Gov. Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State says the state government has so far spent N7.6 billion on constructing and equipping the ultra-modern motor park in the state.
Yahaya stated this while inspecting facilities at the park on Saturday.
He queried the contractor for working behind schedule saying that such would no longer be condoned by the state government as his administration is eager to ensure the utilisation of the project for the benefits of the people.
“We have invested N7.6 billion on this project and the contractor had been lagging behind and that would no longer be tolerated.
“We are eager to put the facility to use for the benefit of our people,” he said.
On the contractor’s pledge to deliver the project by September, Yahaya said “I will charge you if you don’t deliver by September ending because N7.6 billion is no small money.
“We are not owing you a kobo and so there is no reason why you shouldn’t deliver by that September,” he added.
The governor said that the state government had set up a committee to ensure seamless relocation of all existing parks in the metropolis, hence the need for the contractor to deliver by the September deadline.
He said that critical stakeholders in the transport sector in the state had given their supports as the project would be beneficial to them, create more jobs and make movement in the state easier.
According to him, the relocation of the Bauchi motor park was to give room for more developmental projects in the state, adding that a three arm zone would be cited at the location after its relocation.
“Once the motor parks are out, we shall see where we will utilise to take care of the interest of everyone as we are expanding and growing towards making Gombe a modern city,” he said.
On how the state government raised the N7.6 billion, Yahaya said the project was financed through a bond, adding that the government had commenced a post-dated payment and had been paying in installments.
He stated that the management of the motor park had been ceded to Gombe Revenue Optimisation Company Limited to work with the unions in the transport sector to recoup the money over time.
He said that the investment in the project is huge and expected to benefit the people of the state and impact positively on the economy.
Yahaya also inspected ongoing projects in the state capital which include the ongoing construction of the Sharia Court of Appeal, Bauchi Motor Park and some road projects in the Gombe metropolis.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the governor had on Thursday set up a task force to facilitate the smooth transition of operations from three major motor parks to the ultra-modern park.
The three major motor parks to be relocated to the new park along Dukku Road when completed are Bauchi Motor Park, Dukku Motor Park and Dadinkowa Motor Park.
The ultra-modern motor park has the following facilities: road networks, 250 shops, a clinic, a hotel with 100 people capacity, a fire service station, a trailer park which can contain 2,500 trailers at a time, police outpost amongst others.
The project, awarded by Ibrahim Dankwambo’s administration in 2012 at the initial contract sum of 3.2 billion naira is said to have gulped almost 2.8 billion billion naira and attained 43 per cent completion status before being allegedly abandoned.
The Dr Abdullahi Ganduje-led National Working Committee NWC of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC on Friday night inaugurated six additional members into its fold amid protests from the Kogi, Abia, and Cross River states chapters of the party.
There was a failed attempt to swear in the officials on Thursday night, but the protest from Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi State and other stakeholders from Abia and Cross River effectively stalled the process.
Those sworn in were the Deputy National Chairman, North, Ali Bukar Dalori (Borno State); National Vice Chairman, North West, Garba Datti Muhammad (Kaduna State); National Legal Adviser, Prof. Abdul Karim Abubakar Kana (Nasarawa State); National Welfare Secretary, Donatus Nwankpa (Abia State); National Woman Leader, Mary Alile Idele, PhD (Edo State); and, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Duro Meseko (Kogi State).
An earlier nominee for the North Central Zonal Organizing Secretary of the party, Ikani Shuaibu Okolo from Kogi state was however dropped to placate the state Governor, Yahaya Bello whose nominee for the office of Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Ismail Yahaya was dropped.
Ganduje who acknowledged that the party has taken serious notice of Yahaya said he would be put forward for other appointments.
He said those who lost out in Abia and Cross River states would also be considered for appointments as a way of satisfying all the aggrieved.
Addressing the event which begun at about 8:40pm, Ganduje said the party is currently putting its house in order because it is determined to win the forthcoming off-season governorship elections in Kogi, Imo and Bayelsa states.
According to him, the party would be in the various state capitals to inaugurate its National Campaign Councils for the three governorship elections, as a way of connecting with the grassroots.
He said; “There is no doubt that during the last meeting of the National Executive Committee NEC of our party, the NWC was mandated to undertake some tasks on behalf of NEC.
“We have succeeded. We consulted with stakeholders, governors and others. We know there are some aggrieved people and they are very important. We will discuss with them and I will speak later on that.
“We have taken a decision that every Wednesday, we will conduct our weekly NWC meeting. It is very important. Also, we have already made a resolution that our party as an institution will be active throughout the year and not just during election periods. Our party will have operational and functional offices right from the wards, LGs, States, Zonal and national offices as you can see. We believe we will be able to abide by all these.
“Very soon we will launch the National Campaign Councils for our three states – Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi- going into elections this year. Instead of inaugurating the councils here in Abuja, we have decided to do so in the various state capitals so that we can connect with the various stakeholders.
“All of you are competent. We have seen your credentials and you have been nominated and elected through due process by the various stakeholders and therefore we congratulate you.
“As earlier mentioned, there is no doubt that there are some people who are also competent but you can only fill a person.
“From Kogi state, we have Ismail Yahaya. We have taken note of him and he will be engaged in one way or another. We have Ikani Shuaibu Okolo from Kogi state. He too will be engaged appropriately in our government. Mrs Obinna from Abia, she took will be accommodated. Hon. Dr Stella Ekpo from Cross River. I think she is a medical doctor. She and two others from Cross River state, according to the outcome of our dialogue, will be accommodated in our government.
“With these, I think we have achieved complete agreement and dialogue. We have achieved dialogue and we have deepened dialogue within our party and this is our culture. We are not dictators but that does not mean that everyone must necessarily agree with you”, he added.
