Nigerian musician, Portable has been detained in a police cell over his inability to meet the bail conditions set for his release.

This followed his arrest for refusing to pay the N14m debt he incurred when he purchased a G-Wagon from a car dealer in Lagos State.

According to Punch, a source who spoke on Wednesday, confirmed the development.

The source confirmed that the singer spent the night in police cell.

The source said when Portable was arrested Tuesday, bail conditions were set for his release and he failed to meet the bail conditions.

“He is still in police custody as we speak. When he paid N13m for the G-Wagon that cost N27m and refused to pay the balance, the car dealer asked him to return the vehicle when his excuse was that it was bad but he also refused,” the source said.

Confirming that Portable passed the night in a police cell after he was arrested, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, when contacted on Wednesday, said the musician was still in the custody of the police.

Hundeyin said, “He has presented no reliable surety yet so he (Portable) is still with us.”

Meanwhile, in two viral videos showing the moments policemen attempted to arrest Portable, our correspondent observed in one of the videos that Portable attempted to evade arrest when he fled the scene.

The policemen, who gave him a hot chase, caught up with him and pinned him down.

Despite pinning him down, our correspondent, while observing the second video, saw that Portable was resisting arrest by four policemen who carried and dumped him inside a vehicle.

The video clips had been generating diverse reactions.

While some people condemned Portable for resisting arrest, some others blamed him for ridiculing his status in society by not paying the N14m balance incurred during the purchase of the vehicle.

PUNCH Online had reported that Portable, during the purchase of the vehicle worth N27m, paid only N13m and had refused to pay the N14m balance.

Despite several failed attempts to get him to pay the balance, the car dealer, who claimed that Portable’s excuse for not paying was that the vehicle was bad, reported to the police.

A former presidential aide, Reno Omokri said the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Rabiu Kankwaso and the former Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State will not agree to contest the presidency with Peter Obi in 2027.

Omokri stated this in a statement via his X handle on Wednesday.

Recall that Obi met with Atiku, former Senate President Bukola Saraki, and Sule Lamido, a former governor of Jigawa from 2007 to 2015, in Abuja on Tuesday.

The meeting was the first between the two politicians since the end of the general elections last year.

The details of the meeting were not immediately known.

But, Omokri said no northerner of standing and in his right senses would agree to run for the 2027 presidency with the former Anambra State governor.

Omokri wondered about the significance of Obi’s rapprochement with Northern powerbrokers in the PDP, stressing that “right now he is tainted.”

He said, “Have you forgotten about Deborah Samuel? Of course not. The memory is still fresh in your mind, primarily because you are a Christian and you empathise with her, seeing as she was killed by a core Northern Muslim mob on charges of blasphemy.

“Now, perform this emotional intelligence exercise. If you cannot and will not forget Deborah Samuel, how do you think any Muslim, Northern or Southern, is going to forget a man who was caught on tape plotting religious war against you? How?

“The North Remembers is not just an episode from the television series, Game of Thrones. It is an actual way of life of Northern Nigeria. They have the memory of an elephant.

“They read al-Quran, which warns them about such people, who are referred to as Munafiq. You know how sensitive religion is in Nigeria. And then you think the Muslim Ummah will forgive and forget Peter Obi’s words? Peter Obi will be 63 in six weeks. People don’t change when they are that old.

“Especially when Peter Obi has never owned up to the tape and apologised. Instead, when asked three times by Charles Aniagolu if that was him on the tape, Obi dodged the question.

“And then you combine his Yes Daddy tape with his jumping from one church to the other, shouting, ‘Church, take back your country,’ and you think Muslims are that naive as to forgive such a man?

“As for South-South votes, Obi will not get them in 2027 or be able to influence their direction. As long as Tinubu delivers the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, or at least comes very close to completion.

“Yes, people will agree to meet with him out of courtesy. Some will do so to explore if they can get him to give them his bloc vote. But no Northerner standing in his right mind will run with Obi. Not Waziri Atiku, Rabiu Kwankwaso, or Nasir-El-Rufai.

“For Arewa, you can touch the North and be forgiven. But you cannot touch Islam and be forgiven.”

The embattled former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, on Wednesday, pleaded not guilty to the allegation that he unlawfully printed Naira Notes while he held sway at the apex bank.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, alleged that Emefiele had without authorization from former President Muhammadu Buhari, printed N684million Notes with the total sum of N18.96billion.

