₦airaland Forum

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is deploying back-channel strategies to restore constitutional order in Niger Republic.

The regional bloc, while trying to avoid bloodshed in the West African nation, would also explore diplomatic interventions.

This was disclosed on Friday by President Bola Tinubu who received the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, Catherine Colonna, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, the Nigerian leader said he has to guide the regional bloc carefully to protect detained President Mohamed Bazoum who was ousted from power on July 26.

President Tinubu noted that Nigeria is monitoring the situation in the neighbouring country, and exploring diplomatic channels to avoid bloodshed.

“I am deploying all appropriate back-channel strategies to avoid bloodshed in Niger Republic. We recognize the wishes of our people; they do not want war, but that does not mean we can not take bold and decisive action,” Tinubu was quoted as saying.

“We have a colleague and a democratically-elected leader, President Bazoum, being used as a human shield. If we are not careful, he and his family can be endangered.

“Leadership is about responding to the needs of the people; their cries, and their frustrations. Nigeria shares a border with Niger across the expanse of seven Nigerian states, and most of these states are very populated. Therefore, I need to guide ECOWAS carefully and steadily so that we manage our anger carefully.”

In her remarks, the French minister commended President Tinubu’s leadership in handling the affairs of the regional bloc, saying: “We support your efforts at ECOWAS. We are behind you because we believe that constitutional order is a treasure for all countries, and democracy must be a reality”.

Colonna also conveyed the goodwill of President Emmanuel Macron and expressed the readiness of France to expand mutually beneficial collaboration with Nigeria across multiple sectors.

She proceeded to extend a formal invitation to President Bola Tinubu to attend the forthcoming Paris Peace Forum.

Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, on Thursday announced the lifting of visa restrictions for all Africans wanting to visit the Central African nation.

This introduction makes Rwanda the fourth African country to do so.

“Let there be no mistake about it. Any African can get on a plane to Rwanda whenever they wish and will not pay a thing to enter our country,” President Kagame said in Kigalki when he pitched the potential of Africa as “a unified tourism destination”

For decades several African leaders have entertained the idea of free movement by citizens across the continent, even going as far as advocating for a unified single African passport.

Late Libyan strongman, Muammar Gaddafi, had been a strong proponent of the free movement of people and services.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta during his inauguration speech in 2017, took the giant step to announce that the tourism hub will now give visas on arrival to all Africans.

“The freer we are to travel and live with one another, the more integrated and appreciative of our diversity we will become,” Kenyatta said.

Rwanda has been on a campaign to boost its tourism sector, partnering with European football clubs like Arsenal and Bayern Munich to promote the country as a tourist destination.

According to Kagame, “We should not lose sight of our own continental market.”

“Africans are the future of global tourism as our middle class continues to grow at a fast pace in the decades to come.”

The African Union has hailed the decision of Rwanda and Kenya to improve free trade across the continent.

“I urge all African states that have not yet done so to take similar measures,” AU Commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat said on Twitter after Kenya’s announcement,” AU said.

Trade among African countries is at just 16 per cent, while trade among European Union states is at 70 per cent, Mahamat told AU trade ministers on Friday.

Several African countries have also entered bilateral agreements for visa-free travel, most recently Ghana and South Africa, and Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Supreme Court has fixed January 26, 2024, for judgment in the appeal by a former member of the House of Representatives Farouk Lawan who is presently in jail.

A five-member panel led by Justice John Okoro chose the date after lawyers to parties made their final submissions and adopted their written briefs.

Lawan’s appeal is seeking to set aside the February 24, 2022 judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which sentenced him to a five-year jail term and discharged him on two out of the three counts on the corruption charge brought against him by the Federal Government.

Although it was his motion for bail, pending the determination of his appeal, that was listed for hearing, the court elected to take the main appeal rather than dissipating energy on the interlocutory application when the appeal was, on its own, ripe for hearing.

While urging the court to first take the bail application, his Counsel and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Joseph Daudu, said his client’s health was threatened.

Daudu says Lawan has stage three prostrate cancer, noting that if it gets to stage four, there is no assurance that he will remain alive.

But, on realising that the court was unwilling to walk back on its position, Daudu applied to withdraw the application for bail following which the main appeal was taken.

He urged the court to allow his client’s appeal and set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

While adumbrating, Daudu noted that the Court of Appeal discharged on counts one and two, which attracted a maximum of seven years.

Daudu argued that if the Court of Appeal could discharge his client on the two counts, which he claimed, have the same ingredients as the third count, the Supreme Court should equally let off the hook in relation to the third count.

Counsel to the Federal Government, Bagudu Sanni, urged the court to affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal and dismiss the appeal.

The Court of Appeal had, in its judgment, reduced Lawan’s initial maximum jail term from seven to five years.

Lawan was convicted by a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on June 22, 2021, on a three-count charge of soliciting a bribe, agreeing to accept a bribe, and actually accepting a $500,000 bribe from businessman, Femi Otedola.

A US multinational financial services firm, JP Morgan, on Wednesday projected that the naira would trade at N850/$ at the Investors’ and Exporters’ Forex window before the end of 2023.

However, the US bank said the recent efforts to restore a flexible FX regime may be sustained given the willingness to accompany it with tighter monetary conditions.

“The interbank FX rate has risen in recent days to over 900, from 750, thereby significantly closing the gap to the parallel rate which is now just above 1,000.

“We expect USD/NGN to eventually move lower towards 850 by year-end as the combination of tighter policy, as well as more attractive rates and FX levels deter incremental dollarization and perhaps attracts some foreign capital,” JP Morgan asserted.

In addition to the policy actions, JP Morgan averred that authorities may need to consider further measures such as requiring commercial banks to adhere to regulatory limits on FX net open positions.

Other measures, JP Morgan said, include exploring the introduction of a cash reserve ratio on FX deposits as well as the issuance of dollar assets onshore.

On the fiscal side, the financial services firm advised the government to require all taxes to be paid in local currency.

It added that some of the measures may have already been incorporated in the Federal Government’s forthcoming revision of guidelines relating to the operations of the forex market.

JP Morgan also urged oil exporting companies to consider selling forex proceeds on the interbank market, rather than directly to the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The company also said the willing buyer-willing-seller nature of the foreign exchange market is contributing to the extreme volatility in the FX market.

It said the willing buyer-willing-seller model impeded price discovery, so the financial regulator should reconsider the strategy.

The bank also commented on Nigeria’s plan to obtain $10bn in foreign currency inflows in the next few weeks to ease liquidity in the foreign exchange market.

It added that the ability of the government to raise such an amount may be challenging given the “US$3bn expected from Afrexim has been delayed for months, while Nigeria LNG Limited’s historical dividends to the government have fallen well short of US$2bn annually”.

Meanwhile, the President of the Association of Bureau de Change Operators of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadabe, had called on the Federal Government to consider the securitisation of domestic remittances as part of the planned new forex rules.

In an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, he commended the plan by the Federal Government to address the forex crisis by operating a single exchange market.

He said, “The plan by the Federal Government to address the forex crisis is a good one and will yield results. Of course, it is going to add value to the local currency. We are only waiting to see how it would be implemented, especially on confidence-building measures.

“However, I think instead of securitising inflows from NLNG, they should look towards securitising diaspora remittances for Bureau de Change. It has been done in Malaysia, Lebanon, China, South Africa and other countries.

“We have to scrutinise diaspora remittances. It is stable and heavy. We should leave energy proceeds; the government should focus on remittances from the diaspora. It is about $20bn annually compared to that of NLNG that is from our future revenue of 14 years.”

He urged the government to use the Bureau de Change as a vehicle to implement that.

