₦airaland Forum

Two men have been found dead at separate locations in Utako and Jabi areas of Abuja.

Taxi drivers at the Utako Motor Park identified one of the corpses as that of Wasiu, an indigene of Osun State, who was until his death a taxi driver.

The late Wasiu was found lifeless in his car shortly after the early morning Muslim prayers on Thursday.

A witness, Wasiu Oladipo, who spoke with our reporters, said the deceased was seen at the mosque during the early morning prayers, adding that he must have died when he returned to his car.

“After returning from early morning prayer at 5am, we noticed his car was still at the same position. So we went to check on him and found a foamy substance in his mouth. That was when we realised he was dead,” he said.

None of the leaders of the taxi drivers’ association was available for comments but Oladipo said the corpse had been taken to Osun State.

The Utako Divisional Police Officer, CSP Jimoh Gibenle, said the case was not reported at the station.

In another incident, a man was feared dead at a Hausa drama arena in Daki Biyu, a slum in Jabi on Wednesday night. Details of the death were sketchy as at press time.

When contacted on phone, the Life Camp Divisional Police Officer, CSP Danlami Yusuf, said “the command was handling the case,” and referred our reporters to the FCT Police Command.

The FCT Police Command spokesman, Jesse Manzah, said he would get back to our reporter but was yet to do so as at press time.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/two-found-dead-in-utako-jabi.html

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said yesterday he would cease from being a member anytime the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM) decides to join partisan politics.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Obasanjo disclosed this when he officially registered as a member of the CNM at the NUJ secretariat, Abeokuta.

“I am happy to be a member of the Coalition for Nigeria Movement which is a movement for good governance.

“This is the commencement for our popular and grassroots association. The membership will be free to collectively decide on whether it will become a political party and if it decides to transform itself and go into partisan politics, I will cease to be a member,’’ he said.

Obasanjo completed the membership form of the Movement and handed it over to former Governor of Osun State, Col. Olagunsoye Oyinlola (Rtd.), who is the National Coordinator of the group.

The ex-president’s stance that the movement was apolitical, even though he ealier told President Muhammadu Buhari not to contest for second term had already opened another chapter on discourse about 2019 with many pundits already asking what exactly he wanted to achieve.

On Wednesday, Oyinlola had remarked that it would be difficult to achieve something tangible without a political party.

“We’re not a political party, at least, for now,” he said, but quickly added that it would be difficult to make electoral fortunes as envisaged by Obasanjo without a formidable platform in the form of a political party.

“We recognise the facts that by the dictates of the Constitution, you can only contest on the platform of a political party,” he added, a development that made many people at the event to suspect that the movement might likely end up as a political party.

The CNM, which was officially launched in Abuja on Wednesday, was the brainchild of Obasanjo, which he had proffered as a platform to mobilise Nigerians for unity in his recent advice to President Muhammadu Buhari.

“It is necessary to make it clear that this new movement does not regard itself as a third force,” Obasanjo said.

“It sees itself as a popular movement that can accommodate all Nigerians irrespective of their political interest or affiliations and will propel Nigeria forward,’’ he said.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/i-ll-quit-if-cnm-joins-partisan-politics-obasanjo.html

Season three of Big Brother Naija has officially started airing live on Sunday night.

The reality TV series this year increased the number of contestants to 20 unlike last year which featured 12 contestants.

The winner of this year's 78–day contest will be given N25 million cash prize and a brand new SUV.

Big Brother Naija this year is tagged “double wahala” with contestants comprising of musicians, comedians and entrepreneurs.

They are Vandora, Teddy A, K Bruce, Nina, Miracle, Alex, Princess, DeeOne, Ahneeka, Rico Swavey, Bito, BamBam, Leo, Khloe, Angel, Ifu-Ennada, Anto, Tobi Bakare, Cee-C and Lolu.

Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, who is hosting the show for the second time, introduced all the contestants as they entered the Big Brother house.

Popular pop artists, Mayorkun and Kiss Daniel cheered the ceremony with live performance during the launch.

To spice their first day, the first task for the housemates required them to find their bed spaces as those available were limited and six couldn’t get their bed.

On Monday morning, Big Brother announced that the housemates without a bed space should pack their bags for eviction but were later taken to a different room, away from the other housemates.

Also, there was a reunion show featuring some of the previous housemates who had been aired for one week before Sunday’s launch.

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God forbid!

The Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau has said negligence by past governments was responsible for the rots in Nigerian prisons.

He made this submission during the formal presentation of the Nigerian Prisons Survey Report in Abuja on Thursday.

Dambazau who recounted his experience when he visited the prison in Port Harcourt within the week, said there was serious decay in Nigerian prisons.

