Israeli Army To Release Evidence Of Misfired Rocket That killed hundreds At Gaza hospital blast
Admin
The Israeli army said that it has credible evidence to prove that Hamas terrorists were responsible for the hospital blast that killed hundreds.
This was disclosed by the army military spokesman, Daniel Hagari, who addressed a press conference in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
“The evidence — which we are sharing with you all — confirms that the explosion at the hospital in Gaza was caused by an Islamic Jihad rocket that misfired,” Hagari was as quoted saying.
The remarks come after an explosion at a Gaza hospital facility on Tuesday evening killed at least 200 people, according to health officials in the war-torn territory, igniting demonstrations and widespread outrage across the Middle East.
“There was no IDF (Israeli army) fire by land, sea or air that hit the hospital,” Hagari said.
“Our radar system tracked missiles fired by terrorists in Gaza at the time of the explosion and the trajectory analysis of the rockets shows the rockets were fired in close proximity to the hospital.”
Following the blast, the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which runs the territory, pinned the blame on Israel.
The war of words continued on Wednesday with Hamas firing back at Israel’s latest comments about the strike, saying “Its outrageous lies do not deceive anyone”.
Israel “is directly responsible for this horrific massacre which was carried out… with American weapons only the occupation possesses”, Hamas said in a statement.
For more than a week, Israel has carried out a withering bombardment of Gaza – retaliation for the killing of 1,400 people who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death in shock cross-border attacks launched by Hamas on October 7.
The Bakoura Faction of the Boko Haram have reportedly blocked the waterways in the LCB in an efforts to annihilate its rival faction.
Zagazola had reported how the Boko Haram faction successfully uprooted the Boko Haram in dozens of their hideouts within the Lake Chad tumbuns of Marte and Abadam.
20-year-old UNILORIN student commits suicide after lending ‘online lover’ N500,000 — Management
AdminA 20-year-old student of the University of Ilorin, Sanni Hameedat, reportedly committed suicide after lending a boy she met on the social media platform, Snapchat, the sum of N500,000.
According to Rubiks, the private hostel management she resided in before her demise, in a statement made available to PUNCH Online on Wednesday, Hameedat was undergoing her SIWES programme before the incident happened.
The management asserted that the cause of her death was not unrelated to the pressure from the app agents, who were demanding fast repayment, coupled with her brother’s inability to assist her financially, which led to depression.
“The cause of Suicide was traced to financial misappropriation. She was entrusted with a significant sum of money by her mother. She crossed paths with a guy on Snapchat and developed a friendship.
“When the boy claimed that his mother was battling breast cancer and urgently needed N500,000, the compassionate and emotional lady decided to help him by lending him half of the N1 million she held for her mother. And the boy promised to repay the borrowed money.
“However, when her mother needed the money back, the boy abruptly cut off all up all contact, blocking her. This left her deeply troubled and in order for her to make up the missing N500,000, she resorted to borrowing money from various apps.”
Hameedat, therefore, managed to gather N450,000 from the loan apps, adding her savings of N50,000 to make up the borrowed N500,000.
The management further maintained that she was reported to have ingested a bottle of pesticide popularly known as Sniper the previous night, and her roommate (name withheld), who had retired to bed early, woke up in the middle of the night to discover her in distress while she was foaming from her mouth and also vomiting.
“Alarmed, the roommate sought help, and she was rushed to UITH before being declared dead,” the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, both the Dean, Student Affairs Unit, Prof M.T. Yakubu, and the Head, Corporate Affairs, Kunle Akogun of the institution, could not comment on the issue in terse messages sent to them as they both claimed to be partaking in the 37th and 38th combined convocation ceremony which kickstarted on Monday, October 16, 2023.
But when our correspondent contacted the Student Union President, Ologundudu Adesunkanmi, popularly called Royal Prince, he confirmed the incident, corroborating the narration of the hostel management.
He said, “The Vice-Chancellor, Dean of Student Affairs are very much aware of the issue, and they have reported to the appropriate authority to begin a full-length investigation into the matter. It is sad that the university community lost her in such a devastating manner.”
Details later…
[Punch]
The Israeli army said Wednesday it had “evidence” that militants were responsible for the blast that killed hundreds at a Gaza hospital, saying a review proved others were at fault.
“The evidence — which we are sharing with you all — confirms that the explosion at the hospital in Gaza was caused by an Islamic Jihad rocket that misfired,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari told a press conference in Tel Aviv.
The comments came after an explosion at a Gaza hospital compound on Tuesday evening killed at least 200 people, according to health officials in the war-torn enclave, sparking protests across the Middle East and wide-ranging condemnation.
