Wole Soyinka, the Nobel laureate, says the leadership of the Labour Party (LP) knew that Peter Obi, the presidential candidate, lost the February 25 election.

Soyinka accused the leadership of the opposition party of trying to force “a lie” on Nigerians, especially youths, that Obi won the election.

The Nobel laureate spoke at an event titled “The Lives of Wole Soyinka — A Dialogue” organised by Africa in the World.

The event took place on Wednesday in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

While speaking at the event, Soyinka was asked to react to his comment against Datti Baba-Ahmed, LP vice-presidential candidate, after the general election.

Soyinka said the truth matters to him, noting that many people always look for shortcuts.

The Nobel laureate said he was armed with facts when he invaded a radio station in Ibadan in 1965.

He added that he was not relying on “third-hand information” about the result of the 1965 regional election.

Soyinka accused the LP of taking over the organised labour movement in the build-up to the 2023 election.

He noted that Obi achieved “something remarkable” by breaking the monopoly of power established by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“This recent election – two things happened first of all. One party took over the labour movement, which is not my favourite movement, and then it became a regional party,” he said.

“Whereas it was a marvellous breach into the established two camps. Peter Obi achieved something remarkable there, that he broke that mould. However, he did not win the election.

“I can say categorically that Peter Obi’s party came third not even second and the leadership knew it but they want to do what we call in Yoruba ‘gbajue’, that is force of lies.”

Soyinka also alleged that the LP leadership attempted to mobilise young people to protest against the outcome of the election on the “banner of lies and deceit”.

“They were going to send some of the hardliners, proud young people into the street to demonstrate,” he said.

“I’m also ready to be among such demonstrators but only on the banner of truth not on lies, and deceit.

“This party wanted the same thing (referring to 2011 post-election violence) to happen on the basis of a lie and we find this vice-presidential candidate on television boasting, insisting, threatening and trying to intimidate both the judiciary and the rest.

“What kind of government will result from that kind of conduct? In addition, they did not know this but they were being used.

“Before the election, there were certain clandestine forces, including some ex-generals, who were already calling for an interim government before the elections began.

“Some of them were known figures, including a proprietor of a university calling for an interim government before the election took place.”

In March, Soyinka and LP were at loggerheads over comments made by Baba-Ahmed on the outcome of the presidential election.

On March 22, Baba-Ahmed, in an interview with Channels TV, said the country has no president-elect despite the declaration of Bola Tinubu, flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Baba-Ahmed said Tinubu should not be sworn in as president because he “did not meet requirements of the law”.

Reacting to the comment, Soyinka said the LP vice-presidential candidate’s words contained “fascistic language” and that he has “never heard anyone threaten the judiciary on television the way Datti did”.

[TheCable]

The Central Bank of Nigeria has denied any plan to redenominate the naira to almost equal the United States Dollars.

Reports (Not This platform) had claimed that the apex bank planned to redenominate the currency such that $1 will equal N1.25 by November 2023.

The report had claimed, “The name of the national currency will still be the Naira. However, during the transition period, the existing Naira will be referred to as the “Old Naira”, and the new one to be called the ‘New Naira.

“After the transition period, the word ‘New’ may be dropped. For example, the following equivalents will obtain as we re-denominate: 50 kobo Half kobo; N1 = 1 kobo coin; N2 = 2 kobo coin; N5 = 5 kobo coin; N10 = 10 kobo coin; N20 = 20 kobo coin; N50 = 50 kobo coin or note; N100 = N 1 note; N200 = N2 note; N500 = N5 note; N1,000 = N10 note and the N2,000 = N20 note.”

But the CBN labeled the report “false” adding that there are no such plans to redenominate the currency.

The apex bank said, “The Central Bank of Nigeria would like to bring to your attention that the attached message currently circulating on social media is false and should be disregarded.”

The report claimed that the CBN was planning to execute the policy to drive down prices amidst the country’s rising inflation.

The CBN under the Acting Governor, Folashodun Shonubi on June 14 2023, reintroduced the ‘Willing buyer, willing seller’ foreign exchange model and floated the currency.

