News
- calls on Nigerians to be vigilant
- warns security agencies against being used as instrument of oppression
- puts international communities on alert
Former Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the Peoples' Democratic Party, PDP Atiku Abubakar has alleged threats by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC led by Bola Tinubu to undermine Nigeria's Democracy by suppressing and intimidating the judiciary.
This was contained in a press statement released by the Media adviser to Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe on Saturday.
The statement as obtained by Nigerian Newstrack is shown below:.
PRESS RELEASE
There’s a sinister plot to undermine Nigeria's judiciary, democracy - Atiku
Since the conclusion of the presidential election in February of this year and the attendant controversies in its trail, there have been unfortunate developments that are saddening to many Nigerians.
It is needless to say that the election that brought the current government into office is the worst in the annals of democratic politics in our country, even though it was promised to be the best ever.
Consequently, the outcome of that election and the arbitrariness of the electoral umpire to declare a winner against the requirement of the law has been the reason Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President of Nigeria (1999-2007) and Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party and other parties in the election have chosen the patriotic path to challenge the outcome of that election.
It is a truism that the judiciary is the only reasonable option in the quest for justice. As a matter of fact, our judiciary and the interpretations that they have given to our laws have been a major building block in our democratic journey so far.
Our laws are very clear about the prerequisite of separation of powers as a guarantee of an independent judiciary.
The idea behind that concept of an independent judiciary is to insulate that branch of government from unholy fraternity between its hallowed members and the rest of the society - especially the political actors.
But as proceedings on the controversial February 25 election continues at the court, there have been threats from the ruling party that aim to intimidate the judiciary from serving the duty of justice.
It is regrettable that the APC and, indeed, agents of President Bola Tinubu have ceaselessly chosen to stand in the way of justice by making catastrophic threats to anarchy if justice is not served according to their whims.
These and reports in the media about some heinous plots to harass justices sitting on the petition are ominous to peace and the security of our nation.
Our democracy gives the people of Nigeria the powers to choose their leaders, and our laws demand that our judiciary must be allowed to act independently without harassment and intimidation by the government or powerful interests.
To compromise the workings of our democracy and seeking to compromise the workings of our judiciary is an open call for anarchy.
As a party in the litigation that is currently reviewing the outcome of the last presidential election, we wish to express our intentions to do all that is within the law in resisting any attempt to undermine our fragile democracy.
Indeed, we are using this channel to call on the international community to be alerted.
Nigeria’s democracy should not be undermined by using the judiciary to serve the interest of the ruling party.
Sadly, this has become the stock in trade of the All Progressives Congress to intimidate the judiciary.
Recall that in 2019, the APC-led Federal Government similarly removed the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, when it was obvious that he would not bend to their will.
The Department of State Services similarly stormed the homes of judges in 2016 and 2017, all in a bid to beat the judiciary into submission.
“The plot of the APC is simple: intimidate the judiciary, threaten judges with arrest so that they will bow to their will. This is a playbook from 2019 when they removed the CJN and then replaced him with Tanko Muhammad, who himself was later accused of corruption by his colleagues at the Supreme Court and resigned shamefully.
“However, the APC government never went after Tanko Muhammad as they did in Onnoghen's case because it was never about corruption but election. The APC has, over the years, built a reputation of judiciary intimidation. They accused about 10 judges of corruption, stormed their homes, and got them suspended and yet could not convict a single one of them. Justice Sylvester Ngwuta of the Supreme Court could not recover from the embarrassment that he ended up dying in office.
“Now, they have initiated a new plot. This time around, they want to intimidate the judges into delivering favourable judgments for them at the election tribunal. We draw the attention of the international community and, indeed, Nigerians to this fresh plot to steal the mandate of over 200 million people.”
We are also urging Nigerians to abide by the golden rule of eternal vigilance being the price of liberty.
On this note, we appeal to all security agencies in the country to remain professional in the discharge of their duties and resist being used as an instrument of oppression and intimidation against the judiciary.
Signed:
Paul Ibe
Media Adviser to Atiku Abubakar
Vice President of Nigeria (1999-2007) and Presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 election.
Abuja
22nd July, 2023.
The West African Examination Council (WAEC) on Thursday failed to tender a copy of Governor Dapo Abiodun’s certificate before the Ogun State Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Isabo, Abeokuta, the state capital, the New Telegraph has reported.