The management of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife said it was meeting the officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission following the arrest of 69 suspected Internet fraudsters, many of whom are students of the university.

Fifty eight of the students were later released late Wednesday.

Officials of the EFCC in a midnight raid stormed hostels outside the OAU campus, including Fine Touch and Superb hostels in the Oduduwa Estate, Ile-Ife, broke into rooms, and arrested the students.

The Students’ Union President, Akinremi Ojo, said on Wednesday morning the union had details of “72 students picked up from the hostel with phones and cars taken away.” The president demanded the release of the students while condemning the approach of the arrests.

A former union official, Joy Abiola, told our correspondent that the students were beaten during the arrests.

Abiola told PUNCH Metro that, “The EFCC officials came between 1:40 a.m. and 4:00 a.m.,” saying, “Only students stay in those hostels. How can you arrest people for owning iPhones, laptops, and cars? Some of the students are only tech experts.”

In a video shared with our correspondent by one of the students, several young persons said to be students of the hostel were seen being marched into a white Hummer Bus with some security officials hitting them and ordering them to move and enter quickly.

In another video, about six vehicles were seen alongside the white Hummer Bus as they left Ile-Ife for the EFCC zonal office in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

Meanwhile, the EFCC in a statement on its verified Facebook page hours later confirmed that it arrested 69 suspects in Ile-Ife. The anti-graft agency listed the names of the suspects but was silent on their identity as students.

“They were arrested on Wednesday, November 1, 2023, at the Oduduwa Estate area of Ile-Ife, Osun State, following actionable intelligence on their suspected involvement in fraudulent Internet-related activities. Credible intelligence linked Oduduwa Estate with activities of suspected internet fraudsters,” the statement said.

The agency disclosed further that, “The suspects have made useful statements to the EFCC and will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.”

Hours after the arrests, several OAU students led by union officers mobilised from Ile-Ife to the EFCC office in Ibadan to demand the release of their colleagues. They were seen protesting as the armed security operatives barricaded the EFCC premises.

“We’re here until they release the students,” the PRO of the Students’ Union, Elijah Omisore, told PUNCH Metro in a telephone interview.

The Osun Joint Campus Committee arm of the National Association of Nigerian Students in a statement also condemned the arrest of students.

“Without any justification or evidence, they invaded the residence of the OAU students and transported them (the students) to Ibadan. We condemn this action in the strongest possible terms,” the spokesperson for the student body, Adedapo Emmanuel, said in a statement.

While speaking with our correspondent on Wednesday evening, the Public Relations Officer of the university, Abiodun Olarewaju, said, “we (the management) are currently at the EFCC office in Ibadan to meet the officials.”

He later confirmed that “58 of the students were released to us. The remaining 11 of them have cases to answer.”

A former Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, says ex-President Muhammadu Buhari “rarely supervised” members of his cabinet.

Shittu, who spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Wednesday, said the President Bola Tinubu administration should learn from the past government and do better in terms of the coordination and supervision of his ministers.

Tinubu, on Wednesday, while declaring open, a three-day Cabinet Retreat at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja, challenged his 48 ministers to deliver on their responsibilities or get sacked.

Commenting on the President’s warning to his ministers, Shittu lauded Tinubu for putting his cabinet members on pressure to deliver. The ex-minister said the President should not hesitate to sack ineffective members of his cabinet.

Shittu, who was minister from November 2015 to May 2019, said sacking a minister is not a difficult task in as much as a replacement will be provided from the same state as the dismissed official.

Reminiscing about his time as minister during the first term of the Buhari administration, Shittu said, “Buhari did not give anybody any threat as such. As I said, Buhari is not Tinubu and Tinubu is not Buhari.

“What I do know of Buhari, with all due respect to him, is that he is a more reserved person. He’s one person who gives you job (with due respect to him) and he rarely ask how you are going about it. It’s unfortunate but I have to say this in national interest so that government coming after him will learn lessons. Once you are there, you are there.

“In Buhari’s government, if you don’t go and meet him, for the next four years, he probably would not ask of you.

“Every Wednesday, people bring their memos and they are debated and all of that but in terms of policy formulation and supervision, we rarely did have such things and I am happy that President Tinubu is trying to do things differently.

“In his statement today, that is a sign that he (Tinubu) wants to do things differently. What I think he needs to add to it is to create transparent, quantifiable milestones for each ministry.”

The Economic Financial Crimes Commission has released 58 out of 69 students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, arrested earlier on Wednesday.

The PUNCH earlier reported that the commission arrested no fewer than 70 students of the university.
They were reportedly arrested by officials of the EFCC in a midnight raid on hostels outside the campus.

Multiple sources in Ile-Ife confirmed to our correspondent on Wednesday morning that the officials, around 2 a.m., stormed the Fine Touch and Superb hostels in Oduduwa Estate, Ile-Ife, broke into rooms, and arrested the students.
However, the National Association Of University Students condemned the arrest of the students by the EFCC.

In a statement signed by its National Director of Security and Safety, Eruobami Ayobami; Deputy National President, Babalola Daniel; and the Vice Chairman of NAUS in the state, Akinyemi Hammed, the students’ leadership faults the process and actions of the commission, saying, “It is important that as students leaders, the security and safety of our students is paramount to us and the action of the EFCC is synonymous to an action of gang of thieves and burglars.”

The anti-graft agency in a statement said it arrested 69 suspected internet fraudsters in Ile-Ife.

“They were arrested on Wednesday, November 1, 2023, at Oduduwa Estate area of Ile-Ife, Osun State following actionable intelligence on their suspected involvement in fraudulent internet-related activities. Credible intelligence linked Oduduwa Estate with activities of suspected internet fraudsters,” the anti-graft agency said.

Confirming the release to our correspondent at 8:51pm on Wednesday, Eruobami said, “58 students have been released.”

The Senate on Monday uncovered how the Board of Directors of Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Plc allegedly paid a N14bn salary increase to all its staff members without the approval of the National Salaries Wages, Incomes and Wages Commission.

The Chairman of the Senate Public Accounts Committee, Senator Ahmed Wadada, discovered during a session in the Red Chamber in Abuja when the management of NSPMC appeared before the committee concerning the 2019 report of the Auditor-General of the Federation.

The report of the Auditor-General revealed that between 2016 and 2019, the NSPMC’s Board of Directors approved N14bn for salaries and allowances without the approval of the salaries and wages regulatory body.

Under Article 3, the NSIWC Act, 1990 stipulated that the commission shall advise the Federal Government on national income policy; recommend the proportions of income growth which should be utilised for general wage increases and inform the Federal Government of current and incipient trends in wages and propose guidelines within which increase in wages should be confined, among others

In his written submission, however, the Managing Director of NSPMC, Ahmed Halilu, claimed that the company did not need any approval from the salaries and wages regulatory body because it was registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act.

However, the managing director later admitted before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts that it was wrong not to seek approval from the NSIWC before implementing the new salaries and allowances increase for the company.

Halilu further said, “It has come to our notice that we must obtain approval before salaries increase. It is salaries paid over three years. On this ground, it was not misappropriated considering the volume of works done by thousands of staff over this period.”

In their responses, nearly all members of the committee were displeased with the illegal payment, pointing out that the public funds were spent without due process.

The Deputy Whip of the Senate, Senator Nwebonyi Onyeka, explained that government money was spent without due process, adding that the misappropriated fund should be refunded.

The Senate on Monday uncovered how the Board of Directors of Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Plc allegedly paid a N14bn salary increase to all its staff members without the approval of the National Salaries Wages, Incomes and Wages Commission.

The Chairman of the Senate Public Accounts Committee, Senator Ahmed Wadada, discovered during a session in the Red Chamber in Abuja when the management of NSPMC appeared before the committee concerning the 2019 report of the Auditor-General of the Federation.

