₦airaland Forum

The Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST) is to lose nothing less than 15,000 workers due to the recent take over of its primary duty to produce and issue stamp by the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS).

To this end, the workers have threatened to embark on a nationwide strike; threatening to withdraw their services across the country after a 21-day ultimatum issued on Thursday, July 18, 2020.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government Owned Companies (SSASCGOC), who is the trade union unionising both NIPOST and FIRS workers, said: “the FIRS on 30th June 2020 against any known law produced and launched its owned brand of adhesive stamp thereby hijacking and taking over the function of NIPOST.”

The General Secretary of SSASCGOC, Comrade Ayo Olorunfemi, while addressing the press conference said it was illegal for FIRS to produce and issue a stamp to denote duties when it can be procured from NIPOST.

If this is allowed to go on, he said the usurpation of the main duty of NIPOST will lead to about 15,000 job loss, adding that the union would not accept this as there is no known law that gives FIRS to produce a stamp.

Comrade Olorunfemi said, “in respect to job loss, we will not lose anything less than 15,000 workers and when you look at that, the multiplier effect on the economy and the saturation of unemployment market, you will know that it will be a catastrophe waiting to happen and we have said we will not allow that to happen.”

He added: “To this end, we are calling on the federal government to facilitate an urgent meeting between NIPOST, FIRS, SSASCGOC and other stakeholders in order to arrive at an amicable resolution.

Failure to do this within 21 days from today Thursday 8th July 2020, the Union shall have no other option than to direct all its members in NIPOST to withdraw their services.

“It is very painful that while other nations are protecting and developing their postal services and making maximum use of the services for advancement, Nigeria is busy doing things that will kill its own.”

He pointed out that stamp is a product of NIPOST as given to it by law, adding that the Financial Act did not give any power to FIRS to produce a stamp.


The SSASCGOC general secretary said: “It should be noted that both NIPOST and Federal Inland Revenue Services are Statutory Corporations for which this Union has Jurisdiction to organise their staff.

Therefore, our position must always be balanced according to the laws of the land. That is why we are insisting that both organisations must develop a synergy that will enhance higher productivity in the area of stamp matter.

“We recognise the power conferred on FIRS to collect stamp duties just as that of the NIPOST power to produce and issue stamps. These must be acknowledged and recognised in implementing the Finance Act. It should be noted that stamp is a product of NIPOST as given to it by law.

The Finance Act did not give any power to FIRS to produce a stamp. In other words, to utilise stamp for duties FIRS must get it from NIPOST.

“As we speak many Nigerians have stopped purchasing adhesive stamps from NIPOST. This if not challenged and nip in the bud will ultimately lead to the collapse of NIPOST and the staff will have to lose their jobs. We will not allow this to happen.”

He stated that if the government failed to yield to their demand and the strike commenced, the union will also go to court to seek legal redress.

According to Olorunfemi: “Mr President has told us clearly that there will be no job loss. We consider that as just a statement coming from Mr President because of his heart, he doesn’t want it. But when circumstances lead to people losing their jobs, that statement will be withdrawn.

“So, we don’t want to wait and rely on that statement that there will be no job loss. If there is no more job to do, will they continue to keep us? So, we are determined to protect the interest of our members in this case.

“Why are we not approaching the court now? We have not thrown that out, it is an option but as a responsible trade union Organisation, we want to exploit all available avenue before resorting to court.

“I can assure you by the time they allow this thing to lead to a strike, we will also be in court. Once we start the strike, and while we are in the street fighting, we will also go to court to fight. You don’t fight on the street when you cannot win in court.

“We have our own way of seeding messages across. One of the ways is to alert them the way we have done, and the next stage will be to withdraw our services and report this matter to the international community. We will also go to court to seek legal redress.

The Abia police command has arrested one Mrs Rose Uwaga for allegedly strangling her 83-year-old husband, Alhaji Isa Uwaga, to death in Umuahia.

The Public Relations Officer of the command, SP Geoffrey Ogbonnaya, confirmed the arrest of the woman, who was said to be in her early 70s, to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia on Wednesday.

Ogbonnaya said that one of Uwaga’s children, Ibeabuchi, reported the matter to the police around noon on Thursday, July 2.

He said that the case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for proper investigation.

He also said that the remains of the deceased had been deposited at the morgue “for possible autopsy in order to ascertain what actually killed the man”.

NAN also learnt that the two aged couple had a disagreement, which degenerated into fisticuffs at their residence at Ohobo-Afara Umuahia.

“During the fight, the man allegedly grabbed a machete to scare the wife but the woman reportedly overpowered him.

The machete fell off his hand and the woman, who is huge, pinned him down by the neck and strangled him to death,” a resident of the area said on condition of anonymity.

Another account had it that the deceased might have slumped and died “out of exhaustion after his quarrel with his wife”.

“It is not possible that a woman of about 73 years can muster the strength to stangulate a man,” a friend to the family also said on condition of anonimity.

NAN further learnt that the relations of the deceased rallied round to bury him shortly after his death, according to Islamic rite,before Ibeabuchi reportedly alerted the police.

The suspect, who was said to have immediately gone into hiding, was later arrested and detained by the police.

According to a police source, Ibeabuchi stated in his report that his parents were quarrelling at the time he left the house.

“He further stated that by the time he returned, he saw the lifeless body of his father in a sitting position in their house,” the source further said.

Amidst the rising cases of coronavirus across the country, more than 30 healthcare workers attached to two of the Lagos State isolation centres have been disengaged.

The affected workers who were part of the first set of volunteers at the infectious disease hospital (IDH), Yaba, and those drafted to the Onikan isolation centre, include medical doctors, nurses and pharmacists.

While the details of those disengaged health workers at the IDH are still sketchy as of the time of filing this report, those from the Onikan isolation centre include eight doctors, 12 nurses and two pharmacists.

However, PREMIUM TIMES gathered that three of the disengaged officials, comprising two nurses and a pharmacist, have tested positive for coronavirus. They are currently on admission at the isolation centre located at Agidingbi area of Lagos, where infected healthcare workers are being managed.

Many frontline health workers across the various isolation centres in the state have not received their remuneration in the last two months, sources said.

Investigations revealed that the affected officials were simply asked to exit the centre on June 30, after three months of engagement.

At the Onikan isolation centre, the affected workers were told to vacate the centre by their team lead, identified simply as Dr Adeshola, reportedly without any official communication from the government.

A state official, in a reaction on Monday, promised to look into the concerns raised by the disengaged staff.

Workers kick

Investigations by PREMIUM TIMES revealed that the healthcare workers were axed without any assurance they would undergo self quarantine before reuniting with their families

According to an official of one of the isolation centres, who asked not to be named, the team lead at Onikan centre was initially reluctant to break the news to the affected officials because he found the process inappropriate.

One of the health workers told our reporter on the phone that: “By June ending, we were told we would be leaving on June 30. Dr Adeshola could not show us any official document apart from a text message he claimed to have received from the COVID-19 task force team in the state.

“On June 30 when we were supposed to pull out, alongside other colleagues in the system, we held a meeting with our team lead and complained bitterly about how we were being disengaged. There and then we insisted on being tested and the need for us to observe the mandatory 14-day quarantine.”

The results of their coronavirus tests revealed that three of them were found to be positive, this newspaper learnt.

“The infected colleagues cried when the results came. Mind you, they did not cry because they got infected, they cried because after three months of taking big risks, all that the state could do was to throw them out like a discarded item. So while the three positive cases were moved to the isolation centre in Agidigbi, the others were asked to vacate our hotel in Ikeja and should report back to their places of their primary assignments without two-month pay,” another frontline worker, who is yet to be disengaged, said.

Meanwhile, when asked by the reporter for his comment on the development, the team lead said as a civil servant he was not authorised to speak to the media.

“You know I am an employee of the government, I cannot talk to you. Thank you,” Mr Adeshola said.

‘Used and dumped’

The affected workers have condemned what they termed “disappointing manner” of their disengagement, saying they were simply used and dumped by the government.

