₦airaland Forum

Chairman, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Lagos chapter, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo has rallied Yoruba sons and daughter for the presidential ambition of former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Tinubu made his intention to vie for the presidency known on Monday after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.

Reacting to the development, MC Oluomo said he received the news of Tinubu’s declaration of his presidential ambition with great joy and happiness.

“Though, he said he is yet to declare his intention to run to Nigerians but that he has disclosed his inner motive to the President and yielded to the clarion call of many Nigerians to him to vie, is a welcome development to me.

“Having made known his intention to be president, I strongly urge all Yoruba sons and daughters to troop out en-masse and show him massive support.

“I implore them to support him not because he is a Yoruba man but because of his pedigree and achievements. Because of his antecedent and past good deeds.

“Right from his NADECO days of fighting for justice, equality and democracy, to when he was the Governor, he stood for what was right and persevered even when the federal allocation of Lagos was stopped due to the creation LCDAs in Lagos.

“Had he not insisted and maintained the LCDAs, you can imagined the massive development that the LCDAs and Lagos would have been derived,” he said.

MC Oluomo said Tinubu remained the only person that has been able to uplift and developed many leaders that were now making waves across each sectors of the country.

“His eagle eye to source for talents and nurture them remained unparalleled. A support for Asiwaju is a support for the development of Nigeria and the unification of its people. It’s time to do the right thing and the needful,” he added.

In recent years, bandit attacks have become rampant, with gunmen often unleashing terror on several states across the country. Given the alarming frequency of attacks and kidnappings, it’s increasingly becoming challenging to keep an accurate number of victims.

Almost every other week, marauding bands of terrorists raid schools and ensnarl students in captivity, freeing them only after exorbitant ransom fees must have been paid. The bandits descend into defenceless communities and perpetuate orgies of violence that send millions of people displaced from their homes. They waylay travellers and commit several atrocities on the people as they signpost their dangerous impact on roads across the country.

These atrocities have, expectedly, drawn reactions from President Muhammadu Buhari. Over the past few years, the president has serially condemned, threatened and appealed to the bandits after major attacks. On several occasions, he has promised to put an end to the killings while urging the public to trust the security agencies — but the insecurity in the country continues to fester with the number of casualties rising daily.

TheCable chronicles Buhari’s responses to these attacks; his threats, promises, clarion calls — and once upon a time, an appeal.

‘Efforts of security agencies not good enough’
On December 11, 2020, with President Muhammadu Buhari present in Kastina, a gang of bandits invaded the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara LGA of the state. The assailants roved into the school compound on motorcycles, shooting sporadically into the air before abducting 344 students — with the president just 188km away.

Buhari did not speak about the abduction until almost 24 hours later when he issued a statement through Garba Shehu, the presidential spokesperson, condemning the “cowardly bandits’ attack on innocent children”.

The students were released a couple of days later, and while preparing to address the released kids, Buhari expressed worry over the efforts of the security agencies in curbing insecurity.

“Armed forces know their job. I meet them, we have security meetings from time to time, they must be very clear of my instructions, and their effort is not good enough for me,” he had said.

“It is our responsibility to secure this country for all the citizens to do their businesses without any problem. We haven’t achieved that yet, but we will keep on trying.”


‘Jangebe will be the last’

On February 26, 2021, in Jangebe, a town in Talata-Mafara LGA of Zamfara state, 279 students of the Government Girls Secondary School in the area were abducted by bandits.

The girls were freed on March 2 through the help of repentant bandits, according to the state government.

Leading the federal government’s delegation to the state after the girls’ release, Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, said the president promised that the incident would be the last school adoption the nation would witness under his administration.

“This abduction of the female students in Jangebe will be the last as the federal government has reorganised the security architecture of the country to nib all the atrocities of these criminals,” the president was quoted as saying.


‘Determined to secure Nigeria’

On March 12, 2021, gunmen attacked the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Igabi LGA of Kaduna state, and abducted 29 students.

The students were not released until May 5 – seven weeks later – after they were reportedly ransomed, courtesy of a pool of contributions from the victims’ parents.

The president reacted to the news by pledging a “strong determination of his administration to ensure that Nigerians lived in a country where everyone can move where they want when they want without the fear of kidnapping and banditry”.


Buhari appealing to bandits

On April 18, 2021, another group of bandits abducted students from Greenfield University, Kaduna.

The assailants requested N800 million as ransom, and when their demands were not met early enough, they killed five of the students, further threatening to kill more.

On May 5, after the students had spent weeks in the den of their kidnappers, Buhari appealed to the bandits “for the release of the students of the Greenfield University and all other citizens held in captivity”.


‘New methods are yielding good results’

On July 8, thirty-five people were killed when gunmen attacked five communities in Maradun LGA of Zamfara state.

The gunmen were said to have invaded the communities on over 90 motorcycles — and also set houses ablaze.

Buhari, expectedly, condemned the killing and demanded that security agencies “respond to the worrying situation in a language that the bandits understand”.

He then informed Nigerians that “the military and other security agencies are now working on new methods and policies that are yielding good results in many of the troubled parts of the country and calls for a crushing response to the killing of innocent citizens in the rural communities”.


‘Swift justice’ in Plateau

At least 22 people were killed while 14 others sustained injuries when suspected hoodlums attacked buses conveying worshippers to Ondo state on August 14, 2021.

The commuters were on their way from Bauchi, where they had attended an Islamic programme.

Reacting to the incident, Buhari described it as “wicked” while adding that security agents have been ordered to ensure justice is delivered swiftly.

“Make no mistake about it: in line with my commitment to protect all Nigerians, I have ordered our security agencies to fish out the perpetrators of this gruesome massacre of innocent travellers and bring them to justice,” the president was quoted as saying.

‘We need Nigerians’ support to end this evil’
Not less than 23 travellers were killed when gunmen opened fire on a bus at Gidan Bawa village in Isa LGA of Sokoto state on December 8.

Reacting to the incident in a statement signed by Femi Adesina, presidential spokesperson, Buhari called for the support of Nigerians in curbing the menace of the banditry.

“I am very distressed at the manner of death visited on these hapless citizens who were undertaking a legitimate journey to another part of the country,” the president had said.

“It shows that the evil this administration is confronting is one that requires the support and involvement of all Nigerians.”


‘We’ll smoke out the criminals’

From the late evening of January 5 to the early hours of the following day, gunmen invaded about five communities in Bukkuyum and Anka LGAs of Zamfara state, killing over 200 villagers and setting many houses ablaze.

Reacting, Buhari described the incident as an “act of desperation by mass murderers” who are “under relentless pressure” from the military.

The president assured Zamfara residents that the army and the airforce are working together to track and eliminate the perpetrators.

“The latest attacks on innocent people by the bandits is an act of desperation by mass murderers, now under relentless pressure from our military forces who are well equipped to effectively confront these enemies of humanity,” Buhari said.

Clearly, the president has run the gamut of post-attack responses: from threatening and later pleading with terrorists, to giving marching orders to security agencies, and seeking the support of Nigerians. He has done it all — but to date, little has changed.

The Intelligence Response Team (IRT), a special police unit fighting kidnapping, has arrested several women in Kaduna state for arranging sexual liaisons with bandits in the forest.

One of the women arrested, a housewife supplied ladies, including her daughters to bandits at Galadimawa forest in Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The housewife was identified as Maryam Abubakar. She was said to be a girlfriend of a notorious kidnapper, Isa Ibrahim.

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Maryam Abubakar,

https://cdn.pmnewsnigeria.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Maryam-Abubakar-and-some-of-the-girls-she-supplied-to-bandits.jpg
Maryam Abubakar, left, and some of the girls she supplied to bandits

The 39 year-old woman who resides at Rugar Hanwa in Sabon Gari Local Government, was arrested on December 21.

She confessed that she had been luring women, including her own daughters and nieces, to the bandits for sexual pleasure.

