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OPINION: To Solve A Problem Like Wike, Fix Atiku

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The Source
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Azu Ishiekwene

By Azu Ishiekwene

Seven weeks after the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar announced Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate, the man not chosen remains the talk of the town.

I’m not sure Abubakar (fondly called Atiku) expected this amount of pushback when he chose Okowa over Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike. But just as it is with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) too, the choice of running mate has become a national obsession, exposing Nigeria’s deepest religious and ethnic fault lines.

On the eve of Atiku’s announcement of his running mate when the media was awash with news that it might go Wike’s way, a party insider described the Rivers State governor as a “caretaker”. He said, privately, that, “You people will be surprised. After Wike lost the party presidential primary, this is the final rite of passage. The caretaker (Wike) will hand the party over to its owners.”

That didn’t make sense. Atiku who has the prerogative to choose his running mate delegated that responsibility to two different committees of the PDP. Both overwhelmingly favoured Wike and recommended him. It also emerged after the closely contested presidential primary of the PDP that Atiku reportedly told Wike that he would be pleased to offer him the position of running mate.

It was not a favour as such. Or a caretaker’s token, as the party insider framed it. After seven years of being out of power at the centre, losing state elections and losing governors to defection, the PDP was broken and on the verge of bankruptcy. Without Wike picking up the pieces and rallying the party, Atiku, the new “landlord” who was on sabbatical to other parties, would not have had a property to return to.

But that’s not the only reason why many thought that Wike’s choice as running mate was a no-brainer. While the South South remains the fourth largest vote bank, Rivers, more than any other state in the entire South, delivered the largest votes to the PDP in two of the last three presidential elections (1.8m, 2011; and 1.5m, 2015) followed by Delta (594k against River’s 474k in 2019).  Not even Oyo State, the South West’s largest PDP voter base, has matched Rivers in the last three election cycles.

At the presidential primary in May also, Wike gave Atiku a scare from which the former vice president was saved only by Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal’s last-minute manoeuvre.

Wike had earned his place. To treat him like a mere caretaker or the thought that he should have been offered the running mate ticket as a favour is quite frankly, ridiculous. Much more than any governor in the South South, Wike had something extra to bring to the ticket. That was why Atiku approached him.

But whatever the qualities of any potential running mate, the prerogative was always Atiku’s. The PDP has found itself in the current mess not because anyone thought that the running mate tail should wag the dog, but because of the candidate’s disastrous handling of his prerogative. He started as a democrat but ended as a tyrant. It’s a big irony that the man who wants to unify Nigeria can’t seem to gather his wits when he needs them most to unify his own party.

Tambuwal has been heavily criticised – deservedly – for turning his back on Wike. The party Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, has been hammered for his triumphalism after the PDP presidential primary, and Okowa has also been criticised for breaking ranks with the Southern governors’ demand that the president must come from that region. The harshest criticism must, however, be reserved for the presidential candidate whose arrogance has complicated the party’s problems and damaged its momentum.

It’s been said that it was not Atiku, but the real landlords and “owners” of the party that swayed him. Specifically, the redoubtable General Aliyu Gusau, Bamangar Tukur, associates of former military President Ibrahim Babangida, some traditional rulers and the old PDP network, including Sule Lamido and the Chairman of DAAR Communications, Engineer Raymond Dokpesi, have been mentioned as the anti-Wike ringleaders.

A number of these people were said to have expressed the view that Wike’s brashness, his micromanaging style and combustible temper could harm the party’s chances, especially in the North.

Whoever may have been opposed and whatever their reasons, the last word was with the candidate. He made the call when, after choosing Okowa, he read a statement that sounded more like Wike’s crime charge sheet than it was Okowa’s pre-nuptial affirmation. He must face up to the mess and deal with it, himself.

Is Wike overplaying his hand? Why doesn’t he just take Lamido’s advice and emulate former governors Peter Odili, Rotimi Amaechi, and more recently, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who took their own defeats in their strides and simply moved on? Apart from the settled fact that Wike can no longer be running mate and also the waiting game for him to show exactly how Atiku lied against him, no one is exactly sure what hand he is playing.

