Arrested Yoruba Nation agitators have said they do not regret their action.
Recall that the agitators were arrested after invading the Oyo State Governor’s Office and the state House of Assembly on Monday.
A 55-year-old lecturer at the Federal College of Education (Special), in Oyo State, Alabi Ogundeji said he doesn't regret his action.
Corroborating his view, a 29-year-old phone repairer, Ademola Adeniyi, who was part of the arrested agitators, also said he didn’t regret joining the struggle.
The PUNCH reports that about 20 persons were arrested by the police after some masked men in military camouflage with rifles and charms suspected to be Yoruba Nation agitators early Saturday invaded the Governor’s Office and the state House of Assembly.
Speaking with newsmen separately at the state Police Command, Eleyele in Ibadan, the state capital, during their parade by the police, the duo insisted that their actions were lawful under Nigeria and international law.
Ogundeji said, “I’m part of the agitation and I can’t deny it. Yoruba as an indigenous nation is a nation on its own. We have so many nations in Nigeria and Yoruba is one of them.
“Oodua Nation leaders have taken every step and action that needed to be taken. So, we embarked on a referendum which was 500 petitions signed by all Yorubas, and this has served as the referendum.
“Our leadership went to all Yoruba-speaking states to serve official letters written by our leaders and we were given our copy. After that is proclamation, declaration, occupation, and notification to the world that Yoruba is an indigenous nation.
“We were at the Secretariat, Agodi in Ibadan to celebrate and rejoice because of the new nation that was born. It is not a new thing that Yoruba is a nation and we want to stand on our own. We have been together with Nigeria for over 100 years."
In his own, the 29-year-old phone repairer, Adeniyi, also amongst those arrested said, “We all know that nothing is working in Nigeria and things are hard for everyone except those in government. We were at the Secretariat waiting for our leader to address us.
“We believe our leader knows much about the law. So, we are not afraid to join when we are called upon. Our leader told us that all challenges Yoruba are facing shall be addressed if we achieve our aim,” he stressed.
While parading all the suspects, the state Police Commissioner, Hamzat Adebola, described the act as criminal, unpatriotic and a clear case of treasonable felony and terrorism which would be meted with adequate sanctions.
He explained that the continued existence of Nigeria as a sovereign indivisible entity is a task that must be accomplished, adding that “the labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain.”
“As a parent, I enjoin other parents, guardians and leaders in every sphere of political, religious and socio-economic influence to prevail on their children, ward, protégés and followers against being used by unpatriotic individuals to promote anarchy in the state and by extension, Nation.
“I would like to use this medium to remind the criminally minded that the state is home to many responsible, hospitable and extremely intelligent individuals who pride themselves on creativity, hard work and resourcefulness.”
He, therefore, vowed that it would not be reduced under his watch to a playground for the criminally minded and misguided individuals or groups who intend to make their livelihood by distorting the relative tranquillity enjoyed by the good people of the state.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has disclosed that the national grid has been completely restored following Monday's fire incident at the Afam power generating station in Rivers State.
TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Mrs Ndidi Mbah, stated in Abuja that the fire caused a partial disturbance of the grid.
“At about 2:41 a.m., fire erupted at the Afam V 330 kV bus bar coupler, leading to the tripping of two units, Afam III and Afam VI.
“This resulted in a sudden generation loss of 25 MW and 305 MW, respectively, at the two units, destabilising the grid and causing a partial collapse.
“The affected section of the grid has been fully restored and stabilised,’’ she stated.
She explained that during the incident, the Ibom Power plant was isolated from the national grid and supplied power to parts of the Port Harcourt region, thereby minimising the effect of the system disturbance.
“TCN reaffirms its commitment to enhance the resilience and reliability of the national grid and pledges to continue investing in measures to strengthen the grid infrastructure,’’ Mbah assured.
Former governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, says fuel subsidy is back, but many Nigerians do not know this.
Fielding question from newsmen in Maiduguri , Borno State capital, on Monday, El-Rufai said the federal government is now paying more than before.
He observed that the packages of support that would reduce the impact of fuel subsidy were not effective, hence reversal of the policy.
In his inaugural speech, President Bola Tinubu had announced the removal of fuel subsidy, saying its payment was no longer justifiable.
But El-Rufai, who said he was in support of the policy, said the government had to make necessary adjustments.
“Fuel subsidy is another policy that has been implemented by the president, it’s the right policy. I always supported withdrawing fuel subsidy.”
