A former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof Chidi Odinkalu, has knocked the judiciary for producing a “confusing” Certified True Copy (CTC) of an appellate court judgement on the Kano State governorship election.

Odinkalu, who was on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, said no credible judiciary will produce what he described as a “confusing” CTC.

“No judiciary that is credible will produce this kind of judgment and certify it,” he said. “This is not coming from a customary court, it is not coming from an area court, it is not even coming from a high court.

“This is the Court of Appeal of Nigeria, the second highest court in the country. Any lawyer worth their onions should be scandalised by it irrespective of whatever side you take.”

Confusion gripped political players and residents of Kano State on Tuesday following the emergence of a Certified True Copy of the Court of Appeal judgment on the March 18 governorship election.

Last week, the appellate court sacked Abba Yusuf of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) as governor of Kano State, upholding the decision of the lower election petition tribunal that earlier nullified the governor’s election.

A three-member panel of the Court of Appeal led by Moore Adumein, in a unanimous judgement last Friday, declared Nasiru Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the 18 March governorship election in Kano State.

In his reaction to the controversy over the CTC judgement which was at variance with what was read in court, Odinkalu said, “The country relies on credible adjudication in order to make progress in order to sanitise the society in order to retain balance in our country. If we are producing judgements like this and then asking the lawyers to come back so that they can be corrected, how do you trust the judicial system?”

‘Typo Error’

Meanwhile, the appellate court has cleared air on the controversies surrounding the judgement delivered by the court on the Kano Governorship Election dispute.

In a reaction, the Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal, Umar Bangari, said that what happened in the judgement body was a typo error that did not in anyway invalidate or change the findings and conclusion of the court.

The chief registrar assured Nigerians that the error would be rectified once parties in the matter file formal application to that effect.

He cited Order 23 Rule 4 of the Court of Appeal HandBook which empowered the court to correct any clerical error once detected by the court or any of the parties in the matter.

He insisted that contrary to insinuations, the judgement of the court remained valid.

The United Nations heralded Wednesday the forthcoming scale-up of malaria vaccination across Africa after the first shipment of doses arrived in Cameroon.

Since 2019, more than two million children have been jabbed in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi in a pilot phase, resulting in substantial reductions in severe malaria illness and hospitalisations.

Now the scheme is moving into a broader rollout, with 331,200 doses of RTS,S — the first malaria vaccine recommended by the UN’s World Health Organization — landing Tuesday in Cameroon’s capital Yaounde.

The delivery “signals that scale-up of vaccination against malaria across the highest-risk areas on the African continent will begin shortly,” the WHO, the UN Children’s Agency UNICEF and the Gavi vaccine alliance said in a joint statement.

They called it “a historic step towards broader vaccination against one of the deadliest diseases for African children”.

The doses are donated by manufacturer GSK.

“We encourage all parents to take advantage of this life-saving intervention,” said Cameroon’s Health Minister Malachie Manaouda, adding that malaria “remains a major public health threat in the country”.

A further 1.7 million doses are set for delivery to Burkina Faso, Liberia, Niger and Sierra Leone in the coming weeks.

Malaria is the leading cause of mortality in infants and children aged under five in Liberia, the country’s Health Minister Wilhelmina Jallah said.

“This vaccine has the potential to save many lives and reduce the burden of this disease,” she added.

Several African countries are finalising preparations for malaria vaccines to be introduced into routine immunisation programmes, with the first doses set to be administered in January-March 2024.

“Introducing vaccines is like adding a star player to the pitch… we are entering a new era in immunisation and malaria control,” said UNICEF chief Catherine Russell.

Africa accounted for approximately 95 per cent of global malaria cases and 96 per cent of related deaths from the mosquito-borne disease in 2021.

Yearly global malaria deaths fell dramatically between 2000 and 2019 — when they stood at 568,000 — but shot up 10 per cent in 2020 to 625,000 as the COVID-19 crisis hit protection and treatment efforts.

Deaths dipped slightly to 619,000 in 2021 — of which 77 per cent were children aged under five. Meanwhile, global malaria cases rose slightly to 247 million.

The vaccine rollout is a “breakthrough moment for malaria vaccines and malaria control, and a ray of light in a dark time for so many vulnerable children in the world”, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The RTS,S vaccine acts against plasmodium falciparum — the most deadly malaria parasite globally and the most prevalent in Africa.

It is administered in a four-dose schedule which begins at around the age of five months old.

“Broad implementation of malaria vaccination in endemic regions has the potential to be a game-changer for malaria control efforts, and could save tens of thousands of lives each year,” the joint statement said.

“This moment has been decades in the making,” said the United States’ global malaria coordinator David Walton, as he looked forward to “a world in which no child dies from a mosquito bite”.