The visitors’ parade to the Government House, Port Harcourt, since June which has recorded at least 13 high profile politicians across party lines, is a show of force that is difficult to ignore. But the fact that Wike’s allies have fielded themselves for the next general elections under the flag of the PDP and the BOT is meeting with both sides in attendance is a good place to start.

How to solve a problem like Wike? It’s to admit that Atiku, not Wike, is the problem. It’s hypocritical for those who praised Wike when he was the “caretaker”, picking the party’s bills, sticking his head out for distressed governors and even sponsoring their presidential ambition to suddenly discover the downside of his brashness.

He mismanaged the exit of former Chairman Uche Secondus and overreacted in his face-off with Governor Godwin Obaseki. At a point, he behaved as if the party was his farm and wouldn’t be appeased until he ate every first fruit. But who can deny that he filled a vacuum?

His demand for balance in the party’s top positions is not unreasonable; it’s consistent with Section 7(3)(c) of the party’s constitution. Atiku cannot justify it by citing the Jonathan-Nwodo example, a breach at the time, which in today’s PDP is a monstrous travesty with the party’s candidate, chairman, deputy national chairman, BOT chairman and national treasurer, all from the North. Atiku and his party cannot continue to kick this lopsided can down the road.

All other demands credited to Wike by the press from control of the National Assembly to a single-term Presidency by Atiku and which of the former vice president’s wife’s turn it should be every other night, are at worst speculations and at best matters for negotiation.

Was the Osun State governorship result a bellwether of Wike’s limited political value? That insinuation has been made in some circles – that Osun proved the PDP does not need Wike to do well in 2023. Those who wish may agree on this convenient lie, but the facts are nuanced. More than any single factor, the internal divisions in the APC and the insatiable demands by party godfathers on Governor Gboyega Oyetola wrecked the party. The lessons from Osun and Ekiti states are parables of how a divided party can damage itself.

Abubakar and Wike must realise that this is a dangerous moment to misjudge or mismanage. The ruling party never looked more vulnerable than at a time when not just the adversaries but President Muhammadu Buhari himself is saying that he is tired and cannot wait to leave office. We are not only tired of him, we’re tired for him, too. For the first time his adversaries and friends agree with one another and with him that he must go and go quickly.

If the PDP misjudges this moment, as some of us desperately wish they would, the party faces the risk of a repeat of the crisis that led to a mass defection by PDP governors to APC in 2014. That was the final nail in the party’s coffin.

If it mismanages it, the party faces the risk of extinction. PDP, as it is now, cannot survive another potential eight years out of power. And should that happen, Atiku would be a far bigger loser than many of his seducers or adversaries.

Ishiekwene is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP

CNPP Queries Rationale Behind N1.4bn Vehicle Purchase To Niger Republic While ASUU is on Strike

By
The Source
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Toyota Landcruiser Buhari Bought for Niger Republic

… Calls for President Buhari’s Immediate Impeachment

Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has said it was stunned by the confirmation by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the sum of N1,145,000,000.00 for the purchase of 10 Toyota Land Cruiser jeeps for Niger Republic at a time Nigerian students were on strike over inability of the Federal Government to meet the financial demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The minister had at the end of the Federal Executive Council Meeting confirmed that President Buhari approved the purchase, arguing that Nigeria has a policy of assisting its neighbours to strengthen its capacity to deal with insecurity.

However, the CNPP in a statement signed by its Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, queried the intentions, asking, “how can Nigeria be fighting insecurity in another country while we are breeding insecurity at home by keeping energetic young Nigerians hopeless and idle for over five months due to ASUU strike?”

Describing the purchase of 10 vehicles for Niger Republic as a gesture that “amounts to unclothing Peter to clothe Paul”, the CNPP insisted that “the action is most insensitive to the continued suffering of Nigerian citizens who have not been able to have three square meals on the table in the last seven years of President Buhari administration.”

The CNPP then urged “the National Assembly to waste no time in impeaching the President for funding a foreign country under the guise of improvements in her security logistics but failed to tackle insecurity at home, seeing that the vehicles in question were not security patrol vans but executive SUV jeeps.

“The six weeks ultimatum issued to Mr. President to tackle internal security should be cut short immediately as the Senate must now reconvene as a matter of urgency to commence the impeachment proceedings without further delay”,the CNPP demanded.

