₦airaland Forum

Security agents have apprehended an undisclosed number of suspected terrorists, their wives and informants immediately after they returned from Saudi Arabia, where they participated in the just concluded Hajj exercise, PREMIUM TIMES exclusively gathered.

Those arrested were from the Tsafe, Zurmi, Bungudu and Shinkafi areas of Zamfara State.

The alleged terrorists, who went to Saudia Arabia alongside other pilgrims from the state, were arrested at the Sultan Abubakar III International Airport in Sokoto last week.

Intending pilgrims from Zamfara often travel to Saudi Arabia through the Sokoto airport.

Though spokespersons of security agencies in Zamfara State are feigning ignorance of the arrest, multiple sources, including a top Hajj committee member, confirmed the story to PREMIUM TIMES.

Mansur Shafi’i, the Zamfara Pilgrims Welfare Board spokesperson, didn’t answer calls made to his mobile number, neither did he respond to a message sent to him about the arrest.

The Arrests

A member of the Zamfara State Hajj committee, who asked for anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press on the matter, said there was an official communication between security agencies involved in the operation and officials of the state’s Hajj committee.

“When the first flight came, we were asked to delay the pilgrims from coming down the plane. After that, we were asked to take them to a hall in the airport where we saw security agents, including those in uniform and in plain clothing. Our airport contact person asked us to withdraw and allow the security guys to do their work,” he said.

According to him, the pilgrims were asked to sit on plastic chairs while they were screened again by the security agents.

While the suspects were asked to remain in the hall, those cleared were asked to proceed.

“Initially, I didn’t ask any questions, but when it was repeated when the second flight came, I made some contacts, and I was informed that the security was taking away suspected bandits, their wives and informants for questioning,” he said.

Another source, a staffer of the pilgrims’ welfare board, told PREMIUM TIMES in a series of WhatsApp voice notes that the suspects were placed under surveillance by security agents.

“I can’t call you now… But it’s true (the arrest). We were informed that the Zamfara, Katsina and Sokoto intending pilgrims were placed on serious security surveillance from Nigeria to here (Saudi Arabia). I know that arrests have been made at the airport, but I can’t give you details now since I’m not around too,” he said in one of the WhatsApp voice notes.

In another voice note message, he said another set of suspects was arrested among pilgrims from Tsafe.

Yet, another airport source, a pilgrim who sought anonymity for security reasons, said he saw when some suspects were arrested.

“Immediately the last flight landed on Friday, security agents in number came and started asking for pilgrim’s documents. When we came off the plane, they took many people we were together with and took them to a vehicle. We were asked to proceed and take our handbags. But those taken were not even allowed to take their handbags,” she said.


We raised an alarm

A community leader in the Shinkafi area, who asked not to be named, said a group of respected “personalities” in the local government raised the alarm when they heard the rumour that notorious banditry kingpin, Bello Turji, would be going to Saudia Arabia for his pilgrimage.

“We went to both the police and the brigade commander in Gusau, and they promised that they would take care of the situation. I’m personally happy with this development because, if anything, it means the security agents are serious about tackling this situation,” he said.

The community leader said they later learnt that Mr Turji didn’t go, but “several of his boys” and informants went to perform their pilgrimage.

The police spokesperson in the state, Yazid Abubakar, didn’t give further information when contacted.

“Since you said it’s a joint issue, I think you should talk to the Brigade. Our officers attached to the joint task force don’t report to us because they have their own leader, so please reach out to them,” Mr Abubakar said.

The spokesperson for 1 Brigade Nigerian Army, Ibrahim Yahaya, also said he was unaware of such operations.

“If you said it’s in Sokoto airport, then it’s not our officers. They are soldiers in Sokoto that can do that. To be honest with you, I’m not aware of what you’re saying,” he said.

When reminded that the pilgrims were from Zamfara and were only in Sokoto because there is no airport in the state, Mr Yahaya said he would not comment since he was unaware of the arrests.

Zamfara, like other states in the North-west sub-region, has been witnessing terrorist activities, including kidnap for ransom, banditry, cattle rustling and other crimes for over a decade.

Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor


Afresh crisis may be brewing in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as some leaders of the opposition party are allegedly pushing for the immediate expulsion of any of its chieftains that accepts to serve in the yet to be unfolded cabinet of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Assistant Editor, ‘Dare Odufowokan, reports.
HERE are indications that interest groups within the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are once again set to engage each other in another round of face off over alleged plans by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to name some chieftains of the troubled party in his ministerial list as well as consider others for some other roles in his administration.

A competent source within the party told The Nation that opposing forces within the party are preparing to slug it out over the plot to push for the expulsion of PDP chieftains that agree to serve in the Tinubu administration. It was also gathered that supporters of Atiku Abubakar, the party’s 2023 presidential candidate and those backing former Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state, are set to engage each other in an open war for the control of the party.

The crisis in the PDP has its root in the outcome of the party’s presidential primary election, where Wike, lost to the former vice-president, Atiku and Atiku’s decision to pick the then Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as his running mate against the recommendation of a committee chaired by Samuel Ortom, which reportedly recommended Wike as the PDP vice presidential candidate. Wike failed to support Atiku during the general elections and, instead, worked for Tinubu, who won the election.

The crisis consumed the National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, as a Benue High Court ordered him to stop parading himself as national chairman of the PDP pending determination of the suit before it. The National Working Committee, (NWC) of the PDP, acting on the order, confirmed its Deputy National Chairman (North), Amb. Umar Illiya Damagum, as acting national chairman after Ayu, stepped aside in deference to the court order.

Signs that fresh troubles were about to rock the party emerged when Phrank Shaibu, the Special Assistant on Public Communication to Atiku, while responding to an agitation by former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, for the inclusion of Wike in the list of Tinubu’s Ministerial nominees, said the G-5 governors were only seeking relevance, appointments, and protection from prosecution.

Atiku’s spokesman added that their decision not to support Atiku had nothing to do with patriotism, and Nigerians should not be deceived. His statement came amidst claims that the pro-Atiku camp in the PDP is still bent on ensuring the exit of Wike and his supporters from the party at all cost. “Tinubu’s ministerial list is one thing they are waiting for to further nail Wike and other PDP chieftains on his side,” a source said on Thursday.

Another party source told our correspondent that Damagum is under pressure to constitute a committee that will investigate allegations of anti-party activities against Wike and some other PDP leader. “The plan is to get the investigation panel to indict the affected people at all cost so as to pave the way for their expulsion from the party. But the acting National Chairman has been slow in setting up the committee,” our source noted.


Signs of trouble

Reacting to Fayose’s interview, Shaibu said appointing Wike as a minister would be counter-productive. He added that the former Ekiti governor said it as it is when he described Wike as “an average mad man.” “We want to appreciate Fayose for describing Wike as an ‘average mad man.’ Indeed, it is only a mad person who can use violence to prevent people from coming into a state to campaign. It takes madness to subvert the will of the people.”

He added that it is unfortunate that Fayose and other members of the G5 were not bold enough to openly campaign for Tinubu but rather chose to deceive members of their party while working against Atiku behind the scene during the run-up to the presidential election instead of coming out now. According to Shaibu, Wike and others are running from pillar to post in order to get Tinubu to ensure that they are not prosecuted by anti-graft agencies.

“On September 20, 2022, Fayose, while addressing supporters in Ado Ekiti publicly stated that he would be supporting Waziri Atiku Abubakar despite Wike’s protests. A simple Google search will confirm this. Then after Tinubu’s dubious victory, Fayose quickly changed gears, stating that he was the one who delivered Ekiti State to the APC. This is his stock in trade. He is a lily-livered rabble-rouser who loves to be in the spotlight and pretends to be more popular than he really is.

“This is the deception of the man. Aware of the fact that he cannot get a ministerial appointment because of people like Kayode Fayemi, Dele Alake and Dayo Adeyeye who are jostling for the Ekiti slot, Fayose is now running from pillar to post, trying to get an appointment for his son while also trying to get the government to withdraw his corruption case from court.

With the weight of evidence presented by the EFCC and its star witness, Senator Musilu Obanikoro, Fayose is now desperately trying to get the case compromised or withdrawn. Nigerians should not be deceived by his antics. The G-5 governors were only seeking relevance, appointments, and protection from prosecution. Their decision not to support Atiku had nothing to do with patriotism, and Nigerians should not be deceived.

“Ortom was one of the worst governors in the history of Nigeria. His case file at the EFCC is bulky, and he was recently invited but released because of Wike’s intervention. Okezie Ikpeazu, the former governor of Abia State, also performed abysmally in office. His successor has been complaining almost on a daily basis. But the EFCC will not prosecute him because of the G-5 connection. This is what they have turned the country into,” he said.

Fayose, has urged President Tinubu to appoint a former governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike into his cabinet saying “Wike is an asset to Nigeria, Asiwaju [Tinubu] needs a man like Wike.” Fayose insisted that nothing is wrong with the former Rivers governor making the President’s ministerial list, adding that Wike is a courageous man who is not afraid to speak the truth.

The former Ekiti governor, who confessed during the interview that he actually worked against the candidature of Atiku in the 2023 presidential election, recalled that he was one of the first PDP members to call for a southern president. “I never worked for PDP during the last election. I cannot work for two people at the same time. The reality is that I worked for Asiwaju (Tinubu). He is a respectable person from the South-West. It is the time of the South.”

Fayose however said he will not accept a ministerial position in the current administration even if he is offered. According to the PDP chieftain, it is time for the old to give the younger generation space in government. He advised that Tinubu’s cabinet should be 40 per cent for the old, 30 per cent for women, and 30 per cent for youths.


Getting messier

The situation within the troubled opposition party further degenerated when former Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, in his reaction to Shaibu’s allegations, alleged that Atiku is angry because he was rejected by the G5- governors during the last presidential election. He added that Atiku should worry more about why he was rejected by the G-5 and other members of the party.

Ortom stated that the G-5 stood for justice, equity, and fairness and that the 2023 presidency must go to the southern part of the country. “Atiku is angry because Governor Ortom and his colleagues in the G-5 refused to be used by him as ‘Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs)’ to circumvent and thwart the resolve of Nigerians to produce a President from the southern region.

“Another reason for Atiku’s attack on Chief Ortom is the former Benue State Governor’s boldness to speak truth to his face and rebuke him for making unstatesmanlike comments regarding the killing of Benue people by Fulani herdsmen. Atiku is on record to have expressed bitterness towards Ortom for daring to enact a law to prohibit open grazing of livestock in the state.

“The former Vice President’s diatribe against Chief Ortom can therefore be understood as the manifestation of frustration for losing the 2023 election. His failure to humble himself and unite the PDP, opting to remain haughty even when the signals were clear that he was heading for defeat summarized his performance in the last election.

“Atiku lacks the moral ground to accuse anyone else of corruption. The words of his erstwhile principal, the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo who described him as a very corrupt man have remained indelible and incontrovertible. Chief Obasanjo, in his book, ‘My Watch’ states on pages 191-192 thus:

“Atiku Abubakar’s name was among the names sent to us. Up to that time, EFCC had enjoyed close cooperation and collaboration with law enforcement agencies in the UK and the USA. I gave the green light to Nuhu for the investigation as requested by the authorities and forwarded his report to the USA. The report was uncomfortable and unsavoury about Atiku and his associates.

“I thought it was bad enough that the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was under investigation for corruption when my Administration had made fighting corruption one of its cardinal objectives. As it turned out, the investigation in Nigeria and in the US led to Atiku’s house being searched by the US Bureau of Investigation (FBI). It was so embarrassing for our Administration and Embassy in Washington…”

Ortom further admitted that he honoured the invitation of the anti-graft agency saying, “The role of anti-graft agencies was to investigate allegations of corruption. Whenever they invite someone, such a person has to honour the invitation. As a man who believes in the rule of law, Chief Ortom willingly visited EFCC when the Commission sought clarifications on the actions of his administration,” Ortom said.

The statement by Atiku’s aide had sensationally described Ortom as the worst governor in Nigeria’s history. “Ortom was one of the worst governors in the history of Nigeria. His case file at the EFCC is bulky, and he was recently invited but released because of Wike’s intervention,” he said, drawing the anger of the former Benue state governor.

The suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele is likely to face charges of illegal possession of gun and live ammunition, Channels Television reported last night.

His trial is scheduled for Lagos next week.

The Department of State Services (DSS) had said on Thursday that it had charged Emefiele to court but gave no details of the charges.

However, a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, sitting at Apo, Abuja, yesterday voided his arrest and detention.

This came 24 hours after a separate FCT High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja had ordered the DSS to charge Emefiele to court within seven days or release him.

Emefiele, according to Channels TV, will face a two count charge of possessing one single barrel shot gun (JOJEFF MAGNUM 8371) without licence, thus committing an offence contrary to Section 4 of the Firearms Cap F28 Laws of the Federation 2004 and punishable under Section 27 (1) (b) (i) of the same act.

He is also accused of having in his possession 123 rounds of live ammunition (catridges) without licence.

The offences were allegedly committed at No.3B Iru Close, Ikoyi, Lagos “on or about the 15th June, 2023”

Emefiele was arrested on June 10, 2023, the day after he was suspended by President Bola Tinubu.

Spokesman of DSS, Dr. Peter Afunanya, said on Thursday that the decision to charge Emefiele was in compliance with the court order.

The service had previously sought to arraign Emefiele for offences bordering on terrorism.

In February, it said preliminary investigation revealed various acts of terrorism financing, fraudulent activities perpetrated by Emefiele and his involvement in economic crimes of national security dimension.

The DSS had attempted to arrest Emefiele but a Federal High Court in Maitama, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja issued an order restraining the Service from arresting him.

This ruling, delivered by Justice M.A. Hassan, also applied to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) who were listed as defendants.

The Nation gathered yesterday that Emefiele is likely to be formally charged at the Federal High Court in Lagos next week.

Multiple sources said the DSS filed the charge yesterday and it now awaits the assignment of the case to a judge for hearing.

Suits at the Federal High Court are assigned by the Administrative Judge for each division of the court.

“The Admin Judge in Lagos will probably assign the case to a judge on Monday,” one of the sources said.


Again, Court voids Emefiele’s arrest, detention, orders immediate release

In voiding Emefiele’s arrest yesterday, the Apo, Abuja FCT High Court declared that his arrest, detention and interrogation violated the subsisting judgment and orders of Justice M. A. Hassan in Suit No. FCT/HC/GAR/CV/41/2022.

Justice Bello Kawu also granted Emefiele’s prayer that the Court make an order setting aside, voiding, quashing, invalidating, and nullifying any warrant of arrest obtained or procured by the respondents, especially the DSS for his arrest, detention, and/or interrogation in connection with the allegations of terrorism financing, fraudulent practices, money laundering, round tripping, threat to national security before or from any court since the date of the judgment of Justice M. A. Hassan.

In addition, the Court granted an injunction restraining the respondents, particularly the DSS, from arresting, detaining, further detaining or proceeding against, breaching, or interfering with his personal liberty and freedom of movement or taking any other steps against him in connection with any allegations of terrorism financing, fraudulent practices, money laundering, round tripping, threat to national security before or from any court since the date of the judgment of Justice M. A. Hassan.

Also granted by the presiding judge was an order of injunction directing and mandating the respondents, particularly the DSS, to forthwith release and unfetter Emefiele from any arrest, detention, custody, interrogation concerning allegations of terrorism financing, fraudulent practices, money laundering, round-tripping, the threat to national security before or from any court because of the subsisting judgment of Justice M. A. Hassan.

Emefiele had in an Originating Motion on Notice against Incorporated Trustees of Forum for Accountability and Good Leadership, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Inspector General of Police, the DSS and the Central Bank of Nigeria, asked the court to set aside, quash, invalidate, and nullify his arrest and detention being illegal and a nullity given the subsisting judgment of Justice M. A. Hassan delivered on 29th December 2022.

Chairman of the Bayelsa Traditional Rulers’ Council, Bubaraye Dakolo, has claimed that Nigerian authorities burnt an intercepted vessel carrying barrels of stolen crude oil in Bayelsa to avoid investigating those involved in oil theft in the country.

Dakolo made this known in an exclusive interview with Arise News on Wednesday, where he claimed that the people the Nigerian government had been parading as suspects of oil thefts were actually victims of circumstances surrounding oil theft in the country.

SaharaReporters had reported how the Joint Task Force, Operation Delta Safe, working with Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited in the Escravos region of Delta State burnt a seized vessel on Tuesday.

The captain and crew were held on board the ship, which was allegedly owned by a company based in Nigeria, as it was sailing to Cameroon with the cargo.

According to Captain Warredi Enisuoh, Executive Director, Operations Technical, Tantita Security Services, “The whole point of destroying the ship is to send a message to those who invest in illegality in Nigerian waters that this is what it is going to take if they so wish to engage in this kind of business.”

He added that the oil cargo was illegally obtained from an offshore well-jacketed vessel at the time of the arrest and did not have any legal documentation.

The said vessel had operated in stealth mode for the last 12 years.

Commenting on this situation, Bubaraye Dakolo said the seized vessel was set ablaze to avoid investigating those truly behind the crime.

He said, “I can tell you for free that the vehicle was burnt because it was cheaper to burn it rather than to rein in the oil thief that is behind it all.”

The monarch went on to say that the young people arrested as the masterminds of these illegal oil theft were not truly those behind the crime.

He claimed that real criminals are the wealthy and so-called prominent Nigerians who have luxurious properties in the cities.

He continued: “Usually what Nigeria has done for decades is to parade the young, helpless, uneducated youth from the Niger Delta as the typical thief. But I argue that he shouldn’t be called a thief but to be rehabilitated.

“He belongs to a place where you have to educate him, reorientate him and make him a patriotic Nigerian.

“He’s a victim of oil thieves. Today he may need to hear that the real thief of oil is someone who has a yacht, someone who has a golf course, someone who cannot sleep a night in the Niger Delta because of mosquitoes and insecurity.

“He’s someone who has land in Banana Island, in London, in Abuja, in Frankfurt, in New York City. Those are the thieves.”

The Labour Party and its standard bearer in the last presidential election, Peter Obi, have kicked against the offer of board slots to state governors, including those elected on the platform of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party and Labour Party, by President Bola Tinubu.

Kwara State Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, disclosed at a meeting of the forum in Abuja on Tuesday night that the President asked the governors to nominate competent persons to serve in the boards and parastatals of Federal Government agencies which were dissolved last month.

The PUNCH reports that Tinubu announced the dissolution of the governing boards of over 153 agencies, parastatals, institutions and government-owned companies.

The dissolved boards were among the 209 constituted by former President Muhammadu Buhari in December 2017.

No fewer than 2,000 vacant positions on the boards were expected to be filled by new nominees.

Notable agencies include the North-East Development Commission with 12 vacant board slots, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission with seven board seats; Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, seven; Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, 21; Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, 12; National Universities Commission, 21 and Transmission Commission of Nigeria, 14; National Health Insurance Authority,12

Others are the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau, 7; Nigerian Meteorological Agency, seven; Nigerian College of Aviation Technology,8; Nigerian Police Trust Fund, 8; Nigerian Natural Medicine Development Agency,10; Federal Institute of Industrial Research, 11 and National Centre for Technology Management, 11.

Also on the list are the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute, 11; Nigerian Customs Service, 11; National Pension Commission, 17; National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons, 11; National Identity Management Commission, 19; West Africa Examination Council, 8; Niger Delta Development Commission, 13; National Institute of Sports,12; Nigeria Deposit Insurance Company,12; National Bureau of Statistics,15; Federal Inland Revenue Services, 15; Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, 8 and Nigerian Airspace Management Agency,7, among others.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the NGF meeting on Wednesday, Governor Abdulrazaq said the members of the forum resolved to commend the President for extending an opportunity to the governors to nominate board members across the party lines.

The governor also disclosed that that forum received briefings from the National Emergency Management Agency and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency on the cases of flooding across the country and moves adopted so far to curtail them.

This is just as they also played host to United Nations Deputy Secretary General, Amina Mohammed alongside Nobel Peace laureate and UN Ambassador of Peace, Malala Yousafzai who is in Nigeria for girl-child advocacy.

The state chief executives expressed their readiness to partner with the UN and Malala Fund in advancing gender-responsive and inclusive policies, including access to quality education for girls and other affirmative actions across the country.

At the end of the meeting, the governors resolved to adopt strategies to address incidences of natural disasters at the local government and community levels, to prevent the loss of lives and properties.

The communique read in part, “Members (of NGF) resolved to commend the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria President, Bola Tinubu for showing leadership by extending the opportunity to governors across party lines, by asking them to nominate competent people from their fold for appointment into boards of parastatals.


“The forum received a briefing from the Director Generals of the National Emergency Management Agency and Nigerian Meteorological Agency on the incidence of flooding across the country and deliberated on urgent proactive measures to save lives, livelihood, critical infrastructure and safeguarding national food security.

‘’Members resolved to collaborate with relevant agencies at arriving at a comprehensive and federation response while leveraging the 2023 Seasonal Climate Prediction, Annual Flood Outlook, flood risk maps, and the Climate-Related Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation Strategy.

“National Emergency Management Agency briefed governors on how to achieve shared goals of building a safer and more resilient Nigeria in the face of the growing rate of occurrence of disasters globally.’’

The statement further said, “NEMA called on state governors to set up functional State Emergency Management Agencies, Local Emergency Management Committees and community volunteers with adequate legal backing, funding and trained manpower to:

“Support knowledge, assets and experience sharing between states, NEMA and other responsible partners.

“Support the signing of Mutual Aid Agreements between states as disasters hit different geographical spaces at different times.

“Encourage private sector participation as part of its corporate social responsibility and foster policy alignment and community engagement for Disaster Risk Reduction.’’

“According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, every United States dollar invested in risk reduction and prevention can save up to $15 in post-disaster recovery.”

The communique also noted that the governors urged NEMA and NiMet to develop a comprehensive partnership framework to drive their engagement with states.

The governors further commiserated with their Plateau and Zamfara states’ counterparts, Caleb Muftwang and Dauda Lawal, respectively, over the senseless killings in some parts of their states.

They solicited the cooperation of the Federal Government in safeguarding lives and properties across the country.

But commenting on Tinubu’s offer of board slots to the governors across party lines, the LP described it as a ‘gimmick’ to lure the opposition governments and chieftains into the ruling party.

The Chief Spokesman for Obi-Datti Campaign Council, Yunusa Tanko stated such a subtle move ‘’will not change the fact that Tinubu’s presidency is an illegitimate government.’’

He said, “APC is doing everything in their crooked book to ensure they legitimize this government, which we have resisted vehemently. We will only do what is rightfully ours when the court makes its decision and pronouncement.


‘’But as far as we are concerned, every attempt we see them do is a means to cajole people to believe and legitimize their government. That is the truth about it.’’

Tanko wondered why the APC would want to appease the sole LP governor with board offers when the party has hundreds of supporters in Abia State that could be given board appointments.

He added, ‘’Sending letters to state governors is part of the process of legitimizing their governance, which we are resisting. At the moment, LP has only one governor. The belief is that the governor may likely dance to their tune.

‘’But the truth about it is that will the APC tell you they don’t have party people in Abia State that they can nominate? Why must they go through the governor to do so? What they are aiming to do is to indirectly co-opt him into their party. That’s the truth.”

Speaking in the same vein, Obi’s media aide, Tai Obasi, said as much as what the president is attempting to do appears positive, it is not enough to legitimise his government.

“It is obviously a gimmick. Of course, you know the man (Tinubu) and the problem he is facing in court. It is easy for one to see what he is trying to do even though it looks positive though.

“But again, the oppositions are not fools. As we are concerned, we still see his government as an interim one,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party has said it cannot comment until its governors took a position on the offer.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Debo Ologunagba, said, “I am not even aware that the President has asked the governors to make their nominations to the boards of parastatals.

‘’I have not spoken with the PDP governors and until I do so, it would not be appropriate to make a comment on this on behalf of the party.”

On his part, the PDP presidential candidate in the last election, Atiku Abubakar said a reaction is unnecessary.

