₦airaland Forum

President Muhammadu Buhari is currently meeting with governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State House.

The meeting, which started at about 3pm, was believed to have been called as a prelude to the scheduled National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the party, which is expected to hold on Tuesday (tomorrow).

The Nation was unable to lay hold on to agenda for the meeting as at the time of filing this report, it was learned that it might be a meeting for ironing out plans and agreeing on positions.

Of the twenty members of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), which is the platform on which APC governors converge, 16 were cited interning the meeting.

Those seen entering the President’s office included: Bornu, Lagos, Ogun, Edo, Kebbi, Jigawa, Osun, Imo, Gombe, Niger, Kastsina, Plateau, Ondo, Kano, Kwara, Nassarawa governors.

Those yet to arrive were: Kaduna, Ekiti, Yobe and Kogi governors.

Suspected members of the Boko Haram on Sunday morning ambushed Nigerian troops in Banki area of Borno State killing six soldiers.

Military sources confirmed that the attack occurred close to Banki junction.

PREMIUM TIMES is withholding the identities of the slain soldiers to allow the army brief the families. However, the victims, members of the 151 Task Force battalion, include two sergeants, two lance corporals and two privates.

“We lost six soldiers to Boko Haram terrorists this morning. The guys came unexpectedly with sophisticated weapons,” an army officer in Borno said, asking not to be named for fear of victimisation.

Banki is 130 km southeast of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital. Apart from the original residents, the community also houses some 45,000 people displaced by the Boko Haram violence.

When contacted on the attack, the army spokesperson Sagir Musa said he has no information about it.

“I don’t know what you want me to confirm because as I speak to you I’m not in Nigeria. I’m on course in London. Thank you,” he said.

Sunday’s attack in Banki is the latest in a string of attacks by the terror group on Borno communities.

The Boko Haram insurgency in Northern Nigeria has caused over 30,000 deaths and displaced millions of others, mainly in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, according to the United Nations.

The Nigerian military has been able to limit the activities of the terror group to the three North-eastern states. However, the group is still able to carry out attacks on civilian and military targets in those three states.

The ongoing two-week warning strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) continues as the Federal Government gave conditions to integrate the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) being proposed by the Union into the government’s Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, revealed this on Thursday after a four-hour technical session between both parties.

The meeting ended at 7:30pm. However, both the federal government and ASUU teams did not reveal the terms of conditions reached during the meeting.

The two parties are expected to reconvene next Monday or Tuesday after further consultations by both parties.

Meanwhile, ASUU President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, in his remarks, said the National Executive Committee of the union would review the conditions set for the integration of UTAS into the IPPIS, a decision based on the commitment of the Federal Government.

Daily Trust reports that the Union had on Monday declared a two-week warning strike over non-payment of salaries of lecturers who failed to enrolled in the Federal Government’s Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

This is coming a day after the government through the Labour minister, Dr Ngige, described the ongoing ASUU warning strike as “illegal.”

It could be recalled that the House of Representatives had also on Wednesday resolved to intervene in the ongoing ASUU strike.

The House also invited Ministers of Education as well as that of Labour and Employment on the issue.

Daily Trust has reliably gathered that Nasarawa State government has decided to relocate the deposed Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, to Awe Local Government Area (LGA) from Loko village in Nasarawa LGA.

Daily Trust gathered that the deposed emir was relocated because Loko is a very remote area in the state.

The Emir is currently at the Nasarawa State Government House in preparation for movement to Awe LGA. The deposed Emir was initially banished to Opanda town in Toto Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

A source, who preferred anonymity, had told Daily Trust exclusively that: “Actually, the deposed emir was scheduled to be exiled from Kano to Opanda town in Toto Local Government but there was a change of decision at the last minute.

“Notable Nigerians like the Emir of Lafia, Justice Sidi Bage (rtd) personally met Governor Abdullahi Sule and requested for a change of location. “Others who called the governor were Alhaji Aliko Dangote and General Aliyu Gusau amongst others,” the source said.

Sanusi’s removal
Emir Sanusi was dethroned over disrespect to the office of the governor and other government agencies.

The Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Usman Alhaji, said the emir’s action violated the part 3 section A-E of Kano state law, hence the removal.

He said the removal was in line with consultation with relevant stakeholders. Emir Sanusi was taken to Nasarawa state from his palace around 4:30pm yesterday.

“It took us several hours to remove the emir from the palace,” a security personnel told Daily Trust on Monday.

The deposed Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, is to live in Loko town of Nasarawa Local Government in Nasarawa State.

A source who preferred anonymity told Daily Trust exclusively that, “Actually, the deposed emir was scheduled to be exiled from Kano to Opanda town in Toto Local Government but there was a change of decision at the last minute.

“Notable Nigerians like the Emir of Lafia, Justice Sidi Bage (rtd) personally met Governor Abdullahi Sule and requested for a change of location.

Others who called the governor were Alhaji Aliko Dangote and General Aliyu Gusau amongst others,” the source said.

It was learnt that Governor Sule agreed that the deposed emir be exiled in Loko which looks better than the initial place that the former emir was to be taken to.

Loko town is inhabited by Fulani. When contacted, the chairman of Nasarawa Local Government Area, Muhammad Otto said, “I have not been informed on the exile of the deposed emir.”

It could be recalled that the deposed Emir of Gwandu in Kebbi State, Alhaji Al-Mustapha Haruna Jokola, was exiled to Obi Local Government of Nasarawa State when he was dethroned.

An FCT High Court in Jabi suspended Adams Oshiomhole as the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) earlier on Wednesday.

Justice Danlami Senchi ordered Oshiomhole to stop parading himself as the chairman of the party pending the determination of the substantive suit, which is seeking his perpetual removal as the APC chairman.

The court’s order followed a motion on notice filed on January 16 by Comrade Mustapha Salihu, the APC National Vice Chairman for North East; Anselm Ojezua, the party’s Edo State chairman; and four others.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MOTION

-They asked the court through their lawyer, Oluwole Afolabi, for an order of interlocutory injunction restraining Oshiomhole (1st respondent) “from continuing to parade himself or performing any function as the National Chairman of the 2nd respondent (APC) or representing the 2nd respondent in any capacity pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”

They also asked for an order of interlocutory injunction restraining APC from recognising or continuing to recognise Oshiomhole as its National Chairman “including giving effect to any of his decisions or according him any privilege/benefit accruing to its National Chairman pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”

Also, they asked for “an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the 2nd respondent from permitting or continuing to permit the 1st respondent to function as its National Chairman including representing the 2nd respondent at any engagement or allowing him access to the office of Chairman of the 2nd respondent pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”

More so, they asked the court to order the IGP and SSS “to deploy their staff, agents and operatives to prevent the 1st respondent from continuing to occupy the office of the National Chairman of the 2nd respondent and from having access to the said office pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”

Adopting processes on the motion on Monday, Afolabi told the court that the essence of the motion was to preserve the res (subject matter) of the substantive suit.

Lagos State House of Assembly at plenary on Tuesday passed the bill to create Amotekun Corps as a special unit of the Lagos State Neighborhood Safety Corps.

It passed the bill after taking the third reading of the amendment to the Lagos State Neighborhood Safety Corps Agency Law 2019.

The amendment bill had successfully gone through all the different stages of lawmaking ,which includes first and second reading, holding public hearing, laying and presentation of committees report, adoption of report by House, third reading and finally passage.