Writing this piece, I am aware that perhaps the biggest lessons and examples in leadership and management in the world today, trapped as it is in a season of crisis are better extracted from the Russia vs. Ukraine war, as well as the Israel vs. Hamas war that broke out subsequently on Saturday, October 7, and the concerted efforts by the international community to safeguard international humanitarian law, the body of legal codes guiding armed conflict. In this regard, we have heard the voices of President Joe Biden of the United States and the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, now on a frantic shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East, UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak also in the Middle East trying to make peace from Jordan to Israel and elsewhere. And the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, of whom Josef Stalin in 1943, legendarily, perhaps apocryphally, once asked: how many divisions does the Pope have?

The Pope incidentally does not command divisions. He wields strong moral and spiritual authority, and this is what Pope Francis has done by calling on all the warring parties in the Middle East, this last Sunday, to give peace a chance by respecting international humanitarian law. He has asked for prayers around the world today, Tuesday, October 17, for peace. It is a charge from the Pope for an urgent need for leadership in the world, in the face of the failure, if not the ineffectuality of the divisive United Nations Security Council (UNSC). It is not certain that anyone would listen. The same US that is talking across board, even via back-door channels to China, to rein in Iran, has sent in two military carriers to back up Israel, similarly in Europe the sentiment on official sides is pro-Israel.

Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister has vowed to “demolish” Hamas, the Palestinian militant group and inflict a long and prolonged war. Israel however faces war from three fronts: Lebanon from where the Hezbollah has already fired rockets into Northern Israel, and Israel has retaliated, and also from Gaza and Syria. The fear that the situation could escalate rapidly is well-placed. For more than 100 years, the world has tried to deal with the menace and the barbarity of war by creating structures for managing conflict. It would appear however that the prevailing logic is the position by Carl von Clausewitz, in his book, On War (1943). Clausewitz was a Prussian military strategist whose theory of state was perhaps stronger than his theory of war, given his argument that “war is politics by other means among states.”

The reality is that the world has been torn apart by this corrosive, selfish ambition of states couched in nationalistic terms or as patriotism but nonetheless most of the distortions of the last three centuries and even earlier have persisted. It is a throw-back to the selfish nature of man. Netanyahu, Mohammed Deif and all the other leaders involved in the current conflict claim that they are fighting for their own people’s interests. In doing so, they and their allies are not too keen about the humanity of others. Pope Francis’s intervention is a throw-back to the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949, the additional protocols of 1971 and 2005 and the guidelines of 2009, which taken together uphold the connecting, common Article 3 of the Conventions to wit that war no matter how tough must have a human face: there must be a humanitarian corridor, as the Pope demands, non-combatants, children, Prisoners of war, the sick and the wounded must be protected, relief providing bodies like the Red Cross, the Red Crescent and others must be allowed access to the distressed and the wounded. In the Israel vs. Hamas conflict, over 4, 000 persons have been killed, more than 3, 000 are injured, over 7, 000 have been displaced, and the casualties continue to increase. Hamas is still bombing Israel. Israel is insisting that hospitals in Gaza must be evacuated. We have seen similar barbarity between Russia and Ukraine. Before now, Russia not only cut off energy supplies to Europe, it also shut down the major global food supply route.

The story of Israel vs Hamas is about “terrorism, evil and hate”. In. 1917, the British, through Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour announced the establishment in Palestine of “a national home for the Jewish people”, and “will use the best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country”. With the fall of the Ottoman Empire, at the end of World War I, the British took control of Palestine until Israel emerged as an independent state in 1947/48. The objectives enunciated by Balfour have never been met since then. Israel has known no peace from Palestinians and the Arab States who object to its existence. The conflict between Jews and Arabs is more than a century old, dating back to ancient times, further made worse by conflicts over historical sites and monuments. Everything came to a head on October 7, with the surprise attack on Israel, on a holy day, 50 years almost to the day after a similar attack on Israel by Egypt and Syria, the Yom Kippur war of 1973. Since then, the world has been scrambling to manage the situation and find leadership. The conflict reminds us poignantly of the failure of leadership from Babylonian times to the British, the United Nations, and the reign of evil/hypocrisy in our world and the increasing helplessness, non-meaning and expendability of man, in a world driven by might and arrogance. Man qua man is the biggest threat to humanity, and world peace. The world has failed Israel, and also the Palestinians.