“But, in the course of implementation as you can see the government has now realized that the subsidy has to be back because right now, we are paying a lot of money for subsidy even more than before.
He said many people don’t know that fuel subsidy is back, “but, if they want to know whether we are subsidizing or not, they should compare the price of petrol and diesel because petrol should be more expensive than diesel but diesel is priced above a thousand naira while petrol is at N600 per liter.
“So, we are still subsidizing Petrol because the government has realised that they way it implemented the fuel subsidy initially required some adjustments. That’s what I keep saying about policy and policy pragmatism,” he said.
El-Rufai had earlier presented a paper titled: “Leadership and Public Policy: Navigating Challenges and Lessons”, at the Capacity-building workshop for Senior Government Officials of Borno State.
[DailyTrust]
as court overrules defendant, admits his statement
A Federal High Court in Abuja heard on Monday, April 15, how police investigators were able to track the man behind an online publication that accused the ex-works and housing minister, Babatunde Fashola of writing the judgments of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC).
Ibezim Chike Victor, who is alleged to be one of the three individuals linked to the publication made on an online platform – Reportera.ng, is being tried on a six-count charge, marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/434/2023 brought against him by the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
Victor is charged with criminal conspiracy, cyberstalking, and defamation, among others.
Testifying before the court on Monday, a police investigator, Inspector Ikemba Cyprian said his team was able to track Victor through his phone number by deploying technology.
Lead in evidence by prosecuting lawyer, E. O Ochai, Cyprian said the defendant’s phone number – 08146435568 – was provided by Fashola in two petitions, dated August 7 and 8, 2023 which he addressed to the IGP.
The witness said the nominal complainant (Fashola) stated, in the petition, that the publication was to the effect that his premises were surrounded by soldiers because he was writing judgments for the PEPC that was hearing petitions, challenging the last presidential election.
He said immediately the petitions were assigned to his team, Fashola was invited and he volunteered a statement.
“We analysed the phone number on the petition and found that belonged to the defendant,” the witness said.
He added that upon realising that the number belonged to the defendant, Victor was invited and when he subsequently responded to the invitation, he volunteered a statement.
The witness added that, in his statement, dated August 10, 2023, the defendant admitted that he bought the MTN SIM card and registered it.
Cyprian said the defendant told investigators that he had given the phone, containing the SIM card to one of his friends called Tope, who is still at large.
Ochai applied to tender the defendant’s statement, but Victor’s lawyer, Kanayo Okafor objected on the grounds that Sections 6(2)(d),17(2) and 15(4) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) were not complied with.
In a ruling, Justice Bolaji Olajuwon overruled Okafor and admitted the statement on grounds of relevance.
The witness added that when his team contacted the Court of Appeal, authorities of the court said the judgments of the PEPC were written by Justices on the panel and not any outsider.
He said his team also contacted the Nigerian Army Headquarters and was told that no soldier was deployed to Fashola’s premises as claimed in the offending publication.
“At the completion of the investigation, we found that the defendant made the publication to smear the hard-earned reputation of the nominal complainant. We also found that there was no siege on the nominal complainant’s house by the army,” he said.
The witness added that the investigation also revealed that the nominal complainant did not write the judgment as claimed in the defamatory statement.
He added that the investigation revealed that the defendant and other of his collaborators use the same office and share the same phone number.
“We found that the publication was such that could lead to the breakdown of law and order,” the witness said.
At the completion of Cyprian’s testimony, Okafor prayed to the court for an adjournment to enable him to return on a later date to cross-examine the witness.
Although Ochai objected to the defence lawyer’s application for adjournment, Justice Olajuwon adjourned till April 19 for cross-examination.
[TheNation]
The Coroner Inquest sitting in Ogba Magistrate Court examining the death of a 12-year-old student of Dowen College, Lekki, Sylvester Junior Oromoni, has attributed his death to his parents’ and doctor’s negligence.
The Coroner Magistrate, Mikhail Kadiri, held that Oromoni died as a result of failed treatment for his enlarged liver.
Oromoni died on November 30, 2021.
His death was attributed to bully and an alleged poisonous substance he was forced to drink in the school.
He was said to have mentioned that he was beaten up by five senior students of Dowen College whose names were Favour Benjamin, 16, Edward Begue (16), Ansel Temile (14) Kenneth Inyang and Micheal Kashamu, 16, son of late Senator, Buruji Kashamu, before he died.
The incident led to the indefinite closure of the school despite denying the claim.
