News
Gunmen on Sunday morning attacked a police station in Inyi, in the Oji River Government Area of Enugu State, killing two people and setting the station ablaze, according to a Guardian report.
Residents of the town said both victims were police officers, but Nigerian Newstrack has not independently verified this.
They also said the gunmen were six in number and came in two vehicles.
Residents also said that the gunmen told them to go about their businesses as they specifically came for the two men who were killed, confirming what the voice behind the video also said.
Video credit: Inyi Brothers Club
There are indications that gas prices will further rise and Nigerians may pay more as marketers have hinted that the high exchange rate of dollar to naira is having a negative impact on importation.
National Operations Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Mike Osatuyi, in a chat, said independent marketers sourced dollars for importation from the black market, hence, gas price would continue to increase until naira strengthened at the exchange market.
“Our members, who still sell gas, bought 20,000 metric tonnes at around N11 million last month, but now, the price has jumped to N12.3 million per 20,000 metric tones,” he said.
He noted that gas consumers stood the risk of further price hike as long as dollar continued to strengthen.
Apart from low gas supplies at the international market majorly due to the Russian/Ukraine war, gas production from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd, NLNG has plummeted.
According to sources close to the matter, the drop in output was majorly due to the high-leveled theft as well as oil and gas pipeline vandalism which had left NLNG operating at 60 per cent capacity.
The source also cited “feed gas constraint and high maintenance activities” as part of the causes.
Output and export from NLNG’s six-train Bonny plant had dropped to 16.8 million tonnes in 2021, from 20.7 million tonnes in 2020 and 2019.
NLNG was said to have lost almost $7bn revenue so far in 2022 due to gas supply constraints, according to the company’s General Manager, Production, Adeleye Falade, who spoke at the 45th Nigeria International Conference and Exhibition 2022.
Natural gas markets worldwide have been tightening since 2021 and global gas consumption is expected to decline by 0.8 per cent this year as result of a record 10 per cent contraction in Europe and flat demand in the Asia Pacific region, the IEA said in its quarterly gas market report.
Persistent under-investment, coupled with the perennial problem of oil theft from pipelines, has plagued Nigeria’s oil and gas sector in recent years.
Oil majors have drawn back from investing in Nigerian supply, and many foreign firms have either sold assets or signaled divestment plans.
Nigeria’s crude oil exports plunged to as low as 900,000 bpd in August, the country’s lowest level on record, according to statistics from OPEC. The country was 700,000 bpd behind its OPEC quota in August.
As a result, foreign customers, who had booked for gas supplies, are currently experiencing fears as the country’s Bonny Island output falls to a record low.
Portugal, one of Nigeria’s major importers, has expressed concerns over supplies.
Portugal’s European Union, EU Environment and Energy Minister, Duarte Cordeiro, said his country could face supply problems this winter if Nigeria did not deliver all its supplies.
“From one day to another, we may have a problem, such as not being supplied the volume of gas that is planned,” he said in Lisbon, adding that the country was already considering alternative supplies.
A Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital has nullified the election of Hon. Isiaka Abiodun Akinlade as the House of Representatives candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Yewa South/Ipokia Federal Constituency.
The Presiding Justice O.O.Oguntoyinbo in nullifying the primary that threw up Akinlade as candidate of the APC declared it as “irregular, null and void.”
The Court held that Akinlade never paid for an expression of interest and nomination forms and was not screened by the APC within the time prescribed by the party in respect of the National Assembly primary election for 2023 elections.
The Court therefore ordered a fresh primary within 40 days to select and nominate candidate for Yewa South and Ipokia Federal Constituency seat 2023 and restrained APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising Akinlade as the House of Representatives candidate for Yewa South/Ipokia Federal Constituency.
The Court also held that Akinlade, who was designated as second defendant, should be excluded from participating in the fresh primary election.
The suit was filed by an aggrieved aspirant Chief Michael Adebayo Adeleke against three defendants – the APC, Isiaq Abiodun Akinlade and INEC.
Adeleke had through his counsel, George Oyeniyi, prayed the Court to declare that the primary election conducted on May 27th 2022 at Orona Hall, Ilaro to select candidate for House of Representatives did not follow the party’s guidelines.
