₦airaland Forum

President Muhammadu Buhari has addressed the structural defect in the Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS) by assenting to the act repealing the law, a former chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior, Sen Andy Uba has said. The president had on Wednesday assented to the bill, changing name of the Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS) to Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS).

The Act repeals the Prisons Act and changes the name from Nigeria Prisons Service to Nigerian Correctional Service, otherwise known as “the Correctional Service.” There are, according to the Act, two main faculties of the Correctional Service, namely, Custodial Service and Non-custodial Service.

Uba who was in the eighth Senate, said the new law will put an end to several years of legal and structural defects in the administration of Nigeria’s Prisons. The senator who sponsored the Bill, said the new law will address challenges in prisons across the country.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/buhari-has-addressed-defects-in-prison-services-says-sen-uba.html

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has extended by three days the 50 per cent reduction in the registration fee for Business Names with effect from 13th August, 2019. A statement signed by the Commission’s Head of Public Affairs, Moses Adaguusu, revealed that the fee cut would now end on Friday, 16th August, 2019.

“The three day extension is to enable Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) that could not register their businesses during the promo because of the Sallah holidays to do so,” the statement stated. CAC said registration of their businesses will enable them own corporate accounts with Banks, have access to loans, grants and other government interventions.

“Members of the public are enjoined to take advantage of the three Day extension to register their Business Names at the reduced cost of N5,000. Registration can be done online or at any of the Commission’s Offices nationwide,” the statement added.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/cac-extends-50-cut-for-biz-registration-fee-by-3-days.html

President Muhammadu Buhari has applauded the election of renowned Mass Communication lecturer, Prof Ralph A. Akinfeleye, into the World Journalism Education Council. He said the Federal Government will always appreciate those who bring honour to the country, particularly in the areas of scholarship and other lofty endeavours.

Presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina said: “It is in that light that the President sees the recent election of foremost Mass Communication teacher, Prof Ralph A. Akinfeleye, into the World Journalism Education Council, the first African to achieve such feat.” He noted that the election of the University of Lagos Don in Paris, France, last week, “hoists Nigeria’s flag proudly once again in the international arena.”

He urged Prof Akinfeleye to serve diligently in the three-year term, in which he would represent not only Nigeria, but the entire African continent. More than 600 participants from 70 countries participated in the World Journalism Education Congress, where Prof Akinfeleye was elected.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/buhari-applauds-akinfeleyes-election-into-world-journalism-education-council.html

Former Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Ambrose Aisabor has called for a panel of inquiry to unravel the circumstances surrounding the killing of three police officers by soldiers in Taraba State. Speaking with our reporter on phone at the weekend in Benin, Aisabor said only a panel of inquiry can unravel the circumstances surrounding the killings.

“The brutal murder of three police officers is very unfortunate. Those who commit crime cannot be allowed to sit in the judgement of their own case hence setting up a panel of inquiry is very crucial,” he said.

He said one cannot rule out the possibility that some security officers are in the pay roll of high level kidnappers in the country. According to him, there has never been an inter-agency cooperation in Nigeria in the fight against crime, adding that considering the recent development there might not be such in the near future.

“All the much talked about inter-agency corporations are all lip services because there is no sharing of information among security agencies. What we have been having is inter-agency rivalry, jealousy, envy, sycophancy, eye service, blackmail, supremacy battle and individualism among security agencies,” he said.

Aisabor noted that to avoid the rivalry leading to killing of the police officers, there should be a joint training and patrol especially among the junior officers of various security agencies as well as reviving the dumped inter security agencies sport competition to foster unity.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/police-killings-retired-aig-calls-for-panel-of-inquiry.html

The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has said corruption was still killing Nigeria’s economy. The EFCC boss disclosed this while addressing 328 EFCC Detectives Superintendent cadet-trainees in Kaduna at the weekend.

He charged them to get ready to fight corruption in Nigeria, saying the menace was a big problem in the country.The Acting Chairman urged them to be disciplined and patriotic to be able to join the fight against corruption. Magu, who was represented by EFCC Training Academy Commandant, Professor Ladi Hamalai, who visited the Course 8 cadets undergoing training at Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), said Nigerians look up to them for the battle against corruption. “Corruption is killing the country.

The economy can’t grow and the infrastructure can’t be provided, not because of lack of funds but mainly due to corruption. “This is why I said you are a special force because you need to be mentally ready and prepared to be able to fight corruption. Do you have the will to fight corruption? Are you mentally prepared and ready to fight corruption? Can the nation rely on you? We hope the nation can be better because of you,” he said.