The examination body was subpoenaed to produce a copy of Abiodun’s 1978 WAEC certificate as attached to the form he filled with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Ladi Adebutu while challenging the victory of Dapo Abiodun in the March 18 governorship election had alleged that Abiodun forged his WAEC certificate.
In his petition, Adebutu stated that Abiodun “presented a forged West African Examinations Council School Certificate of June 1978 to the 1st Respondent” (INEC) on July 25, 2022.
The petitioner further stated that he had written a letter to WAEC, to verify the authenticity of the said examination certificate presented by Abiodun to INEC.
“Surprisingly, up till date, the West African Examinations Council has failed and/or neglected to respond to the said Petitioners’ letter.
“The petitioners shall at the trial subpoena officials of the said West African Examinations Council to testify on the falsity of the said certificate,” the petition read partly.
Appearing before the three-member Tribunal on Thursday, an official of the examination body, Olufemi Olaleye, said he was not with the disputed certificate, neither did he confirm whether or not the governor sat for the examination as claimed.
The WAEC official was not sworn, neither was he allowed to enter the witness box as he said “the requested certificate is not here with me.”
However, Olaleye was allowed to tender in evidence, a copy of the subpoena issued to the examination body, upon which he was at the tribunal.
Speaking, Olaleye told the tribunal he did not bring the requested certificate “because WAEC does not keep duplicates of collected WAEC certificates.”
He stated that to confirm whether or not somebody partakes in the council’s examination, “the original certificate given to the candidate will be forwarded to WAEC” for verification.
Olaleye was discharged immediately he was recorded as having testified before the tribunal as PW73.
When he was contacted outside the court room to give further explanations on why WAEC did not produce the requested certificate, Olaleye tersely replied: “My lips are sealed.”
Justice Christiana Obadina of an Osun State High Court sitting in Ikire today sentenced a clergyman with the Cherubim and Cherabum Church, Solution Chapel, Ikoyi-Ile, Phillips Segun, to death by hanging for conniving with one Owolabi Adeeko, 23, to kill a final year student of Lagos State University, Favour Daley-Oladele,who was Adeeko’s girlfriend.
The court while delivering judgement sentenced Adeeko, 23, to death by hanging for the brutal murder of the final year Sociology student after luring her to Ikire from Lagos while his mother, Bola, 46, was convicted for eating human flesh.
During the trial, the prosecution team from the Ministry of Justice led by Mrs Adekemi Bello, called nine witnesses, including the police investigating officer and tendered several exhibits before the court, while the convicts testified in their respective defence without calling any other witness.
The prosecutors told the court that Owolabi and Favour had been dating for about a month before he lured her to Ikire under the pretense that, she should come visit his uncle while Owolabi, his mother and Prophet Segun had concluded plans to kill her and use her body parts for money ritual.
The prosecution team said unknown to Favour that her boyfriend had planned to kill her, she agreed to follow him to visit his Uncle.
However when they got to Ikire, Favour was killed in the church after Owolabi smashed a pestle on her head and her organs used for ritual before her remains were buried in a shallow grave outside the church on December 8, 2019.
The prosecution team told the court that few weeks later, the body was exhumed by the police after arresting the suspects who confessed to the murder and they were first arraigned before the court in November 15, 2021 on two counts bordering on conspiracy and murder contrary to sections 324 and 319(1) of the Criminal Code Cap. 34 Laws of Osun State, 2002.
In her judgement, Justice Obadina said that prosecuting counsel has proven her case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Eleven electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) have sought the approval of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to review tariffs.
This was contained in a joint application dated 14th July, 2023 titled, “Notice of Application for Rate Review By the Electricity Distribution Companies.”
They established their calls for rates review on the requirement to incorporate changes in macroeconomic parameters as well as other elements affecting the quality of service, operations and sustainability of the companies.
“Pursuant to Section 116 (1) and 2(a&b) of the Electricity Act 2023 and other extant rules, the eleven (11) successor electricity distribution companies (“DisCos”) have filed an application for rate review with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (“NERC” or the “Commission”),” the letter partly read.
“The request for rates review is premised on the need to incorporate changes in macroeconomic parameters and other factors affecting the quality of service, operations and sustainability of the companies.”
The energy distributors also disclosed that the Commission would welcome comments from Nigerians, stating, “Accordingly, the Commission hereby invites the general public for comments on the rate review applications by the distribution licensees.
