₦airaland Forum

The Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has commenced the process of replacing a Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki in the Forum.

Obaseki was until his defection to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last month, the Vice-Chairman of the PGF.

He left All Progressives Congress (APC) for PDP, when the APC governorship screening committee disqualified him from contesting the Edo State governorship ticket of the party for the governorship election coming up in September 19.

The PGF vacant position is said to be zoned to the South, since the Chairman of the Forum, the Kebbi State Governor, Senator Atiku Bagudu is from the North.

Among those, who have shown interest for the position is the Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma, according to a source.

There are currently six APC governors in the South, with South West having five.

The APC controlled states in the South are: Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti and Imo.

The governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, is the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF). According to party source, this places Uzodinma in good stead for the position.

The South East APC zone, according to another source, have started reaching out to other zones for the candidature of Uzodinma.

Uzodinma was made governor early this year through a Supreme Court ruling that nullified the victory of PDP candidate, Chief Emeka Ihedioha, who won the Imo State governorship election last year March.

By all indications, it appears the chairmanship seat of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), like the anglerfish, has a certain allure that ends up proving costly for those who occupy it.

None of the four persons who have chaired the agency since its establishment in 2003 has exited with grace or with an unsoiled reputation.

All of them have ended up, one way or another, in the belly of what they had gone to fight – corruption.

The current fate of Ibrahim Magu, the suspended acting chairman of the EFCC over allegations of corruption, has thrown the plight of his predecessors into limelight.

Since the agency was established by the administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, perhaps no person has defined the office more than its pioneer chairman, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, a mid-level police officer, who suddenly found himself empowered to pursue some of the biggest names in the country for corrupt practices and financial crimes.

In no time, Ribadu became one of the most-talked- about names in the country, bringing down powerful political figures and striking fear into Obasanjo’s opponents. So powerful did the EFCC and Ribadu become that he ended up shaping the political landscape of the country.

Under his watch, so many political dreams were shelved, others were permanently grounded. However, Ribadu soon ended up in the jaws of the anglerfish and was forced out of office.

To end his tenure as chairman of the EFCC, Ribadu was ordered to undertake a year-long training. A year later, he was unceremoniously dismissed from the force.

Subsequently, he fled into exile for two years. In 2011, he joined the presidential campaign, but he was a political lightweight. Even his party, the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), was happy to fly his banner while working for PDP’s Goodluck Jonathan.

He was replaced by Mrs Farida Waziri, a retired police officer. Before her confirmation in the Senate, she had to deny allegations that she stood as surety for former Benue governor, George Akume, when he was accused of graft.

She rode that storm, and in line with Yar’adua’s understated personality, ran the office without the flamboyance her predecessor had brought to the role.

She soon alleged that the loot Ribadu recovered from Mr Balogun had gone missing, and claimed that the files detailing the recovery disappeared. True or not, it was a classic line from the police textbook of how to kill a case.

Her greatest accomplishment in office might be the successful prosecution of Obasanjo’s political ally, Bode George, for fraud.

She claimed, in her biography, that the late President Yar’adua had warned her a couple of times that she was acquiring powerful enemies. When Yar’adua passed away, Mrs Waziri was left exposed.

The allegations that swirled around her like a whirlwind soon closed in on her. Her methods were considered questionable.

She entered plea bargains with her suspects and provided soft landings for them. President Jonathan, who had succeeded Yar’ardua, put on his newly acquired iron shoes and kicked Mrs Waziri to the kerb.

She alleged that her sack was a result of attempts to probe oil racketeers and her refusal to contribute funds to Jonathan’s 2011 campaign.

The former president denied this allegation, saying Mrs Waziri was sacked for the sake of “national interest” and other reasons that could not be disclosed because they were “state secrets.”

Whatever the case, by November 2011, Mrs Waziri had her date with the anglerfish in Nigeria’s murky waters. Mrs Waziri was replaced with Ibrahim Lamorde, who acted as EFCC boss between January and May 2008, after Ribadu’s ouster.

Early in 2012, the Senate confirmed his nomination as Jonathan’s new anti-graft man. Lamorde was seen as the muscle, some said the brain behind Ribadu’s EFCC, and expected him to take a tough stance against corruption.

Whatever was the case, he too fell in line with the president and the anti-corruption fight under him wilted in his four-year reign. Amidst allegations of financial impropriety, failure to account for recovered loot amounting to trillions of naira, including the Tafa Balogun booty, no one expected him to survive Buhari’s axe.

Though he denied the allegations, Lamorde too was duly booted out and the Senate reportedly asked for a warrant for his arrest to be issued following his failure to turn up for their probe. Somehow, he managed to escape prosecution on these allegations.

With Lamorde’s successor, Ibrahim Magu facing allegations of financial impropriety, which has led to his suspension from office, it would seem that Nigeria’s ‘chief thief catchers’ have all succumbed to the light of the anglerfish.

The reality is that being EFCC’s boss comes with enormous powers and responsibilities. It also comes with mammoth temptations and incredibly powerful enemies.

In these circumstances, a popular Hausa adage that if you don’t know how to catch a thief, the thief will know how to catch you comes into play.

The new person to take over from Magu would do well to remember this and beware of the light of the anglerfish before he too joins his predecessors in the dark belly of Nigeria’s corruption monster.

By Bisi Olaniyi,
The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, on Saturday challenged Governor Godwin Obaseki to tell the public the whereabouts of his commissioner who remains in detention overseas, following his arrest last year in France for alleged money laundering.

Ize-Iyamu also described as irresponsible Obaseki‘s decision to erect a digital billboard in the centre of Benin to continuously play the video of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano with a view to portraying him in bad light.

The Director of Communication and Media of the Ize-Iyamu Campaign Organisation, Prince John Mayaki, said in a statement that it was hypocritical for Obaseki to embark on cheap blackmail when he could not account for his arrested and detained commissioner.

He said: “It is obvious to everyone in Edo State and beyond now that the outgoing governor of Edo State (Obaseki) and his party of tax collectors have no record or achievements to campaign with.

“Otherwise, instead of wasting public fund on a lazy, indecorous and irresponsible attempt to smear the reputation of Kano governor, they would have seized the fraudulently-obtained opportunity of a digital billboard at the heart of the state’s capital to show the people of Edo State consequential matters like their achievements in office.

“It is nothing but hypocrisy and a lack of awareness, two traits that contributed to the failure of the Obaseki’s administration, for the governor to sanction such an irresponsible move when his own commissioner/best friend is still languishing in detention abroad, since his arrest in France.”

In a separate statement, Ize-Iyamu berated the Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate, Dr. Isaiah Osifo, accusing him of acting as Obaseki’s mouthpiece but planted in LP to regurgitate scripts handed to him by his paymaster.

He condemned Osifo’s last Thursday’s “show of shame” during a news conference in Benin, accusing him (Osifo) of engaging in smear campaign and deliberate spread of misinformation.

Reacting through his Special Adviser on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, however, Obaseki said Ize-Iyamu would be roundly defeated in the September 19 election.

Osagie said: “Governor Obaseki has an unwavering faith in his works and the growing support of millions of Edo people, who are the actual voters that will re-elect him for another term in office.

“Edo people have come to the full understanding of Governor Obaseki’s brand of politics, which is about the greatest good possible for the greater number of people, as against Ize-Iyamu’s retrogressive politics of converting public wealth to his personal property.

“Edo State under Governor Obaseki has since shaken off the last vestiges of bad governance which Ize-Iyamu is notorious for, and our people are determined, more than ever, to sustain the progress we have so far witnessed with their votes.

“With Obaseki, trust, accountability to the people, integrity, our common dignity are the driving forces. These qualities have been demonstrated over and over again in the last three years and seven months, and a renewed four-year mandate from Edo people will turbo-charge us to deliver more dividends of democracy.

The presidential panel probing the suspended acting chairman of the Economic c and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has reportedly demanded the files of Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) handled by the commission since 2015.

The detained Commissioner of Police was appointed in an acting capacity by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 9, 2015, and was arrested on Monday 6 July 2020 to answer questions bordering on corruption and insubordination.

The panel, which has been grilling Magu since he was arrested, has also reportedly summoned departmental heads of the commission and other witnesses some of who appeared before it on Thursday and Friday.


A competent security source told Saturday Tribune on Friday that the decision of the panel to check the books of Magu from the beginning of his headship of the commission five years ago coupled with the search conducted on his Abuja residence on Tuesday were pointers to a possible the decision to prosecute or detain him indefinitely.

“You know when we start searching for houses and demanding to see old and new files, we are looking for evidence to prosecute and detain legally. That is it. He may appear in court soon after the panel submits its report or he will be kept in a hat we call protective custody just as was done to Sambo Dasuki,” the source said.

The source spoke as it was disclosed on Friday that Magu has written a letter to the Inspector General of Police demanding that he be granted bail.

Also on Friday, President Buhari finally announced his the decision to place Magu on suspension while the next most senior operative in the commission was asked to take over in acting capacity. Under Magu’s leadership, t h e commission h a s investigated tens of former public office holders, including the sacked Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen; a sacked Head of Service, Mrs Winifred Oyo Ita; former Senate President, Bukola Saraki; former First Lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan; former top military brass, chiefs of the intelligence community and former governors.

Magu has also been accused of not touching petitions against some leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC), Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Honourable Mudashiru Obasa; and Kano State governor,
The problem between him and the office of the Attorney General of the Federation began over his refusal to avail the occupant of that office, Abubakar Malami (SAN) of the probe files, despite the minister being the statutory supervisor of the commission.

The minister openly accused Magu of insubordination then. In his memo that began the current travails for the police officer, the twin issue of insubordination and misconduct formed the pillar of the case against him.

At a point during their rift in September 2017, Magu released a list of 106 persons under alleged corruption probe to the minister’s office. The brickbats resumed after the leak of the list within days of the exchange.

Both parties denied leaking the list to the media. On the list were notable names like Onnoghen and Ayodele Fayose, who is facing trial. Others were the incumbent governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, and his predecessor, Captain Idris Wada; former Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, now Minister of Niger Delta; former Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State, who is now facing trial; former Governor Ali Modu Sherriff of Borno State and former Governor Lucky Igbinedion of Edo State.

Expectedly, Dame Patience Jonathan, the wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, was listed alongside some ministers who served in her husband’s administration.

Nearly all the former ministers are now on trial. Former ministers on the list included Mrs Diezani Alison-M a dueke, Mr Mohammed Adoke (SAN), Bala Mohammed, who is now governor of Bauchi State; Mrs Stella Oduah and Godsday Orubebe.

Also on the list was a former Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Abdullahi Dikko, who entered into lea bargain; Uche Secondus, now the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Colonel Bello Fadile (retd.), who served embattled former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki; Justice Abdu Kafarati, who became the Chief judge of the Federal High Court and retired on July 25, 2019, as well as Justice Mohammed Tsamiya, who was eventually sacked by the National Judicial Council.

The EFCC stated in the document that it was investigating the CJN based on intelligence referred to it on October 12, 16.

After the leakage, Magu said in a statement that he wasn’t probing Onnoghen. However, the commission eventually submitted a petition and probe report to the National Judicial Council (NJC) against the then-CJN, which was eventually used by the jurist’s colleagues to nail him.

In the document, the commission explained that it received a petition against Fayose, then a sitting governor, on August 3, 2016, but the investigation had been stalled due to alleged lack of cooperation from the Ekiti State government officials. It added that the case against Akpabio was referred to it on May 10, 2016, but had been stalled due too an injunction granted by a High Court of Akwa Ibom State stopping the probe, adding that though the Court of Appeal had set aside from the injunction, the Akwa Ibom State government under Udom Emmanuel had filed an appeal.