II. CAC And NIPOST

Our second lesson in management and leadership is local, and closer home and it has to do with the contrastive dramas that we have seen this week, at the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria (CAC) and the Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST). In recent appointments, President Bola Tinubu reportedly changed the CEOs of the two government agencies. The reactions by the staff have been different, somewhat hilariously morbid and of a burlesque nature but useful all the same as case studies in management and the nature of man. On Monday, it was announced that the Registrar-General and CEO of the CAC, Garba Abubakar had been removed, and upon hearing the news of his removal, lawyers, law firms and staff of the CAC broke out in jubilation.

Lawyers accused Abubakar of messing up the CAC, even when no one knows what awaits the agency with the appointment of a replacement, Hussaini Mogaji (SAN). What I found even more shocking is the fact that yesterday, the staff at the CAC headquarters in Abuja recruited a musical band to celebrate the exit of their former boss. They put up banners and placards calling Abubakar an “emperor” and “a vicious tyrant”, and as the band belled out tunes, they danced joyously. They even prayed for the new CAC CEO and sang in praise of President Tinubu: “On your mandate, Tinubu, we shall stand” to pledge their loyalty.

They accused the former CAC CEO of being too wicked. Mr. Abubakar has not been given an opportunity to defend himself, and he may take all the staff complaints about his failure to attend to staff welfare, nepotism, high handedness, arrogance, abuse of office, backwardness and insensitivity… in his stride. But still I do not think that the CAC should become a hideout for closet politicians. There is a lesson here however, for all managers and chief executives. In the CEO Handbook, managers and CEOs are expected to be people persons, exhibit emotional intelligence and realize the simple fact that any organization is only as successful as its people. The complaints about Mr. Abubakar’s tenure by lawyers and CAC customers may have been a direct consequence of the former CEO’s disconnect with his own team. This may not be the first time this kind of reaction will occur. There have been reports of former CEOs who were not even allowed to return to the office to clear out their offices, after their departure. The banner at the CAC headquarters in Abuja listing Abubakar’s offences should be photographed and used as reference material in the teaching of management and leadership.

In contrast, yesterday, however, there was a different situation at NIPOST. The new NIPOST boss, Post-Master General/CEO, Tola Odeyemi whose appointment was announced on October 11, had gone to the headquarters to assume duties. The workers said they did not want her. They carried placards and blocked the gate. They insisted they preferred the former Post-Master General, Adeyemi Adepoju. Somehow, Ms. Odeyemi managed to find her way in at about 1 pm to meet with top Directors of the agency. Having been met with such hostility, and the pro-Adepoju sentiments of the staff, the lady rejected the seat that she was offered and chose to sit elsewhere. This one is clearly a superstitious appointee! If she survives the storm, she would be the first female to be appointed head of NIPOST, which by the way, is a moribund organization despite the massive assets it owns across Nigeria. But the staff seem to like the former Post-Master General. The uncertainty that now hangs over Odeyemi’s appointment is not helpful. Whatever may have recommended the former CEO to the staff as a good leader, the Presidency must quickly clarify the situation at the agency. Was the former Post Master General reinstated after his sack? What is his exact status today? Heads of MDAs hold their positions at the pleasure of the President, on whose behalf every appointee executes delegated authority. We can only hope that if Odeyemi survives her present ordeal, she would be confident enough subsequently, to sit on the CEO’s chair and endeavour to make the kind of difference that would endear her to the staff. Again, the personnel make much difference in any organization. They do the work. They write obituaries.

III: Nigeria Goes A-Borrowing?

One of the issues during the Presidential campaigns for the 2023 general elections was Nigeria’s debt profile. The point was made repeatedly that Nigeria ‘s debt burden was too high, but the Debt Management (DMO) kept insisting that Nigeria could in fact borrow more money, because we had a relatively low debt burden compared to other African countries. Those who should know argued then that the problem was that the country was borrowing not for productivity, but crass assumption. By the time the Tinubu administration assumed office in May 29, the debt profile had grown bigger with about 98% country revenue to debt service ratio. Subsequent disclosures showed that inflation was well over 26%, food inflation much higher, the foreign reserves was down to a paltry $4 million, equivalent of just 4 months of imports, the country’s unemployment rate was over 36%, later reviewed strangely downwards, through voodoo methodology. But more persons had slipped into multidimensional poverty. By the time President Tinubu took key steps in the economy: removal of fuel subsidy, that the Buhari administration tactfully dodged, and the harmonization of the foreign exchange regime, our nightmare was complete.