The Court noted that given the period Akinlade was first a senatorial aspirant to when he withdrew his interest in the Senate to join the race for the House of Representatives ticket, the time was already outside the window allowed by the party’s time table and could never have possibly bought an expression of interest form or be screened by the party.
The World Bank says eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa are in debt distress, and 14 are at high risk of joining them.
The bank said the countries are part of 38 countries eligible for the International Development Association (IDA) loans. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa include Nigeria, Angola, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Chad, Ethiopia and others.
The Washington-based organisation said this in its latest Africa’s Pulse report, released on Tuesday.
Africa’s Pulse is a biannual analysis of the near-term macroeconomic outlook for the region.
It said that African governments spent 16.5 percent of their revenues servicing external debt in 2021, up from less than 5 percent in 2010.
The bank said that debt is projected to stay elevated at 58.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022 in SSA.
“At the same time, high commercial borrowing costs make it difficult for countries to borrow on national and international markets while tightening global financial conditions are weakening currencies and increasing African countries’ external borrowing costs,” the report adds.
The report also said that Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy would grow 3.3 percent this year, down from 4.1 percent in 2021.
It attributed the decline to a slowdown in global growth, including flagging demand from China for commodities produced in Africa.
The World Bank said the war in Ukraine has continued to exacerbate already high inflation and weighing on economic activity by depressing both business investments and household consumption.
It said that as of July 2022, 29 of 33 countries in Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) with available information had inflation rates over 5 percent while 17 countries had double-digit inflation.
“Elevated food prices are causing hardships with severe consequences in one of the world’s most food-insecure regions,” the report adds.
“Hunger has sharply increased in SSA in recent years, driven by economic shocks, violence and conflict, and extreme weather.
“More than one in five people in Africa suffer from hunger, and an estimated 140 million people faced acute food insecurity in 2022, up from 120 million people in 2021, according to the Global Report on Food Crises 2022 Mid-Year Update.
“The interconnected crises come at a time when the fiscal space required to mount effective government responses is all but gone.”
Commenting on the report, Andrew Dabalen, World Bank chief economist for Africa, said, “These trends compromise poverty reduction efforts that were already set back by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic”.
“What is most worrisome is the impact of high food prices on people struggling to feed their families, threatening long-term human development.
“This calls for urgent action from policymakers to restore macro-economic stability and support the poorest households while reorienting their food and agriculture spending to achieve future resilience.”
The World Bank advised African governments to urgently restore macroeconomic stability and protect the poor citizens of their respective countries.
“For example, one dollar invested in agricultural research yields, on average, benefits equivalent to $10, while gains from investments in irrigation are also potentially high in SSA,” the bank said.
“Such reprioritisation maintains spending in a critical sector while raising productivity, building resilience to climate change, and achieving food security for all.
“Creating a better environment for agribusiness and facilitating intra-regional food trade could also increase long-term food security in a region highly dependent on food imports.”
President Muhammadu Buhari said on Tuesday that sexual harassment had reached alarming levels at the country’s universities, with “sex for grades” also part of corrupt practices that are being investigated by authorities.
In 2019, the BBC used an undercover reporter to expose sexual harassment at two universities in Nigeria and Ghana, which sparked debate on social media about the problem of “sex for grades”.
Critics say little has changed since then, accusing the government of failing to stamp out the practice.
But Buhari told an anti-corruption summit in Abuja that the government was concerned and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission was prosecuting sexual harassment as abuse of power in educational institutions.
He did not give any statistics.
Buhari said students had come up with language to describe different forms of corruption at campuses.
“There is sorting or cash for marks/grades, sex for marks, sex for grade alterations, examination malpractice, and so on,” Buhari said.
“Sexual harassment has assumed an alarming proportion.”
Buhari said other forms of corruption at universities included lecturers writing dissertations for students for a fee, payment of salaries to non-existent workers and lecturers taking up full-time jobs in more than one academic institution.
Public university lecturers have been on strike for more than seven months demanding better pay and allowances.
Buhari said “those who go on prolonged strikes on flimsy reasons are no less complicit” in undermining government investment in education.
Federal Government through the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) has filed a N30 billion suit against Meta Platforms Incorporated, owners of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and its agent AT3 Resources Limited.
