Security breach to top IG, management team’s meeting today

DSS operative attached to Buhari’ s nephew fired shots – Source

Olalekan Adetayo, Eniola Akinkuotu and Adelani Adepegba

The shooting at the Presidential Villa involving Usman Shugaba , the Aide-de -Camp to the First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari, and other security agents attached to her will top the agenda of the police management team meeting today (Monday).

The PUNCH gathered in Abuja on Sunday that the First Lady’s security aides would face a panel that would be set up by the leadership of the police.

It was also learnt the affected security aides would not be restored to the wife of the President following their involvement in an altercation with a personal assistant and nephew of the President, Sabiu Yusuf, also known as Tunde, last Thursday, at the Presidential Villa.

The trouble started on Thursday night, when the President’s wife and three of her children – Zahra, Halima and Yusuf – as well as some of her security aides, led by Shugaba, stormed the residence of Yusuf at House 8 by the Pilot Gate of the Presidential Villa.

They insisted that Yusuf, who had just returned from Lagos, should proceed on self -isolation for 14 days, to save the President and his family from the danger of COVID - 19.

Yusuf had visited his wife, who was recently delivered of a baby in Lagos.
The situation worsened when the First Lady’s ADC, in his attempt to apprehend Yusuf allegedly released some gunshots on the premises.

Following the gunshots, Yusuf ran away and took refuge in the nearby house of his uncle, Mamman Daura, also Buhari’s nephew.

The IGP, a report further stated, after receiving security report at the Presidential Villa, ordered the arrest of the ADC to the First Lady and other security aides, who accompanied her to Yusuf’s residence.

Besides the ADC, a chief superintendent of police, others arrested were the escort commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Sheriff Kazeem, who is the son of ex -IG, Hafiz Ringim, and four riot policemen who were at the scene of the incident. The operatives are being held since Friday morning.

One of our correspondents learnt on Sunday that the shooting incident would top the agenda at the weekly meeting of the police management team which would be presided over by the IG at the force headquarters, Abuja, today (Monday).

A source in the Presidency who confided in The PUNCH, said, “Shooting at the State House is not permitted under any guise. It is a serious security breach that should not have happened. And that is why the IG ordered the detention of the officers involved . The men will face a police panel and if found culpable, may be demoted and redeployed from the Presidential Villa.”

Explaining the incident further, the source stated,“ The ADC, Shugaba, fired gunshots in the air after Yusuf jumped a locked gate in a bid to escape. Yusuf narrated the incident to Daura who informed Mr President; the President was very furious and he complained to the IG.”

“The truth is that the officers can ’ t go back to the villa. If they did not lose their ranks, they would be redeployed to other formations; this kind of incident attracts demotion and serious reprimand,” an official noted.

The Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba, could not be reached for comments as he did not respond to calls. He had yet to reply an SMS as of the time of filing this report.

One of our correspondents further gathered that Shugaba started working with the First Lady about three months ago.

Findings indicated that Shugaba was the Chief Security Officer to the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, before he was redeployed to the Villa as ADC to Aisha .

The PUNCH learnt that Shugaba had denied firing the shots, insisting that the shooting was done by a DSS official.

‘Tunde’s security aide, not first lady’s ADC, fired shot’
A top aide to the first lady, however, told The PUNCH that the gunshots that were fired last Thursday emanated from the gun of one of Yusuf’s security aides.

He said it was unfortunate that the police, acting under the instruction of Buhari’ s nephew, Mamman Daura, had decided to take sides with Yusuf (Tunde) and feed lies to the public.

The aide, who wished to remain anonymous said, “Madam (Aisha) never asked her aides to shoot Yusuf. It was Yusuf’s security men that were shooting into the air when madam’s ADC attempted to remove him from the Villa.

“If the police investigate thoroughly , they will discover that the bullets came from the gun of one of Yusuf’ s security aides. Unfortunately, the public is being fed with lies. The police IG is also bowing to pressure from Mamman Daura who is the brother to Tunde’s late mum.

“Also, Yusuf met with Maikanti Baru, the former GMD of NNPC that died of Covid- 19. Tunde’s wife is pregnant but it is not true that he went to visit his wife. He went to visit Baru and that is why we said he should self - isolate.”

Why First Lady has not been speaking –Aide
Meanwhile, Aisha’s Spokesman, Aliyu Abdullahi, has said the first lady ’s aides are still in police custody.

Abdullahi said this on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme on Sunday.

The spokesman, however, dodged several other questions, insisting that the President had already ordered an investigation into the matter.

He also said he was not sure if any of Tunde’s aides had been arrested.

When asked if the aides of the First Lady were still in the custody of the police, the spokesperson said, “In my opinion, I think they are still in the custody of the police . I know her ADC head, escort commander, police attached to her office are in the custody of the police.”

Responding to questions on why Aisha had not been speaking up for the release of her aides, he said, “She always speaks out publicly. The reason she has stopped speaking out now is that whenever she speaks, people misconstrue or take her statement out of context. But she always means well for the country so that she and her children can have a bright future even after this administration is over.”

The First Lady had protested the detention of her security aides and called on the IG to release them in a series of tweets on her Twitter handle last Friday.

Aisha also admonished relevant government agencies to enforce the Quarantine Act signed by the President.

“I call on the IGP to release my members of staff who are still in the custody of the police in order to avoid putting their lives in danger or exposure to COVID - 19 while in their custody.”

Let the law take its course , Buhari tells police
Meanwhile, the President on Sunday said the law should be allowed to take its course on the shooting incident involving the security aides attached to his wife, Aisha, inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Thursday night.

Buhari, in a statement on Sunday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said where armed guards come short in the handling of weapons, their relevant agencies have their rules and regulations to address them.

Overruling his wife’s call for the release of the security details, the President insisted that the law should take its course.

The statement read, “The Presidency wishes to acknowledge concerns expressed by several members of the public regarding the recent incident among the occupants of the State House which escalation led to the arrest of some staff by the police.

“This is to assure all and everyone that the President and Commander -in- Chief of the Armed Forces, Muhammadu Buhari, is not, and was not at anytime in any form of danger arising, either from deadly infections or the reported incident by security personnel which is currently under investigation.

“This particular incident happened outside the main residence of the President .

“Armed guards and other security personnel assigned to the State House receive the necessary training of especially weapons handling and where they come short, their relevant agencies have their rules and regulations to immediately address them.

“Having authorised the proper investigation to be carried out into this unfortunate incident by the police, the President has acted in compliance with the rule of law.

“That a minor occurrence is being used by some critics to justify attacks on the government and the person of President Muhammadu Buhari beggars belief.

“In this particular instance, the President says the law should be allowed to take its course.”

Augustine Okezie, Katsina


Katsina Governor Aminu Masari has declared he has no political ambition after 2023.

He insisted he won’t aspire to any political office after leaving office as a two-term Governor.

Masari, who spoke with reporters at Government House Katsina, said he would rather prefer giving opportunities to the younger ones to emerge.

He said that is because he would be 73 by 2023.
The former House of Representatives Speaker said: ’’I made my positions very clear, as far as my plans are concerned.

“I have no intention of contesting any election after this, I never thought I will be a politician and politics was not part of my wildest imagination but fate brought me into politics.

‘’I didn’t drive myself but fate and I never thought being a commissioner will bring me into politics because if I had known, I might have not accepted it because I was not sure that I will be a good politician because I am a technical person and was never an administrator until when I reached the position so my plan is not to contest and not to retire into senate. I am not going to and God willing by 2023, I will be 73years old and by that time, I am out.’’

Jamiu Abiola, son of MKO Abiola, has come under heavy attack from Nigerians for saying that President Muhammadu Buhari has same agenda as his father.

Speaking in a recent interview to mark the Democracy Day, Jamiu had angered Nigerians when he said “My father and this President primarily have the same objective.”

Some of Nigerians who expressed their anger on Twitter said if Jamiu’s words were true, it was all thanks to God his father never ruled the country.

For some others, Jamiu is a disappointment to his father for making such assertion.

Here are some reactions:

@Angelsgo2, “Thank God your father never became president.”

@Nj99625368, “If the agenda your father had was to make Nigeria insecure for its citizens, then no wonder Babangida did not allow him to have a taste of his triumph. We must be wasting our time trying to remember him today then.”

@Sunnyx, “Am sure you are not real son of Abiola.”

@lanreafo, “It’s either you didn’t know your father or 2015 and 2019 should have taken the same path as the post-June 12 cancellation. This is because Abacha had ‘better’ agenda that Buhari.”

@dirisy, “All these things happening in Nigeria both the good and bad was your father’s agenda?”

@de_mek_venture, “Are you telling us that your father has no vision?”

@Ucheclive, “Your father’s ghost will hunt you , because of money, you betrayed your late father . Ode.”

@Uyime_Ocean, “If so then thank God and Nigerians that his father was not allowed to execute such a porous and no direction agenda.”

@Collinsohiri, “Hunger has made this one flip. Even your dad a great man will be disappointed at you.”


@Oriariwolg, “A condom would have saved Abiola this huge embarrassment.”

@Princeencore, “Thank God your father never became president.”

@eluke, “Who knows if he detests his late father… some kids grew up that way.”

@Walexlomo, “Maybe we should even thank God that your father didn’t become President.”