The apex bank also unified the forex market along the Investors’ and Exporters’ Forex window now the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.

Since the introduction of the policy, the naira has fallen to N930 at the parallel market which is controlled by Bureau de Change Operators and N773 per dollar at the official window.

The FTSE Russell on Monday downgraded the Nigerian Stock Exchange over the ‘failure’ of the policy to achieve the desired result.

According to FTSE Russell, Nigeria’s foreign exchange crunch has made it difficult for investors to repatriate funds and proceeds of investment in the capital market.

This week, President Muhammadu Buhari clocked 100 days away from office after completing two terms of four years each as President of Nigeria.

He chose to stay in Daura to be far away from Abuja in order not to distract the new APC administration and in the hope also that the distance will make it possible for him to have a good rest and to care for his farm which had not received as much attention as it needed while he was away.

He goes to the farm four days of the week and is upbeat about how well the crops and his animals are now doing. He gets a good measure of rest but the visits have not abated. To manage the numbers, he has a weekly program drawn for him as they did while he was in the Villa.

Visitors are scheduled on the program but there are so many people who just start their motor bikes and cars to head out to Daura to him in the belief that he has the time to receive all visitors.

Among his many “special guests” are party faithful, grassroots groups, farmers, artisans, artists, praise singers, nurses and doctors, religious leaders, community leaders and several other professionals. Not left out are those who benefited from the administration, one way or another.

The other day, he was musing the decision to remove fuel subsidy by the Tinubu administration, saying he had hoped that it would lessen the pressure on him by constraining the large number of people who pick up their transport and head to Daura to see him from all parts of the country, but that he had noted that instead of they coming one by one, his friends, including the poor and the marginalized now group themselves, share costs to hire buses to come to see and talk to him.

So while it is the case that some in the country were happy that he was no longer in office, there are some, even more that continue to cherish and admire him.

In the eight years he led the country, Muhammadu Buhari had taken many decisions and as is human, one or two may have been wrong. But no one, not even critics, can question his intentions when those decisions were taken.

There has not been a single area that has not been touched by the Buhari government, with massive, positive changes in the eight years he held fort.

In the normative functions of our governments, an administration takes four to five major decisions in four years and they rush to the public square to celebrate themselves. Looking at the records he left, the Buhari government has taken hundreds of major decisions in the eight years it was in office, and yet you hear nothing but criticism upon criticism.

The promise of tackling corruption and establishing a strong democracy was a prime factor in the rise to power by Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress party in 2015.

On coming to office, the administration directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to close their accounts with deposit money banks to fully operationalize the Treasury Single Account. TSA was launched in 2012 but left on the drawing boards. More than 17,000 bank accounts were closed and an average of four billion Naira in monthly bank charges was saved. Government revenue, it was found out, was being banked in personal accounts and signatories were, in some instances, big men and women who had retired from service.

This was closely followed with the institution of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll System, IPPS to cover all MDAs in spite of great opposition by the armed forces and the universities. Ghost workers in excess of 50,000 were flushed out and savings in hundreds of billions made.

The last administration established “project lighthouse,” a financial data integration engine that helped to identify unpaid debts put at more than five trillion Naira, out of which a good part has been recovered. It subscribed to the Open Government Partnership, OGP in 2016, instituted the Whistleblower mechanism which has been legislated into law, fast-tracked Identity Management taking registered entries to well above 100 million from just about 20-25 in 2015, boosted assets recovery at home and abroad with enhanced laws that ensured transparency in the management of the funds and generally increased the latitude of power and authority of anti corruption agencies and the office of the Auditor General of the Federation.

Throughout these eight years, no bribery allegations against the person of Muhammadu Buhari were ever made.

One of the of the greatest achievements of the Buhari government has been that it diversified the economy. The administration achieved self-sufficiency in rice, and financed millions of small farmers of 23 different commodities, an effort that helped to boost the export of agricultural commodities.

