Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, has said that Nigerians are large-hearted people and they will forgive President Buhari.
He stated this in an interview with Channels TV this evening April 21.
Recall that President Buhari earlier asked for forgiveness from anyone who he must have wronged during his time in office.
“Whoever thought that there had been some form of injustice on him, we are all human; there is no doubt I hurt some people, and I wish they’d pardon me; those who think I hurt them so much, please PARDON ME”. – PMB, today, as he received last Sallah homage as the President.''
During the interview, Garba was asked if Nigerians will really forgive the President considering the fact that he failed to deliver in some of his promises which include security. Responding, Garba said; ‘’I believe that Nigerians are large-hearted and they would forgive the President''.
Watch a video of the President asking for forgiveness and also Garba's reaction below
Media
Ismaila Yushau Maihanchi, the member-elect for Jalingo, Yorro, Zing constituency in Taraba State, has died.
His death, as gathered by a Daily Post correspondent, occurred in the early hours of Saturday in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
Confirming the report, the spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Andeta’rang Irammae, said “Shortly after the election, the member-elect fell sick and has been receiving medical treatment in Abuja.”
Describing his death as a rude shock to his party, he said the deceased will be missed not only by the party but the people of the state at large.
Also speaking, the Acting chairman of the party, Abubakar Bawa described the death as a big blow to the PDP family in the state and the country at large.
A family source who spoke with DAILY POST confirmed that the late member-elect took to illness shortly after he was declared winner of the just concluded election.
The family source said the funeral arrangements would be announced later.
The member-elect who contested the National Assembly election on the platform of the PDP, defeated his opponents from the All Progressives Congress, APC, the New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP and the Social Democratic Party, SDP, by a landslide.
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Apart from uncompleted projects, the incoming chief executives would be inheriting a backlog of unpaid loans, salaries and pension arrears, as well as gratuities.
While there is something like “silence of the graveyard” on debt profiles, especially in states where the outgoing governors are going to hand over to their preferred candidates, tongues are wagging in some states where the opposition had their way and won during the last governorship election.
The Kano State Government and the incoming government of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) have continued to trade words over what the latter described as moves by the Abdullahi Ganduje administration that may be inimical to the incoming government’s policies.
Recall that the governor-elect, Abba Kabir Yusuf, issued two public advisories in the last week, first asking all property developers to halt whatever development they may be doing on public properties like schools, places of worship, markets and traditional heritage. In his second advisory, he had warned lenders not to give the state government any new loan unless such was cleared by him.
But the state government had chastised the governor-elect’s advisories, describing them as unconstitutional, urging him to wait until he is sworn in on May 29.
However, recently, the transition committee set up by the incoming administration issued another advisory, this time to all local government chairmen, advising them to desist from the alleged round-tripping of public funds between their councils and the state’s Ministry of Local Government.
“We advise them not to allow themselves to be used again as conduits for siphoning public funds to finance the forthcoming supplementary elections in some states and federal constituencies of the state. We further advise them to operate strictly in accordance with all the relevant financial regulations and extant guidelines,” the advisory, signed by Baffa Bichi, the committee chairman, stated.
Reacting, however, the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), urged the chairman of the Kano State NNPP Gubernatorial Transition Committee to desist from heating up the polity and creating unnecessary tension in the state by issuing advisories that could lead to chaos.
The chairman of ALGON, Kano State, Bappa Muhammad, made the call in a statement reacting to an allegation against local government chairmen in the state on round-tripping of public funds between their councils and the state’s Ministry of Local Government to finance supplementary elections.
Civil servants beg Lalong in Plateau
As the May 29 handover date is drawing nearer, one of the liabilities the Simon Lalong government in Plateau State is likely to leave for the incoming administration of Caleb Mutfwang is a two-month salary backlog for civil servants.
Confirming the situation, the Plateau State chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Eugene Manji, said the state government was owing workers February and March salaries, but hoping that April and May would be added and paid before the handover date.
Daily Trust Saturday gathered that the Plateau State University (PLASU), Bokkos, is so far owed four months. A source in the university said their monthly wage bill was N120million, giving a total of N480million for the four months owed thus far.
It is believed that the institution would be owed up to six months by the time the administration would hand over power, pushing the amount to N600m.
Another liability is the N3billion bond from the capital market to finance some projects in the state. This was agreed upon by the Plateau State Executive Council in 2021.
Speaking on the bond then, the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dan Manjang, said the executive approved the bond as part of its drive to ensure that some of its ongoing projects were completed and other critical ones initiated.
He said the shortfall in internally generated revenue, as well as the federal account allocation accruing to the state due to COVID-19 outbreak, had necessitated the sourcing of alternative funds to execute critical projects.
In her remarks, the finance commissioner, Regina Soemlat, said the N3bn bond was part of the N30bn earlier sourced for the Lalong Legacy Projects, which after recouping, stood at N27bn.
However, the Lalong Legacy Projects across the state, which consist of schools and hospitals, are yet to be completed; hence, they will be part of the liabilities the incoming administration will inherit.
Another yet-to-be-completed project is the interchange (fly-over) at the British American junction, as well as dualisation from the junction to Lamingo roundabout.