The oaths of allegiance and office were administered on the new officials by Barr. Mustapha Abubakar, a Notary Public.
Angela Liu, counsel to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar in the US, says Chicago State University has provided two similar certificates indicating that President Bola Tinubu attended its institution.
Liu said while the first certificate was signed by three people, the other one was signed by two people.
She was speaking in response to a submission by Tinubu’s lawyers.
According to filings by Oluwole Afolabi and Christopher Carmichael, counsel to Tinubu, an unidentified clerk of the university made the error about the date the school stated on his recently-issued certificate, thereby creating “the appearance of differences”.
The counsel of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate said while one document asserts that Tinubu was issued the certificate on June 22, 1979, another suggests that the president received the degree on June 27, 1979.
The former vice-president is seeking a disclosure of the president’s certificate from the US university. The documents he is making his case on – tendered at the US court and presidential election tribunal – were seen by TheCable.
“The document marked ‘A’ is the certificate submitted by Tinubu to INEC. This certificate is in every material respect, exactly the same as the document marked ‘B’ except for the following,” Liu said.
“Document ‘A’ is signed by at least 3 people whereas ‘B’ is signed by only 2 people.
“The document marked ‘E’ states that Tinubu was issued a certificate on 22nd June 1979 but then proceeded to forward a copy of a certificate (‘B’) dated 27th June 1979. Please note that ‘A’ is actually dated 22nd June 1979, but this document did not emanate from CSU. Only ‘B’ did.
“It is clear that either ‘A’ or ‘B’ is fake (if not both). You cannot have two certificates issued by the same university, to the same person, for the same course of study, but issued on different dates and signed by two different sets of people.
“The documents ‘A’ and ‘B’ both state that Tinubu graduated with a BSc in ‘Business AND Administration’, whereas document ‘E’ (which came from CSU) states that he graduated with a BSc in ‘Business Administration’.”
The lawyer said CSU’s website reads: “The College of Business offers a contemporary business program leading to a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration or Masters in Business Administration (MBA)”, adding that “nowhere is there any reference to ‘business and administration” throughout the website.
The lawyer argued that it was not possible for Elnora D. Daniel to be among those who signed both certificates because she was only the president of the university between 1998 and 2008.
“She was neither president of the university in 1979 – when the certificate was purportedly issued – nor was she president in 2022, when the replacement certificates were issued,” she said.
The lawyer also expressed dismay that both certificates bear different letter fonts and logos of the university.
Bauchi state Police Command has arrested one Adamu Ibrahim, a 15-year-old from Jital village in Bauchi state for allegedly amputating a farmer’s left hand over a misunderstanding.
Police investigation revealed that on Thursday, 24th August, the suspect (Adamu Ibrahim) who was armed with a stick and machete invaded the victim’s farmland and destroyed the yet-to-be-ascertained value of crops.
According to a statement signed by Bauchi police spokesperson, SP Ahmed Mohammed Wakil, on Saturday, a disagreement ensued, in the course of which the suspect stabbed the victim upon asking him to vacate his farmland.
He said, “As a result, the victim’s left hand was chopped. The suspect drew his machete and chopped off the left hand of the victim.”
Police Preliminary Investigation also revealed that the suspect had on several occasions trespassed into the victim’s farmland with his cows while rearing.
He said the unfortunate incident followed a series of complaints to the suspect’s father by the victim for intrusion into his rice farmland by the suspect.
“On receiving this report, the Area Commander, Metropolitan swung into action and activated more preventive measures to avert circumstances that may result in a herder-farmer clash in the area and equally directed the arrest of the suspect,” PPRO added.
The victim was rushed to the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital, Bauchi for medical attention.
The Bauchi state Commissioner of Police CP Auwal Musa Mohammed, warned herders to steer clear from intrusion into farmlands in the state.
The CP directed the suspect be charged to court upon completion of the discreet investigation.
Prior to the submission of the list of those he wanted to be members of his cabinet to the National Assembly for screening, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not leave Nigerians in doubt about the qualities of the people he would use to drive his “Renewed Hope” mantra. The President had pledged to look beyond constituting a government of national unity and assemble a cabinet of national competence where people of genuine character and high pedigree in their chosen careers would bring their rich experiences and professionalism to bear on nation building.
However, the President did not lose sight of the importance of pulling ‘political warlords’ that control significant ‘political troops’ in the opposition parties to his administration while also rewarding members of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), for their hard work that resulted in his victory in the last presidential election.
Sources told The Guardian that prominent among members of opposition the president reached out to while forming his cabinet was the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and founder of Kwankwasiyya Movement, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. And the reason is not far-fetched.
Kwankwaso reaffirmed his political dexterity with the outcome of the last general election in Kano State. The landslide victory of NNPP against the ruling party, which had enormous state power and resources at their disposal, repositioned him as a politician that must be reckoned with. Kwankwaso defeated the APC presidential candidate in Kano, where the party had a sitting governor in the person of Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who is now the National Chairman of the party. He equally humiliated a former vice president and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar; and also the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Mr. Peter Obi. Although Tinubu was able to secure 517,341 votes, which was above 25 per cent of votes cast in the state, Kwankwaso’s 997,279 votes validated his supremacy in Kano politics. Atiku and Obi came well behind with 131,716 and 28,513 votes respectively.