"For a very long time, our prisons have been neglected", he said. "I was at the Port Harcourt Prison yesterday [Wednesday] and its 100 years old. Everything I saw there is a reflection of this report."

He stressed that the prison was meant for about 800 inmates but it's currently accommodating close to 5000 inmates.

"I can tell you that anyone who goes to that prison will come out as animal.

"This situation is so disturbing and we must do something about our prisons,” Dambazau stressed.

While acknowledging that the Federal Government have been doing enough recently, he pointed out that years of neglects had created too much vacuum to fill.

The Minister said the report will help the government have data to work with in its efforts to improve prisons management in the country.

He called for a total overhaul of public prosecution as well as investigation procedures of the Police, stressing that 'if investigation is poor, prosecution will take long."

Earlier, the Controller General of Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS), Ja'afaru Ahmed said the survey was conducted by the Service in conjunction with Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA) and British Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

He said the Service had not been able to solve the challenges relating to overcrowding because there was dearth of baseline data on nature and characteristics of prison overcrowding.

Ahmed assured that the report will enhance the quality and speed of legal representation for Awaiting Trial Persons amongst other benefits.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/negligence-cause-of-rot-in-nigerian-prisons--dambazau.html

Notorious native doctor, Tordue Gber (Tiv Swem), who allegedly acts as a spiritual adviser to wanted armed criminal militias, has been killed.

He was killed by the military in a operation at Tor-Dunga town in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State.

The Director of Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Sani Kukasheka Usman, confirmed in a statement issued on Wednesday.

The suspect was also accused of providing spiritual support to wanted notorious criminal suspect, Akwazar Terwase, also known as Gana.

“Preliminary investigation shows that Mr Tordue Gber (Tiv Swem) acts as spiritual counsellor that provides Gana with “diabolical” powers.

“The shrine serves as hideout for wanted armed militia, meeting and planning point for operations and logistics base for the criminal armed militias that operate in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States,” Usman said.

Troops of 707 Special Forces Brigade arrested Tordue on Monday following a raid of his shrine in the state, he explained.

He was arrested along with one Atoo Kuwe Francis – suspected to be his accomplice – while reportedly planning to carry out an attack and abduct one Zaya at Tse Bente village in the same local government.

The native doctor was, however, “shot dead during the struggle to disarm him.”

Items recovered by troops during the operation include a locally fabricated pistol, two Baretta pistols, 11 rounds of 9mm ammunition, three motorcycles, and assorted charms.

Also retrieved at the hideout are warm clothing for concealing weapons, two mobile telephones and three generators amongst other items.(NAN)

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/militias-spiritual-leader-killed-in-benue.html

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The Borno State Emergency Management Service, SEMA, has confirmed five dead and thirty-nine injured as five bombs exploded at Dalori 1 IDPs camp at the outskirts of Maiduguri.

Impeccable civilian JTF sources told Daily Trust that all the bombs exploded between 7pm and 9:30 pm.

According to the sources, two bombs exploded right inside the camp, which accommodates majority of Bama IDPs; and as the IDPs rushed to the scene to help the casualties, two other bombs went off.

The fifth, according to the sources, exploded right outside the camp, adjacent some shops.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/five-dead-39-injured-as-bombs-shatter-dalori-idps-camp.html

President Muhammadu Buhari has mandated ministers to give account of their stewardship at the weekly cabinet meetings.

Ministers have since last week been explaining to the Federal Executive Council how the funds released so far to their respective ministries had been spent.

The process began with the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh and his Heath counterpart, Professor Isaac Adewole.

Information Minister Lai Mohammed confirmed to State House reporters yesterday after the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by Buhari that ministers were asked to account for the funds received so far by their ministries.

According to him, ministers are to explain how far they have gone with execution of projects for which their ministries had received funds.

Mohammed said this was aimed at ensuring transparency and accountability.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/buhari-probes-ministers.html

The Senate, on Wednesday, resolved to investigate the low remittance by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) into the federation account before 2016.

The resolution was sequel to the adoption of a motion under matter of urgent public importance, moved by Sen. Dino Melaye.

Moving the motion, Melaye said that JAMB before 2016 paid into the federation account a meagre N50 million as revenue generated from the University and Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME).

He said the revenue increased to five billion naira in 2016 and N7.8 billion in 2017.

The senator, however, expressed concern why the revenue remitted by JAMB in the past had been low.

“Since JAMB can remit seven billion naira in one month, we must work on relevant agencies as the National Examination Council (NECO) and the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to generate more revenue.

“There is the need for the Senate Committee to effectively carry out its oversight function with a view to finding out what went wrong in the past and block all the leakages in the agencies,’’ Melaye said.

