Arsonists, burglars or any other persons found guilty of destroying or setting any public property in any part of Oyo State on fire is liable to a fine of N2 million, DAILY POST reports.
This development is sequel to a new bill passed by the Oyo State House of Assembly.
The bill was passed into law by the members of the state House of Assembly during the plenary on Tuesday in Ibadan.
Chairman, House Committee on Works and Transportation, Kehinde Olatunde, introduced the bill. He presented the joint committee report prior to the passage of the bill into law.
The bill, titled “Destruction of Public Property (Prohibition) Bill, 2022”, stipulates that any person who destroys, mutilates or damages any public property commits an offence and is liable to conviction of a fine equivalent to the value of such property.
The law lists public property to include any installation, streetlight, traffic light, vehicle, or public maintained amenities, whether movable or immovable, owned or in the control of the state.
The new law also provided that authorities over public properties are shared among the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Water Corporation of Oyo State, Ministry of Public Works and Transport, and Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.
It further provided that High Court has the jurisdiction to prosecute the offenders.
It also says that a person who, while acting alone or in concert with other persons, sets fire to a public property commits an offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term of five years or a fine equivalent to the value of the property or both.
The law says that “A person who, while acting alone or in concert with other people, conducts himself in a manner likely to cause destruction, mutilation or damage to any public property commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N500,000 and to an additional fine of N1,000 for every day in which the fine remains unpaid.
“A person who, while acting alone or in concert with other persons performs or does any act capable of exposing any public property to theft or burglary commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N2 million and to an additional fine of N1,000 for every day in which the fine remains unpaid”.
[DailyPost]
Egyptian authorities have sent over 500 students back to Sudan following the failure of two of them to provide either a passport or Emergency Travel Certificate.
According to a voice note of a Nigerian official obtained by our correspondent on Friday morning, students without passports or ETC had been instructed to stay back.
The official added that two students without any of the documents were impatient and joined their colleagues, adding that the Egyptian authorities were angry and ordered that all the students should be taken back to Sudan to get the needed permits.
The voice note said, “Our children have spoiled the efforts that the Federal Government is putting in place to airlift them. All the students that have passports were allowed to move to the Egypt airport and those that do not have were asked to wait behind and an ETC will be issued to them as a formal document for them to travel. Out of impatience, two students without passports or ETC sneaked in.
“Now, the two students were discovered at the Aswan airport and the Egyptian authorities are angry. Now, all the stranded Nigerians have to go back to Sudan. They conveyed over 500 Nigerians and everyone will go back to Sudan. They will have to get an exit permit and then get another permit back to Egypt. This will cause a delay of almost 10 hours.”
The official also said that the issue was on the whereabouts of a little child could not be ascertained.
“Also, in the midst of the confusion, a child sneaked into Egypt. We cannot find him. Legal actions would be taken against the two students.”
The official also warned students at Port Sudan to behave in a coordinated manner to avoid being returned back to Khartoum.
[Punch]
The House of Representatives has approved the request by President Muhammadu Buhari to convert the N22.7 trillion “Ways and Means” loan to a long-term bond.
Naija News reports that the N22.7 trillion is money borrowed by the Federal Government from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through the “Ways and Means advances”.
The loan provision allows the government to borrow from the apex bank if it needs short-term or emergency finance to fund delayed government expected cash receipts of fiscal deficits.
During plenary on Thursday, the lower chamber gave the approval following the consideration of the report presented by the House Committees on Finance, Banking and Currency and Aids, Loans and Debt Management.
The presiding officer and the Committee of Supply, chaired by Deputy Speaker Idris Wase, considered the recommendation in the report and approved it.
Buhari, who is due to leave office on 29 May, had in a letter in December 2022 requested that the N22.7 trillion Ways and Means loan should be converted to a 40-year bond with a moratorium of three years.
He asked both chambers of the National Assembly to approve the proposal, but the lawmakers could not consider the request before proceeding with the election, Easter, and Ramadan breaks.
The president also requested the approval to borrow an additional N1 trillion to fund the N819.5 billion 2022 supplementary budget which the lawmakers approved last December.
Also at the plenary, the ad-hoc committees saddled with the investigation of the volume of fuel consumed daily, and the state of refineries, laid its findings and recommendations for consideration.
In his remarks, the Deputy Speaker said the report would be considered next week Tuesday and directed the clerk to make copies of the reports available to members which will help in decision-making for the outgoing and incoming government.