Besides, the anti-graft agency accused the former CBN boss of unlawfully approving the withdrawal of about N124.8bn from the consolidated revenue fund.

According to the EFCC, the defendant, acting in violation of law and “with intent to cause injury to the public,” okayed the printing of naira notes without the approval of both former President Buhari and the board of the CBN.

However, when the four-count charge was read to the defendant before trial Justice Maryann Anenih of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, he pleaded his innocence to the allegation.

While the prosecution counsel, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, requested for a date for the commencement of full hearing in the matter, the defendant, through his team of lawyers led by Mr. Mahmud Magaji, prayed the court to allow him to go home on bail, pending the determination of the case against him.

Magaji, SAN, urged the court to either grant his client bail on self recognition, or to adopt previous conditions that were handed to him by Justice Hamza Muazu, who is presiding over another charge that is pending against him before the same high court.

He assured that his client would always be available to attend his trial, noting that the charge contained bailable offences.

In her ruling, Justice Anenih said she was minded to accede to the defendant’s request for bail.

Consequently, she granted him bail to the tune of N300m, with two sureties in the like sum.

The court maintained that the sureties must not only be resident in Nigeria, but owners of landed properties within the Maitama district of Abuja.

More so, the court stressed that the sureties must deposit an affidavit of means, even as it ordered the defendant to surrender his international passport.

The court warned that the former CBN Governor must not travel out of the country without permission.

It held that he should be remanded at Kuje prison, pending the perfection of all the bail conditions.

The case was subsequently adjourned to May 28 and 29 for the commencement of trial.

Specifically, the charge against the former CBN Governor, read: “That you Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, between the 19th day of October 2022 and 5th March 2023 in Abuja, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007, by approving the printing of N375,520,000.00 pieces of colour swapped N1, 000, at the total cost of N11,052, 068,062 without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.

“That you, Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, between the 19th of October 2022 and 5th March 2023 in Abuja, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 19 of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, by approving the printing of 172,000,000 pieces of colour swapped N500 (Five Hundred Naira) Notes, at the total cost of N4, 471,066,040 without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.

“That you Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, between the 19th day of October 2022 and 5th March 2023 in Abuja, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007, by approving the printing of 137,070,000 pieces of colour swapped N200 (Two Hundred Naira) Note, at the total cost of N3, 441, 005, 280 without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.

“That you, Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, on or about the 7th day of October 2020, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 80 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended), by approving the withdrawal of the total sum of N124, 860, 227, 865.16 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation in a manner not prescribed by the National Assembly, which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.”

It will be recalled that President Bola Tinubu had on June 9, 2023, suspended Emefiele from office as the head of the apex bank.

He was later arrested at his Lagos residence by DSS operatives.

The former CBN boss was subsequently transferred to the custody of the EFCC, which on November 28, 2023, docked him on a six-count charge that bordered on his alleged involvement in procurement fraud.

Though Emefiele, who initially spent 151 days in custody of security agencies, was later granted bail to the tune of N300million and ordered to produce two sureties that the trial court stressed must be Abuja residents that have landed property within the Maitama District, the defendant could not perfect the conditions till December 23, 2023, when he was released from Kuje prison where he spent about 34 days.

The defendant had since then, faced various charges, both in Abuja and Lagos.

A 38-year-old man identified as Shafi’u Abubakar on Wednesday set ablaze a mosque while worshippers were praying in Gezawa area of Kano State.

Information gathered revealed that Abubakar locked up the mosque, splashed petrol, and set the mosque ablaze when the worshippers were performing the early morning prayers, Subhi prayers, in the mosque.

Confirming the development, the spokesperson of the Kano State Police Command, SP Abdullahi Haruna, said it has arrested the principal suspect behind the incident, adding that no death has been recorded so far.

SP Haruna explained that the suspect said he carried out the action to take vengeance on persons who cheated him during the sharing of inheritance.

He, however, said the scene of the incident has been cordoned off, and twenty-four (24) victims, including 20 male adults and 4 male children, were removed and rushed to Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital Kano, where they are currently receiving treatment.

According to him, “Today, 15/05/2024 at about 0520hrs, reports were received that, there was an explosion at a mosque in Gadan Village, Gezawa LGA, Kano State, during “Subhi Prayer,” and that some people got injured.