In addition to programs such as the Anchor Borrower Scheme, the Buhari government launched the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative, following the success of which Nigeria has become a net exporter of certain variants of fertilizer;  it set set up Special-Agro Processing Zones, resurrected the National Agricultural Land Development Authority, NALDA, set up the National Young Farmers Scheme, Agriculture for Food and Jobs Program and the National Livestock Transformation Program, NLTP among others.

The NLTP was the administration’s effective response to herder-farmer clashes which spiked a few years back, that have substantially been curbed.

The Buhari government launched programs  to streamline 46 million vulnerable people into the country’s development process, men and women who were otherwise deprived of it as the nation progressed and in way, helping thereby to increase their faith in democracy. Two million poor and vulnerable households received N10,000 bimonthly stipend per month; 10 million school children received a meal a day which has boosted school enrollment and following presidential approvals, so many schemes- Nigeria’s Micro Pension Scheme,Survival Fund, National Youth Investment Fund, National Special Public Works Program, COVID-19 Targeted Credit Facility, Survival Fund, Nigeria Investment and Growth Fund, the Development Bank (created in 2017) and the enhancement of the Bank of Industry just to cite a few have   all come  into play to make life better for the citizens as part of the massive changes in the economy.

The Covid-19 pandemic was brought under control due to the relentless leadership of President Buhari. In fact, the country was among the top few that came out with strong economic activities after the pandemic. It has happened due to the farsightedness of the President and the effective leadership of the efforts by the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.

Today Boko Haram terrorism has almost been quashed. There has been a massive improvement in health infrastructure, a significant and new education policy has been framed, and even a policy against open defecation has been formulated and is taking hold in many states.

No one should be angry at some revisionist characters whose only focus is the delegitimization of significant Buhari legacies.They refuse to acknowledge that bomb explosions, suicide bomb incidents and all that stopped when President Buhari stepped in. The National Security office was ruthless in denying End User Certificates, EUCs to those bringing in Urea fertilizer. They  impounded shipments of fertilizer for over 5 years to freeze the bomb-making industry controlled by terrorists thereby helping to bring these atrocities to a standstill. The so-called critics don’t want to acknowledge the great job done by the nation’s intelligence agencies in diminishing the IPOB, its affiliates and other secessionist movements. The National Intelligence Agency, NIA single-handedly worked with our neighbors, especially Niger Republic in bringing down illegal small arms and light weapons importation into Nigerian territory by 78%.  This agency carried out extensive work on the blocking of the insurgent Cameroonian Ambazonian network’s  infiltration into Nigeria. Our security and intelligence operatives were virtually awake 24/7 and the President was well aware at all times on the evolving situations.

Buhari’s critics don’t want to acknowledge how General Marwa’s arrival on the scene completely paralyzed the activities of big time drug syndicates. What General Marwa did in just one year has not been achieved in our National history. Even the Senator Hadi Sirika that they want to smear has improved aviation security beyond any of his predecessors. His efforts are acknowledged by international organizations including the International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO and by many other countries. Where were they when he was keeping awake at night to ensure that the Abuja runway was repaired in record time? Or working to fully execute the modernization of terminal buildings in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Enugu (plus runway) and Port Harcourt?

It’s no mean achievement that the Nigerian aviation sector made the world’s second fastest recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.

The critics don’t want to acknowledge that maritime security experienced such a turn around when Admiral Gambo came on board. In less than one year, the International Maritime Bureau was singing the Nigerian Navy’s praises for normalizing the dire security situation in the Gulf of Guinea, GoG. Their reports clearly stated that for the first time in 27 years, the GoG had become the safest maritime environment.

There has not been a single area that had  not been touched by the Buhari government. We have seen massive positive changes in the last eight years but as they say, the one who is pretending to be asleep is harder to wake up than the one who is actually sleeping.

Bullies who attacked governments and “something dropped” will continue to antagonize Buhari borne of anger from lost opportunities. A certain Buhari “critic” who served a Military Governor in one of the Northern States, even his underwear was bought from government coffers. When they came in they freed thieves, robbers and receivers of stolen goods and even gave them a working capital!

