Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has directed that students of Kwara origin enrolled in public-owned tertiary institutions receive N10,000 each.

The governor also approved a N10,000 stipend for certain categories of security agents who serve as the first line of defence.

Rafiu Ajakaye, the governor’s chief press secretary, announced this in a statement on Tuesday.

The monetary palliative, according to Ajakaye, will be disbursed through the Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP) Office.

The approval for students’ support, described as one-off in its scope, is a departure from the previous bursary award, which covered only final year students of tertiary schools.

The special support will be coordinated by a government committee to be headed by Prof. Shehu Raheem Adaramaja, chairman of the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (KWSUBEB). He will be supported by officials from the Ministry of Tertiary Institution, bursary department, Ministry of Finance, and a representative each from the National Association of Kwara State Students (NAKSS) and National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in Kwara State.

The committee will publish a web link through which all students eligible for state bursary would apply for the support within dates to be announced, filling required information and documents.

President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have asked the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) to disqualify the Labour Party Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, from re-contesting in any rerun if the February 25th election was annulled.

The legal team of Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima, led by Chief Wole Olanipekun, claimed that Peter Obi is not a member of the labour party and lacks the legal right to challenge the election outcome.

Naija News reports that in their joint petition, Obi and LP alleged that the presidential poll was rigged against him in about 18,088 polling units (totaling over 2.5 million votes) aside from alleged over-voting that took place in parts of the South West. He also alleged that INEC’s failure to upload results to the IREV portal in real time negatively impacted the polls.

But l Olanipekun argued that the Court of Appeal, Lagos division, had ruled against the Labour Party that INEC had the discretion on the mode of collation of the election results.

He added that Peter Obi has no legal right to challenge the election or be included in a rerun because he is not the second runner-up, stressing that Obi was not a member of the Labour Party when he ran for the election and therefore has no legal right to institute the case or be allowed to contest rerun.

On the US Court judgment that ordered Tinubu to forfeit funds suspected to be proceeds of narcotics deals found in his account, Olanipekun noted that the 1999 Constitution states that a conviction has expired after 10 ten years.

On its part, APC lead counsel and ministerial nominee, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), equally adopted all the oral arguments of Olanipekun, saying Obi’s petition, though ambitious, did not dispute that accreditation, voting, and collation of results did not take place.

He said: “If anybody wants to attack any election results, there has to be polling unit by polling unit proof, but this is abysmally lacking in this petition.”

He said the much-touted issue of rerun, as requested (in the alternative) by Obi, should be between Tinubu and the presidential candidate of PDP, Atiku Abubakar.

On their part, the legal representatives of INEC led by Abubakar Mahmoud adopted all his written submissions against Obi’s petition on Tuesday.

He said evidence before the court showed that INEC went to great lengths to ensure the applications used on Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine were designed to work perfectly. He contended that the petitioners had contrived in their mind a so-called “electronic collation system” without providing any evidence.

Mahmoud argued that what happened to the BVAS machines on presidential election day was a technical glitch, asking the court to dismiss the petitioner’s case of deliberate human interference.

He said INEC Results Viewing Portal IRev was essentially for public viewing and not for collation of results.

“Petitioners have failed to show how the failure to show real-time impacted on the elections,” Mahmoud said.

Mahmoud contended that the court should discountenance the arguments of so called 18,088 blurred results on IREV.

“Those blurred results that was uploaded on IREV, according to the petitioners, did not in any way suggest that the original copies of the result sheets were blurred,” Mahmoud said.

He added that Obi had not tendered copies from their LP agents to substantiate their case.

“Their blurred results were simply for dramatization. Those arguments of blurred results hold no issue at all,” Mahmoud said.

On getting 25 percent votes in FCT, Mahmoud said the court must not adopt an approach that will result in absurdity.

INEC counsel urged the court to declare that FCT is like every other state, as well as dismiss Obi’s petition.

The Chairman of the Lagos State Parks and Garages (LASPG), Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya (MC Oluomo), has disclosed that transporters in the state would not be joining the planned protest by the organised labour.

Akinsanya, on Tuesday at a meeting with transport union leaders and operators, said about 50,000 agency members would not be joining Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) planned protest on Wednesday.

Naija News gathered that he said instead, the management of the packs and garage has agreed to reduce ticketing fees issued by the union to drivers by 25 %.