The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared N906.9 billion October 2023 Federation Account Revenue to the Federal Government, States and Local Government Councils.

This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the FAAC meeting for November 2023, according to a statement by its Director, Press and Public Relations, Bawa Mokwa on Wednesday.

“From the N906.955 billion total distributable revenue, the Federal Government received a total of N323.355 billion, the State Governments received N307.717 billion and the Local Government Councils received N225.209 billion,” the communique read.

While the gross revenue available from the Value Added Tax (VAT) was N347.343 billion, it was higher than the N303.550 billion available in the month of September 2023 by N43.793 billion.

See the full statement below:

FAAC SHARES N906.955 BILLION OCTOBER 2023 REVENUE TO FG, STATES AND LGCs

The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared a total sum of N906.955 billion October 2023 Federation Account Revenue to the Federal Government, States and Local Government Councils.

A communique issued by the FAAC at its November, 2023 meeting indicated that the N906.955 billion total distributable revenue comprised distributable statutory revenue of N305.070 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N 323.446 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N15.552 billion, Exchange Difference revenue of N 202.887 billion and Augmentation of N60.000 billion.

According to the communique, total revenue of N1,346.519 billion was available in the month of October 2023. Total deductions for cost of collection was N53.483 billion; total transfers, interventions and refunds was N386.081 billion.

Gross statutory revenue of N 660.090 billion was received for the month of October 2023. This was lower than the N1,014.953 billion received in the month of September 2023 by N354.863 billion.

The gross revenue available from the Value Added Tax (VAT) was N347.343 billion. This was higher than the N303.550 billion available in the month of September 2023 by N43.793 billion.

The communique stated that from the N906.955 billion total distributable revenue, the Federal Government received a total of N323.355 billion, the State Governments received N307.717 billion and the Local Government Councils received N225.209 billion.

A total sum of N50.674 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared to the relevant States as derivation revenue.

From the N305.070 billion distributable statutory revenue, the Federal Government received N147.574 billion, the State Governments received N74.852 billion and the Local Government Councils received N57.707 billion. The sum of N24.937 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared to the relevant States as derivation revenue.

The Federal Government received N48.517 billion, the State Governments received N161.723 billion and the Local Government Councils received N113.206 billion from the N323.446 billion distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue.

The N15.552 billion Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) was shared as follows: the Federal Government received N2.333 billion, the State Governments received N7.776 billion and the Local Government Councils received N5.443 billion.

The Federal Government received N93.323 billion from the N202.887 billion Exchange Difference revenue. The State Governments received N47.334 billion, and the Local Government Councils received N36.493 billion. The sum of N25.737 billion (13% of mineral revenue) went to the relevant States as derivation revenue.

The Augmentation of N60.000 billion was shared as follows: Federal Government received N31.608, the State Governments received N16.032 billion and the Local Government Councils received N 12.360 billion

In the month of October 2023, Import Duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Value Added Tax (VAT), CET Levies and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) increased significantly while Excise Duties and Companies Income Tax (CIT) recorded considerable decreases. Oil and Gas Royalties decreased marginally.

Bawa Mokwa

Director (Press and Public Relations)

OpenAI announced on Tuesday its co-founder Sam Altman will return as CEO, days after he was fired by the board.

“We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo,” it said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

OpenAI’s board sacked Altman last week, with Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella announcing soon after he was hiring Altman to run a new artificial intelligence research team.

But in the fast-moving sequence of events, Altman said Tuesday he had the support of Nadella for his return as OpenAI’s CEO.

“With the new board and w satya’s support, i’m looking forward to returning to openai, and building on our strong partnership with (Microsoft),” he wrote on X.

Hundreds of staff at OpenAI threatened to quit following Altman’s dismissal.

In a letter released to media, the vast majority of the company’s 770-strong staff suggested they would follow Altman unless the board responsible for his departure resigned.

Among the signatories was co-founder Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s chief scientist and a member of the four-person board who pushed Altman out.

“I deeply regret my participation in the board’s actions,” Sutskever wrote on X on Monday. “I never intended to harm OpenAI.”

OpenAI had appointed Emmett Shear, a former chief executive of Amazon’s streaming platform Twitch, as its new CEO despite pressure from Microsoft and other major investors to reinstate Altman

The Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike on Tuesday said the FCT Administration has pegged the cost of issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy (C- of-O) at N5 million.

The FCT Minister made the disclosure while speaking at a meeting with estate developers in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said payment could be made within four months of land allocation after which the C-of-O would be handed over to the applicant.