“On receipt of the report, the Commissioner of Police, Kano State Command, CP Mohammed Usaini Gumel, immediately deployed the command’s combined teams consisting of experts in Explosive Ordnance Disposal Chemical Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (EOD-CBRN) led by CSP Haruna Isma’il and other Crime-Scene Policemen led by Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Gezawa Division, CSP Haruna Iliya.

“The scene was cordoned off, and twenty-four (24) victims, including 20 Male Adults and 4 Male Children were removed and rushed to Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital Kano, where they are currently receiving treatment.

“Forensic analysis at this preliminary stage revealed a suspected petrol explosion, of which full investigation ongoing.

“The principal suspect have been identified and arrested; he is Shafi’u Abubakar, aged 38, who said his action was purely in hostility following prolong family disagreement over sharing of inheritance, of which those that he alleged to have cheated on him were in the mosque at that moment, and he did that for his voice to be heard.

“While the suspect is currently in police custody, detail investigation is ongoing and will be made public in due course,” SP Haruna stated.

A Nigerian popular online tutor, Mr Alex Onyia, has revealed that a foreign hospital removed 16 bullets from his friend, Kene Nnadi, who was shot in Nigeria, adding that he narrowly escaped death.

Onyia, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Educare, an online learning platform, said Nnadi was rejected by Nigerian hospitals before he was flown abroad.

He added that there are three more bullets still in his body to be removed.

Onyia, known for sponsoring the tutorials of some candidates of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), posted the news via his X handle on Tuesday.

He tweeted using the handle #winexviv, stating that some assailants wanted to kill his friend but he survived.

“16 extra bullets removed from his body and three remaining. They wanted to kill my friend Kene but God said no. All hospitals rejected him and asked for a police report before treating him,” Onyia wrote.

“We managed to get one that attended to him until we flew him to London. Today, we thank God,” he added.

The news has got Nigerians talking on social media as some concluded that Nnadi would not have survived if he was treated in the country.

Some blamed the undisclosed hospitals that refused to treat him despite the directive of the Inspector-General of Police that no person should be rejected by any hospital to be treated for gunshot.

The IGP said this was in line with the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Act 2017.

Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) through the Department of Development Control has served 24-hour demolition notices to operators of illegal market shanties in the Karmo and Dei Dei Road corridor. The exercise will affect 500 structures that have been marked for demolition.

The sector monitor and assistant director in the department, Mr Garba Jibril, who led the exercise yesterday, said the affected owners had been served with several notices and that the director of development control, Mr Mukhtar Galadima, had held a sensitisation meeting with the stakeholders.

He explained that demolishing the illegal structures was necessary because they constituted a nuisance on the road in addition to heavy traffic, especially on their market days, and that their activities were equally emitting environmental hazards, which the FCT administration frowns at.

The team leader also disclosed that the FCTA had awarded a contract for the Life Camp – Dei-Dei Road construction, saying that the traders’ continuous stay on the road corridor prevented the contractors from moving to the site.

According to him, the 24-hour notice is not to be played with and those who refused to comply will have themselves to blame.

He also said that the traders had been asked to move to the designated market called Karmo Market, adding that the market was fully developed and equipped with necessary facilities.

“But the traders have been reluctant to move. We have had several meetings with the relevant stakeholders including traditional leaders in the area to get them to move but they remained adamant.

“We equally held a meeting with the traders and the new market operators, who promised to give the traders some incentives to accommodate them in the informal and main shops.

“We are hoping that after the demolition, there will be a successful relocation from the road corridor to the main market. This will not only maintain a serene environment but also ensure free flow of traffic in the area,” he said.

The federal government has unveiled a strategic plan to harness the N20 trillion pension fund and other locally available resources for infrastructure development in Nigeria.

Wale Edun, coordinating minister for the economy and minister of finance, disclosed this at the end of the federal executive council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu.

Edun said the government is focused on tapping into domestic financial resources, particularly pension and life insurance funds, to leverage local funds for national growth.

He added that it was a significant step towards driving economic progress and addressing critical infrastructure needs.

According to Edun, with over N20 trillion available funds within the country, there is a clear opportunity to channel these resources into vital sectors such as housing and long-term mortgage provision.

The minister said the move is part of the government’s efforts to bridge Nigeria’s estimated 20 million housing deficits and to provide massive housing and mortgage loans at 12 percent interest rates, with 25-year repayment plans.