“Interested stakeholders are advised to review and take into consideration the excerpts of the Rate Review Applications filed with the Commission by the respective licensees.
“The applications can be accessed on the Commission’s website at www.nerc.gov.ng.
“As part of the rule-making process and in the exercise of the powers conferred by the Electricity Act, the Commission shall conduct a Rate Case Hearing on the applications prior to making a ruling.
“Any person wishing to participate in the proceedings as an intervenor should forward his/her application to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. before close of business on 20th July 2023. The Request to Participate shall include the following:
“i. An explanation of the person’s interest in the proceeding and how the party would be affected by the outcome of the Application; and
“ii. A description of the party’s concerns, observations comments and/or objections to the application.
“All members of the public and stakeholders are encouraged to send their comments or representations before the close of business on 20th July 2023 to the Chairman/CEO, The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.”
Some DisCos had notified consumers of tariff hike with effect from July 1, 2023. However, they backed down after NERC said it was not notified of the move.
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Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, has described President Bola Tinubu’s plan to hand out N8,000 to 12 million households for six months as a brazen attempt to divert public funds.
Special Assistant on Public Communications to Abubakar, Phrank Shaibu, made this known in a statement on Thursday.
He said Tinubu’s plan to spend $800m on palliatives under an opaque arrangement was reminiscent of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s conditional cash transfer and Covid-19 intervention initiative which saw politicians keeping food items and provisions in their homes while the poor went hungry.
He said Buhari’s interventionist programmes only ended up making Nigerians poorer as shown in reports released by the National Bureau of Statistics.
“After announcing the removal of petrol subsidy without proper planning, Tinubu has asked for the approval of $800m loan which he claims will be disbursed to 12 million households for six months at N8,000 for each household per month. This is a continuation of the scam of the All Progressives Congress.
“According to statistics, a Nigerian household as at 2019 counted on an average of 5.06 members. So, with Tinubu’s uninspiring plan, each individual in a household will get N1,600 per month or N53 per day. What should they do with it? Use the money to buy sachet “pure water” or a cup of boiled groundnut on a daily basis? And this is the man they claim transformed the economy of Lagos State? This must be a joke or a more sinister attempt to divert public funds”, he said.
Abubakar argued that Tinubu lacked a clear economic policy apart from taxing Nigerians.
He said having deceptively attained presidential power, Tinubu has been exposed as an economic illiterate.
“Tinubu boasted that he would ‘develop Nigeria’s economy’ like that of Lagos but this was all a scam. Statistics show that over 70% of Lagos revenue comes from income tax paid by private companies which had been in Lagos for decades due to its status as Nigeria’s former capital.
“His only plan is to tax Nigerians to death as he did in Lagos and that is why the people of Lagos rejected him in the last election. Tinubu promised to turn Nigeria’s economy into a $1 trillion economy but it is all a scam and can never be achieved with his brand of “agberonomics,” he added.
Abubakar said Tinubu ought to have focused on putting money into the agricultural sector and subsidizing production and working at attaining energy security that is the backbone of spurring desired economic growth from SMEs if he was really serious about reviving the economy.
He added, “Agriculture makes up about 30% of Nigeria’s GDP. He should have invested funds in the production aspect of agriculture and other issues affecting crop yields. The rural areas which are mostly agrarian are in the throes of insecurity. On Tinubu’s watch, over 200 people have so far been killed. However, he seems clueless on how to tackle this menace.
“The so-called palliatives that Tinubu seeks to share to the poor are just another avenue to divert public funds. For years, the federal government has rejected calls to publish the list of the beneficiaries of the so-called palliatives but this has never been done because it is all a scam.
“Tinubu should stop trying to deceive Nigerians who are still suffering from the effect of his lackluster economic policies.
“There are also concerns that this plan is a reinvention of old tricks through which the APC uses public funds as subterfuge for vote buying.
”Let no one make any mistakes about it, the planned palliative is Trader Moni 2.0. “The scheme is nothing but a means to use public funds to prosecute political campaigns and objectives. It is even more telling that the current imposter government is contemplating the initiative when there is high expectation that the presidential election tribunal is set to give judgement in the controversial election that brought Tinubu into government.