According to one of them who is a medical doctor working at one of the state’s general hospitals, “everything about the coronavirus management and frontline workers’ welfare in Lagos State has been shrouded in secrecy”.

According to the source, till the time of his disengagement, no one was sure of the exact amount to be paid and when to be paid.

The doctor said; “For instance, the doctors who started the COVID-19 work at the IDH in Yaba as the pioneer responders received N675,000 each while the nurses received N480,000 each. But for us as the first set of volunteers who were drafted to open Onikan centre in April, our first pay came after six weeks and doctors received N574,000 while nurses received N380,000.

“The payment for April was made in May, and since then we have received no penny apart from accommodation and feeding. What we learnt was that the initial payment was simply to encourage other volunteers and the gimmick worked. Many of our colleagues who were initially reluctant to volunteer soon began to lobby to be posted to isolation centres when they heard of the money involved, and the fact that none of us reported dead.”

Another frontline worker, who was part of the public presentation of ‘dummy insurance certificate presentations’ to healthcare workers by the government at a press briefing, said “none of them could claim to have signed any document or knows anything about the insurance.”

“The whole thing is just fluke. How could you register me for insurance and I would not have the details? In fact, those who were publicly presented with certificates for photo showoff were asked to return the certificates and since then we have not heard anything. Everything is just to hoodwink the public. But it is unfortunate,” the healthcare worker told our reporter.

PREMIUM TIMES recently reported how Nigerian health workers lamented their poor welfare conditions.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has reacted to the invitation of the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, by the Department of State Services (DSS).

The PDP, in a statement shared on its official Twitter handle on Monday, said the development confirms malfeasance in EFCC.

The party said Magu should now step aside to forestall destruction of evidence against him.

The PDP asked the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to show the genuineness of its war against corruption by allowing the unhindered investigation of the acting Chairman of EFCC.

The party said Nigerians were already aware that the EFCC boss has been pulled in for questioning.

The main opposition party noted that the fact that Magu has to be accompanied by his lawyer shows that the said “invitation”, is beyond the routine.

“The PDP holds that the development around the @officialEFCC acting Chairman as well as the desperate attempt by the Commission to cover or waveoff his investigation, only raise more integrity questions regarding Magu’s activities in the EFCC,” the statement added.

“Only last month, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minster of Justice, Abubakar Malami, released a memo in which he indicted Magu of alleged diversion of recovered funds and fraudulent sale of assets seized by the @officialEFCC.”

The PDP it was keenly monitoring the development alongside Nigerians and indeed, the international community are and expect the Buhari-led presidency to muster the courage to carry out a comprehensive investigation and make its findings available to the public.

The PDP called on the Buhari administration to order Magu to step aside, adding that this will preserve the integrity of the office of the Chairman of the EFCC.

“Moreover, with the allegations and investigation, Magu has lost the moral rectitude to continue to preside over the anti-corruption agency. He should step aside until he proves himself innocent.”

DAILY POST reported on Monday that Ibrahim Magu was invited by the Department of State Services (DSS) over allegations that he owns four properties.

In 2016, DSS accused the EFCC boss of living in a N40m mansion paid for by one Umar Mohammed, a retired Air Commodore.

However, the EFCC said Magu, was “not arrested” on Monday.

According to the EFCC, he only honoured an invitation by a Presidential Panel reviewing the activities of the agency.

The Head of Media, Dele Oyewale, said this in a statement on Monday.

He said the review was held at the Banquet Hall wing of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

In the same vein, the Department of State Services (DSS) said it did not arrest Ibrahim Magu as widely.

But despite the rebuttal, it was gathered that DSS blocked Magu in Wuse traffic shortly after he left office.

He was then taken to the Presidential Villa.

Magu is being reportedly grilled over allegations against him.

Care givers in Federal Government-owned hospitals are torn between charging their patients for Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) or watching them die; as they have not been provided with enough PPEs with which to safely carry out their duties.

A consultant in one of the tertiary facilities in Lagos, who confided in Sunday Telegraph, said for most part of last week, the management team of the facility were holed up in brain storming sessions on how to go about their duties without themselves becoming victims in the face of the coronavirus pandemic which is ravaging the land.

“The ministry (of health) is trying to force us to see patients even when they have not provided anything to protect us. What some of us want to start doing now is to pass the cost of PPEs and other essential items on to patients since government is not providing them. We have been busy planning, meeting and finding a way round this conundrum.”

Our source with a tinge of sadness in his voice continued: “You journalists should ask the minister (of health) how many public hospitals have adequate number of PPEs, face shields, goggles, proper masks to protect ourselves as health care workers?

“It is not enough for him to just give instructions that all patients must be attended to. How do we do that without the basic things needed? Does he want to push us to our deaths?

“I can give a patient a list to provide PPEs, goggles, face masks and face shields before I operate on them, but is it their duty to buy those things? How many can afford to buy those things? How many PPEs are available in each hospital? I ask for eight items for surgery, they give one – is that something to be happy about?”

Asked to give the outcome of the meetings, he answered emphatically: “For now patients should buy or I buy myself. We do not know what to do yet. You can help the patients and the healthcare workers by asking the minister pertinent questions.”

But the new President of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Prof. Innocent Ujah vowed to tackle health facilities where the burden of providing PPEs was now being passed on to patients before attending to their medical needs.

Ujah, who spoke in exclusive interview with the Sunday Telegraph, said telling patients to provide PPE was not advisable. “That is not right. We will discourage that practice.

“If we know any particular state or hospital that is doing that, please let me know, I will call the medical director to put things right; it is the duty of hospitals to provide PPE.”

He spoke while reacting to claims that some medical personnel and health workers were now including PPE in items that patients would purchase in hospitals before their medical conditions could be addressed.

Speaking further he said: “If this truly happens that patients are told to provide PPEs in the Nigerian health system, it is a very big challenge for PPE provision.”

Ujah recalled that when the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) went on strike in the past weeks, one of their grievances was the shortage/non-availability of PPEs.

However, he noted that it was not a good thing to hear that patients are being told to provide PPE because “you cannot send a battalion of army to the war front and then you don’t give them ammunition”.

Reacting, the Minister of Health, Dr. Emmanuel Ehanire, speaking through the ministry’s Director of Information, Olujimi Oyetomi said it is not true that he is forcing doctors to attend to patients without PPEs.

Also, he debunked the claim that there were not enough PPEs in government hospitals across the country.

According to him, health workers and hospitals were only asked to desist from rejecting patients who were in need of healthcare services, to prevent more deaths being caused by the fear of health workers in contracting COVID-19 while offering care and treatment to patients.

He said: “Where is the claim coming from specifically? At two fora on Thursday, the minister stated it that PPEs have been sent to all hospitals and the Minister of the FCT said same. The Medical Director of Nyanya General Hospital also said they have stock that can last the next three months.

“The Minister would never ask doctors to treat without PPEs. The basic PPE you need is just your gloves, face masks and clinical gowns to go to work rather than allowing an individual who is critically sick and needing medicine die because he was rejected and not attended to.

“The minister never forced anybody to treat without gloves, no it is not possible.”

On the number of PPEs allotted each public hospital, he said: “The PPEs are sent based on needs through state governors or FCT minister in the case of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

“Besides we have a central store where emergency stocks are kept in case of short notice it will be rushed to them. We don’t disburse all; some are kept for emergency needs.

Ondo State government is currently on auto pilot as the state governor, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has refused to hand over to his deputy, Agboola Ajayi, despite being in isolation over his COVID-19 status.

Sources disclosed that inaccessibility to the governor in his isolation room in the Government House has been responsible for delay in payment of civil servants salaries in the state.

Principal officers who were to hold meeting with the governor to give him details of the allocation received for the month and how it was shared could not do so.

But a source said the governor didn’t have any special role to play in determining payment of salaries, disclosing that civil servants would begin to receive credit alert of their salaries beginning from Friday or Saturday (today).

Meanwhile, serious operations and services usually determined by the governor are currently put on hold due to the health condition of the governor.

Governor Akeredolu has refused to hand over to his deputy, saying that he would be working from home when he tested positive for COVID-19.