The school insisted that the boy complained of leg pain following an injury he sustained while playing football.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police ordered a full-scale investigation into the incident.
On January 5, 2022, the Lagos State Government exonerated the five students and five employees of Dowen College, Lekki, Lagos, who were accused of the death of Sylvester Oromoni.
Two years later, Oromoni was laid to rest at the family’s compound at Ogbe-Ijoh, Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta.
Kadiri said, “Based on the foregoing it is clear that the deceased health deteriorated in (doctor) PW 3’s care.
“PW 3, did not take proper care of the deceased, PW 3, completely abandoned the deceased for a period of more than 32 hours.
“The deceased’s death was an avoidable one but for the negligence of the parents and PW 3, they didn’t take him to the hospital until the day he died on November 30, 2021.
“The deceased went through an avoidable and excruciating pain and made to suffer needlessly,” Kadiri said.
Watch video below: https://x.com/MobilePunch/status/1779912480463974821
[Punch]
The Kano State Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress has invalidated the suspension of the National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje by his ward in APC Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area.
The working committee also suspended the party leaders at the ward level.
PM News earlier reported that the ward leaders through Legal Adviser, Halliru Gwanzo, said Ganduje was alleged to be involved in bribery.
Gwanzo said the allegations against the Ganduje were serious and he needed to be suspended.
He said: “We decided to suspend Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje from the party due to the seriousness of the allegations against him”
But the Local Government Chairman for the APC, Inusa Dawanau, stated that who purportedly suspended Ganduje were being suspended six months over their involvement in anti-party activities.
He claimed that there were their records of meetings with another party.
In his reaction, the state’s APC chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Abbas, said, “We have evidence of meetings between the State Government officials and those who suspended the National Chairman, and the State Working Committee has agreed to sanction them for six months. They will remain suspended until the expiration of the period”.
[PM News]
Investors have continued to backpedal on the stock market, especially in the banking sector, on the back of the proposed recapitalization of the banks announced late last month by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
The risk-off sentiment resulted in the loss of N633 billion as investors took profits from the banks.
Consequently, the market capitalization of all the listed equities fell to N57.87 trillion at the close of the holiday-shortened week from N58.498 trillion in the previous week, representing a 1.1 per cent decrease.
Also, the benchmark All Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) declined by 1.1 per cent to 102,314.56 basis points from 103,437.67 basis points in the previous week, driven by losses in the shares of Guaranty Trust Company (GTCo) Plc (-13.75%), FBN Holdings Plc (-11.15%) and Zenith Bank Plc (-5.88%).
Month-to-Date (MtD) and Year-to-Date (YtD) returns slipped to -2.1 per cent and +36.8 per cent, respectively.
Further analysis shows that activity level was also impacted by the shortened trading week, as the total trading volume and value weakened by 69.2 per cent Week-on-Week (w/w) and 50.5 per cent w/w, to 734 04 million units and N31.58 billion respectively.
Sectoral performance was negative, reflecting the sour mood in the market.
Precisely, all the major sectoral indices declined with the banking sector, leading with 7.2 per cent depreciation, followed by the insurance sector 2.4 per cent; consumer goods sector (-1.3%); oil and gas sector (-0.3%) and the industrial goods sector which fell by 0.2 per cent.
Analysts at Cordros Capital, in their projection for the week, said: “Looking forward, we anticipate that market sentiments will remain negative, with investors continuing to react unfavourably to the potential dilution stemming from the CBN’s recapitalization initiative.”
“In the medium term, we expect investors’ sentiments to be influenced by developments in the macroeconomic landscape and corporate actions,” they added.
Analysts at Parthian Securities, however, projected that the market performance will be mixed this week, saying: “We expect investors sentiment to be mixed at this week’s trading session.”
Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace, says the federal government is set to arrest and sanction illegal flights and non-certified personnel.
Keyamo spoke in an interview on Channels Television on April 14.
According to the minister, the federal government has received credible information about them and would not hesitate to persecute them.
He said new private jet owners approach aviation regulators to request approval to use their aircraft to fly family or friends, however, after obtaining the required licence, they begin commercial flights.
“And we give them very low fee paydays. The moment you give them, they begin to carry passengers all over Nigeria, doing six or eight flights a day. And nobody checked them before I came,” Keyamo said.
“This is a notice to them on camera. I am coming for them. I am coming for them because the president has given us marching orders. We are not going to allow this to happen.