Before the presidential inauguration, Tinubu held a closed door meeting with Kwankwaso alongside other prominent members of the opposition in Paris, France. Although the outcome of the meeting was confidential, there were permutations that the meeting was part of strategic horse trading by Tinubu to woo Kwankwaso back to APC. Those familiar with the development disclosed that Kwankwaso had confirmed that Tinubu was seeking the possibility of convincing him to join his cabinet of national competence and then return to the APC. Another source also disclosed that the possibility of an amicable resolution of impasse between Kwankwaso and Ganduje was not left out of the discussion at the meeting.
While the dust raised by the Paris meeting had not settled, Tinubu invited Kwankwaso again to Aso Rock two weeks after his inauguration, perhaps to cement their new political romance and explore the possibility of Kwankwaso’s appointment as minister. It was after the meeting that Kwankwaso, for the first time, expressed willingness to join Tinubu’s cabinet with the caveat that the final decision would be made after due consultations. A reliable source told The Guardian that after the four-hour Aso Rock meeting, many people believed that Kwankwaso’s ministerial appointment had been sealed.
But the growing political rapprochement between Kwankwaso and Tinubu did not go down well with Ganduje; and he didn’t hide his disapproval of the moves. In a leaked telephone conversation with Alhaji Ibrahim Masari, who served as a placeholder running mate while Tinubu was still shopping for the authentic vice presidential candidate, Ganduje was heard lamenting being treated unfairly by Tinubu as shown by Kwankwaso’s invitation to France and the Presidential Villa.
In the conversation, Ganduje insisted that Tinubu’s invitation to Kwankwaso alone has rendered him irrelevant as leader of APC in Kano, adding that the president should have extended a similar invitation to him as well, “even if it will be a symbolic appearance”.
Ganduje said: “What could I have told him? Now he (Tinubu) is seeing Kwankwaso as an alternative to us? No problem. Is it because we are not in government, even when we lost the election because of him (Tinubu)? Even if he would see Kwankwaso, he ought to have called us too. Or don’t you understand, even if it is symbolically.”
Another APC stalwart in Kano, Abdulmajid Danbilki Kwamanda, an ardent supporter of former president Muhammadu Buhari, also kicked against Tinubu’s rapprochement with Kwankwaso and the idea of giving him an appointment in the government, warning that it could trigger internal crisis in APC.
Kwamanda insisted that any attempt by Tinubu to align with Kwankwaso would be considered as betrayal of the trust and commitment of APC supporters in Kano.
“We in the North-West Zone do not welcome Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso into APC. We do not accept the idea of Bola Tinubu giving him any appointment even as low as a messenger in our party. Should Tinubu ignore our outcry and appoint Kwankwaso, we are going to disrupt the entire APC in the North and withdraw our support for him. If we set the party on fire, not even Tinubu as a president can put out that fire.
“We are the North and the people are our people. We have invested all our efforts, integrity and dignity in the North to mobilise the people to vote for Tinubu. They refused to vote for a fellow northerner just for him to win in the region and he now comes and embraces our major opposition. We will not accept that. We assure Tinubu that we will turn our back on him if he decides to ignore our call. We don’t welcome Kwankwaso to our party and don’t give him any appointment. This is our message to all,” Kwamanda said.
He further advised Tinubu to steer clear of the antics of Kwankwaso, reminding him that, “the former Kano State governor is smart enough to lead the president and the party into disaster.”
“He had condemned voting for Tinubu in Kano and described the president as an enemy of the North. This is an unhealthy character. It will therefore be a mistake to welcome him to the party or give him any appointment in your government,” he advised.
The eventual submission of the ministerial nominees to the National Assembly with Kwankwaso’s name conspicuously missing left many tongues wagging and the Presidency has maintained a deafening silence on the issue since then. Meanwhile, the two nominees from Kano State, Abdullah Gwarzo and Dr. Maryam Bunkure, have been assigned portfolios. While Gwarzo is the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Bunkure is the Minister of State for FCT.
Gwarzo, a long time ally of president and governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Kano in 2011, was personally picked by the president to reward his loyalty. On the other hand, Bunkure, who was picked to replace Maryam Shettima (Shetty) whose removal came a few hours to the screening, is a close friend of Ganduje’s daughter and served as Commissioner for Higher Education during Ganduje’s administration for four years.
It was gathered that the president jettisoned the idea of appointing Kwankwaso into his cabinet because he believes there is no sense in empowering the opposition, who would eventually use the resources to fight back. Besides, it was gathered that the president was equally discouraged by the demolition of public property constructed by the Ganduje administration by the new NNPP government in Kano.
The Director of Publicity at APC national headquarters, Bala Ibrahim, had last weekend stated that the persistent attack on Ganduje’s legacies in Kano may have cost Kwankwaso a position in Tinubu’s cabinet.
Ibrahim said: “Kwankwaso is a force to reckon with in the politics of Kano. But the way and manner his Kwankwasiyya Movement goes about conducting itself has made the support for Kwankwaso to wane gradually. This is because of the brigandage the movement is bringing into the politics of Kano, and by extension, Nigeria.
“The president must have felt the pulse of the public and weighed the relevance and implementation of his policies, particularly his effort to win the hearts of the Kano people. There is no way you will dismiss the political maturity, sagacity and experience of Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje when it comes to the way he plays politics in Kano. If you weigh the two on a good calibrated scale, the political weight of Ganduje is by far higher than that of Kwankwaso.
“I believe the President must have listened to people who will give him honest and sincere advice, people who read the political temperature of the state very well, not those who are misguided by the hullabaloo of commotion caused by the brigandage of the Kwankwasiyya Movement. It is in that direction I think the President took the decision not to treat Ganduje lightly.”