Maryam said her clients were paying her N20,000 and that the women were being ferried to the forest on motorbikes.

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Faces of shame: some of the girls arrested

Also arrested was a girl named Fatima Jibril, who, in connivance with her boyfriend, Muslim Abubakar, both residents of the Sakadadi area in Sabon Gari, had also been supplying women to the bandits.

The syndicate was exposed when the girls they had earlier procured from the criminals in the forest couldn’t return.

Another woman, Jummai Ibrahim, was arrested on the suspicion that she had been engaging in an affair with the bandits’ kingpin in the forest.

Jummai said she submitted herself to the bandits’ kingpin to protect her children and her father from their wraths because the bandits threatened to kill them, even after they had rustled the family’s cattle.

Some of the women said they had passed the night only once with the bandits.

One of them said the gunmen were living alongside their wives, only that they are hosted at different locations separate from their families.

One of the girls said the gunmen had been inseparable from their guns round the clock and they have stockpiled food.

By Ishola Oludare


A 38-year-old commercial driver, Daniel Udoh has allegedly stabbed to death, the husband of a woman, who he was reportedly having secret affairs with.

Udoh was said to have stabbed Emaka Umonko to death after he confronted him for “having illicit affairs with his wife”.

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi confirmed that the commercial driver was arrested on Friday, at Ota, Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of the State.

According to Oyeyemi, the arrest of the suspect followed a distress call received by the DPO of Onipanu Division, CSP Bamidele Job.

Having suspected that Udoh was going out with his wife, Umonko confronted him and this led to a serious fight between the two men.

Oyeyemi disclosed that, “while the fight was going on, the suspect brought out a knife and used it to stab the deceased severally at his back and chest, following which the deceased collapsed.”

The DPO, CSP Bamidele Job was said to have detailed his men to the scene, where the suspect was arrested, and the knife was recovered as an exhibit.

The victim, a welder, was rushed to the State Hospital, Ota, but he was pronounced dead by the doctor on duty.

Meanwhile, the State Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole ordered that the suspect be transferred to the Homicide Section of the State CIID at the Ogun police headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta, for further investigation.

Leke Baiyewu


Another budget padding scandal is quietly rocking the National Assembly following complaints by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), before signing the 2022 Appropriation Bill into law penultimate Friday.

Some members across the two chambers, who were visibly angry about the development, told Sunday PUNCH on record that members were not carried along on the projects inserted.

They however spoke on condition of anonymity, alleging that only the leadership of the two chambers and members of their respective Appropriation Committees were beneficiaries.

The President had, while signing the 2022 Appropriation Bill and the 2021 Finance Bill into law in December 2021, expressed strong reservations on the “worrisome changes” made by the National Assembly to the budget estimate. He lamented the reduction in the provisions for many strategic capital projects to introduce ‘Empowerment’ projects.

Buhari accused the National Assembly of reducing provisions for about 10,733 projects and introducing 6,576 new projects, which increased the budget from N16.39tn by N735.85bn to N17.13tn.

“The cut in the provisions for several of these projects by the National Assembly may render the projects unimplementable or set back their completion, especially some of this Administration’s strategic capital projects,” the President added.

He had also expressed his reservations on the “inclusion of new provisions totaling N36.59bn for National Assembly projects in the Service Wide Vote, which negates the principles of separation of powers and financial autonomy of the legislative arm of government.”

However, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, had defended the action of the lawmakers, insisting that they acted in the interest of Nigerians. Some other members also told our correspondent in separate interviews that by virtue of the power of appropriation conferred on the National Assembly by the Constitution, the lawmakers have the right to tinker with the Appropriation Bill like any other bill.

But one of the aggrieved members, who is a ranking member, accused the leadership of both chambers and their respective Committees on Appropriation of unilaterally and discreetly inserting the projects Buhari complained about at the budget signing ceremony.

The lawmaker, who is a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, alleged that the insertions were made unknown to other members of the National Assembly until the President raised the issue.

He said, “Majority of the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate are not aware of the insertions. The insertions came from the Committee on Appropriations and the leadership of the two chambers.”

Asked about the true owners of the projects, the lawmaker said, “The projects are tied to mostly the leadership and membership of the committees – the two committees. Go and check it. Their number in the House, I don’t know. But in the Senate, they are more than 30. Those are the people that did this insertion.

“As far as senators and members of the House are concerned, they are not aware of the increase. Nobody discussed it whether at plenary or during a closed session.”

On the claim by another lawmaker that the projects were inserted to serve electioneering purposes, the source said, “Only a few benefitted.”

Another lawmaker in the lower chamber averred that what the leadership did was unfair to other members. He explained that since the entire National Assembly came under attack by both the President and members of the public, the benefit should not be for a privileged few while other members were kept in the dark.

The lawmaker added, “My disappointment with the President is that this issue of yearly complaint is not new. However, the caveat that he would forward amendments (via a supplementary budget) is something that we will look up to.”

He argued that the President should have withheld assent to the budget like he did to the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill.

The lawmaker added, “Ask members, some senators don’t even know what is happening. Many senators don’t know. Members of the House of Representatives don’t know, unless those that are close to the beneficiaries and have lobbied them.

“The culprits are those that signed the budget, I mean the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee in our chamber, the House of Representatives, and his committee.”

Meanwhile, in a fresh revelation, a ranking senator confided in Sunday PUNCH that the lawmakers deliberately raised the benchmark price of crude oil from the $57 per barrel to $62 to enable them to fund their inserted projects with the excess fund from the oil sale.

The senator added, “The original benchmark was $57, and instead of saving the excess fund to repay our huge debt, my colleagues decided to increase the benchmark to $62 per barrel to get money to fund the inserted projects cited mainly in their constituencies.

“In fact, if we were to pass the budget now, I can assure you we would have raised the benchmark to about $70 per barrel and the budget would have been higher than the N17.12tn.”

Asked to respond to the allegation, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Ajibola Basiru, said, “I don’t know anything about the allegation. You can ask them to substantiate their allegation. He who asserts must prove. If they have an allegation, let them prove it.”

The spokesperson for the House, Benjamin Kalu, however, did not answer several calls made to his telephone line. A message was sent to him on Thursday to react to the allegation, but he had yet to reply to the message as of press time on Saturday.

But the Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Aliyu Betara, stated that all members had projects in the budget, saying he could name the projects the aggrieved members had in the budget if he was told their names, a request our correspondent declined.

Betara added, “If it is the Senate, call Senator Barau Jibrin. If it is a member (of the House) that called you, give me the member’s name, I will give you (details of) his projects. If a member is saying insertions, then I will give you (details of) his projects in the budget.”

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Barau Jibrin, however, did not answer calls made to his mobile.

Also, a senior official in the Office of the Speaker of the House, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, berated the lawmakers alleging budget padding.

The official asked if the accusers could state specifically the projects they were referring to. According to the source, Buhari made a general comment without giving specific details on the projects inserted in the budget as to what the projects were about and where they were domiciled.

“We understand how it is easy to make such an allegation. Committees of the House – chairmen and members – meet with Ministries, Departments and Agencies, which we have always known, and MDAs usually say, ‘This is the envelope they gave us but we need this and that. That is one way that the budget increases. It is also possible for the MDAs to present new projects to the committees but you cannot do that without the knowledge of the chairmen of those committees,” the source said.

The official noted that chairmen of the standing committees, which are sub-committees in budget consideration, usually defend the proposals when laying their reports before the Committee on Appropriations.

The official added, “When somebody now comes up to make a sweeping argument without knowing the specific project; claiming that all the projects the President referred to, which he did not state, were from the chairmen (of the appropriations committees) and the leadership, I am asking, can the person mention which project- just one – that was inserted.”

The Special Adviser to the President of the Senate on Media, Ola Awoniyi, did not answer calls made to his mobile to defend his principal over the allegation.

Budget padding or lawmakers inserting projects into the Appropriation Bill submitted by the executive has been a recurring issue in the National Assembly.