Also, the Senate Leader, Sen. Ahmed Lawan said, “something was amiss and we need to find out what happened in the past and why there was a sudden increase in remittances’’.

In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, directed the Senate Committee on Education to investigate the matter and educate the Senate on reasons for the increased remittances.

Saraki stressed the need to know what action had been taken to get those people, who were there in the past to explain what happened,’’ Saraki said. (NAN)

The Senate has postponed a National Security Summit aimed at addressing the security challenges in parts of the country in honour of the late former vice president, Dr Alex Ekwueme.

Senate Leader Ahmed Lawan said the summit earlier scheduled for today has been postponed in honour of the late Ekwueme who would be buried on Saturday.

He said the postponement was to enable federal lawmakers, particularly those from the South-East zone to participate in the burial programme.

Lawan said a new date for the summit would be announced in due course, while apologising to invited dignitaries.

“Though the summit was an initiative of the Senate as part of its contribution to the resolution of the rising security challenges, it is being convened in partnership with the Presidency to find a common solution to the issue,” he said.

Meanwhile, the 14 days ultimatum given to the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris by the Senate to arrest killers of 73 persons in Guma and Logo local government areas of Benue State has expired.

The resolution was taken on January 16 during consideration of the report of the ad-hoc committee on the review of the country’s security architecture chaired by Senator Lawan.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/senate-postpones-security-summit-over-ekwueme-s-burial.html

An elder statesman in Kano, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, has described the late former Vice-President, Dr Alex Ekwueme, as a very meticulous and hard working person who contributed a lot toward the development of the country.

Yakasai made the remark in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano on Tuesday.

NAN recalls that Ekwueme died on Nov. 19, 2017, at a London Hospital after a brief illess and he will be buried on Friday.

Yakasai, who was a Special Adviser to President Shehu Shagari on National Assembly Matters, said the late Ekwueme was also a committed politician who believed in the unity of Nigeria.

“The late elder statesman was a principled and very intelligent person, who bagged five degrees in different fields.”

According to him, Ekwueme spearheaded the campaign for a number of issues, including zoning and rotation during the National Constitutional Conference held between 1994 and 1995.

“So, zoning and rotation was originally part of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) Programme as it was the party (NPN) that introduced the idea of zoning and rotation.

“During the conference, he (Ekwueme) articulated a number of issues which the conference eventually adopted.”

He said that Ekwueme’s connection with the NPN, gave him the opportunity to be adopted as the Chairman of G34, a group of Nigerians who eventually formed Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He said he was very close to late Ekwueme even when they were in Kirikiri Prison together after the military coup of 1983.

“I and the late former governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Lawal Kaita, kept him (Ekwueme) company in the prison. He even requested me to teach him Hausa language.”

He said there was good understanding between them when they were in government as they used to visit each other’s families.

“We used to disagree on certain issues but we lived peacefully when we were in government,” Yakasai said.

On the state of political parties, he said disloyalty was the bane of Nigeria’s democracy, noting further that governors had hijacked their political parties in their respective states.

He, therefore, urged politicians to change the trend by being loyal to their parties in order to strengthen democracy in the country.

“Disloyalty to political parties is the bane of Nigeria’s democracy and this is a major challenge threatening the system, Yakasai said.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/ekwueme-a-strong-pillar-in-national-development--yakasai.html

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has raised the alarm over impending cyber attacks on banks and other establishments in the country by hackers.

NITDA said in a statement yesterday that hackers may launch cyber attack on some Nigerian banks, health institutions and other government agencies very soon.

The Director General of NITDA, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, who signed the statement, said there was need for all stakeholders to take urgent precautionary measures.

The agency noted that it has become expedient to bring to the attention of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), other government establishments, the organised private sector and the general public of potential cyber-attacks likely to be experienced this year, as well as the precautionary measures to be taken.

Dr Pantanmi said the agency’s Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team (CERRT) in conjunction with other industry stakeholders had already intercepted plans by the hackers.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/banks-others-face-massive-cyber-attacks-soon--nitda.html

Senators yesterday clashed with the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) retired Colonel Hameed Ali over protocol.

The incident occurred 10 months after the lawmakers engaged Ali over his refusal to wear Customs uniform.

A Senate ad-hoc committee chaired by Senator Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi) was at the Customs headquarters in Abuja on oversight visit.

Melaye said protocol demanded that Ali received them at the entrance of the NCS’s headquarters.

“Let me make these small remarks on what we have just observed here in form of breach of protocols. Mr CG, rather than meeting us here at the conference room by way of courtesy, you supposed to have met us at the ground floor on arrival into the premises.

“That has been the practice of statutory bodies headed by Chief Executive Officers like you. Relevant senate committees have over the years been accorded this by bosses of Immigration Service, Prisons Service etc, making us to wonder why it is not so here today under your leadership,” Melaye said.