Magu further assured the cadets that their welfare was very important to him as would-be officers coming on board to join hands with him in the fight against corruption.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/corruption-still-killing-nigerias-economy-says-efcc-boss.html

The ever considerate and benevolent President Muhammadu Buhari has sought and obtained a warrant to detain Revolution exponent and Sahara Reporters Chief executive, Omoyele Sowore, for 45 days in the first instance. Before fellow revolutionaries start shouting a luta continua; victoria ascerta, let it be known that Sowore is detained for his own good. We should be grateful that Buhari is a converted democrat. In 1984, General Buhari would have drafted an overnight decree exclusively for Sowore’s brand of sedition and backdated it before throwing him into Kirikiri or Gasua. Anyone disagreeing with such Supreme Military wisdom could have been fixed. I am not saying that the 9th Sinnate of failed rulers would have denied their political grandfather a wish for accelerated hearing of a bill to that effect, but there are judges willing to do democrat Buhari’s bidding.

Our hard working Irrational Assembly is on a well-deserved recess, having screened 43 ministers in waiting. They are pretty tired that they need the break. It was not until my gym instructor asked me to raise and drop my arms ten times that I realized how tedious it is to clear a ministerial list in record time while distributing committee leadership. It takes 34 muscles to lift an arm, imagine the number of times (Dr.) Lawan dropped the gavel before the deed was done. These loyal legislators need more pay. People berate the condition known as ‘bow and go’. But it takes about 100 muscles to make sounds.

Animation students know how hard it is to make pictures move. Let us pray that our indolent politricians return with sufficient energy to deliver Nẹs Lẹbù. Sowore and his fellow revolutionaries may not understand how lucky they are to be so benevolently detained. It is unsafe walking lawfully around Naija. Such natural actions happen after binding and losing. Buhari is a saviour. He has saved Sowore from sudden death.

People in the habroad think that America is safe. Sowore’s DSS detention saved him from being the target of two deranged Americans who went on the rampage in El Paso and Dayton, killing 22 human beings. Yes, Sowore operates from New York city, he could have been shopping at Walmart last weekend. Let us thank Sai Baba for taking his freedom but sparing his life. Nobody ever got killed in El Paso who was in DSS detention kí a má rí! Habroad people slave for dollars, binge on burgers only to buy tickets to visit home to say life is valued in America. We knew what happened to Trayvon Martin.

Although America is not at war, this year alone, there have been nearly 300 mass shootings in Trumpcountry leading to as many deaths. They count it with gusto. We don’t count our misfortunes here. That would have made the witches happy and scare willing investors. If Naija people know how dangerous it is to live in the habroad, they’ll never queue at any foreign embassy for a visa to sudden death when it is cheaper to die and be buried at home.

Dying in the habroad is a luxury reserved for those with the capacity to return home stowed in an ornamented box stowed in the belly of a plane. Our Ministry of Funny Affairs should issue a travel advisory to all patriots who have heeded General Buhari’s charge to Andrew not to check out but to ‘stay here and salvage it together.’ It would read like the fake one circulating on social media with little amendments.

In view of the unsavoury incidents in Europe and the Americas; the proactive government of General Buhari, ever conscious of its duty to bury its citizens home and abroad, issues this travel advisory. That anybody who chooses to travel to any part of Europe or Trumpcountry do so at their own risk. There are high risks of being mauled on the streets of New York, shot in El Paso or gunned down in Dayton. Gun-loving Trumpians like Naija herdsmen are very likely to pull the trigger without provocation but there are more guns in America than there are people.

Trump’s nuclear arsenal are enough to blow up the world five times and nobody is sure if in a moment of sheer delirium he would not press the button believing that white people are immune to nukes just because they made it. You are warned that going to Europe is not a good idea seeing that Britain, the Queen’s land has been locked in a battle to opt out. Europeans caused two world wars and they could do it again when Britain exits. By the way, why leave Naija where death is cheap, at homes, on the road, in the streets and everywhere and cemeteries are fresh and yearning to go and die in the habroad? Stay home and die here. Those who flagrantly discountenance this travel advisory are warned that no planes would be dispatched for their evacuation. The one that Buhari’s minister launched is a mere horse on paper, it does not fly.

