In recent times, there have been alleged cases of rape, theft, and child marriage in many Internally Displaced Persons camps in Northern Nigeria.
These anomalies Arewa PUNCH investigations reveal are due to the unending insecurity, including kidnapping and banditry that have bedevilled many communities and cities across the 19 northern states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Some of these states where rape and child marriage have occurred include: Borno, Benue, Niger, Kano, Bauchi, Adamawa, and Kebbi, among others.
The horrible and dehumanising condition in the form of sexual abuse, forced marriage, hunger and poverty have remained a daunting challenge for the IDPs who constantly pray to quickly return to their ancestral homes, but the fight against insecurity is yet to come to an end as terrorists still unleash mayhem on citizens.
During a recent visit by the Sexual Offences Awareness and Responses initiative, a Non-governmental Organisation to some IDP camps in Benue State, the Project Officer, Chibuzor Njoku, lamented the increase in molestation of young girls in the camps, and called on the federal and state governments to urgently intervene in the matter.
The NGO raised the alarm while carrying out interventions in IDP camps in three Benue LGAs, including Anyiin in Logo LGA, Gbajimba; Uikpam in Guma LGA and Naka, in Gwer West LGA.
Arewa PUNCH investigations further reveal that the constant molestation of young, impressionable and vulnerable girls at the IDP camps, informed the decision of the NGO to the set up a Camp Child Protection Committee at the various camps to serve as a shield to the young females.
Speaking on the principles of child rights in the society, Njoku reminded that the rights of children included the right to be protected by their parents and the society, the right to be cared for, the right to protection from child trafficking, the right to be protected from domestic violence, among others.
Therefore, he called for collective efforts from parents and guardians on the need to always protect the rights of children.
Only last week, Arewa PUNCH reported the shocking discovery of underage marriages that flourish in the Adamawa IDPs camps amidst ravaging hunger, crippling poor healthcare facitilities.
The underage marriages, otherwise known as child marriage, still boom at the Internally Displaced Persons’ camps in Adamawa, for instance, where at least, five child marriages were recorded in one of the IDPs camps this year alone.
Most worrisome about the situation is that in spite of the hard times being faced by the vulnerable persons squatting at the different camps following the 14 years of Boko Haram insurgency which forced many families to flee their homes, indiscriminate contraction of marriages by underage couples and tales of found love still flourish.
Arewa PUNCH had an exclusive interview with two families out of the five in the IDPs camps who got married this year alone – Bakura, 17 years old, who is originally from Michika, and got married to Aisha,15 years old in January 2023.
Similarly, 21 years old Babagana, who is in SS 2 and migrated to Adamawa from Bama, told Arewa PUNCH that he got married in July 2023 at the camp and gave his wife’s name as Hafsat.
“She is 17 years old. I love Hapsat very well. She is very, very sweet,” he spoke lovingly of his spouse.
Meanwhile, in recent disputes between herders and farmers in Obi and Awe LGAs of Nasarawa State which led to the displacement of over 4,000 residents, women and young females encountered numerous challenges due to the alleged neglect of the state government.
The communities affected were: Chabo, Daar, Tse-Udugh, Kyor-Chiha, Ayaakeke, Usula, Hagher, Joor, Tyungu, Ugba, Angwan, and Ayaba – all are in the two LGAs.
When Arewa PUNCH visited the IDP camps at the Central Primary School in Awe LGA, some of the women and girls were seen sitting helplessly while others were begging motorists and commuters plying the road for money to feed.
Spokesperson for the IDPs, Joseph Amuwa, informed that due to the absence of security personnel around the camp, some of the IDPs lost their lives following consistent attacks by hoodlums who invade the camps mostly at midnights.
He narrated how some of the women at the camps were molested, abducted, and raped.
This situation, he noted, is not peculiar to the IDPs camp in Awe alone but cuts across camps in other states.
Amuwa also told of the pathetic story of how two of the nursing mothers at the camp, Mercy Chahur and Adasho Deborah watched helplessly when their children fell sick and died one after the another due to lack of medical facilities in the area.
Therefore, he appealed to the federal and state governments, alongside non- governmental organisations and other charity-inclined Nigerians, to come to the aid of the people, especially the very vulnerable ones among them.
