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Anti Open Grazing Law To Protect Our People – Chairman Southern Governors Forum

By
Ayodele Oni
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By Ayodele Oni

Southern Governors will implement it with vigor – Akeredolu

Chairman of the Southern Governors Forum, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, has again clarified that the decision of his colleagues in the South to enact anti open grazing law was not meant to destroy the means of livelihood of anybody.

Governor Akeredoku, who spoke on Arise Television news @ 9 pm on Wednesday maintained that the Southern Governors are implementing the Anti-open grazing law with vigor. \

He declared that the State would make an example of any Herders in the State, who dared breach the anti-open grazing law, to show the level of implementation of the law.

Reacting to the comment made by the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who posited that the anti-open grazing law was not implementable and also accused the Southern Governors of “politicising” the herders/farmers crisis, Governor Akeredolu said his major interest is protecting the livelihood of his people.

The Governor maintained that the Meyetti-Allah in the Sunshine State are already cooperating with the Government.

He said the statement made by the Kaduna State Governor was capable of inciting Herders who were already cooperating with the Government on the alternative means of the animal husbandry.

“We have had one week workshop for Meyetti-Allah and others. Ranching  is big. Individuals can have their herds in a particular place and feed them.

“Here, they are not waiting to be incited. Whoever goes against the law will face the consequences.”

Governor Akeredolu disclosed that his administration was working round the clock to involve private public organizations in ranching and provision of feedlot.

He vowed to continue to do what is right in the interest of the people of the state, adding that he was elected to protect and serve the people.

“My own interest is that the livelihood of my people in Ondo state is not destroyed. It is better to haul cattle and bring them here for people to come and buy. The way of life of bringing them here is anachronistic .

“I’m happy he (El-Rufai) is now setting up ranching. I am happy Kastina state is also setting up ranches. We don’t want to destroy the means of livelihood of our people. We are voted to protect the people.”

On the insistence of the Southern Governors that the South must produce the next President, Governor Akeredolu explained that the only way the country could remain united was to have fairness, equality and justice.

He stressed that since the North would be spending eight years, it is only fair that the power rotation must now come to the South for justice and equality.

“The only way we remain united is that there must be fairness, equality and justice. We are saying if the North has eight years, we must have it in the south.

“When we say south, those of us Governors in the south who met in Asaba are 17. We never mentioned which area in the south. We are not segmenting south. If it goes to the southeast, we will support them.

“We have a right of association. We are discussing matters that affect our interest. We have taken our decision and we have our strategies. Part of our strategies is consultation.”

On his description of the former Lagos State Governor and National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as the “Capon” , Governor Akeredolu said what he meant was that Tinubu was ‘Boss of all Bosses’.

OPINION: Where to Wait for Buhari’s Successor

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The Source
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Azu Ishiekwene

Azu Ishiekwene

There is no greater evidence that Nigeria’s political elite are cut off from citizens than the disconnected, cold portrayals in the news headlines.

While citizens are fighting existential battles – skyrocketing prices, insecurity, striking doctors and rising unemployment – politicians are busy fighting over party chair.

They are worried about where the next president will come from, and also the size of the red carpet for Nigeria’s most cringe worthy political rolling stone, who returned to the ruling party last week with a baggage of mush.

The two groups – the political elite and citizens – are in two different worlds, oblivious of each other’s existence, yet pretending to share a common fate, which from the headlines, you can tell is a farce.

Of course, for humour’s sake, it is important who becomes the chairman of any of the two main political parties in Nigeria, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP). But in the scheme of things, it is party members, and not the larger public, that get to choose their chairmen.

And even within the party, we have seen from the history of the two main parties, one of which has produced an average of 10 chairmen in the last 20 years, that it is the moneybags, the godfathers or those closest to the core of power, who determine who becomes chairman and how long.

It doesn’t matter what the party’s constitution says, the godfathers have the last say. What’s more? They can suborn the judiciary to do their bidding, if necessary. Yet, news about the internal crisis of the two parties have dominated the headlines as if our lives depended on it.