“There was no IDF (Israeli army) fire by land, sea or air that hit the hospital,” Hagari said.
“Our radar system tracked missiles fired by terrorists in Gaza at the time of the explosion and the trajectory analysis of the rockets shows the rockets were fired in close proximity to the hospital.”
Following the blast, the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which runs the territory, pinned the blame on Israel.
The war of words continued on Wednesday with Hamas firing back at Israel’s latest comments about the strike, saying “Its outrageous lies do not deceive anyone”.
Israel “is directly responsible for this horrific massacre which was carried out… with American weapons only the occupation possesses”, Hamas said in a statement.
For more than a week, Israel has carried out a withering bombardment of Gaza – retaliation for the killing of 1,400 people who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death in shock cross-border attacks launched by Hamas on October 7.
[DailyTrust]
• 1,209 out of 1,280 elective offices to be decided by court verdict
• Free, fair, credible elections held in only 71 polls, representing 5.55%
• 24 out of 28 guber cases for court validation
• Umpire earmarked N3 billion to defend decisions in court
• Electorates blame INEC, politicians, lawyers for flawed democracy
• We had 600 pre-election cases in several courts, Yakubu says
Outcomes of the last general elections and unprecedented flurry of election petitions have heightened credibility doubts of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) ability to conduct a free, fair and credible election.
Although the trend of ‘election by court order’ has continued since the return of civil rule in 1999, disputed election outcomes waiting for judicial resolution in this year’s polls are alarming.
For instance, a total of 1,280 political offices were contested in 2023, comprising the office of the presidency, 109 members of the Senate, 360 seats for the Federal House of Representatives, 782 House of Assembly seats across 28 states of the federation and 28 governorship positions.
Out of the total figure, 1,209 petitions are before the judiciary for adjudication, according to the President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Monica Dongban-mensem during the ceremony to commence the 2023/2024 legal year in Abuja, representing a whopping 94.453 per cent of the positions where votes were cast.
The implication is that the electorate have less say about who becomes their leader, as that responsibility has substantially been shifted to the judiciary.
As it is, only 71 offices are truly decided by the citizens, representing a paltry 5.547 per cent of the offices contested.
According to the human rights lawyer, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, these statistics confirm that the 2023 elections rival that of 2007 in infamy, despite the amendments to the Electoral Act and promises by the electoral umpire to improve the process.
“By contrast, 2015 was the first time that Nigeria’s presidential election did not end up in court, reflecting the consensus that the elections of that year were relatively well organised with results that largely reflected the will of the people.
“It was also the first time that the proportion of elections ending up in courts was less than 50 per cent (663 petitions or 44.32 per cent). The 2019 elections produced 766 petitions (51.2 per cent), roughly the same number as the 769 (51.4 per cent) seen in 2011,” he pointed out.
Considering the clogged dockets of the judiciary in Nigeria, Justice Dongban-Mensem stated that the court delivered 7,295 judgments and 3,665 motions in the 2022/2023 legal year, adding that it could have done more, but for the electoral dispute interregnum.
She added that 98 panels were constituted to hear the 1,209 election petitions nationwide.
Five of them, she said, were filed and concluded at the Presidential Election Petition Court, while 147 filed at the senatorial election tribunal have been delivered and 417 petitions from the House of Representatives are being attended to.
The PCA also said 557 petitions associated with State Houses of Assembly and 83 gubernatorial complaints are being disposed of, adding that 28 states participated in the governorship elections, with petitions filed in 24 of them.
The figures excluded the pre-election disputes, which most of them terminated at the apex court.
Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, during the new legal year speech, acknowledged the pressure political cases are mounting on the judiciary due to the timeline attached to their determination.
He said: “I want to specifically appreciate and acknowledge my brother Justices who have delivered 272 judgments in the normal civil, criminal and election related Appeals under immense pressure.
Last November, the chairman of INEC, Mahmood Yakubu, lamented that the Commission was handling over 600 pre-election cases in several courts across the federation during a capacity-building workshop for over 300 judges that would handle election disputes.
He revealed that the cases pending against the electoral body relate to the conduct of primaries by political parties, meaning that now that the elections are over, the cases have risen, such that INEC will be contending with about 1,209 cases, since litigants usually join the Commission in their petitions.
Aware of the litigious culture, INEC in its Election Project Plan for the 2023 general election earmarked N3 billion of tax-payers money to defend election-related disputes in court.
However, stakeholders are blaming INEC, lawyers and the politicians for subletting the right to choose political leadership to the judiciary, warning that if the trend is not checked, it will get to a point where there will be no need to organise any election.