Akeredolu had said that the result of his test was asymptomatic therefore he would be working from isolation in the Government House.

This was greeted with criticism from the opposition which advised the governor should ignore the differences between him and his deputy and hand over to him(Agboola Ajayi) so he could face his health squarely.
But the governor turned down all the entreaties of the opposition.

However, there’s panic in the Government House following the sudden death of the leading health manager in the state on Thursday.

Although the family of the late Health Commissioner has denied that he didn’t die of complications from COVID-19, families and loyalists of the governor became apprehensive at the death of Dr. Wahab Adegbenro.

Many state governments across the country have reviewed their budgets for 2020 to reflect the new economic realities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, findings by Daily Trust show.

About 20 states have slashed a total of N1.4 trillion from their initial budgets.

Daily Trust had in April this year reported that the coronavirus was threatening the N9 trillion naira budget of the states, forcing some to shelve the implementation of some projects and the minimum wage, while others reduced the salaries of political office holders by half.

Our correspondents report that Gombe State, for instance, had announced the suspension of the N30, 000 new minimum wage and cut the salaries of all political office holders by 25 percent.

The situation is the same in Adamawa State where the government stopped paying minimum wage for workers.


How states plan to spend

In terms of size of the amount reduced, Lagos State leads the way by slashing a massive N248 billion from its N1.168 trillion budget. Though this is only 21 percent of its total appropriation, it represents the single biggest cut of all the states and brings down the state’s budget to N920.5 billion.

The original budget had earlier been approved by the state’s legislature before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rivers, which also has a huge budget, cut down its proposed spending by as much as 48 percent, shaving off a massive N230 billion from its N530 billion budget.

The cut puts the current budget at N300 billion. The state Commissioner for Finance and Supervisory Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Isaac Kamalu, who disclosed this to reporters shortly after the State Executive Council meeting in Port Harcourt, said the council had approved the review of the 2020 Budget.

Ebonyi State cut down its budget by as much as 26 percent, slashing N47 billion off the initial 178.6 billion proposed for 2020 fiscal year. The reviewed budget proposed Wednesday last week by Governor David Umahi had undergone its second reading at the state House of Assembly and might be presented to the governor for approval.

Kano’s “Budget of Sustainable Social development” was initially N206.2 billion as approved by the state House of Assembly.

However, due to the economic downturn, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the budget would be slashed by 30 percent to enable the continued execution of projects.

This would be subject to approval from the legislature. Daily Trust estimated that this would shave off some N61 billion from the initial budget. In Yobe, Governor Mai Mala Buni had reviewed the budget from N108 billion to N86 billion with N51.894 billion earmarked for recurrent expenditure while capital expenditure was put at N34.154 billion.

Benue State had chopped off N70 billion from its original budget of N189 billion, which is now down to N119 billion.

Governor Samuel Ortom explained that the downward review of the budget, which was forwarded to the Benue State House of Assembly, became necessary following projections of a recession that would force a contraction of the country’s economy by 3.4 percent.

Ekiti State slashed N33 billion from its own budget from the initial N124.7 billion to N91.1 billion with Governor Kayode Fayemi signing the budget into law on Monday, June 22, 2020.

The revised budget has N59 billion set aside for recurrent expenditure while N32 billion is budgeted for capital expenditure. Kaduna State also slashed as much as N38 billion representing 14 percent from its budget.

This means that the budget of N259.25 billion signed by Governor Nasir El-Rufai in December 2019 is now down to N221.54 billion. In Katsina, the state government cut N29 billion from its budget bringing the figure down to N214 billion from the initial N244 billion.

Daily Trust gathered that the state is presently embarking on another fresh review as the state assembly is set to commence sitting on it. It is not clear what was presented by the government this time for consideration.

Governor Aminu Masari, while signing the reviewed budget, had said that the situation was “unpredictable.”

“We are still in deep trouble. We must adjust to the situation as it may get worse,” he had said at the time.‎

Our correspondent in Jos reports that the Plateau State Government proposed slashing as much as N80 billion from its initial budget. The state had budgeted N177 billion before COVID-19 struck and now, the state is looking at figures below the N100 billion mark.

The state Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Sylvester Wallangko, said though the difference between the already approved and the revised budget was not yet known due to the budget defence by the ministries and agencies, the state is intending to slash it to 98 or 99 billion naira.

“If not for the defence, we would have known how much we have slashed by now,” he said. “However, if all the remaining ministries and agencies, which haven’t done theirs, finish, we will know the new figure.”

The budget cut in Imo was occasioned by a change of government as former Governor Emeka Ihedioha had presented a budget of N197.6 billion before the Supreme Court ousted him from office.

His replacement, Hope Uzodimma, slashed the figure to N103 billion taking off N94 billion from the original figure.

The cut represented 47.7 percent from the initial budget. Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Dr C. C. Osuala, told Daily Trust that the budget was revised based on prevailing circumstances.

Reports from Bauchi indicated that the government had slashed N39 billion from its initial budget of N167 billion with the new figure standing at N128 billion.

State Commissioner of Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Aminu Hassan Gamawa, said that the new proposal, with a 23 percent cut, would be sent to the State House of Assembly for approval after which Governor Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir will assent to it.

He said the government will now only focus on affordable projects. While Delta State earlier approved N395 billion, it had cut the figure by N116 billion to N279 billion representing a 29.2 percent cut, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa said in a letter to the state Assembly. Sokoto State also reviewed downward its budget from N202.4 billion to N153 billion, representing a 24.4 percent cut.

A 14-year-old girl (name withheld), has fled her parents’ home in Biogbolo, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, to cohabit with her Facebook lover, Victory Age, aged 17.

Victory, along with his friend, identified simply as Gospel, were paraded at State Police Headquarters, Yenagoa, for harbouring the underage SSS1 pupil for one month without parents’ consent.

It was however learnt that the minor fled from their home because of alleged maltreatment she was receiving from her stepmother in her father’s house.

The minor explained that she abandoned home to meet her Facebook friend, saying she did not tell her parents but only dropped a letter for them.

She confirmed that during her stay with his online friend, who later handed over to his friend, Gospel, they had sex romps, though they were consensual sexual activities.

She stated: “I went to meet a friend I met on the Facebook who resides at Onopa. When he saw me with my bags, he was shocked. He asked why I was carrying my bags and what was going to happen. I told him I was going to stay with him for one week.

“He asked whether I was sure and whether my parents won’t look for me, I said no. He then agreed and we went to book for a hotel. We stayed in the hotel for three days and thereafter, we went to his friend. His friend carried me to Azikoro, where I have been staying for one month.

“I am 14. I slept with him and his friend for one month. They did not force me to have sex with them. I had sex with them intentionally.”

On his own part, Victory Age, who is from Ogbia LGA of the state, said they met on Facebook.

He said: “She was my friend on Facebook. I haven’t seen her before and I wanted to see her. I told her to come and meet me at my place at Onopa. When I called her again, she said she was already on my street and I went to meet her.

“When I met her, I saw her with her bags. I was surprised. I told her I only wanted to see her because we have not seen each other before. I asked why she came with her clothes, she told me she was staying with her aunt and did not like the way she was being maltreated and that she just wanted to stay one week with me.

“I had small money on me and I agreed and we went to book a hotel room. My friend, Gospel, came to see me and we paid for the hotel room. I was with her in the hotel for two days before I went back home. I asked her to go home that I did not have any money again. I did not know what transpired after that. I only had sex with her three times. From there, my friend, Gospel, took over.”

Ado Sanusi, the chief executive officer of Aero Contractors, has advised intending passengers who have a cold or malaria not to come to the airport.

Speaking on Sunrise Daily, a programme on Channels TV on Thursday, Sanusi said passengers who are seen sneezing on the aeroplane will be isolated and treated as potential COVID-19 patients.

“I will like to point out that if you have malaria or a common cold, do not come to the airport because there is a high possibility that you are going to be denied boarding,” he said.

“This is the new normal that we are going to see.

“The main thing for the airlines is to make sure that the aeroplanes are safe and that is what we’re doing and that’s why we still believe that air transportation is the safest way to travel.