At inception, the APC promised to be a different party. In fact, it rejected being called the “ruling party”, saying that as a token of the new politics of change, it should instead be referred to as the “governing party.”

But after six years in power, APC is worse for all the hubris we despised in PDP. It barely convenes statutory meetings, has had no substantive chairman in one year and four months, has no functioning BOT, and is run by a cult.

Yet, in the midst of the existential problems facing Nigerians – millions who cannot get medical care because doctors have been on five straight weeks of strike, insecurity, rising food and energy prices and hundreds of professionals lining up at embassies to migrate – we are inflicted with daily news of how the broken political parties cannot put their houses in order.

Who cares?

Politicians do. And since journalists think we can throw the whole bunch of them out in the next general elections less than two years from now, isn’t this a good time to be interested in who gets what party position, after which we can then decide who succeeds President Muhammadu Buhari?

I laugh. That’s a fool’s game, a bloody waste of ink no matter the acres of space the press devotes to it. Take the presumably settled matter of where the next president should come from, for example.

I say “presumably settled” because it is not settled. Since non-party members cannot decide for the political parties who their candidates should be, it is naive to assume that the current Southern sentiment about producing the next president is a settled national question. It is not, and here is why.

Within the APC, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), one of the main legacy parties, is in a very weak position. Its influence has been corroded by ambition, ego and greed. It’ll need a miracle to survive its current misery. The other faction, the Congress for Progressives Change (CPC), has the upper hand. It is almost certain that the CPC will choose APC’s next flag bearer.

And if, for example, the opposition, PDP, decides to field a Northern presidential candidate as it did in 2007 and in the last election, perhaps with a South easterner as his running-mate, the CPC wing of the APC may, in response, field a Northern candidate, with any of the numerous South-Westerners cuddling their tailcoat as running-mate.

That may sound far-fetched since all current front-runners for the party chairman are from the North.But whoever thought that the current acting chairman and Governor of Yobe, Mai Mala Buni, wouldcombine the offices of governor and party chairman for 16 months! And also, with the desperate ongoing recruitment of political castaways into the APC, who’s to say what the endgame is?

One of the lessons of Buhari’s election is that a candidate does not need significant votes from the so-called tripod of roughly North, South-East and South-West, to emerge as president. Twice, Buhari won the presidency in spite of slim support from the South East (less than seven percent the first time, and 19 percent the second time) and marginal victory in Lagos, the vote bank of the South-West, in the last election.

Until the figures in the voter roll are challenged, re-vetted and approved, they’ll still form the basis for the next election.

The worsening farmer-herder clashes and the sectarian violence of the last few years have heightened tensions and resentment in the Middle Belt and Kaduna. But the impact of the clashes on the electoral map of the North, or the country as a whole, remains to be seen, especially if the National Assembly succeeds in blocking electronic transmission of results.

So, far from being settled, the idea of where the next president would come from is still a very open question. This is not what some people like to hear, especially with the recent vitriol by Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, that heavens will not fall if a northerner succeeds Buhari.

It’s harsh, but true. Power is not given; it is taken. And however hard done by leading Southern politicians may feel about potentially getting the short end of the power stick yet again, the truth is that the North still holds the aces. It controls the levers of power and has also maneuvered itself into a position where it has the final say, within the party, about Buhari’s successor.

The CPC will field a Northern candidate for the APC if it chooses to. If push comes to shove, however, it would decide which Southern candidate will get the ticket.That explains the back and forth with former President Goodluck Jonathan. He remains a wild card.

How will that play? On the face of it, Jonathan is eligible to contest for a second presidential term.But having taken the oath of office twice – once after the death of President UmaruYar’Adua and the second time in 2011 – can he take it a third time? Who benefits if the APC wins with Jonathan, but loses in a post-election legal challenge?

Or is there a remote chance of APC Northern governors leading a Southern candidate to the edge, and just like PDP governors did to Jonathan in 2015, switching sides and paving the way for the Northern PDP presidential candidate at the last minute? We’ll wait and see.

What interests me as a non-party member is not who becomes the next chairman of any of the main political parties or how their flagbearers will emerge. There’s nothing I can do about that. My concern is the poor record of the ruling party in the last six years in almost every area where it promised change and also, why it thinks it should continue in power beyond 2023.

