The Department of State Services (DSS) has said the suspended Central Bank Governor (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, is now in custody.

Spokesman of the Service, Dr Peter Afunanya, confirmed this in a statement on Saturday afternoon.

Afunanya said: “The Department of State Services (DSS) hereby confirms that Mr Godwin Emefiele, the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is now in its custody for some investigative reasons.

“The public, particularly the Media, is enjoined to apply utmost caution in the reportage and narratives concerning this.”

Emefiele was suspended by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday. Reports emerged he had been arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).

Between Friday evening and Saturday afternoon there was uncertainty over his whereabouts.

He was reported to have been arrested in Lagos and flown to Abuja by the Service allegedly over terrorism-related allegations among other issues.

Unconfirmed reports had it he was trying to leave the country.

The Department of State Services initially kept mum over the development.

Late on Friday, Afunanya, in a WhatsApp message said: “Inundated. I may not be able to make any confirmations NOW, please.”

He did not categorically state if the suspended CBN Governor had been arrested or not.

On Saturday morning Dr Afunanya dropped another one-sentence response to the situation in a WhatsApp message.

He said: “Currently, Emefiele is not with the DSS.”

Emefiele had been accused by the DSS of offences bordering on terrorism.

In February, it said preliminary investigation revealed various acts of terrorism financing, fraudulent activities perpetrated by Emefiele and his involvement in economic crimes of national security dimension.

The DSS had attempted to arrest Emefiele but a Federal High Court in Maitama, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja issued an order restraining the Service from arresting him.

This ruling, delivered by Justice M.A. Hassan also applied to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) who were listed as defendants.

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja declined an application filed by the DSS to arrest and detain Emefiele over the allegations against him.

In declining the motion ex parte filed by the secret police, Justice J. T. Tsoho, the Chief Judge, said the DSS did not provide any concrete evidence to substantiate its claims that Emefiele was involved in terrorism financing and economic crimes.

When Emefiele returned to Nigeria after some time away, military personnel and intelligence officers were deployed to ensure that he was not arrested by the DSS.

He had gone to his office after his return with massive security, specifically military protection.

Contrary to speculations making the round that President Bola Tinubu has directed the suspension of Mallam Mele Kyari as the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, there is no such directive from the President.

Presidency sources on Saturday night stated that the President has not given such directive for the suspension of Kyari as NNPC Boss.

Social media platforms were abuzz on Saturday evening with several posts claiming the President had directed the immediate suspension of Kyari as NNPC GCEO.

The social media posts of the purported suspension of Kyari gained traction as it was coming barely 24 hours after the Presidency announced the suspension of Godwin Emefiele from office as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Multiple sources in the Presidency however disclosed that there is no such plan to suspend Kyari as the GCEO of the NNPC.

One of the sources said, “We got to know about the purported suspension through social media posts. But I can confirm to you that there is no such directive coming from the President. Nigerians are known to play a lot with trends and someone may just have sat down somewhere to make such posts.

“There is no iota of truth in that post claiming that the President has suspended the NNPC GCEO. There is nothing to be worried about because the Petroleum Industry Act is clear on how the NNPC GCEO or any member of the NNPC Board could be removed.”

An aide to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation noted that they have not received any of such directive from the President.

“Please disregard those reports because they are fake news. We don’t have such directive from the President to suspend Kyari,” the aide said.

The source said the Presidency will not dignify rumour mongers with an official response.

The former governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, has blasted his successor, Governor Daura Lawal over the Friday raid on his residence.

Operatives of the state’s police command had invaded Matawalle’s country home on Friday in search of alleged looted public properties.

The officers reportedly acting on a court order, recovered 40 vehicles from Matawalle’s residence located in the Maradun area of the state.

Reacting to the incident, Matawale said he was astounded at the “stupidity” of the new administration to have raided his residences, in Gusua, the state capital, and his country home.

He said, “I have never seen this kind of stupidity where someone’s house will just be entered without any permission as if we are in a lawless country.

“I am in Abuja and nobody told me that any court gave that order or invite me and I refused to answer.

“The saddest thing is that, in my Gusau house, all my wives’ rooms were broken, even hijabs have been taken away. Stoves were all put in a car and taken away.

“In my Maradun house, they took away all campaign cars that people gave us as contributions, including those I bought in United States even before becoming governor, you know I was a car seller.