It only became a matter of national concern in 2016 when there was a disagreement between the then Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, and the then chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin. There were counter-accusations on the amount of the projects inserted by the leadership of the House.

Over the years, the lawmakers have insisted that they have the powers to introduce new items into the budget as they could to any other bill brought before them.

The State Security Service has invited Bishop Matthew Kukah for questioning, days after the prominent Catholic priest ramped up his criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari for failing to curb nationwide insecurity, Peoples Gazette can report.

Mr Kukah had slammed Mr Buhari in his Christmas sermon, saying the Nigerian leader has failed to show competence as terrorists, bandits and other violent criminals embark on a coordinated and relentless rampage across the country.

“We also have lost count of hundreds of individuals and families who have been kidnapped and live below the radar of publicity,” Mr Kukah of Catholic Diocese of Sokoto said. “Does the President of Nigeria not owe us an explanation and answers as to when the abductions, kidnappings, brutality, senseless, and endless massacres of our citizens will end? We need urgent answers to these questions.”

Mr Kukah’s comment, which was only the latest amongst several scathing criticisms he had directed at the president in recent years, drew criticism from Mr Buhari’s supporters. The SSS, a federal secret police with a reputation for intimidating, arresting and assassinating government critics from military days, quickly ordered Mr Kukah to appear at its headquarters for questioning, according to a top source familiar with the invitation.

Mr Kukah had yet to honour the invitation as of Saturday afternoon, The Gazette understands. A spokesman for The Kukah Centre did not immediately return a request seeking comments on Saturday afternoon.



A spokesman for the SSS sidestepped all queries from The Gazette about the development.



Mr Kukah is revered amongst Nigeria’s political, business and religious elite for his relentless fight for justice and national unity. His advocacy inspired other prominent Nigerians to speak up against wanton killings across the country since Mr Buhari assumed office and shunned a reconciliatory tone towards aggrieved elements.

Obadiah Mailafia, a former central banker who became a strong voice against the killing of Christians in central Nigeria, was invited repeatedly and periodically detained by the SSS. In an interview he granted before his mysterious death in September 2021, Mr Mailafia alleged an attempt on his life sponsored by the Buhari regime. The government strongly denied the allegations but did not offer condolences to Mr Mailafia’s family.

Bolanle Olabimtan

Zainab, the first wife of Buba Marwa, chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), is dead.

A statement by the family said Zainab died in the early hours of Saturday after a brief illness.

She was 66 years old.

The deceased left behind her four children: Abubakar, Mohamed, Mariam and Zainab, and 10 grandchildren as well as her siblings and aged mother.

Throughout her life, she advocated for the advancement of women and the girl-child.

The family will announce a burial plan at a later date, according to the statement.

By Dayo Johnson


A prison officer, identified as Kayode Adeniyi, attached to the Correctional Centre in Ondo town, Ondo state has reportedly committed suicide over his inability to pay house rent and meet other financial obligations.

Vanguard gathered that the deceased was attached to the Segede Correctional Centre in Ondo West council area of the state.

He reportedly shot himself in the head in his room and died instantly.

Sources said the deceased has complained severally that neighbours and other residents in the street where he resides always make jest of him for his inability to pay his house rent, electricity bill and meet his financial obligations.

A close friend of the deceased who spoke with Vanguard in confidence said that “Whenever we were discussing, he would be lamenting over some issues, which included house rent and electricity bills.

“We even advised him to relocate to another place if he could not stand it or calm down those he was owing that he would pay them later.

“We did not know he had another plan in mind. We did not know why he did that? Probably it was due to stress from personal issues or other things challenges.

“We even advised him to relocate to another place if he could not stand it or appeal to those he was owing.”

Others also attributed the action to due to stress from personal issues or other challenges.

Police sources said the exhibit the deceased used to commit suicide was in police custody.

The source said investigation has commenced to ascertain the cause of his death.

Meanwhile, the corpse has been deposited at a mortuary.

Contacted, the state police command image maker, Fumilayo Odunlami, said the Nigeria Correctional Service should be contacted for comments on the incident.

Some of the persons appointed into the Board and Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) are allies of President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, Buhari appointed them in accordance with the power vested on him under Section 59(2) of the Petroleum Industry Act he signed on August 16, 2021.

The president had constituted the board in September but shortly before it was to be inaugurated, he suspended the exercise indefinitely.

No reason was given for the development. But on Wednesday, Adesina announced a major change on the board – the replacement of Senator Ifeanyi Ararume with Lady Margaret Okadigbo. This piece shows how the president compensated some of his old allies with the appointments.


OKADIGBO

When Buhari threw his hat into the ring in 2003, former Senate President Chuba Okadigbo was his running mate. Then candidate of the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), Buhari lost the election to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Okadigbo died in the same year that the election held. He passed on due to breathing problems a day after he was teargassed at a campaign rally in Kano. 12 years after his death, his widow was elected a senator. She represented Anambra North at the senate in the 8th assembly. Buhari has now picked the widow of his former running mate to chair NNPC board.

UMAR

An ally of Buhari, Tajudeen has been on the board of NNPC since the president came to power. He was appointed into the board when Maikanti Baru was made the Group Managing Director of the corporation.

Umar was a part of Buhari’s strategic think tank before the president was elected. He is on the NNPC board as the North-East representative.

HARRY MARSHAL

Barrister Constance Harry Marshal is the daughter of Marshal Sokai Harry, the National Coordinator of Buhari’s 2003 Presidential Campaign in the South South. Harry died in the same year with Okadigbo but the circumstances were different. The politician was murdered in Abuja during the 2003 presidential elections. His death had sparked a huge controversy as many high-ranking government officials were accused of being behind it.

The deceased’s child has now been appointed as the representative of the South South on the NNPC Board.

OBIH

Engr. Henry Ikemefuna Obih, the South East representative on the board, is an ally of Rotimi Amaechi, who is one of the most powerful ministers in Buhari’s cabinet. Twice, Buhari chose Amaechi as the head of his campaign and the minister has been part of the government since 2015. He also has direct access to Buhari.

Obih, a former Executive Director of Operations at Mobil Oil Nigeria plc is a University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) trained Engineer. His ties to Amaechi dates back to when the Minister of Transportation was governor of Rivers State. When Amaechi crossed over to the Federal Cabinet, Obih happened to be among those who remained in his close circle.

AKINYELURE

Chief Pius Akinyelure, a former National Vice Chairman (South West) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is the South West representative on the NNPC board. The Ondo-trained tax practitioner was elected a senator in 2011. He was out of the senate when Buhari came to power in 2015 but has been a promoter of the government since then. At some point, using his role as an APC big wig in the South West in the interest of the Buhari administration.

AHMED

Bobboi Ahmed was appointed as a council member for the Midstream and Downstream Infrastructure Fund. Prior to now, he was the head of Petroleum Equalization Fund Management; a post he owes to Buhari, who appointed him in 2016.

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that he is certain the 2022 budget will accomplish the purpose for which it was created.

Speaking exclusively to Channels Television on Wednesday, the president said he is confident that the budget will succeed because the National Assembly is led by trusted members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

When asked if he is afraid that the budget might not be able to achieve its purpose, the president replied, “No! Not at all”.

He said, “My confidence that we can successfully implement the budget is because, in both houses, the party is leading.

“It’s APC party and the leadership; look at the Senate President, he was in the House of Reps for two or three terms before he went to the Senate.

“Look at Femi Gbajabiamila, I was watching on the television, when he was an ordinary member, he was always on his seat fighting for the party and the system we believe in.

“Really, I consider myself lucky. My party and their competent leadership are both leading in the Senate and House of Representatives.

“That’s why you don’t hear much about me, I allow them to do all the things because I can’t go against my party and I can’t go against people I have absolute confidence in. I know they are doing their best,” President Buhari added.

He further asserted that the objections earlier raised before he assented to the budget will not cause a rift between the Executive and Legislative arms of government.

