₦airaland Forum

Kayode Oyero

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has lambasted Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde; and his Ondo State counterpart, Rotimi Akeredolu, for visiting the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) in a bid to find lasting solution to the herdsmen crisis rocking the two South-West states.

Falana spoke on a PUNCH Online interview programme, The Roundtable on Friday.

He said the two governors are chief security officers of their respective states as well as members of the Nigeria Police Council and should make demands for security reinforcements from the council order than seeking same from the president.

The PUNCH had reported that after the meetings at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday, Akeredolu did not speak with State House correspondents while Makinde said he seized the opportunity of the meeting to call for the establishment of more Police Mobile Force squadrons in the state.

But the senior advocate said the president is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and not of the Nigeria Police Force, adding that the governors should have approached the police council.

He said, “These are regular meetings and I have said to the face of the governors, you have no business going to Abuja to beg the president, ‘Please, post more policemen to my state’. No, you are a member of the Nigeria Police Council, that is the business of the police council –to administer, organise and supervise the police force.

“The president is not the commander-in-chief of the Nigeria Police Force, no. Police powers are to be jointly shared by the president, by the federal and the state governments but we’ve left the president to control the Nigeria Police Force since 1999, that has to stop.

“It is not the prerogative of the president to decide when to post more policemen to Oyo State. No. So, our governors have to, as chief security officers of their states, take control because in every state, you have a state security council headed by the governor. The commissioner of police is a member, the director of state security services is a member. If there is a military institution in that state, the commander is a member.

“The body is to meet regularly to ensure that there is security of lives in every state. So, if a governor has a problem, that has to be taken to the Nigeria Police Council but that council never meets. This is worsening the insecurity situation in the country. That is a body that should be meeting on a monthly basis to ensure that we protect every Nigerian and every visitor to Nigeria.”

“That is what should be. I have a case in court to compel the presidency to (convene this meeting). We must organise this country,” Falana said.

By Ade Adesomoju

A U.S court has given an ultimatum to Autumn Spikes, an ex-mistress of the African richest man, Aliko Dangote, to respond to his libel suit.

A copy of the court’s ‘civil action summons’ obtained by PREMIUM TIMES , on Friday, said Ms Spikes has “20 calendar days” from the day she is served with the African richest man’s suit to file her response.

Ms Spikes has said she has yet to be served the court documents.

PREMIUM TIMES had exclusively reported how Mr Dangote, used a pseudonym, John Doe, to file a libel suit against Ms Spikes for allegedly trying to extort $5million (about N1.9billion) from him.

He is seeking damages “in excess of $30,000” (about N11.4million) against Ms Spikes.

Court warns

PREMIUM TIMES on Friday saw a copy of the summons issued by a Deputy Clerk of the Miami-Dade County Court in Florida, U.S, on January 26, warning Ms Spikes against failing to respond to the suit on time.

Titled, ‘IMPORTANT,’ the court summons warned Ms Spikes she could lose the case if her response was filed late.

The document added that her late response to the suit could also cost her her wages and money, and that her property might thereafter be taken “without further warming from the court.”

It read in part, “A lawsuit has been filed against you. You have 20 calendar days after this summons is served on you to file a written response to the attached Complaint with the clerk of this Court.

“A phone call will not protect you. Your written response, including the case number given above and the names of the parties must be filed if you want the court to hear your side of the case.

“If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case, and your wages, money, and property may thereafter be taken without further warming from the court. There are other legal requirements.”

‘Get a lawyer’
Ms Spikes was also advised in the summons to call an attorney “right away.”

“If you do not know an attorney, you may call an attorney referral service or a legal aid office (listed in the phone book),” the summons added.

The summons also listed various locations where she could file her written response if she chooses to do so by herself.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

Love affair gone bad

The lid on Mr Dangote’s affair of about 10 years with Ms Spikes was blown open in a January 1 Instagram post of a short footage by the lady, showing herself seated beside Mr Dangote who was lying down on a couch with part of his buttocks exposed.

Mr Dangote had sought to end the affair at about the time another former girlfriend of his, Bea Lewis, took to the social media in December to expose their past time together.

Ms Spikes recently said she was “pressured and influenced” to sign a non-disclosure agreement with Mr Dangote whom she said “insultingly” offered her $15,000 and $2,500 to keep her affair with him private.

The lady had through an email exchange between her lawyer and Mr Dangote’s, insisted on being paid $15million by the wealthy business man for his decision to end their affair.

Mr Dangote in his suit alleged that Ms Spikes had threatened to take their affairs to media talks shows and the social media in violation of an existing Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) between them.

Ms Spikes denies Mr Dangote’s claim in a recent Instagram post.

Sunday Aborisade, Abuja

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume, on Thursday, lamented that there was nothing on the ground to show for the huge budgetary allocation made by the Federal Government towards its Social Intervention Programme in the 2020 budget.

Ndume, who spoke with journalists in Abuja, on the implementation of the 2020 budget, urged the youths and all the intended beneficiaries of the N729bn social intervention funds, to hold government agencies accountable.

The senator said unless the youth being the beneficiaries, the civil society groups and the Media “followed the money” by asking questions on the disbursement of the funds, the aim would be defeated.

He said, “Sincerely, President Buhari has done his bit. No government has done this much for the youth. But, the beneficiaries must ask the right question of where the money is with a view to accessing them.”

Making allusion to the Federal Government’s 1,000 jobs for 1, 000 youth across each of the 774 local government areas in the country, he said such gesture had ” massive capacity to rid the street of jobless citizens.

He said, “The President has signed the 2021 budget into law and it contains a lot for the youths especially and the poor.

“As observed in last year’s N13trn budget, which was the highest level of implementation so far, we cannot see it on ground.

“So, what I’m suggesting or what I am urging the youth to do in particular, is to follow their money and ensure that the budget is not only implemented but that there is evidence on ground to show that it is actually implemented to the benefit of the people.

“I am saying this because government had recently announced over N700bn for intervention in various sectors that is supposed to be targeted towards indigent Nigerians and the vulnerable but we are yet to see some of these actions on ground.”

Eniola Akinkuotu, Abuja

Amid the quit notices issued to Fulani herdsmen to vacate certain areas in the South-West, the National Broadcasting Commission has warned television and radio stations against broadcasting divisive contents.

The warning is stated in a letter titled, ‘Broadcast of Crisis Involving Herdsmen, Caution’, dated January 26, 2021, sent to broadcasters nationwide. The warning after a quit notice issued to Fulani herdsmen by Yoruba rights activist, Sunday Adeyemo aka Sunday Igboho, in Oyo State.

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State had also asked herdsmen in the state to vacate all forest reserves within a week.

The NBC, which is the regulator of the broadcast media, said there was a need for stations to maintain professionalism.

The letter read in part, “The National Broadcasting Commission wishes to bring to your attention emerging trends of national concern like the herdsmen crisis in Ondo and Oyo states and related issues which could spiral out of proportion if not properly handled.

“The commission therefore seizes this opportunity to admonish broadcasters on the need to exhibit professionalism and observe required caution in the coverage and presentation of the quit notice to herdsmen and related issues.”

The NBC reminded broadcasters of the rules governing coverage of crisis as well as the constitutional need to not only promote and protect the corporate existence of the country but the economic well-being of the Nigerian state.

It quoted Sections 5.4.1 (a, b&f) and 5.4.3 of the broadcast code.

Part of the section reads, “(Broadcasters) shall not transmit divisive materials that may threaten or compromise the divisibility and indissolubility of Nigeria as a sovereign state.

“In reporting conflict situations, the broadcaster shall perform the role of a peace agent by adhering to the principle of responsibility, accuracy and neutrality.”

The NBC has in recent time come under fire for its stiff regulations which civil society groups say are at variance with democratic norms.

The commission had in October fined Channels Television, Arise TV and AIT for the manner with which it covered the #EndSARS protests.

A major reorganisation exercise is expected to take place in the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN), following the appointment of new Service Chiefs on Tuesday by President Muhammadu Buhari. Those affected by the development included the former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Abayomi Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt- Gen. Tukur Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, as well as Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar. The development came after serving for five years and six months in their respective offices.

They were replaced with Maj-Gen. Lucky Irabor (CDS); Maj-Gen. Attahiru Ibrahim (COAS); Rear Admiral Awwal Gambo (CNS), as well as Air Vice Marshal Isiaka Amao (CAS) respectively. Investigation by New Telegraph revealed that following the latest appointments, the new Service Chiefs will carry out major reorganisations, which will cut across both tactical and operational levels of the three services.

The implication is that many General Officers Commanding (GOCs), Flag Officers Commanding (FOCs), and Air Officers Commanding (AOCs) currently serving, may be affected by new postings expected to happen shortly after the new Service Chiefs assume their respective offices.

A senior military officer, who spoke in confidence with this newspaper, said what happened on Tuesday, will lead to the retirement of many officers within the ranks of Major General and Brigadier General. According to the source, who spoke in confidence, those likely to be affected are officers within the rank of Major General, who are senior to the newly-appointed military heads.

This, he explained, was because an officer is not expected to serve under his junior as Chief. “Looking at the seniority roll of the Army, Navy and the Air Force, all those officers from the bar, those that were senior to the Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff and Chief of Air Staff, will be retired because they are not expected to serve under their juniors as Service Chiefs.

“So, that will be the first thing that will happen to the Armed Forces,” the source said. “After they have taken that cut-off point, maybe some of them who are GOCs are likely to be affected. “So, you are going to see retirement of many Generals, especially those of the rank of Major General and Brigadier General are most likely to be retired,” he said. Another source, who spoke in a similar vein, stated that once that was done, new appointments and postings to tactical and operational commands will take place. His words: “When they are retired, the next thing you are going to see is appointments at the various sensitive positions in the military, especially operational. “For instance, who are the officers likely to be GOCs (Army), Flag Officers Commanding (Navy), and Air Officers Commanding (Air Force)?

“It may lead to retirement of all officers that are senior to the present Chiefs. “Then, especially in tactical and operational areas, a new bloc is going to be engendered, because by the time you retire all these people, you create a vacuum. “Some of these young officers, who have been trained in one tactical area or the other, they want to show what they are; that look, if we are given the opportunity, we are going to do our best.”

Meanwhile, findings at the Services’ headquarters in Abuja indicated that some of the ex-Service Chiefs were still coming to office. An officer, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said it was not out of place for them to resume duties despite their replacement, since they needed to prepare their hand-over notes.

A 65-year-old hunter from Amunike community in Awka North local government area of Anambra State, Uchechukwu Nweke has killed his 55-year-old wife Mrs Patricia Nweke using his single barrel gun.

He also burnt his house along with his son , Obinna Nweke aged 29 years in a circumstance yet to be ascertained.