It stated that the cases against Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State and his predecessor, Captain Idris Wada was referred to the EFCC on September 29, 2016, and April 16, 2016, respectively. The case against Patience Jonathan alongside Ariwabu Aruera Reachout Foundation was referred red to the commission on September 26, 2016, while Oduah’s was on April 5, 2016.

According to the commission, Sherriff became a subject of the probe following an intelligence report received on October 10, 2016, while the petition against Diezani was received on June 20, 2016, and the one against her husband on January 14, 2016. Magu had told the Attorney General than that Justice Kafarati’s case file was with him.

The embattled Acting Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, was on Wednesday confronted with more allegations.

The Justice Ayo Salami-led Presidential panel asked him to account for 380 houses and seven vessels loaded with crude oil.

The probe panel also grilled on him on the disposal of assets worth N37 billion.

Magu is being grilled, following allegations raised against him by Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami(SAN).

The panel started quizzing Magu on Monday after his arrest by detectives in Abuja. On Tuesday, he was grilled on cash discrepancies said to be N539 billion realised from the sale of seized assets and N504 billion declared by the commission.

Both issues are part of the over 20 allegations levelled against the anti-graft agency chairman by the AGF.

Vanguard also gathered, on Wednesday, that on the ground floor of the Federal Criminal Investigation Department, FCID, Area 10, Abuja, where the EFCC boss is being held, his family members are allowed to visit him.

A Presidency source had said, on Tuesday, that the probe was an affirmation that nobody under the present administration was above scrutiny. The source had also explained that the interrogation of the anti-graft boss was being done to give him the opportunity to clear himself of the weighty allegations.

Vanguard gathered that Magu was brought to the venue at about 11:14am from the Force Criminal Investigation Department, FCID, building where he had been held since Monday. He was also joined by his lawyer at the panel for interrogation.

The presidential panel investigating graft allegations against embattled acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has given him two days to consult his lawyers.

The panel reportedly granted Magu the opportunity “when his responses to the allegations were incoherent,” a security source told Daily Sun yesterday.

For the third day in a row, Magu faced the panel sitting at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to account for his stewardship at the EFCC since November 2015. Among other allegations, the probe panel asked the EFCC boss to account for the specific number of properties recovered by the commission under his watch and what happened to them, the locations of the recovered property, how they were sold, whether the sale process(es) followed due process and the present state of those still in the commission’s custody.

Said the source: “From some of his submissions before the committee, he could not account for the exact figure of the assets in EFCC custody and what has even become of them. Even for the ones sold, he was incoherent when confronted with details of their disposal.”

The panel, it was further gathered, asked Magu if the bidding process(es) for the sold assets were advertised in national newspapers, as required by law, the short-listing process(es) and whether other government agencies were involved in the sale process(es) and also, whether the Presidency, through the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, was notified and involved in the disposal of looted assets, and “he was not coherent in his reply to these allegations.”


This reportedly prompted the probe panel to give him “two days to meet with and present his defence lawyers from Lagos,” according to report monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria.

The committee chaired by Justice Ayo Salami (retd), decided to give Magu the opportunity of “legal counsel,” as the “allegations against him are weighty.”

A Presidency source had on Tuesday told State House correspondents that Magu was suspended from office following the ongoing investigation by the presidential panel.

Since Monday night when he was invited to appear before the panel, Magu has been spending the night at the FCID.

The Federal Government of Nigeria, on Thursday, launched a diagnostic kit, RNASwift, for the identification of coronavirus’ causal agent.

The new diagnostic kit was designed, developed and validated by Nigerian scientists. It holds huge potentials for the country’s plan at scaling up testing for COVID-19, the acting Director-General of National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Prof Alex Akpa, whose agency produced the kit, said at the launch in Abuja on Thursday.

“The diagnostic kit is a product of cutting-edge biotechnology, which involves the exploitation of molecular biology to design, develop and validate a cost-effective but yet very top-of-the-range kit for COVID-19 testing”, Prof Akpa said.

Yinka Adeniran,


If things go as planned, female and male workers in public service in Oyo State may begin to enjoy six months maternity and one month paternity leave.

The leave is to attract full pay by the government.

The proposal came as a motion, raised by a member representing Ogbomosho North state constituency, Mrs Olawumi Oladejo during Tuesday plenary of the Oyo State House of Assembly.

Oladeji who described as “inadequate”, the current four months maternity leave been enjoyed by female workers, explained that the six months proposal will allow nursing mothers more time for exclusive breastfeeding of the babies.

She added that the motion is important as it will put the state on the same page with World Health Organization (WHO) advise on mothers to exclusively breastfeed for six months.

According to her, limited maternity protection policies prevented women from having time to breastfeed thereby increasing child and maternal mortality in the state.

She identified improved intelligence, productivity, healthy start to life as some of the benefits that exclusive breastfeeding offers.

The motion also mentioned the role of fathers in healthy and holistic development of children asking that new fathers should also be granted paternity leave of four weeks.

Ruling on the proposal, Speaker of the Assembly, Adebo Ogundoyin asked the House Committee on Women Affairs to meet with the state Ministries of Health and Women Affairs to look at reviewing existing laws on maternity leave in the state.

The last 48 hours have been rather exciting in the newsroom. The irony of the Economic and Financial Crime boss, Ibrahim Magu’s travail has a rather tragi-comic element to it.

Nigeria’s anti-corruption alpha dog allegedly caught with his snout in the soup pot is the stuff playwrights dream of.

The import of this unfolding event has far greater ramifications than most realise. It is not the fact that President Muhammadu’s Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign is working, as some people might want to spin it, it is that it has fallen flat on its face, like most other presidential promises, after throwing five years of a country’s hopes down the drain.

Tragic as it is, it Magu’s fall also has 2023 written all over it. What makes this scenario even more tragic is that Magu was not just anyone’s anti-corruption alpha dog, he was president Muhammadu’s Buhari’s anti-corruption alpha dog.

The Buhari whose 12-year-long campaign to be president was premised on the vow to fight corruption, whose election victory in 2015 was delivered by Nigerians who believed he, thought to have zero tolerance for corruption, was going to correct the rampant venality of the Jonathan years.

The irony is also in the fact that this Buhari chose this Magu to spearhead this important compact he had with Nigerians and insisted on this same person when the Senate rejected, repeatedly, his nomination as EFCC chair. The Senate’s rejection of Magu’s nomination was based on a couple of issues.

One was a report by the Department of State Services (DSS) alleging that Magu had failed its integrity test, and claims also by then-Senate President Bukola Saraki, who would later be hounded by Magu, that Buhari did not lobby, (read in Nigerian English: do the right thing) to get Magu’s confirmation.

The senate even protested Buhari’s refusal to sack Magu by suspending its screening of other presidential nominees.

Whatever the case, Buhari stuck to his guns. Twice he nominated Magu and twice the senate turned him down. So Buhari kept him in acting capacity as his anti-corruption czar for five long years. No one has been served longer in an acting capacity.

That faith the president had in Magu, his unshakeable belief in him made many people with little information about Magu wonder what could be so special about this man?

Many fantasized about him being some incorruptible warrior and put the senate’s refusal to confirm his appointment down to the senators’ fear of his honesty and desire to rid the country of corrupt officials.

Considering a good number of people in the senate have corruption cases to answer to, it all made sense. Until it didn’t.

The curiosity died rather too quickly and within months, Magu’s smash and grab approach to fighting corruption murdered, quietly, any expectations Nigerians had.

His primordial method of arresting suspects and hoping to get a confession out of them before striking a deal with them did not inspire confidence.

The incompetent handling of corruption investigations meant that most cases the EFCC took to court were dismissed on the bases of incompetent investigation, or prosecution, seeing suspected corrupt officials walking away with their looted assets and laughing at Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign.

There was, in all honesty, nothing calculated about Magu’s approach and it became clear, even to all the people who, before May 29, 2015, fled in dread of the anticipated anti-corruption gale, that Buhari’s principal campaign pledge was nothing but a vuvuzela—noisy, ear-grating, delivering neither melody nor results.

It took years for Magu’s EFCC to deliver a conviction and even that was for a case his predecessor under Jonathan had initiated.

By that time, rumours of Magu’s questionable integrity were rife, of EFCC officials striking deals with suspects, collecting a cut from the loot in exchange for freedom for the suspects and safety from further investigations.

Many observers had predicted Magu’s ignominy, not many expected it to happen soon, especially under Buhari, who seems averse to investigating his officials indicted for corruption.

Both Buhari and his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo vouched for him and as acting president during one of Buhari’s travels stuck his neck out for him because he knew him personally. “The president said he believed in what he was doing and had his support.

I want to also affirm here that Magu has my support. As far as I remain the acting president, Magu remains,” Osinbajo said. And perhaps if things hadn’t changed in the villa in the last few months, Magu might still have been sitting pretty.

The fact that he was hounded and ushered to a panel of investigation by DSS operatives was perhaps possible because of the power tussle in Aso Rock.

One of Magu’s staunchest supporters, Abba Kyari is no longer in the picture, the others, Tinubu and Osinbanjo, who once told journalists that “Magu is going nowhere” have fallen out of favour and the Attorney General, Abubakar Malami, who has strong ties with the DSS is consolidating his hold.

Magu may just be a pawn in this tussle but that is not to say he did not lay his own bed. The wider implication of Magu’s fall from grace, and such a dramatic fall it was, is what it means for Buhari’s anti-corruption vuvuzela.

It means that the person the president, against the wisdom of the DSS report, the rejection and protest of the senate and the whispers of Nigerians, and his vice president, have personally vouched for, defended and assured was faultless, and above all entrusted with driving their key campaign promise has been a shimmering shadow.

That it took them five years to see this is baffling. This whole episode has been nothing but a solid facepalm in the face of any pretensions this administration had about fighting corruption.

What remains to be seen though is would this be the death knell of these pretensions, the silencing of Buhari’s anti-corruption vuvuzela or would it be salvation for it. If the presidency now replaces Magu’s wild smash and grab approach that failed to deliver any tangible results in five years with someone with a more systematic approach to fighting corruption and a whole lot more integrity, perhaps it would reboot this aspect Buhari has been promising Nigerians for the past 18 years.

The reality is with all the politicking around this, and the position for 2023, this is hard to see. But wouldn’t it be just fantastic if the president disappointed us and made the right appointment? Whatever integrity his anti-corruption claims have left, and I don’t imagine there is much of it left, is dependent on this.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s candidate for the World Trade Organisation director-general election, says she is in need of volunteers for her campaign.

In an interview with Arise TV, Okonjo-Iweala said some of her friends have been helping with media work pro-bono.

If elected, Okonjo-Iweala would be the first African to occupy the position.

“So far things are going well and I’m grateful for the support of the government and Nigerians. I don’t have any PR firm working for me. I have some friends who are helping with media work pro-bono because I cannot afford to pay them. It would be nice to have some volunteers,” she said.

Her nomination had triggered slight controversy as President Muhammadu Buhari approved her candidature as a replacement for Yonov Frederick Agah, WTO deputy director-general and Nigeria’s former candidate for the election.

Egypt and the AU’s office of legal counsel had opined that Okonjo-Iweala’s nomination violated the candidature guidelines provided by the AU.

However, the WTO told TheCable that the former World Bank managing director is eligible to run for the office.

The two-time minister of finance also described WTO’s acceptance of her nomination as a testament of the faulty premise on which opposition calls were made.