Responding, Ali said “We have our own protocol as regards receiving visitors like you. I don’t need to come downstairs to receive you just as nobody in the Senate or House of Representatives has ever come out to receive us anytime we visit the National Assembly.

“So, there is no breach of protocol for not coming down to welcome you since appropriate officers have been assigned to do so.

“Our protocol is our protocol and should be allowed to be. In fact, by way of etiquette, it is the committee that supposed to come to my office first on arrival and not just coming straight to the conference room,” he said.

He pledged to cooperate with the lawmakers in their assignment.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/senators-clash-with-customs-boss-over-protocol.html

Concerned with developments in the country, politicians are coming together with an option for Nigerians.



Throughout last week, Nigeria’s political landscape reverberated with debates and discussions over a letter former President Olusegun Obasanjo penned to President Muhammadu Buhari, asking the latter not to seek a second term in office in 2019.

Other than enumerating what he considered as Buhari’s failings, Obasanjo called for what he termed Coalition for Nigeria to rescue the country from its present predicaments.



“Coalition for Nigeria,” he said about the idea, “must be a movement to break new ground in building a united country, a socially cohesive and moderately prosperous society with equity, equality of opportunity, justice and a dynamic and progressive economy that is self-reliant and takes active part in global division of labour and international decision-making.”

Many Nigerians considered his advocacy for a movement to save Nigeria as the highest point of the former president’s letter.

But Daily Trust on Sunday learnt that months before Obasanjo scripted the letter, powerful politicians across the country, who are “not happy with how things are going in the country,” have been holding meetings in a bid to forge an alliance that will provide a platform to Nigerians that will be capable of squaring up with President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC in 2019.

According to people close to this move, the idea of forming the group was to offer Nigerians an alternative that is neither allied to the APC nor the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), through which they can run for elective offices.

Sources close to the promoters of the idea, which is referred to as ‘Third Force’, in their circles, disclosed that serving governors, lawmakers from the APC and the PDP, as well as former government ministers, have given their blessings to the alliance and have been actively supporting it.

The brains behind the initiative believed that the project was going to be accepted by Nigerians on account of what they said was disenchantment in the country.

A former governor, now a senator, claimed that the group was still working underground to avoid interference by elements that would not be pleased by the goals it seeks to achieve.

“The whole issue is not about survival of the fittest, but survival of democracy, and by extension, survival of Nigeria,” a former senator, who does not want to be named, said.

“There is serious disenchantment in the Nigerian polity. We are in bondage. Since the time he won, Buhari has distanced himself not only from party politics but from an important constituency; those who worked for his success. They are not ready for a repeat,” he said.

Daily Trust on Sunday learnt that the promoters of the Third Force were of the opinion that successive governments in the country had failed to deliver, arguing that the system needs a total overhaul.

This view was reinforced by Senator Sa’idu Dansadau, the national chairman of the newly registered National Rescue Movement (NRM), who said the country needed a change of its leadership recruitment process to be able to move ahead.

Confirming the Third Force move, the politician said it was being formed to wrest power from the ruling APC.

“It is true that a cross section of Nigerians, even before the announcement of the registration of new political parties, some prominent Nigerians who are concerned and disappointed about the performance of the APC administration, including many parties, aggrieved members of the APC and some sections of the PDP, have been thinking of coming together to form a new alliance that have the capacity to defeat the APC.

“But officially, our party has not been formally contacted for discussions. Our party is not desperate for power, but we are desperate to serve the people. We see power as a means of serving God and humanity,” he said.

In a recent interview with Daily Trust on Sunday, he said Nigerians had learnt the hard way in the last 19 years from the poor performance of the PDP and the APC, adding that those failures gave them hope that their new party was going to succeed in rewriting Nigeria’s story.

“We have enough wherewithal, including human resources, to confront the ruling APC and the checkered PDP. It is dangerous to unveil some of the people you are working with at this stage because of the kind of government we have in Third World countries,” he said.

Dansadau promised that his party was going to provide a new set of leadership at all levels, maintaining that the present crop of leaders cannot change Nigeria’s situation.

How Third Force will be deployed

Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that at various meetings of the proponents of the alliance, the nature and form of the platform were discussed.

It was also learnt that during such meetings, the idea of joining the PDP was advanced, on the ground that it is still the only party with national spread and structures that can be used to challenged the APC.

But majority of the supporters of the Third Force were said to have opposed the idea of joining the PDP, which they described as being the major cause of the problems in the country that their coming together was trying to address.

Another option that also came up was to pitch tent with the APC. This option was said to have been quickly rejected because of the near impossibility of any aspirant to beat President Buhari to clinch the party’s ticket.