Conforming the incident, the spokesman of the Anambra State Police Command, CSP Haruna Mohammed said “the police on 28/1/2021 received a report from Amunike community in Awka North LGA of Anambra State that , a hunter, one Uchechukwu Nweke ‘m’ aged 65 years allegedly shot his wife Patricia Nweke ‘f’ aged 55 years with a single barrel gun and also burnt his house along with his son named Obinna Nweke aged 29 years in a circumstances yet to be ascertained.

He also stated that the suspect equally shot himself using the same gun.

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Meanwhile, Mohammed said that the police detectives attached to Achalla police station had visited the scene and took victims to Uche hospital for medical attention, where the three victims were certified dead by a medical doctor on arrival.

According to him, “corpses of the victims have been deposited at the hospital’s morgue for autopsy, while investigation is ongoing to ascertain circumstances surrounding the incident.

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has signed the Coronavirus Disease Health Protection 2021 which made the use of face masks in public places mandatory among other measures to curtail further spread of COVID-19.

The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, told journalists in Abuja on Wednesday that the President signed the document on Tuesday.

He said the President signed the document in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by Section 4 of the Quarantine Act, Cap. Q2 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2010.

Part 2 of the regulation stipulates that no person shall be allowed within the premises of a market, mall, supermarket, shop, restaurants, hotels, event centres, gardens, leisure parks, recreation centres, motor parks, fitness centre or any other similar establishment “except he is wearing a face covering that covers the nose and mouth, he washes his hands or cleaned the hands using hand sanitiser approved by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, and his body temperature has been checked. Any person found to have a body temperature above 38 degrees Celsius shall be denied entry and advised to immediately seek medical attention.”


Part 1 which deals with restrictions on gatherings stipulates that at all gatherings, a physical distance of at least two metres shall be maintained at all times between persons.

It added, [b]“Notwithstanding the provision of Regulation 1, no gathering of more than 50 persons shall hold in an enclosed space, except for religious purposes, in which case the gathering shall not exceed 50% capacity of the space.

“All persons in public gatherings, whether in enclosed or open spaces, shall adhere to the provisions of Part 2 of these Regulations.”

Part three, among other provisions, stipulates that persons confirmed to have tested positive to COVID-19 by an NCDC accredited laboratory, may not refuse isolation and or admission to a designated health establishment for management of the disease .

Part four which, deals with penalties, stipulates a fine or six months imprisonment or both for violators.

It read, “Any person who contravenes the provisions of these Regulations commits an offence.

“Any person who, without reasonable cause, contravenes a direction given under Parts 1 and 2 of these Regulations commits an offence.

“Any person who, without reasonable cause, obstructs an authorised official from enforcement of these Regulations commits an offence.

“An offence under these Regulations is punishable, on summary conviction, by a fine or a term of six months imprisonment or both in accordance with Section 5 of the Quarantine Act.”

Part 5 which deals with enforcement and application read “Personnel of the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Federal Road Safety Corps, the Nigeria Immigration Service, the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, and other relevant Local Government, State and Federal Government agencies are hereby directed to enforce the provisions of these Regulations.

“Any officer of the enforcement agencies who fails, neglects, or refuses to enforce the provisions of these Regulations shall be subject to disciplinary action by the disciplinary body of his respective agency.”

The Nigerian Army has deployed 100 female soldiers of the 1 Women Special Operation Battalion to secure the Abuja-Kaduna highway.

The women soldiers, Daily Trust reports, will form part of Operation Thunder Strike.

Daily Trust further gathered that this is the first deployment as another set of 200 soldiers are expected, making a total of 300.

Governor Nasir El-Rufai, who received the women soldiers on Wednesday in Kakau village along the high, said: “I am confident that with the deployment of the women soldiers, the Abuja-Kaduna road will be the safest in the country.”

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A Nigerian has built a house in Kaduna using 14,800 sand-filled plastic bottles as bricks.

Yahaya Ahmed, an engineer and the director of a non-governmental organisation, Developmental Association of Renewable Energies in Nigeria (DARE), said the house was built by his organisation to encourage recycling of waste materials, create jobs and ensure a safer environment in Nigeria.

Mr Ahmed said workers filled the plastic bottles with sand and linked them at the neck by an intricate network of strings to build the house, which he said is the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa.

“It’s the cheapest house that everyone can construct without spending much money because the building materials are available on the streets and trash dump centres,” he told journalists at the site located at unguwar -Yalwa on the Kaduna Zaria road.

The house has three rooms, a toilet and a kitchen.

He said it is “20 times stronger than brick walls houses and can last for over 300 years if constructed properly and carefully. It is fireproof, bulletproof, earthquake-resistant and can adapt to all kinds of climate changes, desertification and deforestation.

“It is the cheapest house to build in this generation with waste plastic bottles on the streets polluting our environment and causing more problems like flood and other disasters in the communities.”


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sand-filled plastic bottles used as bricks


‘Convenient to build’

Explaining the shape of the house, Mr Ahmed said bottle houses are often more convenient to build in a circular fashion. “The circular shape adds strength to the walls, while providing a very artistic and pleasing appearance.

“Any person with masonry skills can be used as labour in the construction of one of these homes. We have trained many youth and we are still training more youth and adults the various ways of constructing these houses across the country and some parts of Africa.”

He called for the training of more Nigerians to build plastic bottles houses.

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Yahaya Ahmed standing outside his newly built plastic house


“We have plastic houses in some parts of Africa but this is the first one in the entire region of black Africa.

“Our joy is to train more youth the skills of this kind of housing so as to save our streets from the plastic bottles dominating our rivers and ponds, causing flood and other disasters.”

Speaking on the occasion, the assistant Director of African Climate Reporters, Piman Hoffman, urged the government to support renewable energy companies “to save the nation from the increasing threat of waste pollution through waste management plans.”

Mr Hoffman said “billions of plastic water and beverage bottles are discarded every year, with most making their way to landfills, the ocean, or, in poorer countries, disposed of in heaps”.

“It is really high time to encourage Nigerian engineers to embrace technology in constructing more houses that can stand all forms of ecological challenges.”

He noted that “plastics are a big threat to the existence of humans, animals and all living organisms”. He said more aquatic animals are now endangered due to the “irrational activities of dumping plastic bottles into the river and streams”.

“We must join hands toward saving aquatic animals from the threat of plastic pollution,” Mr Hoffman said.

An Oodua Republic agigator, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has narrated how bullets were fired at him at the home of the Seriki of Fulani in Ibarapa, Oyo State, and did not harm him.

Igboho added that suspected Fulani herdsmen killing and kidnapping people in the South-West had done enough and should leave.

Speaking in an interview with popular broadcaster, Kola Olootu, in Oyo State on the notice to quit given to herdsmen ravaging the Ibarapa area of Oke Ogun, Oyo State, Igboho said the gunshots allegedly fired at him failed to harm him.

He described it as a demonstrarion of the efficacy of Yoruba traditional power.

He said, "This is not an issue that affects Sunday Igboho but a matter of concern to the entire Yoruba race. I am saying it pointedly that I am too strong for Fulani bandits to attack or capture, so this matter is not about me at all.

"I don’t have a child who would be kidnapped by Fulani men because my children are not even based in the country.

"When gunshots were fired at me during the visit to the Seriki in Igangan, the bullets did not penetrate (harm me). That shows the efficacy of the Yoruba traditional power.

"It would not be a hard nut for the Yoruba people to crack, rather the evil marauders killing and maiming our people would be visited with retribution as God lives.

"The reason for that was the incessant attacks on our people in the Ibarapa and Oke Ogun areas of the (Oyo) state. Our people are no longer safe in their own land. On the contrary, Yoruba people don’t engage in such atrocious things. You cannot see a Yoruba man going about killing people in Kano.

"In the North, they can behead a Yoruba man for slapping a Hausa/Fulani let alone destroy their farmland. You will recall the case of ‘Oko Oloyun’ (a popular herbal medicine trader) who was killed during a visit to his country house. He was killed at Igbo Ora. The government said it would unravel the facts behind his killing but till now, the matter has not been unravelled. That killing would clock up a year this month."

Igboho identified another victim as Dr Fatai Aborode, who returned from overseas and started farming in Igangan but was killed by herdsmen.

"He employed about 300 people. When his farm was plundered by cattle, he lodged a complaint with the Seriki Fulani. Few days after, killer herdsmen kidnapped him, tied him and butchered him. Nothing was done and no arrest was made.

"That was the story that we heard. After that, they also killed a woman, an Alhaja, a native of Imeko who brought the ransom. Many like that had been killed, including the son to Oba Abdulazeez Adeoye of Igangan. Before getting to Seriki’s residence, you have to pass through three local security checkpoints.

"Now, we are determined to defend our people, but they say we don’t have the right to do so. Some people alleged that I’m doing this to gain cheap popularity; far from it. Some even said perhaps I’m trying to do it to enrich myself, but that is not also correct. The fact is that I am a rich man. I am not seeking favour from the government because I’m a contented person. I don’t need money or favour from the government, but I am from Ibarapa."

Igboho had been in the news since last week when he gave an ultimatum to killer herdsmen to vacate Oyo State.

Days after, violence erupted in the area during which the houses and property of the Seriki Fulani, Alhaji Saliu Abdulkadir, were burnt.

Abdulkadir had told SaharaReporters that he, his wives and children were sent out of the settlement, adding that 11 vehicles and houses were burnt in the process.

The Seriki had thereafter fled the community with his family, as aggrieved youths put fire to the settlement.

Speaking with SaharaReporters, Igboho’s Personal Assistant, Salami Oladapo, had said that neither his principal nor his supporters were responsible for the arson.

By Ronald Adamolekun

The holder of the biggest stake in Union Bank of Nigeria is contemplating its future with the Lagos-based lender, as its 49.97 per cent ownership has received acquisition offers from domestic bidders, Bloomberg has reported, citing insiders familiar with the subject.

Early interests in the shareholding of Atlas Mara, a financial services holding company, quoted on the London Stock Exchange, are coming from local banks intent on widening their reach in the Nigerian market, according to sources pleading anonymity because negotiations are still under wraps.

Atlas Mara is currently engaging financial advisor Rothschild & Co. but the deal could be consummated as an outright sale or take another direction as the landscape of a definite takeover is not yet clear.

Nigeria’s biggest lender, Access Bank, is forging a deal with the firm to buy its assets in Zimbabwe, Botswana and Zambia, with that deal close to being delivered.

The bank said at an analyst call this week it was looking to gain traction in the financial markets of eight other African countries in a bid to leverage the potential of the continent’s new free trade agreement.

Atlas Mara, based in British Virgin Islands, is paring down its size, following a growth plan that went bad in that it wrongly estimated competition in Africa when it overpaid for acquisitions.

The company’s share of Union Bank, which has a market value of N161.620 billion, is its largest asset and is viewed as a strategic positioning in Africa’s biggest economy.

Bob Diamond, who jointly founded the financial services group, vacated his post as chair of Atlas Mara about two years ago for Michael Wilkerson, chairman of Fairfax Africa, which wields 49% stake in the company.