Speaking through his media aide, Mr Paul Ibe, the former Vice President said, “It is not within our purview to react to issues like this. So, no comment”

But the Social Democratic Party commended Tinubu for the initiative which it said would bring about national integration.

Speaking with our correspondent on Wednesday, the National Publicity Secretary of the Party, Rufus Aiyenigba, described it as a good development.

“This is a good development, and it shows the commitment of President Tinubu to engendering national integration and a government of national unity towards sustainable growth and development. It is commendable that he wants to harness all good hands to contribute their quota to national development,’’ the SDP spokesman submitted.”

A 29 year old man has been paraded by the Imo state police command for allegedly killing his friend, harvesting and selling his vital organs to ritualists.

The suspect Emeka Egbuaba an indigene of Ihitte – Owerre community in Orlu council area of Imo was paraded alongside other suspects on the State Police command.

The State command ‘s Spokesman, Henry Okoye (ASP) who briefed Journalists on behalf of the state Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Barde , on Wednesday stated that in case involving the very brutal murder and harvesting of the vital body organs of one Sixtus Ezebudo ‘m’ who hails from Ihitte-Owerre in Orlu LG of Imo State, by a 29yrs old male Emeka Egbuaba who has since confessed that he is an Organ Trafficker.

He said , “Intelligence led investigation and sustained follow-up to a case that was initially reported as a Missing Person led to the arrest of the 29-year-old male, Emeka Egbuaba by Operatives of the Command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit in his criminal hideout in Lagos State.

On interrogation, the suspect confessed that On 10/05/2023 at about 1630hrs, he lured the said victim to an uncompleted building in Orlu Local Government Area of Imo State, killed him, and thereafter harvested his vital body organs like his lungs, heart, and private part, abandoned his corpse at the scene and escaped to Lagos State with the harvested body parts to sell for ritual purpose. The remains of the already decomposed body have since been recovered. We intend to carry out further DNA confirmatory tests on it. The suspect is here to interact with you. This is not a crime of passion but a clear deliberate and premeditated murder. The case will be charged to court upon completion of a diligent investigation.

Similarly, Mr Okoye also disclosed that a 22 year old who had allegedly killed his partner for cheating him out of his share of 3000 Dollars being a proceed of cyber crime deal ( Yahoo) .

According him , ”Following a case of murder that was reported at the State Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department (SCIID), an analysis by the Command’s Forensic Experts led to the arrest of a 22year old Obinna Ugochukwu ‘m’ who hails from Ikeduru LGA of Imo State.

In the course of the investigation, the suspect confessed to stabbing his friend Nwachukwu Stanley ‘m’ who hails from Umuoma in Ikeduru L.G.A of Imo State, with a sharp Knife repeatedly on the upper part of his body when asleep over a misunderstanding that he failed to give him his cut of 3000 dollars they fraudulently gained in cyber-crime deal. The corpse of the victim has been deposited in the morgue for preservation. The suspect will be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of the investigation.”

However, fielding questions from journalists , Emeka Egbuaba who had allegedly confessed of killing his friend Sitxus Ezebudo also admitted harvesting the vital organs of his friend which includes the liver, Heart and penis for N1.5 million .

The Nigerian Army has ruled out amnesty again for bandits terrorising the North West zone of the country, asking governors for free hand to eliminate terrorists.

The army warned the criminals to flee the country with immediate effect, saying they would be given close marking and blocked from entering other parts of the country if they are attempt to flee North West.

Chief of Army Staff, Maj.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, who stated this at Army Headquarters, Abuja while playing host to the Zamfara State governor, Dauda Lawal, called on the governors to give troops free hand to eliminate all the criminal elements.

“Your Excellency, I think we need to look at this amnesty programme. The criminal elements have proven to be incorrigible. So, the issue of amnesty has created avenue for them to be regroup and re-organise and launch attacks,” Lagbaja said.

The army chief’s disclosure came on the heels of the recent calls made by the former governor of the state, Sani Yerima that bandits should be given amnesty.

He asked the President, Bola Tinubu to negotiate with terror gangs operating in Zamfara State and other parts of the Northwest of the country.

Yerima said the negotiation he was advocating was similar to what the administration of former President Umar Yar’Adua did with militants in the Niger Delta, which gave birth to the amnesty programme.

By Taofik Salako,


Last week’s acquisition of a major equity stake in FBN Holdings by the Otudekos has stirred more controversies with a judgment creditor alleging that the acquisition was a clever ploy to divert funds and frustrate payment of about N14 billion debt.

In a letter addressed to FBN Holdings Plc through its lawyer, ‘Kunle Ogunba & Associates, Ecobank Nigeria Limited called on FBN Holdings to stay action and not accord any rights to the acquired shares.

It alleged that the share purchase was a ploy by Mr. Oba Otudeko to frustrate a Supreme Court judgment in the bank’s favour.

Ecobank Nigeria, a member of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) Plc, which is also quoted on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), stated that the Supreme Court had in its judgment on January 27, 2023, in Appeal No SC/CV/210/2021 affirmed the indebtedness of several companies related to Otudeko and ordered the companies to pay their indebtedness to the bank.

The total indebtedness was calculated at N13.51 billion as of January 31, 2023.

The related companies included Honeywell Group Limited, Siloam Global Services Limited, Anchorage Leisures Limited, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc and Dr. Oba Otudeko.

Ecobank alleged that Barbican Capital, which last week acquired 13.3 per cent or 4.77 billion shares in FBN Holdings, was “hurriedly incorporated after the judgment of the Supreme Court, specifically on the 9th day of March 2023, as part of active steps by Otudeko to divert his personal funds and assets, and those of the debtor companies away from paying the judgment sum.”

The bank alleged that Otudeko, who has a beneficial interest in the companies, personally guaranteed the loans in question.

Barbican Capital has Otudeko’s children – Oyeleye Foluke and Otudeko Obafemi Adedamola – as main owners.

Obafemi Otudeko is the Managing Director of Honeywell Group Limited and is also a non-executive director of Anchorage Leisures Ltd.

Oyeleye sits on the board of NGX Regulation Limited, the self-regulatory organisation (SRO) for the NGX, where FBN Holdings, ETI and Honeywell Flour Mills are quoted.

“Consequent upon the foregoing crystalised facts, it is beyond doubt that the actions being taken by Dr. Oba Otudeko are targeted at diverting his assets and that of the Honeywell Group of companies through the said Barbican Capital Limited, in order to frustrate the enforcement of the judgment of the Supreme Court against him and the Honeywell companies, towards recovering his/their undisputed indebtedness to our client.

“We, therefore, demand that you respectfully stay/reject the approval/consent/registration/ratification, howsoever described and in whatever manner, of the shares bought by the said Barbican Capital Limited held via the afforested entities.

“Proceeding with such approval/registration will be tantamount to assisting in the diversion of funds and assets meant for the payment of the debt which has been affirmed by the Supreme Court, same being a flagrant violation of the extant judgment of the Supreme Court and which has effectively determined the outstanding indebtedness between the Honeywell Group and our client, Ecobank Nigeria Limited,” the letter stated.

A senior capital market operator said the Otudekos’ shares acquisition may be a subject of an investigation by Nigeria’s apex capital market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), “to find why keeping the shares in proxies all that period”.

The Nation had reported exclusively that the single largest individual equity stake in FBN Holdings by Mr. Oba Otudeko’s Barbican Capital Limited was in a state of technical suspension until the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) determines the propriety of such acquisition.

Multiple sources had said the apex bank would subject the material acquisition to scrutiny in line with the apex bank’s “fit and proper” rules.

Nigeria’s apex capital market regulator, SEC, and Nigerian Exchange (NGX) also traditionally review material transactions such as Barbican Capital’s acquisition.

FBN Holdings at the weekend confirmed that Barbican Capital, an affiliate of Otudeko’s Honeywell Group Limited, had acquired about 4.77 billion ordinary shares in the holding group, representing 13.3 per cent of the group’s 35.9 billion issued shares.

Nigeria billionaire, Femi Otedola has opened up on how he turned from committing suicide after losing $480 million in the diesel market sometime around 2008.

GWG.ng reports that Otedola, father of famed Nigerian disc jockey, DJ Cuppy, spoke of the perseverance and partnership he got from the CEO of his businesses, Akin Akinfemiwa at the point of his depression.

He spoke at Akin Akinfemiwa’s 50th birthday celebration in London on Tuesday.

According to a report in Nairametrics, Femi Otedola, said that Akin Akinfemiwa played a major role in the revatilisation of his businesses after he turned away from suicide following the slump in the prices of diesel which left him short.
He said:

“My relationship with Akin is what I would call, destiny prevails. In 2005 I had a friend that worked in Oando and she did mention to me that she has a colleague. And she called Akin and we spoke.”

“I set up my training company in London Fine shade energy, I was looking for a trader and I couldn’t find any good trader. I called Dimeji Edwards who was Akin’s boss. Akin picked up the phone to come and see me.

“So he came, and I said to him, listen I want to give you a job. Come and work for me. Then of course he went back to Wale and Mofe who were his bosses then (at Oando). And they said you want to go and work for that man? That has sacked 6 CEOs in 6 years.

“Now when I say destiny prevails, the business collapsed. I built a massive empire. I had 93% of diesel at my fingertips. I was a bit playful, and the business collapsed. The option I had then was to commit suicide. Then, of course, I thought of Nana and the kids. And I said no, I won’t commit suicide.

“I will face reality and sack myself and the business. So, I sacked myself. I made Akin the CEO of the London office, and I was so impressed by the way he turned around the business. I gave him 1% of the business. I now later, made him the CEO of Zenon Oil, and then the CEO of African Petroleum.”

Nine months after the multi-million Naira airfield lighting systems at the domestic runway 18 Runway/36Left of the Murtala Muhamed Airport were reinstalled, information reaching the Nigerian Tribune has indicated that the entire lighting system on the runway has been mysteriously carted away.

The criminals were said to have taken advantage of the closure of the runway for over three months to carry out the dangerous criminality at the number one gateway airport.

According to a source, the airfield lighting components were carted away by some workers at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) in connivance with some outsiders who have access to the runway site.

“The criminal took advantage of the closure to commit the crime. I can not give the actual worth of the theft, but almost all the lighting was removed. The Permanent secretary came around to see for himself the huge damage done. A lot of FAAN officials have been suspended”, the source confirmed.

Following the scandal, some heads of relevant departments at the organisation have been suspended on the directives of the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Aviation, Dr Emmanuel Meribole, after inspecting the damaged site. At the same time, investigations have since commenced to unravel those responsible for stealing the safety equipment.

The theft of the components, which has elicited anger amongst key players both in FAAN and the sector in general, has once again been blamed on the porosity of the airport environment, where many undesirable elements can easily access the restricted areas of the airport.

The ability of the thieves to comfortably remove the huge components away from the restricted airside undetected has been attributed to sabotage by some workers in the Authority and aided by the thick forest surrounding the airport, which makes it easier for such undesirable elements to hide behind cover till convenient opportunity comes for them to achieve their aims.

According to the information gathered, the latest theft of safety equipment at the Lagos airport was not the first incident, as the airport has recorded similar security breaches.

Not long ago, a similar incident occurred when some workers from a sister agency of FAAN who were involved in the theft of some navigational equipment at the airside were caught and suspended.

According to a source who confirmed the latest incident to the Nigerian Tribune, the regular incursion and theft of safety components at the airports are being carried out by a syndicate consisting of some workers of the agencies who have access to the restricted areas and accomplices from outside.

Despite the regular patrol of security vehicles around the airside, the undesirable elements have formed the habit of hiding behind the thick forests once they sight an oncoming security vans.

For 15 years the Lagos airport domestic runway 18Left was shut down to night operations due to the absence of airfield lightings which put the domestic airlines through financial stress as they were forced to make use of the runway 19 at the international airport which consumes more aviation fuel because of the longer distance.

The multi million airfield was finally reinstalling in November 2022.

In desperate move to ensure stability in the 10th Assembly, the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives have conceded 50 per cent of the chairmanship slots of various committees in the two chambers to lawmakers elected on the opposition platforms.

Consequently, major opposition platforms, especially Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) and Young Peoples Party (YPP) are to pick 50 per cent of the chairmanship positions of the various committees, leaving the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) with the remaining 50 per cent.

