₦airaland Forum

On his 83rd birthday, Pope Francis has responded to a long-standing complaint from survivors by announcing that any testimony gathered by the Church in relation to cases of sexual violence, the abuse of minors and child pornography will now be made available to state authorities.

In the past, the Church has been accused of using secrecy laws as a justification for not reporting cases of abuse. The consequence of breaching the pontifical secret was excommunication from the Church, so there was little incentive to be open to state authorities. That prohibition has now been abolished.

It is the latest attempt by the Roman Catholic Church to address the scourge of clerical abuse that has manifested itself across continents and in a range of religious institutions.

The Pope's troubleshooter on sexual abuse, Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, has added to Tuesday's announcement saying that if it receives a specific request from a state authority, then the Church will now co-operate.

Pope Francis has made changes to the way the Roman Catholic Church deals with cases of the sexual abuse of minors, by abolishing the rule of "pontifical secrecy" that covers them.

New papal documents lift the obligation of silence on those who report abuse or say they have been victims.

Church leaders called for the rule's abolition at a February Vatican summit.

Information in abuse cases should still be treated with "security, integrity and confidentiality", the Pope said.

He instructed Vatican officials to comply with civil laws and assist civil judicial authorities in investigating such cases.

The Pope has also changed the Vatican's definition of child pornography, increasing the age of the subject from 14 or under to 18 or under.

Archbishop of Malta Charles Scicluna called the move an "epochal decision that removes obstacles and impediments", telling Vatican news that "the question of transparency now is being implemented at the highest level".

The Church has been rocked by thousands of reports of sexual abuse by priests and accusations of cover-ups by senior clergy around the world.

Pope Francis has been under serious pressure to provide leadership and generate workable solutions to the crisis which has engulfed the Church over recent years.

Pontifical secrecy is a rule of confidentiality which protects sensitive information regarding the governance of the Church, similar to the "classified" or "confidential" status used in companies or civil governments, the Catholic news agency says .

In the new instruction, Pope Francis said the pontifical secret would also no longer bind those working in offices of the Roman Curia to confidentiality on other offences if committed in conjunction with child abuse or child pornography.

Witnesses, alleged victims, and the person who files the report are also not bound to obligations of silence, the agency says.

Pope Benedict XVI had decreed in 2001 that these cases must be dealt with under "pontifical secret", the highest form of secrecy in the Church, the Associated Press news agency reports.

The Vatican had long insisted that such confidentiality was necessary to protect the privacy of the victim, the reputation of the accused and the integrity of the canonical process, it adds.

https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-europe-50824842
OAM4J
Lalasticlala

An Ikeja high court has sentenced Adewale Oyekan, one of the sons of a former oba of Lagos, to death for the murder of Sikirat Ekun, a 62-year-old businesswoman and politician.

Adewale, son of Adeyinka Oyekan, a former oba, who died on March 1, 2003, was sentenced alongside Lateef Balogun, a former domestic servant.

The prince hired Balogun for N6,000 to murder Ekun, according to the prosecution.

The convicts, who have been in custody for seven years, were said to have murdered Ekun by strangling her and throwing her corpse in a 1,000-feet well in her home.

In a two-hour judgment, Raliatu Adebiyi, the presiding judge, held that the prosecution proved the charges of conspiracy to commit murder and murder beyond reasonable doubt.

She said: “The circumstantial evidence was strong and cogent; the act of the defendants in killing the deceased was intentional and premeditated.

“The court finds that the prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt the offences of conspiracy and murder, and the defendants are accordingly found guilty of the two-count charge.

“Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011, stipulates the punishment for the offence of murder as follows.

“Subject to the provisions of any other law, a person who commits the offence of murder shall be sentenced to death.

“Same is the punishment for conspiracy to commit murder as contained in Section 231 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

“The above cited provisions of the law does not give the court any discretion whatsoever in sentencing the defendants.

“For this reason, the first and second defendants are hereby sentenced on each of counts one and two, to death by hanging. May God, the giver of life, have mercy on your souls.”

According to the prosecution led by Akin George, the convicts committed the offences at 1am on October 17, 2012, at the home of the deceased located at 5, Babatunde Lalega street, Omole Phase One, Lagos.

The prosecution said that the deceased knew Oyekan due to her friendship with his late mother.

“To render assistance to the prince, Mrs Ekun employed him as the manager of her restaurant,” George said.

“Balogun, the second defendant, was a former domestic staff of Ekun, who was employed by her to take care of her elderly father.”

He submitted that Balogun’s employment was, however, terminated following a dispute with Ekun.

“The convicts conspired, killed the deceased and threw her corpse in a well within the premises of her home, and took over her businesses and property including a bus which was sold for N170,000,” he said.

“When any inquiry was made by family and friends about her whereabouts, Mr Oyekan informed them that she travelled to Abuja for the Ileya (Eid-el Kabir) festival. He passed this information by sending a text message from Mrs Ekun’s mobile phone.

“Following worry from members of Mrs Ekun’s family, and after an extensive search, her corpse was found two months later, in December 2012, by well diggers and firefighters.

“The convicts had placed a generator, a gas cylinder and other household items on the corpse to conceal it in the 1,000 feet well.”

The trial at the high court began on April 14, 2015.

Five witnesses, including two police officers, a nephew of the deceased, Iyiola Olaniyi; and the only child of the deceased, Folashade Amurun, testified for the prosecution.

Oyekan and Balogun testified for the defence.

While testifying, the convicts both denied knowing each other, saying that they met for the first time at a police station. They also denied committing the offences.

Oyekan said that he met Ekun, who was a friend of his mother at a PDP rally in 2011, after he returned from the US where he obtained a degree in architecture.

He said he met the deceased thereafter at her home where she offered to assist him by employing him to manage her restaurant.

Earlier, before the sentence was passed, defence counsel, O. C. Onwumerie, did not plead for mercy on behalf of his clients.

“I will be leaving sentencing to the hands of the court,” he said.
https://www.thecable.ng/son-of-late-oba-of-lagos-sentenced-to-death-for-murder/amp#click=https:///6TLlDVMB8g
Mynd44
Lalasticlala
Oam4j

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has revealed that the 9th Senate will approve President Muhammadu Buhari’s $29.9 billion loan request.

This is despite Lawan’s earlier caution to the Executive to minimise its planned borrowing.

The Senate President stated this in Abuja during a media parley.

He, however, pointed out that the various standing committees will carry out serious oversight functions and ensure that the money is not misappropriated by the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

Recall that in November 2016, then Senate President, Bukola Saraki turned down the same loan request from President Buhari.

According to Lawan, “The question of whether we will pass the loan request of the Executive arm of Government, yes, we will pass it.

“If we don’t have money and you have projects to build them, how will you provide infrastructure that you need?

“But one thing is that, we are going to be critical that every cent that is borrowed is tied to a project.

“These are projects that will have spillover effects on the economy and we will undertake our oversight so well to ensure that such funds are properly, prudently, economically and transparently are applied on those projects.”

https://dailypost.ng/2019/12/16/nass-why-well-pass-buharis-29-9-billion-loan-request/

Sirjamo:
If you aren't pleased With certain situation in a system you're involved with, just quit rather that fighting a battle you are sure to lose.

Would buhari have been President today, if he had quit?

There was tension in Benin, the Edo State capital on Thursday, over a rally that a faction of the All Progressives Congress loyal to its National Chairman, Mr Adams Oshiomhole, will hold today.

The Oshiomhole faction will today (Friday) hold a rally for a former member of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Osagie Eze-Iyamu.

Ahead of the rally, 15 people were injured during a clash between supporters of Oshiomhole and those of the state Governor, Godwin Obaseki.

The APC in Edo State had, last month, been factionalised with one group loyal to Oshiomhole and the other backed by Obaseki.

The Oshiomhole faction led by Col David Imuse (retd.), said Friday’s rally was being organised by the party to receive the PDP candidate in the 2016 governorship election, Ize Iyamu.

But there was confusion over the rally on Thursday. Earlier on Wednesday, there was a letter dated 11th December, which was, addressed to Oshiomhole. The letter stated that the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, had granted the APC faction the permission to hold the rally.

The letter was titled, “Re-Request for the deployment of police officers to provide security for the All Progressives Congress, APC, rally at Garrick” and signed by Assistant Commissioner of Police, Idowu Owohunwa, Principal Staff Officer to the IGP.

The letter read: “I am directed by the Inspector General of Police to extend his warm compliments and acknowledge receipt of your Excellency’s letter of 10th December, 2019 on the above underlined subject.

“I am to respectfully inform your Excellency that the Inspector General of Police has approved the request and has directed the commissioner of police Edo State Command to provide adequate security for the event as requested.”

But the governor said he was not aware of the rally.

Similarly, the APC factional chairman on the side of Governor, Mr Anselm Ojezua, said the state governor and other leaders of the party were not aware of the purported declaration rally.

Rally provocative – Obaseki faction

Ojezua said, “The governor who is the leader of the party in the state and myself who is the state chairman are not aware of any rally. It is therefore highly provocative and capable of creating a breach of the peace.” He urged members of the APC in the state not to have anything to do with the event.