The cost of the project is nearly N10bn, with a 12-month completion period. It was started in March 2022. The completion period has slightly passed and the project is yet to be completed.
Although the state government is still promising that it would be commissioned before handing over to the new administration, many pundits believe it is unlikely. Should the government be unable to complete and commission the project before May 29, it will become another liability for the incoming administration.
Niger: Bago to contend with loans, unpaid salaries
In Niger State, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, who is completing his second term in office, would be bequeathing liabilities to the incoming administration of Umar Mohammed Bago in several areas.
The administration is leaving behind, the backlog of salaries, pensions, loans, leave grants and other entitlements, amounting to billions of naira.
The state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Idrees Abdulkareem Lafene, said the current administration owed staff of the 25 local government areas October 2020 salaries.
He also said the government owed state and local government retirees billions of naira, but only N3bn had so far been paid to selected pensioners, saying the balance was in the pipeline.
Lafene said the government also owed civil servants two years leave grants, third-party deductions and union dues, among others.
Daily Trust Saturday recalls that on November 3, 2022, the state announced that it was owing retirees N14bn gratuity, out of which N1bn was released and payment made to selected pensioners in the state.
The director-general, Niger State Pension Board, Nasiru Saidu Namaska, who made this known while briefing the media at the flag-off of the payment of gratuities to 178 retirees in the state, said that out of the N1bn released by the state government, N500m would be used at the state level, while the remaining N500m was to be used to pay local government retirees.
He said 14,200 retirees were being owed a backlog of N14bn for gratuity, N2bn for deaths, N3bn for monthly pension, while N1.2bn was for augmentation.
The governor-elect, Bago, had raised concerns while inaugurating the transition committee at the Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi International Conference Centre, Minna.
He said part of the assignment given to the committee was to interface with officials of the outgoing government to understand the position of the state, financially and economically, to enable the incoming government probes the position of all government books, transactions, as well as commitments made.
“Accountability is very important in governance; the trust of the common man in us gave us this mandate. We have promised Nigerlites to be accountable and responsible, to protect them and our resources, irrespective of tribe, religion or race. To achieve this, we are expected to be professional, diligent and firm. We need the understanding of all and sundry.
“Let me also remind you that we have no excuse for failure because this is the first major outing of our incoming administration and we cannot afford to disappoint the people, who are anxiously looking forward to what we have to offer for the improvement of their lives. Every step we take and everything we do from today onwards would matter a great deal on how we shall be rated by the people,” he said.
Daily Trust Saturday reports that apart from financial liabilities, there are some ongoing road projects, among them the 83km Minna-Bida road. The project is yet to attain 50 per cent completion.
Nwifuru inherits liabilities from ‘godfather’
In Ebonyi, our findings also showed that the governor-elect, Francis Nwifuru of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) would be faced with a backlog of liabilities from his godfather, David Umahi.
The domestic debt of the state, which stood at N50.5bn in 2017, currently stands above N83.9bn.
Another liability is the uncompleted multi-billion naira dualisation of Enugu-Abakaliki, Abakaliki-Afikpo highways project, as well as completing and equipping the international airport.
Another project, which the governor-elect had earlier pledged to revitalise, is the famous Nigercem, a cement industry at Nkalagu in Ishielu Local Government. It has the capacity to absorb over 2,000 workers.
Similarly, the governor-elect will be faced with supplying pipe borne water to residents of the state by rehabilitating Oferekpe, Nkwu and Ezillo water schemes.
Daily Trust Saturday learnt that the Oferekpe water scheme, built during the era of Chief Martin Elechi as governor of the state, supplied water to residents of Abakaliki and environs before May 2015.
Also, a security-based liability, which the incoming governor would inherit, is the unsettled Effium-Ezza communal conflict in Ohankwu Local Government Area, which has claimed many lives and property and displaced thousands of residents.
Efforts to hear from the incoming governor and those close to him on how they plan to cope with the challenges were not successful. But a source close to the outgoing governor who spoke in confidence said “governance is a continuum.”
“There is no government in the world that is not indebted, maybe to the people, the banks, foreign creditors or itself, in some cases.
“There is no big deal. Umahi also inherited some debts when he came, but that did not in any way stop him from providing essential services to the people. We challenge anyone in doubt to come to Ebonyi and see what he did in the last eight years,” he said.
Father Alia raises eyebrow over Benue finances
In Benue State, Governor Samuel Ortom, whose second tenure comes to an end on May 29, would also bequeath some liabilities to the incoming administration.
Topmost of these liabilities are unpaid salaries and arrears of civil servants, as well as pensions owed retired workers.
Others are domestic debts incurred by the outgoing government and those before it.
Some of the loans include federal government’s interventions and commercial bank loans. For instance, the state chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Levi Terna Akuma, said the state government was owing teachers 10 months of salaries in 2017.
Akuma said, “The backlogs are there. December 2022 is not yet paid. Nine local governments are still waiting; then, the two arrears, because it is not every teacher that is in those months. So I believe it will definitely be around 14 months of unpaid salaries.”
On his part, the state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Terungwa Igbe, said the situation of workers remained the same with non-payment of salaries.
