₦airaland Forum

By Umar Muhammed
Aggrieved workers of Doma Local Government area of Nasarawa State on Friday staged a protest over the non-payment of their two months salaries and the alleged disappearance of N20 million deducted from their salaries by the Federal Mortgage Housing Scheme.

Daily Trust gathered that the aggrieved workers blocked the convoy of the Deputy Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Akabe, who is an indigene of Doma.

Akabe alongside the embattled Council Chairman, Mr. Rabo Sani, had met with the workers to plead with them to remain calm.

They told the workers that the state government is doing everything possible to address their predicament but the protesting workers reportedly ignored their plea as they barricaded the road.

Our correspondent reports that, the blockage of the road began from Monday this week as they conducted “a special prayer” in the middle of the road.

The Council Chairman blamed his predecessors for the inability of the council to pay the workers, saying illegal employment of civil servants worsened the situation.

According to him, “I did not employ a single civil servant, but my predecessors made the mistake, by employing over 500 civil servants.”

He, however, stated that the rationale behind the protest was due to the shortage of funds to pay workers salaries, noting that it is as a statewide problem.

On the missing Federal Mortgage Housing fund, he debunked the rumour, adding that the Local Government borrowed the money to pay workers salaries.

“The money of Federal Mortgage Housing fund is not missing rather we borrowed the money to pay staff salaries, saying that all the Union leaders were aware of the transaction,” he said.

“What I’m saying in essence is that there was a consultation and agreement before we arrived at that.”

He said the 13 Local Government Councils of the state needed a sum of N2.1 billion to settle two months staff salaries

The Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress in the local government Mr. Baba Ali, could not be reached for comment as at the time of filling in this report.

Bello Matawalle, governor of Zamfara state, has suspended Surajo Namakkah, the district head of Badarawa in Shinkafi Emirate council of the state.

Yusuf Idris, director-general on media to the governor, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.

According to NAN, the district head was suspended indefinitely by the governor for conferring the traditional title of Durumbu on a military officer who was arrested for allegedly selling ammunition to bandits in the state.

The military officer was recently arrested in possession of 20 rounds of 62mm live ammunition.

He was said to have been at the point of handing over the ammunition to one Kabiru Bashiru of Maniya village, Shinkafi Emirate, and had allegedly collected an advance payment of N100,000 from bandits.

The governor said anything capable of breaching the hard-earned peace of the state will not be tolerated.

Matawalle assured residents that all those arrested in connection with banditry in the state will face the wrath of the law.

He also warned that henceforth, traditional rulers must seek approval before conferring traditional titles to avoid unnecessary embarrassment to the government and the traditional institution.
The governor said the involvement of some security personnel in banditry is saddening, adding that it will sabotage ongoing operations and make it impossible to end banditry in the country.

“The nation will not defeat the criminals with such bad eggs within the security architecture,” he said.

The Zamfara police command has arrested seven security operatives for allegedly supplying arms, ammunition, and military kits to bandits in the state.

Ibrahim Dosara, Zamfara commissioner for information, who disclosed this at a media briefing on Thursday, said the suspects were arrested in various communities across the state.

Items recovered from the suspects include military bulletproof vests, jungle boots, shin guards, identity card, camouflage uniforms, among others.

“I wish to inform you that the state government has just received a report from the police on the arrest of seven security agents involved in aiding and abetting banditry activities across the state,” he said.

“The suspects, who have already been interrogated and confessed to their respective crimes, have since the commencement of the military operations in the state in recent past, been sabotaging the operations by sharing military intelligence, supplying arms and ammunition, military uniforms and other facilities to the armed bandits to prevent our gallant soldiers from conquering the bandits.

“This is why it took the Nigerian military and other security agencies fighting the bandits that long to defeat them. The suspects have already been handed over to their appropriate security authorities for further necessary actions.

“We feel obliged not to disclose their identities, as the security authorities concerned are acting on the matter.”

He, however, urged the federal government to come through on the promise to deploy additional security forces to the state.

“Zamfara state government is appealing to the president and commander-in-chief of the Nigeria armed forces to redeem his pledge on the deployment of 6,000 troops to the state to clear the recalcitrant bandits terrorising various communities of our dear state,” Dosara said.

“The state government also wants to urge the military authorities to embark on active supervision and monitoring of the military operations to ensure synergy and effectiveness.”

The development comes weeks after an officer of the Nigerian army was arrested for supplying ammunition and uniforms to bandits in Zamfara.

By Tijani Ibrahim


At least 30 suspected bandits were killed by residents and local vigilante of Majifa village in Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State.

Although details surrounding the incident were sketchy as at the time of filing this report, Daily Trust learnt that the villagers laid an ambush for the gunmen.

A resident told Daily Trust that the incident occurred in the early hours of Monday.

“Resident of the village received the information that bandits were planning to attack them that night, so they ambushed them and God helped them to repel the attack and they killed at least 30 of the bandits,” he said.

He, however, added that other bandits rushed back on camels to retrieve the corpses, saying, “While the villagers were waiting for the day break to burn the corpses, they woke up to see that all the dead bodies had been taken away, with other neigbouring villages confirming that some people did that using camels.”

That was the third time within three weeks that residents would confront gunmen.

On Sunday, residents of Magama in Jibia Local Government confronted attackers and killed three of them.

Similarly, residents of Yan Marafa and Mununu villages in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina dared their attackers during which scores were killed.

In a related development, suspected bandits have killed one Alhaji Yaro Lawal, a former Director of Education and Social Service at Danmusa Local Government Area.

An eye witness confirmed to Daily Trust that the incident occurred on Wednesday evening.

He said the gunmen, who rode on motorcycle, met the 67-year-old victim around 7:30pm in front of his residence in Danmusa.

“When they made some efforts to take him along with them and he protested, they shot him and ran away. He died on the way to the hospital,” the source said.

The police spokesman in Katsina, SP Isah Gambo, could not be reached for confirmation as at the time of filing this report.

ADEBOLA AJAYI



Though Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Pantami denounces any allegiance to Boko Haram, he expressed support for the global extremist groups — the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

“This jihad is an obligation for every single believer, especially in Nigeria,’’ Mr Pantami said in one of his vicious preachings in the 2000s. “Oh God, give victory to the Taliban and to al-Qaeda (Allahumma’ nṣur Ṭālibān wa-tanẓīm al Qā‘ida).”

Mr Pantami’s call to Jihad and unalloyed support for murderous groups portray him as a dyed-in-the-wool Islamic fundamentalist. Yet, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Mr Pantami as communications minister to control the country’s massive data and telephone infrastructure and other sensitive details of national intelligence.

When contacted on Wednesday by Peoples Gazette regarding his support for the terrorist groups, the minister did not comment.

On Monday, Mr Pantami threatened to sue some media platforms for reporting that he is on the U.S. terror watchlist for supporting Boko Haram.

The minister had claimed on Twitter that his lectures “against the doctrines and all other evil people (terrorists) have been available for over 15 years, including debates that endangered my life against many criminals in Nigeria.”

But he failed to acknowledge that he is an avowed supporter of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, as revealed in a 2019 academic document ‘Debating Boko Haram’ seen by The Gazette.

Mr Pantami invited Muslims, especially “Ahlus Sunna” (Salafis), to be sceptical of politicians and religious leaders calling for peace and understanding but retaliate with jihad.


“This jihad is an obligation for every single believer, especially in Nigeria (hādhā jihād farḍ ‘ayn ‘ala kull muslim wa-khuṣūṣan fī Nījīriyā),” he added. Mr Pantami’s comments were translated by Professor Andrea Brigaglia, an African expert at Naples University in Italy. Nigerian scholar Musa Ibrahim of the University of Florida in the United States contributed to the paper that explored the onset of Boko Haram in Nigeria.

Top journal publisher academia.edu published the research in March 2019, several months before Mr Buhari tapped Mr Pantami as a minister. Mr Pantami’s violent preachings, which he rendered in Hausa and Arabic throughout the late 1990s and early to mid-2000s, had gone largely unreported in the Nigerian mainstream media.


The document detailed how Mr Pantami offered himself as a volunteer to mobilise the Hisba police of the North, requesting to be appointed as the “commander” (kwamanda) of a militia (ready to travel to Yelwa Shendam) to fight in defence of the Muslims.

The speech, which is about 20 minutes long, concluded with the prayer, “Oh God, give victory to the Taliban and to al-Qaeda (Allahumma’ nṣur Ṭālibān wa-tanẓīm alQā‘ida).”

“During his speech, Pantami is in tears, and his voice is often broken by sighs. The genuineness of his emotional response to what was, without doubt, a dramatic episode in the history of violent conflict in Plateau state is obvious,” said the report.

In a second speech, delivered in 2006, Mr Pantami offered his public condolences for the death of the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, al-Zarqawi.

“May God have mercy on Aḥmad alFāḍil al-Khalayleh, raḥmatullāh’ alayhi. May God forgive his mistakes. He is a human being. He has certainly some mistakes in front of God, so may God forgive his mistakes. Who am I talking about? He is Abū Muṣ‘ab al-Zarqāwī.


“He was born in 1966 of the Christian era, that is forty years ago. […] After some time, he was given responsibility for a camp in Herat. It was the Commander of the Faithful (Amīr almu’minīn) Mollah Omar ‒ may God preserve him ‒ who personally gave him the authority to run this camp.”

The document noted Mr Pantami as further saying, “To this date, in the community of the Prophet we have some awesome people, people of awesome faith, who follow the creed of the Sunna and thanks to whom the enemies of God are unable to find rest in this world.

“They have killed the Shaykh, the martyr Abdallah Yusuf Azzam ‒ may God have mercy on him ‒ but did the struggle end? They went on to strike Chechnya, and they killed many of them: did it end? […] Whenever one goes, another one comes, and he is even more awesome than the first,” Mr Pantami added.

In 2012, former President Goodluck Jonathan made a veiled reference to the fact that terrorists and their sympathisers had infiltrated his government. Boko Haram and other terror groups in the country have continued to terrorise Nigerians by the wanton destruction of lives and property.

OVER N10 million meant to be paid to ad-hoc staff of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, as allowance has been hijacked into the accounts of over a dozen fraudsters who gained entry into the internet site of the board.

To this end, the board has said the mobile phone would henceforth be the only major requirement for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, and Direct Entry, DE registration processes.

