Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has once again sworn-in nine Commissioners who earlier resigned their appointment in the wake of the governor’s face-off with his predecessor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, thereby re-admitting them into the State Executive Council (SEC).

The Commissioners include Professor Zacchaeus Adangor, Dr. Jacobson Nbina, Dr. Gift Worlu, Mrs. Inimefien Aguma, Egnr. Chukwuemeka Woke, Prof Chinedu Mmom, Dr. Dakorinama Kelly-George, Isaac Kamalu, Esq., and Mr. Ben Chioma.

Recall that the Commissioners, loyal to former Governor Wike, were earlier screened and confirmed for the second time by the Rt. Hon. Martins Amaewhule-led Rivers State House of Assembly on January 17, 2024.

Speaking after the swearing-in ceremony at the Government House, Port Harcourt, on Friday, Governor Fubara charged them to engage in activities for which they will be positively remembered by posterity.

The governor told the appointees that: “I wish you well in your coming back. Stand for justice, and stand for the interests of our dear state. That is the purpose of your appointment and that is the truth.

“I can see how heavy your hearts are. But I assure you that I don’t have anything against anyone of you. You were caught in between during the crossfire.

“I will advise that you give your best. Like I said the first time, let this State and posterity remember you for what is good.”

A private jet with 10 persons onboard has reportedly crash-landed in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The jet was said to have crash-landed on Friday around 11 am at the Samuel Ladoke Akintola Airport.

Firefighters and rescue officials from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria have been deployed to the scene.

Details later…

[Punch]

The Supreme Court has upheld the five-year jail term imposed on Farouk Lawan, a former member of the House of Representatives, affirming the judgment of the Court of Appeal. Lawan was convicted and sentenced in 2021 for accepting a $500,000 bribe from Femi Otedola, Chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd.

In a unanimous decision on Friday, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court agreed with the 2022 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which had affirmed Lawan’s five-year sentence on count three of the three counts brought against him at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Justice John Okoro, who prepared the lead judgment, had it delivered by Justice Tijjani Abubakar. The apex court found Lawan’s appeal to be without merit and dismissed it accordingly.

A Federal Capital Territory High Court had sentenced Lawan to seven years imprisonment for receiving a $500,000 bribe while serving as the chairman of the House’s ad-hoc committee investigating the fuel subsidy fraud in 2012.

The trial judge, Angela Otaluka, held that Lawan demanded $3m and received $500,000 from Femi Otedola in 2012 to remove Otedola’s oil company, Zenon Oil and Gas, from the list of firms indicted for fraud in the fuel subsidy regime.

She also held that Lawan was guilty of all three counts of corruption and bribery.

Not satisfied, Lawan approached the appellate court where his jail term was reduced from seven to five years.

Lawan is at the apex court urging the court to set aside the judgments of the lower court.

Reading the lead judgment, Justice Tijjani Abubakar upheld the decision of the appeal court and dismissed the appeal.

Edo Governor Godwin Obaseki‘s Special Adviser on Strategy, Performance and Project Monitoring, Mrs. Sarah Ajose-Adeogun, aka Madam Sarah, has resigned.

Ajose-Adeogun, a former Senior Manager with the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), in a post on her Facebook page, said: “l came, l saw and l conquered,” confirming her resignation as an Adviser to Obaseki.

The resignation may not be unconnected with the battle of supremacy and survival of the fittest rocking the outgoing Obaseki-led government.

Ajose-Adeogun’s office was once shut by the Chief of Staff to Edo Governor, Osaigbovo Iyoha, because the ex-senior official of SPDC allegedly refused to yield her seat in a commercial flight to Obaseki.

Her resignation came barely one month after former Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Obaseki, Andrew Okungbowa, also quit.

Obaseki whose second term ends on November 12, 2024, is at loggerheads with his Deputy, Comrade Philip Shaibu, over succession.

Shaibu is interested in succeeding Obaseki who is believed to be backing a Lagos-based lawyer, Asue Ighodalo.