“The legislature is amazing,” the president said.

Following President Buhari’s assent to the 2022 budget, there were reports of friction between the presidency and the parliament.

The president had expressed strong reservations on the “worrisome changes” made by the National Assembly to the 2022 Executive Budget proposal.

He frowned at many changes that the National Assembly made to the 2022 Executive Budget proposal, including “Increase in projected FGN Independent Revenue by N400 billion, the justification for which is yet to be provided to the Executive; Reduction in the provision for Sinking Fund to Retire Maturing Bonds by N22 billion without any explanation; Reduction of the provisions for the Non-Regular Allowances of the Nigerian Police Force and the Nigerian Navy by N15 billion and N5 billion respectively”.

With all the irregularities encountered, the president still signed the budget, and the presidency has since said that though disagreements were encountered with the insertions, the president and the parliament have not fallen out.

By Cletus Ukpong


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Pic: Uduak Nseobot


For assaulting a woman and stripping her in public, a State High Court in Uyo has asked an Akwa Ibom man and his wife to pay N4 million to the victim.

The man, Uduak Nseobot, and his wife, Aniedi, are to pay an additional N200,000 to the woman to cover the cost of litigation.

Mr Nseobot, in November 2018, abducted the victim, Iniubong Essien, in Uyo and drove her to Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area of the state, about 27 minutes’ drive, where he and the wife assaulted the woman and publicly stripped her – they had accused her of stealing their money.

They said the money was “sprayed” on them at their wedding — a common practice at Nigerian festivities.

Ms Essien had her body painted with charcoal and a rope tied around her waist, while she was forced to dance naked before some community people.

The incident happened when Mr Nseobot was a councillor (a lawmaker) in Ibiono Ibom council.

The assaulted woman, Ms Essien, who had been a close friend to Mr Nseobot’s wife for about 10 years, denied stealing the money.

The judge, Edem Akpan, while delivering judgement on Thursday, said what Mr Nseobot and his wife did to the woman was “totally condemnable”.

The judge said the man’s action was a typical disregard Nigerian politicians have for citizens’ rights.

The court said by their own affidavits, Mr Uduak and his wife “admitted to committing the atrocities” and that they had no defence for what they did.

A Lagos-based lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, who had filed the fundamental rights enforcement suit on behalf of Ms Essien, told PREMIUM TIMES his client has been vindicated by the judgement.


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The victim, Ms Iniubong Essien


“From the onset, the evidence was very compelling. What the former councillor did was quite outrageous. I think that is about one of the most grievous examples of human rights violations (in Nigeria), said Mr Effiong who did the case pro bono for the woman.

“We are going to enforce the judgement. If they go on appeal, we will be waiting for them,” he said.

Ms Essien said she was happy with the court judgment.

“No, I wasn’t surprised with the judgment, he couldn’t have gotten away with what he did,” she told PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr Nseobot and his wife were represented in the case by Mfon Ben.

The lawyer did not respond to calls seeking comment from him.

Meanwhile, the former councillor is facing criminal charges over the incident.

A suit in which he filed to stop the police from investigating the matter was dismissed by a judge.

Tana Aiyejina

Most African sides tremble when they are pitted against continental heavyweights Egypt but PUNCH Sports Extra learnt that the Egyptians fear teams south of the Sahara, including Nigeria, who they believe can turn around the results of matches using ‘black magic.’

Nigeria and Egypt, as well as Guniea Bissau and Sudan, are pooled in Group D of the forthcoming Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

Following the Moroccan delegation’s arrival in Cameroon with their food, water and hotel staff, it was learnt that Egypt would also be applying same approach for fear of ‘black magic’ in Cameroon.

Egyptian journalist Hady Elmadany, in an interview with Godwin Enakhena on Top Radio, said the Pharaohs will apply same approach when they land in Garoua, Cameroon on January 7

“Egypt will do the same thing (like Morocco), same as Al Ahly and Zamalek do when they travel,” Elmadany said.

“They go to places with their food because they may have problem with the taste of the food from other parts of Africa. But I don’t know why they (Morocco) are taking water.

“What you don’t know in Nigeria and other parts of Africa, Egyptian football is worried so much about black magic. I’m sorry to tell you, Egyptians are worried of the black magic. They are worried also when they travel to Tunisia, Algeria and especially morocco. So, it’s not any sign of disrespect, just the personal culture of each country.”

The Egyptian media practitioner preferred to sit on the bench when asked if he was afraid Nigeria would claim all three points against the North Africans.

“I won’t say I’m not afraid but confrontations between Egypt and Nigeria are always with some mutual respect, so neither of them is afraid, neither of them is confident of a win. I think if the game ends in a draw, no one will be angry or sad. Both will say I can beat Sudan and Guinea Bissau and go to the second round at the top of the group.”

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the 2023 election is not his problem.

He said this during a special interview with Channels TV on Wednesday.

One of the interviewers, Maupe Ogun, told the President “all we are going to ask you to do is that for these last words tell us what comes to mind, maybe in one sentence or two”.


The first teaser was on Nigeria’s young people.

Responding, the president said; “I wish when they go to school, when they work hard, when they have a degree, they don’t do it thinking government must give them a job”.

“You get educated because an educated person is certainly better than an uneducated one. Even in identifying personal problems.

“So, education is not just to hang on to government to give you job. And what the colonials indoctrinated on, to have a car, to have a house, and to start work at 8 O’Clock and close at 2 O’Clock”.

The second interviewer, Seun Okinbaloye, in a follow-up asked, “Another word, another phrase is PDP, what comes to mind?”

Without mincing words, the president in a terse response said; “PDP! Failure!”.

President Buhari had in 2015 defeated the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Goodluck Jonathan, and again in 2019 defeated the party’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

Cutting the president short while commenting on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Maupe Ogun, asked, “2023 elections, what comes to mind?”.

The president replied; “It is not my problem!”.

Activities at the Port Harcourt Refinery Company in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State was disrupted following a fire incident.

Though details of the fire which occured on Saturday morning could not be ascertained, a source said the fire which lasted for less than an hour has been put out.

The source who prefered anonymity said,”Yes it is true that there was a fire outbreak this morning. An operation was going on when it happened.

“There was a minor damage because it was immediately contained. So no loss of lives or property.”

The Port Harcourt refinery which is currently undergoing repairs gulping $2.5billion dollars is the first and largest refinery in the country built in 1965.

The refinery like the others is not producing, even as the ongoing repairs is expected to be completed in March 2023.

But there has been complaints of illegal oil bunkering in Port Harcourt and other parts of the state.

By Tijjani Ibarhim


Katsina state governor, Aminu Bello Masari, has reiterated his position on power shift to the southern part of the country, saying that would help consolidate the nation’s confederation system.

Masari said this while responding to questions from journalist during a media parley held at his residence on Tuesday.

“Let me make my position very clear. This constitution is made for us, not us made for the constitution. Yes, constitution does not say we must shift power, but if you shift have you violated any part of the constitution?”

“I still believe that, from my personal opinion as Aminu Bello Masari, until such a time when we have stable polity, I think rotation or shifting power from time to time will help consolidate our confederation. I support that and I still maintain my stand and I have the constitutional right to make such comment,” he said.

Masari said he was a member of the constitutional conference of 1994/95 during which Federal Character Commission was provided for, adding that he was a member of the transition committee in 1999 and their committee initially suggested that each zone should be given opportunity of five years through the instrumentality of the constitution, but the suggestion did no see the light of the day.

He called on politicians, journalists, religious and traditional leaders to put the interest of the country above their personal interest as 2023 general elections approach.

“We should see politics as a way and means of producing leadership under democratic dispensation. Our politics is still very young, even from independence to date, you are talking of 60 years, which is important in the life of an individual, but in the life of a nation, it should be working progress.”

“We should measure where we were yesterday, where we are today and where we want to be tomorrow. The problem is that we are in a hurry that even before we finish crawling, we want to start running,” he said.