In the suit before the Abuja division of the Federal High Court, ARCON is seeking the declaration, among others, that the continued publication and exposure of various advertisements directed at the Nigerian market through Facebook and Instagram platforms by Meta Platforms Incorporated without ensuring same is vetted and approved before exposure is illegal, unlawful and a violation of the extant advertising law in Nigeria.
ARCON stated that Meta Platforms Incorporated’s continued exposure of unvetted adverts has also led to loss of revenue to the Federal Government.
ARCON is seeking N30billion in sanction for the violation of the advertising laws and for loss of revenue as a result of Meta Incorporated’s continued exposure of unapproved adverts on its platforms.
ARCON said it would not permit unethical and irresponsible advertising on the Nigeria’s advertising space.
It further stated that it is not regulating the online media space, but rather advertising and marketing communications on the online platforms in line with its establishment Act.
Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, on Tuesday, ordered First City Monument Bank (FCMB) to pay N540.5 million in damages to a pastor, Emmanuel Omale, of the Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry and his wife, Deborah, over false claim that they laundered N573 million for former chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu.
Delivering judgement in the suit, Yusuf Halilu, the judge, held that the bank breached its “duty of care to the claimants,” the Omales and their church.
The judgment was on the suit marked: FCT/HC/CV2541/2020 filed by Mr Omale, his wife and the church.
The judge held that the evidence before the court showed that the bank admitted error in its report to the NFIU of entries in the account of Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry which was accused of laundering money on Magu’s behalf.
Halilu also said the bank claimed that the purported N573 million was wrongly reflected as credit entry in Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry’s account by its reporting system, which it recently upgraded.
The judge held that FCMB admitted the error, which brought incalculable damage to the reputation of the claimants both within and outside the Nigeria – depleting their church’s membership.
Halilu said the claimants provided sufficient evidence to establish case of negligence against FCMB.
Consequently, the judge awarded N200 million as aggravated damages; N140.5 million as specific damages and N200 million as general damages.
Background
During the investigation of Magu by a Presidential Investigation Committee on the EFCC Federal Government Recovered Assets and Finances from May 2015 to May 2020, it was alleged that an investigation by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) revealed that Magu, who is now retired from the police, paid N573 million into Omale’s church’s account.
It further alleged that the funds were used to purchase property for him in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
At the time, Magu was facing a barrage of similar allegations of a presidential investigative panel led by a former President of the Court of Appeal, Ayo Salami.
President Muhammad Buhari has refused to release the report of any of the panels to enable the public to have first-hand information about Magu’s culpability or otherwise in the charge and many others levelled against him.
The Salami-led panel, which conducted its months-long hearing in secrecy, is believed to have been engineered by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to get Magu out of office over wide differences they shared on diverse issues.
Magu, who was suspended as Acting Chairman of the EFCC in the wake of the probe by Salami’s panel, was never recalled or held accountable for any infraction after the panel submitted its report to Buhari.
The other panel, titled, ‘Final Report of the Presidential Investigation Committee on the EFCC Federal Government Recovered Assets and Finances from May 2015 to May 2020,’ was said to be headed by Abdullahi Ibrahim, a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice.
It stated that Magu, through a pastor named Omale, had been laundering public funds to foreign countries.
“As an unknown pastor, the NFIU’s report showed the huge movement of funds ranging from N573, 228,040.41,” the report claimed.
The report, published by NAN, delved into other allegations against Magu including- failing to cooperate with foreign authorities over probe on former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Allison-Madueke, and circulation of disproportionate figures on recovered loot.
The report accused Magu of allegedly failing to properly account for a recovered N551 billion by the EFCC while he was its acting chairman.
The report featured prominently in the course of the defamation hearing filed by the Omales to clear their names.
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday released a list of 13 governorship candidates and their parties in Ogun State, with the flagbearers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) conspicuously missing.
INEC had earlier said that Labour Party did not submit its list of candidates before the deadline.
But the party vowed to challenge the matter in court saying they submitted it electronically.
Contacted, National Publicity Secretary of the party, Abayomi Arabambi, said, “We are in court and the matter will be determined by the court this October.”
Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Niyi Iyalaje, told journalists that the list posted was the one authorised by INEC headquarters in Abuja.
On the list, PDP appeared on the list as number 21, but the names of both the governorship candidate and the running mate were missing.
The commission cited “court order” as reason for the omission on the final list.