Within a few weeks, crime returned to Kaduna, and yes, the other places and he has the effrontery to speak as he did. This society has no use for such squalid nonsense!!

How many of these people do you think were happy when President Buhari said “no more free money”?

Buhari said money in National Security Agencies is for security. Lazy men and women who can’t work cannot just walk in and walk out of that place with bags stuffed with money in a free-for-all. These ones have nothing to teach anyone. President Tinubu, a wise politician will equally see through their masquerade.

Muhammadu has done his part and left. History will judge him, and fairly I think.

•Garba Shehu is former Presidential Spokesman to President Muhammadu Buhari

Fifteen of our 36 governors and three deputy governors travelled to Kigali, Rwanda last month for a three-day executive leadership retreat. We were told the trip was organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF). The retreat was reportedly designed to enable our governors to “re-imagine Nigeria’s leadership to achieve transformation and nationwide sustainable development.” Remarkably, governors from all five parties were represented: The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as well as the Labour Party (LP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).   

Although the governors have since returned from Kigali, many Nigerians remain critical of the idea that chief executives of our states would go all the way to Rwanda to nurture “skills to support deep listening and self-awareness” and learn how to address “multiple complex challenges.” Besides, at a time we are seeking foreign investors, it is demarketing to suggest there are no suitable places in Nigeria where governors could hold a retreat.  Not to mention the extraordinary cost involved. But the Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, recently explained what transpired in Kigali as well as how and why the retreat was conceived. What he said deserves attention. 

Sule spoke in Lagos at the public presentation of ‘Hallmarks of Labour’ Volume 11 in honour of former External Affairs Minister, Prof Bolaji Akinyemi, former Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, immediate past Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu and former Ohanaeze Ndigbo President-General, Prof. Joseph Ogbonnaya Irukwu, now of blessed memory. Authored by Ms Patricia Otuedon-Arawore—whose 26-year-old foundation honours selected accomplished Nigerians annually—the book highlights the achievements of these four role models who, according to the session’s chairman, Chief Phillip Asiodu, “have attained national and international prominence through hard work, integrity, transparency and positive public-spirited service.” 

In addition to Sule, Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, and his Borno State counterpart, Babagana Zulum were in attendance. Oyo State was represented by Deputy Governor Bayo Lawal while the Secretary to the State Government, Bimbola Salu-Hundeyin stood in for Lagos Governor. Also participating were former Commonwealth Secretary General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Vanguard newspapers publisher, Mr Sam Amuka-Pemu as well as Chief Mrs Nike Akande, Senator Daisy Danjuma, and a host of other distinguished Nigerians. I was at the event to honour both Gambari and Akinyemi whose career paths I crossed many times, even as they remain friends. Apparently in response to critics, Sule defended the Kigali trip: “Unfortunately, and unlike so many accusations that have come in, it was not a trip organised by the Nigeria Governor Forum. It was an event organized by the UNDP. And UNDP decided to organize that event purely to take us to where leadership has worked and indeed leadership has worked in that country.”  

The first take-away is the admission that leadership has failed in Nigeria at practically all levels and in all spheres – whereas it works in Rwanda. Nobody can argue with Sule on that. “We had a similar thing in Nigeria, which was the civil war, but we didn’t get it right. They have got it right after the genocide. So, if we can only pick that part and unite our country, Nigeria will be a better place,” Sule added. I agree with Sule that the scars of the civil war are still very much with us, but I don’t think Rwanda is where we can learn about dealing with diversity.

However, the real takeaway from the Nasarawa governor’s confession was what he personally learnt from President Paul Kagame. According to Sule, he strategically positioned himself to be seated near Kagame so he could ask him a question. “I asked the president of Rwanda ‘what you do right that we should also do in Nigeria?’”. Kagame’s response as relayed by Sule is instructive. “He said the day Nigeria starts comparing itself to Rwanda, Africa is dead.” And from there Sule quoted what Kagame reportedly told him on what he and his colleagues should begin to do: “We cannot be compared with Nigeria. Tell Nigeria to wake up because Africa is waiting for her. We cannot afford for Nigeria to remain asleep, so tell Nigeria to wake up. And I’m challenging you governors, starting from you. Go and do it in your own state and make your state better. And if every one of you here would make your state better, Nigeria would be better for Africa.” 