“And the fact is that even before we start looking to foreign investors, we start looking to foreign funding, there is available in Nigeria, long term funds to fund infrastructure projects, and it’s within the pension, the life insurance and investment fund industry generally,” he said.

“There is upwards of N20 trillion available, and much of it is in short-term funding that doesn’t need to be. Pension money is long-term.

“People save over their lifetime for their pension. And so in conversation, in consultation, collaboration and cooperation with the private sector, we are now able to announce and with the full knowledge and support of all parties, that there will be an initiative to fund growth through investment in infrastructure, including housing, provision of mortgages, long term mortgages, 25-year mortgages at relatively low interest rates.

“Initially, of course, the government will stand back and provide some support, particularly in this era of high interest rates but eventually as interest rates come down, there should be less role for the government through providing, for example, guarantees and so forth.

“So, we can look forward to these huge funds being leveraged with the expertise, the ability, the capacity of the private sector, partnering with the government to drive economic growth.

“On the supply side, construction of houses will be funded. On the demand side, mortgages will be made available so that those constructing houses have an outlet and Nigerians who are saving so much by way of pension funds, have the added bonus of access to affordable mortgages.

“That really is the long and short of this initiative and you also as much as anybody else can understand and see what it means in the construction industry to do for the country. 

“That is the plan, that is the target that is the hope. And in this particular case, you have the best and the brightest that Nigeria has to offer, putting their minds together and committing to achieve their goals.”

TINUBU’S REFORMS ARE NECESSARY AND YIELDING RESULTS

Edun said Tinubu’s macroeconomic reforms are necessary and could not be delayed a moment longer.

According to the minister, the reforms are beginning to yield the desired results. 

“They were already delayed. Those reforms which are still in process, and which are beginning to give benefits in various areas, particularly in terms of trying to stabilise the economy, the exchange rate, bring inflation down, and eventually get interest rates down,” he said.

“But on the other hand, Mr. President has been consistent and he has also been commended, I must say, both around the world for for the fact that he is committed to intervening on behalf of the poor and the vulnerable in order to ease the pains of this necessary reform. But at the same time, given where we are in terms of stabilisation, it is time to focus on economic growth. 

“And one of the key drivers of economic growth is investment in infrastructure, in housing, power, rail, roads, water transport, even technology. These are key drivers of economic growth.

“They increase product. When you invest in them, you get increased productivity, you get economic growth, and you get job creation, which reduces poverty, and that is the strategy. 

“So, it’s two-pronged and we are not pivoting towards this all-important growth and you say where will the resources come from?”

The minister said the president approved the purchase of compressed natural gas (CNG) powered vehicles for the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

Edun also said about 600 CNG-powered buses and about 30,000 conversion kits will soon be made available to reduce transportation costs.

Mahmud Albarnawy, the eldest son of the founder of the Islamic States of West African Province (ISWAP), has reportedly surrendered to operatives of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Borno.

Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication focused on the Lake Chad region, said Mahmud surrendered to the security operatives on May 12.

Intelligent sources told Makama that 22-year-old Mahmud was confirmed to be the son of Maman Nur, founder of the ISWAP, after he was profiled at the NSCDC headquarters in Maiduguri, Borno capital.

The publication said an uncle of Mahmud in Gamboru Ngala encouraged him to surrender after he received information about his readiness to abandon the group.

“A reliable agent was sent to convey him to Maiduguri. They arrived in Maiduguri on May 11 at about 1 pm,” the publication said.

“Mahmud was later debriefed and profiled by an intelligence officer of the command, where he confessed to having sneaked out of the Ali Ngulde camp in Mandara Mountain, Gwoza LGA, into Maiduguri and stayed for about a month at Gwange in the city capital before relocating to Gamboru Ngala without any alarm or distress signs from communities.

“During his stay in Gamboru Ngala, some of his late father’s loyalists were persuading him to return to the Lake Chad general area to pay allegiance to ISWAP, but he refused, citing the betrayal and eventual execution of his late father.”

Makama said Mahmud confessed to having been involved in attacks launched at Bama, Banki, Gwoza, and many other areas in Borno.

The publication said the terrorist who surrendered used to work as a middle-rank fighter under the Boko Haram group.

The publication added that he had been handed over to the Bulunkutu rehabilitation facility for further documentation and custody.

ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force, has reacted to a video of a woman giving her baby alcohol to drink.

He stated that the police would fish out the nursing mum committing the evil act.