He added that he would seek the approval of President Bola Tinubu to link applicants’ National Identification Number (NIM) to C-of-Os before issuance.

Wike said the era where three or more persons were allocated the same plot of land with fake C-of-O was over.

“Allocation of land to three or more persons will no longer be allowed because the C-of-O enables you to do business.

“When we make the right decision, some people will be happy, and some will not. The rich will kick against some of our decisions, but anything that will help our people must be done,’’ Wike said.

He promised to ensure orderliness and sanity in the land administration system and processes in the FCT.

Wike inaugurated a task force on the issuance of Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) for housing estates and the recovery of land use contravention fees on Nov. 14.

He explained that the measure was to ensure that each unit in the housing estates had its separate C-of-O.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday said that the average retail price of a litre of petrol increased from N195.29 in October 2022 to N630.63 in October 2023.

The NBS who made this known in its Petrol Price Watch for October 2023 released in Abuja said the October 2023 price of N630.63 represented a 222.92 per cent increase over the price of N195.29 recorded in October 2022.

“Comparing the average price value with the previous month of September 2023, the average retail price increased by 0.71 per cent from N626.21.

“On state profiles analysis, Zamfara paid the highest average retail price of N659.38 per litre, followed by Gombe and Borno at N658.33 and N657.27, respectively.

“Conversely, Lagos, Oyo, and Delta paid the lowest average retail price at N590.95, N592.19 and N599.38 respectively,’’ it stated.

Analysis by zones showed that the North-East Zone recorded the highest average retail price in October 2023 at N644.16, while the South-West recorded the lowest price at N616.81 per litre.

The NBS also stated in its Diesel Price Watch Report for October 2023 that the average retail price was N1004.98 per litre.

It said that the October 2023 price of N801.09 per litre amounted to a 25.45 per cent increase over the N801.09 per litre paid in October 2022.

“On a month-on-month basis, the price increased by 12.82 per cent from the N890.80 per litre recorded in September 2023,’’ it added.

On state profile analysis, the report said the highest average price of diesel in October 2023 was recorded in Plateau at N1150.00 per litre, followed by Nasarawa at N1138.00 and Benue at N1091.67.

On the other hand, the lowest price was recorded in Rivers State at N824.44 per litre followed by Borno at N827.27 and Kebbi State at N845.00 per litre.

In addition, the analysis by zones showed that the North-Central had the highest price of N1090.69 per litre, while the North-East recorded the lowest price at N947.32 per litre.

The Governor of Kano State has reacted to a one-page document purportedly indicating that the Court of Appeal affirmed his victory in the judgment delivered on the Kano State governorship election last Friday.

New Telegraph had earlier reported that the appellate court had in a unanimous judgment upheld the decision of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which sacked Governor Yusuf of the New Nigeria’s People’s Party (NNPP) and declared the candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Dr Nasir Yusuf Gawuna, the winner of the election.

But a controversial document alleged to be part of the judgment which was flying around social media on Tuesday evening indicated that the appeal court judges affirmed the victory of Governor Yusuf.

Reacting to the development, Governor Abba in a statement released by his Chief Press Secretary, Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa said the state government sought to give authenticity to the document.

In the statement, the press secretary said: “A certified copy of Appeal court Judgement on Kano state Governorship election has affirmed the victory of Abba Kabiru Yusuf as duly elected Governor of Kano state.”

“In the fresh revelation as indicated in the written judgment, the Court of Appeal, set aside the judgment of the Kano election petition tribunal for lacking in merit.

“The evidence contained on page 67 of the copy of the Appeal Court judgment released on Tuesday and signed by Registar Jameel Ibrahim Umar, the appellate court upheld the victory of Abba Kabiru Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party NNPP as duly elected Governor of Kano.

“The three-member appeal court, on Friday 17th November 2023 had dismissed the appeal filed by Governor Yusuf based on his membership status.

“The appellate court subsequently affirmed Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress APC as the winner of March 25th, 2023 Governorship poll in Kano.”

While further affirming the claim, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Haruna Dederi told journalists on Tuesday evening that: “Page 67 of the certified copy of the judgment clearly indicated that the tribunal’s ruling that sacked Governor Yusuf was set aside.”

“Contrary to what the Judges read to the public in the courtroom on the 17th November, the written evidence has vindicated Yusuf as legitimate Governor of Kano state.”

On Monday, a mammoth crowd trailed the convoy of Governor Yusuf in his first public appearance in the state after his return from Abuja Sunday night.

Governor Yusuf has vowed to keep dispensing democratic dividends despite the two unfavourable judgement in a row.

Governor Yusuf was received by a mammoth crowd as Kano stood still for hours, while he moved to commission the remodelled Accident and Emergency section of Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital.