The statement noted that “When a social media influencer, David Hundeyin, released a document claiming that the approval was made, most right thinking Nigerians dismissed it as social media rumour until the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, confirmed the purchase.

“Arguing that the President, who approved the purchase also has the right to make his own assessment on situations and act accordingly is the most shameful part of the justification of the misplaced priority.

“This is more so when the Academic Staff Union of Universities declared a “comprehensive and total” strike on February 14, 2022 and the presidential approval was made on February 22, eight clear days after the indefinite strike.

“Secondly, at the height of insecurity in the country, contract to supply the 10 units of Toyota Land Cruisers was awarded while the Nigerian police lack operational vehicles and other necessary equipment to carry out internal security operations.

“Today, the military, which traditionally has no business with internal security has been drafted deal with ordinary unarmed protesters when we have police units that were trained to manage riotous crowds in a civil manner.

“Despite the harsh economic realities Nigeria, the President is also funding the economic interests of the same foreign entity through the $1.96 billion 284km rail project connecting Kano in Nigeria to Maradi in Niger Republic.

“The CNPP therefore calls on all Nigerians to take note of the level of insensitivity and maladministration of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) federal government and do the needful in 2023 as the country cannot survive another eight years of an APC government from next year”, the statement concluded.

Insecurity: Senate President Says Investors Have Abandoned Nigeria

By
Tosin Olatokunbo
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Senate President, Ahmad Lawan says Nigeria no longer safe for foreign Direct Investment due to the level of insecurity across the country. Lawan who spoke at a meeting with Service Chiefs at the National Assembly in Abuja, said investors no longer want to risk their investments in the country due to banditry and terrorism.

Security chiefs present at the occasion are;  Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, General Lucky Irabor also led the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Farouk Yahaya; Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Awwal Gambo, and Chief Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao.

Others are the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Usman Baba Alkali; Director-General of the Department of State Service, DSS, Yusuf Magaji Bichi; Commandant-General of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi, and Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, amongst others.

According to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS capital importation to the country has continued on a downward slope in two years.

The report indicates that FDI fell by $331.2 million to $698.78 million in 2021, from the total sum of $1.03 billion recorded in 2020.

The NBS report, titled ‘Nigerian capital importation Q4’, showed that equities investment of the FDI totaled $692.58 million, while other capital was put at $6.2 million.

Nigeria recorded $154.6 million, $77.97 million, $107.81 million and $ $358.23 million FDIs during the first, second, third and fourth quarters of 2021, respectively while portfolio investment also fell by $1.75 million to $3.39 billion in 2021 from $5.14 billion recorded in 2020.

The report further showed that key Investments’ also fell by $890m from $3.51 trillion in 2020 to $2.62 trillion in 2021.

Speaking on the current security situation in the country the Senate President said Nigeria is no longer attractive to investors.

He said nothing to show for the huge funds allocated to security in the nation’s yearly budget.

He spoke barely 24 hours after terrorists attacked the convoy of Assistant Inspector-General of Police, AIG) in charge of Zone 12, Bauchi, Audu Adamu Madaki, inflicting gunshot wounds on him and killing his orderly.

Recall also that terrorists had last month attacked the Kuje, Abuja Prison releasing over 400 inmates, including hardened terrorists.

Two weeks ago, suspected terrorists also attacked the Presidential Brigade of Guards killing some soldiers and leaving others seriously wounded.

Some senators had tried to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari last week over the worsening security situation.

Lawan said, “Insecurity is everywhere and especially, if it is coming to the point of dislocating the security situation where the government is quartered. We will really review and see what more we have to do and how differently we have to do it.

“As far as I can remember, there has never been an administration in this country, especially since the Fourth Republic started in 1999, that invested more resources in the security of this country like this present administration.

“I have no doubt about it. I am a participant. To a very large extent I can say that none.

“We believe that as a National Assembly, we have always met this Executive at the right position, at the right time, especially when it concerns investment in the security of life and property in Nigeria.

“We have also, in our individual capacities as committees of the National Assembly and, in fact, as a National Assembly shown concern about the security situation.