However, the Chairman of NNPP in Kano, Dr. Hashim Suleiman Dongurawa, refuted the claims, saying there wasn’t an official statement from the Presidency where Kwankwaso was promised a ministerial appointment. Although he acknowledged that Tinubu and Kwankwaso held a series of meetings towards forming a government of national unity, he insisted that Kwankwaso must not necessarily be a member of Tinubu’s cabinet before rendering his support.
Dongurawa said: “There was no occasion where Kwankwaso had solicited to be appointed as minister in Tinubu’s government just as no official statement was released through APC promising Kwankwaso any political appointment. What actually brought about the speculation was the meeting that Kwankwaso had with Tinubu on the issue of unity and Tinubu’s willingness to incorporate competent hands irrespective of political affiliation.
“Quite alright, Kwankwaso was ready to support Tinubu not because of any political gain but for the unity, development and growth of our dear nation. Don’t forget that Kwankwaso is a former governor, former minister, former senator and former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, with requisite competence and wealth of experience.
“He’s also a man of repute and a political leader who understands the dynamics of the political economy of this country. He understands very well the system of national unity and competence and is full of capacity to contribute his quota to national development. You are talking of ministerial appointments in the face of a man who has contested the presidential election but lost gallantly.
“Let me also remind you that Kwankwaso and Tinubu are long time friends. They were both class of 1999 governors. They had a common interest when they formed APC in 2014. He contested APC presidential primary in 2014 alongside President Buhari and even won the senatorial seat of Kano Central under APC in 2015.
“So, Kwankwaso and Tinubu are close friends right from the formation of the party. If Kwankwaso today come out to support Tinubu’s government, people should not be worried about that. It is not until Kwankwaso is offered a ministerial appointment that he would support Tinubu and for those insinuating such, it is quite unfortunate that I cannot help them out of their ignorance.”
Meanwhile, a reliable in Kwankwanso’s camp stated that he communicated his rejection of a ministerial appointment to Tinubu as a strategy to secure his political dynasty.
According to the source, Kwankwaso was clever enough to quickly withdraw, realising the political calculation of Tinubu to tactically gag his influence in Kano politics. The source also maintained that rejecting the ministerial appointment alone has altered Tinubu’s early scheming for 2027 elections.
“For anyone to have thought President Tinubu would ever think of withdrawing Kwankwaso’s ministerial appointment means either the person is being a mischief maker or totally ignorant of the entire game. How would Tinubu reject Kwankwaso because of Ganduje when the same Tinubu ignored Ganduje and still went ahead to invite Kwankwaso to France? You should first ask yourself who is looking for who and at what cost.
“The crux of the matter is that Kwankwaso at the late hours expressed his kind rejection of the appointment for obvious reasons. Kwankwaso understands the need to be extra careful with Tinubu who knows and understands political mathematics so well. Whether you like it or not, Kwankwaso has built a strong political landscape in the most populous state in the country. He’s a political force you must reckon with as far as northern politics is concerned today.
“Kwankwaso realised that coming to join Tinubu’s cabinet is simply surrendering your empire to a bigger emperor. He realised that such an offer is a potential threat to his political dynasty and so, he quickly watched his back. Another basic reason Kwankwaso turned down the ministerial offer was the emergence of Ganduje as APC national chairman. We also realised that he cannot work for Tinubu without fully surrendering to instructions from Ganduje,” the source said.
The Police Command in Benue, has confirmed the arrest of one Aondohemba Joseph, over the death of Justice Margaret Igbetar, a retired President, Benue Customary Court of Appeal, The State’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Sewuese Anene, confirmed the arrest in a statement on Saturday in Makurdi.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the 73-year-old Igbetar, who retired from service on Oct. 17, 2015, was said to be living a private life and was hardly seen in public.
Anene said the judge was found in a pool of her own blood in her kitchen on Friday, with deep cuts on her back.
“On Aug. 24, information was received at ‘E’ Police Division Makurdi, that Justice Margaret Igbetar (rtd), could not respond to calls and was no where to be found. Detectives were immediately deployed for investigation.
“A search conducted within her house at Wantor Kwange Street, Gboko Road, Makurdi, led to the discovery of her body in a pool of blood inside her kitchen. It was also observed that she had deep cuts on her back.
“Further investigation led to the arrest of one Aondohemba Joseph, and recovery of exhibits for detailed investigation,” the Police spokesperson said in the statement.
The statement further quoted the State Commissioner of Police (CP), Bartholomew Onyeka, as strongly “condemned the dastardly act”.
Onyeka further assured that he would unravel the mystery behind the death and bring perpetuators of the barbaric act to book.
NAN also reports that Igbetar was born on Oct. 17, 1950, in Mbape, Shangev-ya, Tsar-Mbaduku, in Vandeikya Local Government Area of Benue State.
She started her career as the Assistant Registrar, Grade I Area Court, Katsina-Ala, Benue State in 1971, and rose to become a Judge of the Customary Court of Appeal in 1995, a position she held till 2003 when she was appointed President of the court.
Igbetar was a founding member of the International Federation of Women Lawyers, (FIDA), Benue State, a life member, first Chairperson of Benue branch and a National Trustee of the association.
The late Justice served as a member, Election Petition Tribunal, Bauchi State, between 1998 and 1999, National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal Imo/Abia State in 1999 and the Gubernatorial Election Petition Tribunal, Kebbi State.
She was also a member of the Committee on Review of the 1999 Constitution in 2000.
The Gender Unit of the Nigeria Police Force Criminal Investigation Department, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), on Friday, raided Ignobis Hotels, Gado Nasco Road in Kubwa, Abuja, for alleged abuse, and endangerment of minors.
The raid was led by Inspector Ossai Ojobo, an Investigation Police Officer, along with officials of the Social Development Secretarial (SDS), FCT Administration and representatives of a non-governmental organisation.