The IDPs spokesman also urged them to make efforts towards proffering a permanent solution to the challenges that IDPs were facing in the state and the country at large.
“It is even more pathetic to watch many of these expectant women give birth to their babies on bare floor in the classrooms and you can imagine the situation that the nursing mothers face with their new born babies. The government at all levels should not ignore our plights. The IDPs need all the help they can get to survive the hardship they are facing at the various camps,” Amuwa solicited.
As a result of the consistent attacks in most Northern states in the country, the estimated number of Internally Displaced Persons in Nasarawa, Benue, Niger and Plateau states in 2023 alone has risen to over 500,000, based on figures collated from various local and international organisations.
Although the security situation in Nigeria has improved in parts of the country with the scale of attacks trending down, thousands of Nigerians are still being displaced from their communities by criminal gangs, bandits, and other terrorists.
In 2022, the International Organisation for Migration said over 3.6 million people were displaced in Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe. But the trend is yet to be over as bandits are still hovering around many parts of the country and regrettably succeeding in their criminal act.
As of July 14, 2023, there were an estimated 18,751 internally displaced persons in Plateau State alone. This is based on a report by the Gideon and Funmi Para-Mallam Peace Foundation. The report also indicated that the IDPs were from eight local government areas of the state.
Meanwhile, speaking on what the federal government is doing to ameliorate the plights of IDPs in country, the spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency, Ezekiel Manzo, told Arewa PUNCH that the government has commenced an emergency intervention programme in some of the affected states.
He explained that the initiative would be expanded and implemented in all the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
“The interventions are many. For instance, NEMA has commenced the distribution of relief items under a Special National Economic Livelihood Emergency Intervention approved by the Federal Government for the citizens.
“The distribution has commenced in Taraba, Bauchi, and Gombe states, and it will cover the 36 states and the FCT for beneficiaries in communities affected across the country,” Manzo disclosed.
Also on
Similarly, the NEMA Coordinator in Adamawa State, Mr Ladan Ayuba decried the booming underage marriages in the IDP camp, saying, “Even though I see them with lots of children, I most times don’t like to talk about marriages in general because people are supposed to be free to make their choices, and the marriages are contracted between them with their parents’ consent, so, it is their right from the age of 18 and above.
“Unfortunately, going by the ages of these latest couples, it means they are going to be relying on their parents and the government, as well, which is not good and should not be encouraged.
“I will meet with the Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency alongside the development partners to brainstorm on the matter. We will meet with the leaders of the camps to sensitise them on the need to stop such from happening. It is not just about the love they claim to have for each other. They should wait until they are of marriageable age to do so. That way, the husbands would have something tangible to do as well to support their families and not rely on the help they get from time to time.
“This issue calls for serious concern, and I thank Arewa PUNCH for bringing this to our notice. We would ensure they all have a better life even though they are living in the camp,” Ayuba replied to an SMS forwarded to his phone.
Furthermore, our correpondent spoke through an interpreter in Hausa language to the Chairman at the Fufore camp, Abba Umar, on whether or not he is aware of the five marriages already contracted at the camps, but he immediately corrected that the total number of marriages recorded were six.
However, he pointed out that much as marriage is a good thing, he is not happy about the underage marriages. Umar said he would try his best to stop such from happening at the camps, especially the Fufore camp going forward.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong has reacted to his declaration as the winner of the Plateau South Senatorial election by the appeal court.
The Minister who revealed he is currently out of the country described the development as fantastic news, adding that it is a win for democracy and the people.
Naija News recalls the tribunal victory of Lalong as the Senator representing Plateau South was affirmed by the Appeal Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday.
The three-man panel of the Appeal Court led by Justice Williams Daudu affirmed the decision of the Tribunal regarding the outcome of the election.
Recall the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Senator Napoleon Bali of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the original poll.
But the National Assembly and State Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Jos had on September 11, declared Lalong who contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the Senator-elect representing Plateau South, and sacked Bali based on irregularities in the PDP primaries that produced him.
The Tribunal had cited faulted PDP’s failure to obey a Jos High Court order which directed the party to mandatorily conduct ward congresses as the reason for ruling in favour of Lalong and APC which filed a petition against the election outcome.