Last Tuesday, a Federal High Court in Abeokuta nullified the PDP guber primaries in the state and ordered a fresh one.
The court also barred INEC from recognising Ladi Adebutu, who appeared on INEC’s initial list, as the governorship candidate of the party in the state.
The plaintiffs had sued the party, Adebutu, and INEC, challenging the authenticity of the delegates’ lists used for the conduct of the primaries.
Contacted for reaction, spokesperson of PDP, Akinloye Bankole, said the party’s flagbearers were missing on INEC’s list because the electoral umpire obeyed the court order.
“We have appealed the judgement and we await the decision of the appeal court on the issue.”
Some of the candidates listed by INEC include Governor Dapo Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress; Biyi Otegbeye, African Democratic Congress (ADC); and Oguntoyinbo Femi Ajadi for the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), among others.
Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the South-South, especially in Rivers State, including candidates for the 2023 elections, have called on the presidential candidate of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and governors of the South-West to stop hobnobbing with Governor Nyesom Wike, the vanguard has reported.
The stakeholders, comprising National Assembly and State House of Assembly candidates and other party faithful, said it is discouraging for members of the party in Rivers State to see APC leaders they look up to, romancing a known political opponent like Governor Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
They frowned on the fact that these leaders go as far as visiting the state to inaugurate projects on the governor’s invitation, thereby helping to campaign for the PDP in Rivers by heaping praises on Wike, ahead of the general election.
They spoke at a one-day consultative meeting of the South-South executive committee presided over by APC National Vice Chairman of the zone, Chief Victor Giadom, in Port Harcourt, Sunday night.
The stakeholders also accused President Muhammadu Buhari and the party’s National Executive Committee, NEC, of neglecting Rivers APC.
They spoke amid grumblings in the APC over the inability of Senator Adamu Abdullahi-led National Executive Committee, NEC, to meet over pressing issues.
Meanwhile, a meeting of the Presidential Campaign Council will hold today as scheduled last night, with a member of the council assuring that Asiwaju Tinubu will return from London this week.
Rivers APC angry
Rivers APC Legal Adviser, Dike Iheanyi Zubi, while speaking at the meeting, said it is unfair for governors of the South-West to hold nocturnal meetings with Wike and return to their states without bothering to interface or speak with their party members in the state.
Zubi further said the action of Tinubu who had held meetings with Wike abroad and the action of the governors concerned were tantamount to anti-party activities and urged President Buhari to call them to order.
He said: “It is very discouraging for the APC here in Rivers State to see a situation where the presidential candidate of our party, Ahmed Bola Tinubu and his handlers, including South-West governors of the APC coming to the state to undermine our party here in Rivers State.
“They begin to hobnob and hold nocturnal meetings with Wike, who is seen as a contender with the APC here in the state. So, we as APC members here frown at such action because it doesn’t encourage us here. We consider it as anti-party on the side of Ahmed Tinubu and his cohorts.
“Instead of coming to strengthen the Rivers State chapter of the party, they are busy hobnobbing with Governor Wike, who is a PDP member. For the APC in Rivers State, we see it as an affront and anti-party activity.
“So, I call on the national chairman of the party and President Buhari to call him (Tinubu) and his cohorts to order. They should stop dividing Rivers APC. APC is one family.”
Similarly, a former caretaker committee chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area and State House of Assembly candidate for the 2023 election, Professor Lawrence Chukwu, said the action of the party leaders is embarrassing to APC members in the state.
“As a party, the kind of embarrassment we are receiving from our leaders who come to Rivers State is unbearable. Imagine that Governor Wike is abusing the president (Buhari) and our leader (Rotimi Amaechi) every day. Yet, our leaders and some governors of the party will come to Rivers State to commission projects in Rivers State.
“They will not even bother to visit members of the party before leaving. It is very bad. The APC in Rivers State has what it takes to win elections here. All we need is support; we need financial support from the national,” Chukwu said.
Chief Sydney Nyechie, APC chairman, Obio Akpor Local Government Area said: “We are toiling day and night to ensure come 2023 Rivers APC takes over Rivers, then South-West APC governors and the Speaker of the House of Representatives will come to Rivers to say they are commissioning projects and be singing praises of Governor Wike.