Union Bank closed trade on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Friday at N5.55 per share, up by 1.83%.

A spokesperson for Union Bank, Ogochukwu Ekezie-Ekaidem, told PREMIUM TIMES inquiries should be directed to Atlas Mara.

Atlas Mara did not respond to a PREMIUM TIMES request, via email, for comment.

By Nasir Ayitogo

A total 127 soldiers are exiting the Nigerian Army despite the worsening security challenges the military is currently combating in some parts of the country.

The soldiers, drawn from various formations of the army across the country, are all of the junior cadres who are mostly at the forefront in the field.

The military personnel, comprising one Master Warrant Officer, three Warrant Officers, 22 Staff Sergeants, 29 Sergeants, 64 Corporals, seven Lance Corporals and one Private, will disengage in May, according to a memo seen by PREMIUM TIMES.

The Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, a lieutenant general, has since approved their formal disengagement.

The list of the exiting soldiers did not distinguish between those embarking on voluntary retirement and those leaving the army on medical grounds.

According to the memo signed by T.A Gagariga, a brigadier general, who communicated the approval of their disengagements, the 127 soldiers are to submit all military properties in their possession.

“In compliance with the provisions of section A, the COAS vide reference B has approved the voluntary discharge of the above named NWO and 126 others listed in annex A. The soldiers are to proceed on terminal leave WEF 26th April, 21 while their disengagement date takes effect from 26th May 21 in accordance with the NA administrative policies and procedures No. 27 paragraphs 3 and 4,” the memo read.

“Accordingly, I am directed to request you relate to their respective units to release the affected soldiers to report to HQ CAR with their unit service documents for documentation NLT 5th January 21 and ensure that:”

“a. All forms of military controlled items, arms, ammunition and items of combat kits are recovered from the soldiers prior to their disengagement date and certified that they are properly de-kitted.”

“b. They complete all necessary documentation for withdrawal from: 1. NAWIS contributions 2. DENFUND contribution 3. National Mortgage Contributions,” the memo read.

Army spokesperson, Sagir Musa, did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES enquiries on the resignation of the soldiers.

Low morale?

The exit of the 127 soldiers who have neither attained retirement age nor mandatory years of service, is coming in the middle of security crises in the country.

Their resignation is coming after a larger number of their colleagues quit en masse last July, a development which insiders in the military said was indicative of low morale in the forces.

The country is currently battling the Boko Haram insurgents in the North-east, armed bandits in the North-west and North-central, as well as militants and pirates in the South-south.

The Nigerian Armed Forces, comprising the Army, Navy and Air Force, had in the past lamented about insufficient personnel to help in restoration of sanity in the country.

Recently, the Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi, a retired major general, said the military was understaffed and underfunded to tackle the various security challenges facing the country.

Despite the minister’s claim of low funding for the military, the defence sector has for the past five years taken a large chunk of Nigeria’s budget.

Following repeated complaints about insufficient personnel, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo revealed last year that there was an ongoing deliberate and comprehensive consolidation of the security situation in the country which included plans to recruit more troops and officers to beef up the personnel of security agencies in order to contain the threats and security concerns in the land.

SaharaReporters obtained the new HTACOS 2017 which also reveals that the military chiefs will get security staff of over 40 soldiers as well as domestic and foreign medical cover.

The Chief of the Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, along with the other military chiefs, have been awarded four Sport Utility Vehicles, four Peugeot cars, among other juicy retirement benefits, according to the Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service for Officers, which their administration revised.

SaharaReporters obtained the new HTACOS 2017 which also reveals that the military chiefs will get security staff of over 40 soldiers as well as domestic and foreign medical cover.

The document shows that the brand new SUVs to be given to Buratai; the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Abayomi Olonisakin; the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas; and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, will be replaced every four years at the military's expense.

President Muhammadu Buhari appointed the defence chiefs on July 13, 2015, and despite the worsening insecurity in the country, Buhari has retained the service chiefs generally perceived by Nigerians to have run out of ideas.

The country has been in the grip of the Boko Haram terrorists in the North-East and banditry in the North-West, with the National Assembly, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and many notable Nigerians calling for the replacement of the service chiefs.

Meanwhile, the current service chiefs revised the previous 2012 conditions and replaced them with the 2017 HTACOS, which now makes them entitled to the juicy retirement benefits.

According to the HTACOS 2017 obtained by SaharaReporters, Section 11 explains how the military will bear the heavy cost of the many exorbitant retirement benefits lined up for the service chiefs.

The document partly reads, “Retirement benefits for CDS and service chiefs; the following benefits shall be applicable; one bullet-proof SUV or equivalent vehicle to be maintained by the Service and to be replaced every four years. Two; Peugeot 508 or equivalent backup vehicle; three, retention of all military uniform and accoutrement to be worn for appropriate ceremonies.

“Also, five domestic aides (two service cooks, two stewards and a civilian gardener); an Aide-de-Camp/Security Officer; a Special Assistant of Lieutenant or Captain or equivalents or Personal Assistant; also, a Standard Guard of nine soldiers.

“Three service drivers; one service orderly; escorts (to be provided by appropriate military units/ formation as the need arises; retention of personal firearms (on his demise the personal firearm(s) shall be retrieved by the relevant Service and also; a free medical cover in Nigeria and abroad.”

From the Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service for Officers, soldiers, airmen and ratings 2012, the military made provision for only Peugeot cars, and some other benefits, but it did not include the bullet-proof SUVs, the standard guard of nine soldiers and the free medical cover in and outside Nigeria.

Some notable Oyo members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday, through a closed door meeting held at Alhaji Nureni Akanbi’s residence, endorsed Eddy Olafeso as the Southwest Chairman of the party.

The party leaders who met basically to strategise on the forthcoming South West Congress of the Party maintained their ground by adopted Eddy Olafeso as their sole candidate for the position of the Chairman of the zone.

The decision of the party stalwarts reflected in a communique issued after the meeting.

The communique indicated that leaders of the party resolved to unify all aggrieved members and intensify effort in their preparation for the forthcoming southwest congress slated for this year.

According to the communique, the leaders also unanimously agreed not to nominate nor sponsor any chairmanship candidate from Oyo state but to honor the agreement made with Southwest leaders of the party in build up to Ondo state governorship election.

The communique signed by all the leaders reads in part; “We came here to strategize ahead of the southwest forthcoming congress. It is very necessary for us to come together and sharpen our tools ahead of the congress. we deliberated on lot of issues and we reached a positive conclusion in all what we discussed.

“It is no longer news that, no chairmanship candidate coming from Oyo state, there is an agreement made that we are going to return the Eddy Olafeso exco and every leaders from all the state still standing on the agreement, so Oyo state can’t be left out and we dont want anybody to use his or her selfish interest to cause dispute in our great party.

“We are still going to hold more meetings before the congress but the issue of chairmanship for the congress is settled, Oyo state is supporting the effort to return Eddy at the coming congress”.

Some of the party leaders that attended the meeting included: Chief Nureeni Akanbi, Engr. Femi Babalola, Alh. Bisi Olopoebiyan, Aranse Basiru, Dele Adgun Baba Sunday Alabi, Alhaji Azeez Ajinowo, Malam Yusuf Alh. Bola Akinyemi and others.

By Michael Olugbode

The police in Yobe State has declared that the girl who died after sex bout at the state government lodge was as a result of drug overdose.

The police in a statement issued yesterday by the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Dungus AbdulKareem, said the case against the four suspects arrested in connection with the crime was no longer homicide.

AbdulKareem said the deceased died of cardio-respiratory failure resulting from excessive use of drugs.

The statement read: “On January 7, 2021, at about 0700hrs, the Yobe State Police Command apprehended four suspects in connection with the death of Balkisu Ali (female), who died at the state government lodge in Damaturu. The case has been under investigation at the state CID in Damaturu.


“An autopsy was conducted on the corpse at the University Teaching Hospital, Damaturu, to unravel the actual cause of death. In this regard, the post-mortem examination has revealed that the Balkisu Ali died of cardio-respiratory failure resulting from excessive use of drugs (or drug overdose).

“With the conclusion of investigation, the suspects will soon be arraigned for charges other than homicide, including criminal conspiracy, procurement and adultery.”

The statement, however, advised that the member of the public should desist from peddling unfounded rumours that could be detrimental to the interest of the deceased family and general security in the state.


The state Commissioner of Police also assured the people of the state of safety and security, while soliciting for their cooperation and support always.

There is tension in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, after a soldier was lynched for allegedly shooting four unarmed civilians.

Those familiar with the matter told PREMIUM TIMES that Mohammed Abdullahi, a private, with service number 16NA/75/4272, shot the civilians last Saturday, following an argument at the Baga Road Market area of the city.

One of the victims died on the spot while the other three suffered serious injuries. They are currently receiving medical treatment.

Mr Abdullahi was reportedly drunk at the time of the incident.

Mob action

Following the incident, angry civilians in the vicinity swooped on the soldier, lynching him instantly, sources told this newspaper.

The soldier was serving in the 130 Battalion, but attached to the 212 Battalion for the ongoing anti-insurgency Operation Lafiya Dole.

The development sparked tension in the Barka Da Zuwa general area of the city, with civilians apprehensive that soldiers might descend on the vicinity to avenge the lynching of their colleague.

Several civilians, fearing reprisal attacks, have fled the area, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

As concerns thickened that the incident might lead to further breakdown of law and order, the 7 Division of the Army has sealed the area.

The area will remain restricted till further notice, authorities say. Troops and civilians have been banned from loitering around the area.

Army spokesman, Sagir Musa, a brigadier general, did not respond to enquiries early Tuesday morning.

The Borno State police spokesperson, Edet Okon, declined comment on the matter when contacted.

“I can’t confirm anything to you. Unfortunately, I don’t know you. I can’t confirm that you are a journalist,” he said.

Armed uniform personnel have been fingered in reckless extrajudicial killings of civilians over the years in Nigeria.

Just like the case of the lynched army personnel, some of the killings were found to be alcohol-propelled.

In 2015, a mob in Gombe State beat up a mobile police officer to death after he reportedly shot and killed a commercial tricycle rider following a minor accident.

Police command in Kano has confirmed the arrest of a 20-year-old housewife, Suwaiba Shuaibu, for allegedly stabbing one Aisha Kabir to death few days to her wedding.

Aisha was said to have accepted a proposal for marriage to Malam Shahrehu Alhaji Ali, the husband of the suspect, before her gruesome murder by her to-be co-wife on January 1 at Gimawa village, Doguwa Local Government Area of Kano State.

The spokesman, Kano police command, DSP Abdullahion Haruna Kiyawa, who confirmed the incident in a statement issued early Tuesday, said the deceased was declared missing on January 1st and her corpse was discovered the following day in an uncompleted buildings within her neighbourhood.

Accordig to the statement; “On 02/01/2021, at about 1030hrs, a complaint was received from one Kabiru Jafaru, ‘m,’ of Gimawa Village, Doguwa LGA of Kano State, that the body of his 17-year-old daughter, Aisha Kabir, ‘f,’ who got missing on 01/01/2021 was found in an uncompleted building in their neighborhood.