After the raid, the Hotel Manager, Mr Akbueze Chidi and a restaurant operator in the hotel, Ms Priscilla Abuyah, were arrested and taken to the Force CID for questioning and further investigation.
The raid followed a petition by Human Rights Agenda Network (HRAN), an NGO, to the Social Welfare Department of the SDS, alleging that the hotel was harbouring minors and exposing them to sexual exploitation.
Mrs Joy Omokivie, the SDS Officer in charge of the case, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), that the SDS channelled the petition to the Gender Unit of the Force CID to investigate the matter.
Omokivie added that the hotel was classified as a brothel by residents, where young girls, including underaged girls were being brought in for sex.
She said that in the petition, HRAN had alleged that a 12-year-old minor and her younger brother, 4, were staying at the hotel with a woman, purported to be their mother.
She added that after some investigations, the 12-year-old girl was rescued and currently in the custody of the Social Welfare Department, “while the young boy is still with the mother.”
According to her, the raid was part of an ongoing investigation to determine the veracity of the allegations and if found to be true, rescue the minors and prosecute the culprits.
HRAN had in the petition accused the woman, Mrs Immanuela Austyn-Araki, a Bolt driver of abandoning the children in the hotel in the morning, leaving them to fend for themselves.
The NGO claimed that the children eat mostly snacks and noodles until she returns late at night or the following morning.
HRAN added that its investigation revealed that the woman lodged in the hotel with the children for more than two years, exposing them to all kinds of sexual conducts by other adults lodging in the hotel.
The group said that the girl was allowed access to the internet and accessing sites not suitable for underaged children, adding that the girl had an account on Tik-Tok where she uploads adult related contents.
According to the group, men, including the hotel owner, pay regular visits to the room occupied by the minors and their mother, whenever the mother is not around.
HRAN also expressed suspicion that the woman may be involved in child trafficking, alleging that there were under aged girls in the hotel premises working as commercial sex workers.
The NGO, thereafter, asked the police to investigate the matter with a view to save the endangered child and bring the culprits to book.
However, after reading the petition at the Force CID, the manager of the hotel and the restaurant operator declined making any response except in the presence of their lawyer.
Meanwhile, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Hotel, Mr Eze Obasi, refuted the allegation, saying “I am a good Christian and a traditional title holder in my community.
“As such, I cannot be a party to sexual exploitation, abuse, or endangerment of underage girls in my hotel.
“All I know is that the woman in question was being maltreated by her husband and she came to the hotel with her children to seek refuge from her abusive husband.
“This complaint has been brought before me by four different groups and it has been settled.
“I do not understand why police officers will still come to the hotel to embarrass my clients in the name of police search for minors,” he said.
After the raid that ended around 8:30 p.m., the young minor and the mother were not found at the hotel.
Niger’s military leadership has expelled the French ambassador, Sylvain Itte, from the country.
This comes amid mounting tensions between the west African country and its international partners.
Itte was ordered to leave the country within 48 hours.
In a statement on Friday, Niger’s foreign ministry said the decision to expel the ambassador stemmed from his refusal to honour an invitation.
According to the statement, “other actions by the French government contrary to the interests of Niger” led to the ambassador’s withdrawal.
However, the foreign ministry did not provide details.
The junta had accused French forces of freeing captured “terrorists” and breaching a ban on the airspace in an attempt to destabilise the country.
The country’s military had also accused the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) of aligning its troops with a foreign entity whom it did not mention.
Niger, a former French colony, was France’s partner before last month’s coup in the fight against jihadi violence.
Niger’s junta also authorized troops from neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso to come to its defense, raising the stakes in a stand-off with other West African nations who are threatening to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.
The junta leader, General Abdourahmane Tchiani, signed two executive orders authorizing the “security forces of Burkina Faso and Mali to intervene on Niger territory in the event of aggression,” senior junta official Oumarou Ibrahim Sidi said late on Thursday, after hosting a delegation from the two countries in the Nigerien capital, Niamey.
Sidi did not provide further details about the military support from the two countries whose military regimes have said any use of force by the West African bloc ECOWAS against Niger’s junta would be treated as an act of war against their own nations.
Before last month’s ousting Mr Bazoum, Niger was seen as the West’s last major partner against jihadi violence in the Sahel region below the Sahara Desert, which is rife with anti-French sentiment.
Despite being the largest economy in Africa with an over 200 million human population with potential to make fortunes, multinational companies are exiting Nigeria because of the high cost of doing business and lack of basic infrastructure, especially electricity.
Experts, who noted that even though the ugly development predated President Bola Tinubu’s government, said it was always good to bring the issue to the front burner, especially now that a new government was being formed for the new leaders to act fast and salvage the situation.
Our correspondent reports that over time the multinational companies have been forced to exit the country as a result of surging inflationary pressure, foreign exchange (forex) volatility, rising interest rates, electricity crisis, among other challenges, which have impacted operating expenses and profitability of businesses.
Procter & Gamble, Surest Foam Limited, Mufex, Framan Industries, Moak Industries, Deli Foods, Stone Industries, MZM Continental and Nipol Industries are among companies that have shut down fully or partially in recent years.
That notwithstanding, other experts have a different perspective as to why foreign companies are leaving Nigeria.
They said sometimes, the decision is based purely on internal company exigencies or market-wide or sectoral global trends in labour or technology.
They said the companies’ exit might be driven by sudden changes like the pandemic or economic downturns, adding that it is possible that as some companies are leaving or closing locally, other companies may be coming in or opening.
They said for example, the fintech sector and the digital economy more broadly have been expanding in the country, saying this could be a substitution situation, whereby the decline of one sector is complemented by the growth of another.