The disturbing video showed the woman who spoke in Yoruba, hailing her baby girl as she gulped the alcohol.

Reacting to the video, Adejobi wrote;

‘’Another assignment for us. This is too bad. We will fish her out. Thanks. @PoliceNG''

See Video Below;

Advocates For ‘Afro-Democracy’ As Alternative To Western System”

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said African countries including Nigeria made a mistake by adopting the western liberal democracy. 

Mr Obasanjo stated this on Monday when members of the House of Representatives championing the reintroduction of the parliamentary system of government in the country, met with him in Abuja. 

The lawmakers, under the aegis of the “Parliamentary Group” led by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers), met with Mr Obasanjo at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre in the federal capital.

The meeting was part of their advocacy visits to prominent Nigerians to solicit their support for the transitioning of the country from the current presidential system of government to the parliamentary system.

Coincidentally, Mr Obasanjo, Nigeria’s military head of state from 1976-1979, midwifed the 1979 Constitution that produced the American presidential system which replaced the parliamentary system practised in the first republic.

He was subsequently elected president in 1999 after the return of democracy and was in office for eight years.

Speaking on the state of democracy in Africa, Mr Obasanjo said countries in the continent made the mistake of adopting the western liberal democracy prescribed by the Europeans, stating that the Western liberal democracy is not consistent with the African value system. 

“Let me go back to the beginning where we got it wrong—the western liberal democracy, that is what the Europeans have. When you look at the western liberal democracy, it is a product of their history, a product of their culture, a product of their way of life.

“I have looked into most African languages, western democracy has what they call loyal opposition. What is opposition in African languages? Enemy. Western democracies called oppositions “loyal” because the oppositions are loyal to the monarchy. That’s where their loyal democracy began. They used to have monarchies.

“There is nothing in the liberal democracy that is African. We ruled ourselves before the advent of colonialism. We had empires and striving kingdoms. We did not rule ourselves as opposition.

“What is in it for us? I don’t know but you can give it. For lack of an appropriate word, let us call it ‘afro-democracy.’ That is where we have to begin,” Mr Obasanjo said.

On the proposal by the lawmakers, Mr Obasanjo said the legislators are preaching to a convert, stating that he agreed that there is a need for a fundamental shift from the current system.

He, however, warned the lawmakers that they need to have a long-term plan and be tactical in presenting a position. 

The former president counselled the lawmakers to drop the tag “parliamentary system”, and should instead push for a homegrown democracy.

“You are preaching to the converted but as I have said, take parliamentary away.

“We need to get the critical masses. Parliamentary and all that—once you start that, you have gotten it wrong. Once you do that, you are putting yourself in a fix because there are those who would say “We don’t want parliamentary,” he said.

Earlier in his opening remarks, Mr Chinda said the use of the word “parliamentary” is due to a lack of a suitable word.

He said the system proposed by the lawmakers is “homegrown” and not the textbook definition of the parliamentary system.

Also speaking project, the spokesperson of the group, Abdulsamad Dasuki (PDP, Sokoto), said the group is organising a national dialogue on the project.

According to the lawmaker, the dialogue is scheduled for 1 July.

The push by the lawmakers, known as the Parliamentary Group, pushing for the transition to a parliamentary system of government. 

Nigeria operated under the parliamentary system pre-independence and in the First Republic. However, the coup of 15 January 1966 truncated that republic.

The military suspended the civil government and ruled the country until the transition to democracy in 1979. The Second Republic was built on the 1979 Constitution which prescribed the presidential system.

The proposal by the lawmakers is seeking to revert to the First Republic system with a prime minister, a member of parliament, serving as the head of government, similar to the British system.

In a parliamentary system, the executive branch derives its legitimacy and authority from the legislative branch. The head of government (often the prime minister) is typically a member of the legislature and is accountable to it. This system fosters a close relationship between the executive and legislative branches, allowing for efficient decision-making and policy implementation.

The lawmakers have already sponsored some constitution alteration bills to make the changes in the constitution. However, the timeline for the change is beyond this current Assembly. They have set a target of 2031 as the timeline for achieving the goal.

In the past couple of months, the lawmakers have been moving around the country meeting politicians who served in the Second and Third Republics. 

They have met with the Chairman of Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Ango Abdullahi, the Interim National Chairman of APC, Bisi Akande, Sanusi Dantata and others.