@Adekoladamy, “Someone that worked with the person that jailed your father yet he could not convince his boss to release your dad and restore his mandate. Jamiu, do you think your dad will be proud of you?”

Ade Adesomoju, Abuja

The Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, on Thursday appeared before the state's Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja following the summons issued on him to appear with the original copy of his National Youth Service Corps discharge certificate, which he was accused of forging.

But the petitioner, Vijah Opuama, who had applied for the summons to be issued on Ewhrudjakpo, backtracked on the plan to have the deputy governor tender the disputed certificate from the witness box on Thursday.

Opuama, who contested the election on the platform of the Liberation Movement, a party deregistered by the Independent National Electoral Commission in February 2020, had in his petition accused Ewhrujakpo of forgery of a 1998 NYSC exemption certificate, which was said to have been submitted to INEC.

He asked the tribunal to disqualify Ewhrujakpo for submitting an affidavit that contained false information to the electoral body.

He also urged the tribunal to cancel the November 16, 2019 governorship election and order a fresh poll.

Following his request, the tribunal had on Tuesday summoned Ewhrujakpo to appear with the disputed certificate on Thursday .

But upon Ewhrujakpo’s arrival in court on Thursday, Opuama’ s lawyer, Dande Pius, said he realised that the subpoena he applied to be issued on the deputy governor had an error.

The initial subpoena signed by the tribunal had directed Ewhrudjakpo to appear before the tribunal and tender the original copy of the disputed certificate, but the new one applied for, but rejected by the tribunal, sought to have the deputy governor summoned to answer questions over the certificate from the witness box.

“We apologise to the witness ( Ewhrudjakpo ) for bringing him to court on a subpoena we never intended,” Pius said, after backtracking on the plan to have the deputy governor tender the disputed certificate on Thursday.

The respondents’ lawyers, including the one representing Ewhrudjakpo, Chukwuma-Machukwu Ume ( SAN ), noted that the subpoena was “maliciously” applied for by the petitioner.

He asked for N5m cost to be awarded against the petitioner for the inconveniences caused his client.

The three -member panel of the tribunal led by Justice Ibrahim Sirajo frowned on the petitioner’s lawyer for what it described as an attempt to change the goal post in the middle of the match.

Justice Sirajo queried the petitioner’s decision to seek an amendment to the subpoena 29 days after filing it for signing by the tribunal.

The judge said, “Yesterday, I declined to sign the new subpoena.

“Whatever the petitioner intends to do in respect of the new subpoena, he should do so in the open court.

“It amounts to changing the goal post in the middle of a match.”

The judge accepted the apology tendered by the petitioner’s lawyer and refused to award cost against him.

The case was adjourned till June 9.

Addressing journalists outside the courtroom , Ewhrudjakpo, said he planned to take an “appropriate action” over alleged defamation he had been subjected to with the allegation of forgery leveled against him.

He said, “I waved my immunity, I drove by road, slept in Lokoja last night and came in today (Thursday). I have come here to prove to the whole world that my certificates are intact and authentic.”

Ewhrudjakpo presented to journalists the documents he referred to as the original and corrected copies of the disputed certificate and various correspondences he wrote to effect corrections of the error on the original copy.

He expressed regrets that the Department of State Service “allowed itself to be dragged into politics” for reportedly claiming that there was an alteration on the certificate.

The Kogi State government has again denied the existence of any Coronavirus disease recorded for the state as announced by the National Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, at its Thursday nationwide update.

The NCDC announced 348 new cases of COVID-19, with Lagos State recording 163, FCT 76 and Rivers State 21.

In the latest update, Delta, Nasarawa and Niger states recorded eight cases each, while Enugu recorded six.

Bauchi, Edo, Ekiti, Ondo and Gombe recorded five cases each.

Others include Benue four, Ogun two, while Osun, Plateau, Kogi and Anambra had one each.

However, in a Facebook post by the Kogi State Commissioner for Health, Dr Saka Haruna, said that the ministry and indeed the state government remain unaware of any such case, just has it denied knowledge of the first index case and another. He described the new figure credited to the state as mere assumption.

“The purported New Case: We are not aware of who the patient is, where and when the Test was conducted,” he wrote.

There has been a running battle and open mistrust between the Kogi State government and the NCDC over what the government described as opaqueness in the management of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.

It accused the NCDC of commercialising the pandemic, a venture Governor Yahaya Bello said that would ‘not to be a part of.’

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has ordered immediate and total lockdown of Kabba-Bunu Local Government Area for two weeks following a suspected case of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the area.

Mr Bello, who gave the order on Monday while briefing journalists in Government House, Lokoja, said the lockdown, which was to commence from 12.00am on Tuesday, would enable verification and authenticity of the claims.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that claims by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) that Abubakar Ejibunu, the Chief Imam of Kabba, had tested positive to the disease has continued to generate controversy between the Kogi government and the NCDC.

The governor said the government decided to be proactive over the verification as members of the family of the acclaimed victim, Mr Ejibunu, along with 13 other persons in Kabba-Bunu Local Government have already been tested for COVID-19 and their results returned negative.

He said, “We shall not relent in verifying the genuineness of the NCDC claim and we remain resolute in pursuing the matter to a logical conclusion.

“Government has already put necessary machinery in place to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic as prevention, they say, is better than cure.”

Mr Bello also directed the Incident Management Team of COVID-19 in the state, headed by the commissioner for Health, Saka Haruna Audu, to embark on immediate door-to-door visitation of residents of the council area for collation of samples for test.


The governor also ordered a 14-day isolation of medical personnel and other persons at the Federal Medical Center, Lokoja, who accompanied the accident victims to Abuja.

He further directed security agencies in the state to ensure complete enforcement of the lockdown in Kabba-Bunu Local Government Area and ensure adherence to all the federal government and NCDC protocols.

The governor condemned in its entirety failure of the NCDC to involve Kogi State Government in its investigation processes before announcing two index cases of COVID-19 in the state, describing the action as “unhealthy and unprofessional.’’


“However, we still maintain that Kogi remains COVID-19 free at the moment, urging citizens of the state to continue to observe all the NCDC protocols in curtailing the spread of the dreaded disease,” Mr Bello said.

(NAN)

By Ebuka Onyeji


The Nigerian Medical Association on Friday said it was “incredibly disturbed” by the response of the Kogi State government over the discovery of two index cases of coronavirus in the North-central state.

“The state Commissioner of Information did not only describe the process of arriving at the diagnosis as fraudulent, but he also went on to smear the frontline Health workers and the NCDC (Nigeria’s infectious disease agency) on live national television,” Francis Faduyile, the NMA president said in a statement.

“His use of profane words is capable of demoralizing the exemplary gold-winning health workers and the untiring NCDC, which possibly can lead to a national catastrophe,” he warned.

The government in Kogi has been at loggerheads with federal authorities and the NCDC since the outbreak of COVID-19, the deadly disease caused by the coronavirus.

Kogi and Cross Rivers were the only states yet to confirm any case of the virus until Wednesday when the NCDC announced 389 new cases out of which two were from Kogi State. It meant Cross River State remained the sole uninfected state as of May 27.

The Kogi government immediately disputed the test results, insisting that it would not accept any test result “conducted outside the state.”

Authorities in Kogi have been pitted with federal officials for discouraging tests for people with symptoms of coronavirus. They believe there is a plot to compulsorily report COVID-19 cases in the state but medical experts and the NCDC said the low number of test samples turned in from the state is making it difficult to ascertain if they are actually coronavirus-free.

Despite being surrounded by states with confirmed cases of the virus, the government in Kogi has at least once scuttled efforts by NCDC to coordinate COVID-19 testing.

The NMA had condemned the continued obstruction of the NCDC by the Kogi government, calling on the federal government to probe the state’s ‘free status’.

In Friday’s statement, Mr Faduyile, the NMA president, said the Kogi State government “especially has hardened its heart and ensured that the Kogi people remain in the dark, untested.”


“The people are therefore undiagnosed and untreated even though COVID-19 epidemiologic pattern has 80% of cases that present with none or very mild symptoms yet shedding the virus in their airway and innocently infecting others who may become sicker and die. The identification of these cases is through testing, according to standardized protocols,” he said.

A group, Advocacy for Alleged Witches, has called for the arrest and prosecution of Thomas Obi Tawo (AKA General Iron), an adviser to the Cross River State Governor, for allegedly masterminding the lynching of some suspected witches and wizards in the state.


The group disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday by its Chief Executive Officer, Leo Igwe.

It urged the state government to take measures to stop jungle justice where suspected witches and wizards are set ablaze.

The statement read "The attention of AFAW has been drawn to an incident of witch persecution in Cross River State. In this case, a local mob lynched the alleged witches. Some of the victims have died while others are in the hospital nursing their wounds.

"The unfortunate incident took place in Boki LGA in Central Cross River State. At least a dozen persons, mostly women who were alleged to be witches and wizards, were set ablaze at the instance of an adviser to the state governor who hails from that area. This adviser has been identified as Thomas Obi (aka General Iron). This incident happened on Tuesday, May 19, 2020."

The group stated that the allegations of witchcraft, including persecution and killing of children, are widespread in the state.