Its own ministers have said corruption has lurched from brazen to quiet stealing. But believe me, except you’re going about with muffled ears, corruption under this government has not been so quiet.

A report by Matthew T. Page for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published in 2020, and entitled, “Dubai property: An oasis for Nigeria’s corrupt political elites”, says 800 Dubai properties linked to Nigerian politically exposed persons are estimated to be worth well over N146billion. The report reads like the who-is-who in the corridors of power.

As for insecurity, it has been repelled from major city centres to highways and remote villages.Swathes of the Northern parts of the country remain infested with banditry, leaving governors bereft. Like a bad coin, all the previous boast about degrading insurgency, is stuck in the hands of its propagators.

The South-East is experiencing something worse. It is besieged by government forces that are supposed to protect it, and haunted at the same time by outlaw groups that claim to protect citizens from government forces.

Sure, infrastructure has received more attention than at any time in recent memory. But we’re still counting the cost in aloan binge, shifting deadlines and tardy deals that have almost exhausted the charity of the Chinese Santa Claus.

I’m hard pressed to brush aside these concerns just for the mere entertainment of who becomes the next party chairman or how this or that party decides its flagbearer. We’ve seen this too many times before and it’s all sound and fury, meaning nothing!

If politicians knew that they would be punished for the record they leave in office, they’ll be careful who they choose to carry their flag. And that, my friend, is the crux of the matter.

 Ishiekwene is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP

Val Ozigbo’s Campaign: What Obi said about Age

By
The Source
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0

The Vice Presidential Candidate of the Peoples  Democratic Party, PDP, in the last general election, Mr. Peter Obi, has clarified his speech during the campaign for the emergence of the PDP Candidate, Mr. Val Ozigbo, as the in-coming Governor of Anambra State.

The release from his Media Office signed by Mr. Valentine Obienyem, says that Obi, known for issue-based campaign in his speech at Aguata, Orumba North and South, and few other places, on Tuesday and Wednesday, pointed out numerous projects he did across the State, from roads through schools to security, and appealed to the people of these areas to vote for Mr. Ozigbo for possessing the capacity and youthful age to deliver. He also said that whilst the other two contestant have had opportunity to help their people and did nothing, that Ozigbo would be the clear difference.

The release further said that expatiating further on the issue of age, Obi said that the two out of three major contestants were over 60 years, while Mr. Val Ozigbo is 50. He, therefore, concluded that Val possessed the ideal age for governorship at sub-national level, which he put between 40 and 60.

Explaining further, the release said Obi even went on to say that it was the experience garnered at that level that would contribute to the success of leadership at the presidential level, which he put at between 60 and 80 years.

“These things were so clearly said and on tape to be twisted by even those contesting election to create dissatisfaction among Val’s campaign team”, the statement said, while advising Nigerians not to be deceived.

Concluding, the release reiterated the fact that Ozigbo remains the best both in terms of age, background, and experiential pedigree garnered out of long years of managing human and material resources.

Opposition had twisted Obi’s  remarks insisting that having, allegedly, given those over 60 years of age a red card, it means he had also dismissed Atiku Abubakar as unfit to run for the Presidential seat. Obi was Atiku’s running mate during the 2019 Presidential  Election.

Ondo Partners German Company To Resuscitate Glass Production Company

By
Ayodele Oni
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0

By Ayodele Oni

Ondo State Governor, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has flayed importation of glass into the country, despite the huge availability of the needed raw materials for its production in the state.

The Governor recalled that when the moribund Oluwa Glass was functional, it was supplying the then Peugeot glasses for windscreen and mirror as part of the production of the vehicles.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Richard Olatunde stated that Governor Akeredolu spoke on Thursday, while receiving investors from the Horn Glass Industries, Germany led by the Chief Executive Officer, Mr Stephan Meindl.

The CEO/Chairman, ZMP Industries Limited, Mr Rotimi Ogunsanmi, was also on the investors entourage.