The decision of the Tribunal was affirmed on Tuesday by the Appeal Court.
Reacting to the court judgement, Lalong took to his account on the X platform on Tuesday evening where he wrote: “Just received fantastic news in Geneva! The Court of Appeal confirms my position as Senator for Plateau South Senatorial District. ? A win for democracy, unity, and the people. Let’s work together to bring progress and the #RenewedHopeAgenda to our community and nation.”
A magistrates’ court sitting in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, has heard the case of two brothers, Adeola Abraham (18) and Adeola Segun (25), over an alleged theft of three chickens worth N45,000 in the Okebola area of Ado-Ekiti.
Police prosecutor, ASP Celeb Leramo, told the court yesterday that the defendants on November 4, at about 2pm did stole three boilers belonging to Akogun Yemisi.
Counsel to the defendants, Barr Gnenga Ariyibi, urged the court to grant his clients bail.
The Magistrate, Saka Afunso, granted bail of N20,000 to each with one surety in like sum and adjourned the case to November 10.
An Ondo State High Court in Akure, on Monday, struck out a suit filed by the Ondo State Government and Governor Rotimi Akeredolu over the compilation of the record of appeal.
The claimants in the case had sued four registrars of the High Court, the Deputy Governor of the state, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the House of Assembly, the Speaker of the House and the Chief Judge of Ondo State, claiming that the procedure of settlement and compilation of record of appeal for the hearing of the appeal filed by the deputy governor would infringe their rights.
At the hearing of the case on Monday, the claimants through their counsel, applied to withdraw the suit, claiming that events had overtaken the suit. However, counsel for the deputy governor, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), opposed the oral application to withdraw the suit, saying the issues had been joined by filing a defence to the suit and also a counter-claim.
In his ruling, Justice D.I. Kolawole, held that the rules of the court permitted the claimants to withdraw the suit and it was accordingly struck out.
Aiyedatiwa’s counsel urged the court to direct parties to maintain the status quo in order to preserve the subject matter of the suit pending before the court.
The application was, however, opposed by counsel representing the House of Assembly, Mr Femi Emodamori Ruling on the application, the court directed all the parties to continue to maintain the peace and thereafter adjourned the case till November 22, 2023, for hearing of applications.
The Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Mr Olamide Oladiji, had recently said failure of the state deputy governor, Ayedatiwa, to withdraw cases in court showed he was not ready for genuine reconciliation.
Oladiji said Aiyedatiwa needed to withdraw the cases in court before the reconciliation could take place.
He said, “We met the National Chairman (of the APC), and he specifically asked me how we would commence reconciliation. I told him that the reconciliation process had to start with the deputy governor. He was the one who took us to court, we cannot reconcile ourselves when we have cases in court.
“Let him go to the court, withdraw all these cases, then we would know that we are now in for genuine reconciliation. But the deputy governor has not done that as he has appealed some of the rulings of the lower court.”
The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi, says he is still committed to building a new Nigeria in spite of the Supreme Court ruling on the 2023 Presidential Election, which is not in his favour.
Obi said this when he addressed a news conference on Monday in Abuja.
He expressed disappointment over the ruling, saying, however, that he remained committed to building a nation anchored on the principles of prudent management of resources.
He said that his commitment was to also ensure transparency, accountability and equitable distribution of opportunities, resources, and privileges in the country.
“As someone who has previously benefited from the rulings of the Supreme Court on electoral matters, I have after a period of deep and sober reflection, decided to personally and formally react to the recent judgment as most Nigerians have.
“This is because we are confronted with very weighty issues of national interest,” he said.
Obi said that he disagreed very strongly with the ruling of both the Presidential Petitions Court (PEPC) and the Supreme Court on the outcome of the Feb. 25 presidential election as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“However, as democrats who believe in the rule of law, we recognise that the Supreme Court is the end stage of the quest for legal closure to the matter.
“As a party and as candidates, Datti and I have now exhausted all legal and constitutional remedies available to us.
“However, this end is only another beginning in our quest for the vindication of the hope of the common man for a better country.
“After all, sovereignty belongs to the people! If only for historical purposes, it behoves us to place our disagreement with and deep reservations about this judgment on public record,” he said.