Registrar of JAMB, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, who disclosed that the use of email is no longer required for the registration exercise explained that the new system was to ensure that candidates’ information is not exposed to dubious cyber cafe operators and other criminal elements.

Oloyede, who disclosed this to newsmen, Wednesday, in Abuja, said the fraudsters altered profiles of the board’s ad hoc staff, diverting the money meant for their allowances.

According to him, the scam was uncovered after the board undertook a careful investigation, leading to the arrest of one Sahabi Zubairu from Takum in Taraba State, and several others.
Explaining that government policy “requires that monies meant for ad-hoc staff are paid directly into the accounts of the beneficiaries”, he regretted that the situation gave room to the challenge the board was encountering.

He decried the failure of the accounting department to detect the fraud by cross-checking the names on the accounts to ensure that they tallied with those listed on the website or owners of the codes.

The JAMB boss who noted that ad-hoc staff of the board have since been paid, however, assured that the stolen money will be recovered, as he vowed to hand perpetrators of the crime over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for further investigation and prosecution.

On how the fraudsters successfully gained access to the profiles of the ad-hoc staff, he explained that the fraudsters used key logger, a software that allows access to the profile of anyone who has logged in using a public cybercafé even after the person has logged out and gone.

Oloyede said Zubairu deleted the names of the original ad hoc staff and their telephone numbers and substituted them with his, adding that those affected include code number 313 and 312, among others.

At least ten of the scammers paraded by JAMB before journalists at its headquarters, in Bwari, Abuja, admitted to the crime saying they were lured into it by Zubairu.

They alleged fraud syndicate ploughed into the site hosting the data of all JAMB ad-hoc staff and changed their account details and phone numbers, diverting several million meant for the payment of their allowances.

While narrating how he carried out the crime, the alleged kingpin, Zubairu, said a friend of his, known as Samuel Tanko, who is now at large, introduced him to the website and supplied him with a code to apply as a JAMB ad hoc staff when they met at Saltee Cybercafé in Takum where he resides.

He however noted that what he did was not an application but a successful alteration of the account details and phone numbers of the original owners of the code listed on the site, who were posted across the country by JAMB.

It was gathered that some victims of the fraud include a staff of the National Universities Commission, NUC, Mr Babangida Mohammed and one Fatima Mohammed, among several others.

Zubairu confessed that he lured a least 12 people into the crime, some of whom are his family members, adding that he received over N400,000 diverted into his account.

One of the alleged culprits, Nasiru Mohammed, said he received the sum of N220,000 payment from JAMB while others said they got between 286,000 to N440,000.

Both culprits pleaded for leniency and pledged never to indulge in such unwholesome acts again.

Meanwhile, Oloyede has warned Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, candidates not to give their phones to anyone as they could steal their information and divert their codes, messages and calls.

He gave the warning after a 400 level Economics student of the University of Abuja, Adegoke Justina, had her code changed by a cybercafé operator and diverted all her communication with JAMB to him.

Narrating her ordeal, Adegoke said she went to a cyber café to open an email in order to complete the regularisation in JAMB but the café operator, identified as one David Ahmed, a mass communication student at Auchi Polytechnic, now at large, hacked into her email, changed its password and diverted her code so that any message sent to her by JAMB was received by him.

She said anytime she wanted to get in contact with JAMB the operator will know, adding that he started demanding monies from her but she refused to pay and the café operator threatened to deal with her until she decided to visit JAMB headquarters herself to sort out the issue.

Reacting to the development, Oloyede noted that some of the candidates were digital illiterates and cybercafé operators were using that advantage to defraud them.

He said the board has carried out strategic changes to ensure that email address was no longer a requirement for registration to save candidates from the trap of fraudulent café operators.

Did you know Ghana has beaten Nigeria twice as much in professional football matches? Nigeria has played Ghana 56 times. Of those 56 encounters, Nigeria has won 12, while Ghana has won twice as much with 24 plus 1 (25) wins. Both countries have had a stalemate 19 times. Do you still consider this a rivalry?

On Monday, Twitter announced that it was opening its African headquarters in Ghana. Answering the question “why Ghana?” Twitter said Ghana is a champion for democracy, “a supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet, of which Twitter is also an advocate”.

Nigerians took to Twitter to explain why Twitter chose Ghana over Nigeria. In the process, they blamed the Nigerian government for not implementing policies that favour investments. One Nigerian even went on to suggest that Jack Dorsey, Twitter CEO, could not get a SIM card in Nigeria due to the government policy on registration.

However, the problems are deeper than what this single case presents. TheCable has observed for some months how Ghana always seems to beat Nigeria to the prize as the jewel of western Africa. So, we present seven times Ghana has beaten Nigeria.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

Nigeria is the biggest economy on the continent; according to the World Bank, Nigeria’s GDP is more than seven times the GDP of Ghana. In the same vein, you would expect foreign direct investment (FDI) to flow into Nigeria at that same pace, but that is not the case.

In 2018, Ghana got more FDI than Nigeria, suggesting that investors were very comfortable with voting money into the country than they were about the continent’s Giant. Ghana got $3.3 billion in 2018, when Nigeria could only get $2.2 billion.

In 2020, the National Bureau of Statistics recorded that Nigeria got $414.79 million in FDI in nine months. But Ghana got $785.62 million in six months. Despite the size of the Nigerian economy, investors seem to favour Ghana.

AUTO COMPANIES MOVE TO GHANA

A wise man once said Nigeria is not a big market because it has over 200 million people; a market is not just the number of people, but the number of people who can afford a product. With nearly half of Nigeria living in extreme poverty, there are certain goods they cannot afford.

More than that, the other half of the country living above poverty, is also divided into many classes. Very few of them can afford a brand new car. On the long run, the market for new vehicles is really small in Nigeria. The case in Ghana may not be much different, but the companies seem to trust Ghana.

Volkswagen, Suzuki, Toyota, Nissan are auto companies that have chosen to set up a plant in Ghana. Those are jobs Nigeria could use but have now lost to the friendly neighbours.

GOOGLE OPENS FIRST AFRICAN AI LAB IN GHANA

In 2019, Google, the tech giant, opened its first artificial intelligence lab in Ghana. The announcement was made in 2018, driving the popular question: Why Ghana?

Victor Asemota, a Nigerian tech pioneer, answered the question simply: “Ghana is the future of Africa”. Google did not state why it chose Accra, but said it would “bring together top machine learning researchers and engineers in this new center dedicated to AI research and its applications”.

Read that as more money, more skills, and more talent for the country.

EASE OF DOING BUSINESS

Did you know that Nigeria is the hardest country in sub-Saharan Africa to register a property? Of all 48 countries monitored by the World Bank, Nigeria ranked 48 in the 2020 Ease of Doing Business Index for Africa.

While Nigeria ranks 131 on the global Doing Business ranking, Ghana sits miles away at 118. This means it is easier to pay taxes, get electricity, register a property, and just do business in Accra than it is in Lagos.

Nigeria claims to have made so much progress in this field, and the World Bank agrees, but Ghana has remained ahead of Nigeria.

COVID-19 VACCINE GOES TO GHANA

A lot goes on in international politics and diplomacy, and the outcome of that means a lot for how the rest of the world perceives individual countries. On February 24, 2021, Ghana became the first country in Africa to receive COVAX COVID-19 vaccines.

It was a historic moment in the history of the biggest health crisis in the history of the modern world. Accra was chosen for that expression of hope for a reason — easy planning.

Henrietta Fore, UNICEF executive director, described the arrival of the vaccines as “the historic moment for which we have been planning and working so hard”. Nigeria did not get the same vaccines until more than a week later.

These little things count against Nigeria.

OBAMA SNUBS NIGERIA FOR GHANA

The vaccine first-mover advantage had been in the works years before now, but little attention was paid to it. When Barack Obama became the first black president of the United States, analysts placed a big bet that he would visit Nigeria, the country with the largest number of black people anywhere in the world.

That did not happen; instead, Obama chose Ghana for his first African visit as president in 2009.

Obama was in office for another seven years, but never step foot in Nigeria. While this may not seem like a big deal, “oh he didn’t have to visit Nigeria,” this was a loud message about Nigeria.

HISTORICAL WIN: OBASANJO VS KOFI ANAN

Did you know that former president Olusegun Obasanjo, one of the finest diplomats out of Africa, wanted to be UN Secretary-General in 1991?

Obasanjo had a failed bid and attempted to lead the UN as the first black African to do so. But was unsuccessful. All Obasanjo wanted so badly was achieved by Kofi Annan, when he became the first black man to lead the UN as secretary-general in 1997.

Annan was UN secretary-general up until 2006, effectively ruining Obasanjo’s chances of ever clinching that seat. This was another historical win for Gold Coast, the only country in sub-Saharan Africa to have produced a secretary-general at that level.

From football matches to UN politics and everything in between, Ghana has found a way to outdo Nigeria, and a lot more recently. Is it time for the giant of Africa to take a step back and make new policy choices to renew its place as a choice investment destination on the continent? Or just simply start by winning football matches against the black stars? Your guess is as good as ours.

By Andrew Bagala


Patrick Kabagambe could not be traced last Saturday when he was to wed Christabella Banturaki.

All was set for the momentous day in Ms Christabella Banturaki’s life. Ms Banturaki and prospective husband, Dr Patrick Mbusa Kabagambe, were to set to tie the knot at All Saints Cathedral Nakasero in Kampala City last Saturday.

The invitation card sent out to guests quoted the Book of Proverb Chapter 18:22, which reads: “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favour from God.”

The reception for the wedding had been organised at Silver Springs Hotel in Kampala.
However, on the eve of the historic day, Dr Kabagambe’s mobile phone handset was momentarily switched off. And he vanished, triggering frantic calls, panic, anxiety and confusion.

Worried, Ms Banturaki in company of her uncle went to Kasangati Police Station, Wakiso District, where they opened a case of a missing person. Detectives, relatives and friends began a frantic search for the would-be groom.

Worried relatives flooded social media with messages announcing the sudden disappearance of Dr Kabagambe, imploring well-wishers to share information wherever he is spotted - dead or alive.

“Dr Patrick Mbusa Kabagambe has been reported missing with his car UBH 905X on the eve of his wedding this Saturday, 10 April 21, and all his known [telephone] contacts are switched off. The case has been reported at Kasangati Police Station, SD REF 22/10/04/2021…The family is stuck with the wedding/reception.