He said commercial bus drivers, motorcycle (okada), and tricycle (Keke Marwa) operators would pay less for bookings at their various parks now, citing that where they hitherto paid N800, they would pay N600 now.

He said passengers would also enjoy the effect of the reduction, noting that routes that used to attract N500 transport fare would now be charged at N300 while commuters previously paying N200 would now pay N150.

He said the directive followed an earlier announcement by the state governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on bus fare reduction.

Akinsanya said a task force had been established to monitor the implementation of the directive and ensure compliance, adding that sanctions would be meted out to defaulters.

The LASPG confirmed that the task force would be led by all members of state executives, parks’ chairmen, and selected union leaders.

He stated that “We, the state executives and the entire members of the Lagos State Parks and Garages met today (Tuesday) in Lagos to review the situation in the country, particularly in Lagos, following the oil subsidy removal by the Federal Government.

“After much deliberations and review, we discussed the high costs of foods, transport fares, and other areas of public interest, in particular, the plan by the organised labour, i.e., the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), to call workers out on a strike.

“After a careful discussion, we concluded that we will not be part of any strike or protest rally being planned to draw the Federal Government’s attention to the issue being debated in the country. All transport families and members will be at work to convey people to their various destinations without problem because the Lagos State government has announced some interventions in the sector.

“The Lagos State government has provided a conducive atmosphere for our operation. There is, therefore, no reason for us to join any strike that may threaten the peace of the state. The various palliative measures taken by the state government, especially the 50 per cent reduction of government public transports and a downward review of our yellow buses fares, will also go a long way in cushioning the effect of the subsidy removal.

“We have also embarked on internal measures like downward reviews of Lagos State government and union tickets. With this, there will be a reduction in transport fares by commercial drivers.

“We at the Lagos State Parks and Garages, therefore, unequivocally say no to any form of strike or protest by the organised labour or any group. All our members are enjoined to go by their normal duties without any fear or intimidation.”

The Delta State Police Command has apprehended the suspect responsible for the tragic killing of a two-year-old boy, Ivan Omhonrina, two weeks ago.

The incident occurred during an operation by officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at Okpanam in the Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State. The NDLEA stated that the incident happened while they were raiding a drug joint in the area.

According to the State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bright Edafe, the suspect is already in custody. However, the identity of the suspect has not been disclosed.

In a separate development, the command paraded a 22-year-old kidnapper, Ojokor Jeffrey, along with eight others who were involved in terrorizing the Warri, Sapele, and Uvwie areas of the state. Among the items recovered from the suspects were two locally-made double barrel guns and 11 live cartridges.

Furthermore, two individuals who stole a Hilux van belonging to the Ondo State Government, but attached to the Ministry of Lands and Infrastructure, were also paraded. The stolen vehicle was removed from its parking spot in Owo town, Ondo State. The police have recovered the vehicle and the case will be transferred to the Ondo State Police Command.

The recovery of the stolen vehicle was initiated following a distress call received by the command on July 30, 2023, from Ondo State. The vehicle was traced to Patani, where it was intercepted by the police patrol team stationed on the Patani expressway.

The arrested suspects, Tochukwu Nnamani (22) and Chukwuma Unue (38), claimed that the vehicle was handed over to them by one Efe in Ughelli, with instructions to deliver it to one Chief Ojukwu at Mbaima town in River State. The investigation is ongoing to ascertain the complete details of the incident.

At an emergency meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, on 30 July, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) demanded the “immediate release and reinstatement” of Niger’s elected president, Mohamed Bazoum. He had been held by the military since 19 July.

The regional bloc gave the military in Niger a one-week ultimatum to comply and warned it would take all measures necessary – including force – to restore constitutional order.

On 28 July, the head of Niger’s presidential guard, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, declared himself head of state after the military seized power.

Beyond warning against any regional and foreign interventions, the military leaders in Niger have given no indications of ways forward.

This coup d’etat will have a significant impact on peace and stability in Niger and the entire Sahel region.

Constant threat of coups

Although Niger has recently enjoyed its longest democratic rule since independence, there has been a constant threat of coups. When Bazoum was elected president in 2021, there was a coup attempt about 48 hours before his inauguration. It failed as presidential guards fought off the coup plotters.

As a political scientist with expertise on international security, conflict analysis and governance in Africa, including knowledge on Niger, I explained then, the coup attempt pointed to deep fissures in the country. It suggested that the military had not fully embraced democracy.