The Governor is also engaged in a face-off with numerous members of PDP’s Legacy Coalition, led by the National Vice Chairman, Southsouth, of the party, Chief Dan Orbih, the immediate Edo Chairman of PDP, who declared Ighodalo won’t succeed Obaseki.

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) executive chairman, Zack Adedeji, has disclosed that the government is developing a comprehensive tax reform that will lower the entire amount of taxes collected in the nation to a single digit under the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

Adedeji made this disclosure on Thursday during an appearance on Politics Today on Channels TV.

Naija News reports that he also reiterated that the education tax will serve as the primary funding source for the recently implemented student loan.

According to him, the government was focused on streamlining the country’s tax to a single digit.

He said, “Just a few days ago, Mr President approved the commencement and implementation of student loan, one of the major sources of income or sources of funding for this student loan is education taxes being paid by tax payers, so I do not see where they will say that you see an increase in income and you do not see an increase in services,” he said.

“We are coming up with a comprehensive tax reform that will reduce the total tax we collect as a nation to a single digit from these multiple taxes to only one digit kind of tax system that will want to focus on.”

Super Eagles winger, Moses Simon has claimed fans are putting too much pressure on Victor Osimhen to score for the team at the ongoing 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

Osimhen has registered only one goal in three appearances for the Super Eagles in the competition.

The Napoli hitman also squandered a number of scoring opportunities in Nigeria’s three group games.

Simon, however, said the focus should be on the team, not an individual.

“We know that we have the best striker in the world in our team, which is Victor Osimhen,” the Nantes winger told a press conference in Abidjan on Friday.

“There is too much pressure on Osimhen to score. We have all missed good chances in the competition. I missed a good chance in the last game too.

“For us it is not about an individual, it is all about the team. We all take responsibility for everything that happens on the pitch.”

Napoli and Super Eagles forward Victor Osimhen has said his ambition at the ongoing African Cup of Nations, AFCON, in Ivory Coast is to win the title.

He stated this while reacting to the criticisms trailing his poor scoring form at the ongoing tournament, in a recent interview with CBS Sports Golazo.

Osimhen said goal drought is “normal” for strikers but assured that his goals will come when it matters the most, stressing that the team is focused on progressing through the tournament and lifting the trophy.

“I know that when the time comes, my goals will come for sure. I know that one for sure. I’m a striker, I can go ten games without scoring which is normal,” he said.

“It’s easy for people to speak [criticize strikers] when you don’t score for two or three games. But for me, I don’t care about that. I’m focused on making sure that the team continues to progress and get to our target which is winning the AFCON. This is what I am after.”

DAILY POST reports that Osimhen has managed just one goal in three games at the AFCON so far despite Nigeria creating the most big chances (13) in the group stage of the tournament.

The striker will be hoping to increase the tally when Nigeria face Cameroon in the round of 16 game in Abidjan, on Saturday.

Reports emerging from the ongoing African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in Cote d’Ivoire reveals that foreign scouts have arrived in Abidjan, to monitor the performance of Super Eagles star, Alhassan Yusuf.

Naija News learnt that English Premier League side, West Ham United and RB Leipzig from the Bundesliga have sent their scouts to Abidjan to evaluate the 23-year-old player.

It is anticipated that Yusuf will make a comeback in Nigeria’s Round of 16 match against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, following his absence in the previous two games due to a thigh injury.

This injury was sustained during the Super Eagles’ opening game against Equatorial Guinea.

The midfielder is said to have resumed full team training on Wednesday ahead of Nigeria’s next match in the AFCON.

Yusuf was included in Nigeria’s AFCON 2023 squad following injury to Wilfred Ndidi

The internal memo at the Central Bank intimating the staff of management’s plan to move certain departments to its other facilities in Abuja, Lagos, and understaffed branches in the country has generated so much negative vibes. The reason given is that the Central Bank offices in the headquarters are congested. The carrying capacity of the building is 2,700 workers, but the current staff load is 4, 223. The management, therefore, has expressed health and safety concerns, especially in view of warnings by the organization’s facility manager about the danger of the bank exceeding the capacity limit to such a level. The findings of a Committee purposely set up to look into the issue confirmed the fears of the facility manager who, I want to believe, must be a structural engineer who must know his onions. The management then decided to implement the recommendations of the committee. It is not as if Yemi Cardoso just woke up from a bad dream and out of a brain wave he decided to move some units to other branches to decongest the head office building in Abuja. For the opposition to garner maximum effect, the memo is being twisted to concentrate attention on only movement to Lagos.