Patriots, let’s assist trace the suspect/victim,” a relative posted in a WhatsApp group last Saturday.

On the D-day, minutes turned into hours without anyone hearing about him, converting what should have been a blissful ceremony into an agonising blind search and wait for information about the no-show Kabagambe.

The bride, who had been informed hours earlier, did not head to All Saints Nakasero Cathedral.

Some relatives, unaware of the developments, appeared at the church in their best attire for the scheduled wedding, only to find neither the bride nor the groom was present.

The time scheduled for the church service in which the bride and groom were to exchange vows and be pronounced husband and wife, passed with no sight of the pair.

The next day, the search was expanded. But before the police could engage other tracking units to establish his last contacts, Dr Kabagambe unexpectedly presented himself at Wandegeya Police Station in Kampala.

The deputy spokesperson for Kampala Metropolitan Police, Mr Luke Owoyesigyire, said Dr Kabagambe told detectives that he was not a missing person as reported to the Force, but elected to spend a night at the home of an undisclosed friend.

“He said he was stressed. He didn’t have a reason why he didn’t want to marry Ms Banturaki. We later released him on police bond as investigations continue,” Mr Owoyesigyire said yesterday.

However, there is no clear penal offence that the police can prefer against him given the fact that he claimed that he married Ms Banturaki in customary ceremony and even paid bride price.
In Uganda, the law recognises customary marriage.

Mr Owoyesigyire said they are waiting for Ms Banturaki to record a statement with detectives to determine the next course of the case.

Efforts to get a comment from Dr Kabagambe or Ms Banturaki were futile. Our calls to the would-be groom went unanswered while Ms Banturaki’s known phone contacts were switched off.
A close relative of Dr Kabagambe said the runaway groom is “traumatised” while the entire family is distressed over the flopped wedding.

By John Chuks Azu


Years after the Supreme Court nullified the customary practice of not according inheritance to female children by their family in Igboland, the lead justice in the case has explained the main reason for the decision.

Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, who retired from the Supreme Court on March 22 after clocking the statutory age of 70, revealed how he arrived at the widely hailed judgement, which tried to change the customary practice.

In affirmation of an earlier ruling in August 2020, the Supreme Court held that the age-long tradition which denied females any inheritance from their fathers was discriminatory and contravenes Section 42(1)(a) and (2) of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999.

The matter was commenced by Gladys Ada Ukeje, the daughter of late Lazarus Ogbonna Ukeje in 2004 over her family’s decision to deny her inheritance in her father’s estate based on the Igbo native law and custom.

After she won at the high court, the widow of her father, Mrs Lois Ukeje, and her son, Enyinnaya Ukeje, appealed the ruling at the Court of Appeal – wherein the earlier decision was upheld. Thereupon, the family further appealed to the Supreme Court.


The decision was taken in 2014 by a five-member panel of justices – Walter Onnoghen, Clara Ogunbiyi, Kumai Bayang Akaahs, and John Inyang Okoro, while the lead judgment was read by Justice Vivour.

“No matter the circumstances of the birth of a female child, such a child is entitled to an inheritance from her late father’s estate,” he said.

“Consequently, the Igbo customary law, which disentitles a female child from partaking in the sharing of her deceased father’s estate is a breach of Section 42 and (2) of the Constitution, a fundamental rights provision guaranteed to every Nigerian,” he added.

Explaining the rationale for the judgment, Justice Vivour said the biblical injunctions in the following chapters: Number 27:7, which reads, “The daughters of Zelophehad speak right. Thou shall surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father’s brethren; and shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them”

And Job 42:15 thus: “And in all the land were no woman found fair as the daughters of Job and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.”

“Women are Heads of State in several countries. See our own Okonjo-Iweala. Once you give a girl education, she would achieve enviable heights. So, a girl child should be treated equally as the boy child,” he further explained.

Speaking about his personal convictions, Justice Vivour said: “Most articles I read about me, describe me as conversative. I think I am conservative. But what I know about myself is that I don’t know how to dance around the correct position of things; and people tell me that I say it as it is. That is how I know how do it. I don’t know how to go about bending what is so obvious. If it is obvious, you say it and get out of the place or you keep quiet. That is how I see it.”

He declared therefore that female children are entitled to an inheritance.

Justice Vivour also explained that we should no longer rely so much on the doctrine of judicial precedent because some of them do not make sense and may no longer serve the ends of justice.

He said some of those decisions are outdated and should be laid to rest and never followed, although stare decisis implies that judges must “stand by your decisions and the decisions of your predecessors, however wrong they are and whatever injustice they inflict.”

Justice Rhodes Vivour joined the bench as a judge of the Lagos State High Court on 18th February, 1994. He was elevated to the Court of Appeal in 2005, from where he joined the Supreme Court on September 16, 2010.

Following the establishment of its first African office in Ghana, Twitter says it would recruit experts of major local languages in Nigeria (Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa) for its operations.

The company stated that the remote position is available for all candidates but the employee must have a full understanding and interpretation of news content from the Nigerian media.

Other criteria for the job includes the ability for candidates to have adequate knowledge and understanding of English and Pidgin English which is also commonly spoken in Nigeria.

“Twitter is looking for a passionate people manager to take on the role of Curation Lead for Nigeria.

“This person will manage a team that is focused on quickly, accurately and impartially summarising complex conversations that are unfolding in real-time on Twitter and important to users in Nigeria.

“While this role is primarily focused on English and English Pidgin content, working proficiency in one or more of the following languages is an advantage: Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo,” parts of the requirements on the career section of the company stated.

Jack Dorsey, Twitter CEO, on Monday announced via his Twitter handle that the company would be citing its first African base in neighbouring Ghana, to the chagrin of Nigeria’s vast tech industry, Peoples Gazette reported.

The Ghanian President Nana Adufo welcomed the company into the Ghanaian business environment while acknowledging the company’s partnership with the country.


Ghana is on the uptick in technological advancement and has a comparatively more appealing environment for business.

Conversely, Nigeria’s economy is struggling for survival under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, and has just survived the second economic recession in five years. Bloomberg also places the country’s unemployment rate at 33 per cent, second-highest in the world.

Nonetheless, Nigeria’s internet technology space continues to advance speedily as young innovators continue to roll out world class tech solutions amid scanty government support.

The internet market also keeps expanding. According to a survey by NOIPolls, there are 39.6 million registered Twitter users connected in Nigeria compared to Ghana with about eight million active users.

The Federal Government has alerted airport security chiefs across the country of impending attacks by suspected criminals.

To this end, the government through the Ministry of Aviation has alerted the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to beef up security across the airports.

FAAN’s Deputy General Manager in charge of Administration and Logistics, S.M. Mamman, issued a memo to airport chiefs of security to review security measures to stave off the attacks.

The airports listed included Kaduna, Maiduguri, Sokoto, Kano, Abuja, and Lagos.

The memo read: “I am directed to convey an alert from the Ministry of Aviation regarding security threats by criminal elements against Airports in Nigeria and to request for the immediate enumeration of necessary countermeasures for the protection of Airports/Facilities under your purview.

“Specifically, the Airports top on the list for which criminals are considering carrying out attacks include those in Kaduna, Maiduguri, Sokoto, Kano, Abuja, and Lagos amongst others. However, all airports are hereby alerted and requested to operate at a heightened threat level.”

Also, airport security chiefs were directed to “submit a list of existing and additional countermeasures to address the threats, along with their cost implications where applicable”.

Also, they are expected to urgently convene an emergency meeting of airport security committees “to review the status of airport security, jointly recommend appropriate measures and share responsibility for effective implementation”.

Daily Trust reports that new security measures have been put in place at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), the busiest airport in the country.

One of the measures, it was learnt, was the new directive barring drivers to pick arriving passengers in front of the terminal.

Spokesman of the Lagos Airport Police Command, DSP Joseph Alabi’ also confirmed that a new security arrangement is in place at the airport even as he assured airport users and operators of maximum security in and around the airport.

Amid increasing social discontent in Nigeria, a scholar and former Nigerian envoy, Nnamdi Onochie, says Nigerian masses are grappling with hopelessness while the country’s elites’ senses have been numbed by comfort.

“For the ordinary citizen, despair and hopelessness have encapsulated their thinking that the situation will not improve in the foreseeable future.

“The ruling political class, especially the ruling political party appears to live in a cocoon of comfort that dumbs (sic) the mind,” said the former diplomat.

Mr Onochie also noted that he had a blueprint for putting Nigeria back on track to achieve peace, prosperity, and progress.

He told the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Sunday that the political class must close ranks at this critical time to chart a roadmap to guarantee that Nigeria’s ethnic nationalities continue to stay together.

Citing recent “ugly” developments in Africa’s most populous nation, Mr Onochie, “It has become increasingly apparent that the worsening social condition in Nigeria is exacerbating tensions in the country and tearing the nation apart.

“The compelling reality is the inevitability that we the political class in the APC, PDP, and other political parties must confront the hardship in Nigeria headlong,” Onochie, a former Nigerian envoy to the Philippines and Algeria, stated.

He explained that rescuing Nigeria should be the immediate concern of the political class, rather than “watching helplessly and playing the fiddle while Nigeria burns.”


He condemned the “dog-eat-dog” scenario and apparent lack of patriotism in the country, which according to him, has resulted in social hardships, including the slaughtering of Nigerians by fellow Nigerians.

Mr Onochie added that it had become unimaginable that some misguided Nigerians would take up arms against their compatriots, dealing harsh blows to their country while grandstanding as jihadists, bandits, militants, and herdsmen.

He added, “Killing of servicemen, arson on police stations and judiciary facilities, and setting prisoners free are condemnable acts that have brought Nigeria to a new low.”

(NAN)

HILLARY ESSIEN

Bola Tinubu, using his self-named non-governmental organisation, has begun distributing bags of rice and other foodstuffs to Kano residents.

The All Progressives Congress’s national leader was in the news in March for donating to Katsina (President Muhammadu Buhari’s hometown) market fire victims.

People were handed ‘Jagaban’ bags of rice, as seen in a video that surfaced on social media.

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Nigerian politicians are notorious for giving handouts, popularised as ‘stomach infrastructure’ by ex-Governor Ayo Fayose, to would-be voters before and during an election period.