The IGP made a U-turn on Thursday when he wrote another letter suspending the rally.

According to the letter dated December 12 and addressed to the state Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, the IG ordered the suspension of the rally, following growing tension between the camp of Obaseki and Oshiomhole.

The deputy governor had gone to the IG to complain that there would be breach of security should the rally be allowed to go on because Obaseki, as the Chief Security Officer of the state, was not aware of it.

The IG’s letter, signed by Owohunwa, read, “I am directed by the Inspector-General of Police to convey his warmest regards and to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency letter ODG.134/59 of December 12, 2019, on the above underlined subject.

“In cognisance of the security consequences of the proposed mega rally, I am to confirm that the Inspector-General of Police has directed the Commissioner of Police, Edo State Command, to emplace appropriate security framework that is directed at suspending the rally until further notice.

“He has also been directed to summon a meeting of all parties involved in the political development with a view to engaging them towards giving effect to his directives in overriding internal security interest.”

Oshiomhole can’t convene any rally in Edo – Deputy gov

Speaking with reporters in Abuja on Thursday, Shaibu said he lodged a complaint to the IG over the security implications of holding a rally without the governor’s knowledge or approval.

He stated that Obaseki, not Oshiomhole, was the leader of the APC in Edo State and the only one empowered to convene a rally.

Shuaibu further argued that the national chairman was already on suspension from the party in the state and could not act in any capacity on APC affairs there.

He spoke further, “Well, having seen that (Oshiomhole’s letter to the IG), I had to write as the chief security officer of the state to let him (IG) know the situation in Edo State and to also inform him in line with the party’s constitution, that the governor is the leader of the party.

“If the governor that is the leader of the party and the party that he leads want to do a rally in his own state and he has not authorised it and he is not aware, such a rally cannot hold.

“Also to inform him that the national chairman is suspended from the state; Oshiomhole does not have the locus to preside on any issue that concerns the APC as we speak.

“So, the man that must give voice to whatever is the APC in terms of governance enshrined in the constitution is the leader of the party in the state; that is the governor.

Rally will hold, heavens won’t fall – Oshiomhole group

But Henry Idahagbon, the Convener of the Edo Peoples Movement, a pressure group in the state APC, said the mega rally would hold on Friday as planned..

He stated, “It is fake news (that the rally will not hold). The rally will take place tomorrow at the advertised venue. Heavens will not fall. We will hold the rally whether Obaseki likes it or not. We held a rally for him before he became governor and we are holding this one for somebody else to become governor. Heavens will not fall, this rally will hold.”

When contacted on the phone, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Lanre Issa-onilu, said he was not aware of the cancellation.”I’m not aware,” he simply said.

Issa-Onilu had earlier confirmed to The PUNCH that the rally had the full backing of the national leadership of the party.

Shootings in Benin, thugs block roads leading to Oshiomhole’s house

But thugs on Thursday took over the Benin Airport road shooting sporadically. Bonfires were observed at strategic places in Benin City, while roads leading to the residence of the national party chairman were blocked by heavy duty vehicles.

It took Oshiomhole and other members of the NWC over one hour to get to his residence after soldiers came to disperse the armed thugs.

15 injured as Oshiomhole, Obaseki supporters clash

There was a clash between Oshiomhole and Obaseki factions at the airport road.

No fewer than 15 people were injured during the clash, which occurred about 5pm when Oshiomhole, who arrived in Benin on Thursday, was leaving the airport for his house.

It was learnt the clash started around the APC secretariat on the airport road, where Obaseki supporters were meeting.

A Benin resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “When Oshiomhole and his supporters were coming from the airport, Obaseki group thought they were coming to dislodge them from the secretariat. It was at that point that the clash started and 15 people were injured.”

The deputy governor later visited the injured people who were receiving treatments at the Edo Specialist Hospital, Benin at 10pm on Thursday.

Oshiomhole, who reacted while addressing party members, said, “I know you are hurt with what we are passing through here but I want to plead with you don’t be provoked. Any reasonable party leader will be happy to welcome people from another party into his party.

“Particularly when those coming were people who fought us in the last election. And when you look at the margin then it was like 50,000. So we are in Benin to welcome them but you could see how their thugs are unleashing mayhem on people.

I am not a coward, I am not afraid of fight – Oshiomhole

“But I want to tell you, the APC is our house and we will not destroy it neither are we going to allow anybody to destroy it. We don’t want anyone to be killed so please don’t fight back. Those who know me know that I am not a coward , I am not afraid of a fight. But I will not and I urge you to remain calm.

“We are getting conflicting reports now. The IG ordered the Commissioner of Police to give us protection for our rally, but we are being told now that the same authority said it had been cancelled. But I am going to make calls and find out what the problem is, if the police are saying they cannot protect a political rally.

“I will find out and let you people know. But even if they said we cannot hold it, please don’t fight anybody. I will meet them and find out when it will hold. But the rally will still hold some day. We have the right of association. This is not the first time we are seeing situations like this, but I can assure you it will not last forever.

“No condition is permanent. We must do everything to keep the APC in Edo State no matter what the devil thinks. The APC is our house so we must resist any temptation to fight back. We must remember that our President, is a peaceful man. We must remain peaceful and go home and tell everyone, we remain strong. Nobody can shake our spirits. We will receive our brothers into the party to fortify our party,” he said.
https://punchng.com/15-injured-tension-rises-ahead-of-edo-apc-rally/

Part 2

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

Part 1

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

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Edward Adamu as Chairman of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria.

The announcement of the appointment was contained in a letter sent to the Senate by the President on Tuesday.

But before now, Adamu has been caught in a web of scandal after a tape recording exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters in May 2019 caught him and governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, including Director of Finance, Dayo Arowosegbe, and one of the Special Advisers to Emefiele, Emmanuel Ukeje, discussing how to cover up the loss of over N500bn stolen from the apex bank in a deal that went awry.

Adamu was deputy governor of the CBN at the time the conversation took place.

In the said audio recording, Emefiele can be heard telling Adamu, “To avoid any serious problem, is just for the government to have to agree to give us at least N100bn cash but the government will not agree. They will kick against it.”

The group was discussing how to cover up the missing money in the audio later authenticated by the CBN in a statement.

CAUGHT ON TAPE: CBN Gov Emefiele And Top Officials Discuss How To Cover-Up N500bn They Stole -Part1

The full transcript of the audio conversation

Phone rings

Edward Adamu: Hello sir.

Emefiele: Edward can you please step aside?

Adamu: Okay sir...

Emefiele: I am not too happy that Arowosegbe led us like this.

Adamu: In fact, that was what I was asking. I said we have an impression that we had N500bn, he said no. I said but that was the impression until the end of the year.

Emefiele: Ahhh! What are we going to do?

Adamu: You know... that’s what I told him.

Emefiele: Along we all thought he had that but it was very shocking to hear that apparently it was not N500bn... you know.

Adamu: That’s the major issue.

Emefiele: Ahh! ...Ye! I don die now, where I go see money?

Adamu: What I told them is, let’s look at our income if there is anything we can do around that area, you know, that might be an option.

Because now, we are in a very bad situation. He really didn’t give us full information.

Emefiele: I was like, God, he did a good job, he didn’t pass time he left. How do I handle this?

We have to rack our brain and get something out because we can’t afford it at all, not at this time.

Opposition will say it should have depreciated in the project... and then foreign investors would begin to panic and take their money out because they would say it would depreciate.

Adamu: Exactly, yes. There would be panic in the market and we can’t take this at this stage, at all. We have to get a way out. We are just discussing now what are the possibilities, what you can do. We will get back to you.

Emefiele: Hmmn! I’m just getting hopeless about it because I‘m still thinking which way I should go.


CAUGHT ON TAPE: CBN Gov Emefiele And Top Officials Discuss How To Cover-Up N500bn They Stole -Part2
Adamu: Yes, that is really the task now.

Emefiele: If there is a place you can find money. Ahhh!

Adamu: We’ll have to think of a way out because we cannot afford it at all. The implications are just too many to even think about and damaging. We cannot allow this like this, we cannot.

Emefiele: To avoid any serious problem is just, the government to have to agree to give us at least N100bn cash but government will not agree. They will kick against it.

Adamu: Yes, they will kick against it. Really. That would have been a good one but the challenge is how to get back to them but it will be very difficult, almost impossible.

Emefiele: The implication for the economy is... no no, no. I’m just thinking if there is surplus of one naira, just give us then we’ll begin to refund you in 2019. I can’t even find the partners now because I cannot talk to the real partners like Ayo.

Ayo is not picking my calls and I’m not used to the CI partner. I don’t’ know him, it’s only Dayo that I know and Dayo has retired. Hmmn... Oh God!

Adamu: You’ll have to think of something. We really miss. It is a sad one. We’ll have to come out of it somehow. If only we can say there is money here but I can’t find. I kept on disturbing this guy in December and January but he kept telling me no problem. God, this guy just...

Emefiele: It’s a mess; it’s really a mess.