The report of the Auditor-General revealed that between 2016 and 2019, the NSPMC’s Board of Directors approved N14bn for salaries and allowances without the approval of the salaries and wages regulatory body.

Under Article 3, the NSIWC Act, 1990 stipulated that the commission shall advise the Federal Government on national income policy; recommend the proportions of income growth which should be utilised for general wage increases and inform the Federal Government of current and incipient trends in wages and propose guidelines within which increase in wages should be confined, among others

In his written submission, however, the Managing Director of NSPMC, Ahmed Halilu, claimed that the company did not need any approval from the salaries and wages regulatory body because it was registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act.

However, the managing director later admitted before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts that it was wrong not to seek approval from the NSIWC before implementing the new salaries and allowances increase for the company.

Halilu further said, “It has come to our notice that we must obtain approval before salaries increase. It is salaries paid over three years. On this ground, it was not misappropriated considering the volume of works done by thousands of staff over this period.”

In their responses, nearly all members of the committee were displeased with the illegal payment, pointing out that the public funds were spent without due process.

The Deputy Whip of the Senate, Senator Nwebonyi Onyeka, explained that government money was spent without due process, adding that the misappropriated fund should be refunded.

The Minister of Defence, Mohammed Abubakar and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, are currently in Turkey to facilitate the speedy delivery of the T-129 ATAK helicopters acquired for the Nigeria Air Force, by the Federal Government.

The minister held talks with his Turkish counterpart, Lt. Gen. Yasar Guler (Rtd.) on critical bilateral and defence cooperation issues.

This was disclosed in a statement issued on Sunday by the Director, Public Relations and Information, NAF, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet.

The statement stated that Guler, on behalf of the Turkish military, assured the minister to assist in the fight against terrorism and other criminal challenges facing the country.

Gabkwet noted, “The minister and the CAS also visited some selected Turkish companies including Turkish Aerospace Industries, MKE, Aselsan, and Roketsan. These companies are among the highly-rated global defence companies renowned for the production of quality defence and military equipment.

“While at these companies, the HMOD called for improved synergy between the companies and Nigeria through the transfer of defence technology to Nigeria.”

“The FG had procured six T-129 ATAK helicopters from the TIA, out of which two are to be delivered to the NAF in the coming weeks. The remaining are expected before the end of the second quarter of 2024.”

The Minister of Works, Mr David Umahi, on Saturday, said comprehensive rehabilitation of the 11.8-kilometer Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos would begin on November 1 for a period of three months.

Umahi said this during an inspection of the under deck, lagoon sections of the Third Mainland Bridge and other bridges.

Umahi, a team of engineers, directors of the Federal Ministry of Works and journalists inspected the lagoon sections of the Third Mainland, Carter, Independence and Falomo Bridges.

Umahi also inspected the Marina Bridge in Apapa.

He said the entire stretch of the Third Mainland Bridge would undergo total resurfacing with minimal discomfort to road users, and the repairs would be carried out by midnight during the weekend.

The minister said he carried out inspection of the top surface of the bridge on Friday before embarking on inspection of the Lagoon portions.

The minister explained that patching of various sections of the top surface of bridge had led to undulating surfacing, which was not healthy for its safety, hence the need to remove and relay the entire asphaltic covering.

“We are going to mill out the excess asphalt and retain only two millimetres,” he said.

The minister said the proposed maintenance of Third Mainland Bridge, which would last three months was the first phase meant to secure the integrity as well aesthetics of the upper deck components of the bridge.

He explained that the maintenance of the aesthetics would include replacement of the railings, installation of solar-powered lights and CCTV cameras for optimal security of the bridge.

The minister assured road users that the three-month maintenance work would be without discomfort to motorists, as it would take place only between midnight and 4am and during weekends.

He added that more than one contractor would be engaged due to the emergency nature of the work, which would end in Phase Four; that will entail the repairs of deflected slabs, bearings, piers and pile caps.

The minister lamented that most of the bridges were about 60 years old and had outlived their design lifespan, hence the need for constant rehabilitation.

Umahi, who is a civil engineer, said the Marina Shoreline had deteriorated and was threatening the foundation of some parts of the Blue Rail Line, hence the need for urgent protection which had begun.

“Marina shoreline is gone,” he said.

The minister warned that henceforth a 10-year maintenance responsibility would be attached to projects for contractors to bear repair costs within the period if the road failed.

He added that contractors who constructed roads that failed within two years risked jail term in line with global practices to curb shoddy constructions.

Third Mainland Bridge was earlier closed for 24-hour repairs from midnight on October 21 to midnight October 22 for emergency resurfacing of some bad portions.

A report has indicated that nearly one out of 12 Italians are living in absolute poverty due to inflation in the country, Euro News reports.

According to the report published by the country’s National Statistics Institute (ISTAT) on Friday, there are now over 5.6 million Italians who cannot afford the cost of bare essentials like food, shelter, education and healthcare.

The reports further added that the number of Italians living in “absolute poverty” has risen dramatically over the past 10 years, meaning that 5.67 million individuals and 2.18 million families had an income below a level that would ensure they and their families meet basic needs of life including food, shelter, education and healthcare.

That’s up sharply – several percentage points – in just a few years.

ISTAT stressed that the reason for this climb in the poverty rate is mostly due to the rise in inflation in the country, which in 2022 surged by an estimated 8.7%. In September 2023, the latest data available, inflation was 5.3% – much lower than last year but still higher than the European Central Bank’s target of close to, but below, 2%.

Crucially, the rise in the cost of living impacted lower-income families more significantly than wealthier ones. The government’s support towards families struggling to pay their energy bills last year is estimated to have kept the poverty rate lower than it could have been would these measures had not been implemented.

Speaking on the recent statistics, an Italian economist, Tito Boeri, said, “‘Absolute poverty’ in Italy can be calculated to mean earning less than €817.56 per month after taxes if you live in a city in the north; earning less than €733 each month after taxes if you live outside of a city in the north; and earning less than €554 per month after taxes if you live outside of a city in the south.

“Italians in the south are also among the majority of the country’s poor. According to the ISTAT’s latest report, 10.7% of all poor families in Italy live in the south, with a total of 2,038,000 poor individuals and 699,999 poor families considered to be in absolute poverty.

“By contrast, some 1,832,000 poor individuals and 609,000 poor families live in the north (7.5% of all poor families) and 871,000 poor individuals and 311,000 poor families live in the centre of the country (6.4% of all poor families),” he maintained.

Stears has announced that Nigeria’s inflation rate may rise to 30 per cent by December 2023.

The data-driven insights provider announced this while unveiling its Pan-African inflation forecasts. It projected that Nigeria’s annual inflation rate is set to climb steadily until year-end, culminating at around 30 per cent, a level not attained since the country’s modern democratic era.

The firm stated that its forecasts are based on trusted econometric tools that consider a myriad of factors driving inflation, from general to country-specific dynamics.

In a statement, Stears’ Head of Insights, Fadekemi Abiru, said, “In September, we saw the exchange rate premium—the differential between official and parallel rates—rise to 25.2 per cent, which is a significant increase from what it was in August.

“We expect this gap to keep widening and exerting further inflationary pressures unless we see significant dollar inflows into the economy. We have also had heavy and prolonged rainy season, which has affected harvests. Following the recent release of Nigeria’s September 2023 inflation data, the country’s forecasts have been prioritised, with Kenya’s projections scheduled for early November and forecasts for other African nations coming in early 2024.”

The firm noted that its forecasts aim to guide corporates, professionals, and policymakers in their short-to-medium term pricing, investment, and policy decisions. It added that its inflation forecasts, spanning from October 2023 to December 2024, include both average and year-end predictions for 2023 and 2024.

