Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and immediate past governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has admitted his mistake supposedly about his successor and begged people of Ogun/Bolo local government area to forgive him.

He has also emphasized that at no point did he tell anybody to worship him, stating that people should be appreciative of those or whoever that is instrumental to their elevation.

Minister of the FCT, Wike, spoke on Saturday at St. Martins Church Field Ogu town in Ogu/Bolo LGA, for the grand civic reception held in honour of George Thompson Sekibo, who celebrated 20 years of meritorious service at the National Assembly and 36 years of his life in public service.

The minister said that God cannot come down to help people, but would use somebody to accomplish that, condemning ingratitude in the lives of some individuals.

Wike stated: “My dear people, I came because I respect people who appreciate what God has done for them; who appreciate what God has used people to do for them.

“God does not come down. God uses people to help people. So, when you have been helped, you appreciate Him and, then, God will know you have appreciated Him.

“I have never told anybody to worship me. Nobody can worship man. All of us believe that we only have one God. And it is only that God we will worship. And will continue to worship that God.

“But, as politicians, we appreciate people who have helped us. Is it not correct?

“Ogu/Bolo people, when I came to ask you to support me, you supported me. Did I worship you? But, I have to appreciate you. I have to thank you. If you did not support me, I would not have been in the position where I am.
I never said I would worship you. Did you tell me to worship you? So, how did the issue of worship come?

“I want to say this clearly, in life, we may have made a mistake. You have made and there is nothing anyone can make about. I have made a mistake. I own it up. And I ask God to forgive me. I have said all of you forgive me. But, we will correct it at the appropriate time.

“I am a human being. I am bound to make a mistake. My judgment can be wrong. So, forgive me for making a wrong judgment. That is life. So, nobody should kill himself.”

To the lawmaker representing Ogu/Bolo constituency in the House of Assembly, Wike declared:

“Let me say this clearly, Arnold, don’t be frightened that anybody would remove you as an Assembly member. Nobody will remove you as Assembly member.

“Most of you don’t understand. This (politics) is our work. What l am doing is to make them fear, to make them angry. I have no other job than to make them to be angry everyday, to make them make mistake everyday. And they will be in trouble everyday. So, don’t worry yourselves.

“If they like, they can go to anybody by 2am, 4am to get injunction. The law will take its course. We are not afraid. We followed due process. We must follow due process.

“We are not going to harm anybody. We are not going to give money to anybody to buy arms and kill anybody. We won’t do that.

“As you see me, I think well. You see, I came with Senator Magnus Abe. I work with people who have brain. In politics, when people who have brain disagree, they agree.

Wike taunted those saying they would bring him, saying nobody could do that.

“When you are in charge, you are in charge. So, don’t worry”, urging them to calm down because everything would be over.

He, however, advised Ogun/Bolo people to forget the abuse coming from their detractors, noting that one must be alive for people to abuse him.

“At the appropriate day, that day when the result would be announced, we will know who is who. Don’t worry yourselves. We have defeated them severally.

“No amount of propaganda can help you. Ogu people have shown loyalty. And I want to thank you.”

The FCT minister declared that he knows how to handle the people he described as “buccaneers”, stressing that he would continue to handle them.

He acknowledged that it is not easy to be in power, saying that it is only those who lack knowledge of why they are in power give excuses.

“When you want to do bad, you say there is too much pressure on you, saying they say I should bring N20 billion, N10 billion, N100 billion. They want to run away from fulfilling the promises you made to people.

“Look at all the council chairmen; look at all the Assembly members. These are young men, whom I talked to, spoke to that all these things are for the interest of all of us. Do it. And they all did it. Today, somebody says they are nobody. Will you accept that?

“Look at Assembly people sat down in their various constituencies. You never brought a dime. I never knew you were so rich; I never knew your father was a managing director of Shell before and now you are feeding Assembly people, paying their children’s school fees. I never knew that. It’s unfortunate.”

Wike reiterated that he would not abandon Ogu people, emphasizing that from 1999 to 2014, no governor in the state had recognized the traditional institution in Ogu/Bolo, but he broke the jinx.

The FCT minister berated traditional rulers in the area who failed to be appreciative of the person who lifted them up.

“I have maintained peace. And I will continue to maintain peace. And I want all of you to continue to maintain peace. There will come a time when nobody can tell me that I would not live in my house. Nobody can tell me that I cannot go to my house. Maintain peace and follow law. Follow due process.”

In an attempt to promote religious tolerance, a Muslim man shared photos of himself and his Christian wife praying in their respective ways, but the gesture backfired, sparking controversy and criticism from followers.