SaharaReporters sources at the CBN disclosed that Emefiele, Adamu and other top guys in the bank eventually found a way out of their dilemma by diverting funds in possession of the financial institution and also printing cash.

However, with his appointment on Tuesday by President Buhari, Adamu takes over AMCON from Muiz Banire, who had been in the saddled since July 2018.

http://saharareporters.com/2019/12/10/how-new-amcon-boss-appointed-buhari-helped-cbn-governor-emefiele-cover-missing-n500bn

A former political Adviser to former Governor Adams Oshiomhole, Mr. Charles Idahosa, has said that it was laughable for Oshiomhole to say he would do everything to bring peace to the All Progressives Congress in Edo State.

Idahosa said Oshiomhole cannot resolve the Edo APC crisis since he (Oshiomhole) has become enmeshed in the crisis.

Speaking to newsmen at a press briefing in Bénin City, Idahosa stated that Oshiomhole housed 14 former members-elect and eight members of the Edo APC Executives in Abuja to further caused crisis in the state.

Idahosa who cited instances why Oshiomhole should not be taken seriously said Oshiomhole deceived President Mohammadu Buhari and committed contempt of court by presenting another person as the state chairman of the Edo APC.

He said Oshiomhole presented the man before Buhari despite a court ruling that the man should not parade himself as the state chairman of Edo APC.

On rumoured defection of Governor Obaseki to the PDP, Idahosa dismissed the rumour as being peddled by those he termed Abuja politicians.

He said Obaseki has performed well to deserve a second term and therefore could not be pushed away by Oshiomhole and his foot soldiers.

According to him, “From the way we are seeing issues under Adams Oshiomhole, the APC is dying gradually. It is now for Oshiomhole to step aside and let peace rein in the state. The fight we have in Edo state is a battle of supremacy between the National Chairman of the party and Governor Obaseki. How is he going to sit over his matter; he cannot set up a committee to sit over a case he is involved.

“It is a black lie to say that the governor is leaving the party for another. Governor Obaseki is not leaving the APC for anybody. He is getting the party ticket and he must do his second term.

“At the last meeting he held with the chairmen, the President said we must approach our politics from bottom up. Any leader that does not have support of the home base is not fit to hold any office in Abuja. Buhari was talking to Oshiomhole. Oshiomhole presently has no home base. He has been suspended by his Ward, the LGA and the State Chapter. The only way out for him is to tender his resignation. Those people that signed the suspension are still alive.

“The National Chairman is the problem. We don’t want bloodshed in Edo. Let him resign and there will be fresh elections. These divisive roles he is playing he wants to be dictating what happened in this state. It is time for him to step aside.

“Oshiomhole is part and parcel of the whole thing. Eight members of the State APC exco are in Abuja. Who is feeding them? On the 27 he invited Anselm as chairman, on December 6th he paraded another person that the court has restrain as Chairman. A man that cannot enter the party secretariat in Bénin.”

Spokesman to Oshiomhole, Simon Ebegbulem could not be reached for comments but one of the lawmakers-elect whose seat was recently declared vacant, Washinton Osifo, said Idahosa does not play politics of ideology.

“It is laughable for Hon Idahosa to be calling for the resignation if our national chairman. He does not play politics based on ideology or principles, he plays his politics on who is bringing the money. He is saying this because of what he is making from the current system. Oshiomhole has come to reposition our great party.

On the allegation that the 14 lawmakers elect were being houses in Abuja and paid salaries by Oshiomhole, Osifo said: “That is far from the truth. We decided from the day of the illegal inauguration in June 17th in night that we are going to challenge the illegal action. The case is in court because we are lawmakers and we cannot be lawbreakers, we are pushing out case legally.

“We also want to commend our numerous supporters for remaining law-abiding in this struggle to enthrone genuine democracy. They should remind calm and disregard this unfortunate comment by Idahosa.”
https://thenationonlineng.net/edo-crisis-oshiomhole-cannot-resolve-problems-he-created-idahosa/

• Says 2023 won’t be about North, South or East • Advocates old politicians give way to new blood • Gives reasons Boko Haram has not been defeated

Fearless and one of the few outspoken Islamic scholars in the country, who is from the North, Sheikh Ahmed Gumi, is not happy on the situation Nigerians have found themselves lately.

Therefore, in this interview with Sunday Sun, he said that the 2023 election should produce a crop of smart and intelligent Nigerians who can inject fresh blood in the electoral system, as well as for INEC to be allowed to deploy technology in full. Excerpts:


How do you think Nigeria has fared since return to democratic in 1999?

Unfortunately, since 1999, I have not actually settled in Nigeria. I came back in 2011. So, to rate the government within that period will not be proper for me. However, I can speak on what I have seen from 2011 to 2019. Generally in the world, there is development. I’m just paying my electricity bill through my computer. So, things are moving generally in the world. So, we expect governance to be more efficient and show more competence, but unfortunately, when it comes to governance there is retrogression. Things are supposed to improve because science and technology have brought development close to the people. Government is retrogressing simply because we don’t have the right people in the right place and at right time. Nigeria’s situation now is worse. People are poorer, sick and every week we bury somebody. What is the problem, typhoid, malaria. Somebody’s daughter, a six-year-old died. She was sick vomiting and we took her to the hospital. But she was discharged from the hospital because there was no bed. This is the kind of death we are having. People cannot pay school fees for their children. Feeding is difficult. So, all the indices of good governance are terrible.

Prior to the 2015 election, one of the agitations of Nigerians was issue of security. How far now, are we making progress as we should?

Yes, there is improvement in Boko Haram fight, but not defeat. The poor governance is making Boko Haram liable to come back in full force and that will be terrible. This is because Boko Haram is not alone. There are forces behind them. They have the determination. The Boko Haram soldiers believe in their Commander because he sees himself as Commander at that end. But Nigerian soldiers are not happy. Their Generals are flying jets all over. The soldiers on ground should feel that they are fighting for their country that things are going to be better; he has his equipment, he has his allowances paid, his children are fine then, he will fight. But, he’s demoralised. On the other side, the commander that is pushing the fight is not struggling with his soldiers. Their morale is higher. Their motivation is higher coupled with religious flavour added to it. So, if we want to fight them, we should also add religious flavour by getting Muslims and Kanuri that speak the same language.


Issue of kidnapping is no longer news. Here in the Northwest, Kaduna to be specific, people are being picked up in their homes for ransom…

(Cuts in) We have heard about it. They are picking people at home. They knock at your door and pick you. We have been paying ransom because people come because they are poor, they start begging. I’m just surprised somebody who controls nothing can help whereas you cannot access the man who is sitting on the budget. This is what I’ve been telling people that look, we don’t need old politicians in Nigeria. We need new faces; new page. Then Nigerians can contribute. But when you bring old wine into a new bottle, it is the same thing. They come with problems and psychological trauma because all politicians are traumatised somehow. They come with anger. They come with revenge. They come with hatred. They come with all these kind of things and spew it. Old politicians should help us by stepping down so we can have new people across board. Let me give you example with Zamfara. By accident, a new governor came. Who has not been in the stream because people don’t know him. So, the nomadic Fulani (not all Fulani) and the settlers that were killing one another over a long time even before the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. Now, Zamfara has a neutral figure who can call for a truce. We need that neutral figure. Since 2011 when we have election characterised by blood shed I said, Buhari and Jonathan should have moral obligation not to contest because people died. Let us put fresh faces so that we can all contribute. People don’t listen because they are blind. So, it is very unfortunate this is the situation we are in.

Talking about new faces, 2019 election has come and gone. We are now looking forward to 2023 with all political zones through their heavyweight already agitating for interest ahead of 2023, what is your position in all of these?

I don’t think regional politics is more important now than stability because the bride is seriously sick. The bride is in comatose in the hospital and you are talking about the wedding. Let the bride survive first. Nigeria is not about who leads from which region. They are all clique. It doesn’t matter who is there whether northerners or southerners. Once they are there, they enjoy themselves. Some people are making money in this poverty and hardship. So, it is not about North, South or East. It is about people who can galvanise and put people together. The North has learnt its lessons. Now, North is worse hit with Buhari. Jonathan was building 150 Almajiri schools, nine universities in the North. He was doing things. This Kaduna-Abuja rail, although the late President Umar Yar’Adua stated it. So, let’s have somebody who can do it.

So, what are some of the qualities of that person?

That person must be alert, intelligent and with a large heart. He should not take revenge. He should be able to forgive. He should be able to rehabilitate and not killing or imprisoning. His mind should not be about catching people, but forgiveness and correctness. Above all, he must be intelligent.