It said perpetrators of jungle justice operate with impunity in the area.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to close down social media platforms after Twitter labelled two of his tweets "unsubstantiated" and accused him of making false claims.

Twitter targeted tweets in which the president said that mail-in voting would lead to fraud and a "Rigged Election" in November.

Under the tweets, Twitter posted a link which read "Get the facts about mail-in ballots" -- a first for the social network which has long resisted calls to censure the president.

In response, Trump fought back, tweeting that "Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen."

Trump repeated his allegations, saying "we can't let large scale Mail-In Ballots take root in our Country. It would be a free for all on cheating, forgery and the theft of Ballots.

"Whoever cheated the most would win. Likewise, Social Media. Clean up your act, NOW!!!!" he added.

The president also accused social media platforms of interfering in the last election, saying "we saw what they attempted to do, and failed, in 2016."

- 80 million followers -

The president has long used Twitter as a platform to spread abuse, conspiracy theories, false information and insults to his 80 million followers.

Before being elected in 2016, he built his political brand by supporting the "birther" lie that Barack Obama, America's first black president, was not born in the United States and therefore was not eligible to be president.

The notice tagged to Trump's tweets read "Trump falsely claimed that mail-in ballots would lead to 'Rigged Election'

"However, fact-checkers say there is no evidence that mail-in ballots are linked to voter fraud."

Trump aimed the misleading tweets at California, contending wrongly that anyone living in the state would be sent ballots when in fact they will only go to registered voters, according to the notice.

The tweets in question violated a recently expanded Twitter policy, said the San Francisco-based company.

"In serving the public conversation, our goal is to make it easy to find credible information on Twitter and to limit the spread of potentially harmful and misleading content," the company vowed when the change was announced.

Twitter's move came as Trump, already facing US economic calamity and 100,000 deaths from coronavirus as well as sinking reelection polls, continued to push a conspiracy theory about TV host Joe Scarborough.

In an attempted character assassination of Scarborough, Trump has spread the baseless rumor that Scarborough murdered an aide.

The entirely evidence-free story claims that Scarborough killed a woman he was having an affair with in 2001, when he was a Republican congressman and she was one of his staffers.

A terminally-ill bride-to-be whose case persuaded authorities to allow weddings for people in her circumstances has thanked politicians, saying "they do have hearts".

Samantha Gamble and Frankie Byrne, from County Down, had intended to get married at the end of May.

But coronavirus restrictions meant that weddings were not allowed.

While Samantha was receiving treatment for a terminal cancer diagnosis, her family began to lobby politicians.

Last week, Stormont's First and Deputy First Ministers, Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill, said they had agreed to allow marriage ceremonies in which a person is terminally ill as part of the first steps in lifiting lockdown measures after hearing those appeals.

Samantha said she was unaware of the lobbying, which was co-ordinated over a period of ten days by her cousin Vivienne.

The first Samantha knew about it was when she was told to turn on the BBC's radio news in the hospital.

Wedding set for this week

"That was the first I really was told anything about it. I cried, I couldn't believe it, I still can't believe it," she said.

She said the couple, who've been together for 12 years and are from Loughbrickland, had always intended to get married but her cancer diagnosis and treatment had disrupted their plans.

She said she had decided to speak publicly to thank the NHS nurses in the cancer ward, whose care and attention had allowed her to proceed with her special day.

Frankie said Samantha had begun to think the wedding might never happen but he had told her: "We're not giving in yet."

The couple said they had been inundated with help for Friday's wedding which will take place at their home.

Only six people can attend, including the bride and groom and the registrar. Samantha said her two children and a close friend of Frankie's will also be present.

A video-link will allow other members of the family to participate.

Samantha said Friday would mean "everything".

"Just to be able to say we did it. Through all this Frankie has stood beside me and been my rock and done everything for me."

When asked if she had a message for the politicians, she said: "Thank you, thank you, thank you, they'll never know what it means to us. They do have hearts."

The couple said they knew Samantha was very seriously ill, but did not want information about her prognosis.

"We don't want to know." Samantha said.
"I know the cancer has spread, it's into my lungs and into my spine and neck.

"I just take every day as it comes. I don't want them to say you've got such and such a time because I think that would just bring me down.
"Whereas, at the minute, I can just say I'm living each day as it comes and I'm thankful for breathing."

The couple said they were not aware of any other couples who might benefit from the change in the regulations but if anyone else was in the same circumstances they hoped it would help them too.

Coronavirus: Terminally-ill bride has her big day

A couple whose circumstances persuaded Northern Ireland's devolved government to allow their wedding to go ahead during lockdown have tied the knot.

Samantha Gamble, who has a terminal cancer diagnosis, and Frankie Byrne had intended to get married at the end of May.

But coronavirus restrictions meant that weddings were not allowed.

The couple, who have been together for 12 years, married at their County Down home on Friday.
Last week, Stormont's First and Deputy First Ministers, Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill, said they had agreed to allow marriage ceremonies in which a person is terminally ill as part of the first steps in lifting lockdown measures after Samantha's family lobbied politicians.

Earlier this week Samantha said her wedding would mean "everything".

She told politicians they would "never know what it means to us".

"Just to be able to say we did it. Through all this Frankie has stood beside me and been my rock and done everything for me," Samantha added.
Only six people, including the bride, groom and registrar could attend Friday's ceremony with wider family joining via video link.

The Buhari administration has restrained cabinet ministers from directly removing heads of agencies and parastatals they supervise.

Now in place is a multi-layered procedure that appears to strengthen the role of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in the disciplinary process, a government circular exclusively obtained by PREMIUM TIMES shows.

The circular, dated May 19 and endorsed by the SGF, Boss Mustapha, conveyed the “concern” of the government about the tendency by some ministers to arbitrarily remove chief executive officers of agencies and its impact on stability and service delivery.

The circular was dispatched to all ministers and several other senior officials, including the head of service, the president’s chief of staff, military chiefs, the central bank governor, and permanent secretaries, among others.

Ministers had in the past arbitrarily exercised powers to discipline heads of agencies, commissions or departments they supervise, including suspending and dismissing them from office.

For example, In January, the power minister, Sale Mamman, removed Damilola Ogunbiyi and Marilyn Amobi, respectively the chief executives of the Rural Electrification Agency and the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company apparently without clearance from the presidency or adopting a process of query and panel probe.

President Muhammadu Buhari would later reverse the minister’s action. But the minister in the past days has also sacked the Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Usman Mohammed, alongside four directors of the company, although he said his action was approved by Mr Buhari.

The SGF’s circular now protects heads of agencies from their supervising ministers’ arbitrariness but may have created a hurdle of red-tapism that may delay – or even prevent – sanction for abuses.

Also, ministerial threats of sanctions in the event of no performance, like the one issued by communications and digital economy minister, Isa Pantami, to agencies under his ministry last August, may no longer yield any effect.

When serious misconduct is reported against a chief executive, the new procedure set by the circular requires a minister through the permanent secretary to refer the matter to the governing board of the affected agency in line with its enabling law and chapters three and 16 of the Public Service Rules on discipline and government parastatals.


The board will then issue the affected official a query and subsequently advise the minister of its findings and recommendations. But whether the board is itself the source of the allegation of misconduct against the chief executive or the chief executive is the chairman of the board, the minister, on the advice of the permanent secretary, still has to ensure a query is issued, requesting an explanation from the accused official.

“The Minister after due consideration of the submission from the Board shall, on the advice of the Permanent Secretary, forward the ministry’s position along with the recommendations of the Board and explanation of the Chief Executive Officer to the Secretary to Government of the Federation for processing to Mr President, for a decision,” the circular states.

Upon receipt of the submission from the minister by SGF, the procedure then establishes another layer of probe, requiring the SGF to “without delay cause an independent investigation and advise Mr President on the appropriate course of action, including interdiction or suspension in accordance with the principles guiding Sections 030405 and 030406 of the Public Service Rules, pending the outcome of the independent investigation.”

Based on the outcome of the independent investigation, “it shall be the responsibility of the SGF to further advise Mr President on the next course of action,” the circular states.

Continuing, the memo said it is the SGF that will “implement and/or convey the approval and directives of Mr President on every disciplinary action against the Chief Executive Officers in the Public Service.”

The SGF, Mr Mustpha said this “procedure shall serve as a mandatory guide and all ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and any other Public Officer in a similar supervisory role are enjoined to strictly abide by its content.”

“For emphasis, on no account shall a Minister of the Federal Republic unilaterally or arbitrarily remove a serving Chief Executive Officer, without recourse to the procedure contained in this circular,” Mr Mustapha added

(CNN) A Dutch court has ordered a woman to remove photos of her grandchildren from Facebook, after she posted the images without permission from the children's mother.

The woman had been asked by her daughter to take down the pictures from Facebook and Pinterest several times, but she did not respond -- so the family dispute ended up in court.

Publishing the children's pictures on social media would, according to the mother, "seriously violate their privacy," the court ruling states.

The Gelderland judge agreed that the grandmother did not have permission to post the pictures under General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation.

Those rules do not normally apply to the storage of personal data within personal circles such as family.

However, in this case, the grandmother had made the photos public without the consent of the mother -- who has legal authority over which data of her underage children may be stored and shared.

Furthermore, by posting of photographs on social media, the grandmother made them available to a wider audience, the court's ruling, published earlier this month, explained.