Okonjo-Iweala described herself as “the best woman for the job”, saying the WTO needs a fresh pair of eyes to take on its leadership.

She expressed gratitude to the federal government, the ministries of foreign affairs and trade, among others for their support.

The development economist described WTO as a critical global organisation that needs to be reformed in key areas like dispute resolution, adding that its effectiveness will be enhanced if it becomes more inclusive by supporting women, MSMEs, among others.

She has received the endorsement of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and seeks to get the support of the African Union (AU).

Trump administration begins formal withdrawal from World Health Organization

(CNN) The Trump administration has notified Congress and the United Nations that the United States is formally withdrawing from the World Health Organization, multiple officials tell CNN, a move that comes amid a rising number of coronavirus cases throughout the Americas in the last week alone.

Sen. Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee tweeted the news Tuesday.

"Congress received notification that POTUS officially withdrew the U.S. from the ⁦‪@WHO⁩in the midst of a pandemic. To call Trump's response to COVID chaotic & incoherent doesn't do it justice. This won't protect American lives or interests—it leaves Americans sick & America alone," he wrote.

A State Department official also confirmed that "the United States' notice of withdrawal, effective July 6, 2021, has been submitted to the UN Secretary-General, who is the depository for the WHO."

The letter addressed to the UN is very short, around three sentences, a source briefed on the correspondence told CNN, and it will trigger a one-year withdrawal timeline. However, this source also cautioned that they cannot confirm they saw the final version of the letter.

While lawmakers from both parties have long cited systemic problems with the WHO, many have also denounced the President's decision to withdraw during a once-in-a-century global pandemic.

Despite alleging that the World Health Organization "enabled" the Chinese government's sweeping cover-up of the coronavirus pandemic's origins, members of the GOP China task force urged President Donald Trump last month to reconsider his decision to terminate relations with the international body, arguing that the US can do more to affect change as a member.

Twenty two out of the 27 members of the Imo Assembly have signed to commence impeachment process against Speaker, Dr. Chiji Collins.

The proceedings, The Nation learnt, would commence immediately the House reconvenes after the Assembly complex was shut last two weeks over coronavirus scare.

It was gathered the 22 members have already asked the Speaker to resign honourably or face impeachment any moment.

They are also accusing him of greed and functioning as chairman of every committee of the House.

They lamented everything about the House has been starting and ending with the Speaker.

Member representing Oguta constituency, Frank Ugboma, said: “The people we represent, now see us as Alleluia boys of the executive arm just because our Speaker kowtows to the bidding of the executive even on critical issues of governance.

“This is so much so that he is now cowed to carry out oversight over executive misdeeds.

“Though, as a House we collectively take responsibility for failure to stand for our people, many of whom are civil servants and pensioners who are owed salaries and pensions up to four months arrears.

“I need not bore you with the recent road demonstration by our aged senior citizens, in protest of their unpaid pensions.

“At various times, I have been inundated with calls and messages from many of such owed government employees and retirees from my constituency. Many times have I assured them, to no avail.

“Come to think of it, should I break the spirit of those my constituents (who come to seek help) with the news that I am also owed salaries, even as member of the House of Assembly?

“Would they even believe such incredible story? How would they even believe, when the front page of “Saturday Statesman” Newspaper has it boldly captioned that “NO MEMBER IS OWED” ascribing their source as Imo House of Assembly headed by Hon. Chiji Collins, Ph.d as Speaker.

“With such headlines in the papers and tabloid, I would be considered a liar by my aides whom I told that I have not received my salaries because I pay them each time I am paid.

“What of my numerous constituents, allies and friends, who daily call me for financial aid but we’re told to be patient, until I am paid salaries. They would think I am lying and dribbling them with the story of non payment of salaries”.

On allegations by the Speaker that former Governor, Emeka Ihedioha was sponsoring his impeachment to get at Governor Hope Uzodimma, Ugboma described it as obviously empanelled lies by those who desperately seek the Governor’s attention.

“I mean, it is a well calculated crap to sacrifice the image and the good relationship existing between the 9th House and the Executive Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma by hangers-on and blackmailers.

“They are those who feel and continue to sacrifice colleagues and the 9th House for a porrage of yam.

“It is evident that someone somewhere is sinking very fast and now on a face saving episonage and feels that causing disharmony between the 9th House and Senator Hope Uzodinma would rescue him from self destruction.”

When contacted, Media Assistant to the Speaker, Emeka Ahaneku, described the move as voice of the opposition whose interest was to get at Governor Uzodimma.

He said however that those championing the move did not have the capacity to impeach the Speaker because few people who had joined them had made a turnaround for fear of being suspended by the House on resumption.

Eniola Akinkuotu, Abuja



Oluwatoyin Ojaomo, the lawyer of the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, has said the forces behind corruption in Nigeria are more powerful than Covid-19.

Ojaomo said this on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme on Monday while reacting to the investigation of Magu by a Presidential panel.

The lawyer said his client was under probe because the recoveries he announced publicly and the funds remitted to the government’s coffers did not correspond.

He said the funds remitted were more than the monies declared.

Ojaomo said, “When you are fighting corruption, the forces behind corruption are so powerful; they are more powerful than Covid-19. You can imagine what is happening. Instead of Magu to be celebrated, those powerful corrupt persons who have the media backing them are trying to call a dog a bad name so they can hang it.”

The lawyer said asset recovery was a continuous process and as such there would always be discrepancies in figures.

Also speaking, activist Auwal Musa aka Rafsanjani, said Magu’s experience has again shown the need for a legal framework on asset recovery and management.

Rafsanjani, who is the Head, Transparency International, said if Magu is humiliated, it could also discourage those who are genuinely dedicated to the fight against corruption.

“I don’t think it is a good development for persons who are fighting corruption to be framed,” he said.

“Instead of looking at Magu, we should look at the legal and institutional deficits in the area of recovery,” he added.

By Chris Njoku, Owerri



Imo Governor Hope Uzodinma has announced eight persons fraudulently receiving N330million annually as pension.

The Governor said the indicted persons who received their pensions annually are: Ajokubi H. A (N65, 685, 491. 00); Njoku Damian (N5,042,439.58); Obasi Canice (N3,460, 366.64); Anyanwu F. N (N3,150, 336. 00); Emenalo Theresa (N 3,058, 592.00); John Sunday (N2,320624. 00) and Ajaegbo E. O (N2,298,910.34).

Uzodinma said the eight persons were earning N330million annually as pension.

He said a retired judge was earning N300,000 monthly above what was due to him as pension and a late Secretary to the State Government(SSG) was still earning pension many years after his death.

The Governor made the announcement at a meeting with the leadership of organised labour comprising the Nigerian labour Congress (NLC), the National Union of Pensioners (NUP) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) at Government House.

Uzodinma revealed that so much irregularities had marred the pension system, forcing him to investigate further into the payroll of retired workers where it was discovered that over 1000 pensioners who retired in 1976 were still receiving pension.

He noted that over inflated pensions were paid to numerous pensioners, which on investigation was not consistent with their last pay slips or basic salaries as stipulated by the Pensions Act.

According to him, the decision to automate the payment process was in line with the new World Bank order for all states and pointed out the delay was due to the fact that there was no handover from the former administration.

However, he disclosed that all verified pensioners and government workers in the state, including teachers have been paid their pension and salaries up to June, adding that those who had issues with their data would have to resolve them before they can receive payment.

He explained that the delay in payment of some few months of pensions was caused by the monumental fraud discovered in the pension payroll which caused a pause in payments to enable the government cleanse the system.

The Governor said he will not be party to denying senior citizens who spend a better part of their lives working for the state their legitimate rights to pensions but added that it was necessary to also secure the future of the senior citizens by stopping a few criminals from defrauding the state of millions of Naira in the name of the Pensioners.

Uzodinma declared that by next week the names of all the persons milking the state through pensions and salary payroll fraud would be made public.

In their separate remarks the NLC and NUP chairmen, Comrade Austin Chilakpu and Sir JB Ugochukwu respectively appreciated the open door policy of the Governor and tendered apology for the protests by some members of the union while dialogue and negotiation was ongoing.

They expressed total support and cooperation with the government to achieve all its aspirations to take the state higher.

Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, has lamented that some pensioners in the state were earning a whopping N330 million yearly as pension.

He vowed to publish the names of those involved soon.

The governor also said that he had set in motion the process of integrating Imo pensioners into the National Contributory Pensions Scheme as a way of enhancing good governance.

Uzodimma, who spoke in a meeting with the leadership of Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) in Owerri, said that out of 13,800 primary school teachers, only 9,000 were found to be real, as over 4,800 were ghost workers.

He said: “I’ll soon publish names of those who earn above N330m per annum as pension for Imo people to know.

"Government will no more make use of micro finance banks for payments of salaries and pensions because they are no clearing house for BVN holders so that pensioners can be paid directly.”

He expressed delight that everything concerning pensions and salaries of Imo workers have been automated to make day-to-day running of government easier.

The governor added that nobody would be able to defraud the government any longer after the biometric verification.

He reiterated his earlier stand that pensions and salaries were not negotiable, insisting that what brought the delay in payment was the discovery of overwhelming fraud, discrepancies and irregularities resulting from salary padding, over bloated and double pensions among other sharp practices.

He said some pensioners were receiving monies above their retirement salaries while others get outrageous monies that are not accounted for.

Uzodimma said that only primary and secondary school teachers, who have been verified and confirmed to be employees of government, will receive their salaries.

The governor advised those playing politics with pensions and salaries to desist from doing so as his sole objective remained to dismantle the cabal that milk the state dry through the pensions and salaries.

“Government has decided to automate all payments to enable it migrate to the contributory pension’s scheme,” he stressed.

Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress in the state, Comrade Austin Chilakpu, lauded the efforts so far made by the governor towards payment of salaries and pensions in the State.

He, however, appealed to the governor to look into the staggering nature of pensions and illegal deductions and requested that pensioners pay be made a priority.

Also speaking, the Chairman of Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Imo State, Dr. Josiah B Ugochukwu, requested the governor to pay the pensioners harmoniously so that the leaders will be sure of those who received their pensions and others that were genuinely omitted for proper pension administration.

By Collins Omorege
Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and his associates in Edo All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains must have been unhappy about the drama in the ruling party at the federal level that terminated his leadership

But their sadness could be compounded if the APC does not deliver Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu in the state governorship election on September 19.

If Governor Godwin Obaseki is re-elected on that date, it will be double tragedy for the Edo APC chieftains.

It will be recalled that Oshiomhole and his die-hard supporters had helped Obaseki to succeed him as governor in 2016 against all odds.

But they soon fell apart, fought for the control of APC in Edo and the governor engineered the suspension of Oshiomhole at his Etsako West Ward.

Oshiomhole has now been sacked as APC National Chairman.

Journey

Both Obaseki and Ize-Iyamu went through a tough time to secure the governorship tickets of the two major political parties in the country to contest the Edo election in September.

Both men even had to switch parties as Ize-Iyamu moved dramatically from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to APC, while Obaseki left APC for the PDP.

In 2016, supporters of APC rooted for Ize-Iyamu before Oshiomhole turned the table against him, despite the fact that Ize-Iyamu led his 2012 re-election campaign.

Obaseki was considered an outsider in the APC but was recruited into Oshiomhole’s administration as a technocrat from the banking sector.

Obaseki, once a confidant, has now become Oshiomhole’s worst political enemy.

He was eventually disqualified from contesting in the APC governorship primary, a situation that forced him to defect to the PDP.