“The complainant said the victim was suspected to have been stabbed on her neck by her killer(s).

“Upon receiving the complaint, the scene was visited and the body was evacuated to Tudun Wada General Hospital for examination by a Medical Doctor.

“The Commissioner of Police Kano State Command, CP Habu A. Sani, psc further raised and instructed a team of detectives, led by Divisional Police Officer Doguwa, CSP Bala Shuaibu, to arrest the culprit(s).

“The team immediately swung into action and apprehended one Suwaiba Shuaibu, ‘f,’ 20 years old, of the same address with the complainant, who is a second wife to one Shahrehu Alhaji Ali, ‘m,’ also of the same address.

“Investigations revealed the deceased and the husband of the suspect have been in proposed relationship for over six years and their wedding ceremony was scheduled to hold on 9th January, 2021.

Kiyawa said during interrogation, the suspect freely confessed that; [b]“she had called the victim on phone, deceived and lured her to an uncompleted building in their neighborhood where she used a sharp knife to stab her on her neck, chest and other parts of her body.

“She disclosed she killed the victim out of jealousy, because her husband proposed t[/b]o marry her.”

He said the case has been transferred to the Command’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Homicide Section, for discrete investigation, adding that the suspect will be charged to court at the completion of investigation.

Some leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are fretting over the growing rapport between former President Goodluck Jonathan and some leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in recent times. GBADE OGUNWALE reports that some of the opposition leaders are worried by the implications of the unfolding development for 2023 elections
To the casual onlooker, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) appears to be relatively calm, going by the lack of serious crisis at the national level. The party has so far been able to manage its crisis from erupting into the open. There are muffled disagreements among key party chieftains, which have continued to nibble at its unity and cohesion at the national, zonal and state levels. The party appears to be doing well at papering over the cracks.

But, Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike recently reversed the gains made by the party when he took a swipe at the Uche Secondus led National Working Committee (NWC). Governor Wike had in a press statement accused the NWC of widening existing cracks in the party and sowing seeds of discord among governors elected on the platform of the party. The governor had warned that by its actions, the party leadership was jeopardising the chances of the PDP unseating the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2023 presidential election.

Apparently venting some deep-seated animosity against the party leadership, Wike accused the NWC of using two unnamed former governors of Imo and Cross River states and another serving senator from Benue State, to create a crisis in the party. Knocking the party leadership further, the governor said the NWC, as presently constituted, was merely interested in retaining the current party structure to enable its members retain their positions. Wike added: “An opposition party that ought to be united, to work, to take over the affairs of government because people are waiting for this opportunity; but the current leadership of NWC is not prepared for that. Rather, what they have done is to constitute some people to sow a seed of discord among governors for their own selfish interest. And that will boomerang; that will consume them.”

Not surprisingly, the PDP has set the machinery in motion to douse the tension within the fold. The party’s leadership has set up a six-man reconciliation committee to address grievances among members and to reconcile aggrieved members across the six geopolitical zones. The committee, which was inaugurated by the party chairman, is headed by a former President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki. In an acceptance speech shortly after the committee was inaugurated, Saraki had cautioned Secondus and other members of the NWC against interfering with the work of the committee. Also in the committee are another former President of the Senate, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim; a former governor of Cross River State, Mr Liyel Imoke; and a former Majority Leader in the House of Representatives, Mrs Mulikat Adeola Akande. Others are former Katsina State Governor Ibrahim Shema; and former Gombe State Governor Ibrahim Dankwabo.

Why Wike attacked Secondus

Some party chieftains are of the view that Wike’s attack on the party leadership might not be unconnected with the position taken by Secondus on the eligibility of former President Goodluck Jonathan to seek the PDP presidential ticket for the 2023 election if the former president so desired. Secondus had made the declaration in Abuja a few weeks ago while briefing reporters on the activities of the NWC in the three years it has been in office. The party chairman had made the off-the-cuff statement while answering a reporter’s question seeking to know if Jonathan would be eligible to seek the party’s presidential ticket in 2023. The reporter had asked the question in the backdrop of the growing affinity between Jonathan, a strong pillar in the PDP, with some chieftains of the APC. Secondus’ response: “I believe that whoever that is interested in 2023 (presidential ticket), maybe including the former President, the chances are there, because the PDP is a party for all… Everybody will have that opportunity but in clear terms, we have not taken any decision to give anybody a ticket for now.”

Party sources said the chairman’s position on Jonathan’s eligibility must have rattled a few PDP bigwigs believed to be interested in the party’s 2023 presidential ticket. There has been heightened anxiety in the party over Jonathan’s visibility in the public arena in recent times, particularly in the APC camp.

Key stakeholders, including some governors and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, are said to be ill at ease with the former President’s newfound romance with the APC. Of particular concern to these stakeholders was the visit to Jonathan’s Abuja residence during his recent birthday celebration. The visitors, including some governors and chieftains of the ruling party, led by the APC Caretaker Committee chairman, Mai Mala Buni, had gone to pay the former President a “birthday visit”. Among the APC governors on Buni’s entourage were David Umahi (Ebonyi), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi) and Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa). Former Senate President Ken Nnamani was also on the entourage.

The PDP chieftains considered the visit to Jonathan curious for the fact that the former president had never received such august visitors from the APC camp since he lost election and consequently vacated office in 2015. And coming a few days after the defection of Governor Umahi from the PDP to the APC, there was cause for concern in the opposition camp. This was not helped by speculations making the rounds that the APC may consider Jonathan for its 2023 presidential ticket through some compromises and political horse-trading. More disturbing to the PDP leaders is the former President’s perceived taciturnity over the seemingly Greek offer from the ruling party. Also disturbing to the opposition chieftains was the frequency of Jonathan’s visits to the Presidential Villa in recent times. The last of such visits was on December 15. Neither Jonathan nor the Presidency said a word about the purpose of the former President’s visits.

But, Jonathan has remained non-committal about his newfound romance with key figures in the APC and speculated moves by some elements in the ruling party to drag him into the 2023 presidential contest. The former President has continued to maintain that it is too early in the day to start discussing the 2023 election. That coy response has continued to rattle some of his compatriots in the opposition party.

Even though the prospects of Jonathan flying the APC ticket in 2023 may seem quite remote, the fluid nature of Nigerian politics and the ever shifty loyalty of the average Nigerian politician is said to have raised anxiety among those perceived to be nursing presidential ambitions in the PDP. The prospects of Jonathan getting corralled into the 2023 race by the APC may likely sink the presidential ambitions and political future of a number of PDP bigwigs. It could also spell doom for the opposition party in the short and medium-term. In the event of Jonathan picking the APC ticket and winning the election, agitations for power to revert to the North in 2027 may be inevitable. Constitutionally, Jonathan is eligible for only one term if he chooses to contest in 2023.

Those that may fall casualty to a fresh presidential term for Jonathan may include the former Vice President who is believed to be oiling his political machinery ahead of the 2023 contest. Also said to be waiting in the wings is the Sokoto State Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and Governor Wike, who are believed to be contenders for a joint presidential ticket of the party. Party sources say this might be the reason behind Wike’s recent attack on Secondus, who the governor accused of scheming for a fresh tenure at the expiration of his current one. Secondus’ tenure as chairman will end in December this year. A fresh tenure for Secondus could rob Wike of his speculated ambition. If tradition in the PDP is anything to go by, a candidate on a joint presidential ticket cannot emerge from the same zone with the chairman of the party. So, for Wike to have his way, the chairmanship of the party would have to shift to another zone. The PDP chairman is from Rives State. Reported to be the main financier of the PDP, Wike would not have to labour too hard to get Secondus out of the way. It is an open secret that the PDP chairman owed his present position to Wike’s domineering influence in the party. The governor, against all odds, had deployed enormous human and material resources to ensure that Secondus emerged victorious at the party’s 2017 national convention.

Why Jonathan?
It is becoming increasingly clear to the leadership of the APC that fielding another presidential candidate of northern extraction in 2023 may be a hard sell. Notable figures in the ruling party have been urging caution in the handling of the zoning of the party’s 2023 presidential ticket. With the perceived poor performance of the Muhammadu Buhari administration so far, political watchers are of the view that it may be difficult for the APC to conveniently sell the idea of another northern candidate in 2023, even in the North. More so, agitations for power shift have continued to gain currency in recent times, with some key stakeholders in the ruling party mounting pressure for the presidential ticket to shift to the South.

The various APC power blocs in the Southwest and Southeast geo-political zones have been unrelenting in the campaign. The two zones are presently in healthy competition for the party’s presidential ticket. The agitation by the two zones appears to have drowned the voices of a few individuals in the ruling party pushing for another candidate of northern extraction. The entire southern flank of the APC appears to be speaking with one voice on zoning. Analysts say that the leadership of the APC might have indeed realised the political implications of fielding another northern candidate in 2023.

However, an insignificant number of the APC members are of the view that the ruling party should leave the contest for its 2023 presidential ticket open to all interested aspirants from all parts of the country, including the North. Promoters of this position have hinged their argument on the plank that the party’s constitution did not make any provision for zoning. A prominent APC leader in the South-South, Prince Tony Momoh has added his voice to the zoning campaign. Momoh was quoted as saying that it is ill-advised for the APC to consider the North again for the 2023 presidential contest, after President Buhari’s tenure.

He said: “You don’t need an agreement about power rotation. In a presidential system, when you have one person to be the president, it is inevitable that, if he comes from one area, his successor will come from another area. It is not a question of gentleman’s agreement. That is understood. If you don’t want power rotation, then you go to the parliamentary system.”

Momoh added: “If someone in the North has been president, the next time someone from the South has to be considered to be president. The same party will be ill-advised to say they want to pick another person from the North. However, it is not that if they zoned the ticket to a particular zone, others will be stopped from contesting.”

The Edo born former Information Minister buttressed his point with the example of Owelle Rochas Okorocha who participated in the 2014 presidential primary of the APC, despite his knowledge of the party’s decision zoning the ticket to the North. Other notable APC chieftains that have also canvassed the zoning option in recent times include the Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi; his counterpart in Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola; and former Ogun State Governor Olusegun Osoba, among others.

Analysts are of the view that the strident calls by these party chieftains of southern extraction for power shift, might have informed the decision of a faction in the APC interim leadership to play the Jonathan card. The calculation, according to inside sources, is to have one of the members of the faction run a joint ticket with the former President.

A source said: “If Jonathan swallows the bait and the plan scales through, it means there will be demands by the same promoters for power to move back to the North in 2027.”