To be forewarned is to forearmed. The participation of the vast majority of Nigerians is restricted only to the ritual of voting during the election cycle where the political class engage in all sorts of untoward political activities that discourages and prevents the electorate from making their democratic choices freely. Increasingly even this marginal freedom is becoming irrelevant as the political class contrives to subvert the real choice of the people through all kinds of underhand political activities. With the notable exception of the 1999 elections all subsequent elections have been highly contentious. The 2015 elections was shaping to be the stage for the climactic implosion of democracy in Nigeria under the weight of all these contradictions had foreign interests not intervened.

Providing a perspective to that, Adamu Adamu the former Minister of Education and a close confidant of President Buhari had remarked in one of his last write ups for the Daily Trust that Nigeria was saved from what would have been a revolution had the outcome of the elections of 2015 been different. But since coming to power has President Buhari, the beneficiary of this political mandate by the people of Nigeria, acted to stem the slide towards the revolution that seemed imminent in 2015 when he was first elected? Objectively the answer to this question weighs heavily on the side of the naysayers.

In the four years it had been in power, Nigerians have seen the Buhari administration regress from one of hope to despair. On its much touted pledge to fight corruption, the administration has raised the white flag of surrender and had wooed into its fold those it had been pursuing on allegations of corruption. Similarly the administration has been overwhelmed by the security challenges that have morphed from the insurgency in the Northeast to all hues of criminalities all over the country. But what must rank as the greatest disappointment so far, is the continuation in the acts of malfeasance of democracy that occurred during the last elections which Nigerians did not expect to have happen under the administration of one who himself was a beneficiary of the democratic vigilance exhibited by the people in 2015.

It was appalling to say the least for Nigerians to see that in an attempt to prevail in the 2019 elections, the Buhari administration allowed itself the latitude to engage in acts that are inimical to democratic principles. That singular act finally tipped the scales of trust and confidence that the people had in President Buhari as the harbinger of the new order of political and social morality that he claimed to be and under which auspices he sought and got elected. With the disappointing performance of the Buhari administration, a growing number of Nigerians have come to resign themselves to the fact that at the end of his second and last term, President Buhari would not have lifted the country out of its debilitating challenges. It is these issues that Sowore is seeking to expose and to agitate against.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/why-sowore-is-detained-for-his-own-good.html

At least, 11 people were killed on Saturday in a ghastly road crash, involving a Sharon vehicle and a trailer in the suburban town of Damba, four kilometres south of Gusau, Zamfara State capital. Residents told Daily Trust that the Sharon vehicle, conveying the 11 passengers from Abuja to Jangeru village in Shinkafi local government area of the state, had a head-on collision with a trailer going out of Gusau.

“The passengers in the Sharon vehicle were coming to celebrate Eid-el-Kabir when they had the accident. Non of them survived. They were all dead on the spot. Their remains were later taken to Federal Medical Centre, Gusau,” a resident, Sani Aliyu said. The Director General, Press Affairs in Zamfara government house, Alhaji Yusuf Idris told our correspondent that governor Bello Matawalle had visited the scene of the accident and ordered for the evacuation of dead ones for burials.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/zamfara-11-killed-in-sallah-eve-road-crash.html

Police recovered 1,350 firearms in past 7 months

With the sharp rise of violent crimes across Nigeria, obviously comes arms proliferation. From hi-tech guns to local pistols, the number of firearms in circulation is stirring apprehension. By way of an investigation, Daily Trust Saturday takes a look at the worrisome trend. An extensive research on small arms conducted in Adamawa, Anambra, Benue, and Plateau states by Geneva, Switzerland-based National Small Arms and Light Weapons Survey (NSALWS) in 2018, revealed demand and supply factors that shape the deadly market in Nigeria, finding that demand is driven by insecurity and conflict, and also cultural and societal factors. Also, the research identified craft production poses a significant challenge for the Nigerian state and will require a mix of holistic measures to regulate or deter it, ranging from improving security, and the relationship between security providers and communities, to licensing, measures aimed at providing alternative livelihoods for craft producers, and a more comprehensive application of the relevant legal framework.

The work, by Matthias Nowak and André Gsell, researchers for Small Arms Survey, pointed out that building on a long-established and often well-reputed practice, craft producers in Nigeria employ a range of blacksmithing techniques to create weapons that can be up to four times as cheap as their industrially produced counterparts. It explained that categories of craft-produced weapons include self-loading pistols, revolvers, break-action shotguns, revolving-action shotguns, pump-action shotguns, sub-machine guns, assault rifles, and muzzle loaders. The research expressed serious concern that one-fifth of arms are in the possession of civilians. The need for arms has led some residents of Tsauni village in Yankuzo District of Tsafe LGA in Zamfara State, scrambling for locally fabricated guns and an amulet which supposedly makes its wearer impervious to gunshots. Apart from that, there seems to always be incidents where law enforcement agents seize huge caches of weapons, either being transported to undisclosed places, or being imported illegally. Experts told Daily Trust Saturday that although there are numbers attached to the arms recovered from criminals and smugglers, they are far less than those in the hands of unauthorized persons.