“First of all, in terms of the regulation, tracking them, making sure passengers that you carry are safe, regulating them and all that is low. Secondly, you are cheating the federal government. It is economic sabotage and I’m not going to allow that to happen.
“So people who are even my friends or friends of Mr. President, we are going to come hard on all of them, ground their planes, withdraw their licences and come very hard on them.
“We are not going to allow that to happen. And I’m about to do something on that, and guess what? I’m tying it down to the issue of training and retraining because it’s in most of these private aircraft you now see those people who have not gone for their normal routine training, they are the ones flying them (private aircraft).
“We have a complicity within the system. People who are also supposed to check and carry out sting operations on them do not.”
Keyamo also said he has received intelligence on persons involved, adding that in a matter of days or weeks, his ministry will go hard on them.
[TheCable]
Organised Labour, comprising the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), has asked the federal government to announce a new minimum wage on Workers’ Day, May 1, 2024.
The National Vice President of the TUC, Tommy Etim, stated this on Sunday in an interview.
According to Etim, the announcement of the new minimum wage is one of labour’s expectations ahead of the 2024 Workers’ Day.
Speaking with the Punch, Etim said there were lots of expectations particularly since some of the newly initiated policies of government had continued to push more Nigerians into poverty.
Etim said workers in the country were expectant of the new minimum wage, stating that Workers’ Day is like Christmas Day for workers.
He said, “The Workers’ Day is a type of Christmas Day to Nigerian workers and there are lots of expectations. The welfare of workers is paramount and should be taken into consideration. It is also expected that lots of incentives will be rolled out to cushion the effects of the policies initiated by the government which have continued to limit the purchasing power of workers and Nigerians as a whole.
“Presently, the purchasing power is weak in the country. It is also expected that a new minimum wage will be announced on that day. Workers are looking forward to that. Also, we expect that the government finally use the opportunity to launch the CNG buses which it promised over a year ago. These are our expectations.”
Recall that organised labour had demanded N615,000 as the new minimum wage for workers in the country.
An impeccable source, who is an executive of organised labour, who did not want to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, told Sunday PUNCH that the new wage of N615,000 monthly was reached after consultations by the NLC and TUC.
The source said the wage might still increase, following the recent hike in electricity tariff.
The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Plc, EEDC, on Monday alerted its customers of a total system collapse, causing blackout in the entire Southeast.
EEDC in a statement issued by its Head of Corporate Communications, Emeka Eze, said the incident occured at about 2am on Monday.
The company, however, assured residents of the region that efforts are being put in place to ensure that normalcy is restored soon.
The statement reads, “This resulted in the loss of supply to all our interface TCN stations. Consequently, we were unable to provide service to our customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States.
“However, the situation is gradually being resolved as we received supplies at Awada TCN station, Onitsha, at 7:30am.
“We are in constant communication with the relevant authorities awaiting full restoration of supply by the National Control Centre, NCC, Oshogbo”.
More...
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Bode George on Monday accused Yoruba Nation agitators who invaded the Oyo State Secretariat of committing treason.
Over the weekend, some agitators of Yoruba nation invaded the premises of Oyo State House of Assembly, Agodi Secretariat, Ibadan.
In a viral video clip, the agitators, decked in camouflage and armed, claimed that a purported ‘Democratic Republic of the Yoruba’ had been created out of Nigeria.
Responding, the Nigerian Army claimed that the agitators shot at soldiers drafted to ensure law and order.
Reacting, George expressed his anger over the invasion, stressing that the agitators can’t take up arms against their government.
Featuring on Arise News Programme, Morning Show, George said: “You don’t just go and take up arms against your government, it’s treason. That they called Amotekun and the police is something; if it were people from my old profession, they would have seen them as enemies and fired at them.
“I was completely very angry because that is not the way you talk to your government. What could have driven them into that? My conclusion is that they might not be educated. You don’t take up arms against your nation.
“It’s unimaginable; you brought guns and charms; were they dreaming? It’s unacceptable, it’s the highest breaking of the law of the land. You have your freedom of speech which is the most sensible way to approach this problem. The problem is that this thing never leaked to the intelligence of this nation.
“Agitators carried their weapons in military uniforms, and nobody stopped them on the road; you now see the urgent need for state police because they could not have been meeting somewhere if we are well organized like the state police.”
The lawmaker representing Benue Northeast senatorial district in the national assembly, Senator Gabriel Suswam, has asserted that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is under a unified leadership and has no other faction elsewhere.
Naija News reports that the former governor of Benue State asserted this in reaction to recent speculations suggesting that the major opposition party has split into two factions.