To address this, the government of the day has been busy announcing palliatives and loans, up to about N3. 27 trillion that would be used to alleviate the suffering that has descended heavily on the land: as follows: N200 billion to boost agriculture, N75bn for manufacturers, N125 bn for MSMEs and the informal sector, N185 billion as palliatives for states, N1 trillion as student loans, N315 billion to pay federal workers allowances for six months, N1. 13 trillion to 15 million households at N25, 000 for 3 months, N100 billion to acquire 3, 000 units of 20-seater CNG fuelled buses, N70 billion as palliative for lawmakers, N75 billion loan for market women… and so on. The way this Nigerian government has been announcing a spending spree of billions since June 2023 is frightening. Wale Edun, the Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy has said the country will no longer rely on Ways and Means. So where is the money to run the economy and fund wastage and leakages coming from? Even the IMF/World Bank, at their recent Annual Summit in Marrakech, Morocco while praising recent reforms in Nigeria have said openly that the Naira is under pressure, with inflation at 26% year on year, and while reviewing Nigeria’s growth projection downwards, advised that Nigeria has to tighten monetary policy and address its foreign exchange to build trust and confidence. IMF says it is willing to lend Nigeria money if it is approached by Nigerian authorities. May we not end up like Sri Lanka and Venezuela. And Ghana next door.

The truth is that we have been on a borrowing spree since June 2023: $449 million in IBRD loan and $301 million IDA credit totalling $750 million, $500 million from the World Bank to invest in improving livelihoods of Nigerian women; in July, it was further reported that Tinubu’s administration is to take $800 million pre-approved loan to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal, by September 2023, within three months, Nigeria had borrowed $1.95 bn from the World Bank. By last weekend, it was reported that Nigeria was poised to borrow an additional fresh loan of $1.5 billion from the World Bank, what is otherwise called HOPE loan. Who is going to pay? Hope? How? The projected revenue of N10 trillion for 2023 cannot support fresh borrowings. The Senate has asked the government to bring a supplementary 2023 budget, nobody has said anything, perhaps because the lawmakers themselves have been allocated N70 billion for expensive SUV vehicles. Yesterday was World Food Day, food inflation in Nigeria is above 24%, much higher in some of the states. And yet on top of it all, the government continues to make appointments on a daily basis, driving up the cost of governance. One or two Governors have more than 50 media aides, most of them bearing the same titles, doing nothing.

Is the Tinubu government planning to run the country by borrowing? Some commentators have praised the choice of President’s economic managers: Wale Edun – Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Yemi Cardoso – Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and Abubakar Bagudu, Minister of Budget and National Planning, but all the praise from the international community about suitability just because these managers appear to be dancing to the tunes of the neo-liberal economists at the IMF and the World Bank would be of no use to Nigeria, if the average citizen can no longer eat bread or corn. Nigerians cannot be fed with rhetoric and platitudes. Can we stop the grandstanding, and do real work? It is a question of management and leadership.

If conscienceless violence is a credible measure of evil, then I'm afraid the distinction between Benjamin Netanyahu's regular army and Hamas terrorists is becoming less and less clear. The only difference I still see is the temporal order of cause and effect. Evil does not stop being evil simply because it is reactionary. We cannot canonize horrific evil because it is perpetrated in response to an earlier heinous evil. There are no equities in evil. If we have all established that the women and children of Palestine are not Hamas terrorists; if we have already agreed that the women and children of Palestine are as much victims of Hamas terrorism as are Israeli women and children, then we must also agree that the ongoing campaign of indiscriminate bombings and killings of women and children of Gaza is equally terroristic.

The disturbing images streaming out of Gaza Strip are as shockingly horrifying as they are searingly traumatizing. Our already violated collective innocence is under further daily assault in Gaza. Our television boxes have become box offices of horror, except that this is no movie. This reel is real. The tragedy of TV in times like this is that it makes all of us complicit. TV denies us the luxury of plausible deniability and the defense of ignorance. We cannot claim we didn't see it, because we did. We do.

We are watching deadly violence in real time, not recorded playback. Yes, Hamas shocked and terrorized our conscience with grotesquely abominable evil on Black Saturday. Nobody can deny that. But Israel is revictimizing us in real time. Telegraphing violence before it happens makes us all accomplices because of our failure to stop it and protect innocent victims. When it telegraphs its plan of violence, Israel puts us on notice, extorts our consent, and assumes our permission to evil.