"On Facebook, it cannot be ruled out that placed photos could be distributed and that they may come into the hands of third parties," the ruling said.

The grandmother must remove the pictures of her grandchildren from Facebook and Pinterest within ten days, the judge ruled. If she does not, she must pay a penalty of €50 ($55) per day that the photos are online, with a maximum penalty of €1,000 ($1,100).

The daughter had asked to impose a penalty of €250 ($275) per day if the photos remained.
GDPR is the European Union's data privacy law, which came into effect in 2018.

It gives people more control over their personal data and forces companies to make sure the way they collect, process and store data is safe.
The EU's intention was to achieve a fundamental change in the way companies use data -- with its central idea being that people are entitled "privacy by default."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday that the developed world could learn lessons from the preventative measures taken by many African countries to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

“COVID-19 has made much slower progress (in Africa) than the predictions that were made at the beginning” of the crisis, Guterres said in an interview with RFL radio in France.

This has been largely thanks to the fact that “most African governments and organisations took in time very brave prevention measures which provide a lesson for some developed nations that did not,” he added.

There have been fewer than 3,000 COVID-19 deaths from 88,000 cases of the disease registered throughout the African continent, relatively low numbers compared to over 320,000 deaths worldwide.

Guterres also called for a more regularised easing of debt repayments for the poorest countries.

Last month, G20 and Paris Club creditor nations agreed to waive most debt payments for the world’s poorest countries in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus crisis, but Guterres called this move “insufficient”.

“We need to prepare targeted debt relief and a more comprehensive, more structural approach to avoid at all costs in the future a series of bankruptcies that could lead to depression” on the global level, he said.

A total of 41 African nations are involved and on Tuesday Mali became the first to secure a moratorium in debt payments from the Paris Club of creditor nations, a French finance ministry source said Tuesday.

AFP

The federal government has directed the Nigerian Mission in Thailand not to evacuate any stranded individual who fails to pay for his accommodation and feeding charges ahead of repatriation.

This was contained in a letter to the evacuees signed by the Head of Chancery, Nigerian Mission in Thailand, Nicholas Uhomoibhi, and dated May 14, 2020.

As stated in the letter, the evacuees are to pay N297,000 for their accommodation and feeding ahead of their arrival in Nigeria.

“Dear prospective evacuees, I am directed to bring to your attention that due to measures that are beyond the control of the COVID-19 local organising team in Nigeria, all evacuees going to Nigeria henceforth are to now pay (for) quarantine, isolation, accommodation centre or hotel before departure and arrival in Nigeria.

“In this regard, all prospective evacuees are to note the negotiated rate: Accommodation, N15,000 for 16 days (N240,000);

Feeding, N3,600 for 16 days (N57,000). Total, N297,000.”

“Kindly note that the rates were negotiated in Nigeria and the embassy has been directed not to airlift any evacuees who fail to pay the fees.”

Evacuated

The government has already evacuated about 253 Nigerians from the United Kingdom and 265 others from Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the past weeks.

About 160 Nigerians stranded in the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic also arrived in the country on May 10.


On arrival, all evacuees are quarantined for 14 days before leaving for their respective destinations in the country.

The minister of foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama had on April 23 said some evacuees will be made to cover their bills for services rendered.

Mr Onyeama, while speaking at the daily Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 briefing, said only some stranded students in Khartoum, Sudan, will be evacuated free of charge.

He said such magnanimity cannot be extended to others due to the paucity of funds.

”But unfortunately, we just don’t have the financial resources. As you can see, there is a huge amount of money that we have to pay for various aspects of the challenge,” he said.

”It is a source of great regret to the government that we are not in the position to pay. If we have the resources, we would be more than happy to pay for anybody to come home free of charge, pay for their stay in the isolation centre for two weeks.”

Four in every ten Nigerian (40.1 per cent) earn less than ₦377 per day, but in Sokoto, Taraba and Jigawa, about nine in ten earn that amount, according to the 2019 poverty and inequality report by Nigeria’s statistics bureau.

Following closely behind these states are Ebonyi and Adamawa, where eight in ten earn ₦377 daily; as well as Zamfara, Yobe and Niger, where seven in ten earn that amount.

On the flipside are states with low poverty rates: Lagos (5 in 100), Delta (6 in 100), Osun (9 in 100), Ogun (9 in 100), and Oyo (10 in 100).

The report shows that 15 of the 17 states below the national average (i.e. where the majority of residents are poor) are in the northern part of the country. South-eastern states Ebonyi (80%) and Enugu (58%) are the other two poorest states.

Kwara, Kogi, Benue and the FCT, all in the north-central, are the only other northern states below the nation’s poverty line. Borno State was not captured in the survey due to accessibility.

Also, five of the best seven states are in the south-west. Ekiti, the sixth state in the region, ranks 12th with 28 per cent poverty rate. South-south states, Edo and Delta, are the other two in the top seven.

This variation exists, the report showed, due to the size of the households in each region. Households with 2–4 people have a poverty rate of 17.88 per cent. Those with 5–9 people have 40.9 per cent, while those with 10–19 people 67 per cent rate of poverty.

“There must be a strategic state policy on population control,” Azeez Olaniyan, a conflict and security expert, said. “A country that seeks to lift people out of poverty must engage in active production, rather than remain a service economy.”

The report further disclosed that poverty was more prevalent in rural areas. The urban poverty rate was put at 18.04 per cent while the rural poverty rate was 52.10 per cent. That’s about three times poorer.

By profession, the report found that the poverty rate is lowest among salary earners and non-farm workers, while poverty is highest among households whose heads are engaged in agricultural jobs only.


Jide Ojo, a development consultant, said there is need to tackle insecurity in farming zones to make farming more lucrative.

Furthermore, the data showed that the more education the head of a family has, the lower the rate of poverty in that household.

Across the board in this regard, households led by women outperform men with a decent margin. In other words, women with higher education tend to liberate their households from poverty quicker than men with the same educational qualification.

Analysts believe this alludes to the need to educate the girl child. Mr Olaniyan explained that the government needs to invest in human capital development such as education and human welfare for its people to flourish.

Gini index

Gini index is a statistical measure of expenditure distribution in the country. It is widely used to measure economic inequality between the haves and have-nots. Gini index near 0 indicates perfect equality while coefficients close to 100 denote perfect inequality.

Nigeria has a Gini coefficient of 35.1 per cent. This shows there is only a moderate gap between the haves and the have-nots. This is almost at par with UK’s 32.4 per cent, Canada’s 32.1 per cent, and India’s 35.2 per cent. The U.S. has 45 per cent while South Africa has 62.5 per cent.

The report

The 2019 poverty and inequality report was released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. According to the report, 82.9 million (40.1%) Nigerians are poor, the highest by any country.

Nigeria will need to pull more than 17 million people out of poverty before it could cease to be the “poverty capital” of the world, because the second-placed, Democratic Republic of Congo, has over 66 million (75 per cent of its population) poor people.

However, Somalia (81 per cent), South Sudan (80 per cent) and Central African Republic (78 per cent) have the highest ratio of poor people to population size, according to the World Poverty Clock.

If 40.1 per cent represents 82.9 million people, as the report showed, then Nigeria has a population of about 207 million people.

The poverty line, the report said, was calculated by adding the food poverty line and the cost of non-food basic needs.

The statistics bureau defined being poor as earning a real per capita expenditures below ₦137,430 ($352). This is about ₦11,453 ($29) monthly, or ₦377 ($0.97) daily.


Invariably, any individual who spends less than ₦377 daily on food, shelter, clothing, health, education, electricity and security and other basic life needs is considered poor.

With the poverty line at ₦137,430, and poverty gap index (which measures those who are far below the poverty line and those very close to it) at 12.9, it means Nigeria will need ₦137,430 per its 207 million people to end extreme poverty.

This amounts to about ₦3.7 trillion (12.9% × ₦137,430 × 207 million).

Mr Ojo noted that even at this, poverty will continue to thrive if insecurity is not ebbed. The best way to tackle poverty, he explained, is to create an enabling environment, especially by investing heavily in human development.


“Tackle insecurity. Let people be able to take care of themselves. Incentivise MSMEs,” he said. “Improve the ease of doing business. Give accessible loans that are not cutthroat.”

Meanwhile, the methodology used by the NBS in calculating poverty rate differs from that of the World Poverty Clock, an online poverty tracker across the globe.

Based on data from UN, world bank, the IMF, and former estimates from the NBS, the tracker says about 102.4 million Nigerians are living in extreme poverty.

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)
While NBS’ poverty line is $0.97, the tracker’s benchmark is put at $1.90 per day for this same needs. Now that NBS’ benchmark has changed it is expected that the tracker’s estimate could be adjusted.

But NBS maintained that: “Poverty is measured using consumption expenditures rather than income in Nigeria — similar to the approach taken by many other countries globally.”

There is currently panic among health workers at National Orthopaedic Hospital, Dala, Kano State, after three of them died from Coronavirus complications.

SaharaReporters gathered that 24 others have also tested positive for the virus.

A senior medical officer at the hospital, who spoke with SaharaReporters on Tuesday, said the confirmed cases became infected after attending to patients without protective gear and unknown to them that the patients were carriers of the virus.