“So if we see anybody sneezing, we will take him as an index passenger, we are not going to he/she has allergies. We are going to take the person as index passenger till we have handed them over to port health officials. They will be the ones to determine if he is allergic or has COVID-19.”

Sanusi said the airline has made arrangements to isolate suspected cases to ensure the safety of all passengers.

Speaking further, he said passengers who present a doctor’s report stating that they have malaria will not be allowed to board the aeroplane.

“My airline will not allow a passenger that comes with a doctor’s report saying he has malaria I would rather that he comes with a COVID-19 test result that he is free which is only valid for four days,” he said.

“If you have malaria, please sit at home and when you get better, you can travel.”

Addressing speculations that middle seats would be left empty, Sanusi said the airline would only take a decision based on data-driven and backed by science.

“If we have data that shows that if we block the centre seats, it will reduce the rate of transmission then we will do that and increase the flight costs because somebody must pay for the centre seats.,” he explained.

The airline boss also said the airline would no longer serve in-flight meals as passengers would have to remove their face masks to eat such.

“There won’t be serving of food because that will increase the number of times you will be contacting passengers and then the passengers would be removing their face masks to eat the food so I think it is not the best,” he explained.

“It is a one hour flight. It is only in Nigeria that we serve food for a one-hour flight. Go anywhere in the world and you will see that hot meals are not served on one-hour flights.”

Hadi Sirika, the minister for aviation, announced on Wednesday that domestic flight operations will resume at the Lagos and Abuja airports on July 8.

Fred Itua, Abuja

The Senate, yesterday, initiated moves to establish a holistic legislative framework to support repatriation of lost revenue due to illicit financial flows and also provide an efficient strategy for the re-investment of the funds into the economy.

Gershom Bassey, sponsor of the motion, tagged: “The need to review the domestic legal framework against illicit financial flows and to consider the creation of a tax amnesty for the voluntary repatriation of funds to Nigeria,” drew attention to how the nation’s economy and socio-economic development have suffered from unabated cross-border financial draining of revenue by illicit financial flows, arguing that there was the need to halt the graft.

In his lead debate, he cited a 2014 Global Financial Integrity Report, which claimed that Nigeria lost a minimum of $140 billion between 2000 and 2014 due to crude oil and commercial activities mispricing.

“This enormous economic loss to the country has not abated, as Nigeria was ranked among the global top 30 countries of illicit financial outflows by dollar value, with $8.3 billion in illicit financial outflow from Nigeria in 2015. The Tax Justice Network and the International Monetary Fund estimated that developing countries, including Nigeria, have lost over $200 billion per year to illicit financial flows as multinational corporations neglect, fail and/or refuse to pay taxes in these countries where they generate substantial amounts of profit.

“Nigeria loses approximately $15 billion annually to offshore tax evasion. This has resulted in a consistently low tax revenue as a percentage of GDP, as low as 5.7 per cent in 2017. Such statistics are alarming, especially when compared to the 17.2 per cent average of 26 African countries in the same year,” Bassey said.

He said, based on available statistics, the amount lost annually was more than the sums provided as development aid.

Based on his submissions, the Senate mandated the Committees on Finance, Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions to investigate the phenomenon of illicit financial flows.

The committees are also expected to appraise the Federal Government’s current policy framework to curb the continuous loss of Nigeria’s revenue to illicit financial flows.

The Senate Committees on Finance, National Planning, Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions are also expected to appraise the Federal Inland Revenue Service’s current framework for tracing, identifying, preventing and sanctioning cross-border tax evasion and other illicit financial outflows.

The Red Chamber has summoned the minister of finance and the executive heads of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Central Bank of Nigeria, Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, Nigerian Export-Import Bank, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and any other relevant institution to address the committees on the continuous loss of government revenue to illicit financial flows and to present reports on measures to curb revenue losses.

Eniola Akinkuotu, Abuja

The President, Maj.Gen Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has named an indigene of Abonnema local government area of Rivers State, Mrs. Opunimi Akinkugbe, as an ambassadorial nominee for Ondo State.

Mrs. Nimi Akinkugbe’s name was listed under Ondo State on the list announced by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, on Wednesday.

The nominee is the daughter of the late F.I Ajumogobia, a former Chief of Mission at UNESCO who died in the ADC flight 086 crash en route Lagos from Port Harcourt on November 7, 1996.

She is married to Yinka Akinkugbe from Ondo State and they are blessed with three children.

The nominee, who is a renowned columnist, has over 23 years of experience in the banking sector having worked at Stanbic IBTC, Barclays Bank and Standard Chartered Bank where she is currently a non-executive director.

She attended the London School of Economics and Political Science and IESE Business School where she bagged an MBA.

Speaking with The PUNCH on Wednesday, the state Chairman, Ondo Youth Coalition, Ademario Emmanuel, said Ondo had prominent sons and daughters that could take up the appointment.

Emmanuel, who is also the National President, Youth Advancement Initiative, said the appointment would not stand.

He said, “The person that was nominated is not from Ondo State. We are doing more research to know those behind the recommendation of that appointment and we will send a letter to the Presidency and the governor. Ondo State cannot be short-changed and manipulated by some greedy set of persons because of power.

“It is insulting that we have people that can represent this state well in national affairs. Why are they not being given appointment? Ondo State has prominent sons and daughters who are well to do and can represent Nigeria and the state anywhere in the world. This appointment will not stand. When we have made up our mind, we will take the next step.”

Also speaking, the President, Yoruba Afenifere Youth Organisation of Nigeria, Eric Oluwole, called on Buhari to reverse the appointment within 48 hours.


Oluwole said an indigene of Rivers State cannot represent the people of Ondo State.

He added, “We call for the cancellation of Ondo state ambassadorial nominee within 48 hours. Someone cannot be nominated from Rivers State to represent us in Ondo state as an ambassador, when there are many qualified indigenes.

“I urge Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state as a lovely person to play neutral selection on this, I want to believe the nomination was a mistake.”

However, the lawmaker representing Ondo-Central senatorial district, Senator Patrick Akinyelure, said there was nothing wrong with the appointment of Mrs. Akinkugbe as long as the governor supports her.

Akinyelure told The PUNCH that since the nominee was legally married to an indigene of Ondo State and had given birth to “Ondo children” she was qualified to represent the state.

The senator said, “You can claim your husband’s state. As long as she has married our people, we accept her. However, if the people of Ondo State kick against it, we will reconsider. She is the mother of Ondo children regardless of where she is from.

“I don’t believe in standing in the way of someone’s success. If the governor approves of her appointment, then there is no problem.”

President Muhammadu Buhari says it is expected that the number of poor people in the country will triple as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement on Wednesday, Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, said Buhari disclosed this in a recorded video message to a virtual high-level United Nations meeting focused on trends, options, and strategies in poverty eradication across the world.

The 2019 Poverty and Inequality in Nigeria report released by the National Bureau of Statistics in May showed that 82.9 million Nigerians are living in poverty.

Speaking on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Buhari said in Nigeria, like many other countries, the domestic supply chains and trading corridors have come under enormous strain, bringing to the fore the health versus economics debate.

The president expressed concern that more than 700 million people or 10 percent of the world’s population is classified as living in extreme poverty, adding that with a population of about 200 million people, a large percentage of Nigerians live in various categories of poverty.

“All the while, they struggle with the most basic needs like nutrition, shelter, health, education and access to clean water and sanitation,” Buhari was quoted to have said.

“In this condition, the number of poor people is estimated to triple as livelihoods across almost all economic sectors have been adversely affected.”

The president added that the prospect of the population sliding further into extreme poverty was real but gave the assurance that his government is also striving to reverse the trend.

The president said the recently developed economic sustainability plan, aimed at stimulating the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, will extend protection to very poor Nigerians and other vulnerable groups through pro-poor spending.

“It is my conviction that devoting our efforts towards human capital development, efficient management of our resources, greater financial inclusion and transformation of the agricultural sector to ensure food security are crucial to poverty eradication,” he said.