An Instagram username @mansurah_isah of Today’s Life Foundation uploaded pictures of the event with a caption appreciating Mr Tinubu’s foundation for the food items.

The donation followed Mr Tinubu’s donation of foodstuffs and other items to orphanages in Lagos and Ogun.

The donations were part of activities marking the celebration of Mr Tinubu’s 69th birthday.

Incessant requests for favours in terms of contracts, employment slots, among others are making heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to shun invitations of the National Assembly, Daily Trust reports.

A cross section of civil servants and National Assembly staff said that the request for favours in different forms is a key factor exposing the parliamentarians to ridicule.

Chief executives of government agencies and other public officials, on several occasions, shun the invitations extended to them by the National Assembly to respond to allegations levelled against them or their agencies, especially regarding their financial records.

Federal lawmakers described the disregard to their invitations by some public officials as an affront on the legislature, alleging that some heads of agencies were not ready to be accountable for their spending of public funds.

In most cases, the federal lawmakers invoke the necessary provisions of the law, including arrest warrant, to compel heads of agencies to appear before them.

Sections 88 of the 1999 Constitution as amended empowers the National Assembly to invite any person holding a public office to give account of any expenditure, or where it suspects that there is any infraction or corruption.

Apart from Public Accounts Committees of both chambers, which have the highest invitations to heads of MDAs mostly based on queries from the office of Auditor-General for the Federation, other committees also issue hundreds of invitations.

In some cases, the chief executives send representatives, who were mostly turned back by the lawmakers.

An official attached to the House of Representatives’ Public Accounts Committee, who does not want his name in print, said invitations extended to chief executives of MDAs are usually not a one-off matter.

According to him, an agency may be invited severally on different issues or tied to another involving a different agency.

He added that sometimes, the absence of heads of MDAs are justified, but multiple absence or flimsy excuses are not condoned and seen as disregard to the power of the parliament and breach of constitutional provisions.


Why N/Assembly summons are shunned

A retired director said the trend started since the country returned to democracy during the era of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

“It is a two-way thing. The lawmakers should be blamed on one hand, for over-romancing the heads of MDAs; on the other hand, the executive contributed to this by shielding the chief executives who shun the National Assembly invitations.

“You know it is a constitutional thing. But it is only when you abuse your office that the persons you are mandated to oversight will disrespect you.

“If you request for a contract for yourself or organisation that you have interest in and at the end of the day you are awarded but the project is not properly done, and after some time, you invite the agency over an infraction, they won’t honour you,” he said.

Another reason, according to him, is the attitudes of the presidency towards the parliament.

“Because of their closeness to the presidency, some heads of the MDAs including ministers see themselves as above the law. They capitalise on their closeness to the presidency and the attitudes of the president to misbehave

“If you recall when Jackson Gaius-Obaseki was summoned when he was group managing director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) under Obasanjo, he refused to honour it because he was close to the president. And similar things are happening now,” he said.

Asked what the way out is, he said: “The only way is for the lawmakers to stick to their constitutional mandate and the president should read riot act to the heads of MDAs to honour invitations. You know the National Assembly exists to check the excesses of the executive.”

A retired committee clerk said the parliament should be properly funded to discharge its duties without relying on the executive.

“Look, how would they respect the lawmakers? The MDAs will sponsor your trip for oversight and you will see infractions whether in terms of contract execution or appointment, then you summon them to the parliament, will they take you seriously?” he said.

An aide of a lawmaker corroborated this when he narrated how two agencies under the supervision of her boss sponsored their oversight to the South West.

“The agencies shared the responsibilities. Our flight tickets were bought by one agency while another gave us accommodation and honorarium. Ours was an official engagement but we have some lawmakers who seek the sponsorship of social or their personal event from heads of MDAs,” he said.

Meanwhile, there are reactions from some of the MDAs and the private firms that have been summoned in recent time on why they do not honour invitations.

While they denied that they do not honour invitations, some officials who spoke in confidence gave reasons why they prefer sending representatives to such legislative proceedings.

AIICO Pension in a statement referred to the recent invitation of its MD, Mr Eguarekhide Longe, who it said enjoys cordial relationship with the lawmakers and could not have shunned their invitation as he sent a representative.

“In the past when we had cause to be invited to interactive sessions such as the one cited in the media reports, we always honoured the invitations.”

AIICO further disclosed that all documents requested by the committee were submitted.

An official of Shell explained why heads of IOCs mostly send representatives to summons and public hearings.

“Most of the reasons we have been invited for are around finance and audit. Our office is in the Niger Delta and we can’t be coming to Abuja always because at times these invitations come from different committees of both houses.

“The best thing most of the time is to send the expert in the field the summons will focus on. It is not that we disrespect the lawmakers; we hold them in esteem,” the top official noted.

Also in another comment, an official of the Ministry of Power said the Minister of Power and heads of agencies were summoned last year for various clarifications on power projects.

“Of course they attended some, but you don’t expect them to attend all when they were needed at the presidency. So what happens in such instances is to send the Permanent Secretary and the appropriate management officials to these invitations.”

A public affairs official of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources also noted that there was no plan to dishonour invitations.

“We have always obeyed summons and ensured the agencies under us provide adequate records. However, there are times that a minister could be represented by a permanent secretary, who is actually in charge of the technical explanations. Even if the minister appears before the lawmakers, he will always go with the permanent secretary; that is how we do it.”


Prominent summonses

Some of the prominent cases of summons in recent time include one by the Senate Committee on Public Accounts involving the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulators (PPPRA) early in March over a 2016 report by the Auditor-General for the Federation, which said the subsidy amount reflected in the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) record was N443 billion, while the record presented by the PPPRA showed N563bn.

The same committee also summoned officials of the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel to explain why the ministry reported the same total revenue figure for years 2014, 2015 and 2016, and also did not remit N2.838bn solid mineral revenue to the federal account in 2016.

The House Committee on Pensions in February 2021 summoned Pension Funds Administrators (PFAs) over pension fund management.

A fracas ensued between the committee and the PFAs as the CEOs of AIICO Pension Managers and Fidelity Pension did not appear in person.

But in defending this position, AIICO Pension Regional Manager, Temitope Ajegboje, said his MD wanted to appear but had a medical emergency.

A branch head of Fidelity Pension, Oluchi Aneke-Ogala, was also sent as the representative of the MD but the committee rejected that and insisted on the appearance of the MD in person.

In December 2020, the Senate threatened to sanction International Oil Companies (IOCs) for not honouring summonses.

According to the Chairman, Senate Committee on Local Content, Senator Teslim Folarin (APC, Oyo), summonses conform to statutory regulations and provisions in Nigeria as he fumed that not even the Ministers of Labour and the MDs of IOCs appeared for the hearing but they sent representatives.

Similarly, the Interim Administrator, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Effiong Akwa, repeatedly shunned the summons of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, asking him to respond to an allegation that the commission diverted N6.28bn meant to procure COVID-19 palliatives approved by President Muhammadu Buhari for the Niger Delta region.

An ex-agitator and convener, Network for Defence of Democracy and Good Governance (NDDGG), Sobomabo Jackrich, had in a petition he sent to the Senate last year against the sacked Interim Management Committee (IMC) of NDDC chaired by Keme Pondei accused the management of diverting the money.

The Senate Committee had tried on three occasions to conduct a public hearing on the petition but failed because the NDDC’s management failed to honour its invitations.

After the fourth invitation dated February 5, 2021, the committee issued an arrest warrant for NDDC boss, who later sent a representative to the committee chairman to explain how the money was spent.

The Senate committee on Public Accounts, which is probing the spending on June 11, 2020, threatened to issue a warrant of arrest for some heads of MDAs after their absence at an investigative hearing on the audit queries issued by the office of the auditor-general against their agencies.

The committee chairman, Senator Matthew Urhoghide, lamented that heads of agencies have cultivated the habit of failing to honour Senate invitations.

In March 2021, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gabriel Aduda, also refused to appear before the Senate Public Accounts Committee, which summoned him to explain an audit query regarding alleged N4.3 billion hidden vouchers.

The management of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited, Benin City, and the National Petroleum Investment Management Services in Lagos, on March 11, 2021, shunned the invitation of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to defend allegations of funds misappropriation and impunity levelled against them.

Messrs Ismail Mohammed and Haruna Danladi had written separate petitions against the SPDC and the NAPIMS management to the panel, alleging that the two agencies misappropriated the revenue due to the federal government running into billions of naira between 2016 and 2018.

In December 2019, the Senate joint committee on Navy, Maritime and Finance threatened warrant to arrest former NIMASA DG, Dakuku Peterside, after his failure to appear before the panel, investigating the activities of a private security firm, Ocean Marine Services Limited (OMSL), and some security agencies over the alleged collection of illegal fees for securing vessels at the Safe Anchorage Area in Lagos Ports.

In March 2020, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, refused to honour invitations extended to him by the Senate Public Accounts Committee, which asked him to address it on the release of $289 million cash to a former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ayo Oke, in 2015.

The panel, in February, also sought an explanation from CBN and the Accountant General of the Federation on how N596 billion ecological funds were spent from 1999 to 2015.

The chairman, Senator Matthew Urhoghide, said the CBN boss snubbed the panel’s invitation several times.

Customs boss, Hameed Ali, also shunned the Senate when he was summoned in March 2017 to brief senators on some Customs policies, notably the introduction of import duties on old vehicles.

Ali cited bereavement for his failure to honour the invitation.

Last week, members of the Senate Committee on Health knocked the Minister of Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, and the Director-General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration, NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, when the duo failed to appear at a public hearing on the need to regulate the manufacturing, importation and use of syringes and needles in Nigeria.

Their representatives could not satisfactorily respond to the issues raised by the lawmakers, compelling them to issue a fresh summons on the two.

Last Tuesday, Senate President Ahmad Lawan slammed the two Ministers of Health and officials of the Ministry of Health over failure to attend a public hearing on three health-related bills in the Senate.

Lawan had, before declaring the session open, sought to know if the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, and the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Olorunmibe Mamora, or their representatives were present at the hearing.

Having observed the absence of the two Ministers of Health and no official standing in for the ministry, Lawan said that the development was responsible for bills passed by the National Assembly which are sometimes denied assent by President Muhammadu Buhari due to wrong advice from ministry officials.