Daily Trust Saturday checks showed that from January 2019 to date, security agents seized 138 AK-47 rifles from criminals, with the highest number of 44 in Kaduna, 43 in Katsina, 16 in Adamawa, 11 in the FCT, six in Zamfara, and four in Gombe, among others. Also are 12 seized Pump Action guns with three from Kogi and Rivers states and two each from FCT and Katsina. Furthermore, 14 Beretta and Revolver pistols were seized within the same period with five from Katsina, three in Anambra and Kogi states, two in FCT and one in Ebonyi. Also, 19 locally made pistols have been seized with five in Rivers, three in FCT, two each in Benue, Delta, Imo and Enugu states, with Bauchi, Plateau and Adamawa having one each. But these are the unofficial figures. According to data from the police, they recovered from January this year, 1,350 guns, two rocket launchers, and 23,860 live ammunition. Generally, arms recovered are varied and frightening. They include AK-47 rifles, pump action guns, local and modern pistols, English-made guns, Dane guns, single and double-barrel guns, double barrel shotguns, and LAR rifles among others.

A document titled ‘Arms Trafficking’ by Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), noted that though Nigeria fulfilled international obligations in the ratification of appropriate international conventions regulating the flow and proliferation of weaponry, it has been at the centre of West Africa as one of the major hubs of illicit weaponry trade. According to the document: “Arms trafficking has become a source of concern at the proportion of threatening territorial integrity in light of the insurgency in many parts of the country, especially in the North East Boko Haram-infested areas. The ‘merchants of death’ continue to engage in arms trafficking/ trading through covert means largely aided and abetted by the porous nature of the Nigerian borders with Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.” CISLAC also regretted that there are no dedicated institutions on the subject of the proliferation of weapons in Nigeria or at least dedicated departments within existing law enforcement.

“The only weak structure provided by the ICPC is called the Anti-Corruption Transparency Units (ACTU) to which a desk is domiciled with the Ministry of Defence. Aside this, there is no other. This weak institutional response is inadequate owing to the cadre and low rank of officers charged with the responsibility of managing this desk. Superior officers within the military and police are never challenged on the subject of the management of weaponry and military equipment.

The problem of illegal arms trafficking is aggravated by the weak enforcement of border control.” The organization also said flood of cheap and easy-to-get weapons is for Nigeria very real and extremely high danger and that the cost for Nigeria in terms of human lives lost and property damaged has assumed extraordinary proportions. It remarked that Nigeria scores 149th out of 163 countries in 2017 according to the Global Peace Index and as the 3rd worst country, out of 163 countries, in 2017 in the Global Terrorism Index compiled by Vision for Humanity.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/how-thousands-of-guns-were-seized-in-2019.html

Mr Ola Adenipekun, Head of Nigeria National Office, West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) has emerged as president of the Association of Educational Assessment in Africa (AEAA) for a period of one year. The appointment was announced in Abuja on Friday at the closing of the 37th Conference of the AEAA.

Adenipekun will chair the 38th edition of the conference which holds in Kenya in 2020. A communiqué signed by the outgoing AEAA President, Dr Litsabako Ntoi, called on examining bodies to embrace ICT based innovative approaches in their operations and assessment practices.

The communiqué urged the association to strengthen its capacity building programme to support the upcoming innovative approaches in member countries. It called on educators and assessment experts to consider reviewing the current ways of teaching, learning and assessment to ensure that meaningful learning took place to counter the scourge of examination malpractices.

It was resolved that educational and examining organisations must consider exploring, developing, adapting and/or adopting various ICT based solutions to promote meaningful teaching and learning while enhancing their integrity, efficiency and effectiveness. “Innovations in assessment and education should be driven by research findings.

“Therefore, education and assessment institutions must consider establishing well-resourced research units that will use appropriate methodologies, suitable statistical and qualitative analyses and provide information to support innovations,” it explained.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 2019 edition of the conference hosted 339 delegates from 28 countries across the globe in Abuja, Nigeria. (NAN)

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/waec-boss-adenipekun-emerges-president-of-association-of-educational-assessment-in-africa.html

Wike...