The memo mentions another facility in Abuja as well as “under-staffed branches.” It is amazing to see far-sighted safety and good health measures being embroiled in ethnic jingoism and war drums being beaten. Listen to Senate Chief Whip Ali Ndume in an interview with Channels Television: “…they do not know how Nigeria works and will not be able to help the President when the repercussions come.” He was referring to those he derisively called “Lagos Boys.” He went on to tell Politics Editor of Channels, Seun Okinbaloye: “Some of them think that they know better than everybody. But they don’t know anything. When you don’t know Nigeria, you only know Lagos, then you start doing things as if Nigeria is Lagos. Lagos is in Nigeria.

“Why was the headquarters moved from Lagos to Abuja? Was it not because of the congestion there? I don’t even see any issues of congestion…Don’t try to bring tribalism into it…” He said it was not Lagos votes that made Tinubu to be President. “Those misleading the President are not doing him any good because this is going to have some political consequences. If Tinubu was not elected president, the CBN governor would not be there. It was not Lagos votes that put Tinubu there.”

“That’s a wrong decision. We will not accept it. Besides, you know they are not doing any favour to Mr. President because this will have political consequences. Yes, I’m telling you this. And these guys who are just sitting down there trying to hang on to Mr. President will not be there to amend the political mistakes or even to correct it because they don’t know anybody. They only know their offices. And they only know that they have brains.”

The Human Resources department had stated in the memo as follows: “The action is necessitated by several factors to ensure compliance with safety building standards and hence the efficient utilization of our office space. Our current occupancy level of 4, 223 significantly exceeds the optimal capacity of 2, 700 designed for the Head Office building. This overcrowding poses several critical challenges.”

Professor Kingsley Moghalu, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank wading into the issue cannot understand what the storm is all about. He said there is no reason for the disquiet whatsoever. From his interjection, it can be seen that the issue of the relocation must have predated the Tinubu Administration. I have the feeling that the possibility of decongesting the Abuja Headquarters was mulled when he was in the Central Bank although he did not quite clearly state that. He said in his tweet that the Lagos office was inaugurated 12 years ago during his tenure as Deputy Governor, but the facility has been underutilized. He believes that the relocation addresses the overstaffing challenges at Abuja Headquarters where the staff count exceeds the recommended health and safety limits. He believes, indeed argues that the decision is logical because the departments to be moved oversee market entities based in Lagos. In his words: “I don’t see any serious basis for such disquiet…Moreover, the market entities supervised by the departments that will move to Lagos are mostly in Lagos. So, what’s the problem? Seems a rational decision to me.”

Moghalu has ready support from Mohammed A Yakasai, a retired Director of the Central Bank. He said: “With the massive political employment in CBN, the Head Office is overpopulated. The majority of those young men and women prefer to work only in Abuja and the Head Office, and so it was. I am of the view that what the current management is doing is corrective and should be supported. The thought has since been that most of the important banks’ Headquarters are in Lagos. Those departments that are supervisory in nature should relocate for effectiveness and cost minimization.”

He continued: “Those young boys that were untouchable because of their political lineage are beginning to see the rule of law re-emerging. It is not their prerogative to determine where they should work. After all, everyone signed a declaration that the bank can post you anywhere. We are beginning to see the restoration of discipline in the system. The act of the new management should not be politicized.”