However, since the coming of the Tinubu administration, both the president and some of his aides have been speaking on efforts being put in place towards revamping the economy, encouraging Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and also making local industries vibrant and competitive.
For instance, about a month ago, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Evelyn Ngige, said the launch of Nigeria’s first trade and investment policies would boost the local economy and facilitate increased foreign and domestic trade.
She stated this at the opening of a stakeholders’ workshop on the maiden Nigeria Investment Policy (NINP) and Trade Policy (NTP) in Abuja.
Recall that on May 10, 2023, at the twilight of the former President Muhammadu Buhari administration, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the implementation of the first Nigeria Investment Policy (2023-2027) and the review of the Trade Policy of Nigeria (2023-2027).
Dr Evelyn said both frameworks represented significant milestones in the journey for economic growth and development.
She stressed that the ministry remained committed to improving the domestic investment and business environment in order to position the country as one of the world’s preferred investment destinations.
She pointed out that the development of the first investment policy, as well as the review of the country’s trade policy, was a useful outcome of the sustained efforts of the ministry.
The NINP focuses on three pillars: investment promotion, investment facilitation and sustainable development, with the objective to develop the investment policy framework, especially fast-tracking the process of Nigeria’s economic diversification, improving investment and business climate to attract both domestic and FDI.
And in July this year, the Special Adviser (SA) to the president on revenue, Zacch Adedeji, said the government would streamline its taxes from 52 to 10 in order to promote efficiency and accountability.
He stated this during the virtual TOPAZ 88 second lecture series, which had the title: “Revenue Challenges and Opportunities in Nigeria Today”.
It would also be recalled that the President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Francis Meshioye, recently said that more multinationals would exit Nigeria if electricity hike was implemented.
Meshioye, who stated that some international manufacturing firms had already exited Nigeria as a result of the electricity crisis, coupled with the unpredictability of the country’s forex before it was recently unified, added that over N144bn was spent on alternative sources of energy by manufacturers in 2022.
He said, “Now, if you spend N144bn on alternative energy sources in one year, you can only imagine the impact which that will have on your cost of operations. The manufacturing business in Nigeria is affected by so many factors, energy is a major one.
“Manufacturers provide almost every infrastructure by themselves. Outside the major roads, you find out that manufacturers provide water, power, security, etc. So, when you look at it, you find out that the cost of doing business is so huge, that a businessman will ask, ‘Is this the only place I can do my business? Can’t I move my capital elsewhere?’”
GSK could spark another exodus
The recent announcement by British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), to discontinue operations in Nigeria after 51 years has raised fear among experts that it may spark another exodus of multinational companies in the country.
The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) and other expert bodies say the exit of multinational companies is as a result of unfavourable government policies.
They noted that GSK’s exit dealt a major blow to the country’s manufacturing sector which was already experiencing significant collapse.
The President of NACCIMA, Dele Kelvin Oye, noted that, “While the current administration has commendably set Nigeria on a long-term path to economic progression, it has been noted that some of the immediate positive economic policies of President Ahmed Tinubu have had an adverse effect on certain sectors of the country. In particular, the sudden rise in the price of petrol and abolition of the official naira rate have caused a significant backlash, eroding the already earned income and trading capital of several multinational companies that had established their previous earnings based on the official naira rate at the time.
“As a result, there has been a steady exodus of multinational companies and the collapse of several local companies, resulting in significant job losses and economic damage.”
He, therefore, called on the government to urgently review the short-term impact of its economic policies as they related to commitments already concluded for remittances/raw materials by the affected companies/businesses to reverse the trend of companies leaving Nigeria.
He also called on the government to focus on creating a conducive environment for businesses to thrive and provide access to single-digit short and long-term financing to reduce the cost of doing business while prioritising investments in infrastructure and power supply, provide tax incentives to encourage businesses to invest in Nigeria and improve the ease of doing business by reducing bureaucratic bottlenecks.
He added that, “Furthermore, NACCIMA urges the government to work collaboratively with the private sector to develop policies that will stimulate economic growth and create job opportunities in the country. We firmly believe that with the right policies in place, Nigeria’s economy can be revitalised and the country can become a hub for business and investment in Africa.”
He also called on the government to take urgent action to reverse the trend of companies leaving Nigeria and restore confidence in all sectors of the economy.
On its part, LCCI, through a statement by its Director General (DG), Dr Chinyere Almona, opined that despite presenting international businesses with the largest market in the continent, Nigeria still suffered from worrying economic slowdown decisions which were often provoked by the rising cost of doing business, epileptic power supply, weak infrastructural backing, among others.
Almona said, “With justification, the chamber is concerned that if the trend persists, the nation’s economic growth potential will not be realised. GlaxoSmithKline’s decision critically reflects on the nation’s poor ranking on the ease of business measures, which the chamber has constantly spoken about. It is time the government takes appropriate actions to reverse the saddening trends in the business clime in Africa’s largest market.
“Factor cost, as an integral element of the profit equation, is viewed with utmost seriousness by business people. In the face of rising costs, business people will likely search for cost-friendlier locations. The chamber is inclined to suggest the government take a holistic view/review of the business environment and take steps to make the nation’s business clime more competitive for growth.”
Speaking in Lagos, the DG of NECA, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, stated that, “The recent trend of business relocation and divestment is unfortunate. Over the last decade, the private sector has been adversely affected by various policy thrusts of government. Many of these policies were either anti-growth, ill-timed or not-well thought out, while others were not in alignment with the country’s economic realities. In more complex cases, we witnessed an era of policy clashes and contradictions and regulatory and legislative strangulation of businesses which left many companies without a clear path for planning and decision making. Operational costs have increased astronomically, heaping more woes on many companies.”