The Federal Government says no date has been announced for the exit of the first batch of volunteers enrolled under the N-Power scheme. Justice Bibiye, Communications Manager, National Social Investment Office (NSIO), in a statement on Friday in Abuja, urged the public to disregard social media reports about current status of the programme.

He said that the Federal Government was liaising with state governments and the private sector to provide permanent engagement for the N-Power beneficiaries. Introduced in 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari, the N-power Programme, is a graduate and non-graduate job enhancement scheme. The objective is to enable them acquire the requisite skills, knowledge and experience for entrepreneurship and self sufficiency at the culmination of their tenure on the programme. The N-Power beneficiaries are then provided with N30, 000 monthly stipend and devices to aid their learning and skills development.

Bibiye said that progress was already being recorded in the programme as many beneficiaries had already started taking ownership of their lives by setting up small businesses with earnings from the N-power programme. “Consequently, the Federal Government is already in talks with state governments and the private sector to solicit support for permanent engagement of the N-Power beneficiaries, who by virtue of their exposure to the work environment in the last two years have now garnered the needed experience to effectively operate in the industry.’’

The communications manager said that the former Special Adviser to the President on Social Investment, Mrs Maryam Uwais, was recently in Yenegoa, Bayelsa State, to inaugurate the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme. He said the Uwais also intimated N-power beneficiaries of plans by government to assist them get a sustainable means of income as they prepared to exit the programme. Bibiye said that Uwais also used the opportunity to encourage state governments to retain volunteers who provided services in schools and other public and private institutions in their states. “Uwais was joined by Bayelsa government officials to ramp up on some ongoing social intervention programmes, including Marketnoni, Tradermoni.

“She also met with the Conditional Cash Transfer officials and beneficiaries in the state saying that the Federal Government through partnerships with some key private sector players is looking out for employment opportunities in the areas of Education, ICT, Agriculture, Security among others for the graduating N-power volunteers,’’ Bibiye said.(NAN)

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/no-exit-date-yet-for-first-batch-of-n-power-beneficiaries-fg.html

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The killing of a commercial driver by security agents on Kaduna-Abuja expressway has sparked protests by drivers leading to heavy gridlock along the road. This gridlock is coming on a weekend when the road is expected to have high traffic due to the forth coming Sallah

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/photos-gridlock-on-abuja-kaduna-way-as-people-protest-shooting-of-driver.html

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The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said the escalating insecurity, rising political uncertainties, biting economic hardship as well as prevailing tension in the country was an indication that the nation was collapsing under President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). The PDP, in a statement on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said it was deeply worried that the nation, which was a prosperity hub and a reference point for democracy, personal freedom and good governance, now has all the trappings of a failed state.

The party said many compatriots are being taken in as political prisoners under the present government all in a bid to foist a siege mentality and suppress public opinion. “The national leadership of the party rose from a crucial meeting on Wednesday noting that the red flag has become urgent following the manifest total loss of faith by Nigerians, across the board, in the ability of the Buhari Presidency to provide a democratic leadership that can engender a peaceful and secure nation.

“It is clear that the APC and the Buhari Presidency have held Nigerians hostage. Nigerians are now being treated like a conquered people. They can no longer freely exercise their constitutionally guaranteed rights; Executive high-handedness have become a state policy just as the APC Government, burdened by challenges of illegitimacy, has lost direction and only thriving in vindictiveness.

“The PDP notes that due to the prevailing anti-democratic proclivities of the Buhari Presidency, our once cohesive and economically thriving nation has come under distress on all fronts; never in the history of our nation has our fault lines become so visible; uncertainty now envelopes our nation; citizens are nervous and agitated as ominous hopelessness sets in.

“Our party has also noticed that since the defence of the APC and President Buhari collapsed at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, the APC and its government have taken to harassment and repression of Nigerians by surreptitiously suspending constitutional provisions of freedom of speech and association in our country.

“On the economic front, President Buhari has ruined our economy and led our nation to become the world’s capital of poverty, while condoning the humongous corruption that has become the hallmark of his failed administration.

“Sadly, President Buhari’s anti-development policies, the corruption in his government as well as its failure to provide security have scared away foreign investors from our nation.

“Only recently, the United Nations declared that 43 percent of our nation’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has taken flight to other countries. Unemployment has gone out of proportion and there is no hope in sight. “Our worry is that the prevailing situation of hopelessness under President Buhari and the APC is threatening our national cohesion and corporate existence as a nation,” the PDP said.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/nigeria-collapsing-under-buhari-pdp.html

lackren:
The national chairman of APC, Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole is reportedly interested in taking over the mantle of leadership from Buhari in 2023.