“This is robbery, they entered everywhere in my house, even my daughter’s wedding clothing materials (Kayan Lefe) were not spared.”

Matawalle mocked the new administration for chasing shadows and creating more crises rather than tackling issues ravaging the state.

“He knows I have my people and they will not fold their hands”, adding, “I will not ask them to bring the cars back, everybody knows that I have cars,” he said.

The All Progressive Congress (APC) had also reacted to the situation describing the raid as an “unlawful, barbaric, and brutal trespass” by the state governor.

“The unlawful invasion is a gross violation of the sacred provisions of sections 34, 35, 37, 41, 42, and 43 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“What exactly might have warranted the invasion still remains a mystery to the good people of Zamfara state. If the government thinks it has any case against the former Governor, why not charge him to court instead of resorting to such barbaric and uncivilized means?,” the APC said in a statement on Friday.

The Zamfara government had accused Matawalle of looting public properties from the government house including vehicles purchased with billions of naira.

Governor Lawal said he had notified his predecessor and also issued an ultimatum for him to return the public assets in his custody, but all were ignored.

Two ad-hoc staff members of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Saturday, denied participating in the alleged manipulation of results of the 2023 presidential election.

The INEC ad-hoc staff members, Alheri Ayuba and Sadiya Haruna testified before the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, sitting in Abuja, as witnesses in the petition of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, filed to challenge the outcome of the presidential election.

While Ayuba gave his evidence as the 17th Petitioners’ witness, Haruna testified as the 18th witness.

Led in evidence by lead counsel for the petitioners, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, the duo, who were subpoenaed to appear as witnesses, adopted written statements they deposed on oath before the court.

The PW-17, Ayuba, told the court that she served as a Presiding Officer in Garki, Abuja, during the presidential election that held on February 25.

She told the court that the electoral process went smoothly, until it got to the time that she wanted to upload the result of the election to INEC’s I-Rev portal using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, device.

According to the witness, every effort she made to electronically transmit the results as she was trained to do by the Commission, failed.

The INEC ad-hoc staff, who is a former youth corps member, said her inability to upload the result from her polling unit, to the result viewing portal, made her to be unhappy.

“After sorting out the ballot, I announced results to everybody’s hearing and diligently entered the scores to form EC8A and handed the original to the ward collation officer. Party agents present equally signed the result sheets.

“I however had problems of transmitting the result from BVAS machine to IReV.

“There was a form that I filled at the Ward Centre where I stated that I was not happy at my inability to transmit the result.

“I could not log into the INEC portal. If I had logged into the system and posted the result, perhaps, it could have ‘pending’’ status so that when network is restored, it would upload,’’ she added under cross-examination.

Asked if she was bribed to rig the election, the witness, said she was neither induced nor influenced by any politician, before or during the election.

In her own testimony, the PW-18, Haruna told the court that she served as Presiding Officer at the City Centre, by Green Garden, FCT, Abuja.

She told the court that the BVAS device malfunctioned at her polling unit and thus made it impossible for her to transmit the results of the election from her polling unit.

The witness told the court that the result she entered manually at her polling unit was what she took to the Ward Collation Officer, with agents of political parties monitoring the entire process.

Haruna said she had after the BVAS device failed, she activated the offline transmission process, but could not ascertain if the results she snapped with the device eventually uploaded or not.

She told the court that she was not in a position to know what made the INEC BVAS machine malfunction, saying she was only instructed on how to use the machine.

The witness equally told the court that she was not induced to rig the result of the presidential election.

Meanwhile, all the Respondents- INEC, President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima and the All Progressives Congress, APC- opposed the admissibility of statements of the witnesses, saying they would adduce reasons behind their objections, in their final written address.

The Justice Haruna Tsammani-led five-member panel adjourned further hearing on the petition till next Tuesday.

Atiku, who came second in the presidential poll, is among other reliefs, praying the court to declare that he was the valid winner of the presidential contest, even as he applied for the withdrawal of the Certificate of Return that was issued to President Tinubu by INEC.

Anthony Kila advises President Bola Tinubu on the need for him to embark on some economic reforms and general policies that will stand him out as Nigerian leader.

Dear President Tinubu,

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I doubt you have been president of any other thing before now, senator, yes, governor, yes, leader yes, chairman maybe, but I am not sure you have ever had that title of president prefixed to your name before 29th May 2023. That is impressive, to put it mildly.