“By doing that they are ridiculing us before Wike and Rivers people. Those people (Rivers APC South West leaders) have no business coming to the state to romance Governor Wike. The embarrassment we are receiving from APC leaders at national is too much. We will not take it.”
Ininasiya West, APC candidate, Akuku Toru/Asari Toru Federal Constituency, said: “I’m particularly concerned that Senator Magnus Abe, even after leaving the party to be SDP governorship candidate, still has the authority and mandate of the APC presidential candidate.
“Tinubu cannot be sitting on the fence in Rivers anymore. He should come out and say where he belongs so that we who are still in the party know how we move. We are here, ready to win the election. Tinubu must make a clear statement on Rivers.
“Another concern is there are various court cases against Rivers APC candidates by Wike, hiding under PDP, again trying to win through the back door. You are aware he is pressuring the court to remove the party from the ballots as we suffered in 2019.
“I don’t know how the APC national has taken this. Perhaps the national APC has been blowing Wike’s trumpet and the man feels it is in support of him to go on with the matter. We want national (APC) to be proactive. Let us not wait to take steps only after the deed has been done.”
On his part, state APC chairman, Emeke Beke, who said he was speaking as an individual, expressed dismay that none of the party members from the zone whose names were submitted to the national level of the party made the list of the APC presidential campaign council.
Beke told Chief Giadom to relate it to the national level that state APC chairmen in the zone took a position and have written to the President and national officers in that regard, even as he called for a refund of 25 per cent from the proceeds of the sale of forms in the state.
“We have written to the President, to the national chairman, to the candidate (Tinubu), to the chairman of the governors’ forum and the Director-General of the campaigns. You people asked us to nominate five, five names for the campaign council.
None of the five names we sent appeared on the list because they don’t like Rotimi Amaechi. From the zone, not one (name) appeared. The chairmen have taken a position on that. We will down our tools.
“As you go back, tell the national chairman that Rivers State bought forms of over one billion naira. And what we are asking, remit to the state 25 per cent of that money.
“If that money is not remitted to Rivers State, forget about coming to Rivers State to campaign for a presidential candidate. “We will vote for our national assembly, state house of assembly candidates and focus on the governorship candidate of this state and we will win.
“The truth is that what has happened to Rivers State is because they don’t like Rotimi Amaechi. I speak as Emeka Beke, not as Rivers APC chairman.
“I have heard and seen Wike’s comments on television and social media respectively. Wike dines with leaders of our great party. If the nation does not listen to the APC Rivers State, we will take our destiny in our hands.”
He said Governor Wike does not have the political spread to win an election but is luring its leaders with financial inducement, even as he expressed worry that respected leaders of the party are constantly visiting the state and dining with Wike, a few months before the general poll.
He said: “We have been out of government for eight years. Now we want to win elections. I can tell you that Wike does not have the political base to win an election in Rivers State. What Wike is doing is bribing leaders of our party to short-change the APC family in Rivers State.
“My candidates and members in Rivers State have suffered. Candidates are selling their land, selling their property to make sure they win the election and keep APC in power, and then leaders that we look up to will come here and campaign. At the end of the day, they will dine with Governor Wike at night. Please, tell them not to dine with Governor Wike again. Let them support this party in the state. We are party men, but tell them if they don’t support us, we will not support them.”
They’re being honest — Giadom
Responding, the APC national vice-chairman, South-South and former acting national chairman of the party, Chief Victor Giadom thanked the party faithful in the state for their frank comments and contributions.
“This is my own constituency and I am from Rivers State. I know exactly that everything that you have said here is true.
“Everybody in Nigeria knows that what you are complaining about is true. The speaker (Femi Gbajabiamila), Governor Kayode Fayemi, and Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, all came here (Rivers) to commission projects, and by doing so, praised Governor Wike.
“By doing that, you are marketing our opponents against the APC. So we will put it to them, we will make them know. I can also tell you that we are passing through very tough times.”
Speaking to newsmen after the meeting, Giadom said: “The reason we are here is to collate what we feel are the challenges in the party, with the aim of providing solutions to them or be ready to face the consequences.
“We have come, we have listened to them, we have heard them clearly, and we are going to put them together and report to the national party in Abuja to ensure that we find solutions to all the things that we know will help us win election in Rivers State.