Ondo State Government had signed a Public Private Partnership agreement with the ZMP Industrial Limited for the establishment of 600 Tonnes per day capacity float glass factory in Igbokoda, Ilaje Local Government Area of the state.

The technical partner for the project, Horn Glass Industries, built Oluwa Glass over 35 years ago.

The first glass production company located at Igbokoda, in Ilaje local government was built by the first civilian Governor of old Ondo state, late Pa Michael Ajasin.

Receiving the investors in his office, Governor Akeredolu said there was no better company to establish glass factory in the state than the Horn Glass Industries having been involved with the establishment of the Oluwa Glass over three decades ago.

“You are involved with Oluwa Glass and you are the one that built it. I don’t think there is a better company to start a new state-of-the-art Glass Company than you.

“Importation of glass into this country is unfortunate. Oluwa Glass was the one supplying Peugeot windscreen and glass. But government involvement in Oluwa Glass killed it.

“But today, we have equity participation. We are not going to stiffen anyone who is interest in developing the state. Our participation will be minimal so as to make it effective.”

The Governor charged the investors to be time conscious, adding that time is of the essence.

“Time is of essence. We are running against time. Please start now. Undoubtedly, we are waiting. The state will be glad to have a glass factory back after 35years.”

Horn Glass Industries Chief Executive Officer, Mr Stephan Meindl, said his firm is ready to establish the glass factory with modern technology and unwavering commitment.

The Secretary, Ondo State Development and Investment Promotion Agency, Emmanuel Omomowo, who explained the process and terms of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed, said the Sunshine state is endowed with Silica Sand which is the raw material needed for the glass production.

“We need to bring in high-net-worth investors to actually collaborate with the state to develop our silica resource and the value of this investment is over 250 Million Euros and when it is converted to Naira, it is over N162 Billion.

“The State Government in this project is having the stake of over 20 percent, while the investor, ZMP Industrial Ltd. has 80 percent and ZMP Industrial Ltd. is also working in collaboration with a renowned technical partner called Horn Glass Industries.

“That the technical partner, Horn Glass Industries was the one that built Oluwa Glass and now coming to build a new green field glass factory and because it is a joint venture, and we have Special  Purpose Vehicle to drive it.

“It will create a lot of employment, we can talk of investment value that is worth over N160billion that is coming to the State.

“It will also have other multiplier effects within the State, it is going to enhance our economy, it is going to create job employment, expand our revenue business.

“It is a great deal that is actually coming to the State. And going through their profiles, they have the technical expertise.

“That is why we are talking of project reference that Oluwa Glass  developed over 30 years ago which is going to be built again with newer technology, with a better approach. So, it is a good deal for the State.”

FIRS Will Continue to Collect VAT, says Malami

By
Uche Mbah
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0

By Uche Mbah

For now, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, will continue to collect the disputed Value Added Tax, VAT, Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of Nigeria AGN, had said.

There have been controversies based on court rulings over who has the right to collect the Value Added Tax. FIRS, only recently, had approached the National Assembly to amend the VAT law, which southern legislators are lesser disposed towards.

A Court of Appeal had asked that both parties maintain the status quo on the issue, meaning the collection of VAT should remain with the FIRS for now.

But the News Agency of Nigeria NAN, reports that Malami hinges on his belief that the status quo will not change on that ruling.

Malami told NAN in New York that the ruling of the Court of Appeal favored FIRS.

According to him, it was the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) that was saddled with the responsibility of collecting the VAT before the Rivers government approached the High Court.

“The position of not only the Federal Government but indeed the judiciary is the fact that status quo associated with the collecting of VAT should be maintained,” Malami said.

“And as far as the judicial system is concerned, the status quo as at the time the parties approached the court, it was the Federal Inland Revenue Service that was indeed collecting the value-added tax.

“So with that in mind, the Federal Government has succeeded in obtaining an order that establishes the sustenance of the status quo, which status quo is that the Federal Inland Revenue Service should continue collection.

“This is pending the determination of the cases that were instituted by states, particularly the Rivers State Government and the Lagos State government. The cases are being determined by the court.”