Reports claimed that the PDP’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Atiku Abubakar, and his followers constitute one faction, while the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and his supporters form the other faction.
Nonetheless, Suswam informed the press in Abuja over the weekend that Atiku remains the sole leader of the party.
“I don’t think there are camps in PDP. We have just one PDP and all we are saying is that let us have a strong leadership.
“Wike is the Minister of FCT and he is working with the president, I don’t think he has a camp. Atiku remains the leader of our party.
“By being the presidential candidate of PDP, Atiku is automatically the leader of the party who every member should look up to,” Daily Post quoted Suswam saying.
Manufacturers have lamented the high cost of automotive gas oil (AGO), also known as diesel, which is used in generating power for their operations, noting that product gulps about 80 percent of their profits.
Speaking on the plight of manufacturers against the backdrop of rising prices of their products, the Director General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said manufacturers should not be blamed for inflating prices of products, considering their high cost of production.
However, a bit of relief may have come the way of the manufacturers following the recent crash of the price of diesel by 29.4 percent by Dangote Refinery.
The refinery now supplies the product at a substantially reduced price of N1,200 per litre, representing a 29.4 percent reduction from the previous market price of about N1,700 per litre.
On the high cost of energy, Ajayi-Kadir stated: “We have at different fora informed government and relevant agencies of what to do to bring down these inimical worsening high operating costs in the country. Nigerians should not blame local manufacturers for increasing the cost of goods, because they are being confronted with debilitating conditions.
“Do you know that diesel is taking 80 per cent profit of surviving manufacturing firms in Nigeria currently at the rate of about N1,700?
“Which manufacturer can cope with that astronomical price for energy to produce and you won’t expect him to increase his products in the country?
“Also, look at the new Customs exchange rate, new interest rate, scarcity of foreign exchange (FX), NAFDAC ban and others. How do you want to cope in production and make profit?”
Recall that the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, recently confirmed that his refinery is offering diesel at N1,200, below the market rate of N1,700, adding that the significant cut in the price will have a positive effect on inflation in Nigeria.
He stated: “Quite a lot of prices have gone up. When you go to the market, for example, something that we produce locally like flour, people will charge you more. Why? Because they’re paying very high diesel prices.
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“Now, in our refinery, we started selling diesel at about N1,200 instead of N1,700 and I’m sure as we go along, things will continue to improve quite a lot.
“If you look at it now, when you are buying N1,650 or N1,700 for a litre of diesel, and that one has been cut off by almost one-third, you are now paying N1,200 for diesel,” Dangote said.
Investors have continued to backpedal on the stock market, especially in the banking sector, on the back of the proposed recapitalization of the banks announced late last month by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
The risk-off sentiment resulted in the loss of N633 billion as investors took profits from the banks.
Consequently, the market capitalization of all the listed equities fell to N57.87 trillion at the close of the holiday-shortened week from N58.498 trillion in the previous week, representing a 1.1 per cent decrease.
Also, the benchmark All Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) declined by 1.1 per cent to 102,314.56 basis points from 103,437.67 basis points in the previous week, driven by losses in the shares of Guaranty Trust Company (GTCo) Plc (-13.75%), FBN Holdings Plc (-11.15%) and Zenith Bank Plc (-5.88%).
Month-to-Date (MtD) and Year-to-Date (YtD) returns slipped to -2.1 per cent and +36.8 per cent, respectively.
Further analysis shows that activity level was also impacted by the shortened trading week, as the total trading volume and value weakened by 69.2 per cent Week-on-Week (w/w) and 50.5 per cent w/w, to 734 04 million units and N31.58 billion respectively.
Sectoral performance was negative, reflecting the sour mood in the market.
Precisely, all the major sectoral indices declined with the banking sector, leading with 7.2 per cent depreciation, followed by the insurance sector 2.4 per cent; consumer goods sector (-1.3%); oil and gas sector (-0.3%) and the industrial goods sector which fell by 0.2 per cent.
Analysts at Cordros Capital, in their projection for the week, said: “Looking forward, we anticipate that market sentiments will remain negative, with investors continuing to react unfavourably to the potential dilution stemming from the CBN’s recapitalization initiative.”
“In the medium term, we expect investors’ sentiments to be influenced by developments in the macroeconomic landscape and corporate actions,” they added.
Analysts at Parthian Securities, however, projected that the market performance will be mixed this week, saying: “We expect investors sentiment to be mixed at this week’s trading session.”