Igbe said, “At the state level, workers are owed eight months, while at the local government level, they are owed 10 months, and teachers, 11 months respectively. They (the state government) were talking about collecting loan, but up till now, we have not seen the loan; they have problem getting it. This administration is going, so we are waiting for a new one to come and pay.”
Also, the chairman of the Concerned/Aggrieved Pensioners in Benue State, Comrade Akosu Ioream, said the pensioners were being owed between 39 and 79 months of arrears at the state and local government levels respectively, with the backlog of gratuity now a forgotten issue.
It would be recalled that Governor Ortom had pleaded with pensioners in the state severally to be patient with his administration as it sought measures to offset their arrears.
Meanwhile, the incoming administration of The Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia, has raised an eyebrow over the finances of the state, and warned top civil servants against cooperating with the Ortom government in releasing money.
Alia wrote a letter to one of the viable parastatals in the state, warning the organisation of impending consequences except it stopped acting on last-minute directives on spending.
In Taraba, Gov Ishaku bequeaths N100bn debt
The outgoing governor of Taraba State, Darius Ishaku, is allegedly leaving behind a debt of more than N100bn.
Although no official of the state government was willing to give the actual debt portfolio of the state, sources at the state Ministry of Finance said the debt incurred by the current administration was more than N100bn.
According to one of the sources, there are also debts owned commercial banks by the 16 local government areas, which the state government stood as guarantor.
The source also hinted that the administration of Governor Ishaku was leaving over N40bn unpaid gratuity of retired state and local government workers.
Apart from these debts, Governor Ishaku is also leaving behind over N32m debt he owned print and electronic media houses for advertisements carried on his behalf.
The debt owned media houses, particularly newspapers, is for advertisements on his achievements, which were published since May 2021, but the governor refused to pay.
Similarly, local government workers and primary school teachers are owned salaries of between six and seven months.
Daily Trust Saturday recalls that the incoming governor, Agbu Kefas and the outgoing governor traded words over unpaid workers’ salaries.
Emmanuel Bello, the spokesperson of the governor-elect, in a statement issued in Abuja, noted that the new administration would pay all salary arrears within its first 100 days in office.
But the senior assistant to Governor Ishaku on media and publicity, Bala Dan Abu, quickly responded, stating that the outgoing governor was not leaving any salary arrears.
Dan Abu stated that the administration of Governor Ishaku was not leaving much debt when compared to other states.
Countless projects in C/River
Last week, Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State issued a statement that he would complete and commission a short flyover he prefers to call Spaghetti Bridge at the Odukpani-Calabar highway. This project was started over two years ago.
Ayade initiated over 35 other projects. While few were reported to have been completed, many are stillborn or barely completed.
Some of his projects said to have been completed and awaiting inauguration are the cocoa processing plant in Ikom, cassava processing plant in Obubra, rice processing mill in Yala, groundnut oil processing mill, Bekwara, Bakassi deep seaport, superhighway from southern Cross River to the boundary between Benue State, as well as the Obudu cargo airport and the CallyAir.
There are also three megacities in the three senatorial districts.
Staggering contract sums are reported to have been sunk into these endless projects, but findings revealed that many of them are at the foundation stage.
Another area is outstanding gratuities and pensions for retired workers.
Daily Trust Saturday recalls that the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council, Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress were up in arm with the government recently over huge debts owed workers. This led to intervention by the chairman, Cross River State Traditional Rulers Council, Etinyin Etim Okon Edet.
Sokoto legislators allege N86bn loan
In Sokoto, the state government is said to be indebted to the tune of N86bn.
This was revealed by some members of the State House of Assembly who were elected on the platform of the APC. The leader of the House, Bello Isa Ambarura, made the allegation during a press conference at the height of electioneering.
The opposition APC won the last governorship election in the state through Ahmed Aliyu.
The outgoing government did not set up a transition committee until last Tuesday, and the one set up by the incoming governor was yet to make any public statement regarding their findings at the time of filing this report.
Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal tasked the committee, which was co-chaired by the deputy governor, Manir Dan’iya, and the secretary to the state government, Muhammad Mainasara Ahmad, to collate and document achievements recorded by the outgoing administration from 2015 to 2023.
He also tasked them to obtain and analyse reports from ministries, departments and agencies on all ongoing projects/programmes, in relation to respective levels of execution/fiscal profile, and constraints, among others.
Tambuwal urged them to prepare a comprehensive handover note to the incoming administration, as well as organise a befitting swearing-in ceremony in collaboration with the incoming administration’s team.
[DailyTrust]
Human Rights Lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has stressed on why the former Resident Electoral Commissioner REC in Adamawa, Hudu Yunusa Ari, indicted security officers among others found complicit in the state governorship election.
Recall that Ari, had defied the Chief Returning Officer, Mele Lamido, and unilaterally announced the All Progressives Congress, APC, Governorship Candidate, Senator Aishatu Dahiru, as the winner, when collation had not been concluded.
But, the National headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, acted swiftly by annulling Ari’s action, suspending him, writing the Presidency to get him sacked.
The Commission immediately appointed Mele Lamido to conclude the collation.
Lamido consequently announced Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate as winner, the matter has raised debates on how to safe Nigeria’s democratic process.