Religion is playing a role in our politics, how best can it help to shape our politics so we can have a better Nigeria

Religion has always played a role. In fact, religion is politics and politics is religion. These are two concepts. You manipulate religion to get political power. You can manipulate political power to entrench religion. But, most politicians who manipulate religion are neither Christians nor Muslims. That is their secondary concern. They want to get power. Get foreign medical treatment for themselves and their families. A good politician is the one that uses religion as stabilising factor because religion calls for brotherhood, neighbourhood, mercy, integrity, etc. These are what religion calls for. Some use politics to put religious morality in people. During the First Republic, there was such in the North; Sardauna was doing that. INEC has never been in worse position than now as I know. Now, you can make bank transaction through transfer in millions. I can tell you that, 90 per cent of Nigerians, their N10,000 is valuable than the vote they carry. I meant to say that, money is very valuable. Now, technology has reached a stage where you can transfer millions with your phone and that is safeguarded. So, why can’t I vote with my phone? In essence, the government deliberately neglected INEC to be in a bad shape without giving it the legal framework for development. They are not doing anything to see that election is free, fair and unfortunately, even this way we conduct elections, people are being killed. So, if you are in government and people died during election, you are responsible. How can people be dying while voting? Imagine an officer who is in service in Kano came to me with deep injury. I asked him what happened and he said he was sent to monitor a polling booth. Quoting him he said, “Some soldiers came. I identified myself with my identity card because I was not in uniform, but they told me they don’t care, they hit me and I lost consciousness.” This happened during the last election in Kano. What I’m saying is that, for four years, what have they been able to do to make INEC more modern? If we can trust electronic media for our monies in millions, we should be able to trust it with our vote. India has about 800 million voters and nobody will raise a finger that there is corruption when they vote. This is because the system is organised. But here, they deliberately allow it to have loophole for manipulation. We have the money, we have the know-how, we have all we need to correct it. In 2015, I brought somebody from America. We held a conference at Gamji Hall where we brought political parties together. We told INEC that, here is a Nigerian who had developed a software that can guarantee 100 per cent free and fair election. But, they didn’t allow that. There is too much politics in Nigeria and that is why we need new faces. One thing they don’t know is that, if you don’t develop people, if you don’t educate people, but only your children, these people you have neglected will jump into your house no matter how tall your fences are, maim, kill or kidnap you and that is what is happening today. Somebody drew my attention to the idea of killing anybody on the stead of hate speech. Who defines hate speech? That should be left for the judges to determine. But, look at the judges. Look at what Supreme Court is. So, you want to squeeze Nigerians to keep quiet. A task force following people to close borders. But no task force following kidnappers to catch them. There is mismanagement. There is misplacement of priority. In this kind of situation, people will start joining Boko Haram because they have seen the real face of the government. This is what happened in Afghanistan that pushed people to call on Taliban to protect them from government. They didn’t fight. They were called to protect them against the government. People are demonstrating and you are opening fire on them. So, how can Boko Haram be stopped? People should feel comfortable and safe with the government. But when insurgents have human face than the government, then there is problem. This is what happened in Iraq until when the super power came to destroy the ISIS. Otherwise, the people living within them are safe from kidnapping. They are safe from this and that; do you understand it? We want our government to be sane and do what is right. They should consider the people. They should lower educational costs. Food should be cheap and sufficiently cheap, and quality medicines to treat the people because the people are dying. Collectively, we are suffering. We are suffering more than Iranians and all that. People are dying, but because it is everyone to his predicament, people don’t know that they are dying.

Do you think Mr President is getting the real feelers from the people or working with what people around him tell him?


Buhari as a president has a pre-determined mind on how he wants to run his government: squeeze corrupt officials, close borders. This is what he has in mind and this is what he’s pursuing to the letter. If you want to get close to him, tell him this man is in jail and he will tell you that’s good. You cannot catch all the thieves in Nigeria. You can only catch those ones you don’t like. But, God is God of justice. You either catch all or pardon all and then you draw a line. If you draw a line, whoever commits the same mistake can be tried by law and not your personal decision. He knows what is happening and he likes it. This is his style. This is the style I don’t like myself and that was why I voiced out my opposition. If I have not spoken, people will say look at these people they have kept quiet and now we are suffering. Nobody can point a finger at me and I thank God for that. So, we need to rethink. We need to come back together to save this country because it is a beautiful country.

What do you think about Nigerians?

Nigerians don’t learn lessons. They are very sentimental. They can be naive in their judgment. There is criminality all over the place, including churches and mosques. I’ve just been told about a 70-year-old man that impregnated a small girl in the mosque in this town and in the church, you don’t need to be told. We need to come back, sit down and repent. We can then bring people who are neutral, compassionate, intelligent, hardworking. Let’s put our hands together to salvage this country. The crop of politicians we have now cannot help us. Their heads are hot. We need cool headed people who will look at things holistically and move the country forward. A wounded lion cannot take this country out of the woods.

https://www.sunnewsonline.com/2023-we-ve-learnt-our-lessons-with-buhari-sheikh-gumi/

We no do again....sorry oooo

Former heavyweight champion, Andy Ruiz, has said he lost to Anthony Joshua on Saturday night, because he gained too much weight during the preparation for the rematch.

Ruiz yelled into the microphone, shouting “Who want to see the third fight”,?

Quoting his words, he said “I gained too much weight”..

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thenationonlineng.net/i-gained-too-much-weight-i-need-a-rematch-says-andy-ruiz/amp/

Hundreds detained without trial

Documents obtained from rights groups show that many others have been detained in recent times for several months and years without trial

Some of them include lucky Andrew who was arrested in Abuja on November 11, 2016 and never charged until his release 13 months later; Gabriel Ogbu, arrested in Delta State on November 9, 2016 and released after 16 months; Ibrahim Shadrake apprehended in Borno State August 28, 2015 but never charged. He was released after two years in custody

Others include: Tonye Leventis, picked up on Bonny Island, Rivers State on February 3, 2017 and released after 13 months; Joshua Golubos arrested in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State on December 15, 2016 and released after 15 months; and Cobam Daniel, arrested on September 17, 2017 and released after 15 months.

The PUNCH learnt that in many cases, detainees remained in custody despite court orders mandating their release.

Human right vs national security

One of the reasons adduced for the disobedience to court orders has been the claim by the Federal Government that when it comes to issues of national security, personal liberties can be put in abeyance.

The AGF usually cites the judgment delivered by the Supreme Court in the case of Asari Dokubo Vs the Federal Government wherein the court held that Dokubo could be denied his freedom based on national security.

Speaking recently in an interview, Malami, when questioned why court orders are disobeyed, said, “I concede that I have a responsibility as AGF to protect individual rights but looking at the provisions of Section 174 of the constitution, I want to state further that the Office of the AGF is meant to protect public interest and where the individual interests conflicts with the public interest of 180 million Nigerians that are interested in having this country integrated must naturally prevail and I think that position has been stated by the apex court in the case of Asari Dokubo Vs Federal Republic of Nigeria that when an individual interest conflicts with public interest, the public interest will naturally prevail.”

Human rights lawyer, Mr. Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), however, told The PUNCH that it is the courts that can determine what constitutes national security and not the executive arm of government.

The human rights lawyer said the Supreme Court never gave the executive arm of government the right to disobey court orders.

Adegboruwa said, “You cannot place national security above the rule of law. And as a matter of fact, the case that the government has been relying upon which is the case of Asari Dokubo and the President, which was determined by the Supreme Court.

“So, whether the fundamental rights or rule of law should be relegated in favour of national security, is a determination for the court. We cannot have a nation whereby it is the executive that will arrogate the powers to make law, the power to execute the law and the power to interpret the law. We cannot get to that stage. There is a separation of powers and there must be checks and balances.”

Judges fail to take action

Investigations by The PUNCH showed that there had been a large number of detainees in the DSS custody partly because of the failure of the Federal High Court Chief Judge to inspect detention centres as prescribed in Section 34(4) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.

Under the ACJA, the CJ is under a legal obligation to designate justices to conduct the monthly inspection in the detention centres of the DSS, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and other detention centres of all Federal Government agencies.

Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), subsequently sued the CJ for the infraction.“The CJ has promised to appoint judges that will be inspecting these detention centres henceforth. Based on that, I am withdrawing the suit,” he said.

Economic cost of illegal detention

Although there is no known record of how much the DSS spends on feeding and taking care of detainees, activists say it could run into hundreds of millions of naira monthly.

For instance, in the case of the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem el-Zakaky and his wife, the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that N3.5m was spent on feeding alone.This implies that N168m has been spent on feeding El-Zakzaky and his wife alone in the last four years.

According to Falana, there is a reason to believe that the DSS detains people in order to increase its budget.

He said, “I wrote a letter to the DSS last year, stating that at least 294 persons were being detained in their detention centres. I strongly believe that people are detained for long periods to justify the DSS operational budget.

“That is why the Federal Government can be bold enough to say that N3.5m is spent monthly on El-Zakzaky, a man who had earlier been granted bail but denied his freedom,” Falana said.

The senior advocate said disobedience to court orders could adversely affect the economy of the nation.

“How many foreign investors would want to invest in a country that disobeys court orders?” he asked.

The Federal Government has also incurred huge judgment debts for unlawful detention. Falana further stated that damages are never paid to those who won in court but things might soon change due to a Supreme Court judgment.