Lagos lawyer, Bankole Kayode, believes that politicians are majorly to be blamed.
According to him, politicians are afraid to lose elections because the consequences of their electoral defeat are quite heavy.
“They instantly become abandoned and deserted by their supporters in addition to the loss of the heavy money and resources they deploy to the failed election venture, therefore, they become worse than someone infected with leprosy.
“The next thing they resort to, to avoid being deserted is to give false hope to their supporters that the courts will restore to them their ‘stolen mandate’ and hence the high rate of litigation we see all over,” he said, adding that many lawyers who ought to discourage frivolous litigations by appropriately advising their clients will rather cash in on the situation to make a fortune out of the desperate losers of the elections by rushing to courts in spite of the poor chances of success.
“I think lawyers should act more circumspectly by giving good advice to the politicians as to their chances in court after they have lost elections,” he advised.
Kayode also blamed top INEC officials who come to the public space to mislead the people about the true state of our electoral laws and their capacity to deliver.
During the preparation for the last election, he noted, a top INEC official was all over the media misleading the politicians and the electorates that Irev and other electronic devices would be compulsorily deployed as ‘prescribed by the electoral laws and guidelines’.
“He was singing it all over that INEC result viewing (Irev) portal was ‘the game changer’ which will eliminate all electoral malpractices, whereas, though a lawyer himself, he was talking in crass ignorance of the provisions of the electoral laws when compared with the subsequent court decisions.
“So, INEC officials should engage law experts to enlighten them on the provisions of our electoral laws so that they in turn will correctly enlighten the politicians and the electorates about the true state of the electoral laws, because nothing is wrong with the electoral laws,” he declared.
Also, Stephen Azubuike, lawyer and author, said a bigger portion of the blame pie goes to INEC.
His words: “When elections are fraught with much evidence of procedural and process anomalies, the candidates will be too aggrieved to let go.
“Of course, Nigerian politicians see elections as a do-or-die affair and will do everything possible until it is considered over. This means that so long as the courts are there, politicians consider the courtrooms as an extension of the polling units where they hope to make another attempt to win.
“Therefore, I don’t see the courts being let alone any time soon even if INEC performs at its best. Interestingly, electoral law can hardly be used to deny any candidate access to courts. It may be viewed as a denial of fundamental rights.”
He called for further reforms, starting with INEC.
Blaming politicians for being bad sportsmen, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Yomi Alliyu lamented that they are sometimes deceived by the rented crowd and the money they spent on adverts.
He regretted that few men and women on the bench get to decide who occupies political office for the electorate.
Alliyu said: “It is unfortunate that at times the wishes of the people are decided by 13 people or at most 17 if you consider three judges of the Tribunal, five for the Court of Appeal and five at the Supreme Court. It is 17 for presidential election petitions comprising five at the Court of Appeal and seven at the Supreme Court!
“However, there is nothing anybody can do about this since it is what ‘we the people’ agreed to in our Constitution. We have submitted our adjudicatory power to those arbiters, and they are deemed to be the voice of all of us. This is far better than anarchy.”
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Legalpedia, Emeka Albert, fingered INEC as the problem.
“The body is far from being independent and lacks a sense of responsibility or accountability. When the umpire is confused, there are no rules and the game becomes a huge joke,” he quipped.
For law teacher and advocate, Prof Ernest Ojukwu (SAN), Nigeria has imbibed the culture of dishonesty as a way of life, which impacts on the people and institutions.
According to him, the blame goes to the Nigerian in INEC, the Nigerian in politicians and the Nigerian in our leaders, as well as the Nigerian in the electorate, who have all accepted the culture of dishonesty.
“We cannot forestall the trend of massive electoral disputes when our elections are mainly based on dishonesty. Most electoral disputes happen because we do not trust the process and the result of our elections, and we do not trust the umpire who largely takes sides in this culture of dishonesty.
“Until we begin to focus on the character of the Nigerian, and raise a new army of humans with integrity, our elections will never be free and fair,” he declared.
Human rights lawyer, Festus Ogun believes INEC shares the bigger part of the blame. The election, he insisted, was poorly conducted.
According to him, it was not credible. “With that, even those who clearly lost the election would believe they should be declared winner because of the inefficiency of INEC.
“And they are right because what INEC declared as valid votes sometimes get nullified as invalid votes by the Tribunals. So, because people generally lack faith in the electoral system, which is justified, their last hope is the Tribunal,” he said, suggesting that the solution would be to have a truly independent, efficient and effective electoral system.