Daily Trust on Sunday reliably gathered that the members of the movement may likely settle for a newly registered political party or an existing party that can be propped up to appeal to Nigerians.

“Obasanjo’s call for a coalition has opened a new chapter in the whole narrative of finding a viable option for the country. But we are being cautious with the former president’s invitation because his antecedents don’t support the position he is touting.

“First, he did not play any role in the formation of the PDP, the party that brought him to power for two terms. He got the presidential ticket on a platter of gold, so he doesn’t have the experience of starting a party from the scratch.

“Secondly, after serving two tenures as president under the PDP, he abandoned the party to its fate at a time it was drowning in problems. If he was a good party man, the time he dumped the PDP was the time for him to remain and salvage it. So, with his background, Obasanjo is not the type to start a movement that will eventually become a political party. He does not have it,” a serving senator said.

However, there are reports that seven governors and about 20 senators have responded to Obasanjo and are joining him to actualise the coalition.

Why ex-governors joined the Force

One of the former governors who spoke in confidence said Buhari would not get their support again in view of his attitudes towards them.

In a chat with Daily Trust on Sunday, the former governor said the sharp division created by the support they gave Buhari in their forum had not been mended.

“We supported him against one of us, but as soon he was sworn in, they started chasing us like common thieves. If we had stolen money as they claim, it is the money that we stole that we used in bringing him to power,” the ex-governor said.

“Let me tell you, we fought with Kwankwaso when we told him that he should drop his ambition for the presidency and support Buhari, he left and became angry. We mobilised against him (Kwankwaso) and that was why he lost the primary in Lagos. Now, they are mocking us that the person you supported is now paying you back with arrests and all sorts of ridiculous things,” he said.

Other ex-governors and their supporters in the group accused the present administration of not being sincere with its anti-corruption fight, suggesting that the war was replete with double-standards.

“The worry is that there is no sincerity of purpose in the corruption fight, which is Buhari’s purported selling point. Anti-corruption fighters are only inciting the electorate against the former governors, and they want to fight back; they have the money and they still have their political bases” said an aide to a former governor.

However, a ranking senator and member of the APC said the gang-up is not about former governors or ministers, explaining, “It is about those who invested heavily in the emergence of Buhari but are not being carried along.”

The lawmaker, who is close to the Villa, told Daily Trust on Sunday that those who are benefitting from the administration had no investment saying, “They don’t even have electoral value.”

According to him, “The anger against Buhari is not about former governors or ministers alone, it is about those who invested human and material resources in 2015 to ensure his victory. These people are angry and are not ready to invest in the campaign this time around.

“Like in other sectors, politicians invest in a candidate at an election for profit which can be in form of contracts, appointments and recognitions. What has Buhari given to those who God used to make him president? It is only blackmail and nothing more.

“Yes, Buhari has been winning elections previously, but that has not translated to victory until resources were mobilised across all camps,” he said.

He said those who are being carried along in the government are those who lack electoral value.

“They are reaping from where they did not invest. Look at the way I contributed, none of my friends have been given appointment or contract. So, you are expecting me to invest again? Let those who are benefitting do it this time around. As you know, I won election, not because of Buhari; I have been winning elections since 2003. Allah has been doing it for me,” he said.

Warning President Buhari to make amend before intense politicking commences, he said any further delay would shock him “because of the level of hunger among the masses, who he said were the secret of his victory.”

“He (Buhari) will be shocked because the masses are divided, including those in the North, which is his support base. Even if they voted for him, the people that did the magic in 2015 won’t be there for him in 2019. These former governors know how to do the manipulation,” the ranking lawmaker said.

Duke, Ezekwesili, Agbakoba, Utomi for another Third Force

Besides registered political parties, some like-minds have come up with the Nigeria Intervention Movement (NIM) to wrest power from both the APC and the PDP.

Handlers of the movement said they were not partisans but out to change the old narrative of deception that laced the two dominant parties in the country.

The movement has former Cross River State governor, Donald Duke, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Charles Soludo, former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba, and Prof. Pat Utomi.

The group said 2019 was the time to rescue Nigeria. It is not clear how they would succeed since the movement has not been registered as a political party yet and the Nigerian constitution does not give room for independent candidature.

A former Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, is also a member of the group. Others are former Minister of Information, Frank Nweke Jnr, Col. Abubakar Umar (retd), Ayo Obe, Rabiu Ishyaku Rabiu, former presidential adviser, Akin Osuntokun, among others.

A recent statement from the NIM secretariat in Abuja described the group as a pro-democracy movement and pressure group of like-minded Nigerians who are committed to changing the political order which has failed to fashion a Nigeria that works for all.