Another highly placed source in the PDP who described the Jonathan option as self-serving said it was part of the reason some power mongers in the APC hijacked the party machinery in June 2020. His words: “In a bid to realise their inordinate ambitions, these power seekers hijacked the leadership of the APC. Their sole aim is to shut out more experienced party leaders, particularly a leader in the Southwest who has the required political clout to fly the APC presidential flag in 2023. But having hijacked the party, they are now desperately struggling with what to do with it. It is out of desperation that they are now flying the Jonathan kite and it would be quite unfortunate if the former President falls for such temptation. That would amount to total sellout of the entire southern Nigeria, politically.”

Jonathan’s constitutional eligibility
However, what appears a snag in Jonathan’s eligibility to contest was the Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 16, assented to by President Buhari in June 2018.

The Bill prescribed that a vice president or a deputy governor who succeeds and completes the tenure of a president or governor can only run for the office one more time. As Vice President, Jonathan had succeeded the late President Umaru Yar ‘Adua who died in 2010. He had gone ahead to contest and win the presidential election in 2015. He had contested again in 2019 but lost to Buhari and the APC. Constitutional analysts, however, hold the view that the law cannot be made to take a retroactive effect in the Jonathan case. They insist the law could only take effect from June 2018 when the bill was assented to by the president. However, the leadership of the APC has yet to take a definite position on zoning. Will Jonathan’s APC friends offer him the ticket? Will Jonathan accept the offer if he is considered? Time will tell.

An Abuja resident has been hospitalised in critical condition after being hit by bullets discharged by an AK-47 service rifle of a police officer attached to Inspector-General Mohammed Adamu.

Abba Bashir received at least two gunshot wounds from the officer, identified as Inspector Magaji, during an early morning drinking bout in an Abuja beer parlour on Saturday, sources told Peoples Gazette. The officer works with Mr. Adamu and Illiya Doma, an assistant police commissioner who also serves as his principal staff officer (two).

The incident occurred around 8:00 a.m. at a roadside beer parlour in Apo, sources said. The matter was immediately hushed up while the victim was moved to an undisclosed hospital. He had received emergency treatment at Cedarcrest Hospital before being relocated to prevent the public from learning about the incident, sources said.

A hospital spokesman did not return a request seeking comments from the Gazette on Monday afternoon. A police spokesman declined comments.

The Gazette gathered that two bullets accidentally discharged from a drunk police officer pierced Mr. Bashir’s foot.

People around the joint, popularly known as Polar, told the Gazette on Monday that the inspector and his friends, numbering about seven, were already heavily drunk and oozing alcohol when they arrived on Saturday morning, presumably having drunk overnight.

“The police and his friends look like people who spent their entire night drinking alcohol before they came to our joint,” a witness said under anonymity to prevent being victimised by high-handed police leadership.

The Gazette saw several bullet holes on a sofa and other corners of the joint during a visit on Monday.

The incident came three months after a police orderly of Abike Dabiri-Erewa fatally shot a teenager without provocation in a beer parlour in Apo-Dutse, also an Abuja neighbourhood. The police have yet to prosecute Samanja Johnson for the murder, although he was promptly taken into custody at the time.

Militants from the Islamic State backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād, have displayed an Armed Personnel Carrier the group captured from Nigerian soldiers.

According to ISWAP in a statement released on Monday, the modified FV103 Spartan APC was captured on Sunday when the group ambushed some trucks conveying Nigerian soldiers at Gorigi, Borno State.

https://saharareporters.com/sites/default/files/styles/normal_medium/public/unnamed%20%281%29%281%29.jpg?itok=Ml4thYkB

The insurgents also claimed 20 soldiers were killed during the attack.

SaharaReporters recalled that about 70 Nigerian soldiers of the Operation Lafiya Dole were killed by the terrorists in March 2020 in the same community.

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Hundreds of soldiers and officers have been killed since the Boko Haram insurgency commenced in 2009. Tens of thousands of civilians have also been killed and millions of others displaced.

LAGOS – Crisis appears to be looming in the nation’s troubled power sector over the Federal Gov­ernment’s granting of an independent electricity dis­tribution network licence to Asaba Distribution Limited.

Daily Independent gath­ered that the development may be connected with moves by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to break the regional monopoly of electricity dis­tribution companies which has continued to hamper ser­vice delivery to customers in the country.

It is being feared in some quarters that the new move would result in legal fire­works among NERC, Benin Electricity Distribution Com­pany (BEDC), and Asaba Dis­tribution Limited.


BEDC is responsible for retail distribution of electric­ity in Delta, Edo, Ekiti, and Ondo states with geographi­cal coverage of 55,770 square kilometres.

Already, BEDC, whose mo­nopoly is being threatened, has filed a petition before NERC to challenge the grant­ing of licence to the new en­trant.

NERC has fixed tomorrow for hearing of the petition against the granting of an Independent Electricity Dis­tribution Network Licence to Asaba Distribution Limited pursuant to Section 70 (2) of the Electric Power Sector Re­form Act (EPSRA).

The commission said the hearing is also pursuant to clause 11 of the NERC Ap­plication for Licences Regu­lations 2010, and section 17 of NERC (Business Rules of the Commission) Regulations (Business Rules) 2006.

A reliable source in the power sector told Daily In­dependent that a crisis was in the offing over the licence granted to Asaba Distribution Limited.


He said: “You see, NERC is calling for a crisis in the sector if it goes ahead with this Asaba DisCo instead of considering the refranchising of the eleven DisCos.

“This means everyone they issue a licence, there will be a petition, so expect eleven pe­titions if they go on like this.

“I have seen no sincerity in the entire case. This is a hearing to a petition by an affected party, so attention is only to the Benin DisCo in the hearing.

“The question is, did NERC conduct a public hearing be­fore issuing the licence to Asa­ba DisCo?


“So, where is the sincerity in addressing the problem of power here?

“I agree with you that it should be for all the DisCos, why only Benin DisCo?

“It looks like punishment. I don’t think the public will be entertained here or should be entertained at all since it is only Benin DisCo that pe­titioned as an affected party.

“The next action here will be a court case, I assure you.”


Adeola Samuel, a power expert, reasoned that many times the DisCos have vio­lated the performance agree­ment without consequences.

He told Daily Independent that the review of the agree­ment was due after five years with the proviso for one more year extension, which expired in 2019, but NERC still failed to act.

He added that by virtue of that agreement and clause, the acceptance of Asaba Dis­Co may be due to a review of the performance of Be­nin Electricity Distribution Company, which is below par, hence the entry of another company.

He said it was not out of place if Benin DisCo was singled out for such perfor­mance review as the inci­dents in the area are louder in low delivery than any oth­er DisCos.

He said: “A town in Ondo State has been without light for years even before the ad­vent of Benin DisCo yet such a company did not bother to exploit the situation for expansion, instead they em­barked on humongous bill­ings of consumers with no correspondence supply.

“An Edo civil society or­ganisation has been at logger­heads with them all this while without making any progress at meeting their yearning.

“The governor had to send their management out of the state governor’s office at a point when they came to re­mind him of owing without addressing the non-perfor­mance that had characterised their service delivery.

“If Asaba Distribution Company can break their monopoly, so be it?

“From all electricity con­sumers’ protection forums, we support any move that can bring about better service delivery.

“After all, Benin DisCo was not asked to pack up; it’s the franchise area that would be divided.

“Maybe they even forgot that each company is a le­gal entity. The performance agreement was signed and accepted by each manage­ment of the DisCos not col­lectively.

“So, each DisCo bears its name when push comes to shove. When IBEDC manage­ment was sanctioned for mis­managing the loan obtained, did any other DisCo complain of not being included.

“When four DisCos obeyed the capping method and the other seven were given an intention letter to sanction them, did the other four com­plain?

“So, each company is sub­ject to the rule of engagement and performance agreement as a legal entity, not as a class entity.”

A stakeholder in the power sector, who craved anonymity, emphasised the need for com­petition in the nation’s power sector.

“We can’t continue like this. To us, something isn’t adding up. It is most disheart­ening and embarrassing, to say the least, if something is not working optimally.

“The way forward is to do a mid-term review of the entire privatisation exercise.

“There is a need to bring all the issues to the table. The present arrangement is bad­ly skewed and badly crafted such that even if we remain on the same trajectories for 10 years, the national goals and policy objectives of Nigeria in the power sector will be that of an auto pilot.

“NERC has done well by opening its doors to this novel and noble cause.

“Let’s test extant rules which will be a learning curve for the electricity ecosystem and strengthen the regulatory landscape.”

Kunle Olubiyo, the presi­dent, Nigeria Consumer Pro­tection Network, told Daily Independent that there was need for urgent review of the power sector privatisation ex­ercise, saying that no agree­ment was expected to be cast in stone.

According to him, “Is the moratorium of exclusivity of market monopoly unwitting­ly granted to the 11 electric­ity distribution companies designed to be till thy King­dom come, perpetual, or was it designed to be an eternally irrevocable licence?”

Benjamin Omoike

Supporters of the former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, have moved to secure the support of the All Peoples Congress (APC), members in the Southwest as a means of boosting his chances of securing the party’s presidential ticket, should he decide to join the race.

Tinubu, who is also a National Leader of the ruling APC, is yet to formally declare his interest for the plum job, but there is wide speculation that he might throw his hat into the ring within the next few months.

It is, however, reliably gathered from some of his supporters that Tinubu will only come out to indicate his interest, if he was sure of getting the APC presidential ticket. One of his supporters also said part of their plans was to prepare the ground in such a way that when he eventually comes out, he would be the one to beat.

“You know that the boss has not told Nigerians that he will contest any election, but I can tell you that from all indications he is going to run.

It’s not 100 per cent certain, but part of our strategy is to make sure that the Southwest wing of our party is in our pocket,” the source said.

He continues: “If we are able to get the support of our zone, it would be much easier for us to negotiate the ticket for baba.

We want to make sure that our members in the Southwest speak with one voice that they want Asiwaju to be given the ticket. If we are able to achieve that, other contenders in the zone would find it difficult to make any headway.”

The source, who is also a top APC member declared that their plans also include meeting the various critical segments and leaders of the party in the zone to convince them with the credentials of Asiwaju and the need for the zone to come together so that, according to him, “this opportunity of producing the president will not elude the Yorubas.”

It would be recalled that late last year, a group led by Senator Dayo Adeyeye, South West Agenda For Asiwaju Tinubu 2023 (SWAGA 23), a movement was launched in Ibadan.

Even though the group said it was ‘championing a common front for the Yoruba’, not a few people are of the view that it was formed primarily to consummate the presidential ambition of Tinubu.

And just this week, former and incumbent Speakers of State Houses of Assemblies in the Southwest met in Ibadan, to drum support for the anticipated APC leader presidential bid. At the meeting, according to reports, were 20 current and past Speakers in the Southwest.

The Lagos House Speaker, Mr. Mudashiru Obasa, who convened the meeting formally told the gathering that though Tinubu has not given the go-ahead to kick start any presidential campaign, “but there is the need to deliberate on this important issue on behalf of Tinubu.”

Obasa, therefore, charged all the speakers, both current and former present at the meeting to go back to their respective states to set up the template that would see to the actualization of the agenda of an Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu presidency in 2023.