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BREAKING: Nigeria inflation climbs to 26.72%
Nigeria has one of the highest inflation rates in the world and an estimated four million people were pushed into poverty between January and May 2023 because of the worsening cost of living.


According to the World Bank, the removal of fuel subsidy and devaluation and unification of the exchange rate system will continue to increase the inflationary pressure in the country in the near term and erode the purchasing power of the average Nigerian.

In its recent Africa Pulse report, the World Bank noted, “The incoming Tinubu administration implemented a series of reforms that included the removal of fuel subsidies and the devaluation and unification of the exchange rate system.

“Petroleum prices have more than tripled since the subsidies were lifted at the end of May. The naira has weakened by nearly 40 percent against the US dollar since the mid-June devaluation. Although these measures are intended to improve the fiscal and external accounts of the nation, their inflationary effects in the near term can erode the purchasing power of households and weigh on economic activity.”

The country’s inflation rate is now well above the World Bank’s projected inflation rate of 25 per cent for 2023.

In its recent World Economic Outlook report, the International Monetary Fund predicted that high inflation is expected to slow Nigeria’s economic growth to 2.9 per cent in 2023.

In a bid to secure the musical rights of the works of the late singer, Ilerioluwa Aloba, popularly known as Mohbad, the House of Representatives, on Thursday, summoned controversial singer Azeez Fashola, Naira Marley, to appear before it.

The House Committee on Justice, Youth and Legislative Compliance, also invited Mohbad’s manager, Jiggy Adeoye, to appear on October 31.

Mohbad, a former signee in Naira Marley’s record label, died on September 12, 2023, in controversial circumstances. The Lagos State Government ordered a coroner’s inquest into the death of the 27-year-old singer.

The House resolution followed the adoption of a motion moved by Babajimi Benson, the lawmaker representing Ikorodu Federal Constituency, Lagos State on Thursday.

Benson emphasised the need to review the laws governing the entertainment industry in a bid to safeguard artists’ copyrights and royalties.

The Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has said that Nigerians will pay less for transportation with the introduction of Compressed Natural Gas-powered buses.

This is contained in a statement by the Director, Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Finance, Stephen Kilebi, on Thursday.

Edun said this during a town hall meeting with the management and staff of the Ministry in Abuja.


The statement noted that the minister sought the cooperation and support of the staff to enable him to deliver on the mandate given him by the President Bola Tinubu-led administration.

It read, “The meeting, which was held at the instance of the minister, was aimed at exchanging views with the management and staff on how best to deliver on the mandate of the Ministry in the Renewed Hope Agenda of the current administration.”

Edun further assured of continued staff welfare for better and more efficient service delivery.

He was also quoted as saying, “Things are going to change and be better, not only for Nigerians but will make the Ministry attain global competitiveness.”


The statement added, “He assured that staff welfare would be given top most consideration to ease their suffering, disclosing that plans were on the way for the provision of Compressed Natural Gas buses to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy, stressing that with CNG buses Nigerians would pay less for transportation.”

One of the palliatives to cushion the effects of the removal of fuel subsidies is to spend N100bn to acquire 3,000 units of 20-seater CNG-fuelled buses.

In August, Tinubu established the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, targeting over 11,500 new CNG-enabled vehicles and 55,000 CNG conversion kits for existing PMS-dependent vehicles.

In October, Tinubu also announced the imminent introduction of Compressed Natural Gas conversion kits.

The president stressed the administration’s commitment to enhancing affordability and accessibility in public transportation.

The Supreme Court has agreed with the Court of Appeal that the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, is like other states.

The presiding justice of the panel, John Okoro, asked, “Are you saying if someone scores 25% votes in 30 states but not in Abuja, he should not be president? Is that how you interpret the law?

“That is not the law. Supreme Court agrees with the Court of Appeal,” he added.

Details later…

The Federal Government, on Wednesday, announced that it had secured a grant of €1m from the European Union to execute the instrument for nuclear safety projects in Nigeria.

It announced this in Abuja through the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority, after EU nuclear safety experts visited the NNRA and held discussions with the agency for three days.

The NNRA, in a statement issued in Abuja by its Head of Information and Protocol Unit, Ekaette Bassey, said the discussions centred on the commencement of the European Instrument for International Nuclear Safety Cooperation project on enhancing the regulatory framework for nuclear safety in Nigeria.

It said, “The EU experts were in Nigeria to interact with their counterparts in NNRA on the modalities for the implementation of the first bilateral cooperation project on nuclear safety and the safe management of radioactive waste in the country to be supported by a grant from the EU.”

The Director-General, NNRA, Yau Idris, thanked the EU for finding the request made by the agency worthy of a grant, covering a period of two years from October 1, 2023, to September 31, 2025.

He indicated that the implementation of the project would be closely monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure compliance with international best practices and regulations.

Idris stated that part of the grant was meant for the NNRA to implement some aspects of the IAEA Integrated Regulatory Review Service mission.

He stated that, during the mission, the IAEA sent a team of 12 senior nuclear regulatory experts from 11 countries and three of its staff to Nigeria to review the country’s radiation and nuclear safety regulatory framework and activities against relevant IAEA safety standards and international nuclear safety treaties.

The DG also noted that in July 2023 the IAEA conducted an International Physical Protection Advisory Service mission to Nigeria.

“The mission was made up of eight international experts from the United States, France, Argentina, Indonesia, Romania, Lebanon, Slovakia and Pakistan together with NNRA staff and with the assistance of the Office of the National Security Adviser.

“They visited facilities with high-risk nuclear and radioactive material, including the Nigeria Nuclear Research Reactor, located at the Centre for Energy Research and Training, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

“The goal was to assess Nigeria’s compliance with the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and its 2005 Amendment, Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources as well as the relevant IAEA Nuclear Security Series publications,” Idris stated.

He said both IAEA missions concluded that Nigeria, through the NNRA, had established an excellent nuclear safety and security regime that was in the process of being significantly improved through the update of legislative and regulatory framework and other ongoing initiatives.

“Key issues requiring urgent attention are the passage of the NNRA Bill and its presidential assent and the provision of a permanent headquarter office,” the agency’s boss stated.

He said the EU chose the NNRA for the project based on several positive reports by all the IAEA missions to Nigeria and its leadership in Africa as regards nuclear regulatory activities and competence.

“The project will focus on capacity development and training, enhancing regulatory framework for nuclear safety and ensuring that Nigeria implements the recommendation of all the IAEA missions in respect to its regulatory infrastructure,” Idris stated.

The founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, Pastor William Kumuyi, on Wednesday, said he has no plan to retire, noting that he is fit to run a relay race.

The 82-year-old renowned clergy arrived in Benin City, the Edo State capital, around 2 pm for a six-day ‘Global Crusade with Kumuyi with the theme, “Loose Him, Let Him Go” to take place at the Garrick Memorial Grammar School, Ekhewan Road, Benin City.

While fielding questions from journalists in the VIP Lounge at the Benin Airport, he expressed optimism that the six-day conference would also impact positively on the physical and spiritual lives of the people.

When asked if he was considering retiring after decades as the founder of the ministry, he said, “If you rest while you are not tired, if you rest while your vision is becoming brighter, If you rest when you see farther than you saw 50 years ago, you will not be called the wise man.

“I’m getting the vision, more anointing, strength, and power. I can run a relay race today more than I could 50 years ago. When I start getting tired, I can start thinking of retirement. But for now, the vision is coming so fast that I’m trying to catch up. So, no retirement yet.

“I have great remembrance of what took place in earlier years when I started coming to Edo State. I’m thinking about things that happened and am excited. I want to see greater things happening at this time,” he added.