Registrar of Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, (TRCN), Josiah Ajiboye, says 70 per cent of teachers in private schools in the Southwest are unqualified.
Speaking on Thursday in Abuja at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the council and INSTILL Education on bringing in new dynamics into the profession, Ajiboye revealed that contrary to several speculations about the southwest and its teachers in private schools, 70 per cent were discovered not qualified.
While lamenting that 70 per cent of the unqualified teachers lacked the prerequisite to be registered by the Council, the TRCN boss stated that a large number of teachers in Nigeria have never been exposed to training and have been using outdated equipment for illustration.
“A large number of teachers in private schools in Nigeria today are not qualified. We wanted to use a consultant to get revenue from teachers in private schools. When we carried out a survey, we observed that 70 per cent of teachers in the Southwest were not qualified,” he said.
According to him, they are not registrable with the TRCN and that is to say there is a big gap.
“These people do not possess the requisite qualification to register with the Council, and so there’s a big gap. So we are looking into the future to fill up that gap like it’s done in South Africa,” he said.
He said signing the MoU marks a milestone in the proposed collaboration between INSTILL Education and TRCN which is aimed at equipping Nigerian teachers with 21st century skills that will ultimately support teachers’ professional development and learning outcomes in Nigeria and Africa in general.
He noted that the Council has 2.3 million teachers in its database, and developed the Policy on Career Path for the profession and the Professional Standards for Nigerian Teachers (PSNT) which have been domesticated by Sierra-Leone and adopted by the Africa Union (AU) for implementation in Africa.
“The major component of this MOU is to service the in-service teachers. How do we go about capacitating them and up-skilling them? Many of these teachers have never been exposed to a single training programme since they were employed and have been doing the same thing the same way, whereas there are dynamics if the classroom and things are changing with regards to the classroom,” he said.
Ajiboye added, “So these teachers need to be exposed to new ways of doing things and that’s what INSTILL is coming with. They are experts who are working with expertise, technology and will help us to do this type of capitation for our teachers.”
Details have emerged on the grilling of the suspended Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Yunusa Ari, by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
Yunusa-Ari, who has been grilled for three days in Police custody, has been granted bail.
Also granted conditional bail are two Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) commissioners and other officials undergoing interrogation at the Police Headquarters in connection with the controversial Adamawa Governorship Election.
A Senator reportedly stood as surety for Yunusa-Ari, who was released on administrative bail.
The police restricted the suspects’ movement to enable them to invite all the officials at short notice when needed.
It was gathered that the Inspector-General of Police, Alkali Usman Baba, alongside the Deputy Inspectors-General, interrogated the REC, the national commissioners and the others.
Yunusa-Ari, according to sources, exchanged words with the INEC commissioners over the claim that he fled and was incommunicado.
The session dwelt on allegations of bribing during the April 15 Supplementary election, after which REC declared All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Ayisetu Dahiru Binani as governor-elect, which collation of results was going on in usurpation of the Returning Officer’s role.
A top source told The Nation: “Our investigators have interacted with the REC, some INEC National Commissioners, and other officials undergoing interrogation. We have asked the affected officials to submit their traveling documents.
“The REC promised to drop his passport at the Force Headquarters yesterday.
“And if it is necessary to arraign any of the officials after the conclusion of the ongoing investigation, it will be easier.
“In line with the law and international best practices, the police have granted bail to the REC, the National Commissioners, and all officials under investigation. They have been released accordingly.
“The bail surety for the REC is a Senator.
“But all those quizzed got an advisory to limit their media visibility for unfettered investigation.”
The source said placing the suspended REC and others on bail will not prejudice the ongoing investigation.
The source added: “With the involvement of the IGP and his management team, you can determine the commitment attached to this case. Granting bail will not hamper investigation.
“There were allegations and counter-allegations on nocturnal meetings, choice dinner, and bribery scandals during the elections.
“Detectives will look into this dimension of influence peddling and bribery. The scope of investigation will be widened.”
All those summoned were grilled by the Police Election Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation Team unit of the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB).
House of Representatives has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to remove fictitious names and those of dead Nigerians from its voters register, describing it as bogus.
The House made the call at plenary on Thursday, following the unanimous adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved by a member, Leke Abejide.