Obi added: ”Where the value and import of the recent Supreme Court ruling ends is where my commitment to a new Nigeria begins.
“Our mission and mandate remain unchanged. From the very onset, our mission has been more about enthroning a new Nigeria.
“It is a new nation where things work, where the country is led from its present waste and consumption orientation to a production-driven economy.
“In the new Nigeria, the aim is to address all unmet needs by showing compassion for all those left behind by the present system.”
“Going forward, we at the LP and the Obidient Movement are now effectively in opposition. We are glad that the nation has heard us loud and clear.
“We shall now expand the confines of our message of hope to the rest of the country. We shall meet the people in the places where they feel pain and answer their needs for hope.
“At marketplaces, motor parks, town halls, board rooms, and university and college campuses, we all carry and deliver the message of a new Nigeria”.
Obi said that as stakeholders and elected LP officials, they plan to remain loyal to the party’s manifesto. (NAN)
Labour Party’s vice presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has said that the Supreme Court did not affirm the victory of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, contrary to the general belief
According to the former federal lawmaker, the apex court merely upheld what he described as the illegality declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Datti Baba-Ahmed stated this when he appeared as a guest on Arise TV on Monday evening, hours after his boss, Peter Obi, addressed the press on the outcome of the judicial process in the aftermath of the election.
He said they had rejected the Supreme Court judgement and did not accept it as a valid ruling.
Peter Obi had gone to the apex court to challenge the ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, which upheld INEC’s declaration of Tinubu as the winner of the election.
The apex court, in its ruling, stood by the PEPT’s decision, affirming Tinubu as the duly elected president.
“Please quote me on this: the Appeal and Supreme Courts did not affirm Tinubu’s presidency. They merely upheld the illegality of INEC’s declaration,” Datti Baba-Ahmed said on Arise TV.
“We accepted the judgment because it was the last step for HE Peter Obi and I to take; we rejected and did not accept it as a valid judgment.”
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, has canvassed a single five-year term for Nigeria’s President.
Obi said that the proposal formed part of his campaign during the electioneering period, adding that he would have moved for the amendment of the Constitution to allow the President stay only five years in office.
He spoke during a press conference in Abuja on Monday, where he addressed issues arising from the recent ruling of the Supreme Court that upheld the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the last election.
“On the issue of a single term, we campaigned on the issue of restructuring and reform and that would have included an amendment to make this Constitution be a workable and functional Constitution that would be productive for Nigerians. I included in that would have been the issue of single tenure.
“I would go for a five-year tenure which would go for thirty years rotational.”
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Monday, failed to produce in court former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emeifele, as directed by the court.
The Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja had on Thursday ordered the commission to either release Emefiele unconditionally or produce him in court on Monday for the hearing of a motion on his bail.
At the court proceedings on Monday, the former CBN governor was absent.
Emefiele’s lawyer, Mathew Burkaa, accused the EFCC of disobeying the court order.
He said, “They have flouted both orders as today marks the 149th day of the applicant being in custody.
“The applicant is still in the custody of the 3rd and 4th respondents, up till this moment that we speak.”
But in his response, the EFCC’s counsel, Mr Farouk Abdullahi, said although the order was served on the commission, not obeying was not a deliberate act.
According to him, certain exhibits referred to by the applicant, particularly Exhibit E, were not attached to the order.
The presiding judge, Justice Olusegun Adeniyi, adjourned the matter till November 8, restating his order that the EFCC should either release Emefiele unconditionally or in the alternative, produce him in court on the next adjourned date to be admitted to bail.
President Bola Tinubu is expected to present the 2024 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly in the third week of November 2023, The PUNCH learnt on Monday.
Senior sources within the Presidency, who confirmed this to our correspondent, said the President will present the document to lawmakers in the week beginning November 20, 2023, to, among other things, maintain the January-December budget implementation cycle.
“It would be three weeks away. The President is expected to be in Berlin for Germany’s Compact-with-Africa initiative for investment.
“It is a continuation of the visit of the German Chancellor to Nigeria last week. And he has invited the President to be there.
“It’s a one-day event holding on Monday, November 20 and he is expected back in Abuja the next day. So, we expect him to present the budget any day from that time,” a source said.