Speaking further, the DG averred that, “The consequences of the years of wrong policy choices are not far-fetched. As expected, divestment, capital flight and outright closures have become the ‘new normal’ within the business community. This is one of the chief reasons why the rate of unemployment continues to soar perpetually with consequential rise in crime and other security issues. When businesses cease operations, divest or move to other profitable and hospitable environments, a large number of Nigerians become unemployed. Inadvertently, the country loses income from taxes, social investment is hindered and poverty holds sway.”
While urging a more definitive and urgent intervention, Oyerinde stated that, “It is germane to state that the government must take urgent steps to arrest this predicament. While we acknowledge and commend the current administration’s effort to address the concerns of the private sector and the steps it took to provide some respite to businesses in specific sectors of the economy, more needs to be done. Beyond the tax reforms activity and the provision of palliatives to select corporate entities, government should, by deepening engagement with the organised private sector, provide the right intervention and incentive not only to attract more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), but to also prevent more companies from shutting down, divesting or leaving the country.”
NECA, LCCI and NACCIMA urged the government to work collaboratively with the private sector with the view to developing and implementing action plans that are capable of promoting enterprise sustainability and competitiveness.
Apart from foreign companies, many indigenous companies are also folding up because of the harsh operating climate.
This is also leading to massive job losses in a country where the unemployment rate is above 35 per cent.
A former Chairman of the Textile Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (TMAN), Senator Walid Jibrin, recently told Daily Trust Saturday that only 20 out of the 175 textile companies in the country were working as others had been forced to shut down.
The poultry industry has also seen decline in recent months as poultry farms are shutting down over the soaring price of maize as noted by the National President of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Sunday Ezeobiora.
A request to the SA to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, on other measures being taken by the government to address the collapse of businesses was not replied at the time of filing this report.
"Inconsistency in policies, disregard to laws" - NYSC Says It’s Wrong For Musawa To Be Minister While Serving
AdminThe Director, Press and Public Relations of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Eddy Megwa, has said that the Minister of Arts and Culture, Mrs Hannatu Musawa, who is currently doing her one-year youth service is occupying the ministerial position in breach of the NYSC Act.
Speaking with our reporter over the phone, Megwa confirmed that the minister had been serving for the past eight months in the FCT.
He explained that it was against the NYSC Act for any corps member to pick up any government appointment until the one-year service was over.
He said Mrs Musawa was originally mobilised in 2001 for the youth service to Ebonyi State where she had her orientation programme but later relocated to Kaduna State to continue the programme.
He said it was when she got to Kaduna that she absconded and didn’t complete the programme.
Megwa noted that the scheme would look into the issue and take action where necessary.
Lawyers react
Reacting, Abeny Mohammed (SAN) said the action was a breach of the NYSC Act which stated that nobody would be legally employed or offer themselves for employment without doing the service and presenting the certificate or would have been exempted and had the certificate of exemption.
Mohammed said, “The situation we have at hand is that this person is still serving as a corper and she has been appointed a minister. It shows the inconsistency in our policies and disregard for our laws.”
Similarly, Femi Falana (SAN) said it was a violation of the law for anybody to still be serving in the NYSC and accept a ministerial appointment.
In a statement titled: “A Youth Corps Member is not Competent to be a Minister in Nigeria”, Falana said by virtue of Section 2 of the NYSC Act every citizen who graduated from any tertiary institution in and outside Nigeria and was not 30 years old shall be mobilised for the one-year compulsory national youth service, while any person above 30 was not eligible to participate in the service.”
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Details have emerged revealing why the Lagos State House of Assembly rejected 17 of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s cabinet nominees.
Recall that the Lagos Assembly had disqualified seventeen out of the thirty-nine commissioner nominees sent to it by the Governor.
Recall that 22 of the Commissioner nominees were, however, confirmed by the lawmakers on Wednesday.
This follows the presentation before the House by Hon. Mojeed Fatai of the report of the 12-man ad hoc committee on the screening of the Governor’s commissioner nominees.
According to reports, the rejection of Sanwo-Olu’s 17 nominees was a confirmation of a rumoured cold war going on within the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Saturday Sun reports that stakeholders, politicians, and some government officials disclosed that the rejection resulted from a cold war among political gladiators, power brokers, and stakeholders in the state.
Multiple sources claim that the Mudashiru Obasa-led Lagos Assembly only acted on the scripts written by different aggrieved interest groups to pass a message to Governor Sanwo-Olu.
According to some of the sources, the rejection of the governor’s 17 nominees had never happened in the state’s history but happened due to an alleged ‘I don’t care attitude’ of the governor to some issues affecting party members and various interest groups.
A source said some of the rejected cabinet nominees were not going to be shocked over their rejection because of what had transpired during their screening
He said that most of them were not in the good books of their constituencies, and neither did they have any cordial relationship with the party or the representatives of their various local governments in the assembly.
The cabinet nominees’ rejection was also attributed to some actions and inactions of some of the former commissioners during the last general elections in the state.
But speaking on the issue, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Governor Sanwo-Olu, Gboyega Akosile, stated that his principal never abandoned the APC.
According to him, people on the list submitted by his principal to the State House of Assembly were from a pool of people nominated by party members across all the local government areas.
While describing Governor Sanwo-Olu as a good party man, Akosile noted that all the commissioner-nominees were selected based on merit, contribution to the party, and competence by the governor, his deputy, and party members.
“All the rumours being spread over the rejection of the commissioner-nominees by the State House of Assembly are mere imaginations of the peddlers of such rumours. There is no iota of truth in them,” he noted.