The current coup plotters have blamed rising insecurity and a lack of economic growth. They stated that the intervention was necessary to avoid “the gradual and inevitable demise” of the country. I believe, however, there are other issues that precipitated the latest coup d’etat. These are: ethnicity; the presence of foreign forces; and the weakness of regional bodies.

Factors that led to the coup

There are no doubts that the rise in insecurity and declining economic prospects contributed to fragility in the country.

Despite the increase in foreign forces, especially from the US and France, and military bases in Niger, the leadership has been unable to stop insurgent attacks. There are several insurgent groups, such as Al-Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates, as well as Boko Haram operating in the country.

These attacks have resulted in thousands of deaths and displacements in the last decade. Hundreds of youths in the capital, Niamey, gathered to celebrate the July coup, waving Russian flags and chanting “Wagner”. This suggests that some people in Niger believe the military, supported by Russia and the private military contractor, Wagner group, would do a better job of fighting insurgents.

In addition to insecurity and economic stagnation, three other issues help explain the recent coup d’etat.

First, the debate over the ethnicity and legitimacy of Bazoum was an issue during the last election campaign. Bazoum is from Niger’s ethnic Arab minority and has always been labelled as having foreign origins.

This did not sit well within the military circle, which is predominantly composed of the larger ethnic groups – even though Bazoum got about 56% of the vote and is from the same party as former president Mahamadou Issoufou.

There is a lot of emphasis on ethnic military composition in the country; understanding this helped Issoufou complete two terms as president. Appointments in the military are made along ethnic lines.

Foreign military bases 

Second, the large number of foreign military troops and bases in the country has not been well received by the military. They believe this undermines them. Niger is a key ally of western countries in the fight against insurgency in the region. France’s huge investments in Niger’s mining sector are another reason for its interest in security.

In 2019, the US opened a drone base in Niger despite protests. As I have pointed out before, the drone base could make Niger a target for terrorists and increase instability.

In 2022, France and other European allies withdrew their forces from neighbouring Mali. Bazoum was quick to invite them to Niger. The Nigerien military leadership and some influential individuals in the country denounced the increase in foreign forces.

Third, I suggest the failure of regional organisations such as ECOWAS and the African Union to take a firm stance against military power seizures in Guinea, Burkina Faso and Mali emboldened the Nigerien military. ECOWAS leaders have now threathened to use force to restore Bazoum if the coup plotters do not reinstate him.

In the last four years, there have been seven coup d’etats in the region. Three were successful. Leaders of ECOWAS and the African Union have threatened sanctions on these three countries, but nothing much has been done to deter other opportunistic military leaders.

In a round table organised by the think tank Chatham House London on the impact of military intervention in west Africa, one of the leaders from the region stated that they kept avenues of communication open with the three military presidents as a courtesy. This creates an impression that there is no deterrence for military takeovers.

Implications for Niger and the region

The latest coup d’etat has severe consequences for Niger and the entire Sahel region. Niger is a strong ally of western nations, especially France, the US and the European Union in fighting insurgency and curbing illegal migration to Europe.

Efforts to address these issues will be affected. And the new military leaders will want to use these issues as leverage in negotiations and to force acceptance of the new regime.

The new leaders in Niger might also engage with the Wagner group to combat the Islamist insurgency. The leader of the group has already praised them for seizing power. The influence of Russia and Wagner in the region could grow.

Yet Wagner has been unable to halt terrorist advancement in Mali and Burkina Faso.

Finally, a successful military takeover in Niger would be a major drawback for democracy in the region and Africa as a whole. The military regimes of Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso already plan to form a “military alliance”, supposedly to combat insecurity.

African leaders need to do more to prove that they are working for the masses.

The federal government has insisted that the planned strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) against the removal of the petrol subsidy and the high cost of living in the country is a violation of an existing court order.

On Wednesday, NLC issued a seven-day ultimatum to the federal government to reverse all “anti-poor” and “insensitive” policies.

The policies, the union said, include the recent hike in the price of petrol, and the sudden increase in public school fees, among others.

However, the federal government said the union is restrained by an order of the national industrial court from embarking on any strike regarding the removal of petrol subsidy.

Commenting on the issue, Femi Falana, a human writes lawyer, said the strike action does not translate into contempt of court.

In a letter addressed to Beatrice Jedy-Agba, solicitor-general of the federation, Falana said the court or any other organ had not granted an order of interim, interlocutory or perpetual injunction restraining Nigerian workers from participating in peaceful rallies convened by the NLC.