The source said all workers in the hospital were primary contact of the confirmed cases and wondered why the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control is yet to close the hospital and tell other staff to self-isolate.

He said that they were still being made to treat orthopaedic patients on admission, thereby putting their lives and that of their family members at risk.

“I don’t know why the NCDC is yet to close down National Orthopaedic Hospital, Dala, Kano. I work there, about three medical staff have died from COVID-19 out of the 27 of those who presently tested positive for the virus.

“Imagine, only 47 samples were obtained by the NCDC and 27 already came out positive. All of us that are working now are primary contact of these people.

“No official statement from the NCDC for us to self isolate, as I’m talking to you we are still treating orthopaedic patients on admission thereby putting their lives and that of our family members at risk.

“As things stand now, the rest of us don't know our status. There is community transmission in the hospital and orthopaedic patients on admission presently need to be evacuated if we are to follow the NCDC guideline,” the senior health worker said.

Kano currently has 342 confirmed Coronavirus cases and six recorded deaths.

However, observers believe the number of fatalities could be far higher especially after a string of strange deaths swept across the city in recent days.

As the world battles the deadly COVID-19 virus, countries across sub-Saharan Africa have taken a number of measures aimed at stopping the spread of the virus in their territories.

However, while efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic are a stark reminder that the right to life is important and must be protected, a new report by Amnesty International on the global use of the death penalty in 2019 shows that some governments in sub-Saharan Africa do not consistently seek to protect the right to life. In fact, in some instances they actively strive to violate it by sentencing people to death or executing them.

In 2019, four countries in the region – Botswana, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan – carried out executions in their territories despite a 5% reduction in known executions in the world. Amnesty International confirmed one execution in Botswana, one in Sudan, 11 in South Sudan and 12 in Somalia. These four countries are increasingly gaining notoriety for being sub-Saharan Africa’s persistent executing countries; they were the same countries that carried out executions in 2018 and have consistently done so in the last decade.

The new presidency of Mokgweetsi Masisi, which began in October 2019, has not stemmed the tide of executions in Botswana – Southern Africa’s only remaining executing country. In addition to one execution that was carried out in December 2019, three executions have been carried out so far this year in Botswana.

The situation in South Sudan is even more concerning. Since independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan has executed at least 43 people. The 11 executions recorded in the country in 2019 was the highest number in any year since independence and signalled a significant increase in yearly executions in the country. Of the 11 people executed, seven men were executed in February 2019, three of whom were from the same family. The authorities did not even inform the relatives of the men ahead of the execution.

Later in the year, four people were executed; two on 27 September and two on 30 September. One of the two executed on 30 September was a child at the time of the crime. He was about 17 when he was convicted and sentenced to death; an act which goes against international human rights law and South Sudan’s own constitution which prohibits the use of the death penalty against people who were children at the time of the crime.

In an alarming development, the number of confirmed death sentences handed down in sub-Saharan Africa increased by 53%, from 212 in 2018 to 325 in 2019. This was due to increases recorded in 10 countries – Kenya; Malawi; Mauritania; Niger; Nigeria; Sierra Leone; Somalia; Sudan; Zambia and Zimbabwe. Overall, death sentences were confirmed in 18 countries in 2019, an increase of one compared to 2018.

The increase in recorded death sentences in Zambia is quite striking. Government information indicated that 101 people were sentenced to death; that is a huge rise when compared to 2018 when Amnesty International recorded 21 death sentences. In addition, eight people were exonerated by the courts in Zambia; these are people who were initially sentenced of death and could have been executed for a crime they were eventually found not to have committed. This illustrates that trial courts are not perfect and the risk of punishing and executing the innocent can never be eliminated when the death penalty is used.

At the end of the year, at least 5,731 people were known to be on death row in sub-Saharan Africa, with Kenya and Nigeria accounting for 65% of that total. People under sentence of death are particularly at a heightened risk of execution when they have exhausted their right of appeal and there is no official moratorium on executions in place in their countries.

Even where a right of appeal has not been exhausted, a lack of access to effective legal representation; lengthy delays in the appeal process; denial of clemency; and poor prison conditions can make life on death row a particularly harrowing experience for any human being.

Nevertheless, 2019 was not all doom and gloom. Support for the death penalty appears to be dwindling in some countries in the region as positive actions or pronouncements, which may lead to the abolition of the death penalty, were recorded. In the Central African Republic, it was reported that a decision was taken in the National Assembly to examine a bill on the abolition of the death penalty. President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea announced that he would submit a bill to abolish the death penalty to the country’s parliament. In November, Gambia’s Constitutional Review Commission published a draft constitution for the country which removed death penalty provisions. In Kenya, the task force set up to review the mandatory death sentence recommended that parliament should abolish the death penalty entirely, while in Zimbabwe the authorities mulled over abolishing the death penalty.

The death penalty is a violation of the right of a human being to life and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Opposition to the death penalty does not mean one condones crime. Anyone found guilty of a recognizable criminal offence after a fair trial must be held accountable, but the punishment should never be death. Just as governments must fight against deadly diseases, including COVID-19, they must also protect the right to life by abolishing the death penalty.

By Oluwatosin Popoola, Legal Adviser at Amnesty International

Everyone who believes in the word of God must be committed to its fulfillment; whether good or bad.

When I started editing my book, Doctor Strangelove in 2005, I had over thirty chapters to work with. But then the Lord said to me: “Femi, this book will have eighteen chapters.” I took that as a prophecy. I kept my eye on it and was excited when, through editorial work, the book finally shrank to eighteen chapters. I had run with the vision and fulfilled it. Or so I thought.

Dilemma

However, I later discovered that two of the chapters did not work. It appeared I had squeezed them in just for the sake of fulfilling the prophecy. So, I was caught on the horns of a little dilemma. Should I ignore the prophecy and make the book sixteen chapters, or insist on its fulfillment, and keep the book as eighteen chapters?

In the end, I decided to remove the two “inappropriate” chapters, even at the expense of the prophecy. After all, I reasoned, it was my business to be faithful to the writing of my book and not to fulfill God’s prophecy. The two chapters did not work, so I said goodbye to them. Then, and only then, the Holy Spirit spoke.

The Lord showed me two other “chapters” I had written a long time before then that were just perfect for my book. There they were, tucked away neatly in the inner recesses of my computer. And suddenly, out of the blue, the prophecy was fulfilled. Doctor Strangelove ended up as an eighteen-chapter book, just exactly as the Lord had said it would.

Back to Habakkuk

I then began to wonder what the Lord was trying to show me in all this. So, I went back to him: “What is this all about? Habakkuk says when you have a vision, run with it: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.” (Habakkuk 2:2). And yet, the vision you gave me was fulfilled when I decided to ignore it.”

The Lord used a question to answer my question. He asked me: “What was the vision I gave to Habakkuk?” I took my time to study the text again in the bible. What I found was even more baffling. God told Habakkuk he was going to raise a fearsome people to decimate the nation of Israel.

He said: “I am bringing the Babylonians to power, those fierce, restless people. They are marching out across the world to conquer other lands. They spread fear and terror, and in their pride they are a law to themselves. Their horses are faster than leopards, fiercer than hungry wolves. Their horsemen come riding from distant lands; their horses paw the ground. They come swooping down like eagles attacking their prey. Their armies advance in violent conquest, and everyone is terrified as they approach. Their captives are as numerous as grains of sand.” (Habakkuk 1:6-9).

My next question followed logically. How does one run with a vision of impending calamity?

Immediately, it became clear to me that the Habakkuk text has been largely misunderstood. You do not run with this kind of vision: you run away from it. You run because you are determined to avoid it. Of course, it will be fulfilled whether you run or not. But you have to make sure in its fulfillment, it is inapplicable to you.

Wait and Run

When God gives a prophecy, he does not depend on man to fulfill it. He fulfills it himself. But when God gives us a vision and tells us to run, he intends that we should run away from it. This is because, as in the case of Habakkuk, the vision is a “burden.” (Habakkuk 1:1). It is about impending calamity. But with every calamity, God makes provision for the salvation of a few. (Isaiah 10:21-22).

Whenever we see God’s prophecies of gloom and doom in the bible, we better believe and run away from them. We must not just say: “God forbid bad thing.” God will not forbid his own prophecies.

Thus, Job asks: “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10). But then God says to Habakkuk: “These things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.” (Habakkuk 2:3).

We are knee-deep in kingdom dynamics here. Why would anybody wait patiently for calamity? Do we wait or do we run away?

We wait because God says we should. We wait because everyone who believes in the word of God must be committed to its fulfillment; whether good or bad. We wait because our salvation is in the very calamity itself. But even as we wait for the calamity, so must we run away from it. There is salvation for those who run from God’s impending calamities.

“Therefore wait for me,” says the LORD, “until the day I rise up for plunder; my determination is to gather the nations to my assembly of kingdoms, to pour on them my indignation, all my fierce anger; all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the LORD, to serve him with one accord.” (Zephaniah 3:8-9).

A Living Parable

In 1995, the Lord told me to break up my business partnership with my brother, so I set up a meeting with him. On the way, the Lord said to me: “Femi, you will get to your brother’s place at 12 p.m.” I did not know the significance of this but I believed it. But suddenly, I realised it did not make sense. There was no traffic on the way. At the speed we were going, we would get there before twelve.