LEADERSHIP gathered that Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, had allegedly sealed a deal with the opposition lawmakers on getting half of the committee chairmanship slots ahead of their elections on June 13.

Findings further revealed that the deal had been reaffirmed at subsequent meetings between the leadership of the two chambers and the leadership of the minority caucus after the June 13 inauguration of Akpabio and Abbas.

It was gathered that the sharing formula would touch on the various categories of committees, designated as Grades A, B and C.

Last Wednesday, minority leader of the House of Representatives, Hon Kingsley Chinda, told members of the minority caucus at a meeting within the National Assembly Complex that Abbas renewed his commitment to honour the deal.

He said the Speaker conceded to the agreement in his recent meeting with the helmsman of the House.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the move was meant to serve as a measure of reward for the support from the opposition lawmakers and also to provide stability valves for the new leadership.

It was learnt that the 50-50 arrangement was also meant to douse palpable tension in the National Assembly, especially in the Senate where Akpabio battled strong and fierce opposition to emerge.

But despite the lofty goals projected by the promoters of the idea, LEADERSHIP learnt that it is creating discomfort and disquiet in the APC, especially in the majority caucus of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Findings by this paper revealed that Senators and members of the House elected on the platform of the APC were not comfortable with the sharing formulae which placed their fate at par with their counterparts elected on opposition platforms.

Protesting the development in a chat with our correspondent at the weekend, an APC Senator who did not want his name in print fumed: “The leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives have conceded 50 per cent of the chairmanship seats in both chambers to our colleagues elected on the platforms of the various opposition platforms.

“The leaders of both chambers, Senator Godswill Akpabio and Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, had this arrangement with the opposition lawmakers before their elections.

“We thought it was just a gimmick to lure the opposition lawmakers to vote for them before the election but surprisingly Senator Akpabio and Rt. Hon. Abbas has at different meetings with the opposition caucus after their elections, renewed their commitment to honour the agreement.”

The implication, according to the aggrieved lawmaker, is that opposition lawmakers will have 50 per cent of the chairmanship slots allocated to them, while those of the governing party will have the remaining 50 per cent to jostle for.

He continued: “This arrangement cuts across all categories of committees. It means APC will share grades A, B and C committees with them at equal proportion. It is an unfair arrangement to those of us from the ruling party.

“How can APC lawmakers share these slots at par with their colleagues in the opposition parties? It’s never done and this is unprocedural. They are not even reserving a substantial number of the grade A (juicy committees) committee for those of us from in the ruling party.

“Even if we agree with them that such moves can help to ensure peace and stability in the Senate and House, the sharing shouldn’t have been at equal proportions. What do we enjoy as a ruling party? If the reverse was the case and the APC lost in the February 25 presidential election, are they saying either PDP or LP, which are strong contenders in the race, would have shared the chairmanship slots in the National Assembly with the elected APC members equally?

“The answer is no. Our leaders are just bothered about their interests – how to preserve their exalted seats. They are not bothered about the interest and survival of APC. What happens when you load the opposition parties with juicy and grade A committees? It means we are strengthening the opposition parties to clip the wings of and cripple the APC at various constituencies.

“They are ultimately plotting the weakness of APC. Quite honestly, members of the majority caucus in both chambers are grumbling and disenchanted about this arrangement. The leaders are surely and assuredly setting a stage for crisis in the National Assembly because we are going to resist any attempt to weaken APC as a ruling party”.

Also, an insider at the meeting hosted by Chinda told LEADERSHIP that the representative of Obio/Akpor federal constituency in the House gave a detailed account of his recent meeting with Abbas at the forum.

Aside from the information provided on the sharing formulae of the 50 per cent of the chairmanship of the committees in favour of the caucus, our sources quoted Chinda as disclosing that all members of the House, with the exception of those to be appointed into the appropriation committee, would be appointed as chairman and vice chairman of the various committees in the House.

Chinda, according to one of our sources, also hinted that all “parliamentary friendly bodies” in the House would be upgraded to committee status to pave the way for the creation of additional chairmanship slots.

The source who pleaded that his name should not be mentioned in print said, “The minority caucus met at Room 304 in the National Assembly complex shortly after the plenary on Wednesday, during which our minority leader, Rt. Hon. Kingsley Chinda, briefed us about the recent developments in the House, especially his recent meetings with the Honourable Speaker, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, as it affects our wellbeing and the fate of the members of the minority caucus in the scheme of things.

“First, Hon. Chinda implored us to put our house in order. He said the minority caucus should work in harmony with the government for things that are good and in the public interest. He stated that the leadership of the House had no choice than to carry every member along since there was no contest in the election of June 13th. Consequently, since everyone voted for him, Mr Speaker has offered to carry everyone along.”

Another of our sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “Hon Chinda further disclosed to us at the meeting that Mr Speaker told him that the chairmanship slots of the various committees would be shared in equal ratio between those of us elected on the platform of the opposition parties and the ruling APC.

“That it will be 50 per cent for the majority of APC and 50 per cent for the minority. That was his promise to us before we supported his election and we are glad that he has renewed that commitment and expressed his readiness to keep that promise.

“The minority leader also said that every 360 members, excluding those to be appointed into the appropriation committee, will either emerge as chairman or vice chairman in the emerging dispensation in the House. Clearly, he said anyone who finds himself in the appropriation committee will not serve as chairman or vice chairman in any other committee.

“He said the elimination of members of the appropriation committee, which is a major grade A committee, is meant to create opportunities for more members to emerge as either chairman or vice chairman of the various committees.

“To further brighten the chances of more members to clinch either chairman or vice chairman of a committee, all parliamentary friendly bodies, including inter-parliamentary, are to be upgraded to committee levels, primarily to satisfy everybody”.

Meanwhile, Chinda neither picked calls to his cell phone nor responded to messages sent to his phone in order to secure his reaction to the report.

A group of youths in Ubeji community in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, under the aegis of Ubeji Youth and Employment Development Organisation, has gone tough against ladies involved in indecent dressing.

Sunday PUNCH gathered that members of the youth group had started clamping down on suspected offenders by subjecting them to strokes of the cane or in the alternative imposed fines on them.

It was gathered that the enforcement of the exercise tagged ‘War Against Indecent Dressing’ among young ladies in the community, which commenced since Monday, July 3, 2023, had caused panic among females in the locality.

Some of the victims, it was learnt, were compelled to pay fines as high as N10,000 or receive 40 strokes of the cane.

Confirming the development, the Secretary of the youth group, Stanley Bomele, told journalists that “the exercise became necessary due to the provocative ways ladies dressed in the community.”

Bomele added, “Most of the girls had gone haywire in the name of fashion with some of them almost going about in nudity, which is irritating and does not tell well of the community”, he said.

While attributing the major cause of assaults and sexual harassment in the area to indecent dressing among young ladies, Bomele warned, “The wearing of miniskirts, bummer shorts or tight (bikers shorts) would no longer be tolerated in the community”.

Police in Osun have ‘arrested” a cow meant to be used for July cult day celebration in Osogbo, the state capital.

The State Police Command had on Thursday warned against ‘Cult Day Celebration’ which is usually celebrated by Aye confraternity on every July 7, warning that it will arrest anyone involved in unlawful gathering.

To ensure strict compliance, the command mounted surveillance across the state throughout Friday with different units patrolling identified spots.

However, it was gathered that the cult members from different locations gathered at Egbatedo area of the state capital to celebrate the day.

But residents of the area alerted the Anti-cult unit of the police who invaded the community to effect arrest of the suspected cultists.

The suspects, took to their heels upon sighting police operatives, abandoning the cow, which they already marked, “Oroki Aye group, 7/7” with a symbol of axe on the cow, which was siezed by the police team.

Confirming the incident, Osun police command spokesperson, SP Yemisi Opalola, said the cow was arrested by the police team after the suspect fled from the scene.

No fewer than 13 former governors still receive pension allowances as serving senators in the 10th National Assembly amidst cutting the cost of governance talks.

TRIBUNE ONLINE, in this article, compiled the names of the former governors who still receive pensions as serving senators.

Full list below;

1. Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom) 2007 – 2015
2. Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto) 2007 – 2015
3. Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara) 2011 – 2019

4. Dave Umahi (Ebonyi) 2015 – 2023
5. Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto) 2015 – 2023
6. Adams Oshiomhole (Edo) 2008 – 2016

7. Ibrahim Dankambo (Gombe) 2011 – 2019
8. Abubakar Bello (Niger) 2015 – 2023
9. Orji Kalu (Abia) 1999 – 2007

10. Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa) 2012 – 2020
11. Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe) 2009 – 2019
12. Adamu Aliro (Kebbi) 1999 – 2007
13. Danjuma Goje (Gombe) 2003 – 2011

NB: Former Ogun Governor, Gbenga Daniel (2003 – 2011) was excluded from the list following his recent announcement requesting the state government to stop the payment of his monthly pension as an ex-governor.

Average daily petrol consumption in Nigeria has fallen by 28 per cent since President Bola Tinubu scrapped subsidy on the fuel at the end of May.

Average daily petrol consumption fell to 48.43 million litres in June, down from the previous average of 66.9 million, according to figures released to Reuters by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

The subsidy regime had kept prices cheap for decades but it became increasingly expensive for the country.

Nigeria reportedly spend $10 billion last year on subsidy-leading to wider deficits and driving up government debt.

Since the subsidy was ended a black market in neighbouring Cameroon, Benin and Togo that relied on petrol smuggled from Nigeria has collapsed.

Despite having spent $2.41 billion on the subsidy in the first five months, Nigeria could save up to $5.10 billion this year from scrapping the petrol subsidy and from FX reforms, the World Bank said on June 27.

Corroborating the development the president of Petroleum Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) , Billy Gillis-Harry, told LEADERSHIP that his Association has developed a framework that could support government transparently and effortlessly collate adequate consumption data on petroleum consumption in the country.

Gillis-Harry, in a telephone conversation told our Correspondent that PETROAN has evolved the Petroleum Products Passport, PPP, a tool that can be perfectly deployed by the industry to transparently monitor products supply and distribution across the country.

While, commending the present administration for mustering the political will to exit the petrol subsidy regime the PETROAN president called for sustainable efforts to fix the nation’s refineries.

Meanwhile, the projected mass rollout of Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, refilling outlets across all states of Nigeria is becoming a reality with seven banks ready to manage revolving fund facility from the African Development Bank, AfDB.

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN had sealed the deal with the bank following removal of petrol subsidy.

National President of IPMAN, Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo disclosed this development to LEADERSHIP on phone.

Our Correspondent gathered that the Association made the approach after it conducted a market survey on the cost of converting existing petrol stations to CNG outlets

LEADERSHIP authoritatively reports that the IPMAN has already commenced identification of members interested in co-locating CNG dispensers and infrastructure on their existing petrol retail outlets .

The exercise is to identify qualified potential candidates for loans to support it’s target of establishing 10-20 colocated CNG stations in each state of the federation during the first phase of its planned nationwide rollout.

Police detectives from the Ejigbo Division of the Lagos State Command have uncovered some houses, where a suspected dubious company known as Qnet, held hundreds of innocent Nigerians in captivity after obtaining millions of Naira under the guise of securing a foreign Dollars paying job abroad.

P.M.EXPRESS investigation revealed that the houses in question were located at 38 Adewale Adenuga Street and 12 Aya-oye Street, Ejigbo, Lagos, where the company dumped the victims after they sold their properties and gave the money to the syndicate while waiting endlessly for the foreign jobs.

The company was said to have obtained from the victims huge sums of money ranging from N1.8m, N600,000, N400,000 etc. and were promised that when they secure the job they will be paid between $1000 USD monthly, at the same time given accommodations, free visas and resident permits among others.
The victims came all the way from Benue, Kogi, Delta, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ekiti, Osun States and were held in the various houses in Ejigbo area.

Trouble started after some of the victims, who had stayed in the lounges for several months, revolted and contacted the Police at Ejigbo Division, who moved into action.

One of the leaders of the syndicate, Abraham Olamide, has been arrested following a complaint by the victims, who had waited endlessly for the company to give them jobs as they promised after selling their properties and handling the money to the company.