Even so, it was reliably gathered that the strategic plan of Tinubu’s supporters is to enlist all major foot soldiers of the former Lagos State helmsman in the project and to ensure that they speak with one voice.

“I’m sure you have been noticing the visibility of many Tinubu ‘boys’ in the media circuit, showcasing his credentials, telling Nigerians why he should be our next president and also reminding APC members of the so-called gentleman’s agreement on zoning between the party leaders before the 2015 elections,” the source said.

Meanwhile, sources within the party told said that the ramping up of support among party members for Tinubu was geared towards checkmating the influence of any contender in the region, who might want to use his or her national clout to get the ticket.

A source, who is a former senator, but would want to remain anonymous, stated that given this early inroads by the Tinubu group, it will be difficult for anyone to dislodge him from getting the support of party members in the Southwest.

“You know every politics is local. That is why I consider it a wise move that Tinubu supporters are all over the Southwest trying to convince APC members to join the train.

But if what we are hearing that Governor Fayemi or even Senator Ibikunle Amosun, are also interested in the presidency is true, then the coming months will be interesting. We should not however forget the power of the presidency in all this,” the source added.

Meanwhile, Ekiti and Ondo States former speakers have only just come.out to dissociate themselves from the purported endorsement of the National Leader of the All-Progressive Congress (APC), Asiwaju Almed Bola Tinubu, to contest the 2023 presidential election.

In a release signed by Rt. Hons. Victor Olabimtan, Oluwasegunota Bolarinwa, Agbomuserin, Abdusalam Olawale Taofeeq, Kenneth Olawale (Ondo), Ajigbolamu and Kola Adefemi (Ekiti) and made available to journalists, the ex-speakers from the two states maintained that although they attended the said meeting, there was no endorsement for the candidacy of Tinubu and no communique was issued to that effect.

The former-speakers said the meeting was at the instance of Rt. Hon. Titi Oseni, the Coordinator of the Southwest forum of the Conference of Former Speakers of House of Assembly of Nigeria, under the national chairman of Governor Simon Lalong. Rt. Hon. Obasa came to the meeting to solicit support of the ex-speakers, as automatic national delegates, for the aspiration of his mentor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

They said when the issue was discussed, they spoke in unison during the meeting and maintained that they would rather wait for the directive of the leader of their respective states.

That’s Governor Akeredolu of Ondo state and Governor Fayemi of Ekiti State, who are in best position to speak for their states. They told the gathering that all candidates from the zone, including Tinubu had legitimate right to aspire to lead the country.

The ex-speakers from Ekiti State also informed the gathering that their Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, is equally interested in the presidency and eminently qualified.

“As much as the issue of national politics is concerned, we are of the opinion that every eligible aspirant deserves equal right and opportunity. As a member of the All-Progressives Congress, APC, we are not against the aspiration of any member of the party from the Southwest Region.

Every State in the Southwest, be it Lagos, Ondo, or Ekiti is qualified to produce a candidate and whoever that the leadership of the Party supports, we will support.”

“It is a well-known fact that, our Governors are the leaders of our party in every State, and we will never do anything that is contrary to their interest.

If Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is interested in running for the 2023 Presidency, and Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State is also gunning for the position, they are both qualified to run.

However, none of them has openly declared interest or intention to do so. Therefore, the issue of drumming support for any particular “aspirant” as being circulated is out of place and we are not party to that.”

These positions were said to have been conversed at the meeting by members from Ondo and Ekiti States, and now re-echoed in a joint press statement issued by the aforementioned ex-speakers.

“We hereby dissociate ourselves from such endorsement when the purported gladiator has not informed the Conference of his interest to run for the exalted position in the country. We are party men, and will support the interest of all our leaders wherever they go.”

By Evelyn Usman


There was an uproar in Victoria Island area of Lagos weekend as Military personnel allegedly hired by the driver of a vehicle with covered number plate attempted to shoot operatives of the Rapid Response Squad, RRS, in a bid to prevent them from impounding the vehicle.

The driver of the vehicle, Adam Oluremi, 32, was arrested alongside the vehicle, a Mercedes Benz, ML 350.

Five other vehicles with covered plate numbers were also impounded by the policemen.

The Squad’s action was in compliance of the Lagos State Government order to the Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, to impound any vehicle driven with covered plate number in the state.

Also read: Police to impound vehicles with ESCORT, PILOT, SPY as plate numbers
As at the time of writing this report, five of the vehicles had been transferred to the Lagos State Taskforce on Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences

The RRS officers according to the Lagos State Police Command, professionally de-escalated the crisis and successfully towed the sixth vehicle to RRS Headquarters.

Commenting on the issue, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Hakeem Odumosu, who directed that the vehicle be impounded and the driver prosecuted, maintained that nobody was above the law.

However, the RRS Commander, CSP Olayinka Egbeyemi, has charged officers of the squad to be professional in the discharge of their responsibilities, adding that they should be civil and firm in enforcing the law.

He also urged them to be dedicated and not to give room for distractions while on duty, even as he informed that “ law-abiding Lagosians should look forward to a robust relationship. The squad would be uncompromising with criminals. Criminals should either shape up with the laws of the State or relocate”

Operatives of the Delta State Police Command have arrested a suspected Internet fraudster, popularly called yahoo boy, with his girlfriend's corpse after he was caught attempting to dump the body of the lady, Blessing Akpovwovwo, in a bush.

The suspect, said to be a resident of Urhuoka, Abraka in the Ethiope East Local Government Area of the state, is cooling his heels in police detention.

Sources said the suspect, whose identity has yet to be ascertained, was nabbed by a passerby on Thursday evening, as he (the suspect) was attempting to dispose of the lifeless body of Blessing.

It was gathered that though the lifeless body of the lady was intact, sources said she might have been used for rituals.

Other sources claimed that the deceased was pregnant, and it looked like a case of forced abortion to get the foetus for ritual purposes.

It was further gathered that the corpse had blood in her private parts.

Confirming the incident to journalists, the Head of Ugono-Abraka community, Chief Samuel Umunadi, said he was intimated of the lady's murder by some vigilantes late Thursday night, adding that the sad development had thrown the community into mourning.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, could not be reached for confirmation of the incident as of the time of filing this report.

By Misbahu Bashir

Several soldiers and few officers reportedly ‘went missing’ on Friday after insurgents overwhelmed 153 Infantry Battalion and the 22 Armored Brigade, Marte, Borno State in a surprise attack.

Both army formations were in one base when the insurgents launched an assault on them. Troops were said to have withdrawn from their positions when they were overpowered.

“Troops tried very hard and almost suppressed the offensive but the insurgents sent reinforcements. Troops could not withstand the superior firepower of the insurgents and had to abandon their positions,” a military source confirmed on Saturday.

Most of the soldiers and officers sought refuge in Dikwa town which had army base while many others have not been accounted for, the source added.

The insurgents were said to have looted valuables including large caliber guns before setting the army installations ablaze.

The Brigade Commander and the Commanding Officer of the battalion were among the troops that retreated to Dikwa where the General Officer Commanding, 7 Division, was supposed to meet with them on Saturday, the source stated.

Troops repel attack, DHQ statement says
However, Brigadier General Bernard Onyeuko, Acting Director, Defence Media Operations, Defence Headquarters said in the statement on Saturday that troops of Operation TURA TAKAIBANGO in conjunction with the Air Task Force Operation Lafiya Dole “have effectively destroyed 7 Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists’ gun trucks and decimated several unconfirmed number of the terrorists when they attempted to attack their location at the outskirts of Marte.

“The gallant troops, based on reliable information about the attack, had positioned themselves in an ambush site where they tactically withdrew to, and awaited the arrival of the terrorists before they opened fire which led to fierce battle that resulted in the successes recorded as indicated above.

“The troops are still engaged in pursuit of the fleeing terrorists for further exploitation. Further details of interest to members of the public will be communicated later.”

Similar attack had taken place on the battalion on June 1, 2020 which later relocated to Dikwa and returned to Marte after the brigade was sent there.

During last year’s assault, 18 soldiers who went missing, have yet to be accounted for while the decomposed corpses of three soldiers were later recovered.

Passengers of Azman Air on Friday evening unleashed anger on officials of the Kano based airline over flight cancellation at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, leaving a female staff collapsed and others with injuries.

Confusion ensued at the departure lodge of the domestic wing when the airline announced cancellation of two flight scheduled to depart for Lagos and Abuja.

The enraged by sad announcement, the passengers who could not hide their disappointment faced off against the officials of the airline, leaving bloody mouths and swollen faces on both sides.

It took the timely intervention of the airport security to calm the charged atmosphere.

The Guardian learnt the collapsed female staff was later resucitated sooner after she received first aid treatment.

One of the passengers, who was supposed to depart for Abuja confirmed the development to The Guardian on telephone, lamented disappointment over the cancelled flight.

Abubakar, said the cancelled flight was initially scheduled for 6 am Friday to depart Kano-Abuja before it was shifted to 6pm, only to be rescheduled for Saturday morning without prior notice.

Another passenger, who do not want his name mentioned also revealed that Kano-Lagos flight was also shifted from Thursday evening to Friday morning and later rescheduled for Friday evening before the final cancellation.

The passengers are worried the Saturday rescheduled may not be realistic due to restriction of movement imposed by Kano state government due to local government election.

The police had announced restriction of human and vehicular moment between Friday 12 midnight and Saturday 6pm due to the council poll.

” It was really unfortunate that Azman will treat passengers with disdain,” the passenger said. Our flight was shifted from Thursday to Friday morning and later to Friday evening and now they just cancelled the flight and rescheduled for tomorrow. This is absolute nonsense and it will not be accepted.”

Efforts to speak with officers of Azman air was not successful as the airport manager, Rabiu Zarina, was not reachable to respond.

But a reliable source who wanted his name not mentioned because he was not authorized to speak attributed the cancellation to technical fault.

“The situation is beyond our control,” the Azman Air official said.

“The flight that was scheduled to flight from Abuja to Kano, Kano to Abuja and then to Lagos developed technical fault. The management are already aware and they are working on resolving the matter.”

By Clifford Ndujihe,

Chief Charles Idahosa, former Commissioner for Information in Edo State and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in this interview, speaks on, among others things, the politics of Edo and the victory of Governor Godwin Obaseki at the Federal High Court, Abuja, in the certificate forgery case brought against him by the All Progressives Congress, APC.


His take on the Federal High Court, Abuja, dismissal of the certificate forgery suit filed against Governor Godwin Obaseki by the APC

I am not a lawyer but as a layman I knew all the while that there was nothing in the case and it is futile. I wasn’t expecting any surprise. I want to congratulate Governor Obaseki, the PDP and the good people of Edo State.

I also want to congratulate the judiciary for standing on the side of justice. Adams Oshiomhole is the cause of all these problems and tension in the state.