Efforts to know how INEC feels about the barrage of litigations and their implication for the electoral process, were unsuccessful as its National Commissioner & Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun did not pick calls placed on his phone or respond to messages as at press time.
[Guardian]
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has voiced its concern about the consistently litigious nature of elections held in Nigeria since the advent of the present democratic era in 1999.
INEC also decried incessant conflicting judgments by the courts which have become a recurring decimal in the jurisprudence of election in Nigeria and is inimical to the electoral process.
The twin-issues were attributed to the prevailing political culture in the nation.
At a two-day workshop for members of the INEC Press Corps in Akwanga, Nasarawa State, INEC director of Legal Drafting and Contacts, Barr. Toyin Babalola stressed the need for political parties to uphold the principles of internal democracy by ensuring that the selection of candidates accurately represents the will of their party members during primary elections.
Babalola argued that by adhering strictly to the principles of internal democracy and ensuring candidate nominations align with their members’ preferences, political parties could contribute significantly to reducing the frequency of pre-election disputes and their adverse impact on the electoral process.
According to her, “Elections conducted since the inception of democracy have been litigious, owing to our political culture.
“It is important that political parties strictly preserve the tenets of internal democracy by ensuring that nomination of candidates reflects the will of their members at party primaries, to reduce the spate of pre-election matters and its impact on preparation for elections”, she said.
The INEC director stated that it is pertinent to note that election challenges are a crucial part of the electoral processes of constitutional democracies, the world over.
She said, “In Nigeria, like other representative democracies, the electoral laws provide for resolution of electoral disputes through the mechanism of legal proceedings referred to as pre–election and post-election (Election Petitions) cases.
“The challenges associated with litigation are not limited to pre-election cases.
“The following challenges have been identified as relating to pre-election matters: Lack of internal party democracy: This is one of the major bases for pre-election matters.
“Non-adherence to party Constitution and Guidelines, arbitral replacement of candidates from persons that emerged from validly conducted primaries, nomination of placeholders, etc are factors that impact on preparations for elections.”
“Conflicting judgments by the Courts which have become a re-current decimal in the jurisprudence of election in Nigeria and is inimical to the electoral process.”
She said the concerns of the Commission are in respect of the trend which has portrayed partial departure from the time honoured doctrine of stare decisis resulting in conflicting decisions on the same set of facts and subject matter.
She said, “This has resulted in uncertainty, loss of confidence in the system with the attendant negative consequences on the electoral process.
[Leadership]
…Ndume kicks against Akpabio’s alleged procedural errors, storms out of session
The brewing crisis in the Senate came to a head, yesterday, as the Chief Whip, Senator Ali Ndume, stormed out during plenary to protest the refusal of the Senate president, Godswill Akpabio, to address alleged procedural errors.
To prevent the situation from degenerating, Akpabio requested that his colleagues meet behind closed doors for further discussion.
How it began
Trouble started minutes after the commencement of the day’s session when Senator Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South), raised a point of order to draw the Senate President’s attention to alleged procedural errors committed by him which were yet to be corrected.
Specifically, Ndume referenced a motion on the need for re-opening of Nigeria-Niger border, which was moved by Senator Sumaila Kawu (NNPP, Kano South), which Akpabio allowed to be debated without first having the official title of the motion read as the normal procedure.
Ndume, relying on Order 51 of the Senate Standing Rules, requested that the Senate President should allow for the correction of any error made or observed during plenary.
He said: “This is the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guided by laws, rules and procedures. If in the course of proceedings at any session errors are observed, they must be corrected before forging ahead with such proceedings.
“Mr. President, there are some things we do in this chamber that are against the rules. Sir, nobody is too big to learn.”
Akpabio had hardly allowed Ndume to end his speech when he ruled him out of order, saying since he had ruled on issues raised, it could not be revisited.
Undaunted, another senator, Sunday Karimi (APC, Kogi West), rose in defence of Ndume’s point of order by raising another point of order. He was equally ruled out of order by the Senate president.
In an attempt to douse the tension, which was reaching feverish pitch, Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, quickly raised Order 16, which requires a substantive motion to be moved by any senator seeking to correct or review an earlier decision taken.
Akpabio sustained this order and this infuriated Ndume, who equally raised another point of order, specifically, Order 54 to seek correction of the perceived error.
Again, Akpabio ruled him out of order without allowing him to exhaust his line of argument.
Ndume storms out
At this point, Ndume had had enough, he picked up his documents and a few other belongings and stormed out of the Senate chamber.
His action, which was obviously unexpected, led the Senate to dissolve into a closed session.
Incidentally, Ndume was Akpabio’s campaign manager during the race for the Senate presidency in June.
