₦airaland Forum

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Port Harcourt Court Area 11 Command, on Friday, handed two suspects, a pistol and 9mm amunition to the Nigeria Police.

The command also said it generated over N246 billion between January and October.

The Command’s Comptroller, Baba Imam, made this known while addressing newsmen and making declaration of the seizures at the command’s corporate office, Onne, Rivers.

He, however, attributed his achievements to the renewed mindset engendered through training and retraining of officers as well as adequate provision of logistics and incentives to the service.

He stated that nine containers with a duty-paid value of over N1.16 billion were also confiscated by officers of the area command.

“The following goods were seized in 9 containers for contravening import prohibition laws: 724 bales of used clothing, 1,805 pieces of used tyres, four vehicles used in concealing 76.9kg special cannabis (marijuana), 2,070 cartons of tomato paste, among others.”

The Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said he is politically irrelevant without his base.

Wike said once he loses his base as a politician, he has lost his relevance politically.

The former governor of Rivers State said no amount of calumny levelled against him would make him lose sleep.

Receiving South-South leaders in his office on Tuesday in Abuja, Wike said the right thing must be done.

According to Wike: “All of us want to be politically relevant; all of us want to maintain our political structure.

“Is it not your political structure? Will you allow anybody to just cut you out immediately? Everybody has a base. If you take my base, am I not politically irrelevant?”

The relationship between Wike and the Rivers State Governor, Sim Fubara is believed to have gone sour.

This led to some lawmakers of the Rivers State House of Assembly moving to impeach Fubara.

The lawmakers who moved to impeach Fubara are said to be Wike’s loyalists.

There was pandemonium on Tuesday as police officers repelled attacks from some youths of Ijaw extraction at the residence of the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martins Amaewhule.

The incident led to the injuries of most of the youths who invaded Amaewhule’s residence.

Amaewhule and 24 members of the House of Assembly had opposed the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara and moved for his impeachment.

The youths were first seen occupying the entrance to the building but later tried to pull down the gate and gain forceful entry into the compound.

In a viral video, the Chairman of the Nigeria Youth Council, Rivers State chapter, Amb Ihunwo Chijioke, could be seen leading the protest while referring to Amaehule as a former speaker.

Chijioke had threatened that the youths would burn down the house if the Speaker failed to vacate the residence within two hours.

He said: “Greatest Rivers youths, we are here because the former Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, has been impeached. We are here as Rivers youths to tell him to vacate his official residence because he has been impeached.

“If not we are going to destroy this building because it was built by Rivers State money. He has been suspended and he should go back to his house. We have a new speaker, Edison Ehie. I appeal to everybody to remain calm because they must leave.”

Confirming the development, the spokesman of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide, Bedford Benjamin, said the youths had no intention of attacking Amaewhule’s residence.

Bedford said: “We condemn in strong terms the sporadic shooting at peaceful protesters at the factional speaker’s residential area in Rivers state. One person is feared dead from the shooting, and many others sustained gun wounds and other degrees of injuries.

“We demand the unconditional release of the chairman of Rivers State Youth Council and the numerous Ijaw youths that are being arrested and detained unlawfully. Peaceful protests are backed by law, and anybody who is bent on usurping the will of the people will be resisted by the people.

“We urge those saddled with the responsibility of maintaining peace and stability in the state not to play politics in the discharge of their duty as that can lead to further dangerous outcome.

“The IYC calls on the federal government to step in immediately before the outcome destrupt the economy of the state and by extension the nation. We cannot afford this level of civil criminality in a democratic system.”

Amid worsening economic miseries in Nigeria, the senior Pastor of Awaiting The Second Coming Of Christ Ministries, Adewale Giwa, has advised President Bola Tinubu to resign from office if he does not have solutions to a series of challenges facing the nation.

Giwa disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen on Sunday.

The pastor alleged that Tinubu’s emergence as President had further caused a severe setback in Nigeria.

He said, “I warned that the continuation of APC in the Presidency would cripple Nigeria’s economy. Of course, we know how they got to power, but let me leave that for now.

“Can someone advise President Bola Tinubu to honourably resign if he doesn’t know what he’s doing? He needs to sleep and wake up with proactive decisions to address the issues of petroleum and current economic hardship in no time.

“How can you put the cart before the horse by removing the subsidy hurriedly? You are doing things in the wrong way. It’s a shame that we have to go through this again after the eight years of maladministration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

“You don’t need to be a prophet or seer to know that the APC is on a ‘suicide mission’ to kill and bury Nigeria finally.

“Nigeria is going down the drain; look at how much they sell petroleum and foodstuffs. With N10,000, you can’t boast of buying something to feed a family of three for one day.