“The NIM is concerned that the political elite, since independence, and particularly since the exit of the military from visible power in 1999, has proved that it is ill-equipped and unprepared for the challenge of transforming our nation from its underdeveloped status to one that is prosperous and can create a veritable environment for the realisation of its citizens’ potentials and wellbeing.

According to the statement, “It is clear that the political elite, as currently represented by the two dominant political parties, the PDP and APC, among others, have failed Nigerians, for lack of clear ideology and principle on how to run the country.”

Former ministers to prop up PRP

Daily Trust on Sunday also gathered that a group, comprising former ministers and party leaders will start a series of activities next week that will eventually culminate in their joining the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and the emergence of a presidential candidate for the party in 2019.

According to some supporters of the group, the plan was to repackage the PRP in line with the ideologies of its founding father, Malam Aminu Kano and the progress made by its current national chairman, Malam Balarabe Musa and field a presidential candidate that would challenge President Buhari, in the event that he decides to contest.

It was gathered that while the PRP was seen as a regional party during the Second Republic, the idea this time around is to give it a national appeal. Already, many politicians, especially from the South-East are buying into it, even though they have set conditions before they would guarantee their support.

“There are different forces, depending on how you look at them, but the ultimate goal of all of them is to have an alternative to the APC,” a former minister who does not want to be named said.

According to him, the argument of propelling the idea of PRP is that the party “has created a brand for itself” since the Second Republic when it won elections in some states.

Another source said the PRP was probably the only surviving political party from the Second Republic and still maintained solid structures in many states in the North, including Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara among others.

“For now, many ex-ministers, ex-elected officials at states and national levels, former military officers and intellectuals are all part of the PRP movement,” another source said.

Third Force is next political ship - Sen Sani

If the APC fails to address the internal wrangling within its fold, the Third Force is the next political ship, chairman of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, Senator Shehu Sani (APC, Kaduna) said yesterday.

Responding to questions from our correspondent on the new alliance that is said to be in the works, Sani described it as a welcome development.

“Third Force is a welcome development if that will help in ensuring that people in power are held to account,” he said.

The senator, who said he was unaware of the fact that 25 of his colleagues had thrown their weight behind the said build-up, added, “What I can assure you is that all kinds of meetings are going on, and there is a seeming anger and discontent among the legislators.

“If the ruling party addresses its internal crisis it will avert an implosion. If it doesn’t, then the Third Force will be the next political ship,” he said.

On the special press statement of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, he said: “Former President Obasanjo is entitled to his opinion and it’s wrong and immoral for some people to insult him, just because he expressed a contrary opinion.”

‘Buhari’s victory in 2019 is certain’

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Mr Osita Okechukwu, however, dismissed the possibility of an arrangement that can take over power from the APC in 2019, saying there would not be mass defection from the ruling party.

“No one can deny the fact that there are certain actions that didn’t go down well with many that we need to open the frontiers of the inclusion door. However, our democracy has reached the zenith of sustenance. In other words, history is a witness to the truism that whenever two major political parties dominate a multiparty system, it is very difficult to construct a Third Force.

“What this means is that the chances of winning elections are skewed in favour of one joining either the APC or PDP. Therefore, if you can’t defect from the APC to PDP, or vice versa, you’re constrained invariably to remain where you are. This forecloses the permutation of pundits of mass exodus from the APC or PDP,” he said.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/third-force-inside-moves-to-challenge-buhari-in-2019.html

Northern youth under the auspices of Arewa Youths Coalition have called on former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former National Caretaker Committee Chairman of the PDP, Senator Ahmed Makarfi and former Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido to step-down their presidential ambition.

The Coalition however asked the three and others with presidential ambition in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to throw their weight behind the Governor of Gombe State, Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo.

The Northern youths said, Nigeria needs a young mind and vibrant leader like Dankwambo who has shown example of what good leadership should be in Gombe State.

Speaking at a rally organised to drum support for Dankwambo in Kaduna yesterday, Chairman of the coalition, Comrade Abdullahi Mohammed Jika,

He said, "Everybody in the country knows that, we are not where we ought to be as a country. That is why we are here to call on Governor Dankwambo of Gombe State to come and contest and rescue our country from the myriad of challenges bedevilling us.

"We have chosen Dankwambo because we have seen what he has done in Gombe State. He is a detribalised Nigerian. He has solutions to our economic and security challenges and he can move the country to the promised land.

"Therefore, we are calling on other contenders within the party to put their ambition aside and support Dankwambo with their resources, their contacts and everything within their possession, because PDP is one big family."

Also speaking at the rally, President of 'One Nigeria', one of the groups in the coalition, Malam Musa Aliyu Gombe said the youths are tired of Presidents, who are too old to cope with challenges of leadership.