Already posters of the national chairman contesting for the position of President in 2023 has flooded the social media space.

Boldly inscribed on the posters are structural reforms, transformation, continuity and security with the hashtag #NextNextLevel.READ FULL STORY HERE

Day dreamer! oshio baba...

Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has said that if delegates and leadership of the PDP give the governorship ticket to somebody not endorsed by him and his restoration family, the party could jeopardise its chance of retaining power in the state. Gov. Dickson stated this yesterday in Yenagoa during the official flag off of campaigns for local government elections holding in the state this Saturday.

He said, “Let me tell you, Oforoma-Pepe (Dickson) is in charge; there is no candidate or aspirant in PDP, none of them that can lead our party to victory during the governorship election without my support, forget about those making mouth, we are the support base of PDP in Bayelsa. “Those who are boasting that they will take the governorship primary away from Yenagoa to another state, let me tell you, that kind of thing cannot happen at all. This year’s governorship election will be a clash between federal might and state might, just like what happened in 2015.”

Gov. Dickson warned party members against supporting unfaithful people seeking for the governorship position in the forthcoming election, describing those he called unfaithful members as “butterflies to the party”. He explained that supporting the unfaithful persons for a governorship aspirant would ruin the party’s plans and chances of winning the governorship election on November 16.

“We have rebuilt PDP in the state, and we are going to defeat all other political parties in both the Saturday local government elections and the gubernatorial election on November 16. “I urge you to support PDP now as we go to the polls for the LGA elections. You know that we have some genuine members and some butterflies in the party.

All we want is restoration candidates as flagbearers of our party. “PDP is on course to move the state forward. As we go to the polls on Saturday for LGA elections, I urge you not to disappoint the party; keep supporting the restoration government, keep supporting PDP,” Dickson added.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/only-my-candidate-can-win-bayelsa-govship-under-pdp-dickson.html

A Federal High Court Abuja has granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) its prayer to freeze the operational account of the Bauchi State government. The EFCC, through its Counsel, Mr Abubakar Aliyu, in an Exparte Order with file number: FHC/ABJ/CS/858/2019, sought the order of the court to freeze the account pending the conclusion of the ongoing investigation by the commission.

The state government presently has about N11 billion (N11,500,000 000 00) in the bank account. Justice Taiwo Taiwo ordered the EFCC to, within 21 days, notify the respondents; the Bauchi State government and the FCMB about the court’s decision. The judge, however, adjourned further hearing until Sept. 3. Earlier, counsel to the EFCC told the judge that the commission was investigating a money laundering case in which the account featured prominently. He said many non-existent companies were used to transfer funds from the account. “My Lord, about N19.8 billion cheques were raised on the eve of transferring power to the new government for purportedly non-existent contracts and other grants,” he said.

He told Justice Taiwo that the amount was beyond the N11 billion in the account. According to him, the Accountant General is still a signatory to the account and they are still trying to access the money. When the judge asked if freezing the account would not affect the operation of the state government, Aliyu said the action would not affect the government’s operation because the account was not the one linked to Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

“They have other accounts and we have tagged this as exhibit 22 and 23,” he said. Responding to the judge’s question on how long the investigation would take, the counsel said: “My Lord, investigation is like a pregnant activity. If My Lord will give us 21 days, we will be grateful.”

“I have patiently listened to the counsel’s prayer. I therefore grant the order sought by the applicant as prayed,” Justice Taiwo held. “This honourable court has the jurisdiction to grant this order and it is in the best interest at justice to grant this application.”(NAN)

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/efcc-gets-courts-nod-to-freeze-bauchi-govt-account.html

Court grants medical leave We’ll comply – DSS Leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky and his wife Zeenat are set to fly out to India after a court granted them leave for medical attention at the Medanta Hospital in New Delhi. Justice Darius Khobo of the Kaduna State High Court, who granted the leave yesterday, however ordered that the IMN leader be accompanied abroad by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS).

The judge further ordered that the IMN leader and his wife will remain at the approved hospital, Medanta Hospital, New Delhi, India until they recover completely and upon their recovery, they will return to Nigeria and continue with their trial. The DSS, in a statement by its Public Relations Officer Dr Peter Afunanya, confirmed receiving the court order and said it “is liaising with relevant stakeholders to ensure compliance.”