“Our elderly parents are crying for help. Our youths are jobless and killing their friends and relatives for money rituals.

“Prostitution, armed robbery and other criminal activities have taken over the streets of Nigeria due to bad leadership.

“Why do you need to waste over N100 million to purchase a Toyota Land Cruiser for each Senator while claiming Nigeria is broke?”

Former Senate President Senator Adolphus Wabara will likely face a disciplinary committee to be set up by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia State to explain some statements credited to him recently by the media.

This is according to the Vice Chairman and acting Publicity Secretary of Abia PDP, Abraham Amah, who said the committee will be inaugurated after the party’s State Working Committee (SWC) meeting.

Amah, who made this known in Umuahia during a live programme on Flo 94.9 FM, said that Wabara, presently the acting chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), must use the occasion to apologise to the party for making statements that could bring ‘collateral damage’ to the reputation of PDP.

The PDP Vice Chairman, who said that the former Senate President was at liberty to make personal statements on governance in the state and the country at large, however, said that such expression should not bring damage to the party.

“In a few days’ time, the State Working Committee is meeting; in that meeting, we are setting up a disciplinary committee. He has to face the disciplinary committee,” Amah vowed.

He further avowed that Wabara could only be forgiven by the party if he apologised to the disciplinary committee for his alleged unguarded utterances.

According to him, the claim by the former Senate President that he was misquoted by the media was not acceptable to the Abia PDP until he appeared before the disciplinary committee to explain himself and offer the necessary apologies.

Abia PDP recently issued a statement in which it disowned the former Senate President’s alleged endorsement of Governor Alex Otti for a second term in office.

On the Abia State government’s recent directive that the Lokpanta Cattle Market in Umuchieze, Umunnochi LGA, should operate as a daily market, Abraham Amah commended Governor Alex Otti for taking the step. He, however, added that the past PDP administration of Okezie Ikpeazu should also be acknowledged for bringing up the daily market template.

He also advised Governor Alex Otti to conduct local government elections in the 17 LGAs, rather than appointing mayors for the councils, as rumoured in the media.

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Dr Olasupo Olusi as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Industry (BOI).

The appointment is for a term of four years in the first instance.

Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity), disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.

Ngelale said Tinubu’s approval of Olusi’s appointment followed the voluntary resignation of the former BOI Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Olukayode Pitan.

According to the statement, Olusi has served as a World Bank economist and development finance expert over the past 20 years.

He has also served as the economic adviser to the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance.

In a surprise move on Thursday, President Bola Tinubu, directed the withdrawal of the nomination of Engr Imam Kashim Imam.

Imam was earlier appointed to serve as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA).

A statement by Ajuri Ngelale, Media Aide to the President, announced the withdrawal of Imam with immediate effect.

Ajuri noted that all other appointments to the board and executive management team of FERMA are not affected by this directive.

Recall that there had been backlash on the Federal Government for appointing Imam, believed to be 24 years old, into the board of FERMA.

There was no specific reasons he presidency ordered the withdrawal of the nomination.

Federal government has said it would commence payment of the nine-month backlog to N-Power beneficiaries in November.

It has also renamed the scheme to Renewed Hope Job Creation Programme (RHJCP).

The National Programme Manager of the N-Power, Akindele Egbuwalo, disclosed this on Monday.

Egbuwalo said the payment would be done in installments.

He said the funds have been recovered from the existing payment service providers.

A statement signed by the national communication manager of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), Jamaluddeen Kabir, said that Egbuwalo revealed this during a meeting with some N-Power beneficiaries.

A Kano High Court has sentenced a Nigerien, Sulaiman Abdullahi, 27, to death by hanging for the 2017 killing of 30-year-old Yahya Badamasi.

The court, presided over by Justice Nasiru Saminu, found Suleiman guilty of culpable homicide, which is contrary to Section 221 (b) of the Penal Code Laws of Kano State 1991, and subsequently sentenced him to death by hanging.

The convict, who is from Matamaye village, Niger Republic, reportedly had a misunderstanding with the deceased, who was a resident of Kofar Nassarawa Quarters in Kano.

The disagreement over N700, which happened on April 9, 2017, resulted in a physical fight, which came to an end when the convict brought out a pair of scissors and stabbed the deceased in the neck.

An injured Yahaya Badamasi was rushed to Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital but later died while receiving treatment. Police officers from the Kwalli Division subsequently arrested and charged Abdullahi in court.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that it plans to go ahead with the October 14 campaign launch for the November 11 Bayelsa governorship election, in spite of the disqualification of its candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva.

.ng earlier reported that Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in a judgement delivered on Monday, disqualified Sylva from featuring in the forthcoming gubernatorial polls.