He added, “There is an archaic law in Section 84 of the Sheriff and Civil Process Act that requires judgment creditors to apply for the leave of the attorney-general before enforcement of judgment or Garnishee

“Such leave is never granted. However, a recent Supreme Court decision says if the AGF is a party to the case, such leave is not needed. As things are right now, if the police, DSS, EFCC are sued and damages are awarded, money is never paid. Such judgment debts run into billions of naira.This is apart from the general disobedience to court order which has been institutionalised.”

AI, HEDA react

Reacting to the trend, the Programmes Manager, Amnesty International, Seun Bakare, lamented the abuse of human rights in Nigeria.

Bakare said Nigerian was signatory to several international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

He said, “Personal liberty is a right guaranteed under international human rights law. Its lawful deprivation however remains a recognised tool of most criminal justice systems. In Nigeria, this tool is systematically abused, leaving people without the fundamental protections of the law. One example is the indefinite detention of people by the DSS.

“Nigeria is a party to several international human rights instruments, including the ICCPR and the CPED. International law requires that anyone arrested or detained is brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorised by law to exercise judicial power (Article 9(3) of the ICCPR).

“It also holds that enforced disappearance and secret detention are arbitrary (Articles 2 and 17(1) of the CPED). In addition, detained and imprisoned people have a right to communicate with the outside world, subject only to reasonable conditions and restrictions that are proportionate to a legitimate aim (Article 17(2)(d) of the CPED).”

He argued that the totality of these provisions and many more point to the fact that the indefinite detention of people by the DSS has no place under international law, to which Nigeria is a signatory.

Also speaking, the Executive Director, Human and Environmental Development Agenda, Olanrewaju Suraj, said the trend must be stopped before Nigeria becomes a banana republic.

Suraj said even the President had no right to order the detention of anyone beyond 48 hours without a valid court order.

The activist said, “It is a very dangerous trend that should not be condoned by any democratic nation. The DSS has no such powers to detain people in such a manner. The law is clear. You cannot detain a person for more than 48 hours. Not even the President has the power to do such.

“The judiciary needs to assert its authority. It is the court that must be convinced that something is national security. It should not be left in the hands of the executive alone. It becomes subject to abuse when such happens and the nation will become a banana republic.”

DSS keeps mum

Attempts to get a reaction from the DSS proved abortive as its Spokesman, Dr. Peter Afunnaya, neither responded to phone calls nor a text message on Thursday.

When contacted on the telephone on Thursday, the Spokesman for the AGF, Dr. Umar Gwandu, said the AGF was not in a position to comment on specific cases of prolonged detention of persons.

Gwandu said the case of Isa and Felix were unknown to his boss.

He said, “The AGF is not in a position to respond impromptu over an allegation in respect of which he has not been accorded an opportunity to verify.

“The office of the AGF has no formal record of the veracity of the claim.

“The claim is therefore viewed as an allegation that requires verification for the AGF’s response in one way or the other. Thank you.”

When asked why court orders were being disobeyed and if it was legal to hold a person for over 48 hours without charge, Gwandu responded, “You may contact lawyers for that. Thank you for the confidence in us.”

In this piece ENIOLA AKINKUOTU exposes a disturbing trend of persons being detained illegally by Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services

When on the evening of February 27, 2016 Mrs Veronica Adika returned home from her shop, she assumed that she would receive a phone call from her husband, Felix, who had travelled from their home in Bayelsa State to Delta State for a job.

Mrs Adika, who was about four months pregnant at the time, called her husband’s phone repeatedly, but it indicated that it was switched off.

“His battery was probably dead,” she thought to herself. However, days of waiting turned into weeks and she became frantic.

She said, “My husband, who is a former Niger Delta agitator, was one of those given amnesty by the Federal Government. Different groups were receiving their payments from the government in phases. My husband and a few others visited the Amnesty Office in 2016 to find out when they would be paid.

“They were told to come under one umbrella so that payments would be made easy. My husband travelled back to Bayelsa to deliver the message to others and then they went to Delta to try to consolidate all groups.It was when he got to Delta that he suddenly went incommunicado.”

Veronica said when she got desperate, she left her three children at home, closed her provision store and boarded a vehicle to Delta State from her home in Azikoro Village, Bayelsa.

She said on getting to Delta State, she visited known associates of her husband, who all told her that indeed her husband had visited the state, but they knew nothing of his whereabouts.

Mrs. Adika said, “I checked several churches and other places but my husband was nowhere to be found. It was later that one of his friends told me that he heard my husband was arrested and put into a black vehicle. I then went to several police stations within the area but they all denied knowledge of my husband’s whereabouts.”

Mrs Adika said due to the stress she suffered, she lost her five-month pregnancy and her business.

As weeks turned into months, months turned into years, the Adika family began to imagine the worst might have happened.

However, in March 2019, the Adika family received the news they had been praying for, for three years.

Veronica said, “In March 2019, I received news from someone who had just been released from the DSS custody that my husband was in fact alive and was being detained. The person who gave us the news was among those who had been released by the then acting DSS DG, Matthew Seiyefa.

“One of the wives of the other men arrested and I travelled to Abuja on April 24, 2019 to the DSS office. We went there with our husbands’ photos and they confirmed to us that our husbands were indeed in their custody.”

The mother of three said they were asked to write bail applications and address them to the DSS boss. Her husband has not been charged with any crime till date.

But Mrs. Adika’s case is just one of many.

An activist, Ezekiel Daniel, who is now the Senior Special Assistant to the Delta State Governor on Security, witnessed a similar ordeal when he spent 15 months in the DSS custody without being taken to court.

The activist told The PUNCH that a petition was written by a political opponent who accused him of being the spokesman for the militant group, Niger Delta Avengers.

Daniel, who is a known friend of wanted ex-militant, Government Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo, said he was arrested by the Defence Intelligence Agency as part of an attempt to force him to reveal Tompolo’s whereabouts.

He said he was kept in the DIA’s underground cell for two weeks before being transferred to the DSS where he spent over a year without being charged with any crime.

The activist said, “I was one of those critical of the Buhari government because of the political manner the proposed Maritime University, Gbaramatu, Delta State, was revoked as well as the manner in which Tompolo was being treated.

“On August 3, 2016, I went to visit a sick friend at Havilla Hospital, Warri. Unknown to me, my phone was being tracked. I was picked around the hospital and no one knew I had been arrested. I was subsequently declared missing.

“I was kept in the DIA’s underground cell for two weeks where I was subjected to mental and physical torture. Every day they would bring me out of the cell to ask me the same questions and I would give the same reply. They then transferred me to the DSS where I faced the same thing.”

Daniel said he was assumed missing for three months until one of his fellow detainees was released and was able to inform his family of his whereabouts.

He said even after his family protested his detention, he remained in the DSS custody for an extra 12 months.

The activist said, “After about 14 months in custody, a panel was set up by the then DSS DG, Lawal Daura, to look into my case due to protests from Amnesty International and foreign groups.

“I was questioned again and nothing was found against me and what I told them was verified. The panel recommended my unconditional release. On November 27, 2017, I was set free after 15 months in custody.”

When asked if he would be suing the DSS for unlawful detention, Daniel said there was no need for him to do so because the agency would not obey a court judgment.

“There is no need to sue the DSS because it is a lawless agency that will not obey court orders. I have been exonerated and even been appointed as a special assistant to the governor of Delta State. God has compensated me,” Daniel said.

While Daniel has been able to move on, the same cannot be said of Isa Umar, a student of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, who has remained in the custody of the DSS since 2014 without being charged.

Isa, who was arrested on suspicion of terrorism, was picked up by unidentified soldiers at his family’s compound and handed over to the DSS where he remained incommunicado for three years.

Isa’s older brother, Aliyu, told The PUNCH that his brother was a social critic as he had in the past got into trouble with the authorities of ABU for accusing the leadership of the school of diverting funds meant for the construction of hostels.

Aliyu said his brother, who was a student of Library Science at ABU, was also a teacher in a local mosque near their family house located at Samaru, Zaria.

He said, “I remember that day very well. It was November 26, 2014. My brother had typhoid and I had gone to buy him some drugs. He took the drugs and went to bed. Around 2am, some soldiers attached to Operation Yaki unit came to our family house. They broke down all the doors in search of my brother.

“My dad kept asking why they wanted him but they didn’t say anything. He was in his shorts and singlet when he was found and dragged into their van.”

He said after the arrest, he visited nearby military formations to find out what his brother had done and try to see him but he was told that the soldiers who carried out the raid where unknown.

Aliyu told The PUNCH that he visited every prison in Kaduna State. He also went to military formations, police stations and area commands in search of his brother.

“Everywhere I went, they told me they were not aware of my brother’s arrest. I also visited the DSS but they said they were not aware. It was during my third visit that they confirmed to me that he was in their custody after the intervention of one of my uncles who is a magistrate,” he said.

Aliyu said they immediately hired a lawyer to help facilitate his brother’s bail but he was told that Isa had been transferred to the DSS headquarters in Abuja.

He recalled that as months turned to years, the family decided to sue the Federal Government over the unlawful detention of their son and the court on March 7, 2017, ordered his immediate release and the payment of N1m as fine and N50,000 as compensation.