The Rivers Government has filed a case at the Supreme Court, urging the Apex Court to set aside the Court of Appeal’s Sept. 10 ruling ordering it and FIRS to maintain the status quo on the issue of VAT collection.

The state also pleaded with the Supreme Court to dissolve the panel of the appellate court, which gave the interim order.

“But one thing of interest is the fact that the Federal Government had indeed taken cognizance of the fact that where there exists a dispute between a State and Federal Government, it is the Supreme Court that should naturally have the jurisdiction to determine the dispute between the state and the federation.

“And we are taking steps to consider the possibility of instituting an action before the Supreme Court to have this matter determined once and for all,’’ Malami said.

CBN: PDP Demands Resignation, Investigation of Emefiele

By
The Source
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0
Godwin-Emefiele-CBN-Governor

These are not the best of times for Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

Embattled on all fronts – the unprecedented fall of the Naira against the Dollar, his fight with Abokifx, his inelegant press conference/ outburst where he invited those who want to fight him to come to his office and fight him as he was ready for a fight – the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has now added its voice to the gradual calls for his resignation over the state of the Naira and CBN under him.

Incidentally, Emefiele was an appointee of the PDP Government under President  Goodluck Jonathan. He was inherited by the President Muhammadu Buhari Government which not only, surprisingly kept him, but reappointed him for a second unprecedented term in office.

The PDP is hinging its call for Emefiele’s resignation on an interview granted to Channels TV on September 15, 2021 by Dr John Akpanudoedehe, the National Secretary of the APC National Caretaker Committee.

During the interview, Akpanudoedehe had accused Emefiele of supervising the pillaging of the CBN. The PDP sees this allegation by Akpanudoedehe against Emefiele as coming from the horse’s mouth.

In a statement released on Thursday, September 23, signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbodiyan, the party is also asking for Emefiele’s investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Following is the full text of the statement.

“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) demands the immediate resignation and prosecution of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele, going by allegations by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that he superintended over massive looting of funds in the CBN.

“Our party calls on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately invite Emefiele for questioning over allegations by the National Secretary of the illegal APC National Caretaker Committee, Senator John Akpan Udoedehe, that the CBN governor supervised over the pillaging of the nation’s vaults under his watch.

“Nigerians were shocked when Senator Akpan Udoedehe, on Channels TV programme “Politics Today” of Wednesday, September 15, 2021, revealed that the CBN governor supervised over the stealing of money in the apex bank, a development for which he must be investigated by the EFCC and if found wanting, prosecuted.

“We have waited for a week for Senator Akpan Udoedehe to recant on his statement or for Emefiele to repudiate the APC National Secretary.

“Our party insists that beyond Akpan Udoedehe’s allegation, the tenure of Emefiele as CBN governor under the APC administration has witnessed colossal failures of monetary and fiscal policies, requiring him to vacate the office and hand himself over for investigation.

“It is instructive to note that when Emefiele took office as CBN Governor in 2014 the naira exchanged for N164 to a dollar. Today, in the hands of Emefiele and the APC, the naira has tumbled to near N600 to a dollar, putting the nation’s economy on its knees.

“Painfully, under the leadership of Emefiele, the CBN has failed in its core mandate of managing the economy and took a dive into propaganda, with claims that do not reflect the harsh economic reality on the ground.

“The PDP therefore urges the EFCC not to allow this revelation to be swept under the carpet as it borders on serious economic sabotage which sanctions are clearly spelt out under our laws.”

CBN To Boost Cross Border Trade With e-Naira

By
Bayo Bernard
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CBN Gov Emefiele

By Fola James

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has  cited the need to boost cross border trade as one of the  reasons it introduced e-Naira also known as CBDC.

The digital currency is billed to take off next month and the apex bank has directed business owners and merchants to accept it as a mode of payment.

Apart from boosting cross border trade, the apex bank said

e-naira will boost the nation’s digital economy, as well as an enabler for macroeconomic policy formulation.

According to Director, Information and Technology, CBN, Rakitya Muhammed, the introduction of the e-naira can catalyse Nigeria’s digital economy, boost cross border trade and enable better macroeconomic policy formulation.