Another source, who confirmed this, said the 2024 appropriation, the largest so far, reflects the administration’s ambitions to finance the budget through a mix of savings from petroleum subsidy, which was scrapped in late May.
“He (President Tinubu) will present it around that same time. This budget is significantly larger than the others. It is ambitious yet realistic and we hope to accommodate it through subsidy savings, tax revenues and new borrowings,” said the source.
President Tinubu, who leaves for Saudi Arabia this Thursday, will be in Germany later this month for the compact event.
The Federal Executive Council had on October 16 projected N26.01tn as expenses for the 2024 fiscal year.
This is as it approved the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework for 2024 – 2026.
The FG affirmed that the administration would maintain the January – December budget implementation cycle, saying the President would soon present the 2024 appropriation bill to the National Assembly to ensure its ratification before December 31, 2023.
“The aggregate expenditure is estimated at N26.01tn for the 2024 budget, which includes statutory transfers of N1.3tn non-debt recurrent expenditure of N10.26tn. Debt service is estimated at N8.25tn, as well as N7.78tn being provided for personnel pension cost,” the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, explained.
Presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi, on Monday, slammed the Supreme Court judgment that affirmed President Bola Tinubu’s victory, saying he found the verdict contradictory and disappointing.
But in a swift response, the Presidency slammed Obi, describing him as “a copycat” who “tried, in vain, to gaslight Nigerians with false claims and innuendos.”
Obi, at a press conference in Abuja, on Monday, formally reacted to the October 26 judgment of the Supreme Court, saying he was disappointed that despite the plethora of evidence placed before the apex court, the justices chose to focus on technicality rather than substance, thereby breaching the confidence of Nigerians in the judiciary.
He said, “Setting legal issues aside, the Supreme Court exhibited a disturbing aversion to public opinion just as it abandoned its responsibility as a court of law and policy. It is, therefore, with great dismay I observe that the court’s decision contradicts the overwhelming evidence of election rigging, false claim of a technical glitch, substantial non-compliance with rules set by INEC itself as well as matters of perjury, identity theft, and forgery that have been brought to light in the course of this election matter.
“These were hefty allegations that should not be treated with levity. More appalling, the Supreme Court judgment willfully condoned breaches of the constitution relative to established qualifications and parameters for candidates in presidential elections. With this counter-intuitive judgment, the Supreme Court has transferred a heavy moral burden from the courtrooms to our national conscience. Our young democracy is ultimately the main victim and casualty of the courtroom drama.
“Without equivocation, this judgment amounts to a total breach of the confidence the Nigerian people have in our judiciary. To that extent, it is a show of unreasonable force against the very Nigerian people from whom the power of the Constitution derives. This Supreme Court ruling may represent the state of the law in 2023 but not the present demand for substantive justice.
The judgment mixed principles and precepts. Indeed, the rationale and premise of the Supreme Court judgment, have become clearer in the light of the deep revealing and troubling valedictory remarks by Hon. Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammad, on Friday 27th October 2023.”
He said with the outcome of the legal battle “going forward, we in the Labour Party and the Obidient Movement are now effectively in the opposition. We are glad that the nation has heard us loud and clear. We shall now expand the confines of our message of hope to the rest of the country. We shall meet the people in the places where they feel pain and answer their needs for hope. At marketplaces, motor parks, town halls, board rooms, and university and college campuses; we all carry and deliver the message of a new Nigeria.”
“As stakeholders and elected Labour Party officials, we shall remain loyal to our manifesto. We will continue to canvas for good governance and focus on issues that promote national interest, unity, and cohesion. We will continue to give primacy to our constitution, the rule of law, and the protection of ordered liberties. We will offer the checks and balances required in a functional democracy and vie robustly in forthcoming elections to elect those who share our vision of a new Nigeria.”
But reacting, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said, “We are at a loss as to how the copy-cat Obi and his faction of Labour Party convinced themselves they won an election in which they came a distant third.
“At the press conference where he tried, in vain, to gaslight Nigerians with false claims and innuendos, Mr. Obi contradicted himself. Here was a beneficiary of judicial pronouncements in the past but now he is castigating the same court because its judgment did not go his way. We expected the Labour Party candidate to know that the Supreme Court or any other court does not give judgment based on public opinion and mob sentiments. Judicial pronouncements are based on evidence, precedents and the rule of law.”