Today’s epistle is addressed to you as the new president of a new Nigeria and it is aimed at suggesting some reforms and policies that I believe will be very advantageous for Nigerians and consequentially beneficial to your own legacy.

It is not often said, but one of the perks of being a good leader is that what benefits the country is also good for the leader and where what is good for the leader is not good for the country, it simply means the leader is a bad leader.

To those checking to see if, or wondering why I am not starting my first epistle to the new president with congratulatory notes, let us quickly confess that I have sent you private messages.

This epistle is a public missive for public consumption and presidential consideration. As president, your first act was your inaugural speech and it was more than a good speech. By the way, it is still not clear to me if the best way to address you is “President Asiwaju Bola Tinubu” or just “President Bola Tinubu”. That is just an aside and I am sure once you nominate a spokesperson, we shall take a cue from him or her.

Your speech, I was saying, was not only very impressive in content, it has also turned out to be very impactful. The content of your speech demonstrated a clear understanding and appreciation of your new office, you also used it to show a clear understanding of the socioeconomic and political reality of the country and very importantly you set the pace of how you intend to govern.

In terms of style, relevance and impact, it can be argued that what you delivered on May 29th 2023 was arguably the best inaugural speech of the 4th republic.

That speech will however be remembered for a sentence: “Fuel subsidy is gone” and its consequential effects on the lives and businesses of Nigerians.

I have tried elsewhere to explain that you did not actually do anything to cause the situation but that you simply took note of a situation you inherited and that you just reported a fact to all but, herein lies the rub, you are not a reporter so please do not report again Mr President.

You should tell us your own plan and better still act. Just to be clear, I would have handled that situation differently but then again, vous êtes le président, pas moi …

One of the major features of the time you got into office is the lack of funds available to govern, the country is broke and even in debt, yet govern you must govern.

Money matters no doubt but some of us argue that ideas can be more valuable than money especially when there is no money to spend.

To aid your plans and polices, here are some impactful ideas for your presidential considerations, there are things that you can do at no cost at all and that can yield beneficial effects for the country and your legacy.

Now that you are in office, one of the first and most important things you need to do is to assemble a cabinet, to do such, you will need the approval of the legislative arm of government.

In absolving this function, you need to, unlike your predecessor, avoid wasting precious time. You should also, unlike all your predecessors, go to the national assembly with portfolios attached to the list of cabinet members you want to use. With this singular act you will not only create a useful precedent, you will also show that you are bringing people with a plan and objectives that can be articulated and measured. Attaching portfolios to prospective ministers will allow the national assembly and, through them, the whole country know precisely what to expect and from whom.

Naturally these nominees would have demonstrated to you that they have meaningful things to offer your government and the country.

Once nominated, you can mandate each minister to hold not less than quarterly meetings with operators and other stakeholders in their ministries.

Such meetings, at virtually no cost, will not only allow ministries share their plans, it will allow operators and other stakeholders get update and progress reports on government actions.

You, Mr President should also make it a point to address the country directly at least every month. This way you get to show the country that you are on top of things and that you are making progress.

This zero-cost practice will also make those working with you develop a very high sense of purpose and accountability.

There is an ongoing project causing more than a mild discontent in the aviation industry. It is the Nigeria Air project.

The best institutional response to give in this circumstance is for the government to create an independent and authoritative public inquiry charged to examine the project, its process, participants and budget.

Such inquiry will allow all those who have issues and questions about the project to table their concerns, it will also give those involved in the project to respond without fear or intimidation and for all interested Nigerians to know what really happened and what to expect from the project.

Such zero-cost initiative will not only send a clear signal to the market and other operators that your government takes market and operators seriously but that accountability, details and transparency matter under your watch.

Many Nigerians are worried about the cost of governance and what is perceived as wastage of government resources.

To show that you feel the pain of your fellow citizens, it is advisable to very rapidly identify and put an end to some expenses in a bid to show people that the government that will soon be asking people to tighten their belts has started the tightening by tightening its own.

Let us face it, I do not in knowledge and conscience believe that reducing the amount of money spent on long convoys moving with the president and other members of government will solve Nigeria’s debt but as they say “little things matter…”

I however believe that taking measures to address such perceived waste will show many people that it is not business as usual again.

Whilst at it, I do strongly believe that closing down roads and even whole towns or cities to accommodate visits or journeys of the president is not only an archaic and undemocratic practice, it is also a vexatious waste of potentially productive hours.