He has also vowed that he will appeal against the judgment of the tribunal at the Supreme Court.

The United Nations (UN) Food Agency has warned that food assistance to 1.4 million refugees in Chad who fled conflict in parts of the Sahel could end because of limited funding.

The UN World Food Program (WFP) gave this warning in a statement issued on Tuesday, November 22, saying most of the refugees escaped the war in Sudan and crossed into Chad in the last six months in numbers not seen in the last 20 years.

The WFP’s Country Director in Chad said, “This forgotten crisis has metastasized as the world’s eyes are on other emergencies … We cannot let the world stand and allow our life-saving operations grind to a halt in Chad,” said Pierre Honnorat.

Sudan plunged into conflict in April when long-simmering tensions escalated between the country’s military and the rival Rapid Support Forces, resulting in the death of more than 5,000 people and displacement of at least 5.2 million people amid reports of mass killings, rapes, and widespread destruction, according to the U.N.

Many of the displaced found their way to neighboring Chad, piling pressure on the already impoverished country as it becomes host to one of the largest and fastest-growing refugee populations in Africa, the WFP said.

“Collectively we must find a way to support the women, children, and men who are bearing the full brunt of this crisis. Cutting our assistance is simply not an option because it will have untold consequences for millions of people, jeopardizing years of investment in fighting hunger and malnutrition in Chad,” Honnorat said.

The WFP said that malnutrition is a huge concern, with nine in 10 new arrivals reporting “poor or borderline food consumption.”

The U.N. Chief Honnorat said that WFP urgently needs $185 million to continue its support to crisis-affected populations in Chad over the next six months. In the absence of that funding, he said, the agency is being forced to make “brutal choices” to prioritize certain needs and groups.

“In December, WFP will be forced to suspend assistance to internally displaced people and refugees from Nigeria, Central African Republic, and Cameroon due to insufficient funds,” Honnorat said.

“From January this suspension will be extended to 1.4 million people across Chad including new arrivals from Sudan who will not receive food as they flee across the border.”

A certified copy of the Appeal Court Judgement on the Kano State Governorship election has affirmed the victory of Governor Abba Yusuf as the duly elected Governor of Kano State.

In the fresh revelation as indicated in the written judgement, the Court of Appeal, set aside the judgement of the Kano election petition tribunal for lacking in merit.

The evidence contained on page 67 of the copy of the Appeal court judgement released on Tuesday and signed by Registrar Jameel Ibrahim Umar, the appellate court upheld the victory of Abba Kabiru Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party NNPP as duly elected Governor of Kano.

The three-member panel of the appeal court, on Friday 17th November 2023 dismissed the appeal filed by Governor Yusuf on the basis of his membership status.

The appellate court subsequently affirmed Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress APC as the winner of the March 25th, 2023 Governorship poll in Kano.

Addressing journalists Tuesday evening, Kano state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Haruna Dederi said page 67 of the certified copy of the judgement clearly indicated that the tribunal’s ruling that sacked Governor Yusuf was set aside.

Barrister Dederi insisted that contrary to what the Judges read to the public in the courtroom on the 17th of November, the written evidence has vindicated Yusuf as the legitimate Governor of Kano state.

The Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu has assured Nigerians that the student loan, when implemented will not be based on ‘who you know’.

Sununu, who was speaking on a monitored program on Arise TV on Wednesday, stated that the processes for the application of the loan will be made available online for students to access.

Sununu explained that the federal government had set up a committee to address all bottlenecks concerning the loan and work out modalities for accessing the loan that will be acceptable to all.

“When the President came into office, the National Assembly had already signed the student loan bill. It was also assented by the President immediately he came into office.

“Once there is an Act, it introduces a framework that will allow you to draw out policies that will help in the implementation of the Act. The Act cannot 100 percent address all issues. It must give a gap to where administrators must come in to develop a policy that must be derived from the Act.

“After the Act has been signed, the next thing is to ensure that the Act becomes operational by submitting to the National Assembly a budget line that will be used to fund the loan. We will develop the framework that is acceptable to Nigerians,” he said.

He assured that by January, 2024, all the bottlenecks concerning the loan would have been addressed and details will be made available to Nigerians.

“Nigerians will have all the details and they will begin to access the loan; the amount will also be decided. All these will be contained in the policy statement that the committee is working on. The committee is working tirelessly to come up with policies that will be acceptable to all Nigeria,” he said.

The minister also stated that there will be room for collaboration with the private sector, adding that a legal framework will be put in place to address such collaborations.

Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the Student Loan bill into law in June, 2023. The Act allows Nigerian students in tertiary institutions to access interest-free loans from the Nigerian education loan fund.