Then something strange happened. The driver took a wrong turning. I looked up to find him driving on an unfamiliar road. We had to go round and double back before getting back on track. As we stopped the car in front of my brother’s house, the digital clock in the car switched to 12 p.m. The Lord himself had fulfilled his vision by his own power.

“Then the LORD said to me: ‘Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go! And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the LORD says: Those destined for death, to death; those for the sword, to the sword; those for starvation, to starvation; those for captivity, to captivity.’” (Jeremiah 15:1-2).

We must run from such prophecies, determined to be part of the few God has earmarked for salvation. There is always salvation in God’s proclaimed calamities. Indeed, without the calamities there would be no salvation. God says: “I will spare a few of their men from the sword, from famine, and from pestilence, that they may declare all their abominations among the Gentiles wherever they go. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.” (Ezekiel 12:16).

isala@yahoo.com; www.femiaribisala.com

Image credit: Getty/Daily Express.

COVID 19: Unprofessional conduct at Gudu cemetery

The Health and Human Services Secretariat of the FCT Administration has noted with concern the video trending on social media, showing a man pulling off his Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) unprofessionally after participating in the burial of the late Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Malam Abba Kyari, at the Gudu cemetery, Abuja.
The Public Health Department has since taken neccasry action.
The said PPE left over by the individual has been professionally evacuated and the entire cemetery has been decontaminated. In addition, all the individuals including the man in question that participated in the burial and were not properly kitted have been identified and are being isolated.
Necessary tests will conducted on all of them to determine their level of exposure and ensure that they do not infect other people.
The Administration has also taken steps to ensure that all future burials of victims of COVID 19 are conducted in line with protocols established by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
Residents are therefore urged to remain calm and rest assured that the FCT Administration will continue to do all that is necessary to curtail and eventually end the spread of the Coronavirus in the FCT.
Dr Mohammed Kawu, Ag Secretary Health and Human Services Secretariat FCTA

According to findings by SaharaReporters, some of the Presidency aides refused access into Aso Villa after returning from the burial include State House Chief Protocol Officer, Ambassador Lawal Kazaure, Special Assistant to the President, Yusuf Sabiu, a nephew to the President, Musa Haro Daura, and Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the, Garba Shehu.


Some top aides of President Muhammadu Buhari have been denied access into the Presidential Villa in Abuja after returning from the burial of late Chief of Staff to Buhari, Abba Kyari, on Saturday.

The burial at Gudu Cemetery was attended by a large crowd – most of whom had no nose mask or hand gloves on them for protection against Coronavirus.

This development violated the social distancing rule put in place by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and exposed attendees including the Presidential aides to the risk of contracting the highly contagious and deadly disease, which claimed the life of Kyari.

According to findings by SaharaReporters, some of the Presidency aides refused access into Aso Villa after returning from the burial include State House Chief Protocol Officer, Ambassador Lawal Kazaure, Special Assistant to the President, Yusuf Sabiu, a nephew to the President, Musa Haro Daura, and Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the, Garba Shehu.

Others are National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, Director-General of National Intelligence Agency, Mr Ahmad Rufai, and Personal Assistant on New Media to President Buhari, Bashir Ahmed, among several more persons.

The burial ceremony was aired on several television stations across Nigeria and the large gathering, against government’s order, was seen by all violating the rule.

“Security personnel at the Villa turned back the aides of President Muhammadu Buhari after attending the burial ceremony of Mallam Kyari and coming in contact with several persons against the rule of the NCDC.

“President Buhari is not happy that the aides decided to violate clear protocols and guidelines of the NCDC and he directed that they should keep off the Presidential Villa to undergo self-isolation,” a Presidency official told SaharaReporters on Saturday.

Kyari’s death was announced on Friday by the Presidency after weeks of battling with Coronavirus.

The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, has expressed her sadness over the passing of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari.


Kyari died after battling complication from COVID-19 on Friday night.

“I am so very sad to hear this terrible news. Abba Kyari was an exceptional man who worked tirelessly for his beloved Nigeria.


“On behalf of everyone @UKinNigeria sending deep condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. We will miss him very much,” Laing tweeted Saturday morning.

Kyari has been buried in Abuja, in accordance with Islamic rites and traditions.

His death is the first most high-profile one in Nigeria, where almost 500 cases have been recorded.

The Jigawa State Government on Friday confirmed a first case of COVID-19.

An official said the patient was transferred from Kano where he had tested positive and was in isolation.

The patient, 26 year old, a Lagos returnee, is a resident of Kaugama Local Government Area of Jigawa State.

Upon arrival, he was detected at Kano, Jigawa land border by health officials from Kano State where his sample was taken. He tested positive.

Jigawa commissioner for health, Abba Zakari, told reporters that the case is currently at Jigawa isolation centre and is responding to treatment.

“They were two migrant persons, both of whom are indigenes of Jigawa State returning from Lagos. Their samples were taken, one positive, the other negative, they are now at one of Jigawa isolation centres,” Mr Zakari said.

However, Mr Zakari, who is also the chairman of Jigawa’s taskforce on COVID-19, said the case was earlier recorded by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Kano and cannot be consider a new case in Nigeria.

Nigeria has about 442 COVID-19 cases as of the time of this report.

Measures taken

Earlier, the Jigawa State Government stated that all mosque goers for Friday congressional prayer must use face masks and ensure two metres distance between one another to avoid the spread of the disease.


The state governor, Muhammad Badaru, on Thursday, stated this after an emergency meeting with the state’s emirs and other stakeholders following the increase in numbers of the COVID-19 confirmed cases in neighbouring Kano State.

Mr Badaru said, “So, seeing what is happening in Kano, we called our emirs and Council of Ulama to review our strategies and see how best we can protect our people without causing too much hardship for them.

“And the resolution is that for now, we will continue to observe Friday prayers, but with an agreement that we practice social distancing of at least two metres in all the mosques in the state,” Mr Badaru said.

“It was also agreed that people will wear face masks or use their ‘Hiram’ (Turban) to cover their nose and mouth, and we will monitor compliance with the directive,” he added.

A crew of three has returned from the International Space Station (ISS) to a very different planet they left last year.

No strangers to isolation, Russian Oleg Skrypochka and Jessica Meir from the US left Earth in September 2019, well before Covid-19 emerged.

Another American, Andrew Morgan, has been on the ISS since July 2019.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the usual routine for returning space crews.

"It's quite surreal to see it unfolding on Earth below," Ms Meir told reporters during a recent video call. "From here, Earth looks just as stunning as usual, so it's hard to believe all of the changes that have taken place since we left."

The trio touched down on Earth at 05:16 GMT, with Mr Skrypochka and Ms Meir having spent 205 days in space, and Mr Morgan 272 days.

A series of posts on the official ISS Twitter account described how the crew's Soyuz ship split into three modules before the descent module reached the Earth's atmosphere "creating a plasma trail" early on Friday.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFcRjcpSp7g

The capsule then landed successfully in Kazakhstan. US space agency Nasa posted a video of the astronauts being met by a mask-wearing rescue team.

The search party has been in strict quarantine and are believed to have undergone tests for coronavirus immediately before going out to pick up the arrivals to ensure that they were not at risk of infecting them.

In normal circumstances the search team would pick up the crew and bring them to the closest airport, from where they would fly home. But Kazakhstan has declared a state of emergency and most of the airports are closed.

The Baikonur space launch pad, leased by Russia from Kazakhstan, is still operating and the three crew members will be flown there. The Russian will take a plane home while the Americans will be driven three hours south-east to Kyzylorda, from where a Nasa plane will fly them back to the US.

A replacement crew of two Russians and an American who flew to the ISS on 9 April also took the utmost precautions to avoid taking the infection into space, spending a month and a half in quarantine before the launch.

Usually, a team of returning astronauts and cosmonauts will undergo a special rehabilitation program lasting several weeks. After a long stay in zero gravity, the body needs time to get used to life in constant gravity.

But this time doctors have the additional task of protecting the crew from coronavirus.

"It will be difficult to not give hugs to family and friends after being up here for seven months," Ms Meir said on the video call before returning to Earth. Last year she made history after completing the first ever all-female spacewalk with another Nasa astronaut, Christina Koch.

"I think I will feel more isolated on Earth than here. We're busy with amazing pursuits and tasks and don't feel the isolation," she added.

The ISS has been orbiting the Earth since 1998. Five partners are involved - the US, Russia, Japan, Canada and the European Space Agency

We’ve no approval yet, EEDC tells customers

Adewale Sanyaolu and Geoffrey Anyanwu, Enugu

Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) said the Federal Governmnt may have to cough out a whopping N120 billion to operationalise the two-month free power to consumers proposal by the National Assembly as part of its palliatives to Nigerians under the COVID-19 dispensation if adopted.

Director, Research and Advocacy and spokesman for the Association of Electricity Distributors of Nigeria (ANED), Mr. Sunday Oduntan, stated this during a Skype interview on Channels Television Sunrise Programme monitored in Lagos yesterday.

Oduntan said Discos were very much in support of any proposal that would ameliorate the pains Nigerians are going through during the coronavirus pandemic.