Speaking on the issues in an interview on Channels Television, Falana said the Adamawa REC, APC candidate and security personnel involved in the saga must be prosecuted and punished.
On calls for probe of Adamawa governorship and supplementary elections
“It is not a matter of probe; the law is very clear on these matters. One, under Section 120 sub-section 4 of the Electoral Act 2022, anybody involved in any false declaration of elections is liable to be prosecuted and the penalty is three years imprisonment which, for me, isn’t stringent enough.
“Two, there is also Section 121 of the Electoral Act which prescribes 12 months imprisonment for financial inducement with regard to the election. There are allegations that a sum of N2 billion must have changed hands. So, it is not enough for the candidate of the APC, Aishatu Ahmed Dahiru (Binani) to deny. There must be an investigation.
“Would these things have happened in the normal cause of events? Was there inducement? That has to be investigated. The officers, who were at the high table with Mr Hudu Yunusa Ari such as the Commissioner of Police, the Director of State Service and the Commander of the Nigeria Defence and Security Corps, are involved in the criminality that occurred.
“So, they all have to be tried under the law. It is not enough for the Inspector General of Police, IGP, to simply deploy the Commissioner of Police involved or for the Director of the DSS to be withdrawn from that state. We must make an example this time because this is not the first time that it has happened.
“There had been false declarations of results before now in 1983 that plunged the old Ondo State into a major violence eruption. In 2003, many false results were declared. So, we must find out what happened this time so that this terrible experience will not be repeated in the history of our country.
If the REC can be punished in line with the electoral law, what laws would be meted out to the accomplices?
“There is a provision for conspiracy. If you conspire with anybody to make a false declaration of results, you are liable to be prosecuted. The NTA must be brought in. The NTA televised the acceptance speech of the candidate of the APC. The candidate of the APC has to be brought in because she was party to the whole false declaration otherwise her acceptance speech would not have been ready and delivered.
“She has denied allegations levelled against her, particularly that from the DSS official captured in a video…
“The EFCC and the ICPC would have to be brought in to investigate. And I am not accepting the allegations for now. More so, they may be statements he made while being tortured by the crowd. So, we need to investigate and get to the root of the matter.
“However, with regard to the acceptance speech delivered by Madam Binani, she is liable to be prosecuted under Section 120 of the Electoral Act.
“On claims by Alhaji Lai Mohammed that President Buhari did not intervene in the Adamawa saga because it was the job of the INEC chairman
“I don’t want to believe that the president has not taken action because he is currently (while the interview was going on) out of the country on a tour of Saudi Arabia but the statement is not correct.
“Under the constitution and the Electoral Act, the appointment of a Resident Electoral Commission, REC, is made by the president and the nomination will have to go to the Senate for approval. That was what happened in November, last year with respect to the 19 electoral commissioners appointed last year. Unfortunately, some of us cried out with respect to all those who were appointed at that time.
“We made it clear that we wanted the Senate to reject the majority of the nominations because it was published in detail who had nominated who among the 19 RECs and we did say that they were not likely to deliver. So, INEC cannot go beyond suspending him.
On Binani’s case at the court seeking judicial review
“Section 129 presupposes an action taken by the appropriate authority. There was a returning officer, a professor who is saddled with the responsibility to make the announcement, somebody hijacked that position, usurped his authority and made a false declaration. Section 149 does not come in because the whole exercise is illegal.
“What has to happen now is that the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, has to come in because Yunusa Ari is a senior lawyer. So, the NBA has to write a petition to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee for immediate sanction to serve as a lesson because this guy has brought the legal profession to disrepute.
“Second, the IG will have to speed up the investigation. By now, we expect him to have been arrested and if he cannot they have to get a court order to declare him wanted. Three, all the security officers that were involved in the charade will have to be investigated and prosecuted. Lastly, the president will have to send a request to the Senate next week, to remove the REC because he has betrayed the Constitution and his oath of office. Unless we do that this time around, we are not going to get out of this crisis.
What should the process of this retribution be, who does what first and what should the sequence be in order to take these four or five issues?
“They have to be taken together. One, the INEC has done the right thing by suspending him. It is now left for the president to now embark on his removal via the Senate.
“Secondly, the investigation that will have to be conducted, contrary to the request of INEC, the IGP cannot prosecute him because he has committed an electoral offence. By virtue of Section 145 of the Electoral Act, the statutory duty to prosecute all electoral offenders is imposed on INEC.
“So, once the INEC gets the report from the IGP on the investigation, all the suspects will have to be arrested and prosecuted by the INEC. Happily, this time around, the NBA has come in to collaborate with INEC, and the anti-graft agencies are also collaborating with INEC for us to stop this menace, this colossal embarrassment, this national embarrassment.
“Happily, the INEC has decided to ensure that all those who were arrested and some who are yet to be arrested are prosecuted this time around. The police arrested 781 electoral offenders, the EFCC arrested over 100 people inducing voters, ICPC made arrests, and other agencies made arrests including the Armed Forces.
“This time around, they are sitting down to say this level of impunity cannot continue and that is why some of us are collaborating with the INEC and the NBA to ensure that all those who are indicted are brought to book.