Securing the PDP ticket was not an easy task for the governor as some of the aspirants of the party vowed not to step down for him.

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, who initially backed Obaseki’s defection to the PDP, angrily pulled out of the process while accusing some PDP leaders of trying to blackmail him because of the Edo governor.

Spokesman for Obaseki, Crusoe Osagie, however, insisted that his principal did not pay money to secure the PDP ticket.

This was a party that previously attacked Obaseki’s educational certificates as fake now kowtowing to the governor.

“He claimed he entered the university the year he left secondary school. How could he have gained admission with such result? The result was not even good enough for any form of preliminary studies”, Mr Orbih, the PDP leader in Edo, had said ahead of the 2016 election in the state.

“This can only mean that Obaseki forged the certificates to gain admission. It is obvious that the man has no academic qualifications as he had only three credits”.

APC, at the time, defended Obaseki’s certificates but has now effectively deployed the same claim to scuttle his re-election on its platform while praising Ize-Iyamu to high heavens.

“If you remember, Pastor Ize-Iyamu was my DG (Director-General of my campaign organisation) in 2012, (my) second term,” Oshiomhole proudly said in December 2019 after a rally to welcome Ize-Iyamu back to APC.

“I won in all the 18 local government areas. I won all the wards in Edo South. I scored 74.6 per cent in the total votes cast. In 2016, the man left us and stood against us, we only managed to defeat him with about 50,000 votes.

“So, if he is bringing on board, as he has done, his goodwill, his energy, his resourcefulness, and his electoral base to join the APC, I am much more confident now about APC continuous hold on the governance of this state than ever before”.

On the part of the PDP, the last of the three governorship aspirants to step down for Obaseki was Kenneth Imasuagbon, a legal practitioner who said he spent the past 16 years to work on his ambition to “serve” Edo people and it would amount to a political coup if Obaseki was given a waiver by the PDP to contest the election.

Imasuagbon said before the Edo PDP primary election: “If there is anyone who should step down for the other, it is Obaseki”.

He eventually stepped down at the venue of the primary, saying; “Obaseki is a performing governor, he has worked hard for the state, he was distracted by godfathers while he was in APC.”

Permutations

The sack of Oshiomhole as APC Chairman could have been tagged an advantage for Obaseki in the forthcoming election but could propel Oshiomhole to fight with all his might and with everything he could possibly deploy to his candidate’s advantage (Ize-Iyamu).

Also, incumbency factor could work for Obaseki, but Ize-Iyamu would bank on the ‘federal might’.

Another big factor in favour of Ize-Iyamu is the statement credited to a former spokesman for the presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2019 general elections, Atiku Abubakar, Prince Kassim Afegbua, vowing to support Ize-Iyamu against Obaseki who, he said, the PDP had branded a failure only now to come round to appoint him as the leader of the party in Edo.

“We will join hands collectively with the APC candidate to ensure that Godwin Obaseki does not return. I am PDP member, but I will vote APC”, Afegbua was quoted as saying.

“A man with the humility of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu is better than a governor who fights everyone who disagrees with him.

“Edo has become too polarised over avoidable and needless battles. Let us have a new leadership that will usher in quiet and peace to everyone.

“The noises from the Obaseki aspiration have become too polluting and cannot be in the best interest of anyone”.

Afegbua, who earlier backed Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama for the PDP governorship ticket, said Ogbeide-Ihama ought to have stuck to his guns by running in the primary election.

“How can someone who did not buy nomination form, who came in when sale of forms had closed, screening had closed, congresses for the election of delegates had closed, and, all of a sudden, rules were bent to accommodate him and made to become the candidate?

“Only yesterday, Edo PDP scored Obaseki F9 in its sectoral analyses, and, today, the same man, who scored F9 all through in terms of performance, has suddenly become the head of the PDP corner.

“A governor who PDP challenged in 2016 for discrepancies in his submissions has suddenly become the candidate of the party. How do you explain such scenario? For me, I still hold the view that Ogbeide-Ihama had better opportunity to pull through if they had allowed Obaseki to settle for another party.

“It would have been a matter of three candidates and PDP would have had a better grip. I was shocked to see all three aspirants stepped down in the face of pressure.

“Even Kenneth Imasuangbon, who was shouting on top of his voice that he would pull through, buckled suddenly and swallowed his misplaced pride”.

Another factor against the re-election of Obaseki is the call for probe by a group in an open letter to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to investigate PDP/Obaseki on the primary election.

A non-governmental organization, in the letter, asked the EFCC to probe huge sums Obaseki allegedly deployed to get the PDP governorship ticket.

Political observers interpreted the alleged ‘huge sums’ as what Governor Wike was referring to when he tagged some people in the PDP leadership as “tax collectors”.

While some distant observers feel it is difficult to predict the outcome of the Edo election, many analysts say for Oshiomhole to regain relevance in APC, the Edo election is a must win for Ize-Iyamu who is also an experienced politician with a strong connection with voters across party lines.

The United Nations on Saturday said two civilians including a five-year-old child were killed and an aid helicopter damaged in a jihadist attack in restive northeast Nigeria.

Boko Haram fighters waging a decade-long insurgency in the region launched the attack in the town of Damasak on Thursday.

UN humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria Edward Kallon said both the fatalities and several others who were injured in the attack were on the ground.

“A UN Humanitarian Air Service helicopter was hit by bullets during the attack. No aid workers were on board at the time and crew members are all safe,” Kallon said in a statement.

A UN communication seen by AFP said the aircraft was shot as it approached Damasak and the pilots managed to fly back to regional capital Maiduguri 150 kilometres (90 miles) away.

The memo said the UN was suspending rotational flights for one week “to engage with government partners and conduct new risk assessments”.

Helicopters provide a vital link carrying humanitarian personnel and delivering aid to an estimated 7.8 million people in urgent need of assistance across northeast Nigeria.

The 10-year jihadist conflict has killed 36,000 people and forced some 2 million from their home in the region.

Key roads remain too dangerous to travel despite the Nigerian military repeatedly insisting it has largely defeated the insurgents.

The UN has complained of an uptick in attacks targeting aid workers in the northeast of the country.

The area around Damasak on the border with Niger is dominated by the Islamic State West Africa Province, which broke away from jihadist group Boko Haram in 2016.

(AFP)

Kayode Fasua



The Ogun State Government has said that its two-day lockdown covering Saturday and Sunday continues, regretting that the prevalence of the Covid-19 pandemic in the state is yet to abate.

It said that the move would not in any way jeopardise the federal government’s last week lift of ban on inter-state travels, as its decision was taken to protect residents.

A statement issued Friday evening by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Dapo Abiodun, Mr. Kunle Somorin, noted that “available data and opinions of experts continue to indicate that the fight against the virus is far from being won”.

“To date, a total number of 4,072 people have been tested out of which 898 tested positive.

“Among the positive cases, 609 have been successfully treated and discharged. Sadly, there have been a total of 19 deaths with 270 active cases.

“One of our border local governments is one of the local governments with the highest number of cases in the country, because of the level of testing,” the governor’s spokesman said.

He added that this emphasised the need for residents to exercise high level of restraint, as the state could neither afford more fatalities nor allow the rate of sickness to outnumber the capacity to manage the sick.

“Consequently, we are extending our current phase of eased restrictions for another two weeks. As usual, we will continuously review and modify the guidelines in response to data from the field and expert opinions,” Somorin said.

He stressed that the Ogun government would continue to monitor the situation to determine its impact on the Covid-19 situation and would not hesitate to make appropriate adjustment, in consultation with the federal government.

He also reiterated government’s stance that schools, worship centres and other social centres remain shut.

“A committee has been set up to engage all stakeholders — public and private school owners — and develop guidelines for a safe reopening of our schools, especially to allow certificate classes to resume and write their examinations,” the statement affirmed.

The apex bank, which has refused to disclose the exact foreign remittances it has received from 2016 to 2018, deliberately stocks the US dollars it receives on behalf of Nigerians to trade them off through crooked means.

One of the major reasons why the Central Bank of Nigeria has prevented financial institutions in the country from paying United States dollars to persons receiving money from friends and family members based overseas has been uncovered.

According to documents seen by SaharaReporters, the apex bank, which has refused to disclose the exact foreign remittances it has received from 2016 to 2018, deliberately stocks the US dollars it receives on behalf of Nigerians to trade them off through crooked means.

The CBN, it was gathered, was warehousing the dollar component of remittances in foreign banks, thereby making it impossible for the naira to appreciate against the dollar in the foreign exchange market.

Blowing the lid off this seeming goldmine for the CBN leadership, the Femi Falana chambers through Mrs Funmi Falana on February 10, 2020 wrote to the apex bank, demanding to know the accurate remittances for 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively.

This request, according to the law firm, became necessary after it was discovered that the CBN had quoted a misleading figure in order to downplay the volume of money sent home by Nigerians in the Diaspora.

For instance, in February 2019, the Nigerian Government disclosed that the remittances received in the country in 2016, 2017 and 2018 were $19.6bn, $22bn and $25bn respectively.

However, the management of the Central Bank of Nigeria faulted the figures, going ahead to claim before the House of Representatives' Committee on Diaspora that contrary to the World Bank’s report, the official financial inflow was $2.6bn for 2018.

Therefore, to the clear the air on the matter, Falana chambers in the letter to the CBN said, “At the 2019 National Diaspora Day held at Abuja in July 2019, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, revealed that the remittances received by Nigeria stood at $19.6bn, $22bn and $25bn in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

“According to Mr Mustapha, ‘The money is currently utilised as social security funds to families (school fees, feeding allowances, hospital bills and so on). Some of it is invested in housing and estate development, hospital projects, schools and commercial enterprises but are not properly documented and analysed for impact.’

“Springing from the above statement from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, we request to be furnished with the official figures of remittances received by Nigeria from the Diaspora for 2016, 2017 and 2018.

“Please be informed that this request is anchored on the Freedom of Information Act, 2010.”

But in a response to the request on June 29, 2020, more than four months after the seven days required by law for FoI requests to be responded to, the CBN in a letter signed by its Director of Corporate Secretariat, Mrs C.E Olonta, said it could not respond because the information sought was already on its website.

Further findings by SaharaReporters revealed that even though all remittances are recorded by the CBN on a daily basis, the management has refused to disclose the real figures.

“It is pertinent to let the public know that apart from hiding the fact that revenue from remittances are far more than oil revenue, all foreign aids and Foreign Direct Investment, the CBN wants to continue to sabotage the national economy through dubious regulations and that was why it banned banks and other foreign exchange dealers from paying foreign currencies to recipients of foreign remittances.

“Thus, by warehousing the dollar component of remittances in foreign banks, the CBN has made it impossible for the naira to appreciate against the dollar in the foreign exchange market.

“In view of the decision of the Federal Government to mobilise the huge diaspora remittances to serve as a catalyst for economic development in line with the provisions of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission Act, the CBN should be restrained from hoarding information on the money sent to the country by Nigerians living abroad,” a financial expert with deep knowledge of the fraud going on in the apex revealed.

By Clifford Ndujihe, Politics Editor & Ibrahim Hassan

Following President Muhammadu Buhari’s intervention, some founders and pillars of the All Progressives Congress, APC, have returned to the trenches to restrategise and plot fresh plans to realise their 2023 political quests. Notable leaders of the party considered to be posturing for 2023 include Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi; Kaduna governor, Nasir el-Rufai; and Ekiti governor, Kayode Fayemi among others.