Dear Mr. President, a radical reform of the NYSC programme that will make the scheme voluntary will not only save money but make history. Let us consider it…

The All Progressives Congress(APC) has tasked the Inspector-General of Police (IG) to investigate the vandalisation of former Gov. Bello Matawalle of Zamfara’s residence by individuals masquerading as security operatives.

Alhaji Musa Mada, the Northwest APC Publicity Secretary, said this at a news conference in Kaduna on Saturday.

Mada said that the vandalisation was in violation of section 34, 35, 37, 41 and 42 of the Constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.

“Our enquiry at both the Gusau and Maradu residences of Bello Matawalle confirmed that there was no warrant or anything for that matter presented to the people when the act was carried out by the invaders.

“Furthermore, residences of other government officials that worked with Matawalle during his four year administration were also invaded and some of their personal vehicles carted away by the same group.

“If investigation is not taken, hoodlums may wear uniforms and attack perceived enemies in the name of such operations.

“As a party, we will not tolerate that and we will watch closely how the authorities concerned will handle the situation so that we will know whether the police and the DSS are working for the PDP or Nigeria,” he said.

Muda urged party supporters and Matawalle’s loyalists to remain calm and not take laws into their hands, pending investigation by police authorities.

(NAN)

NUGU State Election Petition Tribunal has rejected a request by legal representatives of Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State to strike out a petition seeking to disqualify him over the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate forgery scandal.

The candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party in the March 18 election, Chief Chris Agu had dragged Mbah to the tribunal demanding that the PDP candidate be disqualified for submitting a forged NYSC certificate to INEC prior to the election. Agu is also seeking among other things to be declared winner of the election on the basis that he won the majority of valid votes during the election.

The chairman of the tribunal, Kudirat Akano, after examining arguments from both sides, ruled that the motion to strike out the case was premature, insisting that certificate forgery was a weighty matter. She also ruled that whatever counter or objection against the petition should be done at the end of the trial, when the tribunal will give final judgement on the validity or otherwise of their demand.

Speaking after the session on Friday, counsel to Chief Agu, Barr Alex Amujiogu said that lawyers informed the tribunal that they have exchanged their pretrial forms but revealed that there were some documents which were yet to be viewed by both counsels.

He said, “We also proposed in our individual capacity on how we intend the lawyers to go on to pursue the case so that at the end of the day, the tribunal will issue a pretrial report on how the parties are to present and conclude their cases. So the only issue that is now left in the pretrial is that there are some documents which were alluded to by the respondents which have not been front-loaded.

“So the tribunal in its wisdom is asking that the counsels should meet and ensure that all necessary documents which need to be tendered at the trial are in the purview of fellow counsels. The tribunal adjourned the matter to June 14 to conclude pretrial and to enable the tribunal to issue a report or a guideline on how the trial will commence.”

Members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP) of the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State, have passed a resolution to begin industrial action to pursue their demands for payment of their outstanding 13 months’ salary arrears.

They vowed they would not participate in the institution’s first semester examination which begins next week.

Their resolution was reached after RUPIGO’s ASUP Congress was held last Thursday.

A communiqué issued after the Congress and signed by the union’s Chairman, Comrade Arikawe Ade and Secretary, Comrade Fapetu Damilola said the lecturers would begin the indefinite strike action on June 13th June 2023.

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According to the communique, “We want the payment in full of all outstanding (13 Months) salary arrears owned by the staff of the institution.

“The Congress wishes to strongly emphasise that the decision above is binding on all the financial members of the union (ASUP),” the communiqué reads.

Comrade Arikawe said lecturers in the institution were faced with challenges as a result of a backlog of unpaid salaries.

He appealed to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu to support the institution to clear the salary arrears.

Comrade Arikawe noted that the hike in fuel prices has compounded the lecturers’ hardship.

Arikawe added that, “reinstating of the former Chairman of the union Comrade Ijawoye Rafiu must be considered as his dismissal was based on union matter and not negligence.

Recall that Comrade Ijawoye Rafiu and the current Chairman Comrade Arikawe Ade were dismissed from the service of the institution without recourse to due process. Comrade Arikawe Ade had been recalled while Comrade Ijawoye Rafiu is left out.

At least 50 farmers have been reportedly killed by bandits in various communities in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, while several others have fled their homes.

Daily Trust gathered that the attacks occured between Wednesday and Saturday.

In the latest attacks on about five villages which took place between 2pm on Friday and Saturday morning, an unspecified number of lives were lost and several others abducted including women and girls.