Kumuyi also recalled the impact of similar conferences, saying, “There was a woman that was paralyzed and was brought from the village and came to the crusade, and I prayed for everyone, and lives were changed.

“I told this woman to go and that she has gotten her miracle and she cried. She got to her village and low and behold when they wanted to help her from the lorry, the power of God came upon her and she stood up from the lorry herself and it was a great scene,” he added.

A man identified as Sodirudeen Rufai has been arrested for attempting to set fire to the Guaranty Trust Bank building situated in the Oke-Ilewo Area of Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Tuesday.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the suspect claimed he decided to raze the bank after his several complaints that an unauthorised N500,000 was debited from his account fell on deaf ears.

Our correspondent further learnt that he was said to have been advised by the Area Commander, Metro, Abeokuta, that he should allow the bank to follow its procedure in unraveling the circumstances behind the deduction when he reported the matter.

However, PUNCH Metro learnt that the matter took a turn for the worse after the bank told him that he had been defrauded.

After receiving the news from the bank official who attended to him, our correspondent learnt that Rufai was said to have gone back to the bank with petrol and began to sprinkle it on the banking hall.

While the drama was unfolding, some customers scampered for safety, while others, along with the bank security staff members, wrestled Rufai to the ground before he could use the lighter in his hand.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the bank’s Chief Security Officer, Godwin James, handed the suspect to the Ibara Police Division.

Meanwhile, during interrogation, the suspect was said to have claimed that he took the action to attract the attention of the necessary authorities about what the bank did with his money.

Speaking with our correspondent on Wednesday, the state police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, said Rufai would be charged with attempted suicide and murder.

Odutola said, “He was fighting a noble cause in an ignoble way. He has a right to make a complaint that his money is missing. But the way he went about it was wrong. We are going to hold him for an attempt to commit suicide with murder because if he had succeeded, he would have killed himself and every other person in the bank.”

The Senate has raised an ad hoc committee to investigate all the contracts awarded for the rehabilitation of all state-owned refineries said to have gulped N11.35tn in 13 years.

It also mandated the panel to interrogate the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited and the Bureau of Public Enterprises on the best approach to commercialise state-owned refineries.

The Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, who presided over the plenary, named Senator Isah Jibrin Echocho as the chairman of the committee.

Other members are chairmen of the committees on Petroleum Resources (Downstream, Upstream and Gas), Finance, Appropriation, and Public Accounts.

The committee was given four weeks to submit its report.

The resolutions followed a motion by Senator Sunday Karimi during Tuesday’s plenary.

Nigeria’s four refineries in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt had become moribund for years despite a series of repairs executed under various turnaround maintenance contracts that have gulped huge amounts.

Karimi, in his motion, expressed concern that the state-owned refineries had been a drain pipe of public finance, depriving the citizens of the benefits of being an oil-producing nation.

He said from 2010 to date, Nigeria had spent about N11.35tn, excluding other costs in foreign currencies, such as $592, 976, 050.00; £4, 877, 068.47 and €3, 455, 656.93, on the renovation of refineries, yet the refineries remained unproductive.

He said despite the moribund state of the four refineries, their operating costs between 2010 and 2020 is estimated at N4.8tn.

Senators, in their various contributions, said the country could not continue to spend money on an unproductive venture and urged the relevant authorities to ensure that those responsible for the state of the refineries were sanctioned.

In his contribution, Senator Adams Oshiomhole said, “The amount so far spent on the refineries can build brand new ones. Senators must take the issues with all seriousness it deserves.”

The Deputy Senate President stressed that “It is very important that a thorough investigation should be done to make sure that everything that we need to know is brought open to us. ”

“Who are those who are sabotaging the efforts of government? Anybody who has a hand, sabotaging the efforts of the government to bring these refineries into operation and those who have taken money that is meant to turn around these refineries must be brought to book. We must know them and decisive actions must be taken,” he said.

The National Leader of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Alhaji Shettima Yerima, said the Bola Tinubu who was once a pro-democracy activist, is no longer the one in the seat of power today at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Yerima said those of them who were pro-democracy activists in the trenches with the president to enthrone the nation’s fledgling democracy now have reservations about him.

The National President of the AYCF who was a former Youth Director of the political pressure group, NADECO, which fought the late General Sani Abacha military junta, in the early 90s noted that judging from the current policies of the ruling APC administration, he hoped that President Tinubu has not been hijacked by the usual “Aso Rock Cabal” as experienced in the immediate past regime.

Specifically, he raised doubt over some of the appointments of the president that tend to neglect the youths in preference to the old brigades.

Yerima, who spoke with Arewa PUNCH, stated, “Some of us now have our reservations about the President. The Bola Tinubu that I know and that I once worked in the trenches is a totally different person now. I hope it’s not what I am thinking, and I don’t want to believe that he would be hijacked by the same characters.

“I expect that by the coming of Tinubu, certain things would have happened where he would begin to believe in this present generation than the old men of the past who had worked with him and the same people coming back tactically behind the doors. Some of them have a lot of influence on the government. I hope that he will not allow himself to be carried away.

“He should learn from what happened to his predecessor. I hope he will be remembered positively because my prayers are that this present government that I ascribed as ‘our government’ should live up to expectations.

“I have my reasons when I said it’s our government. It is our government because it’s a product of our struggle. Even though I have worked closely with him and recently, from a far distance, I still relate very well to him. I am one of those behind the scenes with my counterpart, Muhajid Asari Dokubo, making statements for Tinubu’s presidency.”

The youth leader admonished the president to learn from former President Muhammadu Buhari, who surrounded himself with those who caged him while presiding over the affairs of the country between 2015 and 2023.

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr Ola Olukoyede, has directed staff members of the commission to immediately declare their assets in line with civil service regulations and procedures.

He gave the directive on Tuesday at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja while addressing senior staff members of the EFCC, stressing that, fighting corruption required those at the vanguard to be above board.

The EFCC boss assured the commission’s staff members that adherence to the rule of law would be an article of faith and a defining principle of work.

“The EFCC is a creation of the law. We must do our job in line with the dictates of the law. This is a standard international practice and we would ensure that it is our established norm.



“All of us are going to declare our assets; from Level 17, downward. I did mine, so there’s no reason for anyone to be afraid to do the same. Even the commission’s secretary did, you all may also have done it in the past, but there’s a need for all of us to do it again. We will declare our assets, and we are going to investigate them.

“We must live above board by setting the pace with good examples. As anti-corruption fighters, our hands must be clean, so we must declare our assets,” the spokesperson for the EFCC, Dele Oyewale quoted Olukoyede as saying in a statement made available to journalists on Tuesday.

While urging the operatives to be professional, he further called on staff members of the commission to pay premium attention to the basis of fighting economic and financial crimes, pointing out that, such efforts should be geared towards growing the economy of the nation, creating rightful environment for enhanced investment and strengthening the productive base of the economy.

Olukoyede added, “We must do our job to add value to the nation. Investors must have confidence in the economy and we must help the country to be governed in an accountable and transparent manner. By doing this, it will offer us a new direction to redeem the image of the nation.

“Please, I beg you, let our hands be clean and put our house in order. Some may not like me, but I am going to do the right thing and treat everybody equally irrespective of religion, ethnicity and region.”

He assured the staff members of a better welfare package, enhanced training and equal opportunities to ensure higher productivity. He warned “those compromising their works and position to desist from such conduct, as dire consequences await every unsavoury tendency.”

The Business and Property Court in London on Monday halted the enforcement of the $11bn arbitration award in favour of P&ID against Nigeria in a case marked CL-2019-000752, The PUNCH reports.