“It appears that you disagree with Lai Mohammed, who said the Adamawa REC is a staff of INEC and it is INEC that has the responsibility to deal with him.
“He is not a staff of INEC, he is a public officer. He is an official of INEC and that point will have to be made very clear. It is like a judge if there is a strong petition against a judge the National Judicial Council, NJC, carries out an investigation and the judge is indicted, the NJC will place the judge on suspension and send it’s a recommendation to the president who is the appointing authority.
“So, this time around, the INEC has no power under the law to remove a REC because he was not appointed by INEC. The REC, like national commissioners, are appointed by the president with the approval or endorsement of the Senate. So, if you are going to remove any of them, it has to go through the same process.
“As I said earlier, the police will investigate and turn in a report, the report will have to be forwarded to INEC because INEC is the only authority under Section 145 of the Electoral Act that is empowered to prosecute electoral offenders and this is an electoral offence.
“The last point is on the role of the NTA, which televised the acceptance speech. I expect the NBC to move in speedily and sanction the NTA because, at that time, the collation was still ongoing just like I have requested the NBA to also send a petition to the Legal Practitioner Disciplinary Committee with respect to the conduct or the misconduct of Mr. Ari, who has brought the legal profession into disrepute and unless this action is taken holistically, somebody else or some other people will commit the same offence and that is why people who engage in impunity in our country must be sanctioned with respect to people going to court.
“Again, I will like to advise our judges to behave like the American judiciary. President Donald Trump filed 62 cases challenging the election of President Biden. Within two months, all of them were heard and thrown out. Some of the lawyers who engage in false allegations of electoral fraud were recommended for discipline. Unless we adopt such an approach, we are not going to get it right.
How should the recruitment process of electoral officers be done?
“We have to go back to the recommendations of the Uwais panel endorsed by the Ahmed Lemu panel, endorsed by the Ken Nnamani panel set up by this regime. The Uwais panel was set up by the late President Yar Adua. The Ahmed Lemu committee was set up by President Jonathan, and the Nnamani committee was set up by President Buhari.
“All the committees were united in demanding a transparent procedure for the appointment of electoral chiefs and that the vacancies should be advertised. At the end of the process, the NJC is recommended to do the short-listing and then recommend three candidates to the president for appointment.
“The president will then take one of them based on different considerations and send the name to the Senate for confirmation. That is the only way to prevent the system from appointing members of political parties or sympathizers of the ruling party.”
[Vanguard]
President Muhammadu Buhari, Friday in Abuja appealed to Nigerians who he might have been hurt in the course of his duties to pardon him.
He made the appeal at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja at the ninth and final Sallah homage by residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), led by the minister, Mohammed Bello.
Buhari, who received the delegation after observing the Eid-el-Fitr prayers at the Mambilla Barracks Prayer Ground, Abuja, together with members of his family, thanked Nigerians for tolerating him for close to eight years of his administration.
“I think this is a very good coincidence for me to say goodbye to you and thank you for tolerating me for more than seven and half years now.
“I assure you that I have deliberately arranged to be as far away from you as possible, not because I don’t appreciate the love you have shown to me, but because I think I have gotten what I have asked and I would rather quietly retire to my hometown.
“Having been a governor, minister and president twice, I think God has given us an incredible opportunity to serve as your president. And I thank God for that. So, please, whoever feels I have done wrong, we are all humans. There is no doubt that I have hurt some people, so and I wish you would pardon me. And those who think I have hurt them so much, please pardon me,” he told his guests.”
President Buhari, who said he could not wait to go home after May 29, described himself as being lucky to have led Nigeria in various capacities.
The president, in a statement noted that he decided to retire to Daura, which is far away from Abuja, in order to get some respite after years of work.
“I can’t wait to go to Daura. If they make any noise to disturb me there I will leave for Niger Republic. I deliberately arranged to be as far away as possible. I got what I wanted and will quietly retire to my hometown,” he added.
President Buhari said he accepted all the complaints and criticisms in good faith, knowing it is part of the leadership he prayed and asked from God.
Buhari, who said flaunting ethnic and religious cards in the last elections was “rubbish,” recalled that all presiding Supreme Court justices in all the election cases he took to court were all from the North and Muslims from Zaria in Kaduna State, Niger and Jigawa, yet he lost.
On his plans after leaving office, the president said he felt fulfilled that God made it possible for him to serve two terms of four years each, adding that he looks forward to an orderly handover.
He said his decision to stay away from Abuja was to allow the incoming president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu have the time and space to take decisions.
“I thank God for what he has done for me personally and for what he has enabled us to achieve,” he said.
[DailyTrust]
The Federal Government says the evacuation of Nigerians in Sudan is not possible at the moment.
Nigerians trapped in the ongoing crisis in Sudan have been begging to be evacuated.
Daily Trust reports that fighting between the forces of two rival generals showed no signs of abating ahead of festivities marking the end of Ramadan.
Over 300 people have been killed since the fighting erupted Saturday between forces loyal to Sudan’s army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
In a statement on Friday, the Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa said while the Nigerian Mission in Sudan and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), have put in place arrangements to evacuate Nigerian students and other Nigerian citizens stranded in Sudan, the tensed situation makes it gravely risky and impossible for any flights at this point in time.