Some of the complainants included Comfort Abah, who paid N1.8m with the promises of getting visa, accommodation alongside a job that she will be receiving salary in Dollars.
However, the victim, Comfort Abah, had waited for several months without the company securing her the job as was promised.

Other victims included, Isaac Daniel, Godwin Galadima, Mercy Ngana, Mathias Oche, Amen Cornelius, John Godwin, Umukoro Monday, Olokesusi Toyin and hundreds of others.
One of the leaders of the syndicate, Abraham Olaide, has been charged before the Magistrate Court for conspiracy and obtaining under false pretence under the Criminal Laws of Lagos State.

However, he pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned.

The prosecutor, Supol Benedict Aigbokhan, then asked the Court to give a date for hearing since he pleaded not guilty to enable the Police to prove that he actually committed the alleged offence.

The Presiding Magistrate, Mrs. K.A. Ariyo, granted him bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum, who must show evidence of means of livelihood and tax payment.

He was remanded in custody at the Correctional Centre at Kirikiri town, Lagos, pending when he will perfect his bail conditions while the matter was adjourned till 28th August, 2023, for mention.

Meanwhile, the Police were said to have started manhunt for the leaders of the syndicate, who reportedly registered the company with CAC in Abuja.

As at the time of this report, many victims were still trapped in various locations in Ejigbo, where the syndicate lodged them while extorting money from them and their relations.

For bank customers, it is different strokes for different folks in accessing cash.
This followed the banks’ failure to implement uniform cash withdrawal policy across their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), Over-the-Counter (OTC) and other transaction channels.

While some banks are raising the daily limit on ATM transactions by over 400 per cent, others are cutting the limit by almost the same margin.

The practice has made it difficult for some bank customers to access the cash needed for their daily use and businesses.

While Zenith Bank Plc raised the limit of cash withdrawals on ATMs to N200,000 daily, other banks’ ATMs can only pay between N20,000 and N40,000 daily.

“You can perform cash withdrawals of up to N200,000 per day, at Zenith Bank Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) nationwide, even if you bank with other financial institutions,” the bank announced in an emailed note to customers.

It added that the N500,000 weekly cashless policy withdrawal limit for individuals still applies.

Aside from Zenith Bank, other lenders also operate diverse rules on cash withdrawals.

At the Fidelity Bank Plc branch in Ibeju-Lekki Lagos, the bank’s ATMs were set at N5,000 per withdrawal, and customers are allowed to withdraw a maximum of N40,000 per day.

Lagos-based entrepreneur and Managing Director of Countryside Communication, Johnson Okanlawon, said commercial banks in Akowonjo, Lagos are restricting daily cash withdrawals on ATMs to between N20,000.00 and N40,000.

He said many of the banks are also not able to pay N500,000 daily cash withdrawals for OTC transactions as directed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“Many of the banks are paying N50,000 and N100,000 for over-the-counter transactions per day. It is really difficult to get cash from some banks these days,” he said.

Okanlawon said many of the banks complained about the rising cost of accessing cash from the CBN.

A manager with an old-generation bank in Lagos said banks pay around N500,000 for the logistics of moving cash from the CBN to their branches, and many banks are not ready to bear the costs.

He said: “It costs money to bring money to branches. We are relying on cash deposits from customers, which are not forthcoming. We wish these costs are avoidable.

“In many cases, we call business owners with huge cash receipts to bring cash and we pay them cheaper rate, instead of making cash requisition officially.”

Under the cash withdrawal limit policy, the CBN had placed cash withdrawal limits of a maximum of N500,000 weekly on individuals and a maximum of N5million weekly on corporate entities.

The implementation of the policy has been chaotic as the shortage in cash supply created a scarcity of cash across the country.

However, such cash rationing has not been implemented by banks in Abuja and Rivers State.

There is no respite yet for electricity consumers with Distribution Companies (DisCos) still pushing ahead with their bid for Federal Government’s approval to raise the tariffs.

Last week, the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) halted the 40 per cent tariff hike planned by the DisCos following an outcry by Nigerians, who are reeling under the effect of petrol subsidy withdrawal.

NERC’s action came after some of the DisCos notified consumers of increased tariffs.

It was learnt yesterday that the DisCos are billed to meet with NERC in Abuja next week.

Senior officials of two DisCos, who confirmed the scheduled meeting, declined to release the agenda.

But it was learnt that tariffs raise is central to the parley.

The NERC will also meet with other power institutions such as the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and Generating Companies (GenCos).

It was learnt that NERC has scheduled a meeting with all the 11 DisCos and other critical stakeholders in the electricity supply and loop.

The Nation exclusively gathered that the meeting will hold between Monday and Friday.

NERC will meet on Monday and Tuesday with Managing Directors and top management of DisCos, GenCos and TCN.

On Wednesday and Thursday, it will meet with major electricity consumers, firms, suppliers and service providers, such as suppliers of gas, among others.

How the DisCos can shore up their revenue, especially following a 40 per cent loss, and their inability to meet their performance targets, will also be discussed, it was gathered.

All the DisCos, based on the NERC’s June 2023 data, recorded losses after exceeding their allowed targets for Aggregate Technical, Commercial, and Collection (ATC & C) losses.

The ATC & C losses include technical, commercial and collection inefficiencies in the power distribution process, such as power theft, meter tampering, billing inaccuracies and revenue leakages.

The failure to meet the target comes at a time when the sector was considering an increase in electricity tariffs brought about by macroeconomic conditions.

Sources close to the top management of DisCos that will be attending the meeting confided in The Nation that the issue of tariffs increase will be knotty, but they are ready to really push for its approval.

It was gathered that another option to be mooted will be to have a gradual increment instead of the 40 per cent tariffs increase at once.

This means that the DisCos may settle for increments on pro-rata basis until they finally get to the desired target of 40 per cent.

However, should the proposal be rejected, the DisCos may ask the government for a subsidy in the form of a “relief package” on their equipment importation and other critical operational transactions executed in foreign exchange, especially with the exchange rate unification.

But this may be a difficult option given that in March 2022, the former Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, revealed that the government had ‘quietly’ removed the subsidy on electricity tariff or any buffers it was paying in the sector.

“We have been able to quietly implement subsidy removal in the electricity sector and as we speak, we don’t have subsidies in the electricity sector.

“We did that incrementally over time by carefully adjusting the prices at some levels while holding the lower levels down,” she said at a virtual meeting of African Finance Ministers (AFM) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) back then.

DisCos have insisted that without increasing tariffs, their continued survival in business will be threatened.

Vladimir Putin has humiliated Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin after his failed uprising in Russia by sending security services to raid his St Petersburg palace.

Dailymail reports that Pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia yesterday published photos and video of armed officers searching Prigozhin’s mansion while he was exiled in Belarus on June 24.

The investigators discovered huge caches of assault weapons and ammunition, stashes of gold bars, a stuffed alligator and a framed photo which is purported to be of the severed heads of the exiled private military leader’s enemies.

Images of the raid also include a large closet containing many different wigs of varying styles and colours, from grey to mousy brown.

A slew of photos purporting to show Prigozhin wearing the wigs as part of various disguises were leaked to state-backed Russian Telegram channels.

The quality of some disguises is laughable, sparking speculation they may have been doctored in an attempt to further discredit the Wagner chief.

But Prigozhin’s supporters declared the leaking of the images may flout Russia’s strict national security laws, suggesting the oligarch was acting as a state agent, given Wagner’s ties to Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU.

It comes after the warlord launched what appeared to be an armed insurrection against Putin less than two weeks ago – which was soon halted after Minsk helped broker a deal to end the conflict.

JAMB insisted that only Mmesoma paraded an “obsolete” notification slip out of all the candidates that sat the 2023 UTME.

The House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the National Assembly, will set up an ad hoc committee to investigate allegations of manipulation of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result levelled against Anambra State candidate, Ejikeme Mmesoma.

The House confirmed this on Wednesday, as the committee would begin probe on the sundry allegations against the schoolgirl by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

SaharaReporters had on Tuesday reported that JAMB barred Ejikeme for three years over alleged forgery of UTME results.

In a statement made available by the Board’s spokesman, Fabian Benjamin, JAMB insisted that only Mmesoma paraded an “obsolete” notification slip out of all the candidates that sat the 2023 UTME.

“In the meantime, the management of the Board, after considering the weighty infraction committed by Ms. Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma, and in line with its established procedures, has withdrawn her 2023 UTME result and also barred her from sitting the Board’s examination for the next three years.”

SaharaReporters earlier today reported that the Anambra State government also set up an eight-member committee of enquiry to investigate the allegations against Mmesoma Ejikeme.

The state government, however, faulted the way JAMB has handled the situation which had become a major controversy in the country, with people taking sides.

The state government faulted JAMB for going on social media to describe Mmesoma’s result as fake while an investigation into the matter was still ongoing.

In a statement issued to journalists on Wednesday, the state information commissioner, Paul Nwosu, had said the new committee would be chaired by Prof. Nkemdili Nnonyelu.

The statement had read, “The Anambra State Government has, for obvious reasons, been following the JAMB/Mmesoma Ejike matter with keen interest.

“It is important to note that Miss Mmesoma Ejike went to the office of the Anambra State Commissioner for Education, Professor Ngozi Chuma-Udeh with her UTME result to protest that the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board didn’t recognise her as the candidate with the highest score.

“The Commissioner in turn called JAMB to confirm her claim, but she was told that Mmesoma’s result was forged."

European Union Election Observation Mission (EUEOM) says state governors intimidated civil servants and threatened to sack or withhold their salaries if they did not win elections.

This was disclosed in the ‘European Union Election Observation Mission Nigeria 2023 Final Report’, released penultimate Tuesday.

“EU EOM observers also received credible reports of pressure on civil servants by governors, for example through termination of work contracts as an intimidation measure or withholding salaries as a guarantee for delivered results in the campaign,” the report noted.

Days before the March 18 governorship election, Peoples Gazette reported that Madewa Badejo, the medical director of Lagos-owned JK Randle Hospital, directed all staff to present their permanent voter cards to the hospital management as part of strategies to help Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu win reelection.

Similarly, then-Governor Okezie Ikpeazu threatened to deal with Abia civil servants if they failed to vote for his anointed PDP governorship candidate, warning of “the consequences of your indiscretion.”

Relatedly, in the build-up to the gubernatorial poll, Governor Dapo Abiodun distributed expired foodstuff to civil servants in Ogun as part of his moves to solicit their support for his second term bid.

The EUEOM, however, did not mention the governors that intimidated and coerced civil servants to do their bidding. It stressed there was increased voting buying during the 2023 elections compared to past elections.

“Misuse of state resources was evident, primarily through the promotion of social protection and relief programmes, which significantly intensified shortly before the polls,” the damning report added.

It further noted, “Overall, stakeholders noted an increase in intimidation and vote-buying strategies compared to previous elections suggesting this was a deliberate move to subvert the tightened up electoral process after the introduction of new technology.”

It drew attention to the 2022 Electoral Act that prohibits “the use of state apparatus to the advantage or disadvantage of any political party or candidate.”

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has denied reports suggesting that it endorsed certain Senators for principal offices as announced by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas.

National chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu, debunked the said endorsement of Senate principal officers during a meeting between the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party and governors elected on the party’s platform, held at the NWC Hall of the party’s national secretariat in Abuja on Tuesday.
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The meting, LEADERSHIP gathered, was to discuss critical issues bordering on the forthcoming National Caucus and National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings billed to hold on Monday and Tuesday respectively.

Adamu told the governors that the party was yet to officially communicate its preferred choices of principal officers of the National Assembly.

He said, “You will get an update of the national election in the National Assembly sharing of powers, particularly the leadership of the chambers- the election of the principal officers of the Senate by the Senate president and deputy Senate president. The election of the speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives have been determined and announced and their responsibilities.

“The remaining offices to be determined by the two chambers is yet to be done. I had a courtesy call on Saturday from the president of the Senate and his deputy. The following day which was Sunday, I received the visit by the Speaker and his deputy Speaker coming to me for Sallah’s homage.

“But I am just hearing as a rumour now from the online media that there have been some announcements in the Senate and House of Representatives. The national headquarters of the party of the NWC has not given any such information or communicated about the choice of offices.