He however advised that for the proposal to have far reaching effect, the Federal Government must ensure that all stakeholders within the power sector value chain; gas producers, Gencos, Discos, NBET, NERC, CBN and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) are carried along for its impact to be felt nationwide.

According to him, contrary to widespread reports, Discos never promised to provide Nigerians with free electricity, as the proposal was that of the legislators and not electricity distributors idea.

The ANED spokesman said DisCos cannot unilaterally take a decision to give Nigerians free electricity for two months being mere intermediaries selling a product that does not belong to them. He said Nigerians should be patient and await the final outcome of the proposal as the Federal Government and the National Assembly are still working out modalities for its implementation, noting that until such was finalised, DisCos cannot take a decision on it.

Oduntan disclosed that DisCos are already giving palliatives to respective state governments by way of donation of relief materials worth several millions of Naira, adding that they have equally suspended the disconnection of electricity for non-paying customers. He added that the leadership of the National Assembly on Tuesday met with the President Muhammadu Buhari to discuss the issue of stimulus package, where the issue of free electricity would have been discussed as one of the numerous gestures under the initiative.

“We hereby align ourselves with the efforts of the National Assembly and the Federal Executive Council to mitigate the hardships that are currently being borne by our customers and other citizens all over the country,” Oduntan said.

Meanwhile, the Management of Enugu Electricity Distribution PLC (EEDC) yesterday, said that the Federal Government has not approved two months free electricity to consumers.

Reacting to claims in some quarters that the government had directed Distribution Companies to provide two months free electricity to consumers, EEDC stated that while it was in full support of the proposal, no approval has been given on it so far nor has the relevant legislation been passed by the National Assembly.

Consequently, the distribution company has urged its customers to go ahead to pay their energy bills to enable it serve them better.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says there needs to be a "deep dive" review into how the virus was able to spread from China.


Dominic Raab has said there is "no doubt" it will not be "business as usual" with China once the coronavirus crisis is over.

The foreign secretary, who is deputising for Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he recovers from contracting COVID-19, said there needs to be a "deep dive" review into how the virus was able to spread from China.

He added that "hard questions" need to be asked about how the coronavirus came about and how its spread was not halted earlier.

"I think there absolutely needs to be a very, very deep dive after the event review of the lessons - including of the outbreak of the virus - and I don't think we can flinch from that at all, it needs to be driven by the science," Mr Raab told the government's daily COVID-19 news conference.

His remarks came as Sky News learnt the UK is investigating the origin of the coronavirus pandemic, including a possibility it could be linked to a Chinese laboratory conducting research into diseases in bats.

Mr Raab said the UK and China had good cooperation when it comes to the procurement of equipment and the return of UK nationals, adding that the review would need to be carried out in a "balanced way".

However, he went on to say: "But there is no doubt we can't have business as usual after this crisis, and we will have to ask the hard questions about how it came about and how it couldn't have been stopped earlier."

The outbreak began in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the beginning of the year, but soon spread around the world.

Globally, more than 100,000 people have died after contracting COVID-19.

MPs have been critical of China's response in recent weeks.

The Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee warned recently that disinformation propagated by Beijing and other countries was costing lives and hindering the battle against COVID-19.

As the country where the outbreak originated, China should have played a central role in collecting data on its spread, MPs on the committee said.

Instead they said China had, from the outset, tried to "obfuscate" over what was really happening.

It called on the British government, in conjunction with international allies, to actively "confront and rebut" disinformation from foreign powers.

The MPs also named Iran and Russia as being behind false information about the coronavirus and suggested other nations might be involved.

But their ire was mainly focused on China.

The committee highlighted the way Li Wenliang, the Wuhan doctor who first raised the alarm about COVID-19, was forced to confess to "making false comments" before he died from the virus in February.

Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat said Beijing had at first "allowed disinformation to spread as quickly as the virus".

He added: "Rather than helping other countries prepare a swift and strong response, it is increasingly apparent that they manipulated vital information about the virus in order to protect the regime's image.

"The government needs to tackle these lies with a clear and quick response, working with our allies to show a united front in the face of false facts and deadly disinformation."

The leadership of the House of Representatives has expressed displeasure over the inhuman treatment meted out on some Nigerians by the Chinese authorities in Beijing.


He said China must explain its humiliating action on Nigerians, adding that the House was waiting to hear from the Chinese ambassador at least by Tuesday next week.

The Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila said this on Thursday during a meeting with Zhou Pingjian, the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria.


The lawmaker said the inhuman treatment on Nigerians in the Asian country must be addressed forthwith.

Gbajabiamila confronted Pingjian with the protest video of the incident, where a Nigerian was seen challenging Chinese officials over the maltreatment.

Also in attendance at the meeting were the Minority Leader, Rep. Ndudi Elumelu and Deputy Minority Leader, Rep. Toby Okechukwu.


The Speaker went further to say that viral media reports/videos from Beijing showed citizens of the West African nation being forced out of their houses and hotels, rounded up and their passports seized by the Chinese police.

He pointed out that viral videos also showed that some Nigerians were being forced into another 14-day quarantine after the initial 14 days they spent for the same purpose over the Covid-19 pandemic in China.

Gbajabiamila told Pingjian that there should be an official explanation for treating Nigerians in such a manner.


He demanded to know if the Chinese Ambassador has taken up the issue with his home country, adding, “If the diplomatic relationships between our two countries are for the mutual benefits of our citizens, then there must be respect for our citizens, and we should not compromise it.

“As a government, we will not allow Chinese or other nationals to be maltreated just as we will not allow Nigerians to be maltreated in other countries.

“The way you treat your citizens, we expect that’s how you’ll treat others. We will not tolerate our citizens breaking your laws, but the crime of one citizen cannot be used to stigmatize the whole country.

“It appears that’s what happened in this case. You can’t use one brush to smear the whole wall. Whatever the reason, it cannot be used and taken out on the entire community in China”.

In his response, Ambassador Pingjian said though he has not been officially informed about the details of the incident, he would take it up with the home government.

Speaking further, Gbajabiamila said the House will expect feedback from the Ambassador as soon as possible, saying “We are glad you are looking into it but we are hoping to have it at least by Tuesday.

“It is better we nip it in the bud so that it doesn’t escalate to another level. So, by Tuesday, if you have the information to give us, if steps have been taken, let’s talk about it and let’s see the way forward.”

…Kaduna records 12 extra-judicial deaths during lockdown period

…as Lagos, Abuja top list of 105 cases of human rights violations


By Ikechukwu Nnochiri – Abuja

The National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, on Wednesday, said it was worried that within the initial lockdown period, security agents across the country, extra-judicially killed more Nigerians than the dreaded Coronavirus.

The Commission, in a statement that was signed by its Executive Secretary, Mr. Tony Ojukwu, decried that whereas COVID-19 only led to the death of about 11 patients in the country as at last Tuesday, a total of 18 persons were illegally executed by law enforcement agents to enforce the lockdown regulations.

It observed that out of 105 complaints/incidents of human rights violation it received and documented within the initial lockdown period, Lagos State had the highest recorded cases with 28 incidents, followed by the FCT, Abuja which had 10 recorded cases.

The Commission also revealed that it got 8 documented incidents of extra-judicial killing that led to 18 deaths.

It said that out of this number, 12 deaths were recorded in Kaduna State, Abia State recorded 2 deaths arising from 2 incidents; while Delta, Niger, Ebonyi and, Katsina States recorded 1 death each.

The worldwide number confirmed coronavirus cases has surpassed two million, a figure that doubled in less than two weeks.

About 76, 000 deaths have been recorded in 13 days, bringing the total number of fatalities to over 126,000.

There is no vaccine yet for the COVID-19 but experts believe the darkest days are almost over as the lack of fresh hot spots globally yielded a ray of optimism and fueled discussions about how some nations might begin to reopen.

But the World Health Organisation (WHO) cautioned patience before lifting social distancing restrictions, noting that the repercussions of any premature end to lockdown could be more deadly.

The brunt of the coronavirus has been felt most heavily in the U.S., Italy, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and southeast Asia.

The disease is gradually starting to wreak havoc in Africa and South America and the WHO is particularly concerned about the ability of the poorest countries in the world to control the disease.

Confirmed cases
Early Wednesday, there were 2,000,728 confirmed cases across the globe, data from worldometers.info, an online dashboard that tracks the global number of confirmed coronavirus cases showed.

The number of infected people crossed a million threshold on April 2 barely a week after the figure hit 500,000.

The three worst-hit countries: the U.S., Spain, and Italy alone have a combined figure of nearly a million infections, almost half of the global total.

There are 1,389,171 active cases as of the time of reporting. Of that number, over 1,337, 000 are in mild conditions.


Over 51,000 cases are in serious or critical conditions.

Meanwhile, over 484,000 people have recovered after treatment so far worldwide. That is approximately one in four persons.

Death toll
After the U.S. registered a record 2, 400 deaths from the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the total global body-count reached the scary landmark of 125,000 and counting.

As of the time of reporting, about 126,776 people have died from the virus, a strain of coronavirus which causes a pneumonia-like disease, data from worldometers.info showed.


Experts believe the death toll might even be twice the current figure as many people die without being tested.

Countries have continued to report inadequate testing kits for potential patients of virus which has continued to defy science.