This is happening at a time senators are preparing to leave for Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, for a retreat that will begin today (Wednesday).
Building tension
Tension had been building up long before the Senate resumed from its long vacation in September.
There were speculations about moves to impeach the Senate President and effect a change in the leadership over Akapbio’s alleged insensitivity to the demands of senators, sidelining of some ranking senators in the headship of committees, kowtowing to President Tinubu and unsavoury role during the screening and confirmation of ministerial nominees in August.
This prompted the Senate President’s media office to issue a statement dismissing the speculation as a figment of the imagination of the authors.
However, Senator Elisha Abbo, who was, on Monday, sacked by the Appeal Court, issued a statement on behalf of the powerful northern senators accusing Akpabio’s office of trying to pit them against President Bola Tinubu.
Akpabio bears no ill-will against his colleagues – Aide
Meanwhile, Mr Eseme Eyiboh, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Senate President, said yesterday that Akpabio harboured no ill-will towards any of his colleagues.
He also rejected claims by Senator Elisha Abbo that the Senate president influenced the judgment of the Court of Appeal that sacked him from the Senate.
Eyiboh in a statement, expressed shock at the assertions of the former Adamawa North senator, describing his claims as “delinquent, provocative and unbecoming of a distinguished senator.”
His words: “It is only a diseased and uninformed mind that will not believe that the outcome of any court proceeding is a function of the evaluation of facts and evidence within the province of the rule of law. “It is uncharitable for Senator Abbo to pour his frustrations on Senator Akpabio or anyone else and his action betrays the bile he has for Senator Akpabio.
“Democracy is founded on the rule of law, so for anybody to accuse one of the strong agents of democracy and governance in the mould of Senator Akpabio, such an individual must be a monument of self-pity and his swansong a discordant escape from reality.”
“Senator Akpabio, for emphasis, has no ill will towards any of his distinguished colleagues and as he has said in the past, the embers of the leadership election have been buried and replaced by the fraternal bond of nation-building he shares with the overwhelming majority of senators.”
[Vanguard]
Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, emerged from his hibernation slinging incoherent aspersions on the person of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the exalted office he occupies.
After a long hiatus leaking his wounds from the monumental electoral loss of his candidate in the last presidential election, Mr. Lawal unabashedly is out again, peddling gibberish, rather than learn from his political misadventure with equanimity.
Clearly, the defeat of his principal, Peter Obi, at the poll has done incalculable damage to Mr. Lawal’s psyche and his capacity for rational thought as evident in his analysis based entirely on the figment of his warped imagination rather than on hard facts and figures. A clear sign of his disconnect from reality was his reference to election held in May 2023, rather than February.
We challenge Babachir Lawal to give a detailed breakdown of his so-called "aggregated facts sourced from independent sources," which he claimed proved that Obi won the election or forever keep mute. That he did not provide these facts to help Obi prove his case before the Presidential Elections Petitions Court is a massive disservice if not betrayal of his political principal.
Babachir Lawal ought to have known that running a jaundiced commentary on a matter before the Supreme Court is the height of irresponsibility. But he is still nursing bitterness and vindictiveness over his failed dream of running on a joint ticket with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Indeed, Babachir Lawal is in dire need of professional counseling and deserves our collective pity. It is obvious he may never get over the pain of being tossed into the dustbin of political ignominy by President Bola Tinubu who, against all odds, defeated Mr Peter Obi that exploited our religious and ethnic fault lines in his campaign for the nation's highest office.
Thankfully, Nigerians across all ethnic and religious divides, saw through Babachir Lawal's and Peter Obi's shenanigans and voted for the best candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Furthermore, it is very uncharitable for Mr. Babachir Lawal to call to question the professional competence of President Tinubu's appointees, some of whom he cannot hold a candle to their political and professional accomplishments.
Babachir Lawal is one lightweight politician who thinks himself a heavyweight. He failed spectacularly as a politician in his State of Adamawa where in three election circles he could not deliver his ward and local government in his Hong Local Government.
Despite his legendary failure as a politician, former President Muhammadu Buhari in deference to diversity appointed him to the high office of SGF where he was unceremoniously sacked on account of very poor performance and dishonourable conduct. A man like Babachir Lawal is in no position to offer an opinion on the competence of President Tinubu's appointees.
We are convinced that these appointees would justify the confidence reposed in them by the President by delivering on the promises of the Renewed Hope Agenda of this administration.
And while they are it, we would admonish Babachir Lawal to concentrate on managing his farm and stop constituting himself into a needless distraction unbefitting of his age and status.