“And until we formally resolve and communicate with them in writing which is the norm and practice, it is not our intention to break away from traditions. So whatever announcement is done either by the president of the Senate, deputy Senate president, Speaker or deputy Speaker, is not from this secretariat.”

Adamu also formally informed the governors of the reconstitution of the party’s caucus, noting that for quite sometime, there had been no caucus in place.

He said, “The caucus has been reconstituted according to the constitution of APC. And we will be discussing that with you as governors. You know your states more than we know it. Even if we come from the same state, the leadership is in you as governors.

“We will hear your advice and then see how we can ensure that we comply with the provisions of the constitution of the party.

“We hope that we will be receiving some reports from the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) chairman, or his representative, to get to know about your feelings and what is going on, and what is your thinking on what to do to improve the chances of the party and therefore reduce the problems and bickering that we have been hearing from time to time. Then we will have time and by the grace of God permitting, we will have interactions.

“Along with the caucus, the National Advisory Council will give you the list that has been prepared and make sure that every state is represented. And we will give you the knowledge of it and advice. You will also be given the benefits of All the detailed accounts from April 2022 to April 2023. The PCC account has been audited and it has been submitted to the INEC by the party.”

LEADERSHIP reports earlier on Tuesday that Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced four principal officers for the majority party in the 10th Senate.

The four out of the eight principal officers with exception of those of the Minority Parties, included Senator Opeyemi Bamidele as Senate Majority Leader.

Bamidele represents Ekiti Central in the Senate.

Others were Senator David Umahi, who represents Ebonyi South, as Deputy Majority Leader.

A former Majority Leader in the 8th Senate, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, who represents Borno South, is the Senate Majority Whip, while Senator Lola Ashiru, who represents Kwara South, is the
Deputy Majority Whip.

Akpabio, however, said the choice of the principal officers was by consensus.

Written by Olugbenga Soyele


Justice Daniel Osiagor of the Federal High Court has ordered Coca-Cola Nigeria Plc and its bottlers, Nigeria Bottling Company (NBC) to pay N3 million damages for Infringing on the copyright of one Abdulmumineen Onilemarun.

Justice Osiagor ordered Coca-cola Plc and its bottlers to pay Onilemarun the sum as compensation for using his calendar work on fasting time for Muslims in Kwara State during the Ramadan period without his consent and authority.

The applicant had accused the defendants of infringing on his work, by using the calendar work in the Ramadan timing for dawn meal and breaking of fasting in Kwara State, 2014 and 2015 without his consent, licence and assignment.

He had therefore urged the court to grant in his favour the following reliefs; “an award of damages of N10 million against the defendants for infringement of copyright by way of unlawful reproducing unlawful publishing and unlawful distributing of his copyright work in the Ramadan Timing for Dawn Meal & Breaking of fasting for Kwara State, 2014, without his consent, licence and assignment.

“An award of damages of N10 million against the defendants for breach of confidence of secret information and his secret idea for making accurate Ramadan timetables by using the said information and idea in producing Coca Cola Ilorin Ramadan Timing June/July 2015 in the course of their trade.

“As well as for infringement of copyright by way of unlawful reproducing and unlawful publishing of substantial similarity of the plaintiff’s particular method in the copyrighted work of the Ramadan Timing for Dawn Meal and Breaking of Fasting for Kwara State, 2015, without his consent, licence and assignment.

“An order of accounts of profits made by the defendants, in Kwara State, between June 29, 2014 and July 28, 2014 as well as between June 17, 2015 and July 16, 2015.

“An order sharing to him 40 per cent of total profits made by the defendants in Kwara State, between 29th June 2014 and 28th July 2014 as well as between 17th June 2015 and 16th July 2015. And the award of the costs of this action against the defendants.”

But the defendants, through their lawyer, Peter Agboola, urged the court to dismiss the suit for lacking merit.

The defendants, during the trial of the suit, argued that for a work to be eligible for copyright, such work must be original, in that sufficient effort must have been expended on making the work have an original character.

They further submitted that there was no evidence before the court of the original work published by the plaintiff, which they allegedly violated.

In conclusion, they maintained that there was no agreement or contemplation of any agreement for compensation because the calendars were not used for any economic purpose but for the educational purpose of the Muslim community during the time of Ramadan.

In his judgment, Justice Osiagor, raised only one issue for determination; “Whether the Plaintiff’s claim of copyright has been proved to deserve protection and be entitled to the reliefs sought?”

In determining the above, the judge held that; “the plaintiff’s suit is founded on his literary work, ‘Ramadan Timing for Dawn Meal for Breaking of Fasting for Kwara State’ and that Copyright Act by section 51 recognises literary works to include: novels, stories and poetical works, letters, reports and memoranda, lectures, addresses and sermons, and written tables or compilations.

He also held, “from the above definition, a compilation of the “Ramadan Timing for dawn meal for breaking of fasting for Kwara State ” is a literary work I hold.

“Defendant’s argument that the copyright certificate of the Plaintiff does not protect any literary work as non was submitted to the Nigerian Copyright Commission, tiled “Ramadan Timing for dawn meal for breaking of fasting for Kwara State” is very misconceived as copyright does not inure in plaintiff’s favour only upon registration.

“It is trite that, Registration of copyright is not a precondition to the protection of the copyright. See Zain Nigeria. TY XTRA Productions Ltd & Anor (2021) LPELR 3534 (CA).

“The plaintiff is entitled to damages which will fully compensate him for his loss. See the Hebridean Coast (1960) 2 ALL E.R 85. The court awards the sum of N3 million as general damages in favour of the Plaintiff for infringement of his copyright.”

By Abubakar Akote, Minna


https://dailytrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/The-baby.jpgThe baby


A seven-month-old baby boy named Habibu has been found sleeping on his mother’s back 24 hours after she was shot dead by bandits on the Pandogari-Allawa road in Shiroro LGA of Niger State.

City & Crime gathered that bandits blocked the Pandogari-Allawa road a day to Sallah and shot six passengers, including an SS 2 student of the Maryam Babangida Girls’ Science College, Minna, Hauwa Aliyu, and the mother of the baby to death.

The President of Lakpma Youth Assembly, Jibril Allawa, told City & Crime that, “Miraculously, the baby was one of the survivors of the attack in which six people were killed. Vigilantes who went the following day to evacuate the remains of the victims found the baby sleeping on his dead mother’s back.”

He explained that, “The incident happened on June 27, and six people lost their lives. Maryam called and informed us that she was coming home for the Sallah. We told her to stay back in school and celebrate the Sallah there but she insisted that she wanted to come home and celebrate with us.

“One Abubakar Ismail, a 16-year-old, who sustained gunshot injuries on his chest managed to run some distance before he was rescued and is now receiving treatment in a hospital.”

The immediate past Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed has landed a World Bank job as an Alternate Executive Director.

Baring hitches, she will resume at the bank’s headquarters in Washington on July 10.

However, there appears to be pushback from some interests who alleged that the former minister did not follow due process.

An online medium, today, quoted Washington sources as saying that Mrs. Ahmed circumvented appointment procedures by nominating herself .

The report also had it that the World Bank had requested for the nominations of three economists for an AED position, several months before the end of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, but that the minister kept the letter to herself.

It was also alleged that the minister neither obtained President Buhari’s approval of her self-nomination nor the approval of the new President, Sen. Bola Tinubu.

However, a highly placed federal government source who is familiar with the World Bank system told Vanguard that Mrs. Ahmed did nothing wrong in the appointment.

According to the source, “It’s impossible (for her to nominate herself). And she didn’t. She was validly nominated by the Ministry (of Finance) and President Buhari approved her nomination before he left.

“This type of nomination is routine as a former DG Budget was nominated at the twilight of the Jonathan administration and nobody made any noise about it. It’s truly unfair.

“The former DG Budget was nominated as Executive Director, African Development Bank.”

The source explained that the AED position is usually occupied by former Ministers of Finance (Governors of World Bank) or Permanent Secretaries in the Federal Ministries of Finance (Alternative Governor of World Bank).

He said, “Also, please note that the ED from South Africa was a former South African Minister. The position is meant for either former Minister of Finance ( Governor World Bank) or Permanent Secretary Finance( Alternate Governor World Bank) ,i.e. those familiar with the development policy issues and transfer of real resources to developing countries.

“And those who understand World Bank Executive Board issues and have helped in shaping World Bank decision making from the viewpoint of Authorities/member countries in recent times.

“It’s not a position for theoretical Economists who have not had any dealings with the Ministry of Finance in Sovereign member countries.”

Mrs. Ahmed is expected to work under Ayanda Dlondlo, a former South African Minister who is the Executive Director.

Coming about three weeks after his inauguration as the president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, some observers said it was even coming too late as every new president would naturally want to appoint his own people into such sensitive positions that are critical to the fulfillment of the core of his responsibility, which is the protection of lives and property of citizens.

With renewed activities of bandits and criminals across the country, injecting fresh minds into the management of the security architecture of the country would not be out of place.

The new service chiefs appointed by Tinubu include the Chief of Defence Staff, Major-General C.G Musa; Chief of Army Staff, Major- General T. A Lagbaja; Chief of Air Staff, AVM H.B Abubakar; Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla; and acting Inspector-General of Police, DIG Kayode Egbetokun.

In addition, a former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, became the National Security Adviser (NSA), replacing Babagana Monguno.

While the outgoing service chiefs and the former IGP had done their beats, especially in managing the security of the country, which ensured a peaceful transfer of power from one democratically elected president to another, and in many states where governorship election took place, the increasing activities of bandits, especially in the North West, the renewed hostilities in Plateau and other parts of the country requires a change of tactics in the security management system.

So, the injection of fresh blood into the system could not have come at a better time than when it was done, with renewed hope and optimism that the newly appointed service chiefs would do things differently to arrest the seemingly intractable security challenges bedeviling the country.

The police especially have the enormous responsibility in terms of strengthening the internal security of the country, so the appointment of a new IGP is not only timely but highly strategic.

Egbetokun has close affinity with Tinubu

Among all the appointments, Egbetokun, who is still in acting capacity pending his confirmation by the Council of State during its meeting, is known to have close affinity with the president.

As a Deputy Superintendent of Police in 1999, he was appointed the Chief Security Officer to Tinubu, who was then newly elected as the governor of Lagos State, coordinating the entire security architecture of the state while reporting to Tinubu, who was constitutionally the chief security officer of the state.

He maintained that close relationship with Tinubu until fate smiled on the latter to become the president of the country.

Having risen through the ladder to become a Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG), a rank he was decorated with in April, he had the brightest chance of rising to the highest pinnacle of his career to become the IGP, which is exactly what has happened.

Now, he is challenged to justify the confidence reposed in him because any security lapse would be a failure on the part of the president, who has sworn to protect the lives and property of Nigerians.


Political calculation, federal character

Apart from the appointment of the IGP, Tinubu also tried to reflect federal character in his appointments so far as there is virtually no region without someone in the highest echelon of the security of the country. And so, the cry of nepotism in the appointment was minimal as it was the case during the last administration of Muhammadu Buhari.

Daily Trust on Sunday reports that the president’s decision cannot be totally devoid of political calculations as he seeks to consolidate his strongholds and win new territories ahead of 2027.

For example, Air Vice Marshal Hassan Bala Abubakar hails from Shanono Local Government Area of Kano State, a state where he enjoyed massive support in the 2023 presidential election.

Similarly, the Chief of Defence Staff, Major-General Musa, who was born in Sokoto State, North West, but originally hails from Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of southern Kaduna, would address the feelings of marginalisation of northern Christians and garner their support for the fight against insecurity in the North.

The appointment of the new Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, who hails from Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State, will equally address the allegation of exclusion of the South East from the security architecture of the country.

Political pundits see the appointment of Major-General Lagbaja, who was born in Ilobu, Irepodun Local Government Area of Osun State, as a strategic move to cover the lost ground in the last election, having unexpectedly lost the state to his key challenger, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The appointments of two allies of the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Hadiza Bala Usman as special adviser, policy coordination; and Hannatu Musa Musawa as special adviser, culture and entertainment economy, are equally seen as a deliberate strategy to keep his close and critical backers.