Recently, the House of Representatives’ Committee on Public Accounts vowed to invoke relevant sections of the constitution to compel the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, and heads of 17 subsidiaries and agencies to appear before it after they shunned invitations to render accounts from 2014 to 2018.

However, in its response to the committee’s request, the NNPC said its GMD and other key executives could not appear because they have undertaken a compelling official trip out of the country geared towards the strategic interest of the economy of the nation.

In July 2020, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, frowned at the refusal of some banks to honour the invitation of the Joint Committee on Finance, Banking and Currency.

The committee investigated alleged over $30billion annual revenue leakage in the country arising from tax evasion, misuse and diversion of foreign exchange allocations by some firms. The chief executives of the banks invited were absent at the investigative hearing.

THE Imo State Commissioner of Police, Nasiru Mohammed, and his top officers have been booted out following Monday’s attack on the state Police Command headquarters and the Nigerian Custodial Centre which led to the release of 600 suspects and 1,884 inmates from the correctional facility.

The PUNCH gathered on Thursday that Mohammed was removed alongside the Deputy Commissioner, Operations, Ilyasu Yahaya; and Assistant Commissioner, Operations, James Aikai, by the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu.

Adamu, who was also relieved of his appointment by the Presidency while at the scene of the attack, announced the removal of the three officers while addressing the men of the command.

A senior police officer said the CP was found to have neglected to ask for reinforcement from Mobile Police Squadrons 18 and 64 and the military during the attack carried out by suspected Indigenous People of Biafra members.

The security source stated, “Apart from failing to act on the intelligence provided to him about two weeks ago, the CP also failed to draft the Mobile Police Force on standby during the attack. There were PMF Squadrons 18 and 64 in the state, but the commissioner did not signal any of them to assist in repelling the attack. This is gross negligence.

“The CP, DCP and ACP Operations were all redeployed while the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Administration, is the acting CP now. They were redeployed to Abuja because you can’t send incompetent officers to any state.”

The source said investigations had confirmed that IPOB carried out the attack in a move to rescue some of their top commanders and chief priest arrested by the police last month.

“They were not aware that the 16 suspects had been moved to Abuja. So, they attacked the CID with the intention of rescuing the men. Why the Force Headquarters is disappointed is that the CP got the intelligence report about two weeks ago that IPOB may attack the command, but he did not act on it,” the senior officer explained.

Our correspondent further gathered that the Joint Security Task Force in the state codenamed, Operation Search and Flush, had not been active following the failure of the state government to pay the men allowances and provide the necessary logistics.

Had it been active, the task force, it was learnt, would have greatly assisted in repelling the attack by the gunmen on the security facilities.

It was learnt that the task force members drawn from the Police, Civil Defence, Navy, Army, Mobile Police and others, were being owed eight months’ allowances by the state government.

A source said, “The joint security team used to assist the command in gathering intelligence and operations, but the state government abandoned the structure and allowed it to collapse. They have not been paid for over eight months and the state also did not fuel their vehicles. So, they stopped working; the intelligence gathering of the state is down.”

Our correspondent was informed that the premises of the Imo State Police Command headquarters had been taken over by pubs and restaurants and shops with the female police officers selling all manners of wares inside their vehicles parked within the grounds.

A senior police officer on special duty in the state observed, “The Imo State Command headquarters is just like Wuse market; every woman police working there sells boxers, T-shirts and other stuffs in their vehicles parked around the command.

“Do you know those who are coming to patronise them are coming to gather intelligence on the command? You also have restaurants there; people selling Okpa (bean delicacy) are there. So, how do you guarantee security there? That’s the problem.”

The Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, a commissioner of police, could not be reached for comment on the investigation into the attack as calls to his number indicated that it was unreachable. He had yet to respond to a text message as of the time of filing this report.

Security operatives have been deployed in Ama Awusa, a settlement dominated by northerners in Owerri, Imo State capital.

This is as a result of the widespread attacks on some northerners in the South-East.

Last week, seven traders of northern extraction were murdered in Orlu town and Umuaka in Njaba Local Government Area of Imo.

On Friday, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Hope Uzodimma on Gender and Vulnerable Persons (men), Sulaiman Ibrahim Sulaiman, told Daily Trust that adequate security had been provided to prevent further attacks.

Sulaiman, who is also the Garkwa Hausa (Shield of Hausa community), said the people have been sensitised on the need to live in peace with their neighbours.

He said the people are not contemplating to carry out reprisal, especially on the recent killing of seven traders as they have taken it as an act of God.

“We have taken everything as the will of Allah. To Him we come and to Him we shall return. Some of us have been here for decades. Even our grandparents were here over 150 years ago. So we see yourselves as indigenes of the state and so there is no need to fight or create recriminations between us,” he said.

Sulaiman advised those in the North threatening attack on Igbo interests in the North not to play into the hands of politicians who are not happy when there is peace in the country.

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, on Thursday, narrated how he escaped death in the plane crash that claimed the life of the former Military administrator of the state, late Con. Abdullahi Wase, and some other state government officials.

The governor narrated his experience when he received on a courtesy visit, the newly appointed Nigerian Ambassador to Romania, Barr. Safiya Nuhu, a Kano indigene, whose father also died in the plane crash.

“Myself, as the then Commissioner of works, housing and transport, was to visit the Wase Juma’at Mosque which was under construction.

“And I was the Coordinator for the appeal fund to build that mosque. The governor was to travel to inspect the project and also pay a condolence visit over a relation that died. So, I coordinated the journey.

“I secured the aircraft that was used for that journey, the aircraft was owned by Alhaji Aminu Dantata. I was the one who wrote all the names of those that were to travel with the administrator.

“And your father was not among, as I was going out from the government house, the late Wase was climbing the stairs through the family wing and your dad came to me asking why his name was not there.

“Then the late Wase after climbing one step, stopped and asked your dad: “you are Permanent Secretary Government house, when there is communication from the villa, who will receive that communication?” It is just like a chief of staff.

“Then late Wase asked what was happening, I then told him that the DG was insisting that he wants to follow us, he then said he should be included, then I included him.” Ganduje told Nuhu.

He added that two of them, in their separate vehicles, drove home because they were staying along the same route in Sharada, and her dad waved and said good night to him and he responded.

According to him, “But on reaching my house, I called my permanent Secretary and told him that we were scheduled to be in Wase through Jos, so I will not be in the office.

“He said that there was an important message. The memo you were asked by the governor to write to the Head of state, they sent the money requested for the rehabilitation of metropolitan roads.

“And probably the president will send some people to come and see what is going on. I said if that is the case, I am not traveling again.

“I then asked him to invite the technical people so that we will meet in my office by 8am, to prepare the necessary memo and when the governor comes back, I will take the memo to him for approval so that we can swing into action.”

Ganduje explained that after that interaction with his permanent Secretary, he decided not to travel with the governor to Wase.

He said in the morning the technical people came, and as they were holding a meeting then I was told that I was being requested to be at the government house, and I asked who would ask me to be at the Government house when the administrator was not around.

“The messenger said that it was a massage, then I left for the government house and went to the council chamber where we were holding our meetings, that was 1996, about 25 years ago.

“Immediately I entered, I saw the brigade commander, who had taken over immediately and some commissioners were crying, then I asked if it was not an air crash. How can commissioners be crying in government house? I asked.

Ganduje quoted the brigade commander, “Well, my colleagues, the administrator left here in the morning, there was a crash in Jos, and no survivors. I am giving you one hour, to go and get ready so that we go to Jos and sort out the dead bodies”.

“That was the end of it. Your father was my friend, since secondary school, to the university, and we later started working at the Gumel Advance Teacher’s College.” NAN.

Bello Matawalle, governor of Zamfara state, has described the protests against the medical vacation of President Muhammadu Buhari in London, UK, as an attack on the north.

In March, the president left Nigeria for London for a medical check-up.

Buhari’s trip to the UK for medical reasons has been an annual ritual since he became president in 2015.

Some Nigerians had protested against the president’s stay in London while doctors are on strike in Nigeria.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Matawalle described the protests as ”sponsored” and their organisers ”uncivilised”.

He also warned against the attack on northerners and their businesses in the south.

Below is the statement in full.



ENOUGH OF THE ATTACKS ON NORTHERNERS AND THEIR ECONOMIC INTERESTS – GOV MATAWALLE

…WHY WE MUST ALL CONDEMN THE SPONSORED ATTEMPT TO RUBBISH PRESIDENT BUHARI IN LONDON

Recent happenings in the country have made it expedient for me, as a political leader and a proud Northerner, to issue this important statement. This is not the time to play politics or to play to the gallery, but a time to tell ourselves the real truth, for the benefit of peace and progress of our country, and to prevent the looming anarchy that some disgruntled, unpatriotic Nigerians want to drag the nation into.

Considering the manner we play politics in Nigeria–politics without conscience–the public may expect a statement like this to come from a governor or a leader of the APC, but I choose to make the following statement even as I remain a proud member of the opposition PDP, for the sake of our nation; for peace to reign and in the overall interest of the North.

So much is happening to the North and to Northerners as individuals. Today, their lives, dignity and possessions are being threatened by the increasingly unfriendly South even as we try, as Northern leaders, to always calm the situation and to protect the interest, businesses and dignity of all Southerners living in the North.

Despite what Northerners are experiencing today in many parts of the South-West and South-East in particular, all we hear is the conspiracy of silence from Northern leaders and elites who are supposed to stand firm, in the manner in which other leaders of the South are doing even when they know that their people are at fault. This must not continue.

As Northern leaders, our dignified silence in the face of constant provocation and assault, because of our desire for peace, MUST not be taken as a sign of weakness. Indeed no community, or region has the monopoly of violence. If Northerners and their means of livelihood will not be protected, accommodated and be dignified anywhere they choose to stay in any part of the South, Southerners should NOT expect protection from the North as the North has more than what it takes to respond to any kind of aggression and hatred.

We have seen the destruction, the killings and the devastation recently at Sasha Market against Northerners and their economic interests. Properties worth billions of Naira were lost in addition to human lives yet some leaders in the South-West are downplaying the atrocities committed or, worst still, justifying it. Some of them have shamefully gone to the extent of apportioning blames on the victims and casualties of their aggression.