President Buhari, last week, backed the decision of factional acting National Chairman of the party, Chief Victor Giadom, to hold an emergency National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting. At the NEC meeting held at the Presidential Villa, members, on the suggestion of President Buhari, dissolved the National Working Committee, NWC, and appointed a caretaker/convention planning committee headed by Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, with Senator John James Akpanudoedehe as secretary.

The main faction of the NWC, which enjoyed the support of 18 members, was led by late Senator Abiola Ajimobi. While ill, and till he died, National Vice Chairman, South-South, Ntufam Hilliard Eta stood in for him. The faction enjoyed the backing of suspended National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Thus, some observers saw the dissolution of the NWC as targeted against Tinubu and his 2023 presidential ambition. The Presidency and Governor Buni dismissed this insinuation as balderdash and insisted that the sack of the NWC was to save the APC from implosion. Indeed, Vanguard checks showed that the party, before the dissolution, was facing 11 law suits in various courts.

Following the dissolution, some members of the NWC, who described the NEC as illegal contemplated challenging the decision in court but later changed their minds over what a source attributed to: “We don’t want to be seen to be challenging the President’s decision.” Indeed, Tinubu at the weekend said President Buhari had spoken “and we accept his decisions” just as he said he had not made any decision regarding 2023 because “the concerns of this hour are momentous enough.”

In like manner, Oshiomhole said he has taken the dissolution of the NWC in good faith and reassured the President that his confidence in his leadership remained unshaken. A stalwart of the APC said the dissolution of the NWC has brought forward a battle that would have been fought in 2022 when Oshiomhole’s tenure would have ended.

How Oshiomhole’s mistakes hurt his allies

“Oshiomhole made many avoidable mistakes that have caused a setback to those depending on him to prosecute their 2023 aspirations. Although his tenure would have ended before the 2023 election but he would have had a hand in producing his successor. “Now, that opportunity has been lost, those depending on him will fight hard to have a hand in producing the next NWC, and it is not going to be easy,” the source said. The source projected that the national chairmanship will still go the South-South, though the APC no longer has a foot hold in the oil-rich region, following the defection of Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State to the PDP. According the source, the South-West will not accept the chairmanship slot because its leaders are interested in the presidency. In like manner, the source said the North does not seem ready to relinquish power to the South in 2023 and may not accept the position.

Tinubu returns to drawing board

Regarding permutations for 2023, a top Tinubu supporter told Vanguard yesterday that “the dissolution calls for retrospection, going back to the drawing board and re-strategising for 2023. Our leader is an experienced politician. He knows the game. He also knows his onions. He was elected to the Senate in 1993 with over one million votes, the first person to be elected to the Senate with over one million votes. “We still have more than two years to 2023. He cannot be seen to be fighting the Commander-in-Chief, though he would have loved Oshiomhole to serve out his tenure as APC chairman.”

Fayemi, el-Rufai move to strengthen party

On the same count, the camps of Fayemi and el-Rufai have started reaching out to stakeholders on the way forward. A close aide of Governor Fayemi said the dissolution of the NWC was done in the interest of the party and “it is a welcome development” adding that the governor is now joining forces to make the APC strong and virile because “it is when the party is strong that you can realise your aspiration.”

Why stakeholders moved against NWC – Amaechi loyalist

Also, a source loyal to the Amaechi tendencies in APC said: “At the inception of the APC, the agreement was that the CPC will control power, ACN will control the party, and n-PDP will control the legislature but now the CPC and ACN want to control all. This cannot be allowed to continue as we approach 2023.” Amaechi is one of biggest pillars of the APC in the South-South, given the fate of Oshiomhole. Others include Chief Timipre Sylva, Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, and Senator Godswill Akpabio but Amaechi is said to be closest to President Buhari among the lot.

El-Rufai had no hand in Oshiomhole’s ouster — Abba

Governor el-Rufai is considered as one of those who played crucial roles in the sack of the NWC and is now backing efforts to reposition the APC ahead of the 2023 polls, where he is expected to go for the vice presidency or presidency, though he recently made case for power-shift to the South in 2023. However, Alhaji Abdullahi Gambo Abba, a chieftain of the APC in Kaduna State, said since Governor el-Rufai of Kaduna had not publicly disclosed his intention or plans for 2023, it would not be credible for anyone to speak on that.

On the dissolution of the APC NWC, Abba, who had aspired for the Kaduna State House of Assembly to represent Kawo constituency in 2019, said there were many insinuations that some governors allegedly worked against Oshiomhole. “Till date, I’ve not heard any governor or group of governors claim they had a hand in Oshiomhole’s removal. It was just a party affair and calling names, including that of El-Rufai to have played any role, would be unfair,” he said.

All eyes on Buni’s committee

As it is, all eyes are on the caretaker committee over how it will navigate the sore spots in the party. This is one of the reasons, all eyes are on the Buni-led committee. Already, some members are laying land mines for the committee, saying Buni’s appointment and swearing-in violated the APC constitution.

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has generated the sum of N66 billion from stamp duties between January and May.

Mr Abdullahi Ahmad, the FIRS Director, Communications and Liaison Department made this known in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.

Ahmad said the Executive Chairman of FIRS, Muhammad Nami, disclosed this at the inauguration of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Audit and Recovery of Back Years Stamp Duties and the unveiling of the FIRS Adhesive Stamp in Abuja.

Nami said the money realised in the first five months of the year from stamp duties represented about 1,000 per cent increase.

He stated that the increment was unprecedented when compared to six billion naira collected from January to May 2019.

The FIRS boss attributed this increase to the dynamism triggered by Finance Act 2019, sums warehoused by the CBN in respect of prior years and the deployment of technology as well as stakeholders’ collaboration.

“The introduction of the FIRS Stamp Duties Adhesive Stamp will, among other things, plug the revenue sink-hole, enable proper accountability and transparency, simplify administration of Stamp Duties and reduce disputes”.

The statement disclosed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, gave the assurance that the collection from stamp duty would be second to oil revenue, as it had the potential to yield up to a trillion Naira if properly harnessed.

Mustapha also directed that all institutions of government and related stakeholders should support the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Audit and Recovery of Back Years Stamp Duties to enable it succeed on its assignment.

‘In the face of dwindling oil revenue, and the global shift away from oil dependent technological products, it is even more compelling now to begin to think out of the box in order to safeguard the future of our country.

“Therefore, this administration has resolved to widen the revenue base by activating stamp duties revenue collection which has been neglected for more than 20 years.

“I hereby also direct and request that all relevant MDAs, particularly the Central Bank of Nigeria, NIBBS, MDBs, FIRS, NIPOST should give maximum cooperation to the Committee in the discharge of its mandate.” Mustapha said.

KOGI State Governor Yahaya Bello on Tuesday said the fear of Coronavirus kills faster than the virus itself.

According to him, a virus that has killed 510,909 people worldwide as of Tuesday was an “imported” illness that was “forced on people” to shorten their lifespan.

The governor disagreed with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) over the death of the state Chief Judge, Justice Nasir Ajanah.

Ajanah died on Sunday at the Gwagwalada COVID-19 Isolation Centre.

His interment, which took place at Gudu Cemetery, Abuja, was conducted in compliance with the COVID-19 burial protocol set by the NCDC.

Bello had accused the NCDC of making up numbers that were neither correct nor emanated from the state.

Speaking at the third-day prayer for the late Chief Judge on Tuesday, he urged the people not to give in to fear.

He described the COVID-19 as worse than banditry, insurgency and genocide put together, adding that it was artificial, but unfortunately sold to Nigerians.

He said Justice Ajanah died naturally, and urged the people not to attribute his death to anything else as is “being insinuated by certain persons for political and mischief purposes”.

The governor said: “Do not give in to fear and evil of the issues of COVID-19. It is a disease that has been imported, propagated and forced on the people for no just cause.

“Nothing kills faster than fear. I urge you all not to accept cut and paste as COVID-19.

“It is only out to create fear, panic and pandemic, orchestrated to reduce and shorten the lifespan of the people.

“Whether medical experts and scientists believe it or not, COVID-19 is out to shorten the lifespans of the people. It is a disease propagated by force for Nigerians to accept.”

Bello described the late Ajanah as a sound jurist and a lover of peace. He prayed Allah to grant him Aljanah Firdaus.

Ajanah’s death followed that of Kogi Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Ibrahim Shaibu Atadoga, who died on June 21 after a brief illness.

In May, Kogi State rejected two cases of Coronavirus reported by the NCDC.

“Kogi State till this very moment is COVID-19 free. We have developed the full testing capacity and have conducted hundreds of tests so far which have returned negative,” Commissioner for Health Saka Audu, said.

Kogi alleged a plot to compulsorily report COVID-19 cases in the state.

It barred an NCDC team from conducting COVID-19 tests in the state, insisting that it had conducted over a hundred tests that all turned out negative.

The governor had asked the officials to leave the state or go on a 14-day quarantine.

Nigeria’s candidate to head the World Trade Organization (WTO) said she feels “strong support” from Africa and expects African leaders to unite behind one candidate as sources following the race said she is gaining broader backing.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former finance and foreign minister who has more than 25 years experience at the World Bank, is seeking to replace Brazil’s Roberto Azevedo who announced last month he would step down on Aug. 31, in a surprise move at a critical juncture for the body.

Africa has struggled in the past to unite behind one candidate and the Geneva-based watchdog has never been led by someone from the continent before, nor by a woman, and there is broad feeling it is Africa’s turn.

“I cannot presume for any group but I can tell you that I feel strong support from the region,” she told Reuters late on Monday, saying she was having “very constructive conversations” among the 164 members.

One delegate described her as “definitely the favourite”, especially since European Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan dropped out, and likely to be acceptable to China and the United States.

Egypt’s Hamid Mamdouh, a former WTO official, is also a candidate and was endorsed by the African Union months ago, before Okonjo-Iweala’s candidacy was announced.

The new head’s in-tray includes overseeing reforms, clinching a long-overdue multilateral trade deal, coping with a post-COVID recession as well as growing protectionism and U.S.-China trade tensions.

“The problems are very deep and challenging but they are not insoluble,” she said, stressing the need for reform including of the body’s top court which is a priority for Washington.

Critics say she does not have enough direct trade experience but she says being an outsider is an advantage. Backers laud her negotiating skills, including a deal to cancel billions of dollars of Nigerian debt.

“Over my long career I’ve managed to build relationships and platforms at levels high enough to be able to dialogue with the right people,” she said.

Nominations are open until July 8 at the WTO, which traditionally chooses a chief by consensus.

The Akwa Ibom State Government House Uyo has been deserted following increase in the number of staff reportedly infected with coronavirus.

The spike in COVID-19 infections at the Hilltop Mansion started last month when some Government House Press Corps members were alleged to have been infected.

Subsequently, no fewer than journalists five who tested positive to the virus were quarantined, at the Ibom Multispecialty hospital, Uyo.

Some correspondents of national dailies, who had contacts with members of the press corps were duly followed up for a period of two weeks.

A reliable source, who does not want to be named, told The Nation on Monday the scores of staff the Government House have been infected with COVID-19.

He disclosed Governor Udom Emmanuel has already ordered a massive testing of staff working in various units within the government house.

“It should shock you that within two days we recorded 17 and 18 cases respectively. Both domestic staff, protocol, security and others working in government house were; on the order of His Excellency subjected to test, and most of them turned out positive,” he said.

The source expressed concerns over the alarming rate of infected persons within the Government House.

“These ones are close to the Governor and have the opportunity to be tested and treated, what happens to those who have no such opportunity? Our people may just begin to die massively. We need to do more testing, we need to test those are are not close to the corridors of power,” he said.