Israel has used TV to conscript the rest of us into this orgy of violence. Without knowing it, we are playing along. Sports events this weekend, from London to LA, began with one-minute silence for Israeli victims of Hamas terrorism. But more than twice Palestinian children have been blown up by Israeli rockets in the week that has followed. When will the world cure itself of this cataract of selective blindness? The blood of every innocent Palestinian child spilled in the kiosks of Gaza is as precious as the blood of every Israeli child shed in the kibbutz of Ashkelon. The only difference is that one child was murdered by an organized terrorist group and the other by an organized army.

Yes, even in our general and generous grief and solidarity for Israel, we must pause to ask difficult and inconvenient questions. What is the endgame? You can't root out Hamas by creating more Hamas. Every mother killed by Israeli bomb while her young boy watches and cries in helplessness is a Hamas recruited. Israel stated that its goal was to kill the last Hamas terrorist in Gaza. So far close to 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and 10,000 wounded. Israel has not told us how many of those numbers are Hamas terrorists. But it is the age of TV. We know, because we see. We see, because we watch TV. And what we watch, see, and know is that lifeless and limbless bodies of 6 months and 6 years could not have been those of Hamas terrorists. This siege of sacrilege must cease.

If revenge and vengeance have driven Israel to counter-evil, enough of that has been exacted already. The world must now help Israel to regain rationality. Any war that rides exclusively on emotion will ultimately end in annihilation and extinction. Israel must heal. The world must assist Israel to heal. But effective healing for Israel cannot come from the collateral graves of innocent Palestinian children and women. Their innocent blood will impose guilt, not healing. It is time to regain our rationality. It is time to ask hard questions and give inconvenient answers.

We must mourn the lives of innocent Israelis, including the 260 innocent young men and women butchered at a music festival by Hamas terrorists. But we cannot turn blind eyes to the sad fact that Israel is committing a genocidal orgy in Gaza and the world is eagerly watching. My fear for Israel is that the human memory has limited storage capacity. It operates on a recency, not primacy, structure. It wipes off older events to save the newest data. The human memory remembers the last vivid atrocity. I'm afraid the last thing the world will remember when it is all over is the cemeterization and golgothaization of Gaza by Israel. Sadly, that is what Hamas terrorists want.

Dr. Vitus Ozoke is a lawyer, a civil and human rights activist, and a public commentator based in the United States.

The University of Health and Allied Sciences, Volta Region, Ghana has been adjudged the country’s best higher institution to study Sports Medicine.

 The university came out tops in a global rating conducted by the renown rating agency, EduRank in its 2023 exercise.

According to EduRank, the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Volta Region, Ghana was ranked 16 in Africa and 1,279 in the world “based on their research performance in Sports Medicine”.

 The ranking results, according to EduRank, was premised on a number of variables, including citations of the academic papers and publication ratings published by the universities involved.  

A Nigerian Professor of Sports and Exercise Psychology, Seun Omotayo, who is the pioneer Head of Department (HOD), Department of Sports and Exercise Medical Science at University of Health and Allied Sciences, designed the Department’s curriculum from scratch four years ago and led its development to achieve this feat.

 In a reaction to the rating achievement, Prof. Omotayo said: “This is something to cheer. It is not a walk in the park I am very happy at this development which is the result of innovation in academic curriculum development and creative, job-driven curriculum implementation.”

 Prof. Omotayo was the Team Psychologist of the Nigerian Flying Eagles which in Saudi ’89 recorded “The Dammam Miracles” by rallying from 0-4 down to beat the Union of Soviet and Socialist Republic (USSR).

 He urged Nigerian universities to “develop such job-focused Sports Medicine programmes” and expressed readiness to put his expertise in the service of the country to tap into this vastly untapped field in the Nigerian university system.  

Nasarawa State governor, Abdullahi Sule, has taken his political party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to court following his defeat at the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, (GEPT) sitting in Lafia, the state capital.

The recent judgement by the tribunal has left the governor in a confusing position, prompting him to seek another interpretation from the Court of Appeal regarding the ruling which ousted him from office and declared David Ombugadu of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the lawfully elected governor of the state.

Sule had since instructed his legal team to appeal the judgement of the tribunal.

However, in what seems like a confusing state of affairs, his legal counsel has initiated a fresh appeal, targeting those perceived to be the governor’s allies.

In a document made available to DAILY POST, and filed to the Makurdi Court of Appeal, Sule appears to have filed a suit against Ombugadu, as well as PDP, INEC and his own party, the APC.