“I know the pains of my people, which are also our collective pains. We were not on the ballot in 2019, which of course we know that I was supposed to be a direct beneficiary of that ticket. “But the manipulation of the system denied us from being on that ballot. So, people have the right to be apprehensive, they have the right to be worried.
“But I can assure them that, by the grace of God, we will be victorious this time around and APC will win in Rivers State and recapture our possession of becoming in charge of Rivers State leadership and we will form a government and be in Government House.”
Grumblings over APC’s ‘dormant’ NEC
The inability of the Senator Abdullahi Adamu-led National Working Committee, NWC, of the APC to convene a meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee, NEC, might be leading to a groundswell of dissent within the ranks of the party, Vanguard has learned.
This is as the APC Presidential Campaign Council, PCC is set to hold its inaugural meeting today even as it prepares to welcome its presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, back to the country this week.
Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Mr Festus Keyamo, SAN, who is also Director of Public Affairs and chief spokesman of the Council, confirmed that the meeting will go on as planned.
Asked when and where the council will flag off its campaign, Keyamo simply said: “I have no such information for now, but we have a meeting slated for Tuesday (today).”
Although party spokesman, Felix Morka did not respond to calls and messages seeking answers to the questions, the Director, Media and Publicity of the campaign council, Mr Bayo Onanuga, said Tinubu is expected back in the country this week.
“Asiwaju will return this week. As to campaign flag-off, I will get back to you,” he stated.
Meanwhile, there are grumblings among party chieftains on the continued exercise of NEC powers by the Adamu-led NWC. The APC NEC had on April 20 delegated its powers to the NWC to act on its behalf for the next 90 days.
Announcing the decision, National Secretary of the party, Otunba Iyiola Omisore, disclosed that while the motion was moved by the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, the governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai seconded the motion.
El-Rufai was said to have added a caveat that the NEC must meet at the end of the 90 days to review its own decision. While the 90-days lapsed on July 20, the NEC was supposed to have met around that period.
However, the NWC had consequently taken a decision to convene a NEC Meeting in September but the current crisis regarding the composition of the campaign council has made the party unable to hold its NEC.
The NEC, which is the principal executive body of the party is constitutionally mandated to meet every quarter or at any other time decided by the NWC.
Although, the first mandate of the highest organ of the party, the National Convention, is to “ratify policies and programmes of the party” such power is held in trust by the NEC which is saddled with discharging all functions of the National Convention in-between national conventions.
Consequently, it is the duty of the NEC to ratify the composition of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, said a top official of the party.
Although, he conceded that APC had always acted in the breach in the past by not convening the NEC to ratify the council, he, however, added that the seeming altercation between the Senator Abdullahi Adamu-led NWC and the presidential candidate of the party, Tinubu is one reason having the NEC meeting is germane.
“The NEC is very important with respect to ratifications of policies and programmes. Apart from discharging functions of the National Convention in-between National Conventions, NEC in Article 13.3(A)(VI) of the APC 2022 Constitution (as amended) is mandated to ‘create, elect and appoint any committee it may deem necessary, desirable or expedient and assign to them such powers and functions as it may deem fit and proper.
“You would recall that on Monday, January 7, 2019, a special NEC was held at the International Conference Centre, ICC, for the inauguration of that year’s Presidential Campaign Council. It is supposed to be a one-item NEC, to ratify the campaign council, but obviously, certain persons are scared of convening an NEC meeting.
“Our party has always been in breach of our constitution. The constitution provides for a National Advisory Council whose inaugural meeting should have been convened by the national secretary within one month after the national convention in June which gave birth to the Abdullahi Adamu-led NWC.
“Now, where the National Convention, NEC or National Caucus are ‘unable or unwilling to meet’, according to our constitution, it is the duty of the National Advisory Council to convene such meetings of the above organs,” he explained.
A member of NEC from Kogi State, who pleaded anonymity, said it is the NEC and not the NWC that has powers to tinker with the composition of the campaign council.
According to him, all issues regarding the council would have been laid to rest if an NEC meeting had been convened before now.
On what is expected of NEC at such a meeting, he said: “It is the duty of the NEC to vet and approve the structure or organogram of the PCC. NEC will also harmonize the structures in the states, senatorial districts, local governments, wards and polling units level as well as harmonize the manifesto of the candidate with what currently exists as a manifesto of the party so that we can have a single document.