Kagame would not be the first African leader to say what Sule attributed to him about Nigeria letting itself and Africa down. The late South African President, Mr Nelson Mandela, was also quoted to have said something similar. The issue is what our leaders are doing to change the narrative. But before I proceed, it is interesting that Gambari, one of the honourees featured in the book presented at the session where Sule spoke, played a critical role in the Rwandan story. When the genocide against the Tutsi broke out in 1994, Gambari was Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations at a time our country was also a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council which he (Gambari) later chaired. The trio of Colin Keating of New Zealand, Karel Kovanda of the Czech Republic, and Gambari were vociferous in advocating early UN intervention by alerting the world that the killings in Rwanda were genocidal.  

In April 2021, Kagame publicly acknowledged that Rwanda will never forget Nigeria’s contribution towards stopping the genocide and he referenced Gambari. According to Kagame, while many world leaders were stonewalling in response to the tragedy, some people and countries stood out. “And one of them is an African country that we shall always be proud to call a good friend, represented by a man I remember, called Ibrahim Gambari. Nigeria stood out and said there is a problem, and we must call it what it is. Professor Gambari was there, and we shall always be proud of Nigeria,” Kagame said in his speech to mark Kwibuka27, an event held annually to remember victims of the genocide. 

Now to the present. Kagame was right in telling Sule that it is a lack of ambition that would make any Nigerian leader aspire to be like Rwanda. With due respect to the yeoman efforts of Kagame (and he remains one of the few leaders on the continent for whom I have tremendous respect), Nigeria ought to aim far higher. Rwanda is a landlocked country of 13.46 million people. That is less than the population of Lagos State and just about 7 percent of the population of our country. With 26,338 square kilometers, Rwanda is also less than many states in Nigeria in landmass. In fact, Nigeria is more than 35 times the size of Rwanda while Niger State alone (at 76,000 square kilometres) is more than twice the size of the East-central African country. In human and material resources, Nigeria is also far ahead of Rwanda and all other African countries, for that matter. 

By telling Sule that his charity should begin in Nasarawa, Kagame is invariably saying to him and colleagues what some of us have been saying all along: For Nigeria to develop and thrive, the focus cannot only be on Abuja. The states will also have to work for the people. Meanwhile, it is instructive that the destiny of Nigeria appears to be in the hands of governors. Of the five presidents we have had under the current dispensation, three (the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and now Bola Tinubu) have served as governors. Just like their Vice Presidents. Now, the Senate President, many Senators and Ministers are also former Governors. There is therefore no reason why the states cannot be centres of productivity and development. But a situation in which local government chairmen are corralled into prostrating before governors to obtain their statutory allocations offers little or no prospect in that direction. 

In case he missed the message, what Kagame was telling Sule is that governors in Nigeria can make a world of difference, especially since many of their states compare with African countries in terms of population and resources. The Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala made this same point nine years ago as coordinating minister for the economy under President Jonathan. Speaking at the 12^th convocation ceremony of Babcock University, Ilisan Remo, Ogun State in June 2014, Okonjo-Iweala said the governors “have no reason whatsoever not to develop their states, given the huge amounts they receive regularly from the Federation Account every month.”  

In that paper which did not go down well with many governors at the time, Okonjo-Iweala presented a breakdown of what ten states earned in 2013 and made a comparative analysis with revenues generated by a number of West African countries within the same period. “Many Nigerian states receive revenue allocations which are larger than the budgets of neighbouring countries such as: Liberia ($433 million), or Gambia ($210 million) or Benin Republic ($1.47 billion). The top two recipients of state allocations–Akwa Ibom and Rivers–receive $3.1 billion, which is about half of the entire budget of Ghana (about $6.4 billion),” Okonjo-Iweala said while calling on Nigerians to demand more accountability of their governors. “On a per capita basis (i.e., revenues/population), the top three recipients of FAAC allocations are: Bayelsa (N84,500 or $545), Akwa Ibom (N55,600 or $360) and Delta States (N42,000 or $270). On this per capita basis, many Nigerian states receive more than neighbouring countries such as: Ghana ($255), Benin Republic ($146), Liberia ($103), and Gambia ($117).” 