It could also be recalled a broadcaster was arrested and detained for alleging that nine Commissioners in the state were infected with Covid-19.

Following such allegation, Governor Udom Emmanuel during a media chat paraded all Commissioners before newsmen to falsify the broadcaster’s claims.

The Government House source in reaction to such experience queried: “members of the press corps throughout the lockdown worked closely with members of the state executive council, how then did most of them test positive to Covid-19 if the people they worked closely with were as clean as claimed”.

Commissioner for Informationam Mr Charles Udoh, when contacted did not deny more staff of the Government House could have tested positive for Covid-19.

Udoh however said that key persons in the State Incidence Committee and principal staff of the Government House have not tested positive.

“Ekerette Udoh, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor is not positive, the Secretary to the State Government is not positive and these are the people that we meet everyday.

“Dr Akpabio, the Governor’s personal physician and Dr Nathaniel Adiakpan, the Permanent Secretary Government House are not positive and as far as I am concerned, no commmissioner is positive,” he said.

chairmen of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West have accused Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde of a surreptitious move to replace the party’s National Chairman, Uche Secondus, with you. How will you react to that claim?

It is the most senseless statement that could be ever credited to this party. The governor of Oyo, His Excellency, Governor Seyi Makinde called a meeting of elders and stakeholders where he was pleading for unity in the party and the complete lopsidedness in distribution of party positions. South- West has six states, sub-divided into three zones. Lagos/Ogun is one zone; Oyo/Osun is second zone and Ekiti/Ondo is the third zone.

There are three positions who are members of the National Working Committee (NWC). In a saner manner, each zone is supposed to take one each. During the period of Ayo Fayose as Ekiti state governor, he distributed these three positions in a manner that two positions went to one zone, and then another zone had nothing. In particular, Oyo had zero. Osun had a Deputy Publicity Secretary who is a member of National Executive Committee (NEC). They also have the Zonal Secretary in Osun but Oyo had nothing. The number one zone which is Lagos and Ogun had Deputy National Chairman (South) which is from Ogun state. Lagos also had nothing. If these state chairmen understood the dynamics of politics, they won’t make the baseless allegations they made because the issues are very clear. We are concerned because we don’t want people outside to see the inadequacies of the managers of the party because issues like these are also important to the electorates. The culture of PDP is Justice, Unity and Progress which also means fair is fair.

What we are concerned about is how to reset the wrong done by the former Ekiti governor and balance the system. For these people to now release a statement that Governor Makinde is plotting to replace Secondus with me is the peak of indolence and lack of knowledge of the depth and culture of the party. Nothing like that was discussed at the meeting. Is it possible for only Makinde to remove Secondus and make me the National Chairman? It is so idiotic and some of them have come here to say they were wrong. They said they never knew that that was what inside the statement but they were only given to append their signatures. I have written Guardian newspaper to retract that publication or get themselves in trouble. Even the chairmen who issued that statement should be subjected to serious punishment because what they said was never discussed at the meeting.

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers made a statement last week that if care is not taken, the crisis in PDP will be far worse than that of APC. That is what elders like us are trying to avoid. The governor of Oyo who is doing everything humanly possible to reposition the party for greatness should be supported. By making that unfounded allegation, they are undermining him and me. It is a very unpatriotic comment. We know the person behind the plot .He was the one that called for the meeting where they issued that false statement. We are all concerned about resolving the lopsidedness in the party because if It continues this way, it won’t augur well for peace.

Many Nigerians believe that latest developments in the ruling APC is targeted at weakening Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s political base ahead of the 2023 presidential election. What is your perspective on this?

From the very beginning, I used to tell them that the party APC is a congregation of strange bedfellows. When you have a big party like that and someone wants to hijack it, there will be problem. First of all, it is a misnomer in a presidential system for a man who is not elected into any position to come out and say he is the National leader of the party.

How is that possible? There is only one National leader of the party and that is the President. How can a ragamuffin from somewhere just wake up and say he is the National leader and not the President? What does that mean? We saw the way Chief John Odigie- Oyegun was removed as national chairman. To me, what is happening to Tinubu is a judgment of God. You think you can appropriate the whole country’s resources like he did in Lagos state to your own family? It cannot work! I believe nemesis is catching up with Tinubu. We warned him but he refused to listen. The Yorubas have a saying that a child who fails to listen to corrections at home will be corrected outside. Tinubu thinks he is wiser than everyone but the breeze has blown and exposed the behind of the hen. In Yorubaland, a single person cannot be all-in-all. Tinubu thinks he can grab everything with his teeth but they have removed all his teeth.

Some of his loyalists are mounting pressure on him to pull out of the APC alliance? Do you see him doing this?

That is his decision. I can’t decide for him. He just issued a statement saying he has not told anyone that he wants to become President in 2023 and his focus now is how to alleviate the sufferings of the people. But you can see what he is doing in Lagos. What about Alpha Beta? Who is still collecting the money for Alpha Beta? Yet he said he wants to alleviate the sufferings of the people? Let him bring out all our money in Alpha Beta since year 2000 till date. The managing director of Alpha Beta who ran away said they owed him N40b. That money alone would have taken care of millions of poor people in Lagos today. Enough of this brigandage and classic example of greed.

I have always said Tinubu will vomit everything he has stolen and the day of reckoning is here. Only Almighty God can reign yesterday, today and forever. No one else can attain that height. For me, when you start seeing the signal, if he is a very clever person, he will recall himself and have a deep introspection. If he thinks he can run Nigeria the way he did to Lagos, he is making a mistake. The local government secretariat of Ikoyi/ Obalende was formerly on Glover Road in Ikoyi but he converted the place to his own and moved the local government to Obalende beside the cemetery. He made the daughter the Iyaloja of Lagos.

How can Iyaloja of Lagos be from Iragbiji?. She, on her part went and locked up Computer Village, insisting that she must be paid certain amount of money. The son is the one getting all public advertisement contracts for Lagos at the moment. You need to see the son’s convoy, you will think it’s the President that is moving. For how long will this continue? We came into this world naked and we will leave naked. Nobody will leave with anything no matter how much wealth you have amassed for yourself while in existence.

Thousands of Nigerian students abroad are currently faced with serious challenges on account of the coronavirus pandemic and the growing possibility that the disease could be around for much longer.

Burdened already by exorbitant fees, the global health challenge has dislocated their study, leaving them stranded in host nations. But resorting to Nigeria’s ailing educational sector is a grim choice they may not want to make.

According to a report by Nairametrics, a financial resource company based in Nigeria, international undergraduate students pay a yearly £13,394 for classroom taught courses, and £15,034 and £24,169 respectively for laboratory and clinical courses. Postgraduate students pay £13,442, £15,638, and £20,956, respectively for the classroom, laboratory, and clinical-based courses. For MBA students, the tuition is £18,226 on the average.

In addition to the tuition, the UK’s National Union of Students (NUS) noted that the average yearly cost of living outside of London for students is £12,056. To study in London, Nigerian students part with about £16,000 per year. For visa purposes, international students pay at least £1,265 for each month of stay while those outside London pay at least £1,000 per month to prove that they can cover the cost of living in the UK.

Study in-uk.com notes that undergraduate fees for international students from outside the EU begin at around £10,000 per year. At the postgraduate level, they start at around £12,000, and if you wish to study medicine or MBA, you may have to pay about £32,000 per year.

[b]The average living cost for international students is £12,180 per year. This can be much lower or higher, depending on where in the UK you wish to study. [/b]For example, in London, living expenses are considerably higher than the equivalent cost in a different city such as Liverpool or Birmingham.

As of 2015, a student in the UK paid $35,710 on the average yearly (tuition and living expenses). According to one estimate, Nigerian parents spend above the Federal Government’s yearly budget of $750 million to educate their children in the UK.

Another estimate puts the total average cost of studying in the UK at £22,200 or $31,380 per year. Going by the 2017 estimates, Nigerian parents spent $423 million in the UK or N152 billion!

But with the global economic decline occasioned by the pandemic, many Nigerian students may have a hard time paying their way through schools abroad.

The Federal Government and many states in the country have since reviewed their 2020 budgets. Worse still, the naira’s value has depreciated. As at Sunday, a dollar exchanged officially for N385.3777 and N440 at the black market. The pound was officially N478.5179 and N553 at the black market.

Should 11,000 Nigerian students in the UK pay the tuition of £10,000 each (at £1/N478.5179), about N52 billion would have been spent on tertiary education overseas, excluding other expenses like accommodation.

AGAIN, returning to enrol in Nigerian universities, especially public ones, seems nightmarish on account of worsening standards. The government has also slashed the 2020 budget by N318 billion, from N10.594 trillion to N10.276 trillion. There is consequently a reduced focus on education. The United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) had recommended that 15-20 per cent of the total budget should go to the education sector. At a glance, 6.48 per cent of the 2020 budget was allocated to education; 7.11 per cent in 2019; 7.14 per cent in 2018; 7.27 per cent in 2017; and 9.20 per cent in 2016.

And while foreign universities are coming up with ingenious means to start a new session by deploying educational technology, their Nigerian counterparts appear stuck in a ‘medieval’ system, making a homecoming most unlikely.

[b]MOJISOLA Aluko, a law student at Middlesex University, London, pays £12,500 as tuition, £6,000 for accommodation and has a monthly feeding allowance of £300. [/b]She told The Guardian: “Education is very expensive here. After paying tuition, my parents paid for my accommodation fees in three tranches. Even though the school is not in session now, I still have to pay because the house does not belong to the school.”

She, however, ruled out the thought of falling back on Nigerian institutions. “Where do I start? Do Nigerian institutions have requisite facilities? Schools have been shut down since the coronavirus outbreak. How many universities have switched to online learning? We read of strikes by the various staff unions, and the institutions don’t even have a stable academic calendar,” she said.

Olufemi Adesegun, a 21-year-old engineering student of Coventry University, London, said his parents have been unable to keep up with his fees because of the high exchange rate. He has, therefore, had to defer his studies and take up a job to support them, rather than return home.

Like Aluko, he viewed schooling in Nigeria a no-no because graduates there, according to him, are poorly rated and their certificates are not respected in foreign countries. Besides, he viewed incessant labour disputes by academic workers as a distraction.

Mr. Fola Adelani, a parent, who has two children in university in the UK, said paying fees has been extremely difficult since the exchange jumped from N365 to N460 per dollar.

“Even when you have the naira, access to forex is another problem. You have to be looking for people who are ready to give naira to their families here in Nigeria, so that they can, in turn, give you dollars or pounds over there.”

Adelani thinks he may have to sell off some property to meet the huge financial demands. He decried the “worrisome” way academic unions strike often, adding: “As we speak, my children have completed their second semester in their various universities in London. Can we say the same here? We still have a long way to go in Nigeria concerning our educational system.”

BUT Dr. Wale Adeagbo, Chief Operating Officer, Academy Halogen, said he does not see Nigerians “spending huge amount of money on foreign education as we used to before COVID-19.”

He explained: “I see a depletion of some sort in what is being spent, considering the increase in dollar. You must have a good bulk of money but sustainability will be a big issue. I can see that number reducing; there will be no flow of people taking children abroad. Those that are there, about 7-9 per cent of them will withdraw or change schools.

“And this will be a downward trend, moving forward. Also, now that the education sector has changed the paradigm, some foreign programmes have reduced about 10-15 per cent of what they used to charge, and many of these are going to be online. So, the question is: what are you travelling for? You can sit in your house in Lagos and get that degree from Cambridge University. So, the online education paradigm will make it much more accessible and cheaper.”

