ID to Grace Taiga and Taofiq Tijani — two petroleum ministry officials around the time the gas contract was signed.

Taiga is facing prosecution for allegedly taking bribes to facilitate the award of contract in the P$ID case.


ROAD TO ARBITRATION

P&ID had entered into an agreement with Nigeria in 2010 to build a gas processing plant in Calabar, Cross River state, but the company said the deal collapsed because the Nigerian government did not fulfil its end of the bargain.

Claiming Nigeria breached the terms of the contract, P&ID took a legal recourse and secured an arbitral award against the country.

On January 31, 2017, a tribunal ruled that Nigeria should pay P&ID $6.6 billion as damages, as well as pre- and post-judgment interest at 7 percent.

Following the judgement, Nigeria applied for an extension of time and relief from sanctions.

The application was granted by Ross Cranston, a judge of the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales, in September 2020, thereby returning the case to arbitration.

Nigeria had alleged that the gas deal was a scam conceived to defraud the country.

Lawyers representing the federal government told the court that P&ID officials paid bribes to get the contract.

But P&ID denied the allegation and accused the Nigerian government of “false allegations and wild conspiracy theories”.

The show of no love lost between Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki and his deputy, Philip Shaibu continued over the weekend during the state’s 32nd anniversary thanksgiving church service held at the Festival Hall, Government House on Sunday.

Both Obaseki and Shaibu have been at loggerheads over the latter’s ambition to contest the 2024 governorship polls in the state.

In an apparent move to wade off any show of public affection, security aides attached to Obaseki reportedly barred Shaibu from approaching the governor during the event. Again, the following day, on Monday, August 28, at the 60th anniversary of the Midwest Referendum celebration, Shaibu’s media aides were reportedly denied entry to the venue of the event, despite pleas from the deputy governor who later stormed out.

All these developments only mean one thing, that both men are far from sheathing their swords even though the deputy governor had a few times downplayed their disagreement.

In the larger context, feuds between a governor and his deputy are not new to the Nigerian political space. Infact, since the return of democracy in 1999, several states have had their fair share of such battle royales.

In this piece, we highlight a few of those notable tussles between state governors and their second-in-command.

Bola Tinubu vs Femi Pedro

President Bola Tinubu as governor of Lagos State had a go with his then deputy, Otunba Olufemi Pedro.

Pedro was said to have got on the wrong side of his principal over Tinubu’s choice to back his Chief of Staff, Tunde Fashola, as his successor.

The animosity between both men forced the deputy governor to defect to the Labour Party and contest against his boss anointed heir, Fashola.

After the election, which he lost, Pedro got an impeachment notice from the House of Assembly. He promptly sent in his resignation letter, but the lawmakers were said to have rejected the letter leading to his eventual impeachment.

Rochas Okorocha vs Jude Agbaso & Eze Madumere

Former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, had two deputy governors for his two terms in office and fell out with both of them at different points.

Jude Agbaso was deputy governor of Imo State till March 2013 when he was impeached. It was said that Agbaso’s battle with his principal began when he challenged the then-governor for a second tenure, citing a supposed gentleman’s agreement that stipulated that Okorocha would rule Imo State for only four years. He was sent packing and summarily replaced by Prince Eze Madumere.

If Agbaso and Okorocha’s relationship was a political necessity, Madumere’s relationship with Okorocha was seen to be more cordial. However, he too fell out with his principal in similar circumstances.

Madumere was said to be against the choice of Okorocha’s son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, as his successor. Miffed, Madumere threw his cap into the ring, creating a breakaway faction full of his loyalists in the All Progressives Congress.

Abdullahi Ganduje vs Hafiz Abubakar

When Prof Hafiz Abubakar resigned as the deputy of then-Kano State governor Abdullahi Ganduje on August 4, 2018, he said the decision was taken due to ‘irreconcilable differences’ on matters relating to governance and government operations.

He further stated he suffered “immeasurable and unjustifiable humiliation” for over two and a half years on issues of governance and the desire to keep government on track.

Though Ganduje denied those allegations, observers said the Ganduje’s feud with Abubakar began when the latter failed to disassociate himself from the governor’s predecessor, Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso.

Obong Victor Attah vs Chris Ekpenyong

Former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Obong Victor Attah’s not-so-cordial relationship with his then deputy, Dr. Chris Ekpenyong, degenerated to the point that the latter was impeached.

Despite efforts by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo and the PDP to halt the impeachment, the state House of Assembly voted to remove Ekpeyong in June 2005.

Ayodele Fayose vs Abiodun Aluko

Governor Ayo Fayose was alleged to have instigated the removal of his deputy, Abiodun Aluko in 2005.