During the governorship election, he was bragging that Obaseki will not be re-elected; that he was going to use federal might to remove him from office. A lot of people fell for that and at the end of the day, over 42 people resigned from Obaseki’s cabinet few days to the election.

It is very important that Edo people now know who Oshiomhole is. After serving as governor for eight years, he still wants to hang on to power by dictating to us who will occupy positions in government.

I think our people will learn their lessons. Oshiomhole has distracted Governor Obaseki enough. We thank God that the judgement has proven that the governor went to a proper school. All his certificates are genuine. At least, Obaseki can now focus on his electoral promises. Those trying to distract him will not succeed.

On the judgement of a Benin High Court nullifying the candidacy of the APC deputy governorship candidate, Gani Audu and what it portends for the PDP in Edo State

It was clear as daylight that that the ticket was faulty. We know all the attempts made by their counsel. They transferred the case from Benin High Court to Abuja. They brought it back.

They said the judge that was handling it in Abuja was too close to Wike. They transferred it again to the Chief Judge. They used all kinds of delay tactics so that they could partake in the election. Now the election is over and they have been humiliated and decimated – they had no candidate.

The people that nominated them; there is a court judgement that their secretariat was illegal. I don’t see it as a victory. They struggled to partake in the election and we beat them with over 88,000 votes.

On comments that Governor Obaseki is yet to constitute his cabinet because of internal crisis in the PDP

There is no crisis whatsoever. Just look at the time he constituted his cabinet in his first term. Was there any crisis then? You see, people just try to create problems where there are none. There is no crisis whatsoever.

The APC said he (Obaseki) was not good enough. This was a man that they cheered and hailed for four years. But he went to the PDP. We are grateful to the PDP. Within a short time, their internal mechanism was moblised.

They already had about four formidable aspirants that were ready for the ticket. We came, they saw the viability in Godwin Obaseki and they gave us the ticket without any election. They all stepped down. So, we appreciate that. There is no problem; he is just taking his time.

There are lots of things that we will not make known to the media that he is putting together in the government. A lot of things went wrong. So, that is what he is really trying to clear before forming a cabinet, not that there is a problem.

Those of you that left the APC for the PDP, how smoothly are you being integrated into the PDP?

I will tell you the truth, it is not smooth. But you have to understand that nobody likes to lose a position. By the time we came into the PDP, they already had standing executives such as local government chairmen, party chairman and others.

And when we left the APC, we had the chairmen of the party in the state, we had local government chairmen and they are now nothing in the new place they have gone to. The people that came with us are now saying, ‘where are we now?’

We are not going to force the PDP to remove their chairmen and then you take over. What we are trying to do is negotiation. We are still talking. We are hopeful that we can do something that will favour those who are with us. We don’t have a major problem.

We won the election in cooperation with the PDP, so we are very happy. The PDP is back in government after about 12 years. So, we will sort it out. It is just that human beings don’t like change.

Some people who were ward chairmen were turned into ordinary persons and not because they lost an election. We are trying to dialogue. It is not a major crisis and at the end of the day, we will get there. As I speak to you, we are talking.

Oshiomhole created a lot of problems within the APC, but we thank God that the PDP welcomed us. They gave us the umbrella when we were looking for succour and we are not going to be ungrateful to them.

But at the same time, we need to negotiate terms because a lot of PDP people are ready to work with us. But we don’t want a situation where many will be so desperate they will go after Obaseki. It was when he was disqualified that we made up our minds to go somewhere else. So, what we are having now is a normal reaction. We will take care of it.

On comments that in the course of Governor Obaseki joining the PDP, one of the conditions put on the table was the Esan agenda— power shift to Esan in 2024.

There was nothing put on the table. Whoever told you that was lying. Is Orbih (Dan), the state chairman at that time, from Esan? There was nothing as a condition to say when we come, there is an Esan agenda.

Godwin Obaseki, as APC governor, had a soft spot for Esan and always believed that there should be fairness in everything and not because he went to the PDP. An agenda that after Obaseki, it would be Esan; nothing like that was discussed in all the meetings that were held.

I am a leader of the party. We will look at the most viable candidate when the time comes. But nobody is thinking about that now. The year 2024 is still far off. A lot of things will happen. So, nothing has been talked about; the agenda of Esan or whatever.

If you watched Obaseki closely during his campaign, he never mentioned anything like that. So, I don’t think it is true that there is an agenda of a particular tribe. When the time comes, we will look at all the candidates that show interest with fairness, because we are all one.

The beauty of Edo is that every ethnic group in the state takes something from the Bini background. So, we are not strangers; we are all Edo people. Among the Edo people, you speak Bini; you speak Etsako; you speak Esan. So, we will look at it and make a decision but we are not talking about that now.

Emmanuel was arrested for tweeting that he would "pay a Russian sniper to eliminate Buhari and Kyari",


By Adeola Adebayo

Solomon Akuma, the father of Emmanuel Akuma, a pharmacist, who has reportedly been detained by the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) in Abuja for about nine months, has narrated to PREMIUM TIMES how the police ‘deceived’ him to get his son arrested.

The father, who is a senior pastor at the Truevine Evangelical Mission based in Delta State, said his son, a pharmacist intern with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), was arrested on April 2, 2020, in Aba, Abia State.

The 29 years old Emmanuel was arrested for tweeting that he would “pay a Russian sniper to eliminate Buhari and Kyari”, apparently referring to President Muhammadu Buhari and his then Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, who later died of complications attributable to COVID-19 later in the year.

The tweet was in response to a Twitter post asking respondents what their next move would be if they got $1 million.

The father said he thereafter received a call from a person ”who disguised to be a person seeking to reward him for praying for him in the past.”

“It was me they used as bait to get to my son. They used me as their link. Someone must have dug up my profile and they found out that I was a pastor,” he said.

The cleric added, “Someone called me that I had prayed for him at a place. He said he wanted to honour me and that he and others would be coming on a particular date.

“They also said that they would visit me and give me an honorarium. I said I was not really aware of what they were talking about.

“They said I should not bother that they knew me as a pastor. I said, okay, no problem. They said I had once ministered in their church.

“I was not around at the time because I went for burial in my hometown. So I lodged in my in-law’s place.

“I said no problem, but something ministered to me that those guys were not what they said they were and as it turned out to be, they were policemen.”

He said he reluctantly agreed to meet with them and took them to his in-law’s place, where they “arrested everybody and collected all our phones at gunpoint, and marched us into a red jeep they parked outside.”

He said the policemen later used his phone number to call his son “telling him that his father lost the phone”.

“In fact, because of all the weapons they had I couldn’t react because I could not ascertain who they were,” he said.

The cleric said when his son arrived at the scene, the men immediately arrested him.

“So, at that point, they gave us back our phones, and they took him to the police station, down to Umuahia, to Enugu and the next day, they went to Abuja,” he said.


Detained

He said he initially took them for kidnappers until after two days when his son called to inform him that he had been detained at the FCID at Area 10 in Abuja.

He said he had to defy the COVID-19 lockdown that was in place at the time to travel to Abuja the following day.

The pharmacist was reportedly detained at the FCID in Abuja for about three months before they eventually charged him with terrorism, sedition, criminal intimidation, and threat to the life of the President and arraigned him at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

His father told PREMIUM TIMES that he had yet to come to terms with how his son, a 2018 graduate of Pharmacy from the University of Port Harcourt, could be accused of such offences.

He said it had been hard to cope with the absence of Emmanuel, his only son among three siblings, for nine months.

He said the trial was being delayed by the police, ”who continued to keep his son in custody since April 2020”.

He said his son had posted the tweet for which he was arrested out of frustration about the circumstances of his mother’s death in 2017.

PREMIUM TIMES’ efforts to contact the Force Public Relation Officer, Frank Mba, on Tuesday were unsuccessful as repeated calls to his telephone line failed to connect and a message sent to him was not replied.

Desmond Yunana, a reverend of Anglican Church Nigeria based in Borno state, says Abubakar Sheaku, Boko Haram leader, is critically ill and wants prayer from Nigerians.

Delivering a sermon in church on Sunday, Yuana said last night, he had a “revelation” that the Boko Haram leader’s health condition is very bad.

He said Shekau, who needs prayers from both Christian and Muslims residents of Maiduguri, is ready to ask for forgiveness.

Yuana’s “prophecy” is coming one month after Mohammed Adam, a captured teenage fighter, said Shekau can no longer walk effectively.

Adam, who is currently in custody of the Nigerian army, said Shekau got injured during an air bombardment on an insurgents’ camp in Tumbuktu, Sambisa forest, a Boko Haram stronghold in Borno state.

Shekau, known for taunting the military in videos, has not been seen on his feet lately as he has released video where he is seen sitting or in some cases, using audio to pass across his message.

Eighty-three newly appointed Nigerian ambassadors are stranded in the country more than five months after their appointments were confirmed by the Senate.

There are no indications yet as to when they will be posted out, according to investigation conducted by The Nation.

The ambassadors-designate include career and non-career officers.

They have not even been inducted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an action that normally precedes their posting by the Presidency.

Officials of the Foreign Affairs Ministry said only President Muhammadu Buhari can determine the fate of the ambassadors-designate.

The President had on May 12 and July 1, 2020 written to the Senate to seek the confirmation of 42 career ambassadors and 41 non-career ambassadors-designate respectively.

While the red chamber confirmed the career ambassadors on June 12, 2020, it cleared their non-career colleagues on July 22.

But it has been a “waiting game” for the new Ambassadors who have not received any communication from the Presidency or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Investigation revealed divergent reasons on why most of the ambassadors-designate, especially non-career envoys, were stranded.

A source said Nigeria was awaiting “Agreemo” from the countries most of the ambassadors-designate are to be posted to.

Agreemo is “a memorandum from one nation to another agreeing to the appointment of an ambassador or envoy.”

A diplomat said: “It is like a concurrence with the choice of ambassador-designate by a host country. Ideally, it should not take as long as five months, given our international goodwill.

“If the delay is about Agreemo, I hope we are not sliding towards a pariah status. More than 41 countries cannot be dragging on such a diplomatic response.

“The speed with which Agreemo is treated determines the mutual respect between Nigeria and those countries.”


Responding to a question, the diplomat said: “There can be sabotage on the part of career diplomats in our various embassies who might not submit Agreemo on time to host countries.

“These diplomats prefer to call the shots in our embassies without ambassadors. So, they can sabotage early return of Agreemo.

“This delay is not good for our image. There are sensitive bilateral and multilateral issues that civil servants at our embassies cannot handle.”

Read Also: Senate okays Seriki, Adesina, Djebah, 38 others as ambassadors-designate
Findings also revealed that the delay might have been caused by both poor bureaucracy and funding in view of the COVID-19 pandemic which has led to “abysmally low revenue” from oil.

A highly-placed source said: “It is really embarrassing. Some of us have been trying to find out what is wrong. Those who should know are really in the dark.