Onanuga said having admitted that the Supreme Court ruling brought an end to litigation “Obi should have congratulated President Tinubu for his victory and pledged his support, in the spirit of statesmanship. Instead, he brought up extraneous matters that he thought the apex court should have considered to declare him the winner.
“Obi’s antecedents as Governor of Anambra for eight years didn’t inspire any confidence as someone capable of running a country like Nigeria. No tangible records of achievement in the state he governed recommended him for the Presidency of Nigeria. If Mr. Peter Obi truly believes in Nigeria, the time to prove it is now when all men and women of goodwill are rallying support for President Tinubu in his determination to lead a new era of prosperity, inclusive governance and economic growth in Nigeria.
“Finally, we welcome Obi and his party to play the role of the opposition and start preparing for another shot at the presidency in 2027. We hope by then he will campaign on issues and not whip up religious and ethnic sentiments as he did in the last campaign. Our admonition to Mr. Peter Obi is to find another worthwhile vocation to engage his time henceforth, having been rejected by the majority of Nigerians who didn’t consider him qualified to lead our country.”
More...
The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, awarded N5m damages against the National Youth Service Corps for alleging that the discharge certificate held by Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, was fake.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a judgment, held that the Director General of the NYSC and the corps, who were defendants in the suit, were guilty of misrepresentation of material facts.
The judge held that the certificate presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission by Mbah was authentic and validly issued by the NYSC.
Justice Ekwo further held that the evidence before the court showed that the governor though was mobilised for service in 2001, completed his service in 2003.
According to the court, Mbah, midway into his service, sought and received permission from NYSC to attend the Nigerian Law School.
Besides, the judge said that while the evidence that Mbah served in the law firm of one Udeh was not challenged by the NYSC, he berated the corps for not charging the governor with forgery if they actually believed that they didn’t issue the said NYSC certificate to him.
He concluded that the NYSC was mischievous and acted in bad faith by denying Mbah’s NYSC certificate.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Mbah sued the NYSC and its Director, Corps Certification, Mr Ibrahim Muhammad, for publishing a disclaimer, denying the issuance of a discharge certificate issued to him on January 6, 2003.
Justice Ekwo, on May 15, restrained the NYSC, Muhammad and any of their agents from, henceforth, engaging in such publication pending the hearing and determination of the substantive matter.
Following passengers’ outcry over the reversal of the 50 per cent rebate on the fares of Lagos State-regulated Bus Rapid Transit and rail transport, the Lagos State Government, on Monday, announced the implementation of 25 per cent discount effective Tuesday (today), November 7, 2023.
Passengers on Monday had lamented the hike in transport fares as the state government ended the 50 per cent palliative on transportation in the state.
The Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority had announced at the weekend plans to end the 50 per cent rebate in the state-regulated transport system announced by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu as a palliative measure to cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal on residents of the state.
The 50 per cent discount on state-owned/regulated transport systems came into effect on August 2, 2023.
However, LAMATA, in a statement, announced that the 50 per cent rebate has now been discontinued and all fares have now been reversed to what they were pre-August 2.
“The 50% rebate in transport fare in the regulated transport system in Lagos ends on Sunday,” LAMATA announced, adding, “The public is hereby informed that from Monday, 6th November 2023, transport fare will return to the pre-2nd August 2023 rate.”
Our correspondent, who visited the Ikorodu BRT Terminal, however, observed that the new fares being charged on passengers’ Cowry Cards were higher than the pre-palliative rates.
“It removed N500 from my card,” a passenger going to Maryland exclaimed in shock as a LAMATA ground officer maintained that the new fare to Maryland from Ikorodu is N500 as against the N400 pre-August 2 rate.
Passengers going to Yaba, Tafawa Balewa Square, among others, whose fare was N600 before the palliative, now pay N700 post-palliative.
Our correspondent observed that some passengers walked away from the terminal following the development, while others, who eventually boarded the buses, lamented that such a hike was wrongly timed.
“Is this the right time to do this?” a passenger, who gave his name as Ade, said.
“We have an insensitive government. How can they increase transport fare through the back door despite the hardship in the land?” another passenger, who did not disclose her name, said.