The motion was titled ‘Urgent Need for Independent National Electoral Commission to Develop Mechanism to Clean Up Its System of Dead and Fictitious Registered Voters.’
According to Abejide, INEC’s register is “full of millions of people who are dead and non-existent persons.”
He said, “In the last general election, it was glaring and crystal clear that people that were long dead had their names still displayed in the voters’ register. Even my own deceased father, who passed on long ago, still has his name displayed on the board.
“Apart from dead voters, there are millions of fictitious voters who do not exist anywhere on this planet earth but have their names on INEC’s register of voters. It is believed that this came to be as a result of double or multiple registrations by Nigerians who had or have the intention of rigging elections, but with the advent of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System, these faceless individuals can no longer vote anymore.”
Adopting the motion, the House resolved that “INEC should conduct vigorous public enlightenment for all Nigerians to be much aware of what makes the voters register bogus, which is the numbers of dead and fictitious persons.”
The lawmakers also resolved that INEC should develop a mechanism or software application, where families who lost their loved ones can report the demise of a particular Permanent Voter Card number so that it can be duly deleted from the Commission’s register, polling unit and ward.
“Whoever does not vote in two election cycles back to back be deleted from INEC register as non-existing human beings,” the House resolved.
Another resolution was that INEC should include voter verification in its continuous voter registration exercise to identify those on the register who are still alive as well as fish out those with fake registration.
Furthermore, the House mandated its Committee on Electoral Matters to ensure compliance with the resolutions.
INEC had on January 11, 2023, prior to the just-concluded general elections, released the final list of voters for the 2023 general elections. The number of registered voters rose from 84,004,084 in 2019 to 93,469,008 in 2023.
...as 2023 WASSCE begins
As the 2023 school-based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) is about to commence across the country, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has cautioned the examination officials, particularly the supervisors, to guide against any form of misconduct in their centres.
The deputy registrar and Ikeja zonal coordinator of WAEC, Dr Amos Dangut, gave the advice at a workshop at the Government Secondary School, Agege, to sensitise the supervisors on the ‘dos and don’ts’ expected of them and candidates during the upcoming examination.
The supervisors comprise secondary school principals and teachers nominated by the various state ministries of education to help the WAEC to conduct its examinations at various centres and ensure the exercise is hitch-free.
Speaking further, Dangut charged the supervisors to understand their roles, which according to him include, educating their students who are the candidates and the invigilators who are the teaching staff as well as the principals on the rules and regulations governing the conduct of the examination.
He said students would need to be warned not to bring prohibited items such as cell phones, scientific calculators and lesson notes, among others into the examination halls, while the invigilators are expected to adhere strictly to the rules of their engagement.
Giving more insights into the workshop with 286 participants in attendance, the head of Exams Administration, WAEC, Mr Adedayo Simeon, told the supervisors that they are expected to ensure that candidates write their names and examination numbers on top of their question papers, while they cross-check the attendance with CIVAPEMS and mark the sheets to ensure candidates’ details match their photo albums.
NCAC boss, core stakeholders, experts activate agenda for Nigeria’s cultural, economic rebirth
He also asked them to ensure that they write on the notice board the time each paper is starting and the time candidates are expected to stop as well as to also report cases of malpractice against the security agents or any of the designated WAEC officials.
He said they should all know that they would be held responsible for any breach in their respective centres.
Simeon emphasised that WAEC as an institution had a zero tolerance for misconduct, especially cheating, during its various examinations and would not spare anyone found culpable.
He, however, promised that WAEC would continue to protect the integrity of its certificates by conducting credible examinations in both the May\June school-based and the two other diets for the private candidates.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, has announced the donation of a N100,000 stipend to each of the Sudan returnees by Dangote Foundation.
Speaking while receiving the first batch of returnees trapped in war-torn Sudan, at the Abuja airport, the minister disclosed that MTN Foundation donated 25GB data and recharge cards worth N25,000 to each of the returnees.
According to her, the N100,000 stipend donated by Dangote Foundation was for the returnees to use as transport fare to travel to their various destinations with ease.
Also speaking, the Sudanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mohammad Yusuf, said the situation in Sudan would soon be under control.
Yusuf expressed happiness that Nigeria was able to evacuate its citizens safe.
The envoy, who described Sudan as the second country to many Nigerians, said normalcy would be restored in the war-ravaged country soon.
The Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mustapha Ahmed, said four more flights conveying Nigerians from Sudan are expected in Nigeria on Thursday.
“The situation in Sudan is real and terrible, but we pray peace returns to that country. I am happy our people have started coming back.
“We are expecting about four flights tomorrow – three from Port Sudan and one from Aswan. So it is a process that has started and the tempo will keep on increasing.
“This is something that nobody expected and so we had to swing into action immediately. To get out of Sudan, we had to pay, to take our people to any other part, but we thank God that we are able to bring them back”, he said.
He assured the returnees that the remaining evacuees waiting to be transported back home would soon arrive.
Some of the evacuees who spoke to newsmen expressed mixed feelings over the situation in Sudan.
Ibrahim Musa, a student, who lived on the outskirts of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, said he was devastated when he first heard the sound of gunshots and grenade explosions.
“The first thing that came to my mind was to escape and I thank God this is where I am now – home”, he said.
Another evacuee, Faith Stephen, a pregnant woman, said she would go back to Sudan once the situation is stabilised.
Stephen said she and her husband had invested so much in Sudan and were engaged in a thriving joint business.
AHEAD of today’s sentencing of former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice for organ harvesting, prominent Nigerians and Africans have continued to appeal to the UK Court for clemency on the troubled Nigerian Senator.
In a last-minute plea, members of the Ikeoha Mpu Pacesetters League IMPL have joined their voices in calling on the UK Court to show clemency to their mentor, and brother by releasing him and his wife unconditionally.
Meantime, the people of Mpu community held a prayer vigil till the morning of yesterday to pray for divine intervention, stressing that the long absence of the lawmaker, who they said transformed Aninri LGA and gave a new lease of life to thousands, was already affecting them.
In a press conference, Ikeoha Mpu Pacesetters League IMPL, an assembly of individuals, numbering over 500, who were empowered by Senator Ekweremadu through sponsorship of their education and securing of jobs in different spheres of life, said Ikeoha was a big tree and his fall would spell doom for thousands.
The President General of the Association, Chijioke Benjamin Ezekwe told newsmen that the conviction of Senator Ekweremadu and his wife based on certain mistakes made in trying to save their ailing daughter did not in any way represent their true character.
Ezekwe, who was among the thousands of people that benefited from the Ikeoha Foundation Education Scheme of the Senator said his contributions to humanity and the development of Africa at large should be considered by the UK Government.
The IMPL President maintained that the calls for mercy on the Ekweremadus which are coming from every quarter of Africa and the globe were enough testimonies that Ike Ekweremadu remains a role model for generations to come.
He said, “It is rather ironical to believe that the same man that had denied himself comfort to train many indigent persons both in his community and beyond, built roads and schools, created employment opportunities, sponsored so many life-changing bills at the National Assembly and served African Continent meritoriously as Deputy Speaker and Speaker of the Parliament of ECOWAS, including other global assignments intentionally committed such a crime. But since they have been pronounced guilty, all we are pleading is for mercy.”
Meanwhile, it was like a crusade at the Community Primary School, Amagu Mpu playground, as both the old, young, and widows, defied the rain to gather and cry to God to deliver their son, whom they described as the backbone of the community and a philanthropist.
However, this wasn’t the first time the people of Mpu community and Aninri in general gathered for such.
Even with the Court pronouncing them guilty, the faith of the people remained strong and their belief unchanged that God would intervene on their behalf.
Leading the prayer, the pastor in charge of Ancient Path Revival Assembly Mpu, Nathaniel Nwankwo, maintained that the community had not relented in praying and crying to God for help, mercy, and intervention, knowing that sentencing is around the corner.
“No human being is above mistake, but since they have pronounced Ikeoha and our caring mother guilty, we pray that God who showed mercy to Hezekiah; who showed mercy to the woman that committed adultery in John chapter 8 verses 1:11; will also see reasons to touch the heart of the British authorities to show mercy to the Ekweremadus.
“Our prayer is that God should turn our tears into a manifestation of joy and Senator Ekweremadu and his wife will be freed irrespective of the offence.”
The traditional ruler of Amokofia Mpu, Igwe Cyprian Ije, said that sentencing Senator Ekweremadu would be an end to an era and appealed to the Federal Government and other well-meaning Nigerians to lend their voices to ensure his release.
The royal father lamented that so many indigent students under Ikeoha scholarship scheme have discontinued their studies due to lack of funds while the town had become a ghost of itself since his arrest in June last year.