The statement which was signed by Gabriel Odu of Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit, NIDCOM, quoted Dabiri-Erewa as noting that Aircraft parked at the Airport in the country were burnt on Friday morning
She said Humanitarian Groups were seeking ways of getting food, water and medicals across to people.
“The Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa has said while the Nigerian Mission in Sudan and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), have put in place arrangements to evacuate Nigerian students and other Nigerian citizens stranded in Sudan, the tensed situation makes it gravely risky and impossible for any flights at this point in time., noting that Aircrafts parked at the Airport in the country were burnt yesterday morning.”
“She therefore appealed to the fighting Parties to consider the Juba Peace Agreement enunciated by Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), as fundamental mechanism for the restoration of peace and tranquility in the country.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said the whereabouts of the suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner of Adamawa State, Hudu Ari, is not known to the commission since his now controversial action during the supplementary governorship election in the state. Ari announced a winner for the supplementary governorship election on Sunday while collation was yet to be concluded.
Speaking on the suspended Adamawa REC, INEC National Commissioner Festus Okoye, who spoke on a Channels Television programme Sunrise Daily monitored in Abuja said “we don’t know where he is at the moment. After this particular incident, the commission wrote to him and also called him o phone. He never answered ay of he calls and never returned any of them. We asked him to report to report to the Commission on Sunday, but did not see him. We asked him to report on Monday and did not see him either. Up to this moment, he has not reported n we don’t know where he is.”
On why the commission has not declared Ari wanted, Okoye argued that “declaring him wanted is the duty of the police. If they make determination that his presence is needed during investigations and he is nowhere to be found, it is within their prerogative to declare him wanted. I don’t know if he is under arrest at the moment or not. The responsibility given to the Commission under the law is to prosecute. The duty of investigations and arrest resides with the security agencies and in this case, the Nigeria Police Force which is the lead agency in terms of election security.
“We have written to the IGP detailing what the issues are and the infractions we believe that the REC has committed. We have asked him to investigate and if possible, make an arrest and if a prima facie case is established, he file should be made available to the commission to initiate the prosecution. So, we have followed the law, the processes and procedures.”
After suspending the REC, INEC reported his case to President Muhammadu Muhammadu Buhari, who on Thursday approved Ari’s suspension, pending the completion of an investigation by the Inspector General of Police on the conduct/actions of the REC during the Supplementary election in Adamawa State. The INEC National Commissioner said that the Commission had received a report from the Inspector General of Police and has commenced the process of prosecuting the controversial Adamawa REC.
“We wrote to the Inspector General of Police and Secretary to the Government of the Federation. We have received a response from the Inspector General of Police and they have already commenced an investigation. My understanding is that the moment the Inspector General of Police concludes the investigation regarding the REC and every other individual who is involved and a prima facie case is established against the REC the file will be made available to the commission and the commission will begin prosecution of the REC,” he added.
The commission also explained that it did not carry out any review of the declarations and return made on the presidential election because none of the parties in the election made any formal request for it as contained in the Electoral Act 2022. He added that in the fullness of time, Nigerians will come to realise that the 2023 elections is one of the best elections to ever be conducted in the country. He said though the commission had challenges wit uploading the presidential election results to the INEC Election Viewing portal, it is not enough to discredit the election.
Okoye said while the Electoral Act empowers the commission to review election result declared, such powers can only be exercised after a declaration and return has been made, adding that the clamor for a review of the presidential election was done when no declaration had been made. He declined to comment on the conduct of the elections saying “I am reluctant to analyse the conduct of the presidential and National Assembly elections as well as the governorship and state Assembly elections because some of the issues are already before the tribunals.”
He disclosed that the Commission has a policy of reviewing every election with a view to imbibing the lessons learnt. He said “after every election, the Commission engages in both external and internal evaluation of the conduct of the elections to learn valuable lessons and where mistakes are made, know how to remedy these mistakes. At a very reflective and rationale moment, we will come to see that this election will turn out to be one of the best elections ever conducted in this country.
“The election is like a revolutionary situation. I say this because if you look at the whole gamut of the election, I do not think that it will be fair to reduce the conduct of the 2023 general elections to the issue of result upload alone. If you look at section 43 of the electoral act 2022, it makes it optional for any political party that wants to nominate polling or party agents to the 176,606 poling units where we deployed election materials to do so. Four political parties, APC, PDP, NNPP and LP nominated over 170,000 poling agents. What that mean is that at the level of the poling units where the election took place, they were there.
“The law is that the moment votes are segregated, counted and entered into form EC8a which is the polling unit result sheet, a copy will be retained by the Commission, a copy will be given to the police and copies will be given to the party agents. It means that any party that deployed agents will have copies of the polling unit results.Secondly, you have to analyse elections from a holistic perspective and not only from the point of result upload because that is what is trending.
“The question of whether section 64 is mandatory in terms of result upload, whether the issue of collation revolves around result upload and other issues emanating from it, has been submitted to the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal and at the fullness of time, you will see that the Commission has done very well. Yes, we had challenges regarding upload of presidential election results and we informed Nigerians about the challenge.