In a judgment delivered by Justice Robert Knowles, it was held that the process through which P&ID secured a 2010 contract to build a gas processing plant in Calabar, Cross River State, was fraudulent.

“In the circumstances and for the reasons I have sought to describe and explain. Nigeria succeeds in its challenge under section 68. I have not accepted all of Nigeria’s allegations. But the Awards were obtained by fraud and the Awards were and the way in which they were procured was contrary to public policy.

“What happened in this case is very serious indeed, and it is important that section 68 has been available to maintain the rule of law,” Justice Knowles said in his ruling, a copy of which was sighted by our correspondent in Abuja.

The PUNCH reports that over the years, Nigeria has been involved in a fight with Process & Industrial since the company accused the Nigerian government of botching a deal by failing to provide gas to them.

The country had suffered a $6.6bn judgement debt in 2017 when the arbitration tribunal ordered the country to pay P&ID with interest to start counting from March 2013.

P&ID, in its claims, said Nigeria violated the terms of its agreement by failing to provide gas for the power plant it wants to build for the country.

The government of Former president Goodluck Jonathan reached an out-of-tribunal agreement for the payment of $850 million and passed on disbursement to the administration of President Buhari.

Buhari baulked at the idea of paying the negotiated sum, set aside the settlement agreement, and challenged the enforcement of the award before the English Commercial Court. But the London court added $2.4 billion in interest, making it $9bn.

The judge granted Nigeria’s request for a stay on any asset seizures while its legal challenge is pending but ordered it to pay $200 million to the court within 60 days to ensure the stay. It also must pay some court costs to P&ID within 14 days.

The original decision on August 16 converted an arbitration award held by P&ID to a legal judgment, which would allow the British Virgin Islands-based firm to try to seize international assets.

In 2018, Nigeria began investigating the company through the EFCC and found evidence of two bank transfers totalling $20,000 made by Dublin-based Industrial Consultants (International) Ltd. — part of the P&ID group of companies—to Grace Taiga, a Nigerian government lawyer who oversaw the award of the gas plant contract.

A pathologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Prof. Sunday Shoyemi, on Friday, told a Lagos state High Court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square that the death of a 22-year-old fashion designer named Oluwabamise Ayanwole, was caused by a force blunt trauma on the head.

Shoyemi said the death was ascribed to craniocerebral injury following a force blunt trauma.

The witness, who is also a lecturer at the Medicine Department, LASU, told Justice Sherifat Sonaike while giving evidence at the ongoing trial of a Bus Rapid Transit driver, Andrew Ominnikoron, who was charged with rape and murder of Ayanwole.

Ominnikoron is facing five counts bordering on rape, conspiracy, felony, sexual assault and murder preferred against him by the Lagos State Government.

The prosecution told the court that Ominnikoron conspired with others now at large to rape and murder his 22-year-old passenger.

The prosecution said that the defendant had sexual intercourse with Ayanwole, without her consent, and murdered her, at about 7 p.m., between the Lekki Ajah expressway and Carter Bridge, on February 26, 2022.

“The defendant and others now at large on February 26, 2022, unlawfully killed one Ayanwole by throwing her out of a moving bus between Lekki- Ajah expressway and Cater Bridge,” the statement read.

According to the prosecution, the offences committed contravened Sections 411, 223, 260, and 165 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.

However, the 48-year-old defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against him.

At the resumed hearing of the case on Friday, Shoyemi, who was led in evidence by Director of Public Prosecution, Dr. Babajide Martins, told the court that prior to the autopsy, the body of the deceased had been embalmed.

He said that the body had no clothing but a silver-coloured ring was found on the middle right finger of the deceased.

Shoyemi testified that he observed a bruise on the left side of the forehead of the deceased, a bruise on the right temple just above the ear on the right temple.

He also told the court that he observed a large bruise on the back of the skull of the deceased.

“In addition, there was a bruise on the elbow region. These findings were the external appearance.

“Upon opening, I saw what we call Subdural hematoma, which means bleeding into the soft tissue covering the skull, or bleeding into the brain. This was noticed in the frontal area as well as on the back of the skull.

“At the back of the skull, there were multiple fractures, which meant bone broken into two or more pieces. There was a fracture at the temporal bone, the bone above the ear.

“I also observed the bleeding into the brain called Subdural. I checked for deep bruising, the bruising you would not be able to see under the skin excerpt the skin is removed.

“Bruises were found on both lower lips and the organs were essentially normal except the right ovary which had cysts which had a fluid collection. It was an incidental finding which has nothing to do with the death,” he said.

The founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Afe Babalola, believes politics has become the only lucrative business in Nigeria.

The legal icon spoke during the 11th convocation ceremony of Afe Babalola University on Saturday, lamenting that education is gradually being relegated to the background with politics taking centre stage.

The ABUAD founder recounted his experience with a first-class graduate who turned down further education after a master’s degree because he saw a secondary school colleague who didn’t go to a higher institution achieve material success in politics.

“I was the Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos and a young man came out with first class in Chemistry and had the highest score that year. I called him and said, ‘I am going to give you a scholarship to do your master’s.

“He was very happy and he agreed; he passed his masters. I had forgotten all about him, then he came in and said, ‘Sir, thank you for the scholarship given to me’ and I said ‘Yes, proceed to your Ph.D.’ and he said ‘No’ and I said ‘Why?’

“He said, ‘My colleague who was in class with me in secondary school did not go to university; he is the chairman of the local government of my place. He is riding a car; he has a house.’ I was depressed.

“I said, ‘What do you want to do now?’ He said, ‘I want to go into politics.’ I wept inside me. That is what your country has made of Nigeria. The only business in this country today which is lucrative is politics,” Babalola said.

He said that while he does not disapprove of any political ambitions, he believes that politics has become less ethical and more of personal gain than about serving the public good.

“I do not say you cannot be a politician but to be a politician is different from what we have now. Who thinks that politics is for making money? Politics is for service,” the legal icon added.

“I was a Chancellor and Pro-Chancellor before and I never had a kobo because I saw it as service. People go now to make money from public money given to them.”

According to him, the nation lacks strong leadership and high-quality education.

“Our problem in this country is leadership in Africa. People believe that when they come out of university, they should go and work or alternatively, go into politics,” he said.

“What we need in this country is quality education. When you have quality education, you have power and when you have power, every other thing submerges,” Afe Babalola said.

The trial of Bishop Feyiropo Daniels, the founder of “I Reign Christian Ministry”, in the Lekki area of Lagos, continued on Friday at the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court sitting in the Ikeja.

The Bishop, who took to the witness box in his own defence, testified that he believes three out of the four women who accused him of sexually assaulting them conspired to turn against him.

While answering questions under cross-examination, the prosecution’s lead counsel, Babajide Boye, sought to establish that the defendant, Bishop Daniels had a ‘personal relationship’ with the four women.

Mr Boye alleged that the defendant had counselled one of the women, given the amount of N100,000 to another for hospital treatment, paid school fees for a third and related with a fourth, as a leader in the campus fellowship affiliated with his ministry at Akungba-Akobo in Ondo State.

But the Bishop denied giving money to one of the women for treatment. He said, “I believe all three ladies turned against me, but not (name withheld), because she later apologised to me.”

When asked why the accusations from the ladies were all sexual in nature, the defendant said he didn’t know.

Mr Boye also accused the defendant of using his position as a Pastor to manipulate persons who come to him for counseling .

“You are a man of God. Are you not? A powerful man of God. You get trained to counsel, and you use wisdom and the leading of the spirit to manipulate.”

Bishop Daniels denied this allegation. He said, “I am not a powerful man, I am a pastor. I do not use power to counsel people, I am not a manipulator”.