Signed:
Felix Morka, Esq.
National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)
The candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the last presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, said the 26.72 per cent inflation rate underscores the incompetence and cluelessness of the Bola Tinubu administration.
Atiku in a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communication Phrank Shaibu blamed the rising inflation figure on the removal of fuel subsidies, shoddy exchange rate unification policy, and uninformed introduction of value-added tax (VAT) on diesel.
The former vice president said Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency on food security was nothing but mere rhetoric, noting that food prices had continued to rise due to a hike in the cost of transportation and dilapidated federal roads that had made interstate travel unbearable.
Atiku observed that while food prices in several parts of the world are dropping, “they are increasing in Nigeria because the country is being governed by an economic Lilliputian whose only bragging right is increasing the revenue of Lagos State through multiple taxation and the institutionalisation of extortion.”
He argued that the administration knows nothing about exchange rates, monetary policy, or how to run a multi-ethnic and largely agrarian country like Nigeria.
“This was a man who said last year that the only way to solve unemployment was to employ 50 million youths into the army and feed them with ‘Agbado (corn), cassava and ewa (beans)’. How can such a man have the answers to Nigeria’s problems?” he asked.
Atiku described Tinubu’s administration as prodigal, noting that at a time he was calling for belt-tightening, he inaugurated the largest cabinet in Nigeria’s history and is set to plunge Nigeria deeper into more debt.
“He declared an emergency in food security, ordered the release of grains, and reviewed his earlier palliative plan, but 100 days since the so-called declaration of a state of emergency, Nigerians are hungrier and poorer.
“It is obvious that it was all a ruse to deceive the feeble-minded, just like his announcement on the lifting of the UAE visa ban,” the PDP candidate said.
He called on Nigerians to tarry a bit longer while the Supreme Court tried to rectify the electoral disaster of February 25 and expressed worry that should the Tinubu administration last a year, Nigerians would be poorer than ever.
Former Governor of Benue State, Chief Samuel Ortomon Tuesday tasked Benue State Governor, Rev. Hyacinth Alia to come clean on the actual debt profile he inherited from him and stop presenting conflicting figures to people of the state.
According to Ortom, Governor Alia is at the moment, presenting two different debt profiles of N187.56 billion which he (Alia) himself confirmed was handed over to him and at the same time presenting another whooping N359 billion as a debt profile he inherited from the Ortom’s administration.
He said Alia is contradicting himself and should better “publish the books and prove that you inherited N359 billion as debts”.
He told journalists via a statement in Makurdi through his media aide, Mr Terver Akase that “as someone who attended meetings of the Benue State Executive Council in eight years and who accompanied Ortom to the Banquet Hall of the government house where he (Ortom) handed over to Alia “am equipped with the knowledge of the actions and programmes of my principal’s government enough to clarify issues when some mischief is being levelled against him and his administration”.
“The present government of Benue State is selling a narrative to unsuspecting people of the state that they inherited N359 billion as debt from the previous government led by Chief Ortom. This narrative is not only false but is also a deliberate stratagem to snooker the people.
“Curiously, this same government told the people via a statement by Governor Alia’s Chief Press Secretary in June this year that Governor Ortom handed N187.56 billion to them as debt, which was the same amount the former Governor mentioned while presenting handover notes to his successor. What the present government is saying about the state debts now contradicts their previous statement.
“Governor Ortom was explicit in his handover speech that though the debt situation of the State Government at the time of his exit from office might appear to be on the high side (N187.56 billion), his administration had taken proactive steps to negotiate and ensure significant debt reduction/reliefs leading to Debt Swap Between Benue State and Federal Government as facilitated by the Nigerian Governors Forum. Total Debt Swap for State and Local Government Councils stood at N71.6billion.
“The inflows Benue State was expecting at the time Governor Ortom was leaving office were: (a) Backlog of accumulated Stamp Duties – N48billion, (b) Refund from Debt Swap with Federal Government – N22.95 billion. Total = N70.95 billion. When the negotiated debt swap and the expected inflows are discounted, the State was set to attain a significant debt reduction, bringing down its debt profile to N45.2 billion.
“It should also be noted that owing to the efforts of the Ortom administration, Benue State by May 29, 2023, had outstanding approvals awaiting disbursement from the Federal Government including the balance of Bailout – N41 billion and a N20 billion Central Bank of Nigeria facility. At the same time, the Benue State government was expecting N9 billion as a refund on withdrawals for subsidy and SURE-P. The Alia administration has yet to tell the people if it has already received the N9 billion SURE-P funds.