The photos, posted on social media, depict the husband and wife praying in the same room, with the woman kneeling in the Christian tradition and the man on a prayer mat, following Islamic practices. After their separate prayers, the couple embraced, symbolizing their unity despite their religious differences.

“My wife and me. Christian and Muslim relationship,” the man captioned the photos, aiming to showcase the harmony in their interfaith marriage.

However, the well-intentioned gesture was met with backlash from some Muslim followers, who criticized the man for not converting his wife to Islam. They argued that such a relationship is forbidden in Islam, rendering the marriage unlawful.

In response to the criticism, the man explained that while he and his five daughters are Muslim, his wife is still learning about Islam and has not yet converted. This explanation did little to assuage the concerns of his followers, who maintained that the marriage is illegitimate according to Islamic teachings.

The controversy has reignited the debate surrounding interfaith marriages and the challenges of reconciling religious beliefs with personal relationships. While some have applauded the couple’s display of mutual respect and tolerance, others insist on adhering to religious doctrines that prohibit such unions.

As the conversation continues online, religious scholars and community leaders have weighed in, offering their perspectives on the matter. Some have called for greater understanding and acceptance of interfaith marriages, while others have reiterated the importance of upholding religious principles.

The incident has shed light on the complex dynamics of navigating different belief systems within personal relationships and the ongoing need for open dialogue and education to promote religious harmony and tolerance in diverse societies.

Prince Harry and his team visited the 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in Kaduna to interact with wounded soldiers who are receiving treatment.

The Duke of Sussex is in Nigeria with his wife to champion the Invictus Games, which Harry founded to aid the rehabilitation of wounded and sick servicemembers and veterans. 

Nigeria joined the Invictus Community of Nations in 2022  becoming the first African country to join.

Prince Harry’s visit to Kaduna came 68 years after his late grandmother Queen Elizabeth II visited the state during the time of the late Premier of Northern Region Sir Ahmadu Bello.

The Army Headquarters has announced investigation into a viral footage showing soldiers protesting at the 8 Division Garrison detention facility in Sokoto.

The footage, circulating on social media, depicts personnel held in custody expressing grievances.

In a statement signed Saturday by Onyema Nwachukwu, Major General Director Army Public Relations, the Army regretted the incident adding that it would not condone the soldiers’ behaviour, which constitutes mutiny and misconduct.

According to the report, the Chief of Army Staff has ordered a probe to determine if the incident is isolated or widespread in similar facilities.

“Undoubtedly, the Sokoto barracks detention facility incident is quite unfortunate and an embarrassment to the sound administration efforts of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), to say the least, and in line with his leadership style, the COAS has instituted an appropriate investigation into the incident to determine whether it is an isolated or widespread situation in similar detention facilities.

“While the service regrets and has gleaned some lessons from the incident, it will however not condone the manner the inmates expressed their purported grievance. Mutiny and conduct prejudicial to service order are grievous misconducts, and this very incident epitomises such.

“As such, as Army, on the one side, goes ahead to implement the COAS directive to look into the state of all NA detention facilities, as detainees’ lives also matter, the Service shall not shy away from appropriately sanctioning the soldiers involved in the unruly behaviour in its Sokoto detention facility for failing to exhaust all available options to channel their complaints to the appropriate authorities and if it was discovered they did and nothing was done, necessary administrative actions will be taken against anyone found to have failed to discharge his/her duties effectively.

“While the Service is mindful of its subjective oversight engagements by statutory bodies, it remains primarily a responsible, self-regulating professional body. As such, the Service remains committed to ensuring that everyone, even those found guilty of aiding terrorists, kidnappers, and bandits, and are awaiting confirmation of their sentencing, as it has been discovered in the Sokoto case is accorded a relatively decent life until their judgment is confirmed and executed. This commitment underscores the NA’s dedication to upholding professional standards and maintaining a just and fair system.

“The NA appreciates all Nigerians for their concern and support as well as pledge to remain focused on its drive to defeating security challenges facing the nation in conjunction with sister services and other security agencies,” the statement added.

Blomberg’s recent report has revealed that Nigeria’s currency, the naira, has emerged as the world’s worst performing currency in the past month.

The currency took a downturn after its recent gains and wonderful performance last month, when it was ranked as one of the best-performing currencies globally as of April 2024.

According to the report, the reversal in Naria’s gains has placed increased pressure on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to continue raising interest rates.

Naria’s depreciation to 1,466.31 against the dollar was reported to be its weakest level since March 20.

The Bloomberg report released on Friday explained that the recent development is attributed to scarcity of USDollar in the local markets, with only $84 million available on Thursday, half of the previous day’s supply.