“The security situation of any country cannot be 100 per cent satisfactory but, of course, there is a level at which no country can be comfortable with insecurity. Ours has lingered. We had hoped that by this time, the security situation in Nigeria would have been far better and Nigeria would have made more progress not only in the area of security but also in the area of economy which is tied to the security situation.

“I believe that all security agencies and armed forces have been doing their best but apparently, we have to do more to achieve what we desire to achieve.

“Our population is largely peasant. Most of our people are in the rural areas and they live their lives by going to farms. We all know this. In many parts of the country today, that is a herculean task.

“My belief is that we can do better to secure the rural areas, the so-called ungoverned space; at least for our population who go to farms to earn a living.

“Where our agricultural productivity is drastically going down will complicate the security situation because the most ordinary Nigerian cares more about what he or she or what the family will eat. And of course, all other things are secondary,” the Senate President said.

Ex-President Jonathan Throws More Light On Need For Almajiri Schools

By
The Source
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Former President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has again explained why his administration introduced the Almajiri schools programme in the Northern part of the country, stating it was meant to integrate Western education into the Islamic education curriculum, as a means of equipping the pupils with relevant skills that would make them employable.

Dr. Jonathan also added that the programme was designed to provide balanced education for the children and protect them from being recruited by criminal elements desirous of using them to achieve negative ends in the society.

The former President who stated this on Tuesday in Abuja at the opening session of the Africa Region International Leadership Conference (ILC) 2022, organized by the Universal Peace Federation, (UPF) also urged world leaders to promote policies, programmes and initiatives that would bring peace and harmony to our world.

Speaking on his motivation for establishing the Almajiri schools, the former President stated  that although the almajiri could be very knowledgeable in the Koran, there was the need to infuse their learning with standard western style education.

He further stressed that many of them felt the society neglected them despite their deep knowledge of the Koran, a situation that could breed resentment in them.

He said: ‘Such people could harbour a certain kind of anger against the society. Our feeling was that if we allowed that culture of anger and misgiving to grow and fester, it could come to a time when it would haunt and hurt the society. This is because when people are already angry  they can easily be brainwashed and used for negative ends.

“We therefore felt that the thing to do was to integrate western education with the Islamic education that the Islamic teachers were already teaching them. It was done in such a way that at the end of the day the children would have been exposed to western education and skills that are quite relevant to the society without compromising their religion.

“If we neglect them and leave them to be begging, it will come to a time when they could easily be exploited to do the wrong things.”

Speaking on the importance of the peace conference, Dr. Jonathan charged all to work collaboratively at finding lasting solutions to the challenges of our time, promote constructive dialogue and multilateral cooperation for the sake of peace and human development.

On the need for peace on the Korean Peninsula, the former President noted that the UPF had in the past years been searching for a lasting solution to the conflict in the Korean Peninsula, and other conflict zones through leadership conferences and other programmes.

He said: “The division on the Korean Peninsula which started in 1950, has overstayed its welcome. Time has come to resolve the conflicts and reconcile divided human families. As I stated in my address at the World summit 2022, the Korean people are one people, with a common history. Let us shed the differences and embrace peace. It is better to jaw-jaw than to War-War. Let us give peace a chance.

“I believe in the resilience of the Korean as well as African peoples. I charge the Korean people to approach the idea of reconciliation with the same spirit of oneness that has been the binding force of their nationals. The Koreans adopted this spirit to develop their country even with minimal natural resources. With their God-given brains, guts and sense of dedication, they were able to turn it around from an aid receiving country to aid giving country. You can do it, even on this conflict issue.”

Wike Invites Governor Sanwo-Olu, Wamakko, To Inaugurate Projects In Rivers State

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Wike and Nyesom Wike

By Akinwale Kasali

In what could be described as turning his back, disowning and dishonouring members of his Party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its bigwigs  Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has invited his Lagos counterpart,  Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC , to inaugurate the newly completed Orochiri-Worukwo (Waterline Junction) flyover in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

Making this disclosure on Wednesday when he inspected some ongoing projects in Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt Local Government Areas of the State, Wike said the next round of project inauguration would commence on August 8 and last for two weeks, adding that a former Sokoto Governor Aliyu Wamako, would also inaugurate the Ogbum-Nu-Abali Eastern Bypass road.