“I am aware that there is too much lobbying for “juicy postings” by some of these new ambassadors. Too much of politics is interplaying, especially on the part of non-career ambassadors.

“I think at a point in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Coordinating Minister Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama and a former Permanent Secretary were at loggerheads and official transactions were at a standstill.

“They had a lot of irreconcilable challenges and the frosty situation was allowed to drag for a while.

“It was recently that the Permanent Secretary was redeployed and sanity is returning to the system there.

“It is a peculiar ministry where lobbying is more pronounced than the actual service. Cronyism is prevalent in our foreign service. Unfortunately, it has not been addressed.

“I will not be surprised if some of the career ambassadors have been secretly posted out by the ministry.

“Some officials I spoke with claimed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also cash strapped. Most of our embassies have challenges with funds. Some of the embassies are even indebted for some services. You cannot deploy ambassadors without funds.

“I think with assent to the budget by the President, there should be an improvement. The COVID-19 pandemic affected returns from oil with consequences on all sectors.”

It was learnt that the affected ambassadors have been mounting pressure on officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A source in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “Actually, most of these ambassadors-designate have been anxious. They have been calling the ministry and the Presidency to find out what is happening, without any success.

“Some of the career ambassadors are more worried as time is going, especially those that are left with few years in service. Most of them are getting agitated as the days are passing without them knowing their fate.

“The matter is becoming worse as they have not also been issued letters of posting or made to undergo the usual induction.

“The political or non-career ambassadors are not also at ease, as they fear that that the fate that befell members of the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, which was dissolved before it took off, could also befall them.

“Some of the non-career ambassadors have political aspirations in 2023 and they believe they may lose out in their states. They would have hardly settled down in their host countries by the time politics will begin.

“They are in a dilemma as to whether it is worthwhile or not.”

When contacted, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ferdinand Nwonye, said the “posting of ambassadors-designate is at the discretion of the President of the country.”

Nwonye said: ”The Ambassadors are the representatives of the President in the countries they are posted to. So their posting is at the discretion of the President who decides when and where to post them.”

He said “the ministry only takes instruction on such issues but the buck lies with the Presidency.”


The career ambassadors affected are: C.O. Nwachukwu (Abia); A. Kefas (Adamawa); R.U Brown (Akwa Ibom); G.A Odudigbo (Anambra); O.C Onowu (Anambra); Y.S. Suleiman (Bauchi); E.S. Agbana (Bayelsa); B.B.M. Okoyen (Bayelsa); G.M. Okoko (Benue); A.M. Garba (Borno); M.I. Bashir (Borno); M.O. Abam (Cross River); A.E. Allotey (Cross River); G. E. Edokpa (Edo); A. N. Madubuike (Enugu); Adamu Lamuwa (Gombe); Mr. Innocent A. Iwejuo (Imo); M. S. Abubakar (Jigawa); Y. A. Ahmed (Jigawa); S. D. Umar (Kaduna); A. Sule (Kano); G. Y. Hamza (Kano).

Others are: N. Rimi (Katsina); L. S. Ahmed-Remawa (Katsina); M. Manu (Kebbi); l. R. Ocheni (Kogi); l. A. Yusuf (Kogi); M. Abdulraheem (Kwara); W. A. Adedeji (Lagos); A. U. Ogah (Nasarawa); A. A. Musa (Niger); N. A. Kolo (Niger); S.O. Olaniyan (Ogun); A. R. Adejola (Ogun); O. E. Awe (Ondo); O. O. Aluko (Osun); I. A. Alatishe (Osun); V. A. Adeleke (Oyo); M. S. Adamu (Plateau); l. N. Charles (Rivers); Z M. lfu (Taraba); B. B. Hamman (Yobe).

[b]The 41 non-career ambassadors affected are: Debo Adesina (Oyo), Ex-Minister of State for Defence, Ademola Seriki (Lagos); Mr. Dare Sunday Awoniyi (Kogi); Engr Umar Suleiman (Adamawa); L.S. Mandama (Adamawa); Oboro Effiong Akpabio (Akwa Ibom); Chief Elijah Onyeagba (Anambra); Abubakar D. Ibrahim Siyi (Bauchi); Philip K. Ikurusi (Bayelsa); Hon. Tarzoor Terhemen (Benue); Paul Ogba Adikwu (Benue); Al-Bashir Ibrahim Al-Hassan (Borno); Brig. Gen. Bwala Yûsuf Bukar (Borno) and Prof. Monique Ekpong (Cross River).

Others are: Oma Djebah (Delta); Ominyi N. Eze (Ebonyi); Yamah Mohammed Musa (Edo); Maj. Gen. C.O. Ugwu (Enugu); Dr. Hajara I. Salim (Gombe); Obiezu Ijeoma Chinyerem (Imo); Ali M. Magashi (Jigawa); Prof. M.A. Makarfi (Kaduna); Hamisu Umar Takalmawa (Kano); Jazuli Imam Galandanci (Kano); Amina Ado Kurawa (Kano); Amb. Yahaya Lawal (Katsina); Ibrahim Kayode Laaro (Kwara); Abioye Bello (Kwara); Zara Maazu Umar (Kwara); Henry John Omaku (Nasarawa); Chief Sarafa Tunji Ishola (Ogun); Mrs. Nimi Akinkube (Ondo); Adejaba Bello (Osun); Adeshina Alege (Oyo); Debo Adesina (Oyo); Ms. Folakemi Akinyele (Oyo); Shehu Abdullahi Yibaikwai (Plateau); Hon. Maureen Tamuno (Rivers); Faruk Yabo (Sokoto); Adamu M. Hassan (Taraba); and Abubakar Moriki (Zamfara).[/b]

Three Deputy Inspectors General of Police (DIGs) and 10 Assistant Inspectors Generals (AIGs) are statutorily scheduled to exit the Nigeria Police Force as the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, bows out on February 1.

Six of the remaining 19 AIGs will also be swept away this year between March and October, in a gale of retirements which will also affect some Commissioners of Police.

Adamu is expected to retire alongside the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police in charge of Logistics and Supplies, Aminchi Baraya; the Deputy Inspector General of police in charge of Directorate of Intelligence and former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), DIG Ibrahim Lamorde, and DIG Nkpa Inakwu, who is among the five officers elevated to the rank in December 2020, but was not assigned a portfolio due to his ill health.

Sunday Sun checks on records in the current police staff list also indicated that the AIGs retiring with the incumbent IGP include AIG Hosea Karma, AIG Mohammed Mustafa, AIG Jonah Mava, AIG Olusholla David and AIG Yununa Babas. Others are AIG Nkereuwem Akpan, AIG Olafimihan Adeoye, AIG Agunbiade Lasore, AIG Undie Adie and AIG Olugbenga Adeyanju.

The development has created suspense and anxiety at the Louis Edet House Police headquarters in Abuja as the tussle of who succeeds the outgoing IGP enters Zero Hour, amidst reports of intensified lobby to extend his tenure.

Among those said to be bracing up to take over the baton from Adamu are three Deputy Inspectors General of Police, two Assistant Inspectors General of Police and a Commissioner of Police recently deployed as acting Assistant Inspector General of police, Force CID Annex, Lagos. They include DIG Sanusi Lemu, DIG Usman Alkali Baba, DIG Dan-Mallam Mohammed, AIG Hafiz Inuwa, AIG Garba Umar and CP Dasuki Galadanchi, who recently completed a course at the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Plateau State.

Speculations are, however, rife on attempts by some political hawks to mount pressure on the Police Service Commission (PSC) to accelerate its next conventional meeting during which it takes far reaching decisions concerning senior police officers, including discipline and promotions.

CP Dasuki, who is number two in seniority on the staff list among the 97 commissioners of police currently in service, is expected to be a beneficiary of the next promotion to the rank of AIG. Reports said that he has already been deployed to the Force CID Annex, Lagos, as acting AIG ahead of his anticipated elevation to the substantive rank at the forthcoming PSC meeting.

The unconfirmed pressure on the PSC to hasten its next sitting, according to reliable security sources, stemmed from desperation by some power brokers desirous of sustaining the status quo to ensure their preferred candidates for the plum job scaled the hurdles prescribed by the amended Police Act 2020 which was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on September 17, 2020.

Specifically, the new Police Act provided among others, that a person to be appointed IGP shall be a senior police officer not below the rank of an Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), with the requisite academic qualification of not less than a first degree or its equivalent in addition to professional and managerial experience.

Part 111 Section 7 (6) of the Act, which repealed the Police Act Cap. P19, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, prescribed a four-year single tenure for a person appointed to the office of the IGP subject to the provisions of clause 18 (, which stipulates that every police officer shall, on recruitment or appointment, serve in the Nigeria Police Force for a period of 35 years or until he attains the age of 60 years, whichever is earlier.

Though there were initial fears as to whether a judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered last year on a legal contest bothering on mandate between the PSC and the IGP would temporarily hamper implementation of the Police Act 2020, legal experts have clarified that it only nullified a part of the Act related to the mandate of the PSC.

Checks by Sunday Sun indicated that going by the provisions of the Police Act 2020, all the three DIGs and two AIGs in the race for the office of IGP have been caught in the web of the hurdles as none of them has four more years left in the service – a statutory prerequisite for eligibility. While DIG Sanusi Lemu is scheduled to quit the police force on January 30, 2023, DIG Usman Baba and DIG Dan-Mallam Mohammed will bow out on March 1, 2023 and December 18, 2023 respectively.

In the same vein, chances of the two AIGs reportedly eyeing the top job are also encumbered by their dates of retirement which fell short of the provisions in the new Police Act for the tenure of an appointee to the office of IGP. AIG Garba Umar has May 15, 2023 as retirement date, just as AIG Hafiz Inuwa is expected to exit on March 21, 2024.

Interestingly, only one among the 29 AIGs who are general duty officers currently in service is not cramped by any provision of the Police Act 2020, but feelers indicated he has an unofficial hurdle of political undercurrents to contend with. Born on June 1, 1970, AIG Moses Jitoboh who hails from the southern flank of the country still has nine years in service, but he is not among the names peddled as front liners for the position of IGP.

An alumnus of NIPSS, Jitoboh is currently the acting DIG in charge of Research and Planning, and was until his recent deployment, the AIG Border Patrol Unit. A multiple degree holder and PhD candidate in Geographical Information System at the Graduate School of Abia State University, and was at a time, AIG in charge of Zone 8 police command as well as Commissioner of police, Adamawa State Police Command, among others.

In the meantime, the only senior police officer of northern extraction who is not entangled by the provisions of the Police Act is Dasuki Galadanchi, a Commissioner of Police who is due to retire on March 3, 2025. His only snag, however, is that he is yet to attain the approved rank of AIG to be eligible for appointment as IGP.

This, according to sources in the security circle, might have propelled the speculated push for the PSC to hold its conventional meeting soon, to brighten his chances in what appears to be a game of luck and the determination of Police Council headed by President Buhari to uphold the tenets of the Constitution and the rule of law.