“In this regard, Nigeria continues to strengthen its existing social safety net initiative by increasing access to enrolees who fit the various programmes in the scheme.

“Nigeria will also continue to provide easier and increased access to financial services for micro and small-scale businesses through the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme. But we are determined to do more.

“Nigeria holds the view that education is a critical driver of sustainable development and has an immense capacity to eradicate poverty.

“Educating our children, especially the girl-child, contributes significantly to the fight against poverty, environmental sustainability, and improved health, as well as building peace and resilient societies.”

The commercial bus driver conveying us to Oshodi from Sango under bridge, turned to look at me as the lone passenger sitting with him at the front seat meant for two, but restricted to one passenger owing to the social distancing requirement, and he said, “Oga, we get gofment for dis kontry so? See how bad the road dey naw!, e don reach more than wan year wey we don dey cry about the road and notin don happen”.


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Like in a macabre dance, the driver meandered the vehicle through the very many gullies and craters dotting the Lagos – Abeokuta expressway.

Right from Temidire bus-stop a few metres away from the Sango bridge to the old toll gate in Ota, Ogun state, and from Amje bus stop through Moshalasi, Kola, Adura, Salolo, Obadeyi and U-turn bus-stops in Lagos you will find potholes that has become craters and deep gullies swallowing up vehicles, and has become truck drivers worst nightmare.


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Vehicle passengers on the road endure the worst kind of giddiness they could ever bargain for, with motorists having a kind of dread for the road that is far more than the one held against bandits terrorizing travelers on Nigerian highways.

The stretch of the road between the U-turn bus-stop in Lagos state and Singer bus-stop in Ogun state is about 10 kilometers, but, it is dotted with over 168 deep potholes looking more like emerging gullies and craters panel beating vehicles into grotesque shapes when driven on it.

In a chat with me, Hon Seye Sotunde, a former council official at the Surelere local Government Area, now residing in one of the towns serviced by the road, said, it is quite frustrating that a key economic road like this can be made to deteriorate to this extent.

Sotunde further said, the chassis of his vehicle has been badly impacted by the perennial topsy-turvy daily experienced driving on the road to and fro his business place at Ikeja.


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Waidi Egungboun, who simply introduced himself as a businessman, said he had been plying the road for over twenty five years, and he cannot particularly remember anytime the road is without such issues.

Alhaji Abegunde Ajayi, the CEO of Abex Logistics Nigeria Limited, with its headquarters in Sango Ota, said, “The road is nothing short than a nightmare and transporters worst enemy at the moment”.

He recalled how he lost over four million naira about two years ago when one of his trucks conveying consignments for a client fell over as it entered one of those gully-like holes around Amje Bus stop and the entire bottled drink content was mercilessly shattered and spilled all over the road.

He added that, “It is unfortunate that the state of the road had contributed in no small measure to making transport business less attractive and less profiting, stressing that the life span of the average commercial vehicle is far less than what it used to be and cost of maintenance has quadrupled”. Abegunde concluded.

It is estimated that the expressway handles more than 300,000 vehicles and more than 1million people with goods running into millions of tons daily. It is one of Nigeria’s key economic roads, strategic for providing the required connectivity between the producer and market.

Many therefore, are aghast at the non-challant attitude of the government to the condition of the road which has become a nightmare to all users.

Except for some rhetorical statement made by the Ogun state governor in the early days of his administration, when he claimed that he and his Lagos state counterpart – Babajide Sanwo Olu had gotten approval from the Federal Government to repair the highway and toll it, nothing has changed since the contractors left the work some days after the presidential elections.

Data made available from the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA and the Ogun state, and Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, TRACE, showed a combined number of 107 crashes occurred on the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway road within the last one year, with 93% of the crashes involving trucks.

It further showed that 105 out of the 107 crashes occurred between the U-turn bus-stop in Lagos and Singer bus-stop in Ogun state, which is only about 10 kilometers of the entire 84 kilometer express road.

The situation of the road was so pathetic that, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ogun State Branch in November last year, protested in Sango-Ota against the deplorable conditions of roads in state.

In a statement, the lawyers lamented the condition of roads in the Gate way state, expressing concerns that the poor state of the roads has led to the loss of lives and caused bodily injuries on commuters.

Isaac Ogbah, , Chairman of the association, specifically cited Sango-Ota-Owode-Idiroko expressway, Atan-Agbara expressway and the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway, among others that have been causing major accidents in the state.

According to him, the bad condition of the roads has contributed to the incidents of robbery, kidnapping, sexual molestation and accidents.

Some couple of times in the past, the Lagos state government had through its Public Works Department carried out some palliative repairs of the bad portions, but as soon as the public had begun to hail the actions of the government, the repairs work suddenly disappear and the state of the patched spots got worse leading to the very many deep holes scattered all over the highway.

In a desperate move also, the Ogun state government in a bid to ameliorate the condition of the highway ahead of last year’s yuletide celebrations, put in some palliative repairs, through its public works department, with the use of broken stone elements as gravel, to fill up deep and wide potholes dotting the highway in Joju, and Singer bus-stops and nothing else have been done since then.

The general public are however concerned as to what happened to the much publicized contract for the reconstruction of the expressway, given to Julius Berger Nigeria, PLC, and was flagged off in May 14, 2018, by Mr. Babatunde Fashola, (SAN) the then Minister of Power, Works and Housing of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to improve the state of the road and subsequently eliminate the obvious carnage and suffering of commuters.

The contract was awarded at the sum of N22, 000,000,000.00, equivalent to $61,380,000.00. Two sections of the expressway were to be reconstructed, including; Section I (Lagos to Ota) and section II (Ota to Abeokuta).

To find out the position of the government on the obvious bad condition of the road, I spoke with, Engineer Kayode Popoola, the Director of Works, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Lagos state, last week and he told me he was presently in Abuja holding meetings in respect of the road, stating that. “The contractor has just been mobilized back to site to resume reconstruction works of the Lagos-Abeokuta express road.

They will be working from Owode-Ijako in Ogun into Lagos and in a few weeks time, road users will begin to see their impact on the road”.

PULL QUOTE:

“The contractor has just been mobilized back to site to resume reconstruction works of the Lagos-Abeokuta express road. They will be working from Owode-Ijako in Ogun into Lagos and in a few weeks time, road users will begin to see their impact on the road”.

Four humanitarian workers and a security guard, abducted by Boko Haram terrorists earlier this month, have appealled to the federal government as well as their respective organisations to intervene for their release.

This was contained in a two minutes and 37 seconds video clip released by the terrorist group on Sunday.

The video showed the humanitarian workers from Action Against Hunger, Rich International, International Rescue Committee and a staff of the State Emergency Management Agency urging the government to do something about their release.

In the video exclusively received by Daily Trust, all abductors were shown sitting on local mats begging the authorities.

"My name is Abdulrahman Babagana. “I am the camp Manager of SEMA in Monguno. “I left Monguno on our way to Maiduguri but they captured me on that day and we came to their base.

“Now I am in their hands.

“I am begging the government to rescue me from this plight. “It was June 1st we encounter them and as I am speaking, it is June 21st.

“Please, come and rescue me,” Abdulrahman begged.

AStaff of Rich International, Abdulrahman Dungus, said: “On my way going back to Monguno, we were caught by this army called the Khalifa on the 8th June.

“I am appealing to my organisation to do whatever they can to get me out of here,” he begged.

A private security guard, on his part, said: “My name is Joseph Prince. “I am a staff of Alje Security Organization.

“On my way from Maiduguri to Monguno for an official assignment on the 1st June 2020 as at 11:37am, we encountered Khalifa soldiers and they captured us and of course took us to where we are now.

“As I speak to you now, today’s date is 21st June year 2020.

“I am still in their custody.

“I am requesting that my organisation should please rescue me.

Thank you.” Ishaiku Yakubu, a staff of Action Against Hunger, an NGO in Borno State, said: “On the 8th of June 2020, on our way going back to Maiduguri from Monguno, we were caught by this army called the Khalifa.

“They brought us here and actually we don’t know where we are.