Clearly, the NGF must do more than organize retreats and seminars. It should become a serious institution generating ideas on how to drive development in the 36 states. It says so much that despite the intellect, experience, and exposure of many of our governors, hardly any of them considers himself more opportune than the average president of the next African country. Yet, it is only in that mental state that they can outgrow their present Abuja inspired ‘feeding bottle’ orientation. Each of our 36 states has the resources and potential to be better than many African countries. Why no governor has risen to that level of consciousness is the reason why they will continue to troop out when another Kigali calls. 

Adieu Akintola Williams 

As presidential spokesman in 2009, I attended a function where I was privileged to be seated beside the foremost Nigerian accountant, Mr Akintola Williams, who died on Monday at age 104. I remember asking him, “Sir, what is the secret to longevity?” He smiled and said, “I really don’t know but in my own case, I guess it is because I am unemployed and unemployable.” While I enjoyed his company that day, it happened to be the only personal contact I ever had with him. But it was enough to feel a sense of loss at his passage at a ripe old age. May God comfort the family he left behind. 

According to records available, the singer before his death released two albums and quite a number of singles, most of which were global hits and have generated a lot of revenues and will continue to generate a lot of revenue from streamings and licensing even after his death. 

The first album was released whilst he was signed to Marlian Music. So legally speaking, the royalties and revenues generated by that first album and every other single track he released while he was signed to that label will be owned by the label unless there was a contract stating otherwise. In fact, if you read or check ownership of the album on music streaming platforms, it is clearly written that the singer’s previous record label owns the album. This is mostly the case when an artiste is signed to a record label, every song or album the artiste released whilst under the management of that label becomes the property of the label unless there is a contract stating otherwise. 

The subsequent album and other singles he released after he broke out from Marlian Music and formed his own record label, “Imolenization” will be owned solely by him. 

Why is this legal analysis important!

It is important because according to research, in the first month after the death of an artiste, the songs of the artiste peak and generate high numbers of revenues through streaming. In fact, as I type this, 3 of the late singer’s songs just ranked in the top 10 music on streaming platforms in Nigeria barely 24 hours after his death.  

It is even on record that some artists make more money from their songs after they have died than when they were alive. Music and other intellectual properties of an artiste or an entertainer are immortal, it does not die with the creator, so it outlives the creators and will keep generating money decades or even centuries after the death of its creator. The late singer’s songs will keep generating money as much as it is good music. So determining who will control that revenue after the death of the artiste is quite important at this point. 

For instance, the legendary Fela who died some decades ago, his songs still generate millions of naira annually from streaming, synching and licensing. The royalties generated from Fela’s music were initially administered as part of Fela’s estate until the rights to his songs were acquired. 

It is heartbreaking that some artiste after their death the family members they left behind become destitute and wretched because they are ignorant of the fact that they could live comfortably by feeding from the legacy that was left behind. The mother of the late Dagrin complained some months ago that the family of Dagrin has never gotten a dime from the royalties and revenues that Dagrin’s music generated after his death. She disclosed that she has been struggling to feed since her son, Dagrin who was the breadwinner died. This got some of us worried because if you have an idea of how the music earnings and revenues work you will know that someone somewhere is feeding on their ignorance and definitely chopping the money generated from Dagrin’s music without the Knowledge of Dagrin’s family.

I wish Mohbad peace and I send my condolences to the family members. I advise that they should quickly secure the legacy, royalties and streaming earnings from Mohbad’s music. 