In a telephone chat with The PUNCH over the development, the Managing Director of LAMATA, Mrs Abimbola Akinajo, said, “I will have a conversation with my team and get back to you. I think Mr Governor is also looking at it, and we will put out a press statement soon.”
LAMATA, in a statement released late Monday after the telephone conversation with The PUNCH, announced that the governor has directed the implementation of 25 per cent discount.
“Responding to calls for the reinstatement of the 50% rebate on fare for regulated bus and rail transport, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has directed the implementation of 25 per cent discount beginning Tuesday, 7th November 2023.
“Governor Sanwo-Olu had on 2nd August 2023 announced a 50% discount in fare on regulated transport bus and rail transport which ended on Sunday.
“Following appeals to the Governor, he has extended the passenger fare reduction by 25% across the regulated bus and rail transport services until another review is announced.
“Within the three months period of the rebate, the pump price of diesel jumped from N867 in August to N1,300 in November,” LAMATA said.
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Monday, approved the payment of N25,000 for workers and N15,000 for pensioners as wage award in the state for the next six months.
The PUNCH reports that workers had in October threatened to embark on an indefinite strike should the government fail to meet their demands for a wage increase, following the announcement of N35,000 by the Federal Government as a wage award.
Makinde, who made this announcement while addressing workers who besieged Agodi Governor’s Office in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, further assured them of receiving payment alerts from their respective banks before the week ends.
He disclosed that the amount announced as a wage award for both workers and pensioners would add N2.2 billion to the state government’s wage bill for each month.
Makinde insisted that the N2.2 billion would have a direct impact on the state’s finances, expressing determination to make his promise to the workers come to fruition.
“We all understand that it is a challenging period for us as a nation and as a state, you have to look at your pocket to see what we can do. So, for every pensioner in the state, we will give them N15,000 monthly for the next six months, and I guarantee it starts in October. And for workers, we are doing N25,000 to cushion the effects of this economic challenge that we are all going through,” he explained.
While calling on the workers to show more understanding, the governor said he understood that the economy was biting hard on household finances due to fuel subsidy removal and the naira-dollar exchange rate.
The governor said, “The current economic situation calls for deeper partnership and cooperation between government and workers rather than having the ‘we against them’ disposition. The present economic situation would pass with collective efforts.”
Earlier, the state Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Kayode Martins, said the governor’s gesture should put to an end all agitations for wage award.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has released an amended list of candidates for Bayelsa State governorship election.
According to the amended list uploaded on the commission’s website on Monday, the names of Timipre Sylva and his running mate, Joshua Maciver of the All Progressives Congress made the list.
The list was signed by the Secretary to the Commission, Rose Oriaran-Anthony.
The Federal High Court, Abuja, on October 10, disqualified Sylva from participating in the state governorship election.
Justice Donatus Okorowo, in the judgment, ruled that Sylva having been sworn in twice and ruled for five years as governor of the state, would breach the 1999 Constitution as amended if allowed to contest again.
The judge also declared that Sylva was not qualified to run in the poll because if he won and was sworn in, he would spend more than eight years in office as governor of the state.
Not satisfied with the judgment, Sylva approached the Court of Appeal, through his lawyer, Dr Ahmed Raji, to challenge the decision of the court.
While the appeal was pending, INEC on October 25 released a list of candidates for the election without the former governor’s name.
Meanwhile, Oriaran-Anthony, in the amended document, explained that the action of the commission was in obedience to court orders on the lists served on the commission.
She explained, “It may be recalled that the final list of candidates for the 2023 Bayelsa State Governorship Election was amended on October 16, 2023, according to the Order of the Federal High Court in Suit No-FHC/ABJ/CS/821/2023 in respect of the nomination of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, for the 2023 Bayelsa State Governorship Election.
“The Court of Appeal in a judgment delivered on October 31 2023 in Appeal No CA/ABI/CV/1060/2023 set aside the judgment of the lower court cited above.
“By virtue of the provision of Section 287 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the commission is bound to enforce the orders of the court on the nomination of candidates by political parties in the state.
“The list of candidates in respect of the 2023 Bayelsa State Governorship election is hereby amended in Amendment No 2 pursuant to the judgment of the Court of Appeal.”