However, Tribune Online reports that the nation’s currency plummeted to as low as N1,600/$1 on the official market and N1800/$1 on the parallel market in March.

Razia Khan, the Chief Economist for Africa and the Middle East at Standard Chartered, who spoke with Bloomberg, estimated that $1.3 billion in naira futures will mature at the end of this month, potentially dampening market sentiment and expected to create more demands for dollars.

She said, “When the currency appreciated very fast, there had been a bout of profit-taking by offshore investors, and this meant that the dollar-naira exchange rate backed up again.

“This is completely in line with the functioning market.”

Continuing, the report by Bloomberg stated that the naira’s current performance is expected to intensify pressure on the country’s apex bank, leading to implementation of another rate hike after its upcoming policy meeting on May 21.

Meanwhile, the CBN was reported to have increased rates by a total of 600 basis points in February and March, adding that this aided the naira in rebounding from its low of 1,627 naira on March 8 to 1,072 in mid-April.

The naira, on Friday, also depreciated by 0.9% to N1,468 against the dollar in the unofficial market.

The Kano State Shari’ah Court, sitting in Kura, has sentenced a 30-year-old man, Haruna Abdulkarim, to receive 10 lashes as punishment for deceiving others by falsely claiming to be a Muslim in the process of converting to Islam.

Abdulkarim was arrested following a tip-off, as he had been attending daily and Friday mosque prayers, masquerading as a Christian seeking to embrace Islam and soliciting funds under the guise of almsgiving.

The Hisbah Commander in Kura LGA, Alhaji Ali Alkasim Kura, subsequently transferred him to the Police for further investigation and legal action.

During his court appearance, the accused admitted guilt and asserted his insolvency despite numerous obligations on his part.

Abdulkarim pleaded for leniency, vowing not to engage in such deceitful acts again.

After receiving the prescribed 10 lashes, the Court cautioned that any recurrence of the offense would result in the imposition of the harshest penalty.

The offender, Abdulkarim, appealed for forgiveness from all Muslims, particularly those who had supported him. He then assured that he would not engage in such behavior again. Moreover, driven by a genuine sense of remorse, he expressed his intention to seek guidance from Islamic scholars to deepen his religious understanding.

…urges Tinubu to call Wike to order

The former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, has said the Rivers State Governor Similaye Fubura, was being haunded by his political opponents for daring to prevent the looting of the state.

He explained that the political crisis in the state was orchestrated by those who demand unfettered access to the finances of the state a demand the governor has refused to accept.

Secondus who spoke in Abuja, on Saturday, also accused the immediate past Governor of the state and now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, of being the brain behind Fubura’s political troubles.

He explained that Wike’s conduct, utterances and unrelenting fued with the governor, has cast the state in bad light.

Secondus said, “Wike has been Governor for eight years and is now Minister of the FCT. As Minister, what, has he (Wike) attracted in terms of Federal projects to our dear State since he assumed office? Perhaps misery, grief, and anguish. As Governor he had supervised the exit of investors from the state due to his draconian policies.

“He had on an occasion mentioned that he is capable of causing crisis and he is not far from the truth, as he is causing an unfathomable crisis in Rivers State.

“Mrs Patience Jonathan and I worked for his emergence as governor, have we ever breathed down his neck? Instead what we get is disrespect and insults.

“ I can attest to Dr. Odili’s performance as Governor being the State PDP chairman then. I hasten to say without any fear of contradiction that he is the best governor of Rivers State in this dispensation.

“Wike claims that our revered Dr. Odili made him but in his characteristic manner, he publicly ridiculed the Odili’s without any justification. He owes them an unreserved apology and he should do so publicly.

“These media attacks against the political leaders of Rivers State are unwarranted and diversionary.

“For the records you should account for the three hundred million dollars($300m) you collected from the NNPC for the Ogoni Oil well and the cash refund made by the Saipem oil and gas company and subsequently account for your eight-year tenure of over N4Trillion realized, mismanaged and squandered. Rather than trying to cover your inadequacies through media attacks.”

These attacks, he stressed, might dovetail into a national crisis if not properly checked.

While appealing to President Bola Tinubu to reign in the FCT minister, Secondus added, “I call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to prevail on the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike to stop overheating the Rivers State political atmosphere and allow Fubara to work. Whatever Wike thinks he is It must be stressed that Rivers people made him.”

The average price of refilling a 12.5-kilogram Cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, Cooking gas, has surged by 55.22 per cent to N15,929.04 in March from N10,262.56 the same month last year.

The National Bureau of Statistics disclosed this in its latest March Cooking Gas Price Watch.

On a month-on-month basis, the price of cooking gas surged by 5.77 per cent to 15,929.04 in March 2024 compared to 15,060.38 in February.