“The APC is a political party that has lost favour with a vast majority of Nigeria, and it is no coincidence that since 2019 when the party invented the charade of Trader Moni, it also incontrovertibly introduced the menace of vote buying into Nigeria’s body politic.
“A special investigation into the Trader Moni initiative by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari revealed that more than N20 billion was wasted on corruption, kickbacks, fraud and partisanship".
Some students of the Federal Polytechnic and residents of Ilaro, Ogun State, were on Saturday, ravaged by flood.
The victims living at areas like Gbogidi, Double Crown, Odo Fufu and environs had their rooms flooded and belongings submerged, as the rain which started on Friday lasted until Saturday.
A bridge in the area was said to have also collapsed, leaving a vehicle trapped inside the canal.
As at the time of filing this report on Sunday, Nigerian Newstrack gathered that those affected by the flood are still draining water out of their houses, even as tenants contemplate relocating to safer places.
In the meantime, the Rector of the Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, Dr Mukail Aremu has asked staff and students of the Institution to stay away from flood-prone areas.
Aremu gave the warning during an on-the-spot assessment of students-populated areas after the Friday and Saturday downpour.
While commiserating with those who lost valuables to the incident, the Rector charged the students to stop seeking accommodation in areas prone to flooding, such as Riverside, adding that “those who are presently in such areas should relocate to safer places.”
The Rector stated that the advice became imperative following alerts of impending heavy rainfall in the coming months as predicted by the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
Meanwhile, the Sagamu -Ikorodu road has become a great threat to motorists and road users plying the road linking Ogun State to Lagos State.
Vehicular movement has become so difficult due to flood which has continued to damage the road, leading to various kinds of accidents.
The National Caucus and National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has been postponed.
APC’s NEC meeting scheduled for July 10 and 11 was postponed to July 18th and 19th.
The shift was announced by APC’s National Secretary, Iyiola Omisore, via a statement on Sunday.
Omisore said the shift in date was due to President Bola Tinubu’s engagement as the new Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.
He expressed regret over the inconveniences the shift in date might have caused.
“Members of the National Caucus and NEC of the APC are hereby informed that our meetings of July 10th and 11th of July, have been postponed to July 18th and 19th 2023 respectively,” he said.
Phrank Shaibu, the Special Assistant on Public Communication to the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, has claimed that poverty has deepened, while inflation skyrocketed within the first 40 days of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
He stressed that Tinubu’s administration had made Nigerians “susceptible to manipulation.”
In a statement he signed, Shaibu insisted that the price of food had become exorbitant.
He said: “In just 40 days of Tinubu’s administration, poverty had deepened, and inflation had skyrocketed.
“Today, food has become a luxury. The purchasing power of the people has dropped no thanks to an unplanned petrol subsidy removal, which was not accompanied by any form of palliative.
“With just N1,000, any riffraff on the street could be handed a t-shirt and placard to engage in protests they know nothing about.
"This is how low Nigeria has sunk low since Tinubu took over the reins of government.”
The volume of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, consumed across the country in the first half of 2023 was 11.26 billion litres, the Federal Government has said.
It was, however, observed that after the removal of subsidy on petrol, following the pronouncement by President Bola Tinubu on May 29, 2023, PMS consumption reduced by an average of 18.5 million litres daily in June.
Data obtained by Punch Newspaper from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority in Abuja, on Sunday, showed that between January 1 and May 28, 2023, which was the pre-deregulation period, the total amount of petrol consumed nationwide was 9.9 billion litres.
The average consumption for the 148-day period was put at 66.9 million litres, indicating the country consumed an average of 66.9 million litres of petrol daily during the five-month period when subsidy on petrol was still in place.
But figures from the Federal Government agency indicated that between June 1 to June 28, 2023, which was described as the post-deregulation period, the total petrol consumption across the country was 1.36 billion litres, while the average daily consumption was put at 48.43 million litres.
An analysis of the data by our correspondent showed that the difference between the average monthly consumption figures during the pre-deregulation and post-deregulation periods was about 18.5 million litres.
This implies that the average daily consumption of petrol across the country reduced by about 18.5 million litres after subsidy on commodity was stopped by the Federal Government.
It was, however, observed that petrol consumption rose above 100 million litres in some days, while it fell to below 10 million litres in few other days.
A random pick of petrol consumption figures contained in the NMDPRA report, for instance, showed that on March 8, April 20, and May 16, Nigerians consumed 103.6 million litres, 105.02 million litres, and 101.9 million litres respectively.