“We went to court 17 times in pursuit of justice. The DSS was represented by someone from the ministry of justice,” Aliyu said.

A copy of the judgment delivered by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Kaduna which was obtained by The PUNCH, stated that the arrest and torture of Isa contravened of Section 34, 35 and 36 of the constitution.

The judgment read in part, “I hereby declare that the act of the respondent (DSS) detaining the applicant (Aliyu) in their custody for almost two years without charging him to any court of competent jurisdiction is unconstitutional and in contradiction of our enabling law.

“I hereby make an order for the release of the applicant from the respondent’s custody. I hereby make an order of perpetual injunction restraining the respondents either jointly or severally whether by their agents or privies from arresting and detaining the applicant.

“I award the sum of N1,000,000 as general and exemplary damages for the unlawful arrest and detention and unwarranted infringement of the applicant’s fundamental right. Cost is assessed at N50,000 against the respondent in favour of the applicant.

Aliyu said the family spent nearly N3m on legal fees, transportation and tipping some DSS officials who claimed they could help get him released.

He said after the judgment was delivered, the DSS was served but refused to obey the court order.

“In November 2017, which was eight months after the judgment, the DSS still refused to release my brother. We began to fear that he had died in custody. We gave a DSS official N50,000 to help us give his phone to Isa so that we could talk to him and confirm if he indeed he was alive.

“I spoke to him and that was the first time I would hear his voice since his arrest three years earlier. Till date, we have not seen him,” Aliyu lamented.

The Isa family subsequently wrote petitions to the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), the Emir of Zazzau, the National Human Rights Commission, Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, the Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly and any other person that could help.

“My brother was 25 when he was arrested. He is now 30 years old and his education has been affected. He has not been charged with any crime,” Aliyu said.

https://punchng.com/untold-stories-of-missing-persons-found-in-dss-custody/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MQo9FLJWbk

Justice Akon Ikpeme, Acting Chief Judge of Cross River State, received bribes from Dino Melaye to pervert justice in 2017, SaharaReporters can confirm.

Ikpeme was sworn in by Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River on December 3, 2019 following the retirement of Justice Michael Edem, Chief Judge of the state.

The two-minute, 58-second conversation, confirms that Ikpeme took bribes from Melaye to rule on the Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal in his favour.

In it, the judge, who was adjudicating in his case following the 2015 election, is overheard asking for a bribe from Melaye in United States dollars.

Ikpeme told an aide to President Muhammadu Buhari about her many encounters with Melaye, saying the lawmaker tried reaching out to her after the scandal broke out to encourage her to deny the existence of the conversation, promising to use his connections at the highest levels to erase the conversation and call logs from the archives of MTN and security agencies.

In the audio, Melaye also promised to assist one of Ikpeme’s daughters to secure a job at the Ministry of Health in Cross River.

The judge did not disclose to the presidential aide how much she received from Melaye but admitted that the transactions happened more than twice.

In addition, several lawyers involved in the case have affirmed that the female voice on the recording was that of Justice Ikpeme, who they say speaks exactly as captured on the tape.

The lawyers, who acted for Melaye in the case said that he stopped paying their fees after a while and began to sound over-confident about the case.

They suspected his refusal to pay legal fees owed them was because he had bribed Ikpeme and other judges involved in his case.

One of the lawyers, who didn’t want to be identified, said Melaye panicked when his opponent, Smart Adeyemi, suddenly procured the services of a legal titan, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), to defend the case against him, who allegedly did not win the primaries to secure his party's nomination as required by law.

During that period, Melaye issued a statement denouncing the All Progressives Congress National Leader, Bola Tinubu, as plotting to oust him because of his support for then Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

After Justice Ikpeme first dismissed the case of Adeyemi for filing outside the prescribed timeframe, the Court of Appeal returned the case to the lower tribunal, curiously insisting that the case be heard by Ikpeme’s panel.

Justice Ikpeme is said to have subtly suggested that the Court of Appeal President, Justice Bulkachuwa, was in the deal as well.

Adeyemi’s legal team wrote petitions to Justice Bulkachuwa to disqualify Ikpeme panel but she didn’t budge and Adeyemi lost for the second time on technicalities.

Apparently, Melaye had bribed Justice Ikpeme for the second time.

Adeyemi’s appeal at the National Assembly Election Petition Appeals Tribunal suffered a similar fate.

It is interesting to note that of the three senators from Kogi State, only Melaye’s election was not nullified at the tribunal on account of irregularities.

Ikpeme's appointment comes at a time when Governor Ayade is cracking down on perceived critics of his government.

He has also been accused in the past of bribing judges to swing cases in his favour.

In August 2019, Ayade ordered the arrest of journalist, Agba Jalingo, for publishing an expository piece, which revealed how he diverted public money through the state-owned Cross River Microfinance Bank.

Jalingo is currently standing trial for alleged treason.

http://saharareporters.com/2019/12/04/how-governor-ayades-new-chief-judge-akon-ikpeme-confessed-receiving-bribes-dino-melaye

President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, held a closed-door meeting with members of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), led by their Chairman, Governor Mohammed Badaru Abubakar of Kebbi State.

The meeting, which lasted for about two hours and held in the President’s office, was also attended by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), and the Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari.

State Governors present at the meeting included Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Gboyega Oyetola (Osun), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Simon Lalong (Plateau), Atiku Bagudu (Kebb)i, Abubakar Bello (Niger), Ababkar Badaru (Jigawa),Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna), Abdulahi Sule (Nasarawa), Babagana Zulum (Borno), and Godwin Obaseki (Edo), while Kogi was represented by the deputy governor, David Onoja.

Although none of the participants at the closed-door meeting would agree to speak with State House Correspondents, The Nation gathered the the issue for discussion might not be unconnected with the crisis in the Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC)

However, the National Chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who is a critical figure in the Edo chapter crisis was absent at the meeting.

It would be recalled that the Edo State chapter of the party has been under intense heat for months, resulting from what has been described as a power struggle between Governor Obaseki and the National Chairman of the party, Comrade Oshiomhole.

The crisis reached a crescendo when the Edo State House of Assembly got torn between the governor’s and the party Chairman’s interests, culminating in 14 members of the House of Assembly fleeing the state.

Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Felix Okiye, only on Wednesday, declared vacant, the seats of 12 members-elect and another two who were earlier inaugurated but have not been attending the house sessions.

All affected 14 persons are loyal to Oshiomhole.

Okiye had urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct bye-elections for the affected constituencies within 90 days.
https://thenationonlineng.net/updated-buhari-meets-apc-governors-in-abuja/

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed January 25, 2020, for the conduct of the 28 outstanding court-ordered rerun elections across the country.

https://twitter.com/inecnigeria/status/1202626563038208000?s=19

A former governor of Abia state, Orji Uzor Kalu, has been sentenced to 12 years in jail after he was found guilty of N7.65bn fraud.

The 12 year sentence is the highest among the 39 counts convicting the defendants, the lowest sentence being three years.
Mr Kalu’s company, Slok Nigeria Ltd was ordered to be forfeited to the federal government.

The court found the second convict, his former commissioner of Finance Jonnes udeogo guilty of 34 counts.


https://tvcnews.tv/breaking-court-sentences-orji-kalu-to-12-years-in-jail/

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state, on Wednesday, announced the appointment of Mrs. Julian Nwachukwu as the liaison officer for Ibadan North Local Government Area of the State.

This was made in association with the appointments of Special Advisers on Community Relations 1 and 11, Federal Liaison offices etc.

Other Liaison Officers appointed by Makinde are; Alhaji Ajibike Osuolale Lateef (Iseyin, Itesiwaju, Kajola and Iwajowa); Alhaji Salami Lukman Adisa (Saki East, Saki West and Atisbo); Alhaji Afees Tijani (Orelope, Irepo and Olorunsogo); Hon. Ganiyu Laaro (Oriire, Ogbomoso North and Ogbomoso South); Mr. Sanjo Akintola (Ogo-Oluwa and Surulere); Mr. Wale Ogunmola (Afijio, Oyo West, Oyo East and Atiba); Hon. Monsuru Oduola (Ibarapa North and Ibarapa Central).

Mr. Olumide Akinlade (Oluyole); Alhaja Kafilat Olayiwola (Ido and Ibarapa East); Alhaji Labule Ishola (Ibadan South-West/ North-West); Alhaja Yahaya Akinbile (Ibadan South-East/ North-East); Mrs. Wulemot Ibitoye (Akinyele/Lagelu) and Mr. Adegboyega Akinlolu James (Ona-Ara and Egbeda).

https://dailypost.ng/2019/12/05/kano-indigene-igbo-woman-make-makindes-new-appointment/

Earlier this year, Aisha Buhari, Wife of the President or First Lady as she now wants to be known, revealed that she was planning to set up a university in the name of her husband, Muhammadu Buhari. Even though the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, thought of Aisha’s plan as some kind of joke, the woman seemed in earnest.

And there was no reason why she should not be. Establishing a university would be her own contribution to the growth of her home state of Adamawa, she reasoned. Lending a hand to the development of Adamawa was the context in which she spoke even if she didn’t reveal where the university would be located.