“Just last week in Kogi state, the governor inaugurated the campaign council. Now, I do not know if such an organogram has been approved. In Kogi, the governor, like in other states is the Campaign Coordinator. The deputy governor is the deputy coordinator. The state party chairman is the assistant coordinator while the Chief of Staff to the governor is the director-general of the campaign. The Secretary to the State Government is the Secretary of the campaign council in the state. The governor equally replicated nearly the same structure in the three senatorial districts. Now, this is why NEC should have met before now to give a direction as to how this should be done.”
The National Association of Nigerian Students, South-West Zone, has said that it is ready to conduct a funeral for public education, accusing the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), of burying public education in the country.
The students, in a statement signed by its Coordinator and Spokesperson, Adegboye Olatunji and Awoyinfa Opeoluwa respectively on Monday, said in the coming days, they would be hitting the streets again.
“It behooves on us to call the attention of the general public and the international community on the brazen insult meted on the mass of Nigerian students by the irresponsible administration of Buhari.
“Without considering the fact that Nigerian university students have been at home for close to eight months as a result of the failure of this administration to meet the demands of striking lecturers and to properly fund education, the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, is to be conferred with the National Honour of Commander of the Order of Niger.
“The recognition of patronage on the Minister has not just demystified the sacredness of National Honours, it has further shown to the mass of Nigerian students that this administration does not regard the youths as being critical stakeholders as far as national development is concerned. To say that a man under whose watch university students have been at home for close to eight months due to the strike embarked upon by lecturers, got recognised by the President, and to be conferred with a National Honour, is a direct attack on the mass of students,” the statement partly read.
NANS also called on Buhari to takeover negotiation with the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities, and no longer leave it in the hands of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige.
Reacting further, NANS said, “rather than concentrating on the task of governance, the President is distributing National Honours to different characters, mostly misfits. How can you be honouring people who have made the cost of living so high, and reduced the standard of living?”
“We condemn and reject the National Honours and some of its recipients. We want Nigeria students to be ready for a grand mass action on the ASUU strike. We are clear that this government is anti-public education and this is against the yearnings of millions of students and youths.
“We also saw a distractive circular issued by the Ministry of Education whereby Education students in both colleges and universities were called upon to apply for a bursary programme. It is not just ridiculous, but equally shameful. If the government is sincere as it wants the public to perceive, there is no reason to be getting students to apply. The National Universities Commission and the National Commission for Colleges of Education have the data of students and should get all students to have a bursary. As an association, we do not want selective bursary but full bursary for all Nigerian students.
“We maintain that we want free education at all levels, instead of stipends as bursary. Nigerian students in the South West region must warm up for a consistent round of agitation to force the government to do the needful.”
“In coming days, we shall be occupying the streets across the South-West region to conduct a final burial rite of public education in the country as this is what the Buhari’s administration represents,” the statement concluded.
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Agency Report
Belief in the efficacy of a locally-prepared charm that could stave off gunshots has led to the death of a 12-year-old child in Kaiama in Kwara, the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN reports.
His elder brother shot him dead while testing the efficacy of the charm with which the two of them had just “fortified’’ themselves.
Police spokesman in Kwara, SP Ajayi Okasanmi, stated in Ilorin on Monday that upon their return home after procuring the charm, the elder took their father’s hunting Dane gun and shot the deceased to test its efficacy.
The 12-year-old died on the spot from the shot, he stated.
“The two of them are sons of one Abubakar Abubakar, a hunter in Dutse Gogo town in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara.
“The culprit escaped into the bushes immediately after the act.
“Investigation into the matter has started.
“Parents and guardians are advised to monitor activities of their children and avoid doing certain things in their presence to prevent incidents of this nature,’’ Okasanmi stated.
Motorists and other road users had a hectic moment on Lokoja-Abuja highway on Monday as flood took over the axis where a new bridge is being constructed around Kotonkarfe town in Kogi State.
Commuters were held up for several hours, resulting in heavy traffic buildup that extended to Lokoja-Koton-Karfe road.
Many vehicles got trapped as there was no alternative routes. Ahmadu, a driver who spent hours on the road, said there was apprehension among commuters.