The IMN leader and his wife applied for medical leave to Medanta Hospital, near New Delhi, India citing poor health while in detention. They are facing charges of culpable homicide, unlawful assembly and disruption of public peace among other charges since December, 2014 when members of his movement blocked the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai in Zaria. Daily Trust earlier reported how the IMN suspended its street protest following the intervention of prominent personalities in the north to help resolve the crisis “because of its security implications.”

It is not clear why the IMN leader chose Medanta Hospital which, according to its website, is a multisuperspeciality hospital in Delhi NCR (Gurugram) providing world class treatment including heart, liver, kidney transplants, cancer surgeries and radiation therapy, and minimally invasive robotic surgeries.

The hospital, which was established in 2009, with cardiac surgeon, Naresh Trehan, also launched an eye-care division offering laser-based eye surgeries, minimal eye trauma and shortened surgery time. Medanta Hospital where Zakzaky and his wife will receive treatment Medanta Hospital where Zakzaky and his wife will receive treatment ‘Court granted leave, not bail’ Speaking to journalist after the court sitting, Kaduna State Director, Public Prosecution, Bayero Dari said the state will explore whether there is need for an appeal or not, adding that “We have a month to go through that.”

He said the team had taken time and examined the eight medical reports by Nigerian and foreign doctors that accompanied the IMN leader’s application. “The context of the court ruling is that Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife are granted leave to travel out for urgent medical attention.

“The court read through all the medical reports and said the applicant could leave for medical attention because based on the medical reports, Malam is in dire need of medical attention and the court cannot try a dead person. “The leave, according to the court, will last till malam and his wife are discharged from the hospital and as soon as they are discharged, they will return to the country to continue with the trial.”

He informed that the court heard all arguments from counsels and ruled. “We are bound by the ruling of this honourable court and all the parties are bound by the ruling of the court,” he said. He noted that the applicant will leave for India as soon as travel arrangements are made along with officials of the state.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/zakzaky-wife-set-to-fly-to-india-for-treatment.html

Nigerians under the aegis of Young Nigerian Professionals (YNP) have demanded the National Assembly to probe the $16 billion spending on power during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999 to 2007. They also demanded the federal lawmakers to do same to the regime of late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, former President Goodluck Jonathan and the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.

Addressing a press conference yesterday in Abuja, the Chairman of the forum, Charles Olufemi Folayan who was flanked by many others said without probing and bringing those who brought Nigeria down to justice, the country cannot move forward.

“With just a year to go before the 2020 target of a 40,000 MW for the country, based on the alleged investment in the proposed power plants, all those who have questions to answer must be brought forward to explain why the power generation target has remained unattainable despite the huge investments.

“Considering that this will be a very comprehensive investigation, covering the $16 billion spent by the Obasanjo-led government between 1999 and 2007, the power spending of administrations of Presidents Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (late), Goodluck Jonathan and the incumbent, Muhammadu Buhari; we are confident no one will hide under the excuse of being witchhunted.

“It is high time that the books are opened, and the way and manner all funds allocated to this sector were spent are made public; while those who are found wanting face the wrath of the law. “We therefore totally support the resolve of the House of Representatives to investigate and uncover those behind the ineffective and corruption – ridden investments in the power sector.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/nigerians-ask-n-assembly-to-probe-objs-16bn-power-spending-others.html

The Department of State Services (DSS) has said it arrested the publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoleye Sowore, over plans of a revolution and for threatening public safety. DSS spokesman, Peter Afunanya, made this known on Sunday in Abuja, during a briefing with journalists at the Headquarters of the Service.

Afunanya explained that the DSS, as a responsible security organization, acted over the call for revolution in Nigeria. said: “Primarily revolution means a revolt, an insurrection, it means insurgency, it means the forceful takeover of government, and Nigeria operates a democratic system.”

“Whether we arrested Sowore or not, the answer is in the affirmative, yes he is with us, and why is he with us? He has crossed the line, he has threatened public safety. “Sowore has, as a matter of fact, threatened the peaceful co-existence and social harmony of Nigeria; there is apprehension, there is anxiety, citizens and residents are worried as to what will happen next,” Afunanya added.

He said, “we want to use this opportunity to assure law-abiding Nigerians, friends of Nigeria, and citizens of the world, that come tomorrow (today) 5th August 2019, there will be absolute peace in Nigeria, nothing will happen.” The DSS spokesman assured that there won’t be any revolution, adding that the government that had been elected democratically will be in place.