All 24 countries that will trade tackles at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote D’Ivoire have sealed qualification for the tournament.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that five-time AFCON champions Cameroon on Tuesday spanked Burundi 3-O to complete the star studded list of qualified teams.

A breakdown of the qualified countries shows that 12 former AFCON champions, including three-time champions Nigeria will be on parade come January, 2024.

Hosts, Cote d’Ivoire will be leading a strong West African contingent of 11 countries, including holders Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea, Burkina Faso among others.

Tanzania representing East Africa returns for a second finals after a brave showing in the qualifiers.

The North Africans are represented by seven-time champions Egypt, World Cup semi-finalists Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria.

Egypt will be looking for an eighth unprecedented title, having reached two of the last three finals in 2017 and at the 2021 edition.

NAN reports there will be no debutants in this edition, as the continent’s football power houses managed to maintain and seal qualification.

The 2023 AFCON will take place from January 13 to February 11, 2024, after it was postponed from it’s original June, 2023 date.

Full list of 24 qualified countries are Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire (Hosts) and DR Congo.

Others are Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco and Mozambique,

Others are Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal (Title Holders), South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia and Zambia.

NAN

The Ibadan Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Tuesday, arraigned Obakin Ajibola before Justice Ladiran Akintola of the Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan on a four-count bordering on alleged theft of N251,685,000 belonging to a firm, Lee Fakino Nigeria Limited where the accused had also been a director.

According to a statement issued by the Head of Media and Publicity of the anti-graft agency, Wilson Uwujaren, the defendant was said to have committed the alleged offence in Ibadan around December 2022.

The defendant, who was said to be one of the two directors of the company and signatory to the company’s account, allegedly withdrew the money from the account without authorisation and consent of the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Akindele Fajemiyo, who is also a signatory to the account.

Obakin was alleged to have removed the telephone numbers and email address of the MD/CEO of the company from the bank details of Lee Fakino Nigeria Limited, through which notification alerts of transactions were received to enable him to keep track of the account.

The statement partly reads, “Obakin, afterwards withdrew the said sum from the account of the firm, which was money paid for works executed by Lee Fakino Nigeria Limited for the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture between December 22, 2022, and March 9, 2023, without any notification received by Fajemiyo.

“Upon arraignment, Obakin pleaded “not guilty” to the charges filed against him by the EFCC.

“In view of his plea, prosecution counsel, Oyelakin Oyediran asked the court for a trial date and prayed the court to remand the defendant to the Correctional facility pending the determination of the case.

Counsel to the defendant, Ibrahim Lawal, urged the court to admit his client to bail.

“Justice Ladiran Akintola admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N50 million and two sureties, preferably the wife and younger brother to the defendant, in like sum.

Furthermore, “The sureties are to swear an affidavit of means, deposit their National Identification Slip with the court and provide the court with adequate residential addresses.”

The court equally ordered that the defendant provide the court with his National Identification Slip and residential address.

The matter was adjourned till October 23, 2023, for further hearing.

Chairman of Gwale Local Government Council, Khalid Ishaq Diso has been suspended for three months by the Kano State House of Assembly for allegedly selling government properties.

The allegation against Diso was made by his councillors. House standing committee on local governments and chieftaincy affairs presented the report during a plenary session presided over by the Speaker, Alhaji Isma’il Jibril Falgore.

Alhaji Hamza Zubairu Massu explained that the committee had carefully scrutinized the allegations contained in the petition by six of the 10 Gwale councillors. The allegations against the suspended chairman include illegal selling of government properties and taking decisions without consultations.

The Assembly directed the Vice Chairman to take over the affairs of the council, pending the outcome of the investigation.

People's Democratic Party (PDP) Chieftain and former House of Representatives candidate for Ekiti Central Federal Constituency, Lere Olayinka, has described the masturbation of Daniel Bwala and Don Pedro Obaseki, spokespersons of party's Presidential candidate in the last election, Atiku Abubakar, on the former Governor of Rivers State and Federal Capital Territory Minister, Chief Nyesom Wike, as a function of political frustration, adding that they (Bwala Obaseki) and others like them will soon dump Atiku and leave the PDP.