“In the Ortom administration’s commitment to finding a lasting solution to the problem of pensions, the State Government domesticated the Federal Government reforms in pension administration through the Benue State Pension Law, 2019 which introduced the Contributory Pension Scheme.
“Our administration met most of the requirements for the full implementation status of the Contributory Pension Scheme.
“At the time Governor Ortom was rounding off his stewardship, over N8 billion had already been raised under the Scheme and Benue State was on the threshold of meeting the conditions for benefitting from the Contributory Pension Scheme including access to long-term loans and bonds for development projects or defraying existing pension liabilities.
“Governor Ortom also inherited assets and liabilities. Those before him, Governors Suswam, Akume and Adasu also inherited assets and liabilities.
“If the Alia administration wants the people to believe their tale, they should publicly prove that his predecessor Chief Ortom handed over N359 debt to them.
“What baffles me is that the Alia administration has not disclosed to Benue people how much it has received from Abuja as federal allocations and what they have raised as internal revenue since they came on board. They are also mute on the monthly state wage bill”.
The former governor noted that since the Federal Government removed oil subsidy, allocations to states have increased enormously, and implored Governor Alia to tell the people what has come to Benue as federal allocation in the last five months.
The Labour Party (LP) has said the proposed N57.6 million budgeted by the House of Representatives, to gift members with utility vehicles, is a waste of public resources.
The party, however, wants its elected members in the 10th National Assembly, to uphold its ideology of social justice and equal opportunity for the Nigerian people.
LP National Chairman Julius Abure, in a statement on Tuesday, said Nigerians will hold them responsible if they fail to live above board or give proper account of the electoral investment reposed in them.
“Nigerians are fed up with the status quo, and they crave for a different leadership that must factor in the interest of the suffering masses. The poor must be allowed to breathe again in this country,” Abure told the LP members.
He condemned the move to spend a whopping sum of N57.6 billion to buy vehicles for the legislators at a time government claims it cannot afford to increase the minimum wage of N30,000 monthly to workers.
“The Labour Party is indeed shocked, saddened and disappointed at the level of insensitivity being displayed by the executive and the legislative arms of the President Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress administration.
“It is saddening that with deepening poverty among Nigerians, the administration has decided to increase its appetite for a life of opulence to mock hardworking but underprivileged Nigerians,” he added.
Abure noted that the APC-led Federal Government appointed 48 ministers, “with each of them given three luxurious four-wheel drive vehicles on the first day in office, paid for and fueled by taxpayers.
“This is notwithstanding hundreds of presidential and ministerial aides, as well as numerous aides, which are being funded by the government.”
The National Chairman regretted that most families could not afford two square meals a day, while the government continued to go around the world seeking for loans.
He wondered why the government could spend so much amount of money to import vehicles from other countries instead of patronising local vehicle manufacturing companies, such as Innoson Motors in Anambra, and Peugeot Automobiles in Kaduna, so as to save foreign exchange and boost the local economy.
“When our presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, said we in the Labour Party want to move the economy from consumption to production, this is what we mean – Nigeria first!
“We implore this government to, in the interest of our dear nation, retrace its step and give priority to revamping the economy instead of its current obsession with luxury living,” Abure advised.
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A former presidential aspirant, Dele Momodu has said he did not at any point promise President Bola Tinubu his full support for the £500 he gave him during his exile days.
Momodu, however, said he had repaid the president in thousand folds for the help he rendered to him.
The former presidential candidate was reacting to the various versions of his interview, where he had allegedly vowed to always support Tinubu.
He revealed this on Tuesday, on his X page, formerly called Twitter.
“The APC goons will never get tired of circulating their own version of the interview I granted @chudeity a few years ago.
“They are so obsessed with the part I said Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu gave me 500 pounds in London during our exile years, as if that means I must become a perpetual slave because of that well appreciated support.
“Truth is, I repaid that favour a thousand fold, in ways I’m not willing to divulge, but the commonest being free and regular publicity on Ovation platforms running into thousands of dollars. It is called ‘adding value…’
“Nowhere did I say I will give unconditional support to Tinubu,” he said while sharing the full video of the interview.
A strike on a Gaza hospital killed hundreds of Palestinians, deepening tensions in the Middle East and raising the stakes for U.S. President Joe Biden as he flies to Israel on Wednesday to signal support for its war against Hamas.
Palestinian officials said an Israeli air strike hit the hospital, with the Palestinian Authority’s health minister accusing Israel of causing a “massacre”.
Israel blamed the blast at Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital on a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which denied responsibility.