He said, the way and manner Dankwambo had handled youths restiveness in Gombe State is a clear indication that, Boko Haram, militancy and herdsman/farmers clashes will become challenges of the past under his leadership.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/2019-northern-youths-ask-atiku-lamido-others-to-step-down-for-dankwambo.html

Senate President Bukola Saraki said the N125billion budget of the National Assembly is not enough to cater for the needs of the legislative arm of government.

Recall that the budget of the National Assembly was increased from N115bn to N125bn at the National Assembly during the passage of the 2017 Budget.

Breakdown of the budget that had been shrouded in secrecy for about a decade was made available to the public last year.

Saraki spoke during a working visit to the chairman and members of the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC). He said despite public perception that the National Assembly was being over funded, it is grappling with funding constraints.

Saraki in a statement by his Special Assistant on Print Media, Chuks Okocha, faulted the impression that the legislature has too much money.

“As we work through the number of bills passed, the public hearings held, and the number of ad-hoc committees that have been established - we know the challenges of not being able to fund some of our activities.

“So far, I am happy to report that despite these constraints, the 8th Senate has been able to surpass all previous Senates in the number of Bills that we have passed in 2-years - despite the funding gaps.

“We know that as we continue over time, people will begin to have more confidence in the National Assembly. However, right now, the challenges that we have are the issue of perception and the issue of funding. We need to work hard to change this,” he said.

Chairman of the Commission, Malam Adamu Fika requested support of the National Assembly leadership to construct a permanent office for the commission inside the National Assembly complex.

He said the commission still operates from a rented apartment with the attendant cost.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/n125bn-budget-not-enough-for-n-assembly-saraki.html

The Federal Government will soon begin to monitor posts on social media by notable Nigerians in order to checkmate hate speeches.

Defence Minister Mansur Dan-Ali disclosed this to State House reporters on Thursday after a meeting President Muhammadu Buhari held with security chiefs at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The minister told the National Security Council that relevant security agencies should, as a matter of urgency, tackle “the propagation of hate speeches especially through the social media particularly by some notable Nigerians.”

He said the meeting discussed the stringent conditions imposed by the United States government for the sale of 12 Super Tucano A29 planes and other weapons worth $495 million.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/why-we-want-to-monitor-social-media-accounts-of-prominent-nigerians.html

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has earmarked N9 billion in the 2018 budget estimates of the commission for hazard and other allowances of staff members on the field.

Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu made disclosure on Wednesday while defending the 2018 budget estimates of the electoral body before the Senate Committee on INEC.

He explained that the total budgetary figure of the commission for the 2019 general election was still being compiled.

According to him, the exact amount of money the 2019 general election will cost the commission across the 119,999 polling units in the country can only be arrived at, after the passage of Electoral Act.

“It is provisions of the amendment to 2010 Electoral Act after passage by the National Assembly that will show the commission how elections at primary level by the political parties would be conducted.

“And monetary cost that would entail on the part of INEC, let alone the general elections”, he said.

Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on INEC also screened additional 8 nominees as Resident Electoral Commissioners.

Those screened and cleared were Dr Usman Ajidagba from Kwara, Baba Yusuf Abba, Borno, Segun Agbaje from Ekiti .

Others are: Yahaya Bello, Nasarawa and Mohammed Ibrahim from Gombe.(NAN)

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/2019-elections-inec-proposes-n9bn-for-hazard-allowance.html

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mrs. Chichi Obi has said the former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar remains the best alternative for 2019 presidency.

She said Atiku is the only presidential hopeful out of other array of aspirants that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is afraid of.

Obi who is the National Coordinator of Atiku House to House (AH2H) group told newsmen in Lagos on Wednesday that she has known Atiku since 1980s and she is convinced that he (Atiku) has the solutions to the myriads of the country’s challenges.

She decried the state of the nation saying the present government has failed to deliver the change it promised Nigerians in 2015.

Obi who is a former National Women Leader under Ahmed Makarfi said though Makarfi who was the chairman of the National Caretaker Committee of the party tried to revive the PDP, he could not stand the strength and the acceptability of Atiku.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/atiku-only-presidential-hopeful-apc-fears-pdp-chieftain.html

ok

good development

The National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, says the much anticipated national convention of the party can’t be moved further than June this year.

Abdullahi said this yesterday while fielding questions on Ray Power radio live programme, ‘Political Platform.’

“We can’t move it further than June. I did not say the convention will take place in June. I’m not in a position to give you the date because it’s only the NEC of the party that will fix a date. After NEC meeting, we will be able to declare the timetable,” the APC spokesman said in response to a question that sought to know the specific date on the convention.

He said that the convention could not be organized in 2017 because President Muhammadu Buhari was out of the country on medical vacation.