Last Sunday’s killings of innocent Northerners in Imo is one too many and no matter how we love peace, leaders with conscience and fear of God MUST speak out against this continued barbarism and hatred. We will not take that any longer as NO human life is worthier than another. No business interest is better than another. In fact, in crisis situation, the South has more to lose in terms of its business interests in the North and the strategic nature they established themselves in the North than Northerners living in the South.

The North is very much aware of such weaknesses and disadvantages the South is exposed to whenever there is such crisis but we always choose the path of peace and cherish peace beyond any act of lawlessness and hatred. Simple statistics on instances of unprovoked attacks against Northerners and their economic interests in the South in recent times can tell who is more tolerant, accommodating and peaceful between criminal elements and their backers that are well known in sponsoring such hatred and attacks against Northerners in the South, and our own people.

Sadly, we all can identify the thugs, the instigators of such xenophobic attacks. They are very much known and audacious in spreading their messages of hatred, incitement and provocation but unfortunately they and their leaders have continued to blackmail the federal government while government seems to be succumbing to such acts of blackmail, allowing them to live like kings and even bluntly refusing legitimate invitation by the Police. Nigeria is ONE. Whoever doesn’t want to believe in the current constitution, which is so far the legal and legitimate instrument behind our existence, should wait to challenge it through established legal and legitimate means, or pack and leave the country. We will not tolerate any form of intimidation any longer.

Even though I am a PDP Governor serving my first term in office, I don’t believe seeking for position of authority or seeking to retain it is a do or die affair or something that will silence us to ignore reality and not to stand by our people in the face of constant provocation and attacks.

As a Northerner, I condemn in strongest term how in the same manner of hatred, President Muhammadu Buhari was treated by so-called protesters that could not hide their disdain and hatred for the North. Their action, no matter their grievances, is uncivilized, highly irresponsible, unpatriotic and disrespectful to the person and office of the President and has demonstrated the growing hatred against anything North. This is certainly NOT the way to express dissatisfaction but an act of humiliation and hatred consistent with the southern agenda as the promoters and sponsors are well known and are only looking for opportunities and slightest excuse(s). Responsible and civilised protest should address only issues but reducing such sponsored protests to abusing the President, his family or parents as we have seen in London is most unfortunate, uncivilized and condemnable. I am sure they wouldn’t have done that for Buhari if he is from the South as we have seen severally on matters of their interest and agenda. The real motive and agenda of the so called protest is not for Nigeria but to humiliate the President that is why the number of the protesters, considering the large number of Nigerians living in London, is so negligible as they could be easily counted.

For the North to survive and defend its interests, our leaders MUST have the courage to always speak out against such aggression and to protect Northern interests, the way our contemporaries in the South often do, even when there is no justification to do so. We MUST not be ashamed to defend our people and protect our interests the manner they are doing. But in doing so we must not be blind, like they often are, to overlook the shortcomings or the faults of our people whenever there is one. Nigeria is for all of us. Peace or preservation of peace MUST be reciprocal and in the absence of that we demand that we will no longer tolerate what has been happening to Northerners in different parts of the South over the last few months.

Signed:
His Excellency,
Alhaji Dr. Bello Mohammed,
(Matawallen Maradun),
Executive Governor.

Ohanaeze kicks as Buhari appoints Usman Alkali Baba as Acting IGP


Ohanaeze condemns appointment

Meanwhile, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, has condemned the appointment of a Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, as acting Inspector-General of Police. The group said the injustice of the Federal Government was responsible for the growing agitations and insecurity in the South-East.

Ohanaeze National Publicity Secretary, Chief Alex Ogbonnia, stated this in an interview, said it was most unfortunate that the President had chosen to sideline the people of the South-East in his recent appointment of service chiefs and now in the appointment of an IGP.

He said: “It is unjust and unfair to sideline the South-East in the security architecture of the country. Injustice promotes insecurity; it promotes all forms of crisis and problems. With injustice, there is no peace anywhere.

“What is happening in South-East today in form of agitations is as a result of injustice. So, we the elders are put in a great dilemma because the younger generation is attacking us and we have been telling them to hold on believing that the president would have a change of mind.

“We thought that the president would be concerned about the level of injustice, agitations and crisis we have in the South-East and would try to ameliorate these things but unfortunately, he is not thinking towards that direction. It is most unfortunate and Ohanaeze will come up with a stronger statement.”

THE Christian Association of Nigeria on Tuesday berated the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), describing him as incompetent.

The CAN also described the current administration as being religiously biased.

The President of the association, Samson Ayokunle, said this in Abeokuta, Ogun state capital while speaking at the Holy Convocation organised by the Victory Life Bible Church.

Ayokunle, who spoke on the theme of the convocation, ‘The state of the nation: The way forward’, argued that the insecurity and other vices being witnessed in the country were as a result of negligence on the part of the Buhari administration.

Ayokunle, who also worried about the spate of insecurity and criminality in the country, lamented that criminals were being more professional than various security outfits in Nigeria.

He said about the President, “We put you there to secure the nation; we didn’t put you there to be complaining about bad leaders.

“The criminals are behaving more professional than the regular law enforcement agents. You were complaining about past leaders; we knew that the past leaders didn’t do well and we approach you to make change.”

Master Warrant Officer Saidu Afaka, official driver of President Muhammadu Buhari, who was recently detained by the Department of State Services after tricking his principal to sign a fraudulent document to make millions of naira is dead.

A statement by Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, said Afaka died at the State House Clinic on Tuesday after a prolonged illness.

Buhari extends heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased.

The statement read, “President Muhammadu Buhari extends heartfelt condolences to the family of Afaka on the passing of Master Warrant Officer, Sa’idu Afaka, his official driver, who died at the State House Clinic on Tuesday after a prolonged illness.

“President Buhari, who also commiserates with the Government and people of Kaduna State, described the late Afaka as an honest, capable and reliable person who handled his job with utmost care and responsibility.

“The President recalls that in 2016 the soldier, while on pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, picked up a bag containing a large amount of foreign currencies and turned it over to the National Hajj Commission, an action which earned him praises from the Saudi and Nigerian authorities.

“President Buhari prays Almighty Allah to 'bless the soul of the departed with an elevated place in heavens,’ committing the family and friends to divine comfort and patience.”

Afaka’s death is coming few days after SaharaReporters exposed how he capitalised on Buhari dementia to trick him to sign a fraudulent document to make millions of naira.

It was learnt that the whole affair was however hushed up by the Presidency, which did not want another scandal in the press.

"The fraud was perpetrated some weeks ago but it was kind of hushed up so that it would not leak to the press," the source said.

SaharaReporters further gathered that it is generally known in the President's circle and among his cabinet members that Buhari has been showing some symptoms such as forgetfulness, limited social skills and impaired thinking abilities.

Therefore, he does not go through the rigours of reading reports or properly vetting documents as required of his office.

It was learnt that the President's former Aide De Camp, who recently left, reported the deal to the DSS as he was not carried along in the deal.

"The driver made the President to sign a fraudulent document. The man is the main driver of the President. He got the President to sign a document from which he made millions of naira, capitalising on Buhari’s dementia.

"He was subsequently arrested by the DSS and detained for several days. The ADC to the President who recently left reported the deal to the DSS after finding out that he was sidestepped in the deal," the source added.

Ironically, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) in 2017 promised to reward Afaka, who had reportedly returned some lost items during the 2016 Hajj in Saudi Arabia.

NAHCON said Afaka found and returned to the commission a bag containing 400 dollars, N60,370 and 149 Saudi Riyals and a cell phone belonging to Adamu Umar, a Niger State pilgrim.

However, this is not the first time a scandal such as this would be experienced in Aso Villa. A similar scandal was experienced in Aso Villa in 2018 when the First Lady, Aisha, ensured the arrest of her Aide De Camp, whom she accused of defrauding her.

She had alleged that Sani Baba-Inna, a chief superintendent of police, received huge donations to the tune of N2.5 billion from politicians and business people on her behalf and then kept the cash to himself.

Following her allegation, the then Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, ordered the arrest of Baba-Inna and compelled him to return the money.

Eventually, the police could not establish that Baba-Inna committed the crime and an angry Aisha asked the DSS to take over the case, believing the police authorities were trying to protect one of their own.

Nigeria has been excluded from the list of 28 countries granted debt pardon by the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Board has approved a third tranche of grants for debt service relief for 28 member countries under the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT). This approval followed two prior tranches approved on April 13, 2020 and October 2, 2020, respectively.

In a report released yesterday, the Fund said the approval will enable the disbursement of grants from the CCRT for payment of all eligible debt service falling due to the IMF from its poorest and most vulnerable members from April 14, 2021 to October 15, 2021, estimated at SDR 168 ($238) million.

The beneficiaries of previous CCRT tranche are Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and The Gambia.

Others are Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Tajikistan, Togo and Yemen.

This tranche of grants for debt service relief will continue to help free up scarce financial resources for vital emergency health, social, and economic support to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Subject to the availability of sufficient resources in the CCRT, debt service relief could be provided for the remaining period through from October 16, 2021 to April 13, 2022 amounting to a total of about SDR 680 ($964) million.

In March 2020, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva launched an urgent fundraising effort to raise $1.4 billion in grants for the CCRT. This would enable the CCRT to provide financial assistance for relief on debt service for up to a maximum of two years, while leaving the CCRT adequately funded for future needs. Thus far, donors have pledged contributions totaling about $774 million, including from the European Union, the UK, Japan, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, Singapore, China, Mexico, Philippines, Sweden, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, and Malta.

Executive Directors welcomed the opportunity to consider the approval of grants under the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT) to support the third tranche of debt service relief for the Fund’s poorest and most vulnerable members. They noted that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to exact a severe human and economic toll on these countries and that the resources freed up by the first and second tranches of CCRT debt service relief had helped mitigate the impact of the pandemic.

Directors agreed that the available resources and pledges are sufficient to finance the third tranche of debt service relief for the period from April 14 to October 15, 2021. Accordingly, they approved grant assistance under the CCRT for relief for 28 eligible members that have debt service falling due during this period.

Directors concurred that countries that received the CCRT grants for debt relief are generally pursuing appropriate macroeconomic policies in response to the economic fallout from the global pandemic. They welcomed that a number of member countries were transitioning to Upper Credit Tranche-quality arrangements which would provide a stronger policy framework for the recovery period. Directors also observed that most countries would benefit from a resumption of Fund surveillance and updated debt sustainability assessments.