The state House of Assembly impeached Aluko after finding him guilty of 16 offences. The lawmakers claimed all the offences were grounds for impeachment.

Isa Yuguda vs Garba Gadi

Alhaji Garba Gadi was said to have crossed the red line with his principal, Isa Yuguda, owing to the latter’s refusal to defect to the PDP from the ANPP that brought them to power.

Gadi was impeached but later re-instated by a High Court in Bauchi due to irregularities in the proceedings leading to his impeachment.

Olusegun Mimiko vs Ali Olanusi

Former Ondo State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, was said to have enraged his principal, Olusegun Mimiko when he defected to the All Progressives Congress instead of joining him in the Peoples Democratic Party.

He was impeached by the state House of Assembly in 2015 but two years later, a court declared the impeachment illegal and restored Olanusi to his office. But it was too little too late for him as his tenure with Mimiko had already elapsed.

By Oluwakemi Adelagun


In a perhaps unprecedented development since 1999, the Lagos State House of Assembly deviated from its usual path of clearing all commissioner nominees transmitted by the executive arm of government.

On 25 July, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu submitted 39 names to the legislature for screening and clearance for appointment into his cabinet.

Days later, the legislature disqualified 17 of the 39 nominees, including six who served as commissioners in the first term of the governor. The former commissioners are Gbenga Omotoso (Information and Strategy), Akin Abayomi (Health) and Sam Egube (Economic Planning and Budget).

Others are Cecilia Dada (Women Affairs and Poverty Aalleviation), Olalere Odusote (Energy Resources) and Folashade Adefisayo (Education).

The confirmation was done through a voice vote as the speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, read out the name of each nominee.

The development generated divergent opinions in the public space, with many interpreting that the governor and the speaker were at loggerheads.

In the wake of the development, it was said that Mr Sanwo-Olu had supported another candidate against Mr Obasa in the race for the seat of speaker.

But some party loyalists said the main reason some nominees who are technocrats were rejected was because they were not known in their constituencies and had no electoral value.

Micheal Uju, a public affairs analyst, said the disqualification was political.

“Unfortunately, there is the sense that most of those rejected by the House are the technocrats among them who are not so much into party politics,” he said.

“People like Professor Akin Abayomi, we saw his role during the COVID-19 pandemic as the then Lagos commissioner for health.

“Look at Mrs Folashade Adefisayo, do you not know that woman’s efforts at transforming Lagos public schools to what parents are now proud of?

“Same with the former SA (special adviser) to the governor on works, Engineer Aramide Adeyoye, who spent not less than 15 years with a leading global construction company.”


Concerns

After the governor submitted the list to the House of Assembly, many groups, including legislators, raised concerns, particularly about not being represented.

Lawmakers in the state House kicked against the list, saying their councils and party faithful who contributed to the success of the APC were excluded.

Criticism trailing the list further heightened as a group of Islamic clerics and scholars described the composition of the nominees “as a continuation of the governor’s long-standing bias against Muslims in the state.”

They said the list exhibited a “callous insensitivity to diversity, equity, and fairness.” But the governor denied the allegation.

The list is said to contain 31 Christians and eight Muslims.

The Epetedo Indigenes Association also described Mr Sanwo-Olu’s proposed cabinet as a “disappointing” composition “that falls short of the expectations of the electorate.

The group in a statement signed by the group’s chairman, Maroof-deen Oshodi, and other executive members on Monday, said they do not deserve to be marginalised after shielding the governor from “electoral defeat.”

This is not the first time though some commissioner nominees would be rejected.

During the second term of Babatunde Fashola, some legislators expressed strong opposition to some of the nominees. But all of them were eventually cleared.


Consensus

Mojeed Fatai, the chief whip of the House who headed the 12-member committee that screened the nominees, insisted that the decision to disqualify some of them was not made by him but by the lawmakers.

The essence of the committee is to screen and not to “confirm or disqualify anybody,” Mr Fatai said in an interview with TVC.

He further declined to comment on the actual reason some nominees were disqualified, just like Mr Obasa.

In his attempt to clear the air on the matter, the speaker of the House said the lawmakers would not be forced to reveal what they discovered during the screening.

Mr Obasa, during the plenary, spoke specifically on the rejection of two of the former commissioners – Messrs Abayomi and Omotoso. He said both ex-commissioners failed to deliver in some aspects.

Although he said the lawmakers would not go back on their decision unless there is a “germane and convincing reason,” Mr Sanwo-Olu’s spokesperson, Gboyega Akosile, expressed optimism that the matter will be resolved.

“I believe that the governor will meet with the legislators and of course there will be a meeting ground for the two parties. And I am sure that things will pan out positively for the people of Lagos State at the end of the day,” Mr Akosile said in an earlier interview.