He said politicians needed attitudinal change as they needed to appreciate the responsibilities and burden of leadership as well as the consequences of coming forward to contest for any elective office.

“I believe the journalists in particular, have a very important role to play. For instance, as we approach 2023, the attention being created by the media is the fat salary and allowances of the National Assembly members, not on what the lawmakers are doing or what they supposed to do. So the media created a situation whereby everybody wants to go there because there is money.”

“But to be fair to the media, some of us in the national assembly are also helping in creating that false impression by changing their ways of life in such a way that even their friends become envious,” Gov. Masari said.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Muhammad Bello, has pledged to provide needed support for NEXT Cash and Carry Supermall, Abuja, owned by a former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi to bounce back stronger than it was before the fire incident on Boxing Day.

The minister made the pledge on Tuesday in Abuja while undertaking an on-the-spot assessment of the mega shopping mall which was gutted by fire on Sunday, December 26.

Bello said the fire incident was something that hit the city very hard as the facility was an important investment that generated many jobs for Abuja residents.

He added that even though the inferno was an unfortunate incident, by the grace of God, no life was lost, and a substantial part of the premises where bulk items were stored in the warehouses were salvaged.

“This particular incident brought out what is good about us as residents, everybody united and supported them,” he said.

“I sympathise with NEXT, particularly because during the heat of the COVID-19, NEXT was among the foremost companies that provided tremendous support to the FCTA, by providing palliative items, which we distributed to vulnerable members of the community.

“Unfortunately, today they are also vulnerable, so it’s our duty in the city to rally round and protect this important investment that is a generator of many jobs in the city.

“We will give them all the needed support so that they bounce back stronger than what they were before. We look forward to seeing you back to business in no distant future,” he said.

The National Assembly has dismissed media reports that members of the two chambers of the assembly had commenced collection of signatures to counter President Muhammadu Buhari’s refusal to assent the electoral amendment bill.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, made this known when he fielded questions from State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting with President Buhari in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The Speaker, who met the president alongside the Senate President, said he was not aware of any move by the legislators to override the president, saying a collection of signatures was not an easy task as being speculated.

He said: “I’m not aware of any such as at least not in my chambers. We’re on a break right now, a collection of signatures is not something that is done when we’re on break, when everybody’s scattered.!

“What I said very clearly, I made it abundantly clear at our last sitting, that we will look at the President’s veto and his reasons. And when we come back, it’s not something we’re going to do on a knee jerk.

“When we come back from our recess, there’s still ample time, we will decide one way or the other. Which way to go, the options are there.

“We will do what is right for the Nigerian people. And I made it very clear that we’re not going to throw away the baby with the bathwater.

“Nigerians want it and Nigerians will get it. We may have tarried a little while.

“But by the time we come back, right, at least as far as the house, and I’m sure the Senate as well, will be the first thing on our agenda. The very week we come back from recess.’’

The Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, who also addressed the correspondents, revealed that the recently passed 2022 appropriation bill of 17.13trillion would be transmitted to the president by next week for signing.

He said: “We’re very optimistic. In fact, we’re very sure that Mr President will sign the bill into an act of the National Assembly next week by the grace of God. And this is the way we should always work together.

“This is our third appropriation bill to be passed before we go on Christmas break.

“It has shown how important the passage and the assent to the budget before the end of the year has been.’’

NAN

Leke Baiyewu


The National Assembly has transmitted the 2022 Appropriation Bill to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), for assent.

The House of Representatives and the Senate passed the Federal Government’s budget on Tuesday and Wednesday last week, respectively, raising the total estimates from the proposed N16.391tn to N17.126tn.

The oil benchmark was raised from the proposed $57 per barrel to $62.

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, had said the budget would be transmitted to Buhari by Thursday.

A communication from the Clerk to the National Assembly, Ojo Amos, to the Presidency, a copy of which our correspondent sighted on Tuesday, showed that the budget was transmitted on Friday and received by the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President on Saturday.

The letter of transmission, with Reference Number NASS/CNA/37/Vol.1/35, was addressed to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and titled ‘APPROPRIATION BILL, 2022.’

It read, “In consonance with the Provisions of the Acts Authentication Act Cap. A2, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, I wish, with due respect, to forward to Your Excellency, the authenticated copies of Appropriation Bill, 2022, for your consideration and assent.

“After Your Excellency’s assent, one copy of the signed bill should be retained in your office while the other two are to be returned for our further action, please.

The National Assembly had with the 2022 budget returned the country to a January-December budget cycle.

Buhari had signed 2021 Appropriation Bill into law on January 1, 2021, while it’s life cycle was expected to expire on December 31, 2021 (Friday) but for the recent extension of the lifespan of its capital component three months by the National Assembly.

The President is expected to assent to the money bill by Saturday.

Leke Baiyewu


The House of Representatives has proposed in the National Youth Service Corps Trust Fund (Establishment) Bill 2021, a fine of N2m or an imprisonment of one year for companies or owners, respectively, who fail to release one per cent of their profit to fund the scheme.

According to the bill which is awaiting second reading at the House, the Fund would be financed with a levy of one per cent of the net profit of companies and organised private sector operating in Nigeria.

It will also be financed with 0.2 per cent of total revenue accruing to the Federation Account; and any take-off grant and special intervention fund as may be provided by the federal, state and local governments.

Other sources of fund include “such money as may be appropriated to meet the objective of this Act by the National Assembly in the budget; aids, grants and assistance from international bilateral and multilateral agencies, non-governmental organisations and the organised private sector; grants, donations, endowments, bequests and gifts, whether of money, land or any other property from any source; and money derived from investment made by the Trust Fund.”

The bill, therefore, prescribes penalties for non-compliance with the proposed law.

It partly read, “Except as otherwise provided in this Act, a person guilty of an offence under this Act shall, on conviction, be liable – for a first offence, to imprisonment for a term of six months or to a fine of up to N1,000,000.00 or both; and for a second and subsequent offences, to imprisonment for a term of 12 months or to a fine of up to N2,000,000.00 or both.

“The institution of proceedings or imposition of a penalty under this Act shall not relieve a company or sector from liability to pay to the Service a levy which is or may become due under this Act.

“Notwithstanding the provisions of Sub-section (1) (a) and (b) of this section, where any company or sector or corporate body liable to file a return on the levy under this Act fails in any year to file such return, the Service, if it is of the opinion that such a company or sector or corporate body is liable to pay the levy, may, according to the best of its judgment, determine the amount of assessable profit of such company and make an assessment of the levy in accordance with the provisions of this Act.”

Political thugs loyal to Senator Elisha Abbo have allegedly assaulted one Silas Daniel, causing him grievous injuries in Adamawa State.

Silas, an estranged former Personal Assistant (PA) to Abbo, was attacked with machetes, daggers and clubs by thugs, allegedly on the order of the lawmaker.

Abbo became infamous in a similar circumstance when he assaulted a nursing mother at a intimacy gadget shop in Abuja two years ago. The incident was captured by a CCTV camera.

SaharaReporters learnt that Silas, who is in a critical condition at the Adamawa/German Hospital, Yola, was reportedly manhandled on December 23, 2021, in Vimtim, in the Mubi Local Government Area, during a football competition, which he had sponsored.

SaharaReporters learnt that the football tournament had attracted young people to Silas, which Senator Abbo, saw as a threat to his popularity among the youths.

Narrating his ordeal to SaharaReporters, Silas said, "Senator Abbo had recruited the thugs and detailed them to kill me.

"I parted ways with him when he defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC); ever since he's been plotting to harm me.

"When I announced this year's annual football competition on our Fali tribal WhatsApp platform, he (Abbo) opposed it, saying it was improper for an individual to sponsor the event.

"He insisted that the tournament must be taken away from me and managed by Fali Cultural Development Association.

"He had no problems with individual sponsorship of the events previously because I gave credit to him back then when I served as his Personal Assistant.