The Prosecutor further grilled the defendant, “You visited your Akungba fellowship centre and when she (one of the alleged victims) saw you, she hissed. Were you not surprised as a pastor?

“No. She was disgruntled because I couldn’t help her financially.”

“Are you her father?”
“No”
“So she isn’t your responsibility.
“yes”

The defendant also denied tampering with the WhatsApp messages between him and one of his alleged victims.

During the cross examination, the prosecutor also sought to tender four statements purportedly written by the defendant whilst in police custody at various intervals last year.

“There are contradictions between the defendant’s testimony and contents of the documents. We seek to use them to impeach his testimony. We rely on section 232 of the Evidence Act, that evidence even though obtained improperly is still admissible and we urge the court to admit same,” Boye said.

The defence counsel, Adebayo Adegbite, raised objections to the admissibility of the statements. He argued that the statements were not made by the defendant and that the Bishop signed them under duress.

“The statements are a mixture of confession and denial. We leave it to the court to determine whether they amount to a confession. Right from the start of this trial, the defendant has denied the charges, that’s his plea. The documents weren’t made voluntarily. Even if there were contradictions, he wasn’t the maker of the documents, they were written by the police,” Adegbite stated.

In his ruling, Justice Rahman Oshodi, admitted the documents. The judge said, “By section 9(3) and (4) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State (2021), the presence of a video testimony of the suspect is desirable but not compulsory. I will admit the documents and later consider the evidential value to place on them. The objection of the defence is hereby overruled.”

Justice Oshodi then adjourned the matter to December 20, 2023, for the adoption of final written addresses of the parties.

PDP governorship candidate in Kogi State, Dino Melaye, on Politics Today, Monday, October 16, 2023,


The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for Kogi State Dino Melaye says one of his plans is to recruit graduates to boost the state’s agricultural sector.

He made the comment on Monday when he was featured on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

“We are going to work on agriculture. We are going to work on mechanised agriculture. We are going to go into plantation agriculture. We are going to have farmhouses. We are going to recruit our graduates into agriculture,” he said.

While lamenting the state of education in the Confluence State, Melaye promised to revamp the sector if he wins the November 11 election.

“After working on our economy, we are going to work on our education. As I speak with you today, apart from Ekiti State, we have the highest number of professors in this country yet our universities are like glorified secondary schools. Today, there is no functional primary school in Kogi State – no teachers,” Melaye maintained.

“Education is the bane of our development as a people. We are going to work on it. We are going to introduce ICT. We are going to work on the curriculum from primary school to our universities.”

‘First Responsibility’
He also pledged to unite the people.

“My first responsibility would be to unite our people and that is why the slogan of my campaign is: One Kogi, One Destiny,” the former lawmaker added.

The PDP candidate also accused Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State of running a proxy third term via the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Ahmed Ododo.

“Don’t be deceived that Yahaya Bello is not on the ballot. Ododo is physically on the ballot but Yahaya Bello is the one seeking a third term through a proxy [Ododo].

“I will not want this debate to be about Yahaya Bello, rather I would like to market my political party and market what we have for Kogi State,” he said.

The Ogun State government has called on factories operating in the state to ensure that their workers are provided with proper kits, including protective goggles, in order to safeguard their eyesight.

The state said its finding had shown that blindness was more predominant among factory workers in the state.

The Commissioner of Health, Dr Tomi Coker, said during a press conference in commemoration of World Sight Day 2023 with the theme, ‘Love your eyes at work,’ “We are speaking to factories and employers as well, they must make sure that they provide protective goggles for their employees as well as make sure that there’s safety around the workplace.

“We have realised in Ogun State, in particular, that the number of blind people that we see within the factory workers is far higher, the proportion is far higher among the people working in factories than in the general population,” the commissioner said.

The commissioner disclosed that the government had distributed 250 free eyeglasses, otherwise known as ‘Jigi Dapo’ to the artisans at the Mechanic Village, Abeokuta.

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the February 25 election, Atiku Abubakar, has urged the Supreme Court to allow him to present fresh evidence to back his claim that President Bola Tinubu forged the document he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

He said presenting forged documents by any candidate is a grave constitutional issue that must be discouraged.

This was contained in Atiku’s reply on the point of law to Tinubu’s objection to the leave. He sought to present fresh evidence before the apex court.

“Presenting forged documents by any candidate, especially by a candidate for the highest office in the land, is a very grave constitutional issue that must not be encouraged, ” he said.

Tinubu had urged the Supreme Court to dismiss the application, describing it as a crass abuse of court processes.

But in his response on the point of law, Atiku urged the court to jettison technicality and grant his application.

He argued that the issue of merit ought not to be determined or pronounced upon at the interlocutory stage.

To refuse to grant the leave, as the respondents have argued, will amount to undue technicality.

“The Supreme Court, as the Apex Court and indeed the Policy Court, has intervened time and again to do substantial justice in such matters of great constitutional importance, as it did in the case of AMAECHI vs. INEC (2008) 5 NWLR (Pt. 1080) 227 and OBI vs. INEC (2007) 11 NWLR (Pt. 1046) 565. The Supreme Court applied the principle of ubi jus ibi remedium to ensure substantial justice is done in such novel scenarios.

“The need to rebuff, eschew, and reject technicality and the duty of Court to ensure substantial justice is very germane in this matter, given the gravity of the constitutional issue involved in deciding whether a candidate for the highest office in the land, the office of President of the Country, presented a forged certificate or not.

“In urging the Honourable Court to overrule the objections of the Respondents, we can do no better than to commend to your noble Lordships the insightful words of the Supreme Court in ASSAH & ORS V. KARA & ORS (2014) LPELR-24212(SC), per Rhodes-Vivour, JSC as follows:

“Law is blind. It has no eyes. It cannot see. That explains why a statue of a woman with her eyes covered can be found in front of some High Courts. On the contrary, justice is not blind. It has many eyes, it sees and sees very well.

‘The aim of Courts is to do substantial justice between the parties and any technicality that rears its ugly head to defeat the cause of justice will be rebuffed by the Court, ” he stated.

Atiku stated that his stance was not if Tinubu attended the Chicago State University or not, adding that Tinubu presented a forged certificate to INEC.

“That the case is not whether the 2nd Respondent attended Chicago State University but whether he presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“That at the trial, a National Youth Service Corps certificate with serial number 173807 presented by the 2nd Respondent to the 1st Respondent was equally tendered by the Appellants/Applicants at the trial as “EXHIBIT PBD 1A” with the name Tinubu Bola Adekunle, which is annexed herewith as EXHIBIT “J”.

Also, Atiku described Tinubu’s allegation that he was not consistent with his name as immaterial and pedestrian.

Atiku held that there was no petition challenging his qualification.

“That it is immaterial that the 1st Respondent had since June 24th, 2022 published the fictitious credentials of the 2nd Respondent as presentation of a forged certificate by a candidate for election to the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a post-election matter under Section 137 (1) (j) of the Constitution”.

In a 20-paragraph affidavit in support of the application, deposed to by one Uyi Giwa-Osagie, he noted that should the Apex Court grant his application, adding that there would be no need for argument.

He said, “There would be no need for any further argument other than the written address in support of same showing that the 2nd Respondent is in violation of the provisions of Section 137 (1) (j) of the Constitution by presenting a certificate disclaimed by the institution from where he purportedly procured same.

“That contrary to paragraphs 16(xi) of the 2nd Respondent’s Counter-Affidavit, there was no ex parte communication with the Honourable Court, but the letter was forwarded to the Registrar of the Court just as was done in the case of Uzodinma vs. Izunaso (2011) 17 NWLR (Pt. 1275) 30, at 56 (paragraph h of the affidavit on page 56) in which Counsel for the 2nd Respondent and Counsel for the Appellants/Applicants were both involved.