He argued that it is the constitutional right of workers to protest peacefully.

However, in another letter on Monday, the solicitor-general asked Falana to advise the union to shelve the planned strike.

She said the subject matter which is the major cause of the strike is subjudice.

Jedy-Agba also stated that from the communique issued by the NLC, the planned strike goes beyond a peaceful protest as it intends to “ground the government by endangering public peace, instilling fear in the masses”.

“We assert that it is grossly inappropriate to lead a public protest in respect of issues relating to or connected with the fuel price increase, which are currently before the court,” she said.

“From the communique, it is apparent that the current move by NLC goes beyond peaceful protest by issuing a seven-day ultimatum for government to meet its demands and also embark on a nationwide action to compel the government to reverse alleged anti-worker policies.

“Furthermore, uncontroverted media reports have established that NLC is not planning a peaceful protest but intends to ground the government by endangering public peace, instilling fear in the masses, precipitating a further crisis.”

Jedy-Agba also cited statements by the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) in which they indicated interest to join the strike action.

“We reiterate that the interim order clearly restrained NLC from embarking on industrial action of any nature,” the solicitor-general stated.

“It is common knowledge that a strike is only a form of industrial action. NLC has expressed the intention to embark on a nationwide action to force the government (employer) to agree to its demands.

“Furthermore, the participation of workers in the protest will result in restriction or limitation on or a delay in the performance of work.

“The foregoing, inclusive of the purported peaceful protest (in view of its intended aims or purposes), undoubtedly amounts to industrial action. It is incumbent on your law firm to sensitize the labour unions that peaceful protests are no justification for disrupting or shutting down essential services, which is tantamount to strike action.”

House of Representatives, on Tuesday, directed that the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force and the Police as well as all the intelligence agencies, among other stakeholders, appear before it on Wednesday.

Chairman, Ad-hoc Committee probing employment racketeering and gross mismanagement of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) by agencies of the Federal Government, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, handed down the directive in Abuja.

Hon. Gagdi who expressed displeasure over the absence though they were duly invited, said: “Let me say this to all agencies we have invited, I think we need to read their names clearly here.

“They are the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited, Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, the Nigerian Communication Commission, the Nigerian Post Services, the Nigerian frequency management Council, Galaxy Backbone, National Identity Management Commission, Nigerian Correctional Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Fire Service, Nigerian Police Force, Defence Intelligence Agency, State Security Service, National Intelligence Agency, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Airforce, Nigerian Navy must appear tomorrow (Wednesday) since they have failed to appear today. This is the ruling of the committee,” Hon  Gagdi said.

In her presentation, the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) who also denied allegations that her office was engaging in the enrolment of ghost workers for personal gains, disclosed that her office is working hard to fish out ghost workers who existed in the system before the introduction of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.

She said: “Having realised that this is a system that needs to be reviewed, on my assumption of duty, I met a series of issues around IPPIS and that made me organize stakeholders with all the service providers around the IPPIS, where the service providers came and made presentations, questions were asked.

“The stakeholders meeting ran for two weeks where all the service providers were scheduled for each day and came with their technical hands while the technical team of the OAGF was also on the ground where we were discussing a series of issues about the system.

“And after the meeting, we further broke down into technical committees where a series of issues identified from the stakeholders’ meeting was subjected to further discussions.

“I have just received an interim report of this meeting, which we are looking at to see how we address all the issues that are emanating from this engagement to enable us to take further action on the management of the IPPIS.”

She said only 640 out of over 900 agencies of the Federal Government were captured on the IPPIS.

“As of today we have 640 MDAs registered on the IPPIS, enrolled on the IPPIS, because there are some that are not on the IPPIS like all the security agencies, federal government-owned enterprises that generate revenue, they are not on IPPIS.

“Then self-funding agencies are not on IPPIS. Some parastatals that have different arrangements for the payment of their salaries like those that are receiving first-line transfers like the National Assembly are not on the IPPIS and so many others like that.

“So, if we put the number of those outside IPPIS, it may get to over 900. Except if an Act of the National Assembly makes it compulsory that all government agencies must be on IPPIS..”

Also testifying before the Ad-hoc Committee, IPPIS Director, Mr. Emma Deko, accused some universities of sending more names than required to be captured on the system.