Igwe Ije said that the prayers would continue until God answered.
A woman leader, Lolo Happiness Aja, who spoke on behalf of the women, appealed to the UK Government to temper justice with mercy, even for the sake of Sonia whose hope for survival largely depends on her parents.
“We are pleading for the mercy of God on our son, Ike Ekweremadu, and wife. Let God raise a lone voice to speak for him.”
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, Thursday, said that many of the leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, would have been sent on compulsory retirement had it been that Atiku Abubakar of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, or Peter Obi of the Labour Party, had won in the February 25 presidential elections.
Shehu also said that the victory of the President-elect and Vice President-elect, Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima, respectively and the established control of the APC in 21 out of 36 states in the last general elections, firmly established the party as a dominant national Political Party.
Speaking while receiving the Arewa Young Lawyers’ Forum, AYLF,, the umbrella body for all young lawyers in the Northern part of Nigeria, the presidential spokesman said, ‘‘This is a difficult reality for the opposition parties.”
According tto him, opposition victory in the general election would not only have been a career-ending moment for many APC leaders but would also have had negative consequences for the various programmes of the Buhari administration that empowered marginalised groups and remedied much of the nation’s infrastructure deficit.
A statement issued by Patience Tilley-Gyado,
Deputy Director, Information, State House, quoted him as saying, “APC victory in the election is a watershed moment for the Buhari government, its orientation, its programmes and projects.
‘‘In the hands of the opposition, many of the laudable programmes of the Buhari administration would have been sabotaged or unimplemented.
“An important and overlooked aspect of the Tinubu/Shettima victory is that it ensures, not only an orderly transfer of power from the outgoing administration to the incoming one, but also the safety of policies and programmes of the outgoing government.
‘‘For this, we remain grateful to the Almighty, and to citizens of Nigeria for sticking with our Party.”
In accepting his appointment as Grand Patron of the Arewa Young Lawyers’ Forum, the presidential spokesman urged members of the association to be at the vanguard of promoting the study and practice of legal profession in the northern states.
“To build and secure democracy in our communities, you need lawyers and journalists as its guardians and protectors. Without one, the other will not be successful,” he admonished them.
The Chairman of AYLF, Barr. Olayinka Dauda Jimoh craved the support of the Presidency in giving strategic training to young wigs to enhance their leadership roles in the society.
Other members of the Forum at the meeting were Barr. Audu Umaru, National Welfare Director (Borno State), Barr. Ahmad Khalil, National Treasurer (Yobe State) and Barr Paul Gbande, Director of Publicity (Benue State).
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The Federal and State Governments in the country have been put on notice, to either stop the increase in tuition fees in all tertiary institutions across the country or face the hardest-ever student uprising.
The declaration was made by the National President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Comrade Usman Barambu while speaking at the 1st North-East Zonal Senate sitting of NANS held on Thursday at the Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic (ATAP), Bauchi.
He said that the increase in tuition fees has negatively affected students particularly those who are from the poorest of the poor but managing and struggling to get to school.
Umar Barambu declared, “Very soon we will give the directive on how to go about it. We are going to completely shut down the country, nothing is going to move until our demands are heard and granted.”
He stressed, “The tuition fees must be brought down to be commensurate with the present economic situation in the country, there is no money readily available, it is difficult for parents to raise the money now and not talk about the new rate.”
The NANS President lamented that those who are supposed to raise voices against the planned increase are keeping quiet now because it is not in anyway affecting them.
According to him, “During the recent Naira notes crisis, some of the Governors rushed to the Supreme Court to halt its implementation and they won. Now, there are moves to increase the tuition fees but they are not talking because it does not affect them, their children are far away from the country.”
“Very soon, we will shut down the entire country, we will not block the highways because it is our poor parents that will suffer it. We will shut down all the airports across the country, that is where it will pain them most,” he stressed.
He said that the plan was hatcheted with some ASUU collaborators, saying that the situation will be resisted by the entire students of the country who have been bashed and traumatised for a long time.
He then called on security agencies to advise the government on what to do in order to avert the dangers ahead if the tuition fees increase was implemented because according to him, “a frustrated student who cannot afford to pay school fees can be a willing tool to be used as a bandit to get satisfaction.”
Troops of Operation Hadin Kai, North-East, in Sambisa forest, have rescued 16 kidnapped Chibok school girls, who are now women with children.