“There will not be any forceful takeover of government and the DSS will not stand idly by and watch self-serving people take laws into their hands,” he stressed. Afunanya had accused Sowore of also working with some persons outside Nigeria to cause disaffection, chaos and anarchy in the country.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/sowore-crossed-the-line-threatens-public-safety-dss.html

Many villagers were believed to have been killed in an attack by Boko Haram insurgents on Jakana in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State last night, sources within the civilian joint task force said. The incident was said to have occurred at 6.30pm along the Maiduguri- Kano Road. The insurgents, who drove in six gun trucks, were reportedly shooting sporadically.

The attackers were also said to have carted away foodstuffs. Sources alleged that there was no military and police presence in the village at the time the terrorists struck, saying troops and policemen had withdrawn from the village two days earlier.

A resident, Babagana Adam, told our correspondent that the insurgents arrived at the village in six military utility vehicles mounted with anti-aircraft guns. “We thought the troops had returned because they have everything similar with soldiers until when they started shouting ‘Allah Alkar’, then everyone fled the town, they operated freely, they were breaking shops, looting and carting away foodstuffs. “I don’t know how many people have lost their lives, but definitely, many might have died due to how they (the terrorists) were shooting.

As I am speaking with you, I am on the tree and many children don’t know their parents’ whereabouts. We are helpless,” Adam said. A security source, however, said: “Yes, as I am speaking with you, our troops are already in Jakana and they are engaging the terrorists; they (insurgents) are cowards.”

It was learnt that two days earlier, some locals had sighted the insurgents in hundreds with dozens of gun trucks around the Maiduguri-Damaturu axis, possibly planning an attack.

Source: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/b-haram-kills-many-in-fresh-borno-attack.html

President Muhammadu Buhari has described the late MKO Abiola as a bridge builder who could have prevented the religious and tribal issues besetting the country now from happening, if he had been allowed to rule Nigeria. Receiving Elders and Leaders of Thought from Ogun State at the State House, President Buhari said: “If MKO Abiola was allowed to rule, the religious and tribal issues now in Nigeria would not have been as strong, because he ran on a Muslim-Muslim ticket, chose his deputy from the Kanuri, a minority tribe and because of his personality, he went across Nigeria and was accepted.

“He used his resources and energy to convince Nigerians that all he wanted was a solid Nigeria and nothing else.” He said that he named the National Stadium after the late politician because he knows that the youths would want to find out why such an important national institution was named after MKO Abiola in future.

The Ogun State delegation, led by the governor, had come to thank the president for the honour done the late MKO Abiola, an indigene of the state, by conferring on him the highest national honour, Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) for his ultimate sacrifice in enthroning democracy.

The delegation used the opportunity to solicit for the rehabilitation of some federal roads as well as other critical infrastructure in the state.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/with-abiola-as-president-nigeria-could-have-been-spared-ethno-religious-tensions-buhari.html

The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onayeikan, has described the proscription of the Shiite movement by the Federal Government as an error. He said, “The proscription portrays us as a country where government can wake up one day, get a court order from nowhere that particular religious group is proscribed.

“If we allow that to go, it means Catholics and my own religion too can be proscribed any day by any government who manages to get any judge to issue an ex-parte or non-ex-parte order.” He said the Shiite sect members had the right to protest the continued incarceration of their leader, Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, noting that if he (Onaiyekan) was detained unjustly, it would be difficult to prevent Catholic faithful from protesting against his incarceration.

However, some Muslim clerics in separate interviews with Daily Trust on Tuesday in Abuja supported the government’s action, especially in the interest of the nation’s security and citizens’ well-being. The Proprietor, Daarul-Uluumil-Islamiyya-Fi-Naijiria (DUIN) International Academy, (Islamic Sciences House of Nigeria) Kubwa, Abuja, Dr. Rafee’ Owonla AL-Ijebuwi, said the government was right in its action as there cannot be a government within a government, especially that the activities of the proscribed organisation has led to loss of lives and destruction of properties. “Their (Shiite) actions have majorly led to the disruption of peace which Islam stands for.

It is good that the government has said that it is not opposing Shiite members who are not part of those causing the violence,” AL-Ijebuwi said. On his part, the National Chief Imam of Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society (AIS), Sheik Fuad Adeyemi, said: “Any religion of grouping that failed to recognise or appreciate the rights of others to peace, are not what they are meant to be and that government whose primary responsibility is to protect the citizens would not fold its arms and fail in that responsibility. “The number of lives lost to their activities is a cause for concern. The most important is that justice prevails at all times,” Adeyemi said.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/onaiyekan-differs-as-muslim-clerics-back-fg-on-shiites-ban.html

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