“You will agree with me that there was result upload during the governorship and state Assembly elections. But you will agree that the Commission did well, but we cannot reduce the entire 2023 election to the challenge we had with the presidential upload. INEC has not done any review of the presidential election declaration because nobody has asked for it in writing. As at the time they were clamouring for a review, the declaration and return had not been made.”
[Nation]
A Nigerian man identified as Ike Ihiala on Friday offered to pay the monthly fee for the verification badge of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi.
Naija News on Thursday reported that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Twitter, Elon Musk deactivated the verification badge from users on the Microblogging platform who had not subscribed for the blue-tick.
The Twitter account of the former governor of Anambra State was affected, while several other political figures, journalists, celebrities and others were affected by the development.
To keep the verification badge some politicians have decided to pay for the subscription to keep their accounts verified.
Ihiala who seems displeased with Twitter removing the verification badge from Obi’s account offered to pay for his subscription.
According to Ihiala, he is making the effort to keep Obi verified so that criminal elements will not impersonate the presidential candidate whom he described as the people’s President.
Ihiala in a post on his Twitter account on Friday wrote, “Since @elonmusk is personally paying for the @TwitterBlue Verification Badge of at least three celebrities, I’ll pay for the restoration/monthly subscription of the Verification Badge of the People’s President, H.E. @PeterObi.
“We don’t want criminal elements impersonating the People’s President in any guise on this super information highway.
“@Twitter, how do we go about this, ASAP?”
President Muhammadu Buhari has told President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that he’s waiting to welcome him to the State House as President on May 29.
The President also declared that the handover of power from him to Tinubu on that date is sacrosanct.
Buhari and Tinubu spoke on the phone to exchange pleasantries on the occasion of Eid el Fitri.
The president’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, said his principal assured Tinubu that he was ready to welcome him as his successor in the Presidential Villa on May 29.
“President Muhammadu Buhari and the incoming President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Friday morning exchanged Eid greetings in a phone call to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan,” Shehu said in a statement.
“Both leaders thanked God Almighty for seeing this day and prayed for the stability and the wellbeing of the nation.
“President Buhari expressed his readiness to welcome Asiwaju Tinubu to the State House as President on May 29th.”
And fielding questions from journalists at the Eid grounds in Abuja after the Sallah prayers, Buhari said Nigerians have fully embraced and demonstrated their love for democracy, hence the handover of power to Tinubu is not negotiable.
“Nigerians appreciate the stability of democracy,” he said.
“The outcome of the elections, in which more than 10 governors failed to make it to the Senate, sent a clear message that ordinary Nigerians know the power of their votes and how to use it.
“Nigerians cherish democracy. They have shown their love for it and will defend it against real or perceived threats.
“They will continue to vote one way or the other depending on their preferences.”
Reiterating the sanctity of the handover date, the President said, “God willing, nothing will stop it.”
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Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno says the emergence of Alhaji Kashim Shettima as incoming vice-president would help to reduce his administration’s burden as Borno recovers from insurgency.
Zulum made the declaration in Maiduguri on Friday at a Sallah luncheon for stakeholders graced by the vice-president-elect.
The governor said with the incoming vice-president, the government and people of Borno have a reliable brother and a team player to lean on for support in the recovery process.
“President Buhari has been complaining that I am the only one suffering in Borno with no one supporting me.
Borno: Zulum seeks forgiveness, pledges dividends of democracy after landslide win
“By the grace of God, in the next four years to come, I have with me a brother and indeed my boss that will support me and support the government and people of Borno.
“This will reduce our burden and will ensure our progress and development,’’ Zulum said.
He urged the people of Borno to continue to pray for the vice president-elect to succeed in discharging the responsibility of his office.
Reiterating the commitment of his administration to deliver more people-oriented programmes, Zulum urged for more unity among elected leaders for the betterment of Borno.
He also thanked security agencies in the state for their commitment to return of total peace and normalcy in the state. (NAN)
The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, on Friday, said the rising cost of living is not only peculiar to Nigeria alone but a global phenomenon.
Shehu, who spoke during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, defended President Muhammadu Buhari on some of the problems encountered by Nigerians in the last eight years.
He said the current administration has within the past eight years done well in ensuring food security and reducing the cost of living in Nigeria. The presidential spokesman also blamed the global crisis on the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic that grounded economies of the world.
“The cost of living crisis is a global phenomenon. Nigerians need to just look beyond our shores and see how national economies are going into liquidation. See what is happening to Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, and even Europe.
“There is a global crisis that has afflicted the entire (world) globally. When Covid came, all countries of the world recessed in their economies, except perhaps China.
“This has continued to be compounded by the crisis in the supply systems warranted by the ongoing situation between Ukraine and Russia and all of that. Everyone is managing a bad situation and Nigeria is not doing badly in doing this.”
During the interview, Shehu also spoke about his principal’s efforts in addressing the problem of insecurity in the country.
He argued that the Federal Government has performed creditably in its efforts at tackling the myriads of security challenges that have bedevilled Africa’s most populous nation.
As the race for the 10th National Assembly leadership hots up, Senate President Ahmad Lawan, on Friday said opposition political parties would not determine the leadership of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
He however said his party, the All Progressives Congress, must work with the opposition parties.