These were during the pre-deregulation days, as figures from the post-deregulation period indicated that the country never consumed beyond 78.84 million litres all through the 28-day period captured in the document.
In fact, the 78.84 million litres was consumed on June 20, and it was the highest consumption figure during the post-deregulation period, while the lowest figure during the same period was the 470,000 litres that was consumed nationwide on June 11.
Lawyers handling election matters as well as Petitioners and Political Parties who have cases before Panel One at the National and State Houses of Assembly Election Tribunal sitting in Abuja, have lamented the gross slow pace in which the panel is handling the hearing of petitions before it, the Vanguard has reported.
They fear that if nothing is done at the moment that most of the cases before the Tribunal may not meet up the time frame set for the completion of the hearing of all election matters at the Tribunal.
The lawyers for both sides to the Petitions who spoke anonymously decried that the seeming delay in handling the matters at the Tribunal may affect the entire process of getting justice.
The Petitioners and Respondents complained that Panel One of the Tribunal in Abuja is very very slow, adding that it is not making the hearing of petitions easy either for Petitioners or Respondents because of the cost of bringing and keeping witnesses who are not given the opportunity to testify.
One of the lawyers said: “If the President of the Court of Appeal does not intervene, the Petitions in that Tribunal will lapse and the litigating parties may go broke. Worse hit are Petitioners who stand the risk of losing their cases for no fault on their part.
“Lawyers, petitioners, Respondents, litigants in that court are complaining. We all are complaining that the Tribunal is not moving fast with the hearing of the Petitions.”
They commended the other three panels and the Governorship panel for hearing cases fast. They noted that in the other panels, so many cases have closed and written addresses ordered and may soon be adopted.
They called on the President of the Court of Appeal to urgently either disband that panel and give the cases to other panels within the Rivers State three panels or bring in new people to take over from them.
They complained that the Tribunal should adjourn rulings, applications and objections to be delivered during judgement in order to allow parties to call their witnesses. “People are bringing 15, 20, 30 witnesses from Rivers State and keeping them without them giving evidence”fumed one of the parties.
"The President of the Court of Appeal should intervene urgently and save the situation,” they added.
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Federal health authorities declared a diphtheria outbreak on Thursday, a month after the disease killed a four-year-old in the capital, Abuja.
Multiple outbreaks have occurred across Nigeria since late last year, with 798 confirmed cases reported as of June of this year, Nigeria Center for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said in a statement.
“So far, a total of 80 deaths have been recorded among all confirmed cases,” the NCDC stated.
Diphtheria is a highly infectious disease caused by a toxin produced by bacteria that can lead to breathing difficulties, heart rhythm problems, and even death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The West African country’s health agency said it is “a vaccine-preventable disease covered by one of the vaccines provided routinely through Nigeria’s childhood immunization schedule.”
It reported that the majority of confirmed cases occurred among children between the ages of two and 14.
According to the NCDC, despite the “availability of a safe and cost-effective vaccine in the country,” a significant majority of infected people are unvaccinated.
It has urged people to get inoculated, and healthcare workers have been instructed to immediately notify disease surveillance officers about suspected cases.
Meanwhile, the Health and Human Services Secretariat in Abuja is said to have activated the diphtheria Incident Management System (IMS) to coordinate epidemic response activities.
Federal Government’s spending on personnel costs and debt servicing exceeded total revenues in 2022, the World Bank has stated.
It disclosed this in the June 2023 edition of the Nigeria Development Update.
According to the Washington-based bank, this was the first time the Federal Government’s personnel costs and debt servicing surpassed its total revenue.
The bank added that as a result of this, spending on capital expenditures weakened.
Personnel costs and interest payments on loans made up 59 per cent of the government’s total expenditures.
The Federal Government spent 102 per cent of its revenues on personnel costs and interest payments during the period under review.
The report read, “The quality of spending weakened in the face of financing constraints and mounting debt. Capital expenditures have been volatile, including steep contractions such as in 2022 when fiscal pressure was acute, making it more difficult to close Nigeria’s large infrastructure gap and weighing on future growth. Overall, the rigidity of expenditure has increased, squeezing fiscal space for the discretionary spending needed to meet development objectives.