He argued that Tinubu’s objection was baseless.

He said, “The presence of the 1st and 3rd Respondents at the discovery and deposition was not necessary.

“That I know that the 2nd Respondent’s appeal was to prevent the discovery and deposition and that the said Appeal failed.

“That I know as a fact that the discovery and deposition were ordered by the District Judge, and was not out-of-court.

“That the Appellants were not indolent in their pursuit of the discoveries and deposition as it was also the letter tendered as EXHIBIT XX2 by the 2nd Respondent in the course of his defense purportedly issued by Caleb Westerberg that clearly gave the Appellants/Applicants further reasons to build on the evidence of PW27 by the discovery proceedings for the documents and Deposition on Oath of the same Caleb Westerberg.

“That the process for the discovery and deposition was commenced by the Appellants/Applicants with several initial preliminary processes by their U.S. Attorneys culminating in their eventually filing a Petition for the issuance of Subpoena, a copy of which is annexed herewith as EXHIBIT “K”.

“That the process was severely stalled by the vehement opposition of the 2nd Respondent, citing irreparable damage to him, amongst other excuses, and I annex herewith as EXHIBIT “L” the motion the 2nd Respondent to quash the subpoena, which application failed.

“That the process was also further delayed by a motion to join or intervene filed by the 2nd Respondent, which was granted, a copy of which application is annexed herewith as EXHIBIT “M”.”

“That eventually the subpoena was ordered, and annex herewith a copy of the subpoena along with the documents that accompanied it as EXHIBIT “N”.

He argued that the president made a move to block the release of credentials while he had equally applied through his lawyer for the release of the document.

“That the 2nd Respondent has been in primary possession of all the facts sought in the discovery but took every step to block their release, notwithstanding that the 2nd Respondent had equally applied through his Attorney in the United States, Mr. Wole Afolabi, for the release of the said documents, which were released to him as shown is EXHIBIT “P” presented in the course of the discovery and deposition process”, he said.

President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday, approved the staggered takeoff of six out of 14 public universities established in the twilight of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, who revealed this to State House Correspondents, said the choice of the universities — two colleges of agriculture, education and medicine each—was strategic to the skills-empowerment goals of the Tinubu-led administration.

The Buhari administration approved the establishment of no fewer than 75 universities, encompassing federal, state and private institutions within seven years.

However, Mamman said the Federal Government lacked the funds and qualified staffing to kick start all institutions at once as they are capital intensive.

He added that the Tinubu administration will be “conservative” in doling out approvals for the establishment of new universities.

“And then there are quite a number of universities and institutions which were approved in the last days of the last administration, which because of issues of funding, and even staff it may not be prudent to get these institutions to take off altogether at once.

“So Mr. President has directed we stagger their commencement, their takeoff so that the government can properly support them,” the Former Baze University Vice Chancellor said, after he briefed Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) says the federal government paid a total of N171.25 billion as electricity subsidy in the first six months of 2023.

NERC, in its second-quarter (Q2) report dated October 17, 2023, said the subsidy was due to the absence of cost-reflective tariffs across all distribution companies.

During the first half (H1) of the year, the commission reported a total subsidy of N171.25 billion, with N36.02 billion incurred in the first quarter (Q1) and N135.23 billion in Q2.

According to the commission, the increase in Q2 can be primarily attributed to the government’s policy of harmonising exchange rates.

“In the absence of cost-reflective tariffs, the government undertakes to cover the resultant gap (between the cost-reflective and allowed tariff) in the form of tariff shortfall funding,” the report said.

“This funding is applied to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) invoices that are to be paid by DisCos.

“The amount to be covered by the DisCo is based on the allowed tariff determined by the Commission and set out as their Minimum Remittance Obligation(MRO) in the periodic Tariff Orders issued by the Commission.

“It is important to note that due to the absence of cost-reflective tariffs across all DisCos, the government incurred a subsidy obligation of N135.23 billion in 2023/Q2, which is an increase of N99.21 billion (+275%) compared to the ₦36.02 billion incurred in 2023/Q1.”

The report also highlighted that, on average, the subsidy obligation incurred by the government per month was N45.08 billion in Q2 2023.

The NERC said the government’s subsidy obligation meant that in 2023/Q2, Discos were only expected to cover 53.25 percent of the total invoice received from NBET.

DISCOs RAKE IN N267.9BN, Q2 COLLECTION EFFICIENCY AT 75.5%

According to the NERC, DisCos revenue for Q2 stood at N267.86 billion achieving a 75.5 percent collection efficiency.

In Q1, the collection efficiency stood at 68.75 percent.

Collection efficiency is the ratio of the amount that has been collected from customers relative to the amount billed to them by the DisCos.

For example, collection efficiency of 70 percent implies that for every N100 worth of energy billed to customers by DisCos, approximately N30 remained unrecovered from the billed customers.

NERC said: “The total revenue collected by all DisCos in 2023/Q2 was N267.86 billion out of the N354.61 billion that was billed to customers.”

“This translates to a collection efficiency of 75.54%. The DisCos overall collection efficiency increased by 6.79 percent point from 68.75% recorded in 2023/Q1.

“While the total collections increased by 8.41% (compared to N247.09 billion in 2023/Q1), the total billings declined by -1.33% (compared to N359.38 billion in 2023/Q1).”

The report also shows that all other discos apart from Yola discos recorded an improvement in collection efficiency in Q2.

The top performing DisCos were Kaduna, Ikeja and Enugu with (44.27 percent to 59.38 percent ), (87.19 percent to 95 percent ) and (68.55 percent to 76.29 percent) increases in collection efficiency respectively.

Yola DisCo had a decrease from 45.71 percent to 45.27 percent in collection efficiency within the
same period.

The House of Representatives has directed the Committee on Public Account to look into claims of improper handling of COVID-19 intervention funding.

The order came from a motion moved on Tuesday, during plenary by Nyampa Zakari, a PDP member from Adamawa State.

Zakari claimed in his motion that numerous ministries and organizations misused the COVID-19 intervention monies during the pandemic.

The parliamentarian said that the federal budget had earmarked more than N183.9 billion for the intervention money, adding that money was donated to the coffers by other international donors.

“The disruption of economic activity made it necessary to implement several programmes, laws, and interventions to help families, small enterprises, and public corporations and to strengthen their economies.

“To battle the COVID-19 pandemic on the populace, the Federal Government of Nigeria launched several initiatives, including financial provisions and money from international donor organisations.

“A sum of N83.9 billion was appropriated for the COVID-19 response in the 2020 Appropriation Act, as well as another sum of over N100 billion as intervention funds through the supplementary budget and international donor agencies,” the lawmaker added.

The alleged mishandling, according to Mr. Zakari, was detailed in one of the Auditor General’s reports.

He said that the poor handling would discourage future donations to Nigeria from donor organisations.

“Auditor-General’s report and other sources reveal that significant funds for COVID-19 palliatives and international donations were diverted and unaccounted for by various Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government.

“Lack of proper accountability of funds allocated for COVID-19 intervention by the federal government and global donor agencies could potentially lead to negative economic ratings and loss of opportunities for Nigeria,” he said.

Speaking on the motion, Borno APC member Ahmed Jaha stated that the probe was essential because the House has already been charged with receiving benefits from the COVID-19 intervention money.

Imagine how many schools would have been built if each constituency received N500 million, Mr. Jaha said.

As a result, the House instructed the committee to look into the COVID-19 intervention funds distributed to federal ministries, departments, and agencies between 2020 and 2022 and provide a report within four weeks for additional legislative action.

After being placed to a vote by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, the resolution was adopted by the House by a unanimous vote.