Speaking with State House correspondents after joining residents of the Federal Capital Territory for a Sallah homage to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, he stated that the President was finishing strong and that he would leave the country more secure than he met it in 2015.
He added, “There is no way an opposition will decide who should be the senate president or who should be the speaker; it is our party and other leaders that will decide,”
When asked about growing concerns that the opposition may bank on the reported division in the party and seize the process, he said, “I don’t think opposition parties are planning to usurp because it is presumptuous that the APC will not be a united party.
“APC is a united party and the opposition party will simply work with the APC majority for us to have stability because there is no way an opposition will decide who should be the senate president or who should be the speaker; it is our party and other leaders that will determine what zone or whoever, and the rest of us in the party will key in, and of course the opposition will have no option but to give support.
“I don’t see anything wrong in the opposition talking to us or we talking to the opposition to ensure that we are on the same page, because we need the opposition to ensure that we get most of our constitutional amendments passed, when the time is right, because we don’t have the 73 in the Senate. So, you need 73 senators at least for you to have any constitutional amendment. So, you would need the opposition.”
He said a National Assembly that works with the executive would produce greater results than those who are antagonistic. He added, “Don’t ever think the opposition should be pushed away. I don’t believe in that. I only believe in a bipartisan chamber because it is more productive, stable, calm and gives you the kind of outcome you will never get with a very rancorous chamber.”
However, Lawan declined discussing his involvement in the senate presidency race, saying, “I’m not here to answer whether I’m running for senate president or not.”
While praising Buhari for his achievements, he stated, “The Buhari administration is closing on a very strong note. We have succeeded in reducing the insecurity that we met in 2015.
“This administration has provided infrastructure across the country like no other administration. It assented to legislation more than any previous president, especially in the last four years. Therefore, it is a thing of joy for all of us to come and celebrate with Mr President on the Eid-el-Fitri today.”
Lawan expressed sadness that members of the ninth National Assembly voted against gender bills that sought to promote more opportunities for women in politics and governance.
One of the bills sought to create additional seats for women to increase their representation in the Assembly.
However, he advocated alternative strategies to engage with the legislature, urging newly-elected and returning lawmakers to push for the passage of the pro-women bills in the 10th Assembly.
Lawan noted, “I felt bad we could not pass even one. But then, we shouldn’t lose hope; we should continue to campaign and talk to more members of the National Assembly and we should also re-strategise.”
The lawmaker said he did not regret his actions as the Senate President even though he acknowledged lapses in his performance.
He added, “I can’t say we have regrets. We can only say there are things we have been unable to deal with satisfactorily. And this is natural because we don’t have sufficient funds.
“Two, as human beings, there are areas that naturally, whatever you do, you may not get right, but it’s for us to identify those areas, go back and rework them. The APC administration will continue to work on those areas that we need to improve on.”
No fewer than five former governors are in the race for the Senate Presidency, PUNCH revealed.
They include former Anambra State governor, Orji Uzor Kalu (APC, Abia North); former governor of Akwa Ibom, Godswill Akpabio (APC, Akwa Ibom North-West); former Ebonyi State governor, David Umahi (APC, Ebonyi South); for Edo governor, Adams Oshiomhole (Edo North), and former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari (APC, Zamfara West).
Twelve former governors of both the ruling All Progressive Congress and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party won their senatorial elections for the 10th Senate.
Those returning are Orji Kalu, Danjuma Goje (APC, Gombe Central), Aliyu Wamakko ( APC, Sokoto North), Adamu Aliero ( PDP, Kebbi Central), and Seriake Dickson (PDP, Bayelsa West).
Those who will join the Senate for the first time are Umahi, Oshiomhole, former Ogun State governor, Gbenga Daniel, Yari, and former Gombe State governor, Ibrahim Dakwambo.
Over the years, Nigerians have complained that the Red Chamber is fast becoming a retirement home for former governors.
Lamenting this, the Director-General of the National Institute of Legislative Studies, Prof Abubakar Suleiman, said, “There must be a way to stop these governors from turning the National Assembly, especially the Senate, into a retirement home.
“I have said this on several occasions and I am repeating it: they (former governors) have not been adding value to what they (lawmakers) do there. Look at the array of ex-governors there now, hardly will you see two or three that have really added value.
“Must you, after leaving the state government, come to the National Assembly as a senator? Is it a must? Are there no people in your constituency or state that can represent the people?
“As I said, some of them do it out of ego. They believe that if a senator is there (from their senatorial district), they have to bring them back and go there too.
Meanwhile, an analysis of the 10th Senate by Saturday PUNCH revealed that 72 out of the 109 seats will be occupied by first-timers in the Senate.
The Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, lamented that many of the 10th Assembly lawmakers had no legislative skill or experience, adding that a lot of money would be required for the training of the lawmakers.
“And I use the word costly deliberately because what this means is that, the 10th Assembly, we must make provisions immediately for capacity building for new members of the National Assembly if we want to achieve our goals and set targets.
“Everybody is enthusiastic. Everybody is ready. We want to come in and continue to contribute to making Nigeria better. But the parliament is not like the executive.”