Unlike ASUU which thought the idea of new universities puerile in the face of the overwhelming state of decay of existing public universities, Aisha must have concluded that the problem of tertiary education in Nigeria was not that of poor funding which is considered by many as the major reason for the decayed infrastructure in our universities.

For her, the issue was probably one of number, precisely that Nigeria needs more universities to cater for the education of the ever-growing army of secondary school leavers. This would explain why she would not see the establishment of a university as a non-starter. The more so, if it is established in the name of her loving husband.

In electing to establish a university, Aisha Buhari was perhaps also telling anyone willing to know that it is not too early for her to start planning for her post-retirement years as an ex-First Lady or Wife of the President. For an outspoken woman like her, taking the back seat cannot be a viable option. Never mind that her husband once (in)famously said she would be a good candidate for the “other room”, whatever that meant.

But Aisha would not be silenced notwithstanding the acute conservatism of the Muslim North, in spite of which her voice could still be heard loud and clear at such a male-dominated gathering as a recent Assembly of the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs where she lashed out at our leaders. Moreover, in choosing to establish a university, she would not be doing anything new, or doing anything past rulers of this country have indeed not done before.

Considering the rot that has overtaken the tragedy that is misnamed Nigeria’s educational system, particularly the tertiary education sector, establishing private universities has become one of the most lucrative businesses in the country. The rate at which universities are established in Nigeria should rank among the highest in the world. Nigeria currently has about 180 universities, that is fully licensed and operational. There are many proposals still awaiting the imprimatur of the National Universities Commission that is ever so obliging.

It would not matter that many of these new universities, either managed by faith-based institutions or private investors, are owned by individuals and groups that implemented many of the dangerous policies that brought about the decay in our public tertiary institutions. The point now is that these ex-rulers are willing to invest in the same sector some of them helped to destroy. Bells and the American University right in Aisha’s home state, both universities owned by former rulers, should be wonderful inspiration for her unfolding plans.

Whether we believe them or not, these former rulers, business owners and managers, want Nigerians to know that the universities that bear their ownership imprint are the products of their own hard labour. Aisha and her family too could join the bandwagon of owners’ of private universities, even if Nigerians find it difficult to wrap it round their heads that the first family that could not afford to pay the President’s nomination form prior to his emergence as president (but for the intervention of ‘friends’), could somehow now afford to float a university, a far more capital-intensive project. Surely, the same friends that settled the cost of the presidential nomination form, will again come to the rescue. Thus, Nigerians can rest easy that Aisha’s university would be financed with private funds.

But that is more than we can say for the likes of Tukur Buratai and Sadique Abubakar, respectively, the chief of army staff and the chief of air staff. Both men have been spending tax payers money to locate universities in their states. While Buratai has established the Nigerian Army University in his hometown of Biu in Borno State, Abubakar has secured approval from the NUC for a Nigerian Airforce University in his home state, Bauchi. This, in spite of the existence of an Airforce Special Operations Command in Bauchi. This wastage of public funds complements what is already going on with the unending war against insurgents in the same north-east zone that is both the home of Boko Haram and the military chiefs setting up military universities. Are these universities the resources needed to combat Boko Haram? Was the absence of an Army university the reason why Buratai’s village was sacked by Boko Haram?

These military chiefs are clearly idle and have long outlived their usefulness in office. Their self-serving agenda has blinded them to the realities on the ground. The clear duplication of activities that is represented by this ramping up in the creation of military institutions, called universities, is totally lost on the military chiefs including President Muhammadu Buhari himself who, this week, laid the foundation for the take off of a University of Transportation in his hometown, Daura.

Rather than injecting funds into existing institutions of higher learning, President Buhari and his surrogates are busy setting up more of such institutions even as they go about proclaiming cost-saving measures as virtues of their administration. This is aside the ethnic-agenda and nepotism that the location of these institutions proclaims.

In a so-called federation where the federal character principle operates, is it not worrisome that virtually all military and paramilitary institutions are located in just one section of the country in addition to putting total control of these institutions under people from this same region? And when people talk, they are called names, cast as unpatriotic ethnic warlords and accused of spreading hate speech. What can be more hateful than this blatant denial of a sense of belonging to and exclusion of Nigerians from other regions of the country from the gains of our commonwealth?

By locating all major military and paramilitary commands/institutions in the north, is President Buhari deliberately positioning the north for the perpetual control of the country, rendering opposition impossible once coercive power is vested in one region? The Buharis and others in power now can set up as many private universities as they like. It’s their choice. But they cannot and should not attempt to exclude other Nigerians from the gains of our federation.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/12/buharists-university-education-and-the-gains-of-nationhood/

President Muhammadu Buhari’s bid to raise foreign loans for infrastructural projects is already in jeopardy as the gas supply agreement (GSA) between the Calabar Generation Company Limited and Accugas Ltd has gone awry over about $66 million unpaid invoices, TheCable can report.

Accugas has now issued a notice of non-payment in respect of gas supply to Calabar GenCo, owned by Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) Ltd.

This is the first step in activating the World Bank partial risk guarantee (PRG) signed by the federal government under the GSA.

Nigeria’s credit rating is now at risk with the cost of foreign borrowing likely to go up — and the $118 million sovereign guarantee could be called in by JP Morgan, thereby putting the nation’s foreign assets at risk.

This is coming at a particularly worrisome time for the federal government, which has just posted a bond of $200 million with a London court in respect of the $9.6 billion judgement against Nigeria in its case with Process & Industrial Development (P&ID) Limited.

Under the GSA signed in May 2017, Nigeria is obliged to pay Accugas over $10 million monthly with or without gas supply to the Calabar GenCo.

In a letter dated November 25, 2019 and signed by Ian Brown-Peterside, its managing director, Accugas said it was invoking “clause 18.5.1 of the Natural Gas Sales Agreement dated 12th May 2017 between Accugas Limited (the “Seller”) and Calabar Generation Company Limited (the “Buyer”) and also to Clauses 3 and 4.1 of the Support Agreement dated 12th May 2017 between the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (“NDPHC”), the Buyer, Seller and Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Pie (“NBET”).

“Terms defined in the Support Agreement have the same meaning in this letter. (1) A Monthly Invoice of USD 3,887,293.84 dated 18th February issued by the Seller and received by the Buyer on 14th March 2019, of which the undisputed balance of USD 643,332.03 is outstanding and overdue for settlement (the “Invoice”); (2) Payment in respect of the Invoice was due on 13th April 2019. (3) A Dispute Notice has not been received in connection with the Invoice by the expiration of the Due Date. (4) The following Guaranteed Payment is required to be paid into account details provided below.”

Brown-Peterside said “in the event that the above Guaranteed Payment is not paid into the aforementioned account within seven days, we shall have the right pursuant to Clause 1 of the Support Agreement to make a withdrawal under the IDA PRG L/C.”

He also said “this notice of non-payment does not include a demand in respect of interest or any sums other than the Guaranteed Payment”.

Accugas attached all the unsettled invoices to the notice.

The letter was sent to the Calabar GenCo, NDPHC and NBET and copied to the International Development Association (World Bank), JP Morgan Chase Bank (London branch) and Nigeria’s minister of finance, Zainab Ahmed.

LETTER TO FINANCE MINISTER

Same day, Brown-Peterside wrote to Ahmed, maintaining that Accugas “has no alternative but to submit Notices of Non-Payment under the Calabar GSA in respect of the unpaid invoice amounts”.

The letter, seen by TheCable, read: “Honorable Minister, We refer to previous correspondence on this matter, and in particular Accugas’ letter to the Honourable Minster dated 11 October 2019 (with reference AGAS/G&C/OTHR/074/19) and NDPHC’s letter to the Honourable Minister dated 28 October 2019.

“Throughout 2019, Accugas has worked continuously with NDPHC in relation to the operational sustainability of the Calabar GSA and we would like to state, and put on record, our absolute recognition and sincere appreciation of the tremendous efforts made by NDPHC in this regard. Furthermore, we reaffirm our commitment to continuing to work with NDPHC,and other stakeholders in the sector, to ensure the sustainable success of the Calabar GSA and the broader ‘gas to power’ sector.

“Despite the best efforts of NDPHC (and NBET), which have ensured ‘market share’ payments being made to Accugas in 2019, there remains significant balance of payments due to Accugas under the Calabar GSA.

“As of the date of this letter, Accugas has invoiced $88.2 million for gas supply from January – September 2019, of which $19.88 million has been paid. Of the remaining $68.31 million balance, $1.7 million relating to foreign exchange losses is being disputed by Calabar, leaving a balance of $66.61 million immediately due and payable. Please see Schedule 1 to this letter (Payment Status of the Calabar GSA).

“As outlined in previous correspondence in relation to this matter, Accugas has significant debt obligations (relating directly to its investment in gas supply infrastructure) to its lenders due before the end of 2019 and the company is main source of funds is revenue due under the Calabar GSA. As such, Accugas has no alternative but to submit Notices of Non-Payment under the Calabar GSA in respect of the unpaid invoice amounts.