On state profile analysis, Sokoto recorded the highest average retail price for the refilling of a 12.5kg Cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) with N17,833.33, followed by Osun with N17,588.46 and Anambra with N17,417.65.

Conversely, the lowest average price was recorded in Katsina at N12,400.00, followed by Kebbi and Bauchi with N13,137.50 and N14,484.25, respectively.

Analysis by zone showed that the South-South recorded the highest average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg Cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) with N16,859.85, followed by the South-East with N16,734.87. In contrast, the North-East recorded the lowest price with N14,943.48.

The development comes amid the soaring inflation in Nigeria.

NBS plans to release April’s inflation next week.

Meanwhile, the country’s headline and food inflation increased to 33.20 per cent and 40.01 per cent in March 2024.

A 300-level student of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo State, in the Department of International Relations, has reportedly been raped by two university sheriffs in a classroom.

Vanguard gathered that the said 300-level student was in class with her boyfriend at about 7 pm on Thursday when the university sheriffs walked in and demanded N5,000 from them, of which they only had N1,500.

A close friend and hostel mate of the victim, who pleaded strict anonymity, shared with Vanguard that the sheriff sent the boyfriend away and before he could return she was already raped.

Explaining to Vanguard in a WhatsApp chat and phone call, the friend said of the victim, “My friend came back to the hostel crying, and when we asked her what happened, she said she was raped by two sheriffs in the class. They came and demanded N5,000 but we only had N1,500 with us and we transferred to their bank account. After that, they sent my boyfriend away and did not allow me to leave.

“Currently, she is depressed because when we took her to the medical centre, she was being blamed. She wrote to us that they are traumatizing her at the medical centre. They’re blaming me. They are calling me all sorts of names. They said I will never get married. They said I would be stigmatized in this school, that I would be a disgrace to everyone in school. They said I deliberately allowed them.”

However, the university management has initiated an investigation into the matter. In a press release sighted by Vanguard on their official X page formerly known as Twitter and signed by the Public Relations Officer, Ajayi Crowther University Oyo, Mr Olufemi John Atoyebi said action will be taken as the suspects have been handed over to the state police.

“Management of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, received with shock a report of an alleged rape of one of our female students last night, Thursday, May 9, 2024, by two members of our vigilance group.

“The Management promptly handed over to the police the two people alleged to have committed the crime, while the university has set up its internal panel of inquiry to investigate the allegation.

“The Management wishes to assure all stakeholders that ACU will not tolerate any act of misconduct capable of tarnishing its enviable image.

“Raising Godly intellectuals is our primary goal in ACU, and we will not allow any act of misconduct capable of diverting our attention from our goal. Heavy penalties await anyone who is found culpable after our thorough investigation.”

Efforts to reach the Public Relations Officer of the Oyo State Police Command, SP Wale Osifeso, proved abortive, but a text was sent to him.

Following the ongoing trials of naira abusers, vendors and event planners have decried its effect on the event industry.

They lamented that the ban had killed the fun and glamour at social functions, thereby affecting their trade negatively.

Recall that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, recently intensified its crackdown on individuals who abuse naira notes.

A Federal High Court, sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday, April 12, 2024, sentenced Idris Okuneye, a.k.a Bobrisky, to six months imprisonment with no option of fine over mutilation of the Naira notes.

A few days after, the anti-graft agency arraigned a socialite, Pascal Okechukwu, a.k.a Cubana Chief Priest, on a three-count charge bordering on abuse of the Naira before Justice Kehinde Ogundare sitting at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Unlike Bobrisky who pleaded guilty to the charge, Cubana Chief Priest pleaded not guilty to the allegation of naira abuse.

Speaking on this development, the convener of Ogun event vendors, Bola Ayedun-Solate said, although the ban has affected the event planning industry, Nigerians are beginning to adapt to the new development.

Ayedun-Solate spoke in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, at the weekend.

She said, partygoers, musicians and event planners have invented other means of “spraying naira” at parties for fear of being arrested and prosecuted.

The event planner applauded the EFCC for protecting the naira notes, insisting that Nigerians don’t have to abuse the naira to display their affluence at social gatherings.

“For us as event planners, the ban on spraying of naira at parties has removed the glamour from parties, but we are finding our way around it and the people are beginning to get used to the new norm.

“Our clients don’t need to come in front of musicians to abuse naira, we now have money bags printed where money is dropped for our clients.

“There was also a time that the association of event planners in Nigeria had makeshift money, something like money vouchers sprayed at parties instead of the naira notes.”

She, however, implored vendors to make use of money bags and embrace other options instead of abusing the naira at parties.