U.S.
With 614, 246 confirmed cases, infections in the U.S. now account for more than 25 per cent of infections globally, according to worldometer.info.

The virus has infected more than 200,000 people in New York alone.

U.S. officials and some economists have warned against comparing coronavirus case numbers from country to country due to concerns around reporting methodology.

Local and state officials in the U.S. have also acknowledged that the true number of COVID-19 cases in the country is likely far higher than those that have been confirmed due to testing shortages and restrictions.

Africa
There are now more than over 16,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus across Africa, with a number of African countries imposing a range of prevention and containment measures against the spread of the pandemic.

According to the latest data by the Africa Center for Disease Control on COVID-19 in Africa, the breakdown remains fluid as countries confirm cases erratically. Africa has rising cases with only two countries holding out.

Algeria has the highest number of fatalities – 326 with over 2,000 infections, closely followed by Egypt with 178 deaths and about 2,350 cases. About 126 deaths and 1,888 infections have been recorded in Morocco.

South Africa still leads the continent with over 2, 400 cases with just 27 deaths.


Nigeria recorded 11 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday evening, bringing the total confirmed cases to 373.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, during his second national address since the coronavirus outbreak, extended total lockdown in Lagos, Abuja and Ogun in a bid to continue reducing the transmission of the disease in the country.

But the WHO officials said statistics are likely to significantly underestimate the true number of cases in Africa, raising concerns that the disease could overwhelm the continent’s under-resourced health services.

“This is not a joke. It is a matter of life and death,” a worried Mr Buhari said.

A hard time awaits criminals who have been terrorising residents of Lagos and Ogun States following the COVID-19 lockdown.

The Army, Navy, Airforce and Directorate of State Services (DSS) operatives will join the Police on the offensive against the miscreants.

Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Adamu on Monday announced the deployment of special forces in the two states.

He vowed on Tuesday to go tougher on the criminals.

Parts of Lagos and Ogun states have witnessed increased robbery attacks in the past one week. Gangs attacking residents and looting shops.

Many residents have formed emergency vigilance groups, having been forced to keep vigil. They set up bonfires in streets in a bid to ward off the criminals as tension heightened.
The vigilance groups have also been unleashing terror on innocent citizens in the name of protesting them.

Policemen have withdrawn from Lagos mainland streets without explanation.

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced after a security meeting on Tuesday a revised strategy that “will see an increase in mobile police deployment in all trouble spots in the metropolis; as well as the police intensifying their patrols around residential areas, boundary communities, and other critical areas of activities during this lockdown period.

“This will also be carried out in conjunction with other security agencies – Army, Navy, Airforce and Directorate of State Security Service.

“One of our key responsibilities as an administration is the safety and security of the lives and property of all citizens, and we will not abandon this responsibility at any time.

“There is no room whatsoever in Lagos State for criminal gangs or miscreants of any kind.”
The governor said the miscreants were not hungry.

He said they are “opportunistic criminals and will be treated as such by the law enforcement agencies”.

The governor added: “We have been in close and constant communication with the Federal Government on this issue, and the I.G of Police has deployed a deputy inspector general of Police, who is a seasoned crime fighter, to Lagos as our intervention squad coordinator to help devise and superintend over a superior strategy to curtail and stem the perceived and actual threat of violence.

About 100 suspects were arrested within 72 hours, he added.

President Muhammadu Buhari, during his broadcast on Monday directed security agencies to “maintain utmost vigilance and firmness.”

Speaking during a briefing by the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 in Abuja, the IG said: “I hereby sound a note of warning to criminals going from place to place to desist from doing such.”

Adamu said he had ordered the Commissioners of Police in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun states not to allow criminals to perpetrate their heinous crime against innocent residents during the lockdown.

He called on the citizenry to report any crime to the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in such states.

Acknowledging that the phone numbers of PPROs were not readily available, he promised to make them public immediately.

Residents complained about a lack of security patrols in residential areas, but the IG said he had deployed personnel to banks, residential areas and other public places.

“We have deployed an intervention force to Lagos and Ogun states led by a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of the area,” the police boss insisted.

Adamu warned his officers and men against taking bribes to allow those not on essential duties to move about.

But residents want words to be matched with action. They expressed fears that the lockdown extension could increase criminality.

The residents said robbery activities increased in their Lagos and Ogun neighbourhoods, forcing them to keep vigil.

A welder, Mr Tony Philip, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the idea of lockdown was laudable but insecurity and hunger were making it tough to deal with.

Another Lagos resident, Mr Brown Asuqwo, said crime increased in his area since the lockdown.
“We cannot sleep with our eyes closed; residents now keep watch at night because everybody is scared of being robbed,” Asuqwo said.

He urged security operatives to increase night patrols to residential areas and estates.

Also on Tuesday, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command warned those providing palliatives to ensure they have police protection.

FCT PPRO Anjuguri Manzah said in a statement: “This advice is to ensure adequate security protection for those involved in rendering such selfless services and to forestall any act that could likely lead to the breakdown of law and order.

“The Command wants to also warn that social distance must be observed at all food distribution points.”

The Bauchi state Government has been criticised for its decision to deduct from its workers’ salaries to fund the fight against coronavirus in the state.

The state government is being accused of taking that decision without consulting the workers.

The state’s deputy governor, Baba Tela, who is also the chairman of the State Task Force on COVID-19, had last week announced that he and other top officials of the state government, including the chief of staff, commissioners and permanent secretaries had agreed to give 10 percent of their next three months’ salaries in support of the state government’s efforts against the spread of COVID-19.

The deputy governor added that civil servants on the rank of directors have also agreed to give five percent of their salaries, while others below that rank would give one percent of their salaries for the next three months.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Bauchi State had reportedly endorsed the planned deduction. This dragged the NLC into public censure for alleged “collusion with the government.”

Though the deputy governor had said the deductions would take effect from April, concerns have been raised that the decision was taken without consulting the workers.

The government’s plan has since generated heated reactions in the state as many of the workers, including top civil servants, criticised it.

The majority of those condemning the planned deductions are civil servants who demanded anonymity while speaking with PREMIUM TIMES for fear of victimisation.

A senior civil servant said “it has become one deduction too many in Bauchi State.

“We have been forfeiting one percent of our monthly take home for the state government to fund the Bauchi Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s Agency, (BASOVCA) – even that was done without seeking the express permission of the workers before it was carried out.”


A female civil servant, who identified herself only by her first name, Maimuna, said she would not “forgive them” if they deduct her salary.

“They are yet to increase my salary to the current approved minimum wage because I’m on grade level 8, and now they want to deduct another one per cent in addition to the old one per cent they have been deducting from our salary in the name of BASOVCA. If they deduct that money, it means I will forfeit two per cent to the government for the next three months.”

BASOVCA was established during the tenure of former governor Isa Yuguda to cater for orphans and vulnerable persons, funded by the deduction of one per cent of workers’ salary.

A Bauchi-based lawyer, Idrees Gambo, had told journalists that the planned deduction was at variance with the Nigerian Labour Act.


Quoting relevant sections of the Labour Act, Mr Gambo said all the provisions under the sections that talked about workers’ employment clearly underscore the issue of “consent.”

He said Section 5 (1) of the law made it clear that “Except where it is expressly permitted by this Act or any other law, no employer shall make any deduction or make any agreement or contract with a worker for any deduction from the wages to be paid by the employer to the worker, or for any payment to the employer by the worker, for or in respect of any fines: Provided that, with the prior consent in writing of an authorized labor officer, a reasonable deduction may be made in respect of injury or loss caused to the employer by the willful misconduct or neglect of the worker”.

Quoting subsection (2) of the same Section, the lawyer said “An employer may with the consent of a worker make deductions from the wages of the worker and pay to the appropriate person any contributions to provident or pension funds or other schemes agreed to by the worker and approved by the State Authority..”

Mr Gambo further shed light on the powers of the NLC and where the workers union cannot take the decision on behalf of a worker unless with the latter’s consent.

He said subsection (4) the relevant section expressly says that “No deductions shall be made from the wages and salaries of persons who are eligible members of any of the trade unions specified in Part B of the Schedule 3 to the Trade Unions Act except the person concerned has accepted, in writing, to make voluntary contributions to the trade union, “.

The lawyer who went on to quote several other sections of the Labour Act said no employer has the right to make any rebate from the salary of any worker without prior documented consent.

“Therefore, any attempt by any authority or person in that direction to deduct from workers salary remains an illegality, unless those deductions that are done in accordance with the Labour Act or any other relevant law in that regard”, said Barrister Gambo.

The Bauchi NLC had in a statement last week said it endorsed the move by the government to deduct in April, May, and June as part of the workers’ contribution to the fight against COVID-19.

The NLC statement states that “under the resolutions reached, Permanent Secretaries and their equivalents will contribute 10 percent from their salaries for the months of April, May and June 2020.

“Directors on Grade levels 16 to 17 both in the State and Local Government will contribute 5 percent of their salaries for the period of 3 months.”

PREMIUM TIMES contacted the NLC Chairman in Bauchi State, Danjuma Saleh, to find out if the union consulted with the workers before endorsing the plan of the state government.

The chairman declined to comment but quickly added that the NLC will be holding a press conference “today or Wednesday” to clarify their position on the matter.