Also of critical importance is the appointment of Ribadu as the NSA. It would be recalled that Ribadu made the first list of appointments made by the president as a special adviser on security; and immediately the appointment was made, tongues began to wag. Will this replace the NSA? Does the president want to scrap the office of the NSA and replace it with that of a special adviser on security, which is usually the case at the state level?

A lot of questions were asked by pundits and observers of events unfolding in the country. There are people who also doubted that the president would appoint an ex-police officer to lead the security architecture of the country, thinking that was why he appointed Ribadu as SA instead of NSA.

However, the president shattered all the conjectures and went against the grain with the appointment of Ribadu, another close ally and confidant, as the NSA. This is considered another very strategic appointment and an appointee the president is comfortable with.

He is, therefore, saddled with the responsibility of coordinating the security mechanisms of the country, getting regular briefing from the service chiefs and relaying same to the president for implementation. Therefore, analysts said the appointment was also highly strategic as the person in charge is somebody who has a very good working relationship with the president and can easily approach him for any issue relating to the security of the country.

Commenting on this appointment, a political scientist, Associate Professor Kayode Esuola, said the president, in exercising his power to appoint who he likes, also tried to have “a handshake across the Niger.”

He said, “As the name implies, a ‘political appointment’ is rooted in ‘politics’ which, characteristically is a value-laden phenomenon. Diverse interests must come into play, which are coloured by the preferences, ideas, understanding and worldviews of the ‘appointer.’ Competence is to the satisfaction of the appointer, so, it often comes last.

“One thing that cannot go unnoticed in Tinubu’s politics and campaign is the ‘handshake across groups and interests. If this worked to make him president, it is only expected that he relies on the same to make him succeed in office.

“So, whether based on loyalty, ethnic spread, compensation, consolation, patronage or other factors, political appointments have gone to groups and interests that produced the president. If the groups and interests were trusted to help him win election, they can also be trusted to help him deliver.”

A peace building professional, Malam Abdulrasaq Hamza, said the appointment of Ribadu was commendable despite pressure from some quarters, especially the military hierarchy.

He said, “I think the president is making his appointments in a strategic manner; and the calibre of people appointed so far, especially as special advisers, have rich public credentials.

“Some of them were active with him during the electioneering. He has even delegated public questions to them in public events as an indication of their team work.

“One thing I love most is the president’s insistence in appointing Nuhu Ribadu as his NSA. It would have been a catastrophe if the president had succumbed to pressure by some vested interests within the military as was reported.

“We need a president that can do what he thinks is right, irrespective of who is against it. The greatest challenge in our security situation is not lack of capacity or equipment, it is corruption, sabotage and vested interests.

“The security challenge has been turned into a business and those within the sector seem lost on how to address it.

“So, bringing somebody like Ribadu, a renowned anti-corruption figure as the NSA is a good way to address the greatest challenge facing security agencies. This would amount to an attempt to fight insecurity through an anti-corruption modality.

“As a peace building professional that has been active in this space for over a decade, I am excited about the possibility Mallam Nuhu Ribadu would bring to addressing insecurity in the country.”

There are many lawmakers in the administration of President Bola Tinubu, fuelling discussions that the executive might have a huge influence on the 10th National Assembly and that if care is not taken, it could be a rubber stamp, Sunday PUNCH examines this development

The legislative arm of government is in place in a constitutional democracy to make laws for the peace, order and good governance of the country, from the local to the state and federal levels. Thus, they are expected to collaborate with the executive to deliver good governance for the benefit of the citizenry.

However, many people believe that when the relationship is not well managed and boundaries established, the legislature could lose focus and become an extension of the executive, which has become the most powerful of the three arms of government, the third being the judiciary.

There are already concerns over the real independence of the 10th Assembly, first because of the dominant role the executive played in nominating leaders for the two chambers, and the second being the number of ex-lawmakers in top positions in the executive, in which case matters could be treated on an esprit de corps basis.

The ninth Assembly was criticised as a rubber stamp of the executive under former President Muhammadu Buhari, even though the Assembly passed some landmark bills that those before it struggled to push through. However, many people blamed the ninth Assembly for aiding the executive to increase the country’s debt profile by approving most of the loan requests by the Buhari government.

In the current administration under President Bola Tinubu, there are a number of ex-lawmakers, including the President, his vice, Kashim Shettima, and some others in the National Working Committee of the governing All Progressives Congress. Some of the ex-lawmakers in government are:


Tinubu

Tinubu is a former member of the National Assembly, though briefly. He was a member of the Senate in the short-lived Third Republic when he represented Lagos West Senatorial District on the platform of the Social Democratic Party. It is a common saying that ‘Once a senator is always a senator’, and this explains why ex-senators retain the title for life. Even as a two-term governor of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007, his time in the red chamber has remained a point of reference in his political journey. Tinubu was sworn in as the President on May 29, 2023.

Shettima

The Vice President, Kashim Shettima, was a member of the ninth Senate, where he represented Borno Central Senatorial District until Tinubu, as the presidential candidate of the APC, picked him as his running mate. Despite the stiff opposition to their Muslim-Muslim ticket, the party won the election held on February 25, 2023. Shettima remained a member of the Senate until he was sworn in as the vice-president on May 29, 2023. He was the Governor of Borno State between 2011 and 2019, after which he was voted into the Red Chamber.

First Lady Oluremi Tinubu

Nigeria’s first lady, Oluremi Tinubu, is also an alumnus of the National Assembly. She was a member of the ninth Senate until her husband became the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The former Lagos State first lady represented Lagos Central Senatorial District for three terms. On March 1, 2023 when he was declared the winner of the February 25 presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, Bola Tinubu said jokingly that his wife would not contest any election because he needed her at home. He stated, “To my lovely wife, Oluremi Tinubu, you the senators should not expect her back. She is going to be my housewife and first lady.”

Akume

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, is also a former member of the Senate. He is equally a former Governor of Benue State, the ‘Food basket of the nation’ for two terms – 1999 to 2007. Akume was a member of the Senate for three terms (5th, 6th and 7th Assemblies) during which he became the Minority Leader (from 2011 to 2015). He later became the Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs during Buhari’s second term. As a former principal officer of the Senate, he is also expected to leverage his relationship with the red chamber to the government’s advantage.

Gbajabiamila

The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, is the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives. In the February 25 National Assembly election, Gbajabiamila was re-elected for a record sixth term in the House to represent Surulere 1 Federal Constituency in Lagos State. He was first elected a member of the House in 2003, and he later rose to the positions of Minority Whip, Minority Leader, Majority Leader and Speaker. As a former presiding officer, it is expected that he would use his influence in the federal legislature to the advantage of his principal, the President.

Hadejia

The Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Office of the Vice President, Ibrahim Hadejia, is another alumnus of the National Assembly. He represented Jigawa North-East in the Senate between 2019 and 2023. He previously served as the deputy governor of the state. Prior to that, he served as the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General before he became the Secretary to the State Government. The Chief of Staff to the Vice President is well experienced in the executive and legislature, and is expected to leverage that experience to the advantage of the current government.


NASS liaison officers

It is a tradition for the President to appoint two Special Assistants on National Assembly matters; one for the Senate and another for the House of Representatives. It is understandable that these special assistants will be former members of the federal parliament. The appointees do not only serve as liaison officers between Presidency and the National Assembly, they are responsible for the transmission of passed bills to the President for his assent. They also serve as a guide whenever the President or members of his cabinet are to visit the National Assembly, like the presentation of budget or when appointees like ministers are summoned by any of the chambers.

Gumel

Meanwhile, Senator Abdullahi Gumel has been appointed as the Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate). Gumel, who is from Jigawa State, represented Jigawa North West Senatorial District between 2015 and 2019. In 1999, he became a member of the House of Representatives and represented Gumel Federal Constituency and he chaired the House Committee on Special Duties and later as chairman of the committee on Police Affairs. He was later appointed as the Special Adviser to the then Speaker, Aminu Masari on special assignments. Being an alumnus of both chambers, he is expected to deploy his knowledge and experience to ensure a smooth relationship between the executive and legislature.

Ibrahim

The Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives), Olanrewaju Ibrahim, was a member of the ninth House of Representatives, during which he served as the deputy chairman, House committee on agriculture and production services as well as member of the defence, judiciary and environment committees. He served under the Gbajabiamila’s leadership of the green chamber.


NASS alumni in APC NWC

APC chairman, Adamu

The National Chairman of the governing All Progressives Congress, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, was also a member of the ninth Senate. He represented Nasarawa West Senatorial District, where he had been since 2011. He was however elected the chairman of the party in 2022. Adamu, who was the governor of Nasarawa State between 1999 and 2007, earlier served as the Minister of State for Works and Housing under the military regime of General Sani Abacha. A founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party, he was once the secretary of the party’s Board of Trustees. In case situations demand, the party chairman is expected to use his influence to the government’s advantage, especially because the four presiding officers are members of the party.

Deputy chairman, Kyari

Senator Abubakar Kyari was also representing Borno North Senatorial District in the ninth Senate when he became the Deputy National Chairman (North) of the APC in 2022. Thus, he’s an alumnus. Before he joined the Senate in 2015, he was a member of the House of Representatives between 1999 and 2003.

APC secretary, Omisore

The National Secretary of the APC, Senator Iyiola Omisore, is also an alumnus of the Senate. He served as the Deputy Governor of Osun State from 1999 to 2003 and later represented Osun East Senatorial District in the Senate between 2003 and 2011. He is one of the alumni in the governing party.

10th NASS leadership

Ahead of the June 13 inauguration of the National Assembly, the APC and the President had anointed Godswill Akpabio as the Senate President and Jibrin Barau as the Deputy Senate President, and they both won their elections. Gbajabiamila, who is now the Chief of Staff, and some powerbrokers in the ruling party were said to have contributed to their emergence as the preferred candidates.

Also at the Green Chamber, Tajudeen Abbas was preferred as the Speaker, while Benjamin Kalu was selected as the Deputy Speaker. They also won their respective elections. In fact, the two deputies won unopposed, and the four presiding officers are ranking members of their respective Assemblies.


Executive-legislature relationship

Gbajabiamila, in his address at the valedictory session of the ninth House he led for four years, spoke about the relationship of the Tinubu-led executive and the legislature, with him as Chief of Staff to the President.

He stated, “As you are all aware, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR), has nominated me to continue serving the people of Nigeria as the Chief of Staff in the Presidency. I am humbled by this new call to duty, and I am grateful to all of you who have reached out to me.

“I have long believed that the ultimate end of all political and governance efforts must be to achieve measurable improvements in the lives of the people on whose behalf we hold office. This fundamental belief in the responsibility of the government to be a force for good has been my guiding light. It will continue to be so in my new endeavours.

“I humbly ask for your prayers and support in this new chapter. I assure you that in this new role, I will work to ensure a cordial and productive relationship between the executive and legislative arms of the government, whilst respecting the independence and prerogatives of the legislature.

In a recent interview with Sunday PUNCH, the outgoing Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume, who led the campaign for Akpabio to become the next President of the Senate, was asked if he could assure Nigerians that the next Assembly would not rubber-stamp for the executive, he stated, “Am I an insurance company? Let me tell you one thing: I can assure you about myself. That is to say whenever anything is not right or whenever it requires that we must speak the truth to power, Nigerians can always count on me and my voice would be heard. Even if I don’t have my way, I will have my say.”

There is a rising anxiety over the worsening scarcity of tomatoes and peppers in most parts of the country, with consumers and sellers adducing different reasons for the scarcity.

While traders lament low patronage, consumers lament the scarcity and high prices.

Farmers and traders who spoke with Saturday PUNCH highlighted the ravaging Tuta Absoluta, popularly known as tomato ebola; fuel subsidy removal and its effect on transportation; and the rainy season as major reasons behind the scarcity of the commodity and its sudden disappearance from markets.

A tomato seller in Mowe, Ogun State, Mrs Abiodun Farayola, who spoke with one of our correspondents on Friday, said although the scarcity of tomato and pepper was relatively an annual experience, the removal of the petrol subsidy and increased fuel price had made them more expensive.