In a climate of building collapse here and there in the country should the Abuja Head Offices give way, with heavy casualties, how are the authorities going to explain it? There were warnings; a competent committee was set up which recommended decongestion of the place. A building with a carrying capacity of 2,700 is populated by 4, 223. The load is in excess of 1,523. Surprisingly Ali Ndume and his ilk, going by his emotional outburst, cannot see a sense of responsibility in taking pro-active steps to avert a serious disaster waiting to happen! Senator Ndume asks why the relocation is not to Nasarawa, Kogi, or Kaduna. We do not know yet because the circular says the redistribution of some of the staff would go to understaffed branches. Kaduna may well receive some of them as it already has a branch there. It is also so easy to see that movement to places where there is the absence of branches would entail finding suitable property and having to pay rent whereas the property in Lagos belongs to the CBN. This means extra costs. The fear that officials of the bank would have to be traveling up and down between Lagos and Abuja with the attendant risks should be allayed by the promise of the technological wonders of these times. In this day and age, such travels can be reduced to the barest minimum. The units can work effectively from anywhere. The Central Bank Governor, Yemi Cardoso, and his four deputies are firmly in Abuja. The headquarters remain in Abuja. The policy-making team in the bank is in Abuja. What does Abuja lose with relieving Abuja of its overload? The Presidency has also made it plain that Tinubu is not relocating the Federal Capital to Lagos.

Senator Ndume spoke with nauseating arrogance: “I am not a Hausa man; I am not a Fulani man. I am a Northerner, I am first a Nigerian.” That he is a Nigerian sounds like an afterthought. What he appears to be saying is that he is a Northerner. Is he thereby suggesting that Abuja belongs to only Northerners? Why are we making a mountain out of a molehill? When are we going to grow up in this country? Everything ought not to be seen from an ethnic prism, especially from principal officers of the state. Of course how we see things are governed by the level of inner maturity of each person. For this reason, perception and cognizance must differ from individual to individual. Why can’t we learn from what obtains in other places? South Africa, a sister African country, has something to teach us in this respect. The Executive arm of government — the President and his Ministers are in Pretoria, the capital city, but the Legislative arm, the Parliament is in Cape Town while the Judiciary, the Supreme Court is in Bloemfontein. The Constitutional Court is in fact at Johannesburg.

Senator Ndume also spoke about NNPC. Yes, what is wrong in relocating its head offices to Port Harcourt? That is the heartland of oil production. Being in Port Harcourt will make for close monitoring and efficiency. It will enable the company to attend promptly to oil theft and curb it; also to oil spill and have greater understanding of empathy for environmental degradation in the Zone — Warri, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Imo axis.

General Murtala Mohammed, Dr. Tai Solarin, and Justice Akinola Aguda must be feeling exceedingly ill at ease wherever they may all be on the several planes of the Beyond, seeing the twist being made of the vision that led to building a fresh capital city to which all parts of the country can lay claim. Dr. Solarin wrote articles pressing for a new capital city citing as an example Brazil moving her capital from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia as a purpose-built and centrally located city in the 1950s. That was of a particular attraction to him. He also mentioned Russia which moved her capital from St. Petersburg to Moscow in 1918. Tai Solarin said Lagos was too congested for continuing meaningful development and for fresh air. General Mohammed was persuaded by Dr. Solarin’s arguments. Upon driving his tanks into Dodan Barracks to dislodge General Gowon on 29 July 1975, the founding of a new capital city was given life on his mind. It became uppermost in his thinking. He raised a committee headed by Justice Akinola Aguda. Of course, Tai Solarin was on the committee so he could realise his dream. The members went round the country and eventually settled for Abuja which was considered centrally placed. Head of State, General Mohammed announced the Federal Capital moving from Lagos to Abuja before his assassination on 13 February 1976. Upon General Obasanjo’s coming to the saddle in succession to him, Bolaji Ajose-Adeogun was made the first Minister, empowered by Decree 6 of 1976 to see to the planning and development of the new Federal Capital. The development went apace when Shehu Shagari became President. It was Babangida who intensified efforts and gave the development such a necessary push with General Nasko as Minister that made the proper movement possible from Lagos to Abuja in 1991.

President Bola Tinubu has said he has no plan to relocate the Federal Capital from Abuja to Lagos. The Lagos city fathers themselves have for some time been complaining that Lagos is too congested. That should settle the wild and unfounded speculations.