"Now that we have severed ties, I'm in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he saw the event as a threat to his popularity among the youths, therefore, he wanted it scuttled.

"During the grand finale on December 23, 2021, while a football match was being played at Vintim playground; the senator's thugs, led by one of the policemen attached to him, pounced on me with machetes, daggers and clubs.

"They macheted my head, my back and stripped me almost necked, leaving only boxers on me.

"They carted away my handbag containing money, N200,000, two iPhones, one iTel phone and one Nokia phone

"The boys playing football had to abandon the match and run to rescue me," he said.

When SaharaReporters contacted one Inspector Nicholas, who is a police orderly attached to the senator, he denied witnessing the assault.

"I've not seen anything like that; by the way, I'm a professional police officer, trained to protect civilians and to prevent crime. It would be out of place to harm civilians with whose tax money I'm being paid sir," he said.

Efforts to get Senator Abbo to respond were unsuccessful, as calls to his verified mobile phone number indicated "the phone number you dialled does not exist". The senator did not respond to a WhatsApp message sent to him.

When contacted, Senator Abbo's media aide, Michael Bolgent, promised to call back but had not done so as of the time of filing this report.

Solomon Odeniyi, Abuja

24 hours after a massive fire engulfed Next Cash and Carry Supermarket in the Jabi area of the Federal Capital Territory, firefighters are still struggling to completely put out the fire.

This as security operatives have denied journalists access to the premises of the razed Supermarket.

The supermarket which is one of the biggest in the territory according to some of the employees who spoke to journalists on Sunday the fire started around 8 am.

They also said the inferno was caused by an electrical surge which started from the administrative section of the supermarket.

The employees of the supermarket, however, accused personnel of the fire service of getting to the scene late.

The FCT Fire Service, Federal Fire Service, the fire units of the Nigerian Navy and Guards Brigade, and fire trucks from Julius Berger Plc tried, on Sunday, to extinguish the fire.

But our correspondent, who is on the ground at the moment, reports that the fire was still raging and smokes have pervaded the area.

The firefighters were also seen trying to extinguish the fire.

Also, some portions of the supermarket have gone down due to the damage caused by the fire.

Meanwhile, the Federal Capital Territory Police Command said it had arrested four suspects who attempted to steal from the supermarket on Sunday.

According to her, the suspects are currently at the Mabushi Divisional Police Station.

She said, “Security agencies were deployed to manage the situation, minimize damage, extinguish the inferno and ensure the maintenance of law and order.

“Suspects who made attempts to cart away goods from the store and were promptly arrested. They are: Ali Audu aged 18 Years; Yahaya Yunusa aged 20 Years; and Sahabi Abubakar aged 20 Years.”

She said an investigation is currently ongoing to ascertain the cause of the fire.

By Ibrahim Hassan


The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, yesterday, said it was investigating the audio tape accusing the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, of directing and dictating activities of the commission.

In the BBC Hausa Service monitored by Vanguard, EFCC said its investigation followed a trending audio where Malami was accused of controlling the EFCC in a case of bribery and corruption that the commission is handling.

The EFCC said it had listened to the phone conversation, and had found out that it was one of its operatives who was discussing with an accomplice in crime.

In the alleged phone conversation, the said operative claimed the Minister of Justice was in total control of the EFCC, alleging that no matter the enormity of a crime committed, he (Malami) could nullify it, once he was contacted.

Reacting, the EFCC frowned at perceived unprofessional behaviour allegedly exhibited by the said operative, saying it was against the laid down rules guiding official conducts in the commission.

In a statement by EFCC spokesperson, Mr. Wilson Uwujeran, said: “The attention of the EFCC, has been drawn to a trending audio tape in the social media, where a lawyer and seconded police officer with the commission (name withheld), purportedly made unsubstantiated claims regarding the influence of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Malami on the commission.

“The commission wishes to state that it has commenced investigation into the content of the audio tape and will activate its internal mechanism to deal with the issues arising there from. For the avoidance of doubt, the EFCC does not condone acts of corruption. Abuse of privilege for financial gratification by personnel of the commission is a serious offence against discipline.

“Without prejudice to the outcome of the investigation, snippets of the audio recording clearly showed an abysmally compromised “officer” dropping names to ingratiate his benefactor, a relative of a crime suspect. By the alleged action, the said officer is no more than a corrupt fifth columnist with scant regard for the values of the commission.

“The action is contemptuous of the established Standard Operating Procedure of the EFCC. Such professional indiscretion has no place in the new EFCC. The commission encourages citizens who encounter any such unprofessional conduct by personnel of the EFCC to report to the commission in support of our quest to build a better agency.

“Reporting such conducts has been made easy by the Eagle Eye App, a financial crimes reporting application which was launched earlier in the year. We encourage members of the public to download the App from the Apple and Google Play Store and put it to use.

“The commission wishes to assure the public that its operations are guided by established professional precepts which do not support the kind of discretion that could allow for manipulation by external actors.”

Meanwhile, the Minister of Justice has dismissed the allegation, saying it was not true, but mere blackmail

The Minister through his aide on Media and Public Relations, Dr. Umaru Gwandu, told the BBC that “it was just figment of imagination and lies that were being propagated, they just drop-pedthe minister’s name in their discussion.”

Although the minister has not disclosed his next line of action on the matter, he has, however, said he was satisfied with the action taken by the EFCC so far.

By Stephen Ekedum



CLAIM: In one of the national dailies, Vanguardngr.com, President Muhammadu Buhari, on the side-lines of the Nigeria International Partnership Forum (NIPF) in Paris, France, on Wednesday, November 10, 2021, said investors can come and invest in Nigeria because his government has rightly put its economy on the path of growth and development.

According to Vanguardngr.com, Buhari said, “Recognising the importance of security to a nation’s risk profile, we re-assessed and updated our National Security Strategy in 2019.

“The implementation of this multi-sectoral strategy has contributed to the progress we have made in fighting insurgents and terrorists in the North East of the country.

“Working closely with international partners, we are firmly addressing the root causes of crimes and taking measures to prevent and counter-violent extremism.”


FACT CHECK PROCESS: In an attempt to verify Mr President’s claim, fact-checkers at the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD interrogated the available data.


ASSUMPTION OF OFFICE: President Muhammadu Buhari’s struggle to return to power over 30 years after his 25-month reign as a military head of state crystalised on May 29, 2015, when he was sworn in as the nation’s fourth democratically elected president. This occasion preceded his electoral triumph against the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan in a keenly contested poll.

Records show that Buhari met a nosediving economy – import dependent, depleted foreign reserve, freefalling naira against forex and increasing bombing and kidnapping by Boko Haram insurgents, among others. However, he did not do well enough to address the emergencies on time.

According to the reports, “when President Muhammadu Buhari took over in 2015, the economy was already in decline; a decline that can be attributed to the neglect of the economy during the campaign period and the resurgence of hostilities by the Niger Delta militants. The simultaneous decline in the production and price of crude oils combined to create fiscal fragility at the early stage of President Buhari’s administration. The impact of the fiscal crisis on GDP growth, many believed, would have been ameliorated had the Buhari administration hit the ground running (Allison, 2015).

“However, the six months delay in forming the executive, during which time oil production declined to 1.6 mbpd and the price dropped to US$44 a barrel, contributed significantly to Nigeria’s economic contraction in 2016. In response to this contraction, the government introduced the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) 2017-2020. Although the economy crawled out of recession in 2017; real GDP grew by just 0.8%, less than the population growth rate.”

TRANSPORTATION: Under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, records have shown that significant investments have been made in the nation’s Transport infrastructures, with building and maintenance of Roads, Bridges, Rails, and Airports, gulping the bulk of the money.

For instance, out of Nigeria’s total 200,000 kilometres of surface roads, the Federal Government accounts for 32,000 kms, a figure that represents 18% of the total, 70 per cent of the national vehicular and freight traffic. The Local Government roads make up about 150,000 km, the 67 per cent total of which are mostly untarred. The State roads constitute 15 per cent (about 17,000km), and 78 per cent of the roads are noted to be in poor condition.