Rakiya Muhammed, CBN Director, Information and Technology, who spoke at the Third Quarter Industry Forum of the Committee of E-business Industry Heads in   Abuja on Wednesday said by accepting e-Naira Nigerians are assisting the federal government to formulate good policies.

According to Mohammed “If people adopt more of the usage of the e-naira, then we will be able to have more data to formulate better macroeconomic policies.

“And when countries come on board and create their own digital currencies then we will be able to have faster exchange of currencies and therefore we might be able to boost cross border trade at a much lower cost.

“Of course payment efficiency, even though we know that Nigeria has one of the best payment systems in the world, we will still be able to improve on that.

“We believe that the e-naira will be a catalyst for digital economy because the people who are outside the formal banking sector will be integrated.”

She said the e-Naira will serve the same purpose as Naira as the nation’s legal tender because “in terms of the e-naira design, it will be a legal tender just like cash which is one of the fundamental difference between it and the cryptocurrency.

“One e-naira will be equal to one fiat naira, and we adopted a two-tier retail model that would be a lot less disruption into the financial system.

“Our banks, payment service providers and fintech are all going to be onboard and we are going to key to the infrastructure they have already and incorporate the new system.

“It is not meant to replace the cash me have only to supplement.”

The CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele announced in July that the e-Naira will become a legal tender from October 1.

E-Voting: Senators To Harmonize Electoral Act; Names Committee Members

By
Ayodele Oni
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0

By Ayodele Oni

Anti electronics transmission of election results Senators have been nominated as Committee members to resolve the contentious areas of the Electoral Act.

The seven-member Committee were unveiled on Wednesday by the President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawal.

The Committee is headed by the Senate Leader, Abdullahi Yahaya.

The seven-member Conference Committee is expected to meet with the House of Representatives team to iron out the contentious aspects of the Electoral Act (amendment) Bill.

Other members of the Senate committee are: Kabiru Gaya (North-West), Ajibola Basiru (South-West), Danjuma Goje (North-East), Uche Ekwunife (South-East), Sani Musa (North-Central), and Mathew Urhoghide (South-South).

It was learnt that out of the seven Committee members, only one of them (Urhoghide) voted in support of the electronic transmission of results when there was a division on the issue.

Senator Ekwunife was not available to cast her vote while the remaining four voted against the electronic transmission of results until the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) got approval from the Nigerian Communication Commission and the National Assembly.

Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party,(PDP) Governors’ Forum and Sokoto state Governor, Aminu Tambuwal had last week put before the committee suggestions to make the electoral act acceptable to Nigerians.

He said on behalf of the PDP Governors’ Forum that a committee of both houses should come up with a Harmonized Version in the interest of Nigerians.

In a statement, the forum pointed out that the committee should be set up to harken to the wishes of Nigerians and be guided by national interest, particularly on the issue of electronic transmission of results.

The PDP governors warned that any further delay in passing and assenting to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill would do grievous and irreparable damage to preparations for the conduct of the 2023 elections in Nigeria.

The forum requested the proposed Senate and House of Representatives Conference Committee to adopt the House version of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill on the issue of electronic transmission.

“It should be noted that Section 52(2) of the House version says:

“Voting at an election and transmission of results under this Bill shall be in accordance with the procedure determined by the Commission.”

The forum recalled that Section 52 (2) of the Senate version provides that:

“Commission may consider electronic transmission of results provided that the national coverage is adjudged to be adequate and secure by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) and approved by the National Assembly.”

IPOB To Lockdown South-east For One Month

By
The Source
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0

By Gideon Njoku

The Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, has threatened to lock down the South-east for one month, without let.

The Group is not joking.

In a statement dated September 22, 2021, signed by its Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, the Group says it would embark on this action if its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, is not brought to Court on October 21, 2021, for his trial.

Kanu is facing prosecution at a Federal High Court in the FCT, by the Federal Government over sundry issues, including alleged treason and murder.

After a long lull, occasioned by the invasion of his father’s Palace in his Afara Community, Abia State in 2017 (where he was) which forced him into exile, the trial began again after his rendition to Nigeria from Nairobi, Kenya.