Speaking to journalists at Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri on Thursday, the Theatre Commander of Joint Task Force Operation Hadin Kai, Major General, Ibrahim Ali, said the theatre has employed both kinetic and non-kinetic strategies in rescuing the remaining Chibok girls.
He noted that the new strategy of the theatre has yielded positive results which lead to the rescue of 14 Chibok girls, apart from the two currently presented to journalists.
According to him, the girls rescued so far include; Aisha Grema serial number 11 on the abducted Chibok girl’s list, Hannatu Musa number 7 on the list, and Sera Luka number 38 on the list. Others are; Ruth Bitrus serial 41, Mary Dauda serial 46, Hauwa Joseph serial 18, Falmata Lawan serial number 3, Asabe Ali serial number 12, Jankai Yamal serial number 20, Yana Pogu serial number 19, Rejoice Sanki serial number 70 and Hassana Adamu on serial number 35.
“In line with international best practices, they have all been handed over to the Borno State Government after undergoing medical evaluation and treatment at 7 Div Medical Services and evaluation.
“Troops of OPHK have yet again rescued 2 other Chibok School girls on 21 Apr 23. Below are highlights of the recently rescued Chibok Girls.
“On 21 Apr 23, Esther Marcus and her one-year-old baby, Juwairiya were rescued by troops of 114 TF Bn Bitta at Lagara during operations. She is on serial number 103 of the abducted Chibok Girls List”.
“Esther is 26 years old, Kibaku by tribe from Jila in Chibok LGA of Borno State. While in captivity, she was forcefully married to one Garba AKA (Garus), a BHT fighter who was killed during troops’ offensive operations on terrorists’ enclaves. She was later married off to another BHT, Abba in Ukuba terrorist enclaves in Sambisa forest until her rescue by troops of OPHK. Since her rescue, she has undergone a thorough medical examination along with her baby. Equally, they have been adequately resuscitated and will be handed over to the Borno State Government for further administration”.
“On 21 Apr 23, Hauwa Maltha and her 3-year-old baby were rescued by troops of 114 TF Bn Bitta at Lagara during operations. She is on serial number 02 of the abducted Chibok Girls List. Hauwa is 26 years old, Kibaku by tribe from Jila in Chibok LGA of Borno State.
While in captivity Hauwa got married at Gulukos to one Salman, a cameraman to Shekau. Salman later died in Lake Chad.
Thereafter, Hauwa Maltha got married to one Mallam Muhammad in Gobara and had 2 children for him who later died due to sickness. Mallam Muhammad, her second husband was also killed in Ukuba terrorist enclaves in Sambisa forest during clashes between JAS/ISWAP.”.
“Hauwa who was about 8 months and 2 weeks pregnant during the time of her rescue delivered a bouncing baby boy on 28 Apr 23 while undergoing thorough medical examination along with her baby Fatima at 7 Div Medical Hospital and Services”.
“Equally, Hauwa and her children, have been adequately resuscitated and will be handed over to the Borno State Government for further administration”.
“I want to use this medium to assure the general public and the good people of the North East in particular, that OPHK remains resolute and determined in neutralizing all vestiges of the terrorist element as well as criminals marauding the North East and return total and long-lasting peace to the region”.
“Our immense appreciation goes to the President, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari, the Chief of Defence Staff, General LEO Irabor and Service Chiefs for their strategic guidance and provision of requisite logistics and operational platforms which have spurred the continuous successes recorded in OPHK.
We will continue to discharge our constitutional duties professionally and justify the confidence reposed in us. We will not rest until absolute peace and normalcy are returned in the North East. Thank you and God bless you”
Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has explained how he tried to convince President-elect, Bola Tinubu, to join the Peoples Democratic Party in 2018.
Wike was speaking during the unveiling of the Rivers State Magistrates’ Complex in Port Harcourt, on Thursday by Tinubu.
Tinubu was a founding member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, at the time.
He was preparing the APC in the Southwest for President Muhammadu Buhari ‘s re-election in 2019 when Wike said he paid him a visit to poach him to dump the party for the PDP.
He said despite his proposition which was anchored on the report that the former Lagos State Governor was not finding his feet in the APC, Tinubu refused.
“I met him (Tinubu) first in 2018 around 2 am in his house -Bourdillon. I was sent to go and talk to him, how he can join us.