“We understand the Federal Government is making great efforts to support the liquidity challenges in the sector including in particular, reinstatement of the Payment Assurance Facility. We are extremely grateful for this support and we confirm our steadfast commitment to continuing to work with NDPHC and other relevant government agencies towards finding a lasting solution to these challenges.

“We would also like to reiterate Accugas’ commitment to and support for the Federal Government’s ongoing efforts to ensure increased and sustainable electricity supply to the entire country.”

The letter was copied to Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, who is the chairman of NDPHC, owners of Calabar GenCo.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thecable.ng/exclusive-accugas-moves-against-nigeria-issues-notice-of-default-over-calabar-genco/amp
Lalasticlala
Mynd44

LivingSage:
May God bless you Sir

Bless you too, bro

• LCCI, MAN worried over FG’s ability to meet obligations
• ‘How N’ Assembly will challenge $30b loan application’

The nation’s budgetary provisions for debt servicing could rise to N3 trillion if the Federal Government goes ahead with its $29.96 billion loan request.

President Muhammadu Buhari had last Thursday re-submitted a request to the Senate seeking approval for a $29.96 billion loan. The Eighth Senate had in November 2018 unanimously thrown out the request, saying the letter conveying it was not accompanied by a borrowing plan.

With the loan, budgetary provisions for debt servicing would mount from a yearly average of N290 billion to N870 billion. Besides raising the country’s total obligations above $113 billion (about N34 trillion), the yearly debt service provision in the budget would near N3.2 trillion, with worsening budget deficit, unless the revenue base increases significantly.

Currently, the Federal Government estimated N2.45 trillion for debt servicing in the soon-to-be approved 2020 budget. This would cater to interest payments of $83.88 billion worth of obligations. The planned loan is equal to 35 per cent of this total.

Also, 35 per cent ($30 billion) of the country’s total debt, on average, accounts for more than N800 billion of the N2.45 trillion in the 2020 budget. This proves that the new debt will pressure the weak revenue once it is sealed.

Particularly, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) have expressed concerns about the Federal Government’s ability to service its debts, describing the new request as troubling.

They lamented that the debt profile grew from N12.6 trillion in 2015 to N25.7 trillion in the second quarter of 2019, an increase of 104 per cent. They also noted that in the 2020 budget, debt service commitment and recurrent spending are beginning to crowd out capital expenditure. This trajectory, according to them, is not consistent with the country’s national aspiration to build infrastructures and a competitive economy.

“Care should be taken to avoid a full-blown debt crisis. For instance, the debt service provision in the 2019 budget was a whopping N2 trillion, whereas the total capital budget was N2.9 trillion. This implies that the debt service commitment was 70 per cent of capital budget allocation. Debt-to-revenue ratio was about 30 per cent, which is also on the high side,” said LCCI’s Director-General Muda Yusuf yesterday.

MAN’s Director General Segun Ajayi-Kadir advised: “There is a need to clarify the new loan request in relation to the 2020 budget and the 2020-2022 medium-term expenditure framework. Borrowing should strictly be in line with Section 41 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act which stipulates that government at all tiers shall only borrow for capital expenditure and human development, provided that such borrowing shall be on concessional terms with a low-interest rate and with a reasonable long amortization period.”

He noted further: “Government needs to look beyond tax credit in its quest for more complementary funding sources for infrastructure. We should be looking more in the direction of equity financing. But for this to happen, the policy and regulatory environment must be right. It is also critical to review the spending structure of government and the cost of governance. The ballooning recurrent expenditure, in the face of declining revenue, is cause for concern.”

In his reaction, a member of the House of Representatives, Sergius Ogun, vowed that there would be no easy sailing for the loan request as some lawmakers are ready to question its usefulness.

The member representing Esan North-East/Esan South-East Federal Constituency in Edo State said the lawmakers were prepared to take the “advocacy out of the House if we are not allowed to speak.” He also said they would give other lawmakers “the benefit of the doubt” but “they should let us know clearly what they want to use it (the loan) for.”

Also, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Obadaiah Mailafia, in a monitored programme, said the first loan of $1.3 billion by the current administration in 2015 for rebuilding the northeast has yielded no result. He, therefore, described the “request for the humongous debt” as “very unsettling, dangerous and unpatriotic.”

According to the Head of Tax and Corporate Advisory Services at PwC Nigeria, Taiwo Oyedele, “If the government must borrow at all, it has to be for self-financing projects, especially in critical infrastructures such as rail, power, ports and major roads. A detailed plan with specific projects should accompany the loan request before approval. There is the need for greater accountability and monitoring of public projects. In addition, there should be public-private partnership with competent contractors of repute rather than political jobbers to execute the specified projects.”

The lead director of Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Eze Onyekpere, said the request was a step in the wrong direction. According to him, “In the last four years, we have spent more on debt servicing than we have done on capital expenditure due to the plethora of new debts incurred by the administration and there is no evidence to show that previous borrowing has been invested in capital expenditure or human development as stipulated in the FRA.”

Economist, Ayodele Akinwunmi, noted: “Nigeria cannot overcome the infrastructure challenges by borrowing to finance them. The Federal Government needs to involve the private sector using different Public-Private Financing Models. We can unlock a lot of private capital to finance the infrastructure, while government concentrates on security and setting policies that will improve the economy.”

On his part, development consultant and public affairs analyst, Jide Ojo, said the request raised a lot of posers. He asked: “Wouldn’t there have been variations to the cost estimates of three years ago? Why should we borrow that gargantuan sum of money again despite our current N25.7 trillion debt portfolio as at June 2019? Are there no alternatives to funding those critical infrastructures for which the president claimed he would use the borrowed fund to fix?

“Given the extant N2.45 trillion debt service allocation in the 2020 budget, which is almost at par with the total envelope for capital project, would we have it easy servicing the debt in the nearest future? Did President Buhari run this fresh loan request through his newly inaugurated Economic Advisory Council?”

Another economist, Ucha Wagbo, warned that except Nigeria was able to get concessionary loan terms at lower-lower single digit, “the government might be plunging the economy into a bigger ditch and tougher times.”

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva has said Nigeria will commit to stabilising oil prices at the international market.

Speaking in a teleconference with the chairman of OPEC-Non-OPEC Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) and Minister of Energy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and some other ministers at the weekend, Sylva said Nigeria was committed to the full implementation of the agreement entered into by OPEC and its 10 Non-OPEC member states, also known as the OPEC Plus or the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC) Countries.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/guardian.ng/news/fresh-loan-may-raise-debt-servicing-to-n3tr/amp
Mynd44
Lalasticlala

These Govs or whomever represents them should be ashamed of themselves.

This low-budget Turai Yaradua will talk recklessly, support hate speech bill, without advocating "her Chinese model" of tackling corruption and attack you guys....you keep quiet....rope in the Ministers and VP.

Was the VP deaf? Didn't he hear her?
Now you are calling Nigerians who are going through a lot as a result of bad leadership at all levels.

Shame......

Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, was addressing the entire nation and not just the governors when she said things were getting out of hands, the governors have said.

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum stated this on Saturday night in a statement by the Head of Media, Abdulrazaque Bello Barkindo.

The statement read, “That Aisha Buhari’s rebuke at the National Mosque during the National Executive Council meeting of the National Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs could not have come at a better time.

“That the nation’s religious leaders have to be told by none other than the First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari, that things are getting out of hand, is an indictment not just of governors, as the reporters would like the general public to believe, but of the nation’s entire political elite.

“Unfortunately, the haste to paint state governors with one brush or the race to hit the front pages in this case, destroyed the message that the First Lady seeks to convey. Mrs Buhari was sermonising on anyone in a position of power or authority to fear Allah in whatever they do because, according to her, as it is said in the scriptures, everybody would eventually account for his deeds before the Almighty God.

“To insinuate, therefore, that the First Lady was referring to governors when she said, “People cannot afford potable water in this country while we have governors,” erroneously suggests that only state governors would meet God on the day of judgment.

“It was in the same breath that she said, “We should either fasten our seat belt (meaning tighten our belts) or do the needful or we will all regret it very soon because, at the rate things are going, things are getting completely out of hand. The VP (Yemi Osinbajo) is here, some ministers are here, they are supposed to do justice to the situation.”

“How the reporters at the occasion conveniently forgot the above part of the speech and singled out governors in passing the message, therefore, remains a mystery.

“Governors are doing their best to lift Nigerians out of misery and Nigerians are beginning to witness an improvement in their standards of living because of the conscious efforts of state governors throughout the country.

“The nation is replete with remarkable improvements in different facets of public life. For example, public schools in Kaduna have received a serious boost, aged women in Ekiti State are receiving stipends from government to keep their bodies and souls together, food security has taken the front burner in Ebonyi, Lagos and Kebbi states, unqualified Permanent Secretaries have been uprooted in Adamawa State and youth empowerment has taken centre stage in Ogun. There are similar examples in every single state of Nigeria, all thanks to the hard work governors are putting into their jobs.

https://punchng.com/aisha-blaming-nigerians-not-only-us-for-nations-rot-govs/
Mynd44
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