Also, a professor of English at Mountain Top University, Emmanuel Adedun, said it is not wise to study abroad at this time, not in terms of quality but rather economic implications.

He said: “The high estimation of what Nigerian parents spend on foreign education has been the pattern of things pre-COVID-19. But what is likely to happen is that a lot of things will be redefined by this pandemic. The economy of the world has really gone down, and when we narrow it down to Nigeria, you discover that the money is not even there at any level.

“And it is money that is available that you can throw around, either as a government or as a private individual. The people that had the plan to send their wards to foreign universities will have to make the inevitable decision of making do with what they can find around here in Nigeria. No matter the education that is available, they will have to make do with it, based on what the economy of the individual is realistically saying. So, that estimate may not be correct at the end of the day. COVID would definitely affect it.”

THE UK government, meanwhile, thinks all hope is not lost. UK Universities Minister Michelle Donelan in a recent statement said: “I want to make a promise to our students from Nigeria that this (pandemic) will not put a stop to your education. We stand by you and are doing everything we can to support you. Our universities are going above and beyond to keep students and staff safe.”

The UK government also recently announced a new, streamlined immigration policy called the ‘Graduate Route’, which will be available from summer 2021. It means students starting this year will be able to stay and work or look for work in the UK at any skill level for two years without being harassed by the authorities.

This was as a new report from Moody’s Investors Services highlighted the financial impact of the pandemic on higher educational institutions around the world.

“We expect rated universities in all of our current jurisdictions – US, Canada, UK, Australia, Singapore, and Mexico – to enrol fewer students for the next academic year than planned, due to the outbreak,” said Jeanne Harrison, Vice President, and Senior Analyst at Moody’s.

“In addition, if campuses remain closed for a greater part of the year, income from residence halls, catering, conferences, and sporting events will be lower than budgeted. Endowment and gift income may also decline.”

Moody’s analysis in April highlighted that the scale of the impact on higher education will depend largely on the duration of the outbreak. “If university campuses can reopen in time for the next academic year, the effect on demand and budgets will be more manageable,” the report notes, adding: “International student flows will depend on how the outbreak and policy response evolve in individual countries.”

Renowned scientists have said that, as the new coronavirus spreads, there is a higher chance of Nigeria having another strain of the viral infection.

A professor of virology and former Vice-Chancellor at the Redeemer’s University, Nigeria, Ede, Osun State, Oyewale Tomori, told PUNCH HealthWise that the more there is community spread of the infection, the higher the chance of virus mutation to form a new strain that is peculiar to Nigeria.

Prof. Tomori said, “The more the community spread, the higher the chance of virus mutation.”

Confirming that there are three strains of COVID-19 in Nigeria, Tomori said the strains, which are classified into A, B.1 and B2-1, represent importations from different parts of the world.

According to the virologist, studies principally conducted at the African Centre of Excellence for the Genomics of Infectious Disease at RUN, together with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control revealed that the first SARS-CoV-2 causing the COVID-19 disease isolated from the European traveller who introduced the disease to Nigeria is genetically related to the European virus, consistent with the known travel history of this case.

“Further studies from the same ACEGID at the Redeemer’s University, showed that genetic analyses of twenty additional SARS-CoV-2 isolated in Nigeria belong to three different lineages -A, B.1 and B.2-1.

“The A-line includes viruses originating from China and exported to other regions of the world – South East Asia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, the USA.

“The B.1 lineage corresponds to the Italian outbreak, while the B.2-1 line represents viruses from the UK, Europe, Jordan, Australia, USA, India, Ghana.

“These studies conclude that there have been various introductions of multiple lineages of COVID-19 virus into Nigeria.”

Tomori said that the Ede team found that four of Nigerian cases were patients infected with a mutant virus.

“Three of these patients presented with very severe disease. This mutation helps the virus to dominate the wild type and to evade immune interventions.”

Also, a professor of molecular biology and genomics and Director at ACEGID, Christian Happi said, “There are three strains of COVID-19 so far in Nigeria.

“There is a possibility that the strains can form a new strain that is peculiar to Nigeria.”

On the implication of having different strains, Happi said: “the implication is that the virus might become more diverse and it might have an implication in terms of diagnostics and therapeutic vaccines.”

Tomori, however, said it is difficult to say if the strains of the virus will affect the severity of COVID-19 cases or increase the number of deaths “as this is an unfolding scenario. As the disease spreads we are likely to see possible mutation of yet unknown lineal expressions.”

He said that with different strains of COVID-19, “there will be different clinical manifestations depending on the infecting virus strain.”

He added that “these findings further emphasise the power of genomics in elucidating community transmission during pandemics, and the need for us to work together to get a better understanding and control of the COVID-19 disease.”

Last week’s outcome of the National Executive Committee meeting of the All Progressives Congress, has put the party on a different road to the 2023 elections, writes Chuks Okocha

In the beginning…

What happened Thursday, when the emergency National Executive Committee (NEC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) dissolved the National Working Committee (NWC) was like cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face.

This expression aptly described a needlessly self-destructive fight over the leadership of the party. It was a fight between the various groups in the APC over, who controls the party structure ahead of 2023.

For emphasis, the APC is currently and principally made up of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) led by Ahmed Tinubu; the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) led by President Muhammadu Buhari and the breakaways from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) otherwise known as the New PDP (NPDP) here led by the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi.

Since 2015, there has been a struggle for supremacy in the affairs of the government among these groups. As Buhari leads the executive arm, former senate president, Bukola Saraki led the nPDP, while the soul of the party was led by Chief John Odegie-Oyegun and such had remained the struggle for supremacy till 2019, till Saraki was eased out of the equation, when he lost his bid to return to the senate.

Under the new dispensation, the battle for 2023 became imminent as Buhari who is expected to conclude his second term in office and hence who will become his successor became a struggle between the NPDP and the ACN for soul of APC. Who will have advantage of the NWC structure? This is when and where this present power struggle started.

The earlier suspended and now sacked national chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole was seen as the political man Friday of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and therefore would presumably do everything possible to bring his presidential ambition to reality.

Amaechi and the nPDP, on the other hand, do not feel comfortable with the Oshiomhole/Tinubu power equation. However, within this equation is the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-rufai and the Ekiti State Governor. Kayode Fayemi as two other power centres.

These power factors used the Edo State governorship election as a testing ground for supremacy and as it is said, when two elephants clash, the grass suffers. The pawn in the power chess game, however, is the Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki.

It all started, when Oshiomhole was announced suspended by his Etsako ward 10, and subsequently, a Federal High Court in Abuja upheld the suspension. The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Jabi, Abuja, ordered an interim suspension of Adams Oshiomhole as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress.

Delivering a ruling on an application for an interlocutory injunction, Justice Danlami Senchi, ordered Oshiomhole to remain on suspension pending the determination of the main suit. The court held that the party wrongfully continued to retain him as its national chairman while he was under suspension as a member of the party

But the crisis entered a new phase, when the APC NEC meeting was scheduled and there was a disagreement over whether Oshiomhole should preside over it or not. The matter boiled over, but with the intervention of the late Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, the Court of Appeal in the evening gave a temporary relief to Oshiomhole to preside over the NEC meeting. But, the NEC never took place

Before the order by the Court of Appeal that gave Oshiomhole a relief, agreements were purportedly reached between Obaseki, and the Bourdilon group.

The main point of the agreement was that Obaseki should be allowed to contest as the APC gubernatorial candidate in the September 19 governorship election, while Oshiomhole should continue as chairman. But with the death of Abba Kyari, the agreements were abandoned. This was the last straw that led to the now festering crisis.

At the APC governorship screening committee, Obaseki was disqualified, hence the decision by the chairman of APC Governors Forum, led by the Kebbi State governor, Atiku Bagudu to intervene.

However, when the APC governors’ forum intervened and the crisis was taken to the presidential villa, the response of Oshiomhole was believed to have triggered what led to his suspension by the Court of Appeal.

Little wonder that, when Oshiomhole told State House reporters that the party could not bend its rules to accommodate Godwin Obaseki, a Court of Appeal that did not have in its schedule, judgment or ruling on the federal high court suspension, suddenly convened and suspended Oshiomhole.

In a unanimous judgment, the first appeal delivered by Justice Eunice Onyemanam, the court held that the trial court had territorial jurisdiction to have entertained the suit as it did and also withdrew his rights and privileges as national chairman of the party including his security details.

The appellate predicated its decision on the ground that Oshiomole as the first appellant was based in Abuja while the APC also had its national headquarters in Abuja.

In the judgment in the second appeal delivered by Justice Mohammed Lamido, the court further held that there was no basis for the two appellants to hold the view that they were denied fair hearing during proceedings at the trial court.


It therefore upheld that the suspension of Oshiomole from ward 10 in Etsako Local Government Area of Edo State was ratified at the ward, local government and state level as required by law.

Now, the Blame Game

Oshiomhole has since blamed some members of the Rivers State Chapter of the party, as the brain behind the crisis rocking the ruling party.

Oshiomhole, who appeared on a Channels Television programme, Politics Today, alleged that the crisis was instigated by some APC elements in the Arivers State, who were trying to drag the party NWC into their local fight.

A Chieftain of the APC, Daniel Bwala, also appeared on the programme and pointedly accused President Buhari’s minister, of being behind the crisis. He went on to call on the President to fire him, for destabilising the ruling party.

But the minister being insinuated is Rotimi Amaechi, who is in charge of the transportation ministry, and a stalwart of the APC in Rivers State, Magnus Abe, have been at loggerheads over control over the party’s lever in Rivers State.

The crisis, which escalated shortly before the 2019 general election, had forced Amaechi to adopt the African Action Congress (AAC) candidate, Biokpomabo Awara during the governorship election, after the APC was barred from partaking in the elections in the State.

But before the elections, Abe had in a chat with Journalists, warned that the minister’s alleged dictatorship would hurt the APC badly in the election.

The Deputy National Secretary of the APC, Victor Giadom, who had laid claims to the party’s Acting National Chairmanship position, following court suspension of Oshiomhole as the APC helmsman, is a close ally of Amaechi, a development that forced many to see the Minister as the unseen hand behind the crisis that since rocked the party to its foundation.

Curiously, President Buhari had last month, appointed Abe into the reconstituted Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), a development that did not go down well with the minister, who was Rivers State governor for eight years. Amaechi, according to inside party sources, believed that the NWC was “pampering” Abe, by refusing to sanction him for the crisis in Rivers State.

The Court of Appeal on Tuesday, upheld the lower court’s suspension of Oshiomhole as the APC National Chairman, a few hours after the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, announced his intention to leave the party, following his disqualification from the party’s governorship primary election.

Concerned Lawmakers Intervene

Some members of the party operating under the aegis of the APC Forum of former members of the House of Representatives said before the NEC meeting that the immediate solution to the crisis was for the President to call for a NEC meeting to uphold constitutionalism in the midst of chaos and deep polarisation of the NWC.

The former lawmakers include Hon. Isa Ibrahim Bio, Hon. Usman Balkore Mohammed, Hon. Chidi Duru. Hon. Eng. Janet Adeyemi, Hon. Dr. Shuaibu H. Abdullahi, Hon. Dr. Ibrahim Olaifa, Hon. Hassan Jonga, Hon. Lumumba Dah Adeh, Hon. Idris Yahaya Yahuza, Hon. Chidi Nwogu and Hon. Bala Kaoje

They said that the NEC meeting would avail the members the missing trust to resolve all pending knotty issues and discuss the way forward for the party. It was recommended that the meeting should discuss the future of the current leadership, which might involve its dissolution and appointment of a caretaker committee to organise a special national convention to elect new national officers within 12 weeks.