“I have been talking about this convention. And I will continue to answer question about this convention. We did not have the convention last year because the party went through difficult time. The president was out of the country on medical vacation. If it was wrong, yes, we admit responsibility. But in our best judgement, that would not be the best time to hold convention. But we are doing everything right now.

“We are happy the president is back in the country. We had National Caucus and NEC meetings. Now we are planning to hold it this year.”

On the motive behind the ongoing National Working Committee (NWC) meeting of the APC, Abdullahi said that it was convened to deliberate on the activities of the party for 2018.

He said, “The meeting of the NWC is a routine meeting that kick-starts our activities for the year. It started yesterday (Monday). It continues today (Tuesday). And it will end tomorrow (Wednesday). But I can tell you that the meeting has nothing to do with the subject you have mentioned. No emissary is being sent. No conversation at all about 2019 or anything about Mr President’s participation in next election.

“There was no conversation about all those issues. At the moment, we are planning our activities for the year. They are barely administrative, looking at the minutes of last year’s NEC and National Caucus meeting and making plans for the next NEC and National Caucus meeting and other activities that will be done in the course of the year.

“But there is no conversation about 2019. We need to understand that it’s politics. And this kind of conversation that he will run or not doesn’t take place at working committee level of any party,” he said.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/apc-convention-ll-hold-spokesman.html

A former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, yesterday, described the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as “government of amateur politicians that lacks the power to unite Nigerians.”

Lamido, a presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), asked whether Nigeria was more secured three years after it lost power to the present administration.

He stated this in Umuahia, Abia State, when the Lamido Campaign Council visited Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and the leadership of the PDP in the state.

The former Jigawa governor also wondered whether Nigeria was more united under the APC-led Federal Government. “Are we more humane? There are crises everywhere in the country, between Fulani herdsmen and farmers, where have we gone wrong as a country?

“The APC government has no capacity to keep Nigeria united; they are people who are actually learning governance on the job and they are making dangerous mistakes. This is not in our best interest, they are amateurs. How do we save Nigeria from the hands of this present government?,” he said.

In his speech, Governor Ikpeazu appealed to Nigerians irrespective of tribe and political party to see themselves as one and make the unity of the country paramount.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/apc-lacks-power-to-unite-nigerians-sule-lamido.html

The federal, states and local governments have shared N655.177 billion, being revenue generated in December 2017 and shared in January 2018.

The breakdown showed the total amount shared include N540.446 billion gross statutory revenue received for the month, which is lower than the N549.533 billion shared in the previous month by N9.089 billion.

Another sum of N83.963 billion was received from Valued Added Tax (VAT) as against the N80.426 billion distributed in the preceding month, resulting in N3.537 billion.

“The distributable statutory revenue for the month is N423.961 billion. The total revenue distributable for the current month (including VAT) is N558.082 billion”, minister of finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun said while reading out the communiqué of the January meeting to journalists in Abuja.

Adeosun said the decrease in crude oil export sales by 0.59 million barrels resulted in decreased revenue from export sales of $11.65 million.

She however, stated that the average price of crude oil increased from $52.07 to $56.83 per barrel during the period under review.

The Federal Government got N252.543 billion or 52 per cent of the total money shared. All the states of the federation received the total sum of N128.093 billion, representing 26.72 per cent, while Local governments got N98.755 billion or 20.60 per cent of the N655.177 billion shared. The sum of N47.738 was shared among the oil producing states as 13 per cent derivation fund.

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) remitted N3.638 billion, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) N4.567 billion and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) N3.104, all less cost of revenue collections.

There is a balance of $2.317 billion in the nation’s Excess Crude Account, which shows that the federal government is yet to deduct the $1 billion approved by the National Economic Council (NEC) for funding of the war against Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East because there hasn’t been an approval from FAAC said the Minister.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/fg-states-lgas-share-n655-2bn-for-january.html

No matter how bad Nigeria is...still better than some other African countries.

Senator Shehu Sani has advised the new Liberian President George Weah not to take'our'advice,manual and avoid frequent visits.

Sani, the Senator representing Kaduna Central appealed to Weah to take notes from Nigeria's experiences as a country and lead Liberia to the future.

Sani in a tweet writes to Weah;

Dear Weah,

Don't take 'our' advice,

Don't take 'our' manual,

Don't visit here frequently,

Don't allow frequent visits,

Take notes from our experiences, And Lead your nation to the future.

Dear Weah,
Don't take 'our' advice,
Don't take 'our' manual,
Don't visit here frequently,
Don't allow frequent visits,
Take notes from our experiences,
And Lead your nation to the future.
— Senator Shehu Sani (@ShehuSani) January 22, 2018