“Personnel costs and interest payments comprise a growing share of total general government expenditures (59 per cent in 2022) and for the first time in 2022 exceeded total government revenues (102 per cent).”
The amount budgeted for personnel costs increased from N2.29tn spent in 2019 to N4.11tn in the 2022 budget, according to data obtained from the budget implementation report of the Federal Government.
This was an increase of N1.82tn or 79.48 per cent in three years, signalling a significant rise in recurrent expenditure.
According to data from the Debt Management Office, Nigeria’s debt servicing bill went up by 14.68 per cent to N3.36trn in 2022.
DMO said N2.93tn was spent on external and domestic debt servicing payments in 2021.
Nigeria’s debt servicing cost increased by 55.71 per cent to N1.24tn in three months.
According to data obtained from the Debt Management Office, between October and December 2022, the country spent N406.77bn on domestic debt servicing, while it spent $312.27m (N143.74bn) on external debt servicing, giving a total of N550.51bn.
However, between January and March 2023, Nigeria spent N874.13bn on domestic debt servicing, while it spent $801.36m (N368.87bn) on external debt servicing, a total of N1.24tn.
The exchange rate of the DMO, which was $1=N460.3 was used for the external debt servicing.
The governorship candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, on Friday, called witnesses in the petition he filed to challenge the victory of Governor Dapo Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The call followed the admission of all undisputed exhibits as tendered from the bar by the petitioners on Thursday, July 6.
As the court resumed sitting on Friday, the petitioners‘ counsel, Gordy Uche (SAN), told the tribunal that “the petitioners intend to start their trial by calling their witnesses.”
Uche had filed a schedule of witnesses that the petitioners intended to call, in compliance with the pre-hearing report and they intend to call 11 witnesses for the day.
With no objections from the respondents, the Hamidu Kunaza-led tribunal permitted the petitioners to call their witnesses.
The witnesses were cross-examined by Remi Olatubora, counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); Taiwo Osipitan, representing Dapo Abiodun and Tayo Oyetibo of the APC.
One of the witnesses, Oduwole Ganiu Adekunle from Sagamu Local Government area of the state alleged that, thugs hired by APC disrupted voting in his polling unit.
Oduwole said, the thugs armed with guns, cutlasses and other dangerous weapons stormed his polling unit and hijacked ballot boxes and other voting materials.
He added that, the thugs also chased INEC officials and voters away thereby preventing other people from voting.
"My Lord, around 1.47 pm on the election day, APC thugs carrying guns disrupted voting in my polling units.
“They (thugs) wore masks and threatened us. They were shouting ‘if cannot vote for APC and Dapo Abiodun, leave the polling centre’.
“They started beating and harassing everyone. They took the ballot boxes and papers. Some of them were even wearing APC hand-bands”, Oduwole said.
The court resumes on Monday for the cross-examination of more witnesses.
A serving Senator in the 10th National Assembly, who was a former Governor in Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, has asked the incumbent Governor, Dapo Abiodun to stop the monthly pension being paid to him by the State government.
Daniel, in a letter titled, ‘Request To Suspend My Monthly Pension and Allowances’, asked that the N676,376.95 pension/allowances he is entitled to as a former governor be suspended.
According to him, the suspension of the pension was in compliance with his conscience, moral principle and ethical code against double emoluments that a serving Senator, who hitherto was a former State governor, shall not be entitled to the payment of pension and allowances from such a state.
Daniel, who is the new Senator representing Ogun East, was inaugurated alongside other Senators on June 13 at the National Assembly.
The Senator noted that he had not benefitted from any welfare packages, be it medical, furniture, transportation and others since he left office in 2011.
The letter addressed to Gov Abiodun reads: “I write to request for the suspension of my monthly pension/allowances of 676,376.95 (gross) (Six Hundred and Seventy-Six Thousand, Three Hundred Seventy-Six Naira, Ninety-Five Kobo) being paid as a former Executive Governor of Ogun State.
“This request is in compliance with my conscience, moral principle and ethical code against double emoluments that a serving Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who hitherto was a former State Governor, shall not be entitled to the payment of pension and allowances from such state.
“It would be recalled that on Tuesday 13th June 2023, I was, with other elected Senators and Members of the House of Representatives, inaugurated as members of the 10th National Assembly.
“It is pertinent to also have it on record that since I left the office in 2011, I have not benefitted from any welfare packages be it Medical, Furniture, transportation etc.”