But last month, after much expectation, he was not brought to Court on the adjourned date, due to what was said to be “logistics”. The next trial date is October 21. And IPOB is warning that if he does not appear in Court on that day, the South-east would be locked down for one month.

The Group says not bringing him to Court is a deliberate tactics to keep him under detention forever, thus denying him justice.

Following is the IPOB statement on its next action.

BIAFRA LAND WILL GO ON ONE MONTH LOCKDOWN IF NNAMDI KANU IS NOT BROUGHT TO COURT ON OCTOBER 21 – IPOB

“The attention of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) ably led by our great prophet and liberator of our time, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has been drawn to the plot by Nigeria government and her DSS in Abuja not to produce our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to  court on 21st October 2021, the date he is due to appear in court to start his case.  The federal government of Nigeria has again perfected plans not to bring him to court on that day.

“Their wicked plan is to perpetually keep him behind bars without trial to see if they can demoralize him and Biafrans but they are late.

“If the federal government refuses to bring him to court in his next court appearance on October 21, 2021, the entire Biafra land will be on total lock down for one month.  The federal government will know that they cannot take us for granted any more.  Our peaceful disposition as a people should not be misconstructed as weakness.  Nigeria cannot incarcerate our leader illegally and expect things to be normal again.  If by October 21, Kanu is not brought to court, Nigeria will know that Kanu commands the unflinching loyalty of over 60 million Biafrans home and in Diaspora.

“By keeping our leader out of circulation his health will be in jeopardy and we won’t allow this.  The Fulani-controlled Nigeria Government must tell us why it will choose to disobey court orders and expect citizens to watch like conquered slaves.  They are busy granting amnesty to terrorists and bandits killing their soldiers and citizens but keeping peaceful agitators in perpetual detention.

“Their plan is to suppress agitation and force everyone into submission but Biafrans won’t succumb to their intimidation.  We are a different people.  Their plan is to silence agitations for freedom as championed by Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Ighoho so that the Fulani from across Africa will overrun Nigeria.  They can’t conquer Biafra land as they have conquered Hausa and other indigenous tribes in Nigeria.”

Already, there are fears in the region over this threat.

The region has been under tension, economic lockdown, and violence for months.

IPOB had, earlier, declared a weekly sit-at-home order on Mondays to pressurise the FG into releasing Kanu.

The FG did nothing of the sort, and seemed not to have noticed the effect of the order on the people.

Instead, it brought untold hardship, destruction, blood and death to the region.

IPOB has just cancelled the weekly order and restricted it to only the days Kanu would appear in Court.

The region is yet to recover from it, especially, as some people have cashed in on it to inflict maximum destruction of the zone, with  loss of lives.

Emir Of Gaya, Abdulkadir Dies At 91

By
Akinwale Kasali
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0

By Akinwale Kasali

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje led Kano State Government and the Entire Kano Emirates have been thrown into mourning following the death of the Emir of Gaya, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdulkadir.

The Emir, who has been bedridden for some time joined his forebears in the early hours of Wednesday in Kano.

He was 91-years-old.

Media Aide to Governor Ganduje, Abubakar Ibrahim, confirmed the development in a Facebook post  Wednesday morning.

The official, however, did not give detail.

However, sources said the Emir died in his Palace Wednesday morning, following a brief illness.

His death followed that of the Emir of Rano, Abubakar Illa Tafida, who died on May 2, 2020.

The two were among the Emirs installed by the Governor, Mr Ganduje, in 2019, after he split the Kano Emirate into five. The new emirates are Gaya, Rano, Bichi and Karaye.

Until the creation of the four new emirates, Kano, like Sokoto, had one Emir.

The passage of the Emir has been confirmed by a Government House source who said that a Government delegation was making arrangements to depart to the Emirate to attend the funeral later today said the  incident occurred this morning at the Emir’s palace following a protracted illness that had kept the Monarch away from public view.

Funeral arrangements for the deceased are to be announced by the Palace in due course, but he would be buried today according to Islamic Rites.

The deceased will become the second of the four newly appointed Emirs to die His colleague, the then Emir of Rano had died last year during the pandemic lockdown period.

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