“I want to beg my organisation; Action Against Hunger, to do something about me to see how I can be released, ” he pleaded.

Another captive, Luka Filubus of International Rescue Committee, based in Monguno Local Government Are, said: “On 8th of June, I left Monguno for Maiduguri and had an encounter with Khalifa soldiers.

“They captured me and brought me to their base.

“As I am speaking with you, it’s 21st of June.

“So, I am appealing to IRC to come and rescue me from Khalifa soldiers.”

Daily Trust had reported that suspected Boko Haram insurgents abducted four persons, including three humanitarian workers and a soldier along Monguno/Maiduguri highway.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Monday kicked against the reopening of schools by the Federal Government due to the COVID-19 pandemic currently ravaging the country.

Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, ASUU National President, spoke with the with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ota, Ogun.

According to him, the Federal Government needed to address the challenges of education sector before it can talk of reopening schools.

Ogunyemi urged the Federal Government to provide ideal environment and should take the lead by meeting the conditions spelt out by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) before reopening schools.

“The Federal Government must lead and show the ways by meeting the conditions for reopening of schools before any school can be allowed to open, because COVID-19 pandemic is a health challenge.

“When it comes to public health, it is something that should not be left in the hands of individual, but the Federal Government must take the lead,’’ he said.

The ASUU president listed the conditions spelt out by NCDC to include: provision of materials for regular washing of hands, face mask, isolations centres, space for social distancing and hands sanitiser.

Ogunyemi said that many of the schools do not have financial capacities to meet those conditions and requirements for reopening of schools.

“It is suicidal to reopen schools now, if the Federal Government itself could not meet the conditions spelt out by NCDC and World Health Organisation (WHO).

“The nation will expose the innocent children to risks which is avoidable,” he said.

Ogunyemi noted that how many of these schools could afford to provide hand sanitiser, saying that many of them do not even have running water, not to talk of having facility for washing hands.

He added that many schools do not have enough spaces to promote physical distancing.

The ASUU president said that putting all these requirements needed together, to reopen schools in the country now would run to millions of Naira, which most schools could not afford.

Ogunyemi appealed to the Federal Government to provide the running funds for the principals and head teachers so that they could provide some of these facilities in their schools.

He further said that inadequate funds by many parents would hinder them from providing some of these amenities needed for reopening of schools.

Ogunyemi said that the Federal Government needed to tell Nigerians the steps they intended to take in reopening schools.

The ASUU leader said that for government not to tell people their minds was like running away from “our shadow” which would later hunt the country.

maximusprime2000:
am not suprised, i knew her very wella she is very callous, proud and arrogant. she look down on people. if u v been to her private hospital in ibadan, u wont be suprised.

wman:
See as Guardiola stack up full lineup for ordinary Newcastle in FA cup.

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) says it has shut-down a Chinese restaurant known for exclusive and discriminatory service in Lagos.

The FCCPC ‘s Director-General, Mr Babatunde Irukera, said this when he appeared on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)’s forum in Abuja.

The Director-General explained that any facility shut-down in this manner would undergo due processes to certify its capacity to uphold consumer rights before approval to re-open for business was issued.

Irukera recalled the events leading up to the shutdown of the restaurant, saying: “The reason we shut-down the restaurant was that we got credible intelligence that it was exclusive and discriminatory and would not serve Nigerians.

“We performed a sting operation where our own operatives went in there to be served and I was one of the operatives as a matter of fact.

“I went there and I was turned away because I wasn’t a South-East Asian and what we did was to shut down the place….

when things return to normal, they can get back to business under our monitoring,” he said. The Director-General also disclosed that FCCPC recently shutdown a body modification plastic surgery operation in Lagos.

He explained that body modification plastic surgery operations in the country were being investigated by the commission with a view to ascertain their legality and capability.

He said that the commission had been sued for performing its statutory and regulatory duty by the owner of the outfit.

Irukera said that FCCPC, under his leadership, would not be deterred with such action as it was determined to protect consumers in the country. “We recently shutdown body modification plastic surgery…

“We will continue within the ambit of the law to the extent permitted by law to enforce the law and make sure we protect consumers,” Irukera said. (NAN)

In several consummate, dodgy moves last week, the conservative Congress for Progressive Change, a block (led by President Muhammadu Buhari) centralised itself as the key power block within the ruling All Progressives Congress out of the party’s four foundational political entities, leaving ambitious heavyweights like Ahmed Bola Tinubu and other tendencies in the lurch. Louis Achi reports

Last week’s successful meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s National Executive Committee (NEC) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, dissolution of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) and the appointment of Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State as acting party chairman effectively centralises the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), a block belonging to President Muhammadu Buhari out of the four political entities that merged to form the ruling APC, as the main force calling the shots.

At press time, powerful foundational arrowheads of the ruling APC like Bola Ahmed Tinubu and other founding political blocks have apparently been adroitly and effectively swept aside. Although the NWC that was dissolved at the NEC was supposedly dominated by loyalists of Tinubu and the ousted party chair, Adams Oshiomhole. There is more.

With the ruling party in a tail spin amidst crises in many states it controls and at its center, it was perhaps obvious that something needed to be done to restore sanity. The interminable head-on collision in Edo State between former national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole and his erstwhile protégé, Governor Godwin Obaseki was just one of the crisis epicenters. But apparently restoration of sanity meant different things to different tendencies within the party.

In the thick of the unseemly national chair/acting national chair tsunami, with each tendency striving to gain advantage, erstwhile APC National Deputy Secretary, Victor Giadom seemingly emerged the anointed figure after receiving the blessings of the president. This was against the background of the Oshiomhole choreographing the announcement of Ex-Governor Ajimobi (now late) as the acting national chair.

APC was to later haul in Hilliard Eta to stand in for the then sick Ajimobi. However, with Ogiadom’s ‘emergence’ as acting national chair, his next assignment was to convene the party’s NEC meeting. Cut to the bone, it simply turned out that Giadom was used and dumped.

When APC emerged after the historic mergers with CPC, ACN, ANPP, APGA and the nPDP, the ACN and CPC components of the party – behemoths in their rights – supposedly had an understanding. This was that should the new party win, the CPC would concentrate on the presidency while ACN would control the party machinery.

And this had largely remained the operational template until last Thursday’s APC NEC meeting in Aso Villa. The conservative Northern hawks had decided that the best option was to recognise Giadom; give him the impression that they were going to ratify his appointment as acting chairman in the light of the court order, which said he could act. There was also another court order ordering him to stop parading himself a member of APC and could not act.

Between the two orders, the Buhari tendency was thinking which was the best way forward. They couldn’t get the Oshiomhole faction on board to convene the NEC meeting, because of a subsisting court order. They knew what could happen in the next meeting. The party constitution made it clear that only the national chairman could convene a NEC meeting.

They settled on recognising Giadom, who was desperate to be the acting chair. They capitalised on his desperation and assured him that he was their man. With Garba Shehu’s statement openly conveying President Buhari’s position, Giadom felt bolstered. He went ahead to convene the NEC meeting.

He didn’t understand that a coup was afoot – not so much against Oshiohmole, who had been suspended by a High Court, a ruling later upheld by the Appeal Court – but against him.

After declaring the meeting open, the president’s speech and a brief deliberation, the first item of the meeting was to dissolve the old NWC. After that, Giadom wanted to speak but was told he couldn’t address the NEC again as he was no longer a member of the NWC.

It was the House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila that raised the point of order. The point of order was sustained and a shocked Giadom was escorted out of the hall. And that was how Giadom’s quirky reign ended abruptly.

Subsequently, Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, a dyed-in-the-wool CPC member was appointed caretaker party chairman, meaning the presidency and the party machinery is now in the hands of the CPC block. This means the ACN has been left in the lurch – not controlling anything. The APC NEC meeting appointed a 13-member caretaker committee to run the party.

The caretaker committee is to conduct the party National Convention to elect new leadership for the APC within six months. The NEC also ratified the APC governorship primary in Edo State, which produced Osagie Ize-Iyamu as the party’s governorship candidate. Apart from President Buhari, others at the NEC meeting included the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, state governors and some members of the NWC.