Okorowo ruled that Sylva, having been sworn in twice and ruled for five years as governor of Bayelsa, would breach the 1999 Constitution as amended if allowed to contest again.

But APC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said Sylva remains the party’s candidate.

“We wish to state categorically that Chief Timipre Sylva is and remains the Bayelsa governorship candidate of our great party in the Nov. 11, 2023, governorship election.

“Our party and its candidate have duly instructed the legal team to appeal the said decision of the Federal High Court diligently and expeditiously.

“We urge our teeming members, supporters, and residents of Bayelsa to remain calm and await the outcome of the appeal, and we remain confident that we shall prevail,” he said.

Morka said that with nothing to offer the Bayelsa electorate, after its poor performance as the ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had since resorted to mercenary lawsuits.

He added that the PDP had also resorted to underhand dealings and antics to distract and create confusion among the people of the state.

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and nine other former governors in the 10th Senate over their collection of both salaries and pensions as senators.

Joined in the suit as Respondents are the following: Abdulaziz Yari; Aminu Tambuwal; Adamu Aliero; Adams Oshiomole; Ibrahim Gaidam; Seriake Dickson; Ibrahim Dankwambo; Aliyu Wammako; Gbenga Daniel, and Dave Umahi.

In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1360/2023 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, SERAP is seeking: “an order of mandamus to direct and compel Mr Akpabio, nine other senators and Mr Umahi to stop collecting both salaries and pensions, and to return any pensions collected to their respective state treasuries.”

The organization is also seeking an order of mandamus to direct and compel Mr Akpabio, nine other senators and Mr Umahi to clarify and disclose if they have collected and/or currently collecting both salaries and pensions as former governors.

In the suit, SERAP is arguing that: “The Seventh Schedule to the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended) requires the former governors to stop collecting both salaries and pensions and to return any pensions collected.”

SERAP is arguing that, “Unless the reliefs sought are granted, the former governors would continue to both enjoy life pension packages, and collect salaries as serving public officers, and the travesty and private self-interest would continue.”

The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare and Ms Valentina Adegoke, read in part: “The UN Convention against Corruption requires public officials to discharge a public duty truthfully and faithfully.

“The UN Convention also implicitly prohibits large severance benefits for public officials. The convention specifically in article 8 requires public officers to promote integrity and responsibility in the management of public resources.

[b]“Paragraph 2 (a) of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers in the Fifth Schedule, Part 1 of the Nigerian Constitution provides in part: ‘a public officer shall not receive or be paid the emoluments of any public office at the same time as he receives or is paid the emoluments of any other public office.’

“According to reports, there are fourteen former governors in the Senate and as ministers who may be collecting pensions running into billions of naira from their states. The former governors include: Godswill Akpabio (Akwa-Ibom State); Adams Oshiomhole (Edo State); Adamu Aliero (Kebbi State); Dave Umahi (Ebonyi State); Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto State); and Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger State).

“Others are: Ibrahim Danwkambo (Gombe State); Danjuma Goje (Gombe State); Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara State); Gbenga Daniel (Ogun State); Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto State); Orji Kalu (Abia State); Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe State); and Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa State). Also, there are at least seven former governors in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet who may be collecting both salaries and pensions.”[/b]

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

A 20-year-old man identified as Segun Gabriel is currently in police cell for allegedly defrauding a Point-of-Sale (POS) operator in Ogun State.

The police in Ogun State described Segun Gabriel as “a rogue and a vagabond who specialises in transferring money out of POS accounts using fake alert.”

The boy, who is now detained at the Ajuwon Divisional Police headquarters in the Ifo Local Government Area of the State, was arrested on October 6, 2023.

According to a statement by the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, Gabriel had, on October 5, transacted the sum of N40,000 with the victim, “which resulted into a fake inter-bank transfer,” but the POS operator did not notice the loss.

On October 6, Gabriel returned to the same operator to transact the sum of N35,000.

“The victim did not notice the fraud the second time until after the criminal had disappeared into thin air.

“While the victim was on her lawful activities on same date, at about 1630hrs, she was lucky to have sighted the suspect under the bridge in Akute, she raised the alarm attracting passersby who assisted her in arresting Segun Gabriel,” Odutola explained.

The PPRO informed that the police in the area were contacted and Segun was taken to the station.

She added that the suspect is “presently in the police custody giving vital information to the police on how to arrest his accomplices.”

A Dunamis church located at Mission Ward North Bank in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, has collapsed, killing at least one pastor.

When contacted by newsmen, the Police Public Relations Officer for the Benue State Police Command, Anene Sewuese Catherine, confirmed the incident.

“Only one person has been confirmed dead for now”, she said.