The Fund directors noted the progress made in implementing governance safeguards commitments regarding COVID-19 related spending in CCRT-eligible countries. However, they regretted implementation delays in some countries, particularly in disclosing beneficial ownership information on entities awarded government contracts. Directors thus underscored the importance of continued follow-through on the commitments on governance and transparency, supported if necessary, by technical assistance.

From Fred Ezeh, Abuja

Alhaji Bello Bodejo is the President of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, a Fulani socio-cultural organization. In this interview, he registered his displeasure with the level of hatred his people have received from the Benue State government. Excerpts:

Benue governor, Samuel Ortom, openly accused your association of trying to assassinate him. Is the allegation true?

That allegation is unacceptable to us and we demand a thorough investigation to unravel the true situation. We have used all available media platforms to inform Nigerians that we were never behind the alleged attempted assassination of the governor, but he has continued to shout to the world that our people are behind the assassination attempt.

The governor alleged that you and your people held a meeting in Adamawa on that matter. Is it true?

Yes! We held meeting in Adamawa few days before that incident, but the meeting focused on how to change the bad image and perception of Fulani people in Nigeria. At the meeting, we encouraged them to do good to people so that our image across Nigeria can be redeemed. As leaders of the association, we seriously sensitized our people on the need to be law abiding irrespective of the provocations. We want to make other tribes and ethnic groups to know our importance and know that we are not troublemakers, even though some bad ones among us are being corrected.

Did you discuss anything about Ortom during your meeting in Adamawa?

Like I said, our meeting focused on how to change the bad image and perception that people have about Fulani. The meeting had impressive representation from government, security agencies, traditional institutions and other stakeholders. After our meeting in Yola, Adamawa State, we set an agenda for our people on how to strengthen peace among themselves and other people. But we were surprised that shortly after our meeting on peace building in Adamawa, Benue governor, Ortom, who is presiding over a state with different tribes and ethnic groups alleged that our Adamawa meeting was to discuss how to destabilize his state and possibly assassinate him. That’s untrue and should be disregarded. He’s used to speaking against us, inciting his people against us, so we are surprised.

Why do you think he was doing that?

It has to do with us taking him to court over the anti-open grazing law which he signed in Benue State some years ago. That’s the only thing that joined us with the governor. The court case is still on and we are hopeful that the case will end in our favour.

Ortom’s allegations are weighty and it attracted the attention of the Federal Government to the point that a delegation was sent to Benue. What effort are you making to exonerate yourselves?

Ortom is obviously using his executive powers to oppress, harass and intimidate us. He has repeatedly displayed open hatred for our people and he has vowed not to allow us have peace and do our trade. We should be the ones accusing Ortom of trying to take us off the surface of the earth through his executive actions. He has chased us out of Benue State through the anti-open grazing law. His taskforce officials sieze our cattle arbitrarily, in the name of ban on open grazing. In the last three months, our people have spent N87 million as fine for open grazing and we have the receipts; N5, 000 fine is placed on each cattle arrested for open grazing. Our people are forced to sell cattles to bail the arrested ones. We are custodians of Fulani tradition. Not only that, we are to ensure that our people are living peacefully with their host communities. Our reason for going to court was to demand reversal of the anti-open grazing law in the state.

You recently said there’s no more Fulani in Benue State?

Yes! I can confirm to you that there’s no Fulani in Benue since the enactment of anti-open grazing law. Fulani people have left Benue to another location. All the Fulani that are being arrested in Benue State are passersby or the ones from border communities in Nasarawa and Taraba states or other states.

What are you doing to ensure that your people escape from the bad perception?

We are living in a country with law and order. Our people are being persecuted across the country through unfriendly legislations, physical and verbal attacks, and you can’t expect them to keep quiet. For instance, Benue governor has taken pleasure in inciting his people against us as can be seen in the kind of treatment we get from Benue people. Ortom has become a thorn in our flesh. He follows us everywhere and ensure that we are not found around Benue. He has championed propaganda against us and we will ensure he never succeeds. We will use all peaceful means to ensure we achieve the best possible outcome.

Are you taking steps to separate the criminals ones among you?

Since the coming of technological revolution that heralded the emergence of social media, Fulani has been verbally and physically attacked more than any other tribe in Nigeria. But anyone with good historical knowledge will know that Fulani people are the most peaceful people in Nigeria. It’s unfair to say that all Fulani people are criminals. This is not true. There are criminals in all ethnic groups in Nigeria, and that does not mean that all the people of the ethnic group are criminals. The best thing to do is to fish out the bad eggs in the society and punish them in accordance with the law instead of vilifying the entire ethnic group. We need government to do this because they have all it takes to do that.

Are you aware of any organization called Fulani Nationality Movement (FUNAM)?

FUNAM is not known to us. We have observed lately that anytime crime is committed in Benue State, the state government links it to an unknown Fulani group called FUNAM. That group is fake, doesn’t exist and not known to us. I have never heard about it except in the mouth of Benue State government officials. As they are being mentioned in the media, so I hear about them too. They are faceless and we have no relationship or link with the group as being claimed by the Benue governor. I challenged you journalists and security agents to go look for them, speak with their members and know more about them, if they ever existed.

Don’t you think that lack of cooperation with other Fulani groups was responsible for the poor results being achieved?

Cooperation with who? The group known to us is Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) which is the umbrella body of cattle breeders in Nigeria. Anybody can be a member of MACBAN, but not the same with our association. Anybody who is not Fulani cannot be our member. Note, we are not in competition with them because their agenda is not the same with ours.

You said FUNAM is only in Benue State, can’t carry a check on the group since your people are linked to it?

I can’t talk about an organization that is unknown to us. No member of our association ever told us anything about the group. None of our member even agreed to have known their operations. I suggest that you ask the Benue State government, maybe they will know better about the group. For us, the group is unknown to us, so, I don’t have information about them. Besides, it’s the government that controls the security apparatus, so should even give more information about the group. We don’t have such powers and equipment to confirm that. Besides, there’s no Fulani in Benue State who will even ask questions.

Are you alleging that Benue State government established the group to discredit your people?

That’s not far from the truth because It’s in his mouth that we started hearing FUNAM. People should ask why there’s no such group in other states other than Benue. Security agents should investigate the group to know their aims and objectives, as well as their membership.

Kingsley Nweze in Abuja


The wreckage of the Nigerian Air Force fighter jet that went missing last week may have been found in Bama, Borno State, an authoritative military source told THISDAY yesterday.

The source said it was found with the body of one of the pilots intact. The pilot was Flight Lieutenant Chapele Ebiakpo. He, however, said the body of the other pilot, Flight Lieutenant John Abolarinwa, is still being searched for, explaining that troops on the ground have been asked to intensify their search.


The Air Force had declared the Alpha Jet fighter aircraft, NAF 475, missing on March 31, saying a few days later that it might have crashed.

The terrorist group, Boko Haram, had claimed responsibility for the crash but the military refuted the claim.

THISDAY source said last night that the jet, which took off from Maiduguri Airport crashed five minutes after take-off at an estimated altitude of 15,000 feet, explaining that at that height no missile by Boko Haram could have hit and brought it down.

“Given what we have seen, the jet could not have been hit by any missile. It must have been caused by a technical fault that would be revealed by ongoing investigations,” he said.

The jet, according to Air Force spokesman, Commodore Edward Gabkwet, was on an interdiction mission in support of ground troopsas part of the ongoing counterinsurgency operations in the North-eastwhen it lost contact with the radar.

“The loss of radar contact occurred at about 5:08 p.m. on 31 March 2021,” he said in a statement last week.

The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing has set aside N100m in the 2021 budget for the rehabilitation of the Ife-Ifewara Road which had been fixed by the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye.

The road was rehabilitated free by Adeboye as part of the church’s Social Corporate Responsibility at the cost of N188,440,342.00.

As a result of this, the Senate is currently probing the Ministry of Works and Housing for paying N145m to a construction firm, Cartil Construction Nigeria Limited, as a reimbursement for the road.

The matter is currently being handled by the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, following a petition written to the panel by the church.

However, our correspondent, who obtained a copy of the Ministry of Works and Housing’s 2021 budget, observed that the ministry allocated yet another N100m as payment to the contractors for the rehabilitation of the Ife-Ifewara Road.

Details of the allocation are: Account code – 23030113; rehabilitation/repair of roads; fund code – 03101; fund name – Capital Development Fund; programme code – ERGP12153874; Rehabilitation of Ife-Ifewara Road in Osun State, C/No 6105 N100m.

When contacted, the chairman of the Senate panel handling the case, Senator Ayo Akinyelure, said the officials of the RCCG, those of the Ministry of Works and Housing, and management of the construction firm had been asked to appear before the committee on Thursday, April 15.

A senior official of the RCCG, Pastor Niyi Adebanjo, had in a petition submitted to the Senate alleged that the Ministry of Works and Housing officials paid N151m to the management of Cartil Construction Nigeria Limited as part payment for the road project awarded to it but abandoned.

Adebanjo submitted the petition on behalf of Adeboye while the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, referred the document to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions.

The petition was laid by the Chairman of the Committee on behalf of Lawan, on Tuesday, February 9, 2021.

The RCCG, in the petition, alleged that the construction firm claimed the sum of N151,508,901.22 as reimbursement for the rehabilitation of the Ife-Ifewara Road in Osun State which the church constructed.

Part of the petition read, “The rehabilitation of the road was awarded and paid for by Pastor Enoch Adeboye in the sum of N188,440,342.00, hence the claim by Cartil Construction Nigeria Limited was illegal and unjust.

“The church hereby requests the Senate to look into the matter and, among others, urge the firm to refund the money it collected to the coffers of the Federal Government.”

Speaking before the panel under oath, Adebanjo said, “Pastor EA Adeboye employed the services of the construction department of the RCCG to execute the project between August 26, 2016 and 2019 and the total cost was over N188m.

“The project started from Eruwa junction in Ife and Garage Olode in Ifewara, which is 8.2km. We have the details of all the seven companies that supplied us with the materials used to execute the project.

“They delivered all the materials on site. We have supplied details of the projects to the committee. While the project was ongoing, authorities of the Nigerian Correctional Service pleaded with Pastor Adeboye to extend the construction to their premises which was done.

“There are people at Ife and Ifewara who can testify to the fact that Pastor Adeboye constructed the road because he visited the palace where the Oba appreciated him for constructing the road.