This is not, however, the first time Wike would be inviting politicians from the ruling APC to commission projects in the State. He had, before now, invited Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi,  and former Imo State Governor, Senator Rochas Okorocha, to commission projects. The invitation to Sanwo-Olu and Wamako is raising eyebrows because of the cold relationship between Wike and his party, the PDP, over the choice by Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, of Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as his running mate, instead of Wike who was favoured by the Committee set up by Atiku and the PDP to help shortlist possibles for the candidate.

Wike urged the people of the State  to join the Government in thanking God Almighty for the accomplishments of his administration.

He said the capacity of his administration in inaugurating more projects while also embarking on new ones was unique.

“And I think you can’t hear anything happening in most of the States. But for us, we will end our services to the people on the 29th of May, 2023.

“Like I said no project will be left abandoned and that is why we have taken priority to make sure that the finances are there to back up these projects. If we don’t have the money, there is no need of awarding contracts.”

He said though the quantum of civil construction work undertaken by his administration might be cost intensive, the overall benefits remained a driving force.

Wike explained that the inspection became necessary to ascertain the impact the projects would have on the socioeconomic life of the residents within the areas.

Oshiomhole Distances Tinubu From President Buhari’s Government

By
Uche Mbah
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By Uche Mbah

A former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has distanced the Party’s Presidential candidate in the oncoming 2023  election,  Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, from the APC Government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

It is not quite clear why Oshiomhole, a former Governor of Edo State, did so,  but speculation is that he did that because of the anger in the land against the Buhari Federal Government over the deteriorating state of Nigeria. Unprecedented insecurity. A collapsing economy. Hunger. The free fall of the Naira. Inflation. Unemployment. The strike by the Association of University Lecturers which has kept students at home, on a forced holiday, for about five months and counting.

Speaking on ARISE Television’s flagship program, The Morning Show, on Wednesday, August 3, 2022, Oshiomhole, a Tinubu ally, said Tinubu, who, since the APC, appropriated the title of the “National Leader of the APC”, is not part of the Buhari Government.

According to Oshiomhole, Tinubu never participated in governance under APC.

His words: “It is the fact that Asiwaju by himself said, yes, he co-founded APC. I was a co-founder Governor of APC, along with Fashola and other Governors.

“But he never participated in governance. Never held any position in Government. He didn’t carry out any contract on behalf of Government.”

For the records, Buhari, in a Palace coup, sacked Oshiomhole as the National Chairman of the APC, to the discomfort of Tinubu.

It is generally believed that Tinubu helped Buhari to become President in 2015 after Buhari failed three consecutive times to win. It was the coalition they formed that did the magic after Tinubu convinced a reluctant Buhari, who had said, in tears, on national television that he would never contest again, to do so.

The fourth attempt worked.

For the first time in the history of Nigeria, an opposition Party dislodged a ruling Party.

Buhari defeated the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to become President. He is serving his second term, and would leave office on May 29, 2023.

Contempt: Akwa Ibom Chief Judge, Shuns NBA, Keeps Lawyer In Jail; NBA Faults CJ, Goes On Appeal

By
Adesina Soyooye
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Inibehe Effiong

By Adesina Soyooye

Over one week after the Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom State, the Honourable Justice Ekaette Obot, put a Lawyer in prison for one month for contempt of court, the Lawyer is still in prison as the CJ has shunned the pleas by the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA.

The Lagos-based Lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, had flown to Uyo, capital of the State, to defend his Client, another Lawyer,  Leo Ekpenyong, who was sued for libel by the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel.

Trouble started for Effiong when the CJ ordered a Reporter from the Premium Times to leave the Court. Effiong protested and told the CJ that the case is of public interest, and so sending the Reporter out will not be in the interest of the public. The CJ asked Effiong  to go ahead with cross examination.

Instead of proceeding, Effiong protested the presence of two armed Mobile Policemen in the Court. He said he felt unsafe and uncomfortable with the presence of the Policemen, and asked the CJ to ask them out.

At that juncture, a visibly exasperated CJ asked Effiong to stand down from the Bar, and convicted him to one month imprisonment for contempt of Court at the Uyo Correctional Centre.

In a WhatsApp message sent out just before he was taken to Prison, the Lawyer said he did nothing wrong.