In 2020, Buhari’s government established a company called InfraCo Plc, an infrastructure development entity, with a take-off capital of N15 trillion, to manage and facelift the Federal portion of the Roads. This leap was consequent upon the inauguration of the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) in the same period under review, with more than $1 billion capital funding for the initiative.

TRAIN: In June, earlier in the year, the President launched the 157km Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge Rail (SGR), a 150km/h line, with a seven-kilometre branch, constructed by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC). This was said to be a complementary arrangement for the newly refurbished Lagos-Ibadan Expressway that has been left unattended for years and transformed into a death trap that consume lives of road travellers every day.

AIRPORTS: The president also approved four international airports as special economic zones: Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt, in addition to the construction of new runways for Abuja and Enugu international airports to be funded by Sukuk Bond and a Chinese loan.

SEA PORTS: He gave approval for new private-sector funded deep sea ports: Lekki Deep Sea Port (construction already well underway, for completion in 2022); Bonny Deep Sea Port (ground-breaking done in March 2021); Ibom Deep Sea Port; and Warri Deep Sea Port.

Report had it that with development of capacity at the Eastern Ports, in December 2017, Calabar Port commenced export of bulk cement to Tema Port in Ghana. In 2019, three container ships berthed at Calabar Port, for the first time in eleven years; dredging of Warri Port (Escravos Bar-Warri Port channel) was completed in 2018. On October 30, 2019, an LPG tanker operated by NLNG, berthed in Port Harcourt – the first time ever an LPG ship would berth in any of the Eastern Ports.

INSECURITY: Under President Buhari the country has substantially been bedevilled with insecurity and threats of disintegration.

Prior to his assumption of power, Boko Haram insurgents had largely held the country hostage, bombing and killing indiscriminately. Buhari’s government has, however, helped address this monumental threat momentarily.

However, the marginal gain recorded in this fight seems to have been eroded by the regrouping and transformation of the insurgent groups into more vicious, heartless and killing machines killing, maiming, kidnapping and torturing Nigerians, mostly women and children.

For instance, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 2020 Report revealed that over 350,000 people have been killed by insurgents in the North East alone. This is beside the over two million displaced.

Punch Newspaper, on Saturday, December 8, 2021, reported on its front page that in recent months over 800 people had been killed by bandits in Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara and Borno states and that the onslaught did not appear to be slowing down.

Wall Street Journey, one of the leading and most reputable international media organisations, recently reported how the Buhari-led government had to pay huge sums of money to insurgents in order to excuse his presidential plane from being blown up with their rocket launchers.

POVERTY: According to World Poverty Clock, 41 per cent (86,674,882) of Nigeria’s total population (209,661,008) live in extreme poverty and on less than $1.90 per day. In 2018, under the same President Buhari, the World Bank designated Nigeria as the country with the largest concentration of poor people in the world. Nigeria became the world’s capital of poverty after wresting power from India, a country of over 1.2bn population that has continued to lift its people out of poverty through unrelenting investments in education, craft, science, technology, and other economic empowerment initiatives.

EXCHANGE RATE: As of Friday, December 17, 2021, $1 was changed for N410.16, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). In 2015, Buhari’s government met the same exchange rate at between N178 -N197. Whatever his government might have been doing appears inconsequential, compared to the real outlook, and its effects on the daily lives and businesses of Nigerians and investors.

DEBT PROFILE: Nigeria’s National Debt Profile as at September 30, 2021, stood at 37,955.090.000, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO).

Loans obtained from China’s EXIM Bank between April 26, 2016, and December 27, 2019, was at a total of $16,323,397.32. The irony is that some of the loans have expansive repayment plans of up to 20 years, over 14 years after he would have left office.

One of such loans was the $208.90m he collected for the four Nigerian airports’ terminal expansion on December 27, 2019. Though at 2.75 per cent, the repayment will lapse in 2039, 20 years after Buhari would have left office, another source of worry for future governments.

UNEMPLOYMENT: According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s unemployment rate increased to 33.30 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020 from 27.10 per cent, over 60m of the total population. Youth unemployment was pegged at 53.40 per cent by NBS. Meanwhile, Buhari has promised series of economic interventions that would ultimately lead to gainful employment for 100 million of Nigerians. As at this time, the promise is still being awaited.

HEALTH SECTOR: Other than the coordinated efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic, nothing much has happened to the Nigerian health sector. In fact, the president himself and his political chieftains like Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu who many believe is planning to succeed him have continued to treat themselves in foreign hospitals at the slightest headaches.

Conclusion: According to CDD Fact-checkers, record shows that Buhari’s government has substantially invested in long-term infrastructure, ostensibly to aid the economy, but this supposed gains have been taken away by insecurity, unemployment, growing poverty and looming famine in the land.

VERDICT: True; but misleading.

Despite the claim by the Palace of Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II, that the social media accounts of Evangelist Naomi Silekunola have been hacked, the divorce announcement on the verified Instagram page of the estranged wife of the monarch has not been brought down more than 24 hours after it was posted on December 23, 2021.

The 28-year-old evangelist on Thursday announced her separation from the 47-year-old monarch and renounced the title of a ‘Queen’, saying she tried to make the three-year union work but the Ooni’s public identity is at variance with “his true self”.

Our correspondent observed that she posted the announcement simultaneously on her verified Instagram page and her recognised Facebook page around 11am on Thursday.

Her Facebook page with the name, ‘HM. Queen Evang Silekunola Moronke Naomi Ogunwusi’ has over 70,000 followers while her Instagram page, ‘Silekunola M. Naomi Ogunwusi’, boasts of over 196,000 followers.

“I did my best to endure and make it work; many times, I smiled through the struggle, but I have finally realised I had just one assignment, my son, and when God is done, He is done. He chose Saul to be king, and when He was done, He told the prophet Samuel I have moved on.

“Religion was never an issue between us; please refer to my interview on News Central TV. Instead, His Majesty has a picture he would love the world to see and perceive him as and another one which is his true self,” the fair-skinned lady posted on her social media pages.

She then declared, “Today I announce the beginning of a new dawn and the close of a chapter. Today, I am a mother to God’s unique gift. I am no longer a slave to my thoughts of perfection. I, at this moment, announce that I shall no longer be referred to as wife to the Ooni of Ife or as Queen of Ile-Ife but as the Queen of the people and mother of my adorable Prince.”

Moments later, Silekunola added, “He is God’s way of saying I know about it all. In situations like this, there will be aggrieved persons. I, at this moment, appeal to all parties involved to allow the peace of God with the consciousness that there is a lovely little boy between us. I thank all of my prayer partners and loved ones.

“I remain committed to all of my projects, charity work and ministry. In this new season, I shall be focusing on God only.”

But reacting to the development, the Director of Media and Strategy, Ooni’s palace, Moses Olafare, said the Palace is probing the possible hacking of Olori Naomi’s Instragam page.

Some Nigerians have since called on the Palace to produce a video of Silekunola announcing that her social media accounts were hacked to post the divorce notice but the Palace had yet to do so.

Efforts by our correspondent to get the comments of Olafare on Friday proved abortive as his line was perpetually switched off.

Before being coronated king, the Ooni was previously married to Adebukola Bombata in 2008 but the marriage failed. As a monarch, the Ooni married Edo-born Zaynab-Otiti Obanor in 2016 but the union lasted for 17 months before their separation.

He later married Silekunola in 2018 and the marriage produced a son, Tadenikawo.

The monarch also had a daughter with Omolara Olatubosun as a teenager. Olatubosun gave birth to Princess Adeola Ogunwusi but recently, there have been counter-claims between the Ooni and Olatubosun over who was responsible for the upbringing of their daughter.