“We were, therefore, shocked when we found out that somebody is trying to defraud the Nigerian state by claiming money for a project he never executed.”

An official at Cartil Construction Nigeria Limited, Olalekan Jimoh, was put on oath to address the panel on behalf of the managing director, who Jimoh claimed could not speak the English language.

Jimoh debunked the allegations by the RCCG, saying the contract for the construction of the road was awarded to his construction firm in 2010 for the sum of over N600m to rehabilitate the road under reference.

He said only N145m had been paid to the company.

“Cartil Construction Limited was duly given an award letter and the description of works to be done,” he said.

Jimoh said the staff of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing in Abuja and those in Osun State were constantly supervising the project which is still ongoing.

“Up until March 2020, there were communications between us and the Federal Government,” Jimoh said.

He, therefore, urged the Senate committee to summon officials of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing for questioning so as to correct the impression that the firm fraudulently collected money for projects it did not execute.

However, a member of the Senate panel, who is the Senator representing the area under reference, Francis Fadahunsi, faulted the submissions of the construction company.

He said, “I visited the road personally and I complained to the Minister of Works and Housing (Babatunde Fashola) and told him that the road was abandoned due to the sickness of the managing director of the construction company.

“The minister then promised that another contractor would take over the project because the road had been abandoned.

“It was when armed robbers capitalised on the poor state of the road that Pastor Adeboye came to the aid of the people.”

Ruling on the matter, the Senate committee chairman, Akinyelure, directed the secretariat to write the directors and supervising engineers in charge of the project to appear before the panel.

He said, “The engineers from the Ministry of Works and Housing should come and tell us their own side of the story. The directors of works too should be summoned.

“We will listen to them before we carry out the physical assessment of the road as part of our oversight functions.”

Some analysts have detailed how a Boko Haram video claiming to have brought down a fighter jet was doctored.

The jet, NAF 475, went off the radar on Wednesday while on a mission to provide support to ground troops fighting Boko Haram.

The whereabouts of the two pilots remain known, as the Nigerian air force said it is still on a search and rescue mission.

On Friday, the Abubakar Shekau-led faction of Boko Haram had claimed responsibility for the incident.

In a video released by the insurgents, an aircraft was seen on fire mid-air.

The insurgents, who claimed to have shot the jet down, are later seen at the crash site making a mockery of the Nigerian military.

Commenting on the video, Hugo Kaaman, a Sweden-based analyst, said the supposed explosion of the jet was from a 2012 video.

“Boko Haram just released a video claiming it shows a NAF jet shot down by the group. Looking at the video, it appears as if the jet explodes mid-air. However, this is not true. BH took a 2012 video showing a SyAAF helicopter exploding mid-air over Idlib and superimposed it. Weak,” he tweeted.

He said while the jet really crashed, “this video merely highlights Boko Haram’s fake footage of the shootdown itself”.

Calibre Obscura, another analyst, said the Boko Haram video was “deceptively edited,” as it is unclear what caused the crash.

“I’d say HMG/cannon fire or mechanical issues,” the analyst added.

War Noir, an analyst who also checked the video, said it “seems to be edited” and that the “airplane is likely damaged before (not by MANPADS but likely by other weapons, perhaps HMG)”.

BOKO HARAM ‘DOESN’T HAVE THE WEAPON’ TO BRING DOWN AN ALPHA JET

The air force, while dismissing Boko Haram’s video, had said the insurgents lack the capabilities to bring down the jet.

“Although the video is still being thoroughly analysed, it is evident that most parts of the video were deliberately doctored to give the false impression that the aircraft was shot down,” the air force had said.

Senior military officers who spoke with TheCable on Saturday said it is only a “helicopter gunship” that can be easily brought down in that manner.

“The jet lost navigation, or it could be round jam, avionics. Then this happened overhead of the BHT camp, and it crashed,” one of the officers, who is also a pilot, said.

“Anti-aircraft cannot drop an alpha jet like that. Only helicopter gunships are easily dropped like that. It must be a technical failure. For us, it calls for no comment because it’s no issue.”

Another officer said an anti-aircraft gun that could bring down that jet would be an “artillery Shilka that its radar must be working 100 percent”.

“Even if Boko Haram has that Shilka, they can’t have the radar,” he said.

“Not even MANPADS will bring down that NAF 475. The jet is a smart aircraft. The Control system it uses is different from normal airplanes. The jet can do 360 degrees within seconds to dodge any missile. In fact, if any round of missiles is a second close, it could still swerve to dodge.”

The officers said they’ve analysed the video and that the most significant weapon observed is a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), and this, they said, cannot bring down the air force fighter jet.

Quick Correction:
The video seems to be editted. So the airplane is likely damaged before (not by MANPADS but likely by likely other weapons, perhaps HMG).

By Oge Udegbunam
The Nigerian government says it has intervened in a feud between Nigerian banks and MTN, which left millions of phone users unable to buy airtime Friday.

Talks to resolve a row over the sharing of fees on airtime sales between the two sides “reached an advanced stage” for suspended services to be restored, the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, announced on Twitter late Friday.

“On the fallout between @MTNNG and some banks on USSD services today, I engaged with both regulators, the Governor of @cenbank and EVC @NgComCommission. We have reached an advanced stage of resolving the issues, for the services to be restored to our citizens. Many thanks,” he said.

Banks removed the telecom giant from their platforms, disallowing MTN users from accessing their bank accounts through the USSD infrastructure to recharge their phones.

Subscribers expressed their frustration online, as MTN advised its customers to seek alternative ways of recharging without explaining what the problem was.

A top industry official who asked not to be named told PREMIUM TIMES the banks cut off the service to protect their profits. He described the move as “tyrannical”.

“Banks have tried to remove the cost of using USSD, but are willing to cut off subscribers to protect their own fees earned through the channel,” the source said.

“This only has to do with the preservation of bank profits, which are already substantial and growing despite the wider economic conditions.”


Banks blame MTN

Bank officials who asked not to be named said they moved against MTN to curb its “excesses”.

Bank sources said MTN slashed the percentage of airtime fees that go to the banks, and refused to backtrack despite their protests.

“MTN recently reduced the discount offered to banks on airtime sales from 4.5 percent to 2.5 per cent and this did not go down well with banks considering the cost of managing the infrastructures and servicing these customers, while MTN continues to make huge spreads,” the source said.

“The truth is that if MTN gets away with this, banks should expect further reduction if not checked. Over 60 per cent of airtime vending by telcos today are done electronically through the banks,” another source said.

A source said other phone networks pay banks more than what MTN pays, yet, have not changed their rates.


MTN has done ‘nothing wrong’

MTN insiders, who also requested to speak anonymously, defended the network’s decision.

“We did a commission optimization which saw the banks commission reducing from an average of 3.5% to 2.5%. This reduction is standard because the volumes compensate for the reduction,” one source said.

“We reviewed our commissions downwards. Most of the banks are not connected to us directly but through a third party – our convenience channel partners and aggregators.

“Communication was shared with the partners who in turn wrote to the banks (the banks here are agents to the partner). Our contract with the partners allows us to do this;

“The channels were blocked yesterday midnight leaving our customers stranded. Interesting that the bank MDs met and quickly took a decision. This references our conversation around NCC standing in the gap for the industry. Subscribers to telecommunications are being denied services by the banks even when they have money in their accounts;

“Zenith Bank is connected directly to MTN – their earnings is at 2.70%. They are happy and have not blocked us.

“Banks on ‘MTN On Demand’ had an uplift in their commission from 2.0% to 2.75% yet have blocked services;

“Banks with direct connection to us through ‘MTN On Demand’ got a commission uplift.”

Another source claimed that in “advanced countries, commissions for the same services are between 0.5 to 0.75%. Even at 2.5%”.


Lingering feud over USSD

The Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission on March 15 intervened to resolve a similar standoff between banks and telcos over USSD fees.

The USSD allows subscribers to use their mobile phones to access financial services daily.

The Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) had said banks owed its members N42 billion and threatened to suspend service.

From March 16, subscribers paid N6.98 each time they used the USSD for banking transactions. That arrangement has angered customers and alarmed advocates of financial inclusion.

The regulators claimed the billing would “ensure a much cheaper average cost for customers to enhance financial inclusion”.

A PREMIUM TIMES report showed the banks and telcos would realise about N564 million in a year from the new mobile banking fee.

By Okodili Ndidi,


The Nigerian Air Force has dismissed claims by terror group Boko Haram that it gunned down the missing Alpha jet, which disappeared from radar on Wednesday, March 31.

Boko Haram claimed responsibility for downing the aircraft in a viral video.

But the Director Public Relations and Information Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, said the viral video could be clips from a previous incident.

Read Also: ‘Why killings persist in Effium’
He insisted the video is fraught with inconsistencies that established it was fake, adding the lush vegetation in one of the videos suggest it was not in the Northeast.

NAF spokesperson, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, said: “We have seen some videos but there is nothing that has proven that the aircraft in those clips belongs to us, or have you seen a Nigerian Air Force aircraft number or the body of Air Force pilot or have you seen any Air Force unifor until we get all these details strengthen out, we are not going to go into speculation.

“That video could have been shot somewhere. I have seen four videos so far, one of them has lush vegetation in the background, and I wonder where they have such vegetation in the Northeast. Unless they did something and they are releasing the clips bit by bit, we are waiting.

“Except we have evidence, because like I said, these persons have families and you cannot go their wives, parents or wards, you must bring concrete evidence. There must be something to show”.

The missing Alpha jet of the Nigerian Air Force has been found. It was found to have crashed at Abba-Jille in Konduga LGA of Borno State.

The location of the crash is approx 30Kms outskirt from the city of Maiduguri.

PR Nigeria reported that the fighter jet was seen flying around Goni Kurmiri and Njimia villages after attacking terrorist locations at the Sambisa axis.

There was no word yet on the fate of the pilot and co-pilot, whether they ejected safely or have been captured by insurgency fighters.

The plane was reported to have lost contact with the radar on Wednesday evening, according to Air Force spokesman, Commodore Edward Gabkwet.

He said the plane lost contact with radar in Borno State, while on interdiction mission in support of ground troops.

“The mission was part of the ongoing counterinsurgency operations in the North East.

“The loss of radar contact occurred at about 5:08 p.m. on 31 March 2021.