“We are all aware of the issue of ASUU. We were told to enroll them and the enrolment did not pass through the normal process because it was an ad hoc thing. It was an emergency.

“They refused to come on board. But when the government persuaded them to come on. We were asked to enroll them without going through the process. So I want to place on record that some of them were given numbers to enroll. To enroll people who were on their payroll prior to that time.

“But in a bid to increase their payroll, some of them enrolled more than what was previously on their payroll. For instance, if somebody is told to enroll 1,000, they enroll 1,300 or 1,4000. And it is only for 1,000 that the Budget Office provided money for that would be paid.

“I want to give an instance, the University College Hospital, Ibadan. Our staff went there to enroll what was approved. They were held hostage. They were forced to enroll everybody and you know that to protect themselves, it is only someone who is alive that can come back to tell you the story.

“So, they played and enrolled everybody but when we came back, we had to payroll only what money is provided in the budget.”

[Tribune]

The senate has commenced screening of 14 of President Bola Tinubu’s ministerial nominees.

The process commenced on Monday after David Umahi, deputy majority leader, moved a motion to that effect.

14 nominees, including Nyesom Wike, immediate past governor of Rivers, were screened on Monday.

Last week, the president sent a list of 28 ministerial nominees to the senate for confirmation.

Umahi, former governor of Ebonyi and Wale Edun, a former commissioner of finance in Lagos, have just been screened.

Others to be screened today are Nasir el-Rufai, immediate past governor of Kaduna; and Dele Alake, special adviser to the president, special duties, communications and strategy.

See the full list of nominees scheduled for screening today.

David Umahi (Ebonyi)
Adebayo Olawale Edun (Ogun)
Nasir el-rufai CON (Kaduna)
Ahmed Musa Dangiwa (Katsina)
Chief Uche Geoffrey Nnaji (Enugu)
Stella Okotete (Delta)
Dele Alake (Ekiti)
Adebayo Adelabu (Oyo)
Muhammad Idris (Niger)
Professor Ali Pate Bauchi
Doris Anite Uzoka (Imo)
Lateef Fagbemi SAN (Kwara)
Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo (Akwa Ibom)
Barr Hannatu Musawa (Katsina)

The special adviser on monetary policy to President Bola Tinubu and Ministerial nominee has said the current exchange rate of the naira to the dollar is not backed by fundamentals of the Nigerian economy but by speculation.  

Chief Edun made this known while appearing before the Senate for confirmation and fielding questions from senators.  

Exchange rate not backed by fundamentals 

While answering questions from the senate minority leader on the exchange rate, he said  

• “What I can say is this, for a country that has revenue flows from oil, remittances, and other non-oil exports of over $100 billion yearly, there is no reason that there is not a stable exchange rate.
•  “All other things being equal, the current N860/$ we are seeing today is not backed up by fundamentals of the Nigerian economy.”  

Speaking further, the likely finance minister said speculators and the mismanagement, inefficiency and corruption of the previous administration have created an overhand of unpaid dollar bills which is responsible for the pressure on the exchange rate.  

He noted the Tinubu administration hopes to resolve this by raising revenues, attracting investment and equity funds and not debt. 

Exchange rate should be N700/$ 

When speaking on the likely exchange rate after their policies have been rolled into action, he said  

• “It is difficult to predict because the exchange market takes up a psychology of their own. I would just like to warn that all the models are showing that the fundamental value of the naira should be somewhere around N700/$.’’ 

He further warned speculators to be cautious that as liquidity flows in and rates go down, there is a chance they’ll lose their bets. “It is just a warning,” he said.  

Mr. Edun also used the opportunity to argue for a separation between the office of the accountant-general of the federation and the accountant-general of the federal government saying that has been his position for a long time.  

Subsidy and palliatives 

• On subsidy and distribution of money to the poor, the President’s special adviser said “The removal of subsidy and elimination of multiple exchange windows has put us in a strong position going forward”  
• For palliative, he said, “A digital identity for every Nigerian is what is needed and what tis recommended for us. The condition attached to the $800 million world bank loan states so”  

What you should know

President Bola Tinubu appointed Chief Wale Edun as his special adviser on monetary policy and also a Ministerial nominee by the President.

Many tout the President may likey assign Chief Edun as the country’s finance Minister owing to his background in economics, monetary policy, investment banking and development finance.

He was also commissioner of finance in Lagos during the tenure of the Tinubu administration.  

[Nairametrics]