“I went to him, I said sir, I hear you can’t find your feet again in APC. Why not join us and let’s support one of these our candidates to win the 2019 election?
“He asked me. Who are these your candidates, I mentioned them. He said look, if it is these ones you have, I will support (Muhammadu) Buhari 200 times. He told me that. And I respected him,” Wike said.
He explained his role during the 2023 presidential election and why he supported Tinubu against the candidate of his party, Atiku Abubakar.
He had formed the G-5 whose other members were four governors and other top ranking members of the PDP opposing Atiku’s candidacy.
The group metamorphosed into Equity Group demanding for a southern candidate on the platform of the PDP.
They subsequently withdrew their support for the PDP and threw their weight behind other candidates, with Wike and his counterpart in Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, opting to support Tinubu.
He argued that, “We (G-5) didn’t do anti-party, we supported the unity of Nigeria which is more important than any political party.
“Those who did anti-party are those who violated the provision of the constitution of their political party, they did anti-party.”
He defended the declaration of Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 election, querying why whenever the opposition lost an election, they deem the election as fraudulent.
“It’s only in Nigeria where I see if the opposition wins an election, that election was done well.
“It’s only in Nigeria I have seen that. If as a governor now, I contested Senate and I lose that election, they will say that election is free and fair. Why? Because the governor lost.
“But if I won, the governor has done everything. We saw governors who lost the election. Bola Tinubu lost Lagos -the presidential election, he lost Lagos, is it not correct?
“That election was free and fair in Lagos. Was it not free and fair in Lagos? Why? Because Bola Tinubu lost in Lagos.
“That is the kind of thing we do. If I lost election in Rivers state, they will say but we said it, his own time is over, how do you think Wike would have won? Now I won, don’t worry, they just manipulated.
“Look at states where governors lost elections, nobody is talking about it. That election was free and fair. Senators lost elections, that election, free and fair.
“As far as I’m concerned, I have no regrets. I will continue to say and I have told the president-elect, the elections have come and gone.
“You have finished that battle, the battle you have now is governance. What Nigerians want is good governance.
“If we want good governance, then we must rally round the president-elect,” Wike said.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Thursday, asked the Appeal Court, Lagos Division to declare the pardon granted by the Lagos State Government to an Indian businessman, Ashok Israni and three others, illegal.
Recall that Israni, Anayo Nwosu and Olajide Oshodi (both officials of Keystone Bank) were on December 9, 2019 convicted by Justice Kudirat Jose of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Igbosere, Lagos.
Their conviction followed on an amended 15-count charge bordering on conspiracy and obtaining by false pretence to the tune of N855 million.
They were sentenced to five years imprisonment each for stealing while NULEC Industries Limited which belongs to Israni and Keystone Bank Limited were convicted accordingly.
The companies were also ordered to pay a fine of N20 million to the Federal Government on counts 1, 10 and 13.
The convicts were also ordered to return the sum of N395 million to the victim of the fraud.
But the convicts, in their separate appeals, approached the Appellate Court to challenge the judgement of the lower court.
According to the EFCC, four months after their conviction by the trial court, they were released from prison by officials of the Kirikiri Centre of the Nigerian Correctional Services, (NCoS).
At the hearing of the appeals by the Special Panel of the Appellate Court on Thursday, counsel to the EFCC, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, submitted that several legal authorities frown on the pardon granted to the convicts whose rights of appeal have not been exhausted.
EFCC contended that the convicts were allegedly released on the directive of the Lagos State Government, contrary to the rules of court.
He urged the court to declare the purported pardon illegal, adding that appeals had been filed and entered since February 13, 2020.
Jacobs told the court that Nwosu following his pardon, went to the social media platforms, at different times, claiming that he was wrongly convicted, jailed and maltreated.
The SAN urged the court to dismiss the appeal, and uphold the judgement of the lower court.
But counsel to the appellants, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, and Biodun Owonikoko, SAN, in their brief of arguments, urged the court to allow the appeal, set aside the judgment of the lower court and acquit the appellants of all the charges filed against them.
Olanipekun told the court that the appellants had filed an affidavit of facts that contains the instrument of the pardon granted to them by the Lagos State government.
Justice Joseph Shagbaor Ikyegh, who led members of the Special Panel that included Justices Ebiowei Tobi and B. I. Gafai, reserved judgement to a later date.