Since then, the NBA has been trying to resolve the matter, to find an amicable solution to it, but the efforts have been in vain. As far as the CJ is concerned, the case is a closed chapter. She said she would not entertain it again.

Disclosing this on Wednesday, the NBA said that it has been unable to secure the release of  Effiong, due to “the Chief Judge indicating that she was unwilling or unable to further entertain the matter.”

Olumide Akpata, National President of the NBA in his  official twitter while giving a brief on the case, so far, said:

“Last week, I provided an update on the efforts being made by the NBA towards securing the release of our colleague, Mr. Inibehe Effiong, who was remanded in custody on the order of the Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom State on account of alleged contemptuous conduct in court.

“Unfortunately, attempts to secure Mr. Effiong’s release through sustained engagements at different levels have been unsuccessful with the Chief Judge indicating that she was unwilling or unable to further entertain the matter.

“In the circumstance, the NBA is left with no choice but to work on an appeal against the decision of Her Lordship, and I have instructed the NBA team to work with Mr. Effiong on an immediate appeal.

“This is not the outcome we had expected because there is a high chance that Mr. Effiong would serve out his one-month custodial term before the end of the appeal.

“Regardless of the conduct of Mr. Effiong in the courtroom on the date of the proceedings that led to his committal, one thing that has come out from the various accounts that the NBA has so far received is that the Court did not follow due process in the committal proceedings.

“Mr. Effiong was not put in the dock, told what his wrong or contempt was, given fair hearing or even an opportunity to recant or purge himself (a courtesy that the Bench should, at the minimum, extend to Counsel where Counsel’s  conduct is said to be contemptuous).

“This, on its face not only runs afoul of known practice and procedure in such cases but is also unconstitutional. In view of the foregoing and depending on the outcome of our ongoing investigations, the NBA may be forced to take this matter up with the National Judicial Council”.

“I Cannot Question The President” – Nigeria’s Finance Minister,  On N1.15b Vehicles To Niger Republic

By
The Source
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0
Toyota Landcruiser Buhari Bought for Niger Republic

By Gideon Njoku

Nigeria’s Finance and Budget Minister, Zainab Ahmed, was helpless over the approval of a whopping N1.15b by President Muhammadu Buhari to purchase vehicles for Nigeria’s neighbouring country, Niger Republic.

The Minister expressed her helpless situation when he briefed State House Correspondents on Wednesday, after the Federal Executive Council meeting.

The news of the approval by Buhari, especially, when University students have been on a forced holiday for five months and counting over FGs inability to pay their Lecturers, was greeted with outrage.

But defending the approval, Ahmed said it is the President’s prerogative to assess the situation in Nigeria’s neighbouring countries, especially, as it could affect Nigeria’s security and help such countries out for the good of Nigeria.

On her role, she said she was not in a position to question the President. “I cannot question  the President”, she said.

The Minister, also, revealed that this was not the first time Nigeria was helping its neighbours- Cameroon, Chad, etc.  She explained that it is President Buhari’s responsibility to make such decisions in the best interests of the country.

“Let me just say that, over time, Nigeria has had to support its neighbours, especially, immediate neighbours, to enhance their capacity to secure their countries as it relates to us.

“This is not the first time that Nigeria has supported Niger, Cameroon or Chad, and the President makes an assessment as to what is required, based on the request of their president and such requests are approved and the interventions provided is to enhance their capacity to protect their own territory as it relates to security also to Nigeria.

“Nigerians have a right to ask questions, but also the President has a responsibility to make an assessment of what is in the best interests of the country. And I cannot question that decision.”

The news, which revealed details of the largesse to Niger Republic was broken to bewildered Nigerians on

June 15, 2022. The media report revealed  details of  President  Buhari’s  Government’s approval of  the sum of N1.15 billion  for the procurement of 10 Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles for officials of the Niger Republic.

According to the report, the information which was  got from the ‘appropriations’ page of the Finance Ministry’s website, and  showed that in July 2022, the sum of  N1,145,000,000 was approved for payment to Kaura Motors Nigeria Limited to supply the SUVs.

The disbursement was approved by the President since February 2022.

Not a few Nigerians have wondered, and are still wondering about the very special relationship between  President Buhari and Niger Republic. Since he became President, Buhari has paid a very special attention to that country, including extending railway lines from Katsina to Niger Republic.