In a statement on Monday, Olayinka, who said Bwala and Obaseki were nomadic and "anywhere belle face" politicians, said it was funny that someone like Bwala, in particular, who was in the All Progressives Congress (APC) as at the time Atiku emerged as PDP presidential candidate last year was the one championing the expulsion of Wike from the PDP.

He said "it is obvious that the more they disparage Wike and others like Ayo Fayose, who stood by the PDP when Atiku and others left in 2014, the more (he) Atiku keeps footing their bills, including accomodation and feeding in one of the best hotels in Abuja."

The PDP chieftain, who described as insulting that tenants in PDP were now the ones calling for the expulsion of owners of the house, said "I give them till January, next year, these nomadic politicians who are feeding fat on Atiku's money will dump him for their next political victim."

"I read Bwala's latest tweets, saying those calling for peace in PDP and that the party should manage Wike, were actually buying time for him (Wike) to continue his destructive agenda against the party. He went further to say that Wike has never been faithful or loyal to anyone.

"I also read the press statement by Pedro Obaseki saying to expel Wike now was a task that must be done by the PDP.

"It is so painful that PDP is now being spoken for by nomadic politicians like Bwala and Obaseki. Same Obaseki that traversed three political parties between 2016 and 2017, moving from APC to Accord Party and Accord Party to PDP.

"Funny that the same Obaseki who was everywhere campaigning against his own cousin, Governor Godwin Obaseki and teamed up with outsiders against his own blood will not stop masturbating over Wike.

"Funny too that Bwala, who condemned PDP up till July, last year and could still not clear his brain of the hatred he had for the party even after he had dumped APC is the one talking about loyalty as if he has ever been loyal to anyone other than his stomach," Olayinka said.

Speaking further, Olayinka said one of the main reasons PDP lost the presidential election was Atiku's insulting and disrespectful treatment of those who held on to the PDP and gave life to the party when he (Atiku) and others left in 2014.

He said; "You left your father's house and joined outsiders to throw stones to the house while your other siblings stayed to fix the damages you and the outsiders caused to the house.

"Then, you returned a few years later to take the master bedroom and chose to send out your siblings who remained in the house and shared rooms to people with whom you threw stones to the house. Do you think God will let you sleep peacefully in that house?

"For us the genuine lovers of PDP, we will be here waiting for the food on the table of Atiku to finish. By then, these emergency lovers of PDP will move to their next victims and the party will regain its life again."

Dr. Don Pedro Obaseki, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) in the last election, has said that Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and former governor of Rivers State, has crossed a red line by calling for the suspension of the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

Remember Wike saying on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’, “Look at the areas that the PDP did not win because of high-handedness, greed, and impunity.” You could have discussed it if the PDP had done what they were supposed to do.

There should be equity, justice, and fairness, and that is why I am calling on the National Working Committee to suspend the presidential candidate, as well as people like Aminu Tambuwal so that the party (PDP) can be rebuilt.

In an interactive session with journalists yesterday in Abuja, Obaseki said bigwigs in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) should also brace themselves for Wike’s “betrayal,” adding that the PDP will no longer accept impunity from Wike.

He said;

He is the most rewarded betrayer in the history of our recent politics. From his time with Rotimi Amaechi, Goodluck Jonathan, Peter Odili, Atiku Abubakar and now his time with Bola Tinubu.

Wike coming out to ask for the suspension of the number one leader of the party and the presidential flag bearer of the party and the recipient of the mandate of the Nigerian people as declared in INEC’s submission that we won 21 states and asking Atiku to be suspended from the party, Wike has crossed the red line and now, he should be ready.

He has all the money to fight us back because we are coming at him like a thousand bricks. I am sure Wike went to Law School. I am sure he is a lawyer and he knows that ‘he who is ready for peace should prepare for war.’

Nyesom Wike has touched the tiger’s tail, let him wait. The only extensional advice I am going to give is that those who have employed his dastardly betrayal and chicanery in the APC should watch their back.