State Police is the answer
As I was saying last week…Former Senate President, General David Mark, concerned about the mindless killings, banditry, and spate of kidnapping, said it is as if most Nigerians have lost their humanity. He spoke in the wake of the murderous attacks on Plateau. During the week, according to reports, bandits dressed in military uniforms kidnapped 31 persons at Tashar Nagule in Batsari Local Government area of Katsina State. Before this incident, three students of Al-Qalam University, Katsina State were seized and whisked away by heavily armed gunmen. Some 10 days ago, bandits killed nine persons and burnt five vehicles at Kukar Babangida village, also in Katsina State. That state is one of the worst besieged by kidnappers in the worsening state of insecurity sweeping through the Middle Belt, that is, the North Central States and Nigeria in general. In December last year, five abducted students of Federal University, Dutsin Ma, in Katsina State were set free after being in captivity for 74 days. Ekiti State had a bitter taste of the insecurity at a portion where a road is being reconstructed from Iju and vehicles necessarily have to slow down. Reports state that about four persons were kidnapped. The Governor of Plateau State has declared a state of emergency in parts of the state following restiveness and reports of continuing security concerns after more than 200 people were killed in a night attack in the axis on Christmas Eve.

As I did ask former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018, and posed the same question to President Bola Tinubu his successor last week: How many more of our people are we waiting to see killed before doing the right thing? Till a senior government functionary, a governor, a federal lawmaker or a minister falls victim? Already the criminals have attacked military and police formations, one of the security organization’s headquarters — the most fearsome violence–unleashing weapons of state power.

We may wish to borrow a leaf from some other countries of the world. Take Belgium as an example where there are two main forces: The Police Communale and Gendarmerie Nationale. Police Communale is made up of 589 Municipal Police Forces, each independently funded by the local town mayor to whom it is accountable, and with powers to operate only within their particular municipal territory. Gendarmerie Nationale operates at what we may call a “supra level” covering the entire country with special responsibility for traffic on national roads, drugs, terrorism, and organized crime. In Belgium there are also smaller, specialized forces — judicial police, maritime police, airport, and railway police forces. In Holland, there are 148 such municipal forces.

I say that it is delusional to think it is only training, equipment, and motivation our security forces need as at present constituted — very key as these are. As Ali Ndume rightly stated, our men in uniform are very poorly paid and looked after, calling for an urgent rectification. No doubt about that. This column is talking about structure which a country of Nigeria’s size requires to stem bothersome criminality in the land.

Denmark and Norway have police forces which, although are decentralized, yet are autonomous because the Districts are independent.

The Presidency has replied to the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, over the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPCL) $3.3 billion emergency crude repayment loan.

Naija News recalls that the repayment loan was secured on August 16, 2023, and was designed to bolster the naira and stabilize the foreign exchange market.

The transaction, arranged by the African Export-Import Bank, was not only intended to support the national currency but also to aid the Federal Government’s monetary and fiscal reforms.

Notably, three weeks ago, the Federal Government received $2.25 billion of the $3.3 billion foreign exchange facility from the bank.

However, in a statement on Thursday, Atiku called on President Bola Tinubu to provide a detailed account of the repayment loan, adding that the only available details were emerging from sources within the NNPCL.

He highlighted that the transaction is being facilitated by a Special Purpose Vehicle named Project Gazelle Funding Limited, which was incorporated in the Bahamas.

Reacting to Atiku’s query on Thursday, presidential aide, Otega Ogra said the Tinubu’s administration has taken the time to educate all Nigerians further on the loan at various times.

He said the loan also known as Project Gazelle, is a financing agreement secured by NNPC Limited to prepay future royalties and taxes to the federal government.

Ogra stated that NNPC Limited’s project is a forward-thinking financial strategy that aligns operational needs with broader economic goals by utilising future crude oil sales for immediate funding, enhancing liquidity, and contributing to Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves.

He said the project showcases NNPC Limited’s operational autonomy and financial acumen while ensuring immediate liquidity, minimising the impact on future earnings, and potentially enhancing Nigeria’s credit rating.

Ogra noted that the repayments are strategically planned and tied to future oil sales, with conservative pricing in oil sales contracts mitigating the risks associated with oil price volatility.