Terrorism Report: NBC Slams Trust TV with N5 Million Fine

By
Uche Mbah
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0

By Uche Mbah

Trust Television, a Station owned by the Daily Trust Group, has been slammed with a fine of five million Naira by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) for airing a documentary on banditry and terrorism in North west of the country.

Though the documentary, titled ‘Nigeria’s Banditry: The Inside Story’,was aired in March, Government appeared to have acted following a recent documentary  by the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC. BBC African Eye, which aired its own documentary on Zamfara state recently.

The BBC documentary was titled ‘The Bandit Warlords of Zamfara’

Trust Television was punished retroactively with the BBC for what the National Broadcating Commission, NBC, called “glorifying terrorism”.

The TV station in a statement Wednesday, said the the punitive measure was conveyed in a letter dated August 3.

“The NBC, in a letter to our company dated August 3, 2022, which was signed by its Director General, Balarabe Shehu Illela, said the fine was imposed on Trust TV because its broadcast of the said documentary contravened sections of the National Broadcasting Code,” the statement reads.

“While we are currently studying the Commission’s action and weighing our options, we wish to state unequivocally that as a television station, we believe we were acting in the public interest by shedding light on the thorny issue of banditry and how it is affecting millions of citizens of our country.

“The documentary traces the root of the communal tensions and systemic inadequacies which led to the armed conflict that is setting the stage for another grand humanitarian crisis in Nigeria.

“It presents insights into the intersection of injustice, ethnicity and bad governance as drivers of the conflict.

“It also aggregates voices of experts and key actors towards finding solutions, including those of the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Senator Saidu Mohammed Dansadau, who hails from one the worst hit communities in Zamfara state.”

The Minister for Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed had said a few days ago that the FG would punish both Trust TV and the BBC for airing the documentaries.

Judge Orders Corporal Punishment For Convict , Plus 14 Years Jail Term

By
Ayodele Oni
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0
Law and Court

By Ayodele Oni

Justice Olalekan Olatawura of Ekiti State High Court has ordered that a 26 years old Oluwatosin Ajikawo, should be canned daily while in Jail for 14 years after being found guilty

of attempted  rape and grievous harm.

Ajikawo was arraigned before the court last year on two count charges of attempt to rape and grievous harm of one Kolawole Omotola.

Omotola had told the court how the convict attempted to rape her while threatening her with a knife save for the intervention of her neighbors who responded to her distress call and came to her rescue.

The charge reads “that the defendant on 13/2/2021 at Ado Ekiti within the jurisdiction of this honorable court did attempt to rape one Kolawole Omotola, and also caused grievous harm on her.

The offences contravene sections 359 and 335 of the Criminal Code Law, Cap. C16, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.

In her testimony before the court, the victim said, “I was sleeping around 11:00 p.m., I heard a bang at my door, I woke up to know what was happening, the defendant suddenly emerged with a knife, he ordered me to lay down on the bed but I declined.

“He started hitting my head on the wall and punching me in the face, I was shouting loudly, this attracted attention of my neighbours who came to my rescue after he had overpowered me.

“He was handed over to the Police while I was taken to the hospital for medical treatment due to knife and bodily injury sustained during the struggle.”

To prove his case, the prosecutor, Olasanmi Oluwaseun called two witnesses and tendered statements of the victim, witnesses and defendant as exhibits.

The defendant in his defence through his counsel, Busayo Sule admitted and confessed to have committed the offences.

“When I broke to her house, I wanted to have sex with her because she looked sexy and beautiful, it was painful for not succeeding in having sex with her, I overpowered her but was rescued by her neighbours.”

Justice Olatawura said in considering the appropriate sentence to be passed, “I take notice of the fact that sexual aggravated assaults on female have alarmingly increased within this jurisdiction and it must be nipped in the bud.

“The defendant showed no remorse up to this point, he is in my own opinion, not only a clear and present danger, but also a threat to women and should not be given any sympathetic consideration, so as to serve as a deterrent to other people or person of his ilk.

“The defendant is hereby sentenced to 14 years imprisonment with canning in respect of count one (Attempt to rape) and two years imprisonment in count two (Grievous harm). The sentences are to run concurrently.”

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