Our correspondent was told that while 13 people lost their lives in Kusherki community, 12 others were killed in Gidigori village and several others were yet to be accounted for.

Multiple Sources told Daily Trust that humanitarian crisis in the area had worsened since Wednesday as hundreds of Internally Displaced Persons including women and children from various villages trooped to Kagara, the Headquarters of Rafi LGA, abandoning their villages for bandits whom they said now sleep in their homes.

One of the fleeing farmers, Abdullahi Usman, told our correspondent on the telephone that bandits numbering over 100, rode on about 50 motorcycles, took over many villages from around 2pm on Friday and operated unchallenged until Saturday morning.

“It’s true that bandits have resumed attacks with full force. We have not had it easy in the last two weeks but the situation had worsened since Wednesday.

“As I speak to you, bandits have taken over most parts of Rafi LGA. They had been in Kusherki Community since around 2pm on Friday; they spent the night in Garin-Zara Community and rustled hundreds of cattle, goats and rams and killed an unspecified number of people,” Usman said.

Another Resident, Mohammed Yakubu told Daily Trust on Sunday that “they (the bandits) first came to Kusherki Community on Wednesday during which they killed 13 people. They came back on Friday afternoon and operated in all the villages around the axis until Saturday morning. People had fled. Right now, we don’t even know where many of our people are because everybody ran into the bush.”

Also speaking, Abdulmalik Usman, another fleeing farmer said, “they raided several villages including Gidigori, Gando, Kusherki and many others. Our cattle, goats and rams have all been stolen. After they had raided our villages, they headed to Madaka, Hanna-Wanka, Kukoki through Tegina axis this morning (Saturday). The entire Rafi LGA is not safe now. More than 50 farmers were killed in Rafi LGA this week.”

Victims alleged that the soldiers camped in Kagara and Pandogari did not respond to attacks, saying that they were only patrolling Kagara town.

One of the IDPs, Sanusi Umar, appealed to the federal and state governments to take quick and decisive steps towards addressing the security challenges, saying that “we don’t know what President Tinubu is waiting for to take action against these people. These people have finished us already. We are hungry and helpless.”

He added, “The current security situation in Rafi LGA requires immediate and urgent counter insurgency action. The past few days have been very disturbing, rural communities are attacked and people are being kidnapped for ransom while some people are being killed. In Gidigori village alone, 12 persons were killed including the leader of vigilantes. Also, Garun Gabas, Pangu-Gari, Yakila and Kukoki villages have all been attacked between Wednesday and Saturday.”

Other Sources told our correspondent that bandits later split themselves into two groups, with one group operating in Sakaba community, less than 4km from Kagara, the headquarters of Rafi local Government Area, while the second group reportedly moved to Tungan-Makeri community, 15km from Kagara town where dozens of cattle were reportedly rustled and two people kidnapped.

The Senator Representing Niger East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa on Friday lamented that the bandits had resumed attacks on Rafi, Paikoro, Munya and Shiroro local governments that formed part of his constituency.

He said the criminals were out to test the power and capacity of the new administrations at both federal and state levels.

He, however, said he believed President Ahmed Bola Tinubu and Governor Mohammed Umar Bago led governments would deal with the situation.

When contacted, the Niger State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, said security operatives had been deployed to the area to arrest the situation.

“We have reviewed tactical deployments in the area, and more deployments of PMF (Police Mobile Force) men have been made, in collaboration with the military to cover Yakila, Tegina, Kagara, Pandogari, Kusherki and its environs to forestall reoccurrence.

“Joint tactical teams are working assiduously to ensure that victims abducted are rescued unhurt,” Abiodun said.

Nigerian activist and publisher, Omoyele Sowore has called on the Department of State Services, DSS, to arrest the immediate-past president, Muhammadu Buhari and the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor.

Sowore said they should be arrested after the suspended Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele was picked up by the DSS.

He alleged that Buhari and Irabor are Emefiele’s accomplices.

Tweeting, Sowore wrote: “DSS reportedly picks up/detains former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele.

“In an ideal society, his main accomplice in the military, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor should be arrested and tried with Emefiele.

“Of course not leaving out former President @MBuhari as well.

“Former Central Bank of Nigeria @cenbank Gov. Godwin Emefiele’s case with that of ex-President @MBuhari his principal, should be treated as a Crime Against Humanity! #RevolutionNow.”