Tinubu didn’t attend the meeting, because he was not a NEC member. He has been left in the lurch, totally left out of the picture. Yet, Tinubu, seen as the real founder of the APC was the real driver in the formation of APC. His ACN component has lost control of the party machinery, which was what was agreed on, way back.

A faction of the party, which is loyal to the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has been engaged in an intense and devastating power-tussle with a faction loyal to the former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, who is regarded as the national leader of the party. This tendency within the APC, which Giadom was representing and which thought it had matters under wraps has lost out.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, Atiku Bagudu, last Friday, said the NEC of APC did no wrong by dissolving the party’s National Working Committee and putting in place a caretaker committee. He said Buhari, who is the leader of the party, would never do anything that is contrary to the provisions of the party’s constitution.

But 18 members of the dissolved NWC loyal to Oshiomhole, insisted that the NEC meeting where the decision was taken was illegal. They said they were consulting their lawyers and other stakeholders on the dissolution and other decisions taken at the meeting. They have since kowtowed.

After President Buhari’s controversial dissolution of the NWC of the party last Thursday, he is making moves to break the ranks of the sacked NWC members, who have rejected the party’s action. The Hilliard Eta-led NWC, in a statement on Thursday, said the NEC meeting, where the decision was taken violated the APC constitution.

His words: “Article 25(B) of the Constitution of the APC is explicit that only the National Chairman or the National Working Committee (NWC) is given the prerogative of summoning meetings of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Party either for statutory quarterly meetings or for emergency meetings.


“The same provision of the constitution makes it compulsory for a notice of a minimum of 14 days in respect of statutory quarterly meetings and 7 days in respect of an emergency meeting.”

The statement signed by Eta and the party’s acting national secretary, Waziri Bulama, earlier stated they were “studying the unfolding drama” and would be “consulting with stakeholders and a team of lawyers on the next line of action”.

In 2018, the PDP leading lights led by folks like Waziri Adamawa and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; former Senate President and Kwara State governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki; House of Representatives Speaker (now Sokoto Governor) Aminu Waziri Tambuwal; former Governor, Senator and minister, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso; Egnr Buba Galadima and Kawu Baraje etc walked away from the 2014 coalition aheasd of the 2019 elections.


The pulling away of nPDP with its savvy heavyweights combined with the recent repositioning in APC squarely hands absolute control of the party to the CPC block.

Thus, the emerging consensus now is that all that is playing out points to a strategic gaming ahead of 2023 presidential election.

Lagos and Osun state governments have threatened fresh lockdowns amid increasing COVID-19 cases in the states and the country.

Fresh 684 COVID-19 cases were recorded in 18 states and the Federal Capital Territory on Friday by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, bringing the total number of cases to 23,298.

While 8,253 discharged patients had recovered, 554 deaths were recorded.

Lagos, Oyo, and Katsina had the highest number of cases at 259, 76 and 69, respectively. Delta, Rivers had 46; Ogun, 23; Edo, 22; Osun, 22; and Ebonyi, 21.

FCT had 20; Kaduna, 16; Ondo, 10; Imo, 9; and Abia, 9. Gombe had 5; Plateau, 4; Bauchi, 4; Ekiti, 2; and Anambra, 1.

Due to the rising number of cases each day, Lagos and Osun state governments have threatened fresh lockdowns if the people failed to abide by government protocols such as social distancing and wearing of face masks in the public.

Speaking at a media briefing monitored by one of our correspondents on Friday, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, said even though the state had been able to draw a balance between the public health crisis and ensuring livelihoods were not in jeopardy, the government would not hesitate to impose another lockdown if the things (cases) got out of hands.

[b]“We believe we are managing a delicate balance between the public health crisis and the economic livelihood of Lagosians. If things are getting out of hand, we will certainly consider another lockdown,” [/b]he said.

The commissioner added that the state had yet to reach the peak, noting that cases would continue to rise in the next one or two months.

Abayomi said, “We are in the middle of the outbreak and we have not even peaked yet, and so the cases are still rising. We still expect to see a lot more cases in the next one month or two. I would use this platform to remind Lagosians that we have not yet peaked and Lagos is still going through the active community transmission of COVID-19.

“I think what may be giving you a false sense of security or confidence is that we say most people have mild to moderate disease. While that may be so, between three and five per cent of Lagosians that catch this infection have an extremely severe to critical form of COVID-19 and the risk of dying in that percentage is extremely high.

“Two to five per cent may seem like a small percentage, but even one per cent of 25 million people is a lot of Lagosians. We are not prepared to lose 250,000 Lagosians and we certainly will not even like to contemplate that number.

“So I appeal to Lagosians, particularly people who we believe are in the vulnerable category; anybody over the age of 50 or 55 with underlying medical conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity or any other medical condition that interferes with their immune system, they are extremely vulnerable to COVID-19.

“And the young people may be going out there with mild to moderate disease but they certainly go home in the evening and expose their parents and grandparents to the vulnerabilities.

“So I appeal to Lagosians, keep practising the social distancing measures and I hope these practices will help to flatten the curve and protect certain vulnerable members of the community.”

Abayomi stated that local government areas with the highest number of cases were Eti-Osa, Alimosho, Kosofe, Ikeja, Oshodi, Surulere and Lagos Mainland.

With new cases being recorded daily, Osun State Government on Friday said it might impose another lockdown.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Rafiu Isamotu, in a statement, said residents had continued to flout the government guidelines.

“On Thursday, we announced the discovery of 17 new cases in our dear state. Sadly, today (Friday) again, we have 22 new cases. Considering where we are coming from, this is worrisome. We must, therefore, take responsibility. The battle against coronavirus is not over yet.

“Government may be forced to impose another lockdown on the State if residents and citizens continue to flout the lockdown relaxation guidelines.”

Ibadan – The burial arrangement for the Late immediate past Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, has finally been released by his family.

The burial arrangements ,which was made known to public on Friday evening through media aide of the late ex-Oyo Governor, Bolaji Tunji, who stated the arrangements through his social media handle which stated thus “Details of the funeral ceremony of His Excellency Senator Abiola Ajimobi have been released by the family.

“In close consultation with the governments of Lagos and Oyo States, the date for the burial ceremony has been announced.

“Barring any changes, his body will be interred at the Senator Ishaq Abiola Ajimobi Central Mosque at Oke Ado, Ibadan at 12noon on Sunday the 28th of June 2020 after the traditional Muslim prayers.

“To ensure that strict COVID-19 protocols are adhered to and in light of the current circumstances of our national health challenges, the family appeals to the public to observe strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols in their participation.

“Furthermore, details of the live media coverage of the funeral ceremony will be made public by tomorrow.

“In the near future, details of a larger funeral gathering will be announced where a lot more of his well wishers will have the opportunity to pay him their respect.”

Airport passengers will be in for difficult times as the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has concluded plans to increase Passenger Service Charge (PSC) by 100 percent.

The new charge regime scheduled for implementation effective August 1 requires passengers to pay N2,000 as PSC as against N1000 for domestic flight.

Under the proposed arrangement, international passengers will have to cough out $100 as against the previous $50.

The PSC is one of the components factored into air fares by domestic international airlines.

Investigations by The Nation revealed the new arrangement will trigger rise in fares at a time the industry is struggling to get passengers return to the skies on account of the debilitating effects of COVID -19.

Managing Director of FAAN Capt Rabiu Yadudu in a letter dated June 22, 2020 with reference Ref: FAAN/HQ/MD/18E/VOL.86/72 , titled, “Implementation of the approved new passenger service charge (PSC) effective August 1, 2020″ to all airlines stated the decision was premised on approval by the Minister of Aviation in a letter referenced FMT/FMA/COM/T/69 dated August 3rd, 2017, which he said was sought with the intention to improve and upgrade airports infrastructure among others.

Yadudu noted the authority recently notified the Minister of Aviation of its intention to commence implementation, stressing on several occasions they had engaged the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and relevant stakeholders which delayed the implementation from 2017 to date.