Policemen, soldiers and officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) as well as youth volunteers were drafted to the scene before orderliness was restored.
But an eye witness said the gridlock on the Murtala Muhammadu bridge in Jamata Community may take longer period to clear as impatient motorists have taken over all the lanes of the highway, making it difficult for smooth traffic flow.
Five governors of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) led by Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike have given the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar conditions he must meet before they can support him in the 2023 general elections.
A highly placed source informed that the PDP standard bearer is seriously under pressure to succumb to their demands few days after the flag off of campaigns by political parties.
The governors in Wike’s camp include those of Enugu, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; Benue, Samuel Ortom; Oyo, Seyi Makinde and Abia, Okezie Ikpeazu.
Following the meeting by the governors at the weekend in Enugu, there is renewed tension among leaders of the PDP over the protracted crisis in the opposition party in the run-up to the 2023 general election.
sources confirmed that the resolve of Wike’s group that the national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu must be replaced with a Southerner before they could participate in the PDP presidential campaign is unsettling a lot of party leaders.
He said that well meaning members of the party were mounting pressure on the PDP standard bearer to succumb to the demands of the G5 governors so the party does not prosecute next year’s election as a divided house.
This comes as the crisis rocking the opposition PDP over recent corruption-related accusations appear to have worsened, as the national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu; national secretary, Samuel Anyanwu; and deputy national chairman, North, Umar Damagum have been given a 48-hour ultimatum to resign or face legal actions.
The threat followed a resolution by the Forum of PDP candidates and aspirants, which passed a vote of no confidence in the three officers.
They’ve also petitioned the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party on the unanimous demand of candidates for the resignation of the above-mentioned officers.
The candidates who gathered and held brainstorming session in Abuja, also alleged that the leadership of the party extorted several aspirants during the congresses, primaries and national convention of the party. It claimed after primaries, the leadership swapped names of candidates with the names of persons who did not win.
They pointed out that these “underhand actions of the leadership of the party are largely responsible for the nullification by the courts of the governorship primaries in Zamfara State and all primaries held in Ogun State, while noting that many more are still pending in Court.”
Chris Ogbu, who presided over the session as the Forum Coordinator and House of Assembly Candidate, also read the communiqué. He was flanked by Dauda Yusuf, the Forum’s Secretary and former governorship aspirant as well as several other members.
They demanded Ayu, Anyanwu and Damagum step down immediately or sacked by the party within 48 hours or face legal action to force them from office which will commence on Wednesday.
The candidates/aspirants said that by Ayu allegedly sharing money paid as nomination forms instead of utilising it for the prosecution of the historic 2023 election of the party, was very provocative and indicting on the image of the party.
Charles Chukwuma Onwuemelie, 26, is accused of 68 robberies in and around LA. (LAPD)
After a string of armed robberies that earned him the title ‘Blue Cloth Bandit’ in California, a Nigerian man identified as Charles Chukwuma Onwuemelie has been arrested by Los Angeles police, two months after his talk-of-the-town wedding, the Chief Detective newspaper has reported.
Twenty-six-year-old Onwuemelie is accused of a total 68 armed robberies in Los Angeles area since October 2021, according to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).
Onwuemelie allegedly “used a blue cloth to cover the handgun used in the robberies that occurred at gas stations, 7-11s and Walmarts,” LAPD says in a press release.
“The suspect would conceal himself by wearing different hats, a face mask, and rubber gloves,” LAPD stated. “The same vehicle was used in many of the robberies, and the same suspect was linked to the robberies based on several factors.”
Onwuemelie’s latest robbery was on September 23. At the time, detectives had mounted surveillance and served a search warrant.
Surveillance footage released by the LAPD shows the suspect appearing to purchase items at a convenience store before he reveals his alleged weapon covered by a blue cloth. He can also be seen wearing blue gloves and a hat that conceals his face in the video.
Reports say police recovered a firearm and other evidence from the scene of Onwuemelie’s latest alleged robbery linking him to the crime.
The suspect is charged with 16 counts of robbery that allegedly occurred within LA city limits, though officials expect the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department to file additional charges for numerous other robberies that apparently occurred within the county.
Authorities are asking anyone with more information about the string of robberies to contact Detective Esther Myape at (213) 486-6840.
Lavish wedding of Charles Onwuemelie below