However, David Ombugadu and the PDP have filed a cross appeal against Sule’s appeal at the Court of Appeal sitting in Markurdi.

The available document has INEC, Abdullahi Sule and APC as 1st, 2nd and 3rd respondents, respectively.

Recall that the tribunal judgment, which removed Sule as the governor of Nasarawa State, was a majority decision in favour of PDP’s David Ombugadu.

However, a minority judgment affirmed Sule as the validly elected governor.

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the last election, Peter Obi, has advised the Federal Government to invest heavily in agriculture in a bid to end the lingering food crisis in the country.

The former Anambra governor made the remark in a statement issued on Monday to commemorate 2023 World Food Day.

Obi argued that if the Federal Government agreed to utilise the fertile soil in the northern part of the country for agriculture, the food crisis ravaging the nation would be alleviated.

He said the land, if utilised, would produce enough for both domestic consumption and exportation.

Obi lamented how the activities of non-state actors causing mayhem in many Nigerian communities are sabotaging food production.

His statement reads in part: “Consequently, a vast majority of Nigerians spend the entirety of their disposable income on food, which is often hardly enough.

“The horrible spate of attacks on farmers in Nigeria by armed and terror groups has continued to hinder food production and food supplies, therefore threatening to push the country deeper into a devastating hunger crisis. Lack of adequate investment in agriculture also contributes greatly to the food crisis in Nigeria.

“I have maintained that the vast fertile lands in the North, if put into productive agricultural use, will produce enough food for domestic consumption and for exports, which can give us more revenue than we generate from oil. Government, therefore, must invest heavily in agriculture to ensure sufficient food production for Nigeria and the global world.”

The appeal court has declared Rev Amos Yohanna of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the 2023 senatorial candidate representing the Adamawa north senatorial zone.

Recall Rev. Amos Kumai Yohanna in a petition filed at the tribunal sitting in Yola, challenged the election of Senator Abbo as the winner of the election.

In his petition marked, EPT/AD/SEN/02/2023, the Kumai had alleged that the election of Abbo was invalid.

Citing grounds, he said Abbo’s winning was characterised by corrupt practices and non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, adding that Abbo was not duly elected by the majority of lawful votes cast during the election.

He alleged that there were cases of over voting at various polling units, false entries, alteration and cancellation of votes at several polling units among others.

He said some of the cancellations were not signed by the presiding officers of the polling units, and based on these he prayed the tribunal to set aside the election of Senator Abbo.

Meanwhile, on his part, Sen Abbo on 19th June, 2023 filed a final written address through his counsel, Sam. Ologunorisha (SAN) where he urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition, tagging it as lacking in merit.

However, on Monday, the Appeal Court granted the prayers of Rev Yohanna, declaring him winner of the senatorial election.

Nigeria’s annual inflation rate rose to 26.72 per cent in September from 25.80 per cent in the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.

The statistics office said the September 2023 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.92 per cent points when compared to the August 2023 headline inflation rate.

The NBS said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 5.94 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in September 2022, which was 20.77 per cent.

“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in September 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., September 2022),” it said.

According to the report, the food inflation rate in September quickened to 30.64 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 7.30 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in September 2022 (23.34 per cent).

Food prices have been on the rise across Nigeria in recent years. The situation deteriorated due to the impact of government policies such as the removal of subsidies on petrol, among others.

President Bola Tinubu on 29 May during his inauguration, announced the removal of subsidy on petrol. This development has caused hardship for many Nigerians with its attendant increase in the prices of goods and services.

Over the past four months, the naira has depreciated by over 50 per cent at both the authorised and unauthorised market segments, after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced in June that it had collapsed all forex windows into the Investors and exporters (I&E) window.

The move, according to the apex bank, is part of the Nigerian government’s efforts to improve liquidity and stability in the market and attract foreign investors into the Nigerian economy.

Although the policy was widely applauded as well-intentioned and necessary, it has put additional pressure on the local currency and manufacturers, with ripple effects on domestic prices.

Inflation has remained high in Africa’s largest economy, prompting the apex bank to hike interest rates to their highest levels in nearly two decades.

In July, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), raised its benchmark lending rate to 18.75 per cent.

The bank said, “hiking the interest rate has made a lot of difference in moderating the rate of inflation”.

It noted that the option to continue the hike in the policy rate, albeit moderately, also presented a strong alternative premised on the expected liquidity injections into the economy from the recent efforts to unify the nation’s foreign exchange markets.