Reuters could not independently verify the claims around the catastrophe, which has inflamed a region already in crisis since Hamas carried out an Oct. 7 cross-border rampage against communities in southern Israel in which at least 1,300 people died.
Palestinian ministry spokesperson, Ashraf Al-Qudra said rescuers were still pulling bodies from the rubble.
Al Jazeera carried footage showing a frantic scene as rescue workers scoured blood-stained debris for survivors.
Rescuers and civilians were shown carrying away at least four victims in body bags.
A Gaza civil defence chief gave a death toll of 300, while health ministry sources put it at 500.
Biden’s complex diplomatic mission to the Middle East was supposed to calm the region and shore up humanitarian efforts for Gaza.
However, after the strike, Jordan cancelled a planned summit with the U.S. president, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Abbas also cancelled plans to meet Biden, as Palestinian security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse anti-government protesters in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah as popular anger boiled.
Protests also took place at Israel’s embassies in Turkey and Jordan and near the U.S. embassy in Lebanon, where security forces fired tear gas toward demonstrators.
Before the hospital strike, health authorities in Gaza said at least 3,000 people had died in Israel’s 11-day bombardment that began after the Hamas assault, which caught Israel by surprise and led to nearly 200 people being taken to Gaza as hostages.
The Israeli military urged Gaza City residents to relocate southward on Wednesday, saying there was a “humanitarian zone” with aid available in Al-Mawasi, 28 km (17 miles) down the coast of the Palestinian enclave.
“The IDF calls on #GazaCity residents to evacuate south for their protection,” said a social-media post by the military.
Speaking to reporters as Biden flew to Tel Aviv, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Biden would put “tough questions” to Israeli leaders but did not give details.
Biden will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli war cabinet seeking to get a sense of Israel’s plans and aims, Kirby said.
“He also aims to get humanitarian aid into Gaza, where millions of Palestinians are surviving with scant food, fuel and water due to Israel’s siege.
“He’ll be asking some tough questions, he’ll be asking them as a friend, as a true friend of Israel, but he’ll be asking some questions of them,” Kirby said.
It was unclear what Biden could accomplish during his visit. Kirby said the U.S. president planned to speak with Abbas and Sisi on his way back to Washington.
“This sort of murky but horrific event makes diplomacy harder and increases escalation risks,” said Richard Gowan, UN director at International Crisis Group.
Biden has previously said the United States does not want the conflict to flare up into a wider war.
Iran, which supports Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Lebanon-based Islamist group Hezbollah have warned Israel of escalation if it fails to end aggressions against Palestinians.
The U.S. State Department told Americans not to travel to Lebanon after exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon’s south.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “horrified” by hundreds of people killed in Tuesday’s strike on the hospital.
Guterres appealed to Hamas for the immediate and unconditional release of hostages, and to Israel to allow immediate unrestricted access to humanitarian aid for Gaza. (Reuters/NAN)
The Benue State government has accused the immediate past administration of ex-Governor Ortom of operating 600 accounts.
Speaking when State Correspondents’ Chapel members of Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) paid him a visit at his office in Makurdi, on Tuesday, Commissioner for Finance and Budget Planning, Michael Oglegba, said that was why Governor Hyacinth Alia froze all government accounts on assumption of office.
The finance commissioner said the governor was shown only 25 accounts when he took over office but information at the Nigerian Inter Bank System, however, showed that the state had over 600 accounts.
“When we came in, we asked for the accounts and bank statements and we were presented with about 25 bank accounts. A causal look at the Nigerian Inter Bank System showed that Benue Government had more than 600 accounts.
“So the Governor needed to freeze those accounts to know exactly what was happening,” he said.
Oglegba while commenting on the state debts profile, insisted that the Alia government inherited over N359billion debts which included that of the Local Government Arrears.
Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi has offered N2 million each to 500 entrepreneurs into street hawking in different parts of the country.
Mr Nwifuru gave the money to the beneficiaries at the flagging off of the first batch of the state skills acquisition programme on Tuesday at Ochiudo Centenary City Secretariat, Abakaliki.
The governor assured that his administration was ready to tackle unemployment and empower the people across the 13 local government areas of the state.
He called for an urgent need for skills acquisition, noting that the state centre for skills development was open for the people to learn.
Offia Nwali, the state Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, said the beneficiaries, currently undergoing training in different skills, were into hawking in different parts of the country.
“The programme targeted 1,500 Ebonyi indigenes, but we are starting today with 500 for the first batch. So, we are doing it batch by batch.
“The beneficiaries have started receiving their money, and the governor has asked anybody that did not get the alert to call him on the phone, beginning today, Tuesday,” the commissioner added. (NAN)