The caretaker committee, if appointed, should overhaul, recalibrate and reposition the party to face the challenges of future elections. The committee members must be all-inclusive and reflective of all interests and tendencies within the party as well as possess the desired competence, experience, impartiality and integrity.

On the road towards peace, they suggested should include the composition to consist of all former chairmen of national political parties, who are now members of the APC, and other accomplished and evidently neutral persons. The chairman, who may emerge from the South-south zone, must never be seen to be controversial but enjoy the goodwill of a wide spectrum of all tendencies, amongst others.



The Last Game:

With this enters the struggle of who will succeed Oshiomhole as the national chairman. First, the members of the APC NWC loyal to Tinubu and Oshiomhole threw up the late governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, who in March was appointed the deputy national chairman. But due to ill health, which eventually took his life, the South-south national chairman, Hilary Etta was chosen by the factional NWC that was loyal to Oshiomhole to act as the national chairman.


But the Amaechi group of the nPDP moved against Etta and insisted on Victor Giadom. This resulted in court and counter court actions, threatening the very existence of the APC and even the two governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States.

For instance, the chances of the APC fielding candidate in the October 10 Ondo State governorship election is unlikely as the electoral umpire, last Monday, rejected the party’s notification for its primary.

The APC had in its letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), received on June 18, 2020, fixed July 20 as date for its primary for the election of its candidate for the Ondo governorship. The letter was, however, signed only by the APC Acting National Secretary, Waziri Bulama.


But INEC in the letter by the Secretary to the Commission, Mrs. Rose Oriarari-Anthony, said the letter did not meet the provisions of its guidelines and regulations. INEC therefore directed APC to ensure that the notification letter be jointly signed by the National Chairman and National Secretary of the party.

This is apart from the fact that the election of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu was standing on one leg, as his nomination was also backed by the Oshiomhole group and led by Hilary Etta. Fearing therefore that if nothing was done, the party stood the risk of losing the two states, then, the biggest plot was hatched.

The plot was to convince Giadom to convene a NEC meeting, which would take place within the presidential villa. This was to give the impression that the President was backing the Giadom faction to hold NEC.

A minister, who should know and a member of the CPC group in the APC, deceived Giadom to agree to call NEC that the President was with him, just to spite the Ajimobi led NWC. He excitedly called NEC without knowing the under-plan. The news set the media agog that Buhari had backed Giadom, not knowing that it was a Greek gift.

The intriguing aspect of the plot was that the President and his CPC allies never sought the views of the purported national leader of the party, Tinubu, in the quest for a solution to the crisis and never was invitation extended to him as the national leader, a position not recognised in whatever capacities.

At the NEC meeting, Giadom was seated as the acting Chairman, with the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan and other presiding officers of the National Assembly as well as the governors privy to the plot, were also in attendance.

Then, the President read his speech to the shock of all present, including Giadom, who thought that NEC was going to ratify him as substantive chairman. He got the shock of his life. After listening to Mr. President’s speech asking for adoption of his resolutions, amongst which was the dissolution of the NWC, it was then that it dawned on him that power had moved out of his grip.

The President asked that resolution of the NEC meeting be adopted and that the NEC should formally recognise the outcome of the Edo and Ondo State primaries, affirming that the processes that brought them to office was very credible and transparent following due processes.

The emergency NEC directed that in six months, all interested aspirants including the sacked ones of today could re-contest if they so wished. In six months, precisely in December 2020, the national convention of the party will be held.

Buhari was blunt at the meeting as he charged party faithful to embrace peace and withdraw all pending court matters or face dire consequences.

Like a patient vulture, the CPC in the APC swooped clearly on the ACN and the nPDP caucuses of the party. The membership of the caretaker committee suggested so. Pundits have asked why did the chairman of the caretaker committee come from the north. Why not the South-south from where Oshiomhole hails from?

In the place of the NWC, a caretaker committee to be headed by Governor Mai Buni of Yobe State will administer the party and also organise the national convention. Governor Buni is the immediate past national secretary of the party.

Apart from Governor Mai Mala Buni (Yobe) who will serve as Chairman, other members of the caretaker committee are Isiaka Oyebola, Southwest; Ken Nnamani, Southeast; Stella Okorete, Women Representative; Governor Sani Bello, North Central; Dr. James Lalu, physically challenged; Senator Abubakar Yusuf, representing the senate, and Hon. Akinyemi Olaide representing the House of Representatives.

David Leon from Bayelsa is to represent the South-south, while Abba Ari, North West. Prof. Tahir Mamman is Northeast, Smail Ahmed, Youth and Senator Akpan Udoedehe will serve as Secretary.

They have moved into the party secretariat and had already written INEC to intimate the commission of developments. A closer perusal of the membership of the caretaker committee shows clearly that the nPDP and the ACN groups have lost out.

But, it is not yet uhuru as some members belonging to the Pro-Oshiomole NWC said that they have concluded to seek a legal redress.

Faulting NEC decision, the sacked NWC member insisted that there was no provision of a caretaker committee in the constitution of the ruling party, insisting that they have many grounds of infractions committed from the resolutions of NEC.

“We will soon issue statement but we have resolved to head to court for the legal interpretations of the decision of NEC especially, as it concerns our dissolution. Yes, we know that Oshiomhole has his faults, but with all the positive contributions he has made to reposition the party, won’t he have been given the honours of telling him to resign?” he queried.

The pro Oshiomhole group insisted that the appointment of the Yobe State Governor to serve as caretaker committee chairman was against the APC constitution 18 (iv), which said inter Alia “No officer in any organ of the Party shall hold executive position and office in government concurrently.”

Yet, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the federation, Abubakar Malami, a former member of the CPC, has offered sound legal advices to the president.

The caretaker committee is unknown to the APC and interestingly the word dissolution is also not in the APC constitution, so the dissolution was unlawful and illegal, many reckoned. But only time would tell who laughs last.

Wale Elegbede

A crisis of trust is brewing among governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over the direction which the composition of the next National Working Committee (NWC) of the party should assume, Sunday Telegraph has learnt.


Last Thursday, the National Executive Council (NEC) of the APC, dissolved the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole-led NWC and appointed a 13-member Caretaker Committee to run the affairs of the party for the next six months.

The Caretaker Committee, chaired by Governor Mala Buni of Yobe State, was handed the responsibility of organising a National Convention within its stipulated time of appointment that will usher in new leaders of the party including Oshiomhole’s successor. Two sitting governors, Gboyega Oyetola and Sani Bello, Osun and Niger states respectively, were also named as members of the committee.

The NEC meeting, which held inside the Council Chambers at the Presidential Villa, Abuja and presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, also had in attendance, Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo; Senate President, Ahmed Lawan; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; many state governors elected on the platform of the party and other key stakeholders.


Whilst some members of the dissolved NWC led by Hillary Eta and Waziri Bulama rejected the NEC decision on Thursday, the sacked chairman of the party, Oshiomhole, however, expressed satisfaction with the decision taken by the party’s NEC, just as he pledged his loyalty and support for President Buhari.

The party had been enmeshed in a leadership crisis following a Court of Appeal order which upheld the earlier ruling of an Abuja High Court which had earlier upheld the suspension of Oshiomhole by his ward in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State.

The crisis started following the frosty relationship between Oshiomhole and his state governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, who eventually quitted the APC for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

However, there are feelers that the crisis in the party is mainly about who controls the party structure ahead of the 2023 presidential election.

Sunday Telegraph learnt that as against the impression of a united front being presented by the leadership of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, led by Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State, it was gathered that opinions among the state chief executives are still divided over where and how the process would go.

Governor Bagudu, on Friday, in the company of four other APC governors, including the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), Dr Kayode Fayemi; the newly inaugurated Chairman of the APC Caretaker and Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee, Mala Buni; Niger State Governor, Bello and the Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, visited Buhari in Aso Rock and had a closed-door meeting with him.


Addressing State House correspondents later, Bagudu said the governors came for a “Thank you visit to Mr. President” for the way he resolved the crisis rocking the party, describing it as visionary.

“You may not hear the voice of some governors on the street but they are not in sync with what is being planned. Don’t you wonder why Governor Bagudu and Fayemi are the ones running the show? Three governors were appointed into the caretaker committee, only two, Buni and Bello, went with Bagudu to say thank you to the President. What about Oyetola? But they took Fayemi along and he was the only southern APC governor among those who went for the visit,” a ranking leader of the party, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said.

“The Convention will be early next year and the post-Oshiomhole era has started in earnest because it is crucial to 2023 race. I can tell you that the governors are not on the same page regardless of the impression out there. Some of them are only pushing the narrative of governors’ supremacy in party affairs for their personal interest. I doubt if they will reach a compromise on what their colleagues may propose. ”

Speaking in specifics, he said: “Things will happen thick and fast in the coming days but the next line of wrangling in our party might likely be among the governors. Three South-West governors are loyal to the former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and they may likely not follow the Fayemi/Bagudu persuasion on who will lead the party because it is all tied to the 2023 race. However, whether they will be able to muster enough courage to push it through is another kettle of fish.”

Another source, however, disclosed that the choice of the next chairman of the party will be a joint task between some governors and some members of Buhari’s cabinet, adding that the position will be retained in the South-South zone.

Some of the names already hitting the front pages as likely picks to lead the ruling party include, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja, former Edo Governor, Dr. Oserheimen Osunbor; former Senate Leader, Ndoma Egba; Dakuku Peterside; former Senator, Domingo Obede and former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Usani.

Meanwhile, loyalists of Senator Tinubu, who many believe was at the receiving end of the NEC’s dissolution of the Oshiomhole-led NWC, are set to converge and deliberate on the modalities the forthcoming convention might take and probably cash on it.

It was learnt over the weekend that in a series of messages exchanged among Tinubu’s loyalists, they described the dissolution as a temporary setback but opined that the team must be optimistic and strategic with their plans.

In the meantime, some political analysts have faulted parts of last Thursday’s dissolution of the NWC by the APC NEC, stating that some actions of the council may have breached some sections of the ruling party’s constitution.

According to Olufemi Aduwo, a civil rights activist, the appointment of Yobe State Governor, Buni, ran afoul of Article 17(iv) of the APC’s own Constitution, stating that if contested in the court of law, the party might be found breaking its own law.

The section says: “No officer in any organ of the Party shall hold executive position office in government concurrently.”

He also stated that the conveyance of the APC NEC is in total violation of the APC Constitution, which prescribes 14 days’ notice for regular NEC meeting and 7 days’ notice in the case of an emergency meeting under Article 25 (b) (i) and (ii) respectively.

On his part, Maxwell Ediale, noted that the dissolution of the NWC by the NEC should be tested by the law since members of the NWC were elected by a National Convention of the party.

He added: “The NWC members emerged from the National Convention and it should also take a National Convention to remove them. The APC should have quickly conveyed a mini-convention to remove them, not a NEC.”

Meanwhile, the crisis in the APC has dovetailed into a battle of wits in the SouthWest between Tinubu, who is believed to be the real target alongside his minions holding party offices at the national level, and Ekiti State Governor, Fayemi.

The cold war, which has deteriorated the relationship between the duo, was further escalated on the social media as loyalists of both politicians went for each other’s jugulars amid happenings in the ruling party.

It is inferred in one breath that both men have their eyes on the presidency in 2023, while in another, Fayemi is believed to be eyeing the vice-presidency slot from the Southwest.