The FAAN boss disclosed the cap on the value of the PSC is simply outdated, explaining the last review of the PSC was simply outdated.
According to Yadudu, the last review of PSC on domestic route from N350 to N1000 and from $35 to $50 on the international route was on May 1, 2011 and March 21, 2011 respectively.

His words: “This does not correlate with the prevailing economic situation and the index to meet the needs of today and future growth in passenger traffic by FAAN and airport development, most especially for the airport upgrade to post COVID-19 standards.
‘You will also wish to recall that Bi-Courtney Aviation Services, operators of the MM2 has for years been charging N2,500 as its PSC. Despite the operating PSC, some airlines recently moved operations from the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) handled by FAAN to the MMA2 because of the inability of FAAN to expand GAT. This increase will therefore afford FAAN the needed funds to upgrade our facilities to accommodate new airlines including the anticipated national carrier.”

The Federal Government has said it shut down the building housing the Embassy of Nigeria in Berlin, Germany in order to allow thorough disinfection of the building.

In a statement on Friday, the Embassy said the move was necessary to guarantee the safety of its staff and the visiting public amid the coronavirus pandemic.

It dispelled reports that the building was shut down due to the non-payment of rent, stressing that the property belongs to the Government of Nigeria.

It said, “It has come to the notice of the Embassy of Nigeria Berlin, Germany an attempt to deliberately misinform and mislead the innocent and decent Nigerians resident in Germany and in other EU countries that the Embassy building in Berlin was shut down due to non-payment of rent.

“The Chancery Building in Berlin is the property of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from the first day. The reason for the temporary shutdown is to engage professional companies to sanitize and fumigate the building to make it safe and habitable for visitors and working staff due to the exigencies of Covid-19.

“The Embassy wishes to reassure all meaning Nigerians that it the shutdown is in deep consideration of the health and safety of staff and families visiting the Mission.”

Sen. Ali Ndume has agreed to stand as surety for the former Chairman of Pension Reforms Task Team (PRTT), Abdul-rasheed Maina.

His counsel, Chief Joe Kyari Gadzama (SAN), made this known, on Tuesday, while arguing another motion before Justice Okon Abang for further bail variation of the defendant.

Maina was admitted to bail by the court but he could not meet the conditions.

He had to approach the court to vary the bail terms.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Maina is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged fraud.

He has been in detention since last year.

One of the conditions given by the court is for the defendant to provide a senator who would stand as a surety for him.

The matter is ongoing as at the time of filing the report.

The police in Kano have rescued over 600 labourers who were forced to spend three months in a factory called ‘popular farm rice’, in Challawa industrial area.

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The workers told PREMIUM TIMES that they were threatened with their jobs if they opted to go home to see their families.

Members of the Kano police command stormed the factory on Monday after obtaining a court injunction, arresting four managers and releasing the detained workers.

According to the workers, they were denied access outside the premises of the factory due to the fear of bringing COVID-19 into the factory.

One of the freed workers told journalists that he has been in the factory since March 23rd without setting his foot outside.

Another worker, Haruna Salihu, said he had been in the factory since March 28 and was denied time to visit his family and parents. “Our family members are seriously disturbed, as they don’t know the (condition we are in). My wife and my kids used to come to the factory’s gate and I couldn’t go and meet them.

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This is where the factory workers sleep.

“We were tricked to stay in the factory for five days, then (it was) extended to seven days, then two weeks and subsequently extended to one month. We are now detained for over three months. There are about 600 workers in the factory. We are sleeping in a very poor environment. I am appealing to authorities to allow me to go back to my family.”

According to another employee, though he was not forced to stay, he was threatened with dismissal if he decided to go outside the factory.

Also, a truck driver, Hashimu Isa, who brought paddy rice from Kebbi State, narrated how he was kept in the factory for three days without going out.


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“I brought paddy rice from Yauri, Kebbi State. I couldn’t go out of the factory, since my entry three days ago. Even if you attempted to go out, the security will not allow you. I couldn’t go out to give my boy money to buy food. Someone sent me ten thousand Naira, but I couldn’t go to the bank to withdraw it. I was waiting to (offload) the rice, so that I will leave,” he said.

The police spokesperson in Kano, Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, said they have arrested four management staff of the factory, and investigation is ongoing to verify the allegations against them.

“We have found many workers locked and enslaved in the factory. The commissioner of police, Habu A Sani, has directed for thorough investigation. So far, we have arrested four management staff and investigation has commenced,” Mr Kiyawa said.

The manager of the rice mill, who identified himself as Abdulkareem, regretted the incident, saying he was not aware of the workers’ terrible condition.

A Ghanaian monarch says the Nigerian high commission in the country was aiding a businessman to forcibly take over the plot of land belonging to his people.

Joy News, a Ghanaian platform, quoted Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI, paramount chief of Osu traditional area, as saying the land is different from the one being occupied by the high commission.

TheCable had reported how the staff quarters of the high commission which is still under construction was demolished by armed men.

While the federal government called for urgent action against the perpetrators, the Ghanaian government said it was investigating the incident.

The traditional ruler said the Nigerian high commission trespassed on the plot of land which he said belongs to the Osu stool.

He said they also gathered that the ongoing structure is “planned entertainment complex to be used as an events centre for commercial purposes” and not staff quarters as was reported.

“It came to the attention of the Osu Stool that the original building on the parcel of land was demolished and, in its place, a new structure was being erected,” he reportedly said in a statement.

“Osu Stool was informed that the structure was being erected by a Nigerian business person with the aid of the Nigerian High Commission and was forcibly trying to take over the said parcel of land.

“The Stool has a high level of respect for foreign missions and has therefore on several occasions verbally informed the unidentified trespasser of the ownership status of the land through the security personnel resident on the parcel of land.”

The monarch added that the “trespasser” was invited for discussion on the ownership of the land but the “trespasser has openly and with impunity disrespected the paramount Chief of the Osu Traditional Area, Stool Lands Authority and the Traditional Council of Elders by its attendant behaviour.”

“Forceful acquisition of these lands by trespassers who hide behind foreign offices and political influence should desist from doing so,” he said.

The All Progressives Congress National Reconciliation Committee has received no fewer than 170 petitions from aggrieved party members across the country.

The committee’s Secretary, Senator John Enoh, who disclosed this in an interview with one of our correspondents on Monday, said the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent ban on interstate movements made the panel to suspend its sittings across the country.

Enoh stated this as the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and the APC governors on Monday intensified efforts to prevent the party from disintegrating.

But as the President and the governors were meeting at the Presidential Villa, sides to the APC crisis at the national level were taking actions that showed that the problem was far from being over.

The party’s Deputy National Secretary, Victor Giadom, who last week declared himself as the acting national chairman following the National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole’s suspension by the Court of Appeal, disowned the governorship primary election conducted by the APC on Monday in Edo State.

On its part, the Abiola Ajimobi-led National Working Committee, consisting of 15 members of the NWC replaced Giadom as the deputy national secretary.

The APC National Reconciliation Committee headed by the party’s former Interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, was set up in February following the failure of previous panels to resolve the party’s crises across the country.

For example, Oshiomhole had in December set up a committee led by the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, to resolve the crises.

But the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, rejected the composition of the committee arguing that it would not be fair to him.

The party is currently battling crises at the national level and state chapters such as Edo, Zamfara, Bayelsa, Rivers and Ondo.

The Secretary to the APC peace panel, Senator John Enoh, told The PUNCH that because of the nature of its assignment, the committee had not been able to make use of the Internet to conduct its meetings with aggrieved members.

In response to a question as to whether the committee had taken advantage of the Internet, Enoh said, “We tried that but it has not worked. As soon as it does, we will start. Our chairman (Chief Bisi Akande) is locked down in Osun State. We are just hoping now that flights will resume. If it is not certain that they will, we will have to see how to move around it and start.”

Asked if the committee had received additional petitions since the last time the panel met, he said, “Additional memos keep tickling in but not as many. We have about 170 memos from party members. We have our job cut out for us.”

The panel, a few months ago, said it had got 150 petitions.