…demands immediate appointment of a substantive Auditor General

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas has called on the Federal Government to commit one percent of its annual budget to the office of the Auditor General of the Federation to ensure adequate oversight of 900 MDAs in the country.

Speaker Abbas who was represented by the Deputy Speaker of the House Representatives, Hon Benjamin Kalu made this revelation at the Unveiling of Public Accounts Committee, PAC of members of the 10th Assembly and Leadership Training, One-Day National Colloquium’ in Abuja on Monday.

TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) reports the speaker also demanded for the appointment of a substantive Auditor General to the Federation immediately.

Hear him: “The National Assembly is interested and committed to the office of the Auditor general. What’s adequate for that job to be done, fully well, is at least, one percent of the total budget of the federal Republic of Nigeria. That’s what that office needs if they must do the job and do it very well.

“We are committed as people with the power of the purse to review the budget of the Auditor general office, unless we don’t want about the 900 MDAs to be well over-sighted.

“As the civil society mentioned, most of these MDAs were not touched, and the issue is due to lack of adequate resources for the auditor general’s office to get the job done.

“We should not make them magicians, we should equip them to sufficiently to pursue the money of Nigeria so that the work of the National Assembly will be easier.

“The introduction of technology will help us become more transparent to document better and make the results coming out from our exercise more credible. The oversight function is going to make use of technology. So in no distant time, expect the launching and unveiling of what we call NASS Eyes.

“To do this also, the collaboration of the executive cannot be overstated, though we are three arms of government, we are one government pursuing one national objective. Objective of the renewed hope where revenues will be increased and leakages blocked.

“Let me mention that I heard the chairman’s request that the office of the accountant general make provision for a bus that will help the committee do their job.

“We want to maintain that in the spirit of doctrine of separation of powers and in need to be thorough in the exercise of our duty, investigating the work done by the accountant general, we will not be accepting that gift. Rather Nigerians should expect the House and senate to make sufficient budget that will be enough to provision for the committees such as yours

“I’m joining my voice to that of my brother, the chairman of PAC committee, we cannot afford to have an acting director or whatever nomenclature occupying that important position of auditor general.

“We urge Mr President to look into confirming the person who’s there or anybody of his choice to take up the role of Auditor general of this country, it will send the right signal that this government is ready to act in the interest of all Nigerians.

[Newsguru]

In September 2023, the headline inflation rate increased to 26.72% relative to the August 2023 headline inflation rate, which was 25.80%, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a report released on Monday.

Looking at the movement, the September 2023 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.92% points when compared to the August 2023 headline inflation rate.

On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 5.94% points higher compared to the rate recorded in September 2022, which was 20.77%.

This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in September 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e. September 2022).

Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in September 2023 was 2.10%, which was 1.08% lower than the rate recorded in August 2023 (3.18%).

This means that in September 2023, the rate of increase in the average price level was less than the rate of increase in the average price level in August 2023.

[Leadership]

The president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem has ordered that all pending petitions from the 36 states of the federation regarding the outcome of the 2023 elections be transferred to the Lagos and Abuja divisions of the appellate court.

Naija News understands that based on the directive, all such pending cases resulting from the verdict of the various state petition election petition tribunals would now be heard and decided by judges in Lagos and Abuja divisions only.

The order affects gubernatorial, national and state assemblies’ elections.

The directive by Dongban-Mensem for only two of the 20 divisions of the court to determine all appellate cases arising from tribunal disputes is said to have been informed by the plethora of petitions and protests by political parties and their candidates, who allege that the judges of the tribunals were heavily compromised by the governors during the trial stage in their respective states.

The Court of Appeal President was said to have carried out discreet investigations into the allegations against the governors and the judges of the trial tribunal and established the existence of some ‘unholy alliances’ which might have led to a miscarriage of justice at the tribunals.

Some judges of the tribunals were reportedly indicted and might face trial by the National Judicial Council (NJC).

Speaking on the development, a member of the House of Representatives representing Warri Federal Constituency, Hon. Thomas Ereyitomi was quoted by TVC to have welcomed the decision as long as it would guarantee fair and impartial judgements.

He however noted the financial implications that may result in the transfer of the cases.

“We have the notice transferring the cases from Delta State to Lagos and we have complied. Its financial implications are huge but no sacrifice is too much to get a fair and impartial judgement,” Ereyitomi said.

[NaijaNews]