She said, “Tomato and pepper are now expensive because of the high fuel prices as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy. These food items are transported from the North to the South and the transporters make use of trucks which are dependent on fuel, so they added their fuel expenses to the cost of transporting tomatoes and pepper.

“Almost every year, there is usually a period where tomatoes go out of season and become scarce. That one is normal. But this year, things have been different because of the fuel hike which has led to an increase in food prices.

Similarly, traders in the popular Mile 12 market in Lagos, explained that the subsidy removal and rainy season contributed immensely to the disappearance of the commodities.

A trader, Abdullahi Musa, who sells tomatoes and pepper in baskets in the market, said, “It is not our fault that tomatoes are expensive now. Transportation from the North to Lagos has doubled, more so the rains damage most of the produce harvested, so the quantity coming into the state is limited.

“The rainy season has caused us great losses as harvested tomatoes and pepper perish once they come in contact with water. There is nothing we can do until the season passes.”

Another seller at Ojodu, Lagos, Bilikis Oluyode, lamented that the subsidy removal was choking her business. She said a bowl of tomatoes which was formally sold to her at N3,500 at a local market in Ibadan had increased to N6,000.

She added that patronage had also reduced over time as customers’ demand for tomato and pepper had dropped.

Saturday PUNCH gathered that a basket of tomatoes was now selling for N40,000 as against N23,000 at the beginning of the year.

A crate of tomatoes sold for N24,000 as against the initial N7,000, while a paint bucket size had risen to N4,500 from N1,000.

Scotch bonnet pepper, popularly called ata rodo, were shaded in small bowls, each was sold for N1,000 as against N500 a few months ago.

Meanwhile, on Lagos Island, Saturday PUNCH gathered that a paint of tomato sold for as high as N5,000 in Lekki and N8,000 in Victoria Island.

At the Jakande market, a basket of tomatoes sold for N50,000 while a plastic of scotch bonnet pepper sold for N3,000 as against N1,000 at the beginning of the year.

Some traders, who sold the commodities, said they had not been able to restock because of the price hike.

Another tomato seller at Magboro, Ogun State, Mrs Bumi Jadesola, blamed the price hike on the disease that had ravaged tomatoes in the past five months.

She stated, “The prices of tomatoes and pepper initially increased early this year due to the Tomato Ebola that affected the produce in the North. After a while, the prices came down and peaked again in May. This disease has led to many losses in the last five months and many farmers are avoiding investing in the fruit.

“This week, a basket of tomatoes that used to be between N22,000 and N24,000 sold for N78,000 and above because of the Sallah celebration and it has made patronage slower than it used to be. People are struggling, where is the money?”

Corroborating Jadesola, a tomato farmer in Kano State, Abdullahi Wabe, stated that the infestation had led to the scarcity of tomatoes in the last two months.

He said, “Tomatoes are just coming back into the market. I don’t know why it was not noticeable, but this scarcity has been going on for a long time. Farmers lost over half of their produce to the tomato ebola.

“Personally, I get about seven trucks of tomatoes from my farm but I could barely get three when the infestation happened and this was the same experience of many other farmers over here.”

Commenting on the impact of the subsidy removal, he said, “The recent removal of subsidy also affected us because we were already facing an infestation, then we had to transport our products at a ridiculously high amount to different parts of the country.

“There is no way we won’t have a hike in the prices of tomatoes this way. The other option for us is to not make profits, which is impossible because we have to continue farming.”

Wabe, however, noted that the market was returning to normal compared to previous weeks, explaining that there would be a drastic improvement in the supply of tomatoes across the country because “the infestation is being dealt with.”

Furthermore, a tomato and pepper supplier at the Ketu Fruit Market in Ikosi, Lagos, Mr Aminu Dachet, said the outbreak of the tomato ebola disease had reduced harvest from farms.

He stated, “The farms are not even producing as much as they can. The tomato ebola is really affecting farmers. It has been very hard for them. For instance, one farmer I buy from in Kwande village, Qua’an-Pan, could not even supply anything to me.

“The other farmers were just harvesting in baskets, and the output has been measly. The tomato balls always turn out small.”

Dachet added that the subsidy removal had played a major role in the current scarcity.

He noted, “I buy directly from farms in Jos, Shendam and Qua’an-Pan, Plateau State. It has been really difficult for us to transport these goods across cities. Remember we also buy the fuel for our lorries at the same price as the rest of Nigeria. So, it has been a struggle for us.”

He added that suppliers in the market now team up to bring in tomatoes from the North.

Meanwhile, a housewife, Mrs Kehinde Kosoko, lamented that she bought five small balls of tomatoes for N1,500 on Wednesday.

She added, “Sometimes, you go to the market and you don’t even see tomatoes to buy in the market. It has been terrible for us. I have to use other peppers and canned tomato paste to support my cooking these days.”

An elderly woman in Festac Town, Lagos, Mrs Theresa Ugo, said the scarcity of tomatoes in her area had pushed her into using tomato paste with blended peppers and onion for her stew dishes.

“Even if the tomato is expensive, we can still manage to buy what we can afford, but in my area here, we don’t even see tomatoes to purchase. I have to send somebody all the way to Mile 12 to buy and they usually come back with small amounts for ridiculous amounts of money,” Ugo added.


Tomato association reacts

The President, Tomatoes and Orchard Producers Association of Nigeria, Mr Bola Oyeleke, who spoke with one of our correspondents, attributed the scarcity of tomatoes to the disease outbreak, fewer tomato farmers and high temperatures in the North.

He added that farmers were yet to recover from the loss they suffered during the cash crunch when most of them sold their produce at giveaway prices.

Oyeleke said, “During the rainy season, only a few farmers venture into the production of tomatoes, due to financial constraints. The rains came early this year but in the North, there was intense heat which affected the plant. The continuous rain also comes with a lot of bacteria and fungi diseases that affect the plant.”

The TOPAN president further decried farmers’ inability to access loans and grants, saying it was the reason why small-scale farmers were pulling out from the production of tomatoes this year.

Oyeleke added that the tomato ebola experienced earlier in the year also contributed to the scarcity. He noted that the price of tomatoes from the North on Friday sold between N27,000 and N32,000, adding that it would remain so until next month.

“We need government intervention and private and individual partnership in the sector,” Oyeleke added.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) made multiple transfers totalling $616 million (over N400billion) to the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) under Major-General Babagana Monguno (retd.) between August 2016 and November 2018 in a rare practice that exposes the opaque dealings of the CBN under recently suspended Governor Godwin Emefiele.

Data obtained from the website of the CBN showed that the apex bank started making these transfers to the NSA in August 2016, about a year into the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, BusinessDay reports.

There was no such transfer made in the years leading up to that, according to CBN data going back to 2004. But since the first transfer was done, the practice continued every month until November 2018.

The CBN has not published data on its operations since 2018, and it is, therefore, unclear if the curious payments continued. The single largest transfer of $139 million was made in November 2016.

At Nigeria’s current exchange rate, $616 million is equivalent to N426 billion, a third of the amount budgeted for defence in 2022.

A text message seeking comment from the CBN was unanswered.

“Such outflows from the CBN to the office of the NSA raise a red flag and begs the question of what it was used for,” a former central bank official who did not want to be quoted said.

“Anything that must flow to security should be transparent and be in local currency. Even if we assume it was for the importation of ammunition, it should be in the public domain but this isn’t; so something is wrong,” the source said.

Another source said: “More than half a billion dollars cannot move from the CBN to the office of the NSA without the approval of the president who ironically detained (Sambo) Dasuki for misappropriation of funds.”

Dasuki, who served as NSA under former President Goodluck Jonathan, was jailed for more than four years after he was indicted by a panel for stealing $2 billion meant for the purchase of arms and ammunition for the Nigerian military.

“The very corruption Buhari sought to end thrived right under his nose,” another source told BusinessDay.

“They whined about how much money went under the radar under Jonathan but it seems they have questions of their own to answer,” the source, who did not want to be quoted due to the sensitivity of the matter, said.

Former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo repeatedly alleged in the early days of the Buhari administration that large sums of money in local and foreign currencies were stolen by some people in the former President Jonathan-led Peoples Democratic Party administration a few weeks before the 2015 general elections.

Politicians and All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains who thronged the Bourdillon, Ikoyi, Lagos residence of President Bola Tinubu yesterday, to celebrate Eid-el-Kabir with him and continue their lobby for political appointments, were extremely disappointed.

Reason: The President has relocated to his recently refurbished ‘White House’ located on No. 4, Queens Drive in Ikoyi. Although some members of his family and personal aides attended to some party members and feted some Lagosians at Bourdillon, many politicians that attempted to see him at his Queens Drive residence were turned back by security agencies.

Sources said the President cancelled many appointments “to attend to some pressing national demands, and also needed more time to rest following his trip to France and the United Kingdom.”

People believed to be politicians in vehicles with tinted-glass were also turned back. Also, some clergymen dressed in cassock were not allowed to enter the palatial building, just as many reporters, including Television Continental (TVC) news crew were denied entrance.

The Guardian also sighted a man with a sick child on a wheelchair pleading with the security agencies to allow him to see the President. He left after several entreaties to security agents fell on deaf ears despite hours of staying at the ‘White House’ gate.

One of the guests, who was denied entrance, told The Guardian that he came from the mainland to present a gift to the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu.

He said: “The level of security here is expected. This is the residence of the President and it has to be heavily fortified. We don’t know who is who. I only came to drop a gift for the First Lady, but I wasn’t allowed. Maybe I will have to take it back.”

It was gathered in Lagos yesterday that members of the President’s kitchen cabinet were still debating on the percentage of professionals and politicians that will constitute the cabinet.

Sources said while the national secretariat of the ruling party is working to prune down a list of ministerial nominees from different states, special attention is said to be given to state chapters of APC with factions.

The source said: “There are plans to ensure that the appointment is used to bring together factions in some states and ensure peace in the party.”

Meanwhile, Vice President Kashim Shettima has assured that prompt attention would be given by the Tinubu administration towards addressing infrastructural deficits in the country.

Shettima gave the assurance yesterday, when he paid Sallah homage to the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Ibn Garbai El-Kanemi in Maiduguri. He specifically mentioned Gamboru Ngala, Dikwa as well as Damboa roads in Borno State among others, facing infrastructural challenges, which require government attention.

In his remarks, the governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Zulum, extolled the virtues of the Vice President as a man of the people, a grassroots politician, adding that it was the first visit of Shettima to the state.

Also in his welcome remarks, the Shehu of Borno, who spoke in Kanuri, praised the Vice President as a worthy son of Borno, stressing that the love the Vice President enjoyed reflected in the massive support they gave to him.

The Shehu solicited the support of the Tinubu administration to address the issue of bad roads and security challenges in the state and the country.

Point of Sales (POS) operators, under the aegis of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN), Lagos state chapter, have increased charges for deposit and withdrawal.

With the new directive, Nigerians who want to deposit the sum of N1,000 and N4,900 will now have to pay service charge of N100; N5,000 and N10,900 will attract a service charge of N200; N11,000 and N20,900 will attract a service charge of N300; N21,000 and N30,900 will attract service fee of N400; N31,000 and N40,900 will attract service charge of N500 and from N41,000 to N50,000 will attract a service charge of N600.

For withdrawals up to N1,000 and N2,400, Nigerians are expected to pay a service charge of N100; withdrawal from N2,500 to N4,000 will incur a service charge of N200; withdrawal from N4,100 to N6,400, will incur a service fee N300; withdrawal from N6,100 to N7,400 will now attract a service charge of N400; withdrawal from N7,500 to N10,900 will incur a service charge of N500; withdrawal from N11,000 to N14,400, will attract a service charge of N600; withdrawal from N14,500 to N17,900 will be subject to a service charge of N700 and withdrawal from N18,000 to N20,000 will now attract a service charge of N800.

The new price list was unveiled at the 4th Annual AMMBAN Lagos Symposium themed “the impact of cashless policy on mobile money & agency banking.

The chairman of the AMMBAN, Lagos state chapter, Abiodun David disclosed that the new price was agreed upon by the Association in an effort to reduce extortion by POS agents on the general people and is also a reflection of the current economic climate in the nation.

While POS agents may go lower the price list depending on their region, David clarified that they are not permitted to go above the pricing list.