The Julius Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the Labour Party (LP) has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of being responsible for the internal crisis in the opposition party.
Naija News reports that the LP National Secretary, Malam Umar Farouk, made the accusation on Friday at a press conference held at the party’s National Secretariat, Abuja.
Farouk alleged that the ruling party has been sponsoring the Lamidi Apapa-led faction and other dissidents to destabilise the party, which has changed the political landscape in the country.
He said the ruling party has deployed all manner of strategies to stifle the LP in order to ensure a subjugation of its chances in the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal.
Farouk said the expelled members who rebelled against the party leadership have gone ahead to misinform members of the public on the progress being made by the party.
He said: “As you already know, the party surprised many Nigerians with the huge success it achieved during the last general election. The party became a household name, all to the envy of the older political parties. You also know how the ruling party, forced itself into power at the expense of the Labour Party and the entire Nigerians.
“We are still in the tribunal challenging both the process and outcome of the presidential election. In order to ensure a subjugation of the Labour Party, the ruling party has deployed all manner of strategies to stifle the party, part of which was to sponsor insurrection amongst some suspended former members of the party, Lamidi Apapa and a few others.
“Their assignment was to ensure that no progress is achieved in the party. The heavily funded dissidents have tried to mislead the courts and some sections of the media to harass the party leadership, but all have failed. Only recently, the Court of Appeal sitting in Benin City affirmed Julius Abure as the National Chairman of Labour Party (LP).”
Speaking on the Imo governorship election, Farouk said the only recognised candidate of the party and a product of properly conducted primaries by Abure-led NWC is Senator Athan Achonu.
He added, “Only yesterday, the Court of Appeal Owerri, which sat in Abuja, while giving judgement in the case brought before it by one Basil Maduka, one of the two aspirants that were deceived by the Apapa camp to participate in their illegal primaries also ordered that the status quo remains with Senator Athan Achonu as the validly nominated candidate of Labour Party for 2023 Imo governorship election. It noted that Basil Maduka has no locus to seek redress in the court as he is not known by the Labour Party.
“For emphasis, you may recall that the Apapa group had hoodwinked and arranged governorship primaries for two members of the Labour Party, namely Chief Ukaegbu Ikechukwu and Sir Maduka, after which Ukaegbu won the contest.
“Maduka was piqued by the outcome of the fake primaries and had gone ahead to challenge the emergence of Ukaegbu. He sued both Ukaegbu and the Labour Party.
“Neither the authentic Labour Party led by Barrister Julius Abure nor its candidate Senator Athan Achonu was put on notice and were not aware of the situation. The case was decided on behalf of Ukaegbu against Maduka. The matter has nothing to do with the leadership of the party or the candidacy of Senator Achonu, a product of properly conducted primaries by Abure-led NWC.
“With this judgement, the pro-Apapa choice, Chief Ukaegbu, had gone to town declaring himself as the Labour Party candidate for the Imo governorship election.
“For emphasis, the court never pronounced him as the candidate of the Labour Party. No court has given judgement de-recognising Barrister Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party up till today.
“Meanwhile, the Labour Party appealed the Bayelsa court ruling on the ground that it lacks the jurisdiction to entertain a suit filed by the Apapa camp without putting the leadership of the party, which is known to law, into notice.
“ Senator Achonu, who was also not a party to the suit filed by Sir Maduka but, on hearing about the matter before the Federal High Court, sought to be joined as an interested party.
“However, the Court of Appeal re-emphasized the implication of lack of jurisdiction in a Motion for leave to appeal as an interested party and held that the Motion was filed out of time hence, it lacked jurisdiction.”
Famous Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi, has said policies of President Bola Tinubu-led government has left the country in a parlous state and pushed it to the brink of the precipice.
He stated that some policies of the present administration are capable of knocking the nation off the cliff, the edge of which it is now teetering on.
Gumi admonished Tinubu to revise some of the policies before they destroy.
He gave the admonition in a 22-second video clip posted on his official Facebook page.
Gumi asserted that if those tough policies are not reversed, the inferno that would erupt from them would also engulf the government.
He urged the president to consult experts before implementing certain policies, saying he should not depend on sycophants.
He said, “President Tinubu, you have to revise your policies; if not they are going to destroy the nation and they are also going to destroy your government.
“Your political and economic policies, you have to review them. You have to ask people who know better and don’t depend on these sycophants”.
Members of the House of Representatives in the 10th Assembly will get a total of N54bn for constituency projects as each member would get N150m.
According to one of the lawmakers who pleaded for anonymity, the constituency allowances are part of the few privileges available to lawmakers to directly impact their various constituencies.
Constituency or zonal intervention projects in Nigeria refers to developmental projects sited in the constituencies of members of the state Houses of Assembly, members of the House of Representatives or Senators as budgeted for under various Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
Such projects often have banners stating that a project was implemented with the name of the lawmaker.
The salaries and allowances of lawmakers have always been at the centre of controversies because it was often shrouded in secrecy.
In the ninth assembly, it was disclosed that each House of Reps member got N100m, while each lawmaker in the Red Chamber got N200m for constituency projects.
However, amid hardship and the need to call for the masses to endure the hard times in anticipation of the good times and the ‘Renewed Hope’ of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration, the constituency allowance of the lawmakers has increased by N50m.
The lawmaker said, “In the House of Reps, our constituency allowance is N150m. This is the only opportunity we have to help our constituencies with one or more projects.
“We usually don’t have power over the real projects. So, this is often like palliative for us to give back to our constituencies. Many of us often use our money to do all the projects that we do for our constituencies.
“And this year, we are getting N150m in the House of Reps; I don’t know how much they will get at the Senate.”