Aside from the Ooni, other traditional rulers who had experienced divorce known to the public include the Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi, whose marriage to his Jamaican wife, Ms Chanel Chin, crashed in December 2019. Also, Anuoluwapo Adeyemi, one of the wives of the Alaafin of Oyo, Lamidi Adeyemi III, parted ways with him in November 2020.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Maiduguri blamed Niger Delta militants and reduced oil earnings for his inferior performance in his over six years at the helm.

Mr Buhari, who was in Borno State to commission some projects undertaken by the state government, made the excuses after listening to some requests by Governor Babagana Zulum and the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Ibn-Umar El Kanemi.

“Nigerians should be fair to the administration in terms of reflecting on where we were before we came in 2015 and where we are now,” Mr Buhari urged, “relative to time and resources, I want people to check with CBN and NNPC between 1999 and 2015. Oil production is 2.1 million barrels per day and at a cost of 100 dollars per barrel. I challenged everybody to go and check.”

Mr Buhari continued, “When we came, unfortunately, the militants from the South-South were unleashing on the pipelines, the production went down to half a million barrels per day.

“The prices went down to 36 dollars per barrel. So relative time and resources would make you know that this administration has really worked hard.”

Upon his arrival in Maiduguri, sounds of rockets fired by insurgents, Boko Haram/ISWAP, rented the air, creating panic among residents who have endured over a decade of trauma in the raging battle.

Nonetheless, the Shehu of Borno claimed before Mr Buhari that “peace has gradually returned to Borno” while thanking him for his efforts “toward bringing lasting peace in Borno as well as the entire North East Sub-Region.”

“I am happy to inform the President that farming activities have picked up in most parts of the state and many displaced persons have started to return to their communities,” he said.

Mr Elkanemi said he “will not relent in prayers for their(military’s) success for peace to prevail in all parts of the country and indeed for Mr President.”

The Shehu appealed to the president to consider the reconstruction of federal roads in the state especially Damboa-Biu Road Gamboru Ngala, Biu-Shani and Kukawa then Kukawa- Guzamala-Damasak through Gashagar to Malam Fatori.

He said that the reconstruction of the roads will not only enhance security but also accelerate rehabilitation of the destroyed communities to quickly revive the economic well-being of the displaced persons.

On his part, Mr Zulum, who expressed the same feelings, said that the successes recorded in the counter insurgency campaign wouldn’t have been possible without the commitment of the Nigerian Military, Civilian JTF and other paramilitary officers.

The governor said notwithstanding the challenges in some parts of the state, peace was gradually returning to the state.

He identified some areas in Askira Uba and the shores of Lake Chad in Northern Borno with challenges, but assured that he would partner with the service chiefs to address the emerging problems.

NAN

By Salim Umar Ibrahim


The Kano state Hisbah board is currently under fire over its plan to invite the parents of Shatu Garko, winner of Miss Nigeria 2021.

Garko, an 18-year-old Hijab wearing model from Kano, emerged winner of the contest, which held in Lagos on Friday night.

But Commandant-General of the board, Harun Ibn Sina, had told Daily Trust that participation in beauty pageants was against Islamic teachings.

Citing verses and examples from holy books, he had said, “We investigated and confirmed that the girl called Shatu Garko is from Kano state and an Indigene of Garko Local Government area of Kano state.

“Islamically, it is totally forbidden because it goes against the teachings and practices of Islam. Immorality is practiced and encouraging the female gender to be immoral. A female Muslim is not allowed to open any part of her body except her face and palms of her hands except for their husbands, children or siblings. It has come to our notice that our children are now coming out to contest for this immoral act which is not acceptable.”


He had said the parents of Garko would soon be invited over what their child did.

Reacting to the issue, the Contact and Mobilization Officer, Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED), Zuwaira Umar, said the action is an infringement of her rights.

“She has the right constitutionally and Nigeria confers on every citizen the freedom of association and expression. There’s no law in Kano banning that and talking about immorality, what she did is no match to what some daughter’s of influential people in the state have done in terms of dressing.

“A daughter of highly influential person in Kano has dressed more terrible than Shatu Garko who was even decent compared to the people she went into the contest with. Secondly, she did not do it in Kano, she doesn’t even reside here. She did it outside Kano.”

She added that the criteria for selecting Miss Nigeria was not beauty alone but other aspects such as intellectualism, contribution to development, among others.

Shehu Sani, a former Senator, also commented on the issue, which is generating attention on Social Media.

In a tweet, he wrote, “Ms Shatu Garko contested Miss Nigeria pageant decently dressed. She has not cross the line of our cultural standards here in the North. There are the daughters of the rich and the powerful that have done that with impunity. I appeal to the Hisbah religious authorities to let her be.”

On her part, Aisha Yesufu, an activist, said, “So my daughter will participate in beauty pageant and Hisbah will invite me?! Kai! I laugh in unmade D! They will know that day that all of us have bed in psychiatric hospital! Nonsense and rubbish! Nobody has monopoly of violence and foolishness!”

Daily Trust columnist, Gimba Kakanda, also weighed in on the matter on Twitter, saying the invitation was unnecessary.

He wrote, “I just feel Hisbah enjoy having Muslims, especially northerners, subjected to ridicule. Inviting Shatu Garko’s parents is absolutely unnecessary, no matter their intention. There are critical issues affecting the Muslim society, and none is a teenager partaking in Miss Nigeria.”

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II has narrated how he once attempted to commit suicide but had to change his mind after listening to a series of inspirational music.

He described music as a key component of human existence, an iconic cultural expression and the best endowment from God to humanity for all seasons.

Ooni Ogunwusi gave this narration while speaking at the opening session of the maiden edition of ‘Memorable Moments With Music’ at at The Muson Centre, Lagos, according to a statement from the palace on Wednesday.

The monarch narrated that a loan he took to construct a building made him consider suicide.

He said, “This is a very great moment for me. There is power in music. When I almost committed suicide in my younger age as a real estate business man, it was music that saved my life. Music is a perfect communication with God.

“I had become very successful in the real estate sector at a very young age. I took a loan of N8 billion about 12 years ago to build high rise building which I had to pull down by myself when we were already on the 10th floor, and the money went down the drain.

“Life turned upside down thereafter and the only option was for me to commit suicide, but listening to series of inspirational music reset my thinking faculty to remember the common saying ‘There is Hope When There is Life’.

“I have since then adopted music as a very powerful solution tool when faced with challenges, and I made up mind to invest in music and art for the economic empowerment and mental liberation of our youths and the less privileged people in our society. Ladies and gentlemen, whatever you are going through, please don’t give up. Use inspirational music to elevate your spirit

“This is indeed a calling for me and I feel so happily fulfilled tonight with this 1st day of this musical project, a 3 day musical show which I tagged ‘Memorable Moments With Music’.”

The African foremost monarch stated that he has taken it as part of the overall mission of the House of Oduduwa to establish a viable model of social cohesion.

The Federal College of Dental Technology and Therapy, Trans-Ekeulu, Enugu State, has warned female students with pregnancies and those with babies to stay away from lecture rooms.

The college also announced that it had set up a task force to apprehend those found guilty of being pregnant or with babies on the school premises as they would be suspended.

This was contained in a memo by the school signed by the Dean, Student’s Affairs, Mrs Okafor Ngozi on Friday.

The letter, which was addressed to all Heads of Departments and Students, was seen by SaharaReporters on Tuesday.

In the memo, titled, “Zero Tolerance Of Pregnancy Amongst Students”, all female students are ordered to visit the College Medical Center to carry undergo pregnancy tests on resumption for the next academic session.

The letter read partly, “It has come to our notice that some students come to school with pregnancy, while some are seen backing their children to school which is against the College Rules and Regulations.

“I write to inform you that a task force has been set up to this regard and any student found guilty shall be suspended from all academic activities till after delivery while those found with their children within the school premises shall face similar punishment.

“In addition to this, all female students are mandated to visit the College Medical Center to carry out pregnancy tests on resumption for the next Academic Session.

“Kindly bring the content of this memo to all concerned.”