U.S. President Joe Biden has extended an exclusive invitation to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to discuss the political standoff in Niger Republic on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in September.

The invitation comes after the Nigerien military ousted President Mohamed Bazoum in a coup d’état on July 26. The coup has been condemned by the international community, including the United States.

In a statement by President Tinubu’s media adviser, Ajuri Ngelale, Biden was said to be interested in speaking with the Nigerian leader on how Nigeria can work with the United States to support the restoration of democracy in Niger.

Biden’s invitation to Tinubu was conveyed on Saturday when the United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, H.E. Mrs Molly Phee, met separately with the President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E Dr Omar Alieu Touray and its chair, President Bola Tinubu, to discuss ways to restore democratic governance in the Niger Republic, among other diplomatic issues.

Tinubu told the US delegation that war in Niger does not align with his economic reforms but assured that democracy would be restored in the country through relevant diplomatic channels.

This was disclosed through the Facebook pages of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) and that of Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to TInubu on media and publicity.

At the ECOWAS Commission Headquarters in Abuja, the US diplomat was briefed on the latest efforts of the bloc to restore democratic governance in Niger.

On her part, Phee said the US will support peaceful resolution of the political crisis following the ousting of President Mohamed Bazoum by the junta.

At the presidential villa, Tinubu said the crisis in the Niger Republic would not negatively affect his economic reform programme for Nigeria.

“We are deep in our attempts to peacefully settle the issue in Niger by leveraging on our diplomatic tools. I continue to hold ECOWAS back, despite its readiness for all options, in order to exhaust all other remedial mechanisms. War is not ideal for my economic reforms, nor for the region, but the defense of democracy is sacrosanct. The ECOWAS consensus is that we will not allow anyone to insincerely buy time,” Tinubu said.

Tinubu recommended the need “to ensure that U.S. policy is intentionally collaborative with independent African democracies at a time when they are under assault by anti-democratic forces within and outside of the continent.”

“Yes, the private sector will lead the way within an enabling environment we create for them, but the U.S. Government must be innovative in its thinking and systematically create incentives for U.S. industrial investment in Nigeria. Under my leadership, Nigeria stands ready to address their specific regulatory, tax and environmental concerns. I am determined to create prosperity for all Nigerian families,” the President said.

Responding, the U.S diplomat was said to have “extended an exclusive invitation from U.S. President Joe Biden to meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City to advance discussions further in late September.”

“We know there is more we can do to incentivize large-scale American investment in Nigeria and we are committed to working closely with you to achieve that, as part of efforts to strengthen the Nigerian economy and the regional economy. We appreciate your willingness to create an enabling environment for that. President Joe Biden is asking to meet with you on the sidelines of UNGA and you are the only African leader he has requested to meet. It is a mark of his high regard for your leadership,” the U.S. Special Envoy said.

“The president that he accepts the invitation to meet the U.S. President on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and that the work of perfecting democracy is never done, even in developed democracies, as seen recently in America, as well as other emerging democracies in the world,” the statement reads.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Youth Advocacy Front (APC-NYAF) has called on the new ministers appointed by President Bola Tinubu to ensure youths’ inclusion in the governance process.

The group’s national coordinator, Jubril Ekwote, made the call in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.

Mr Ekwote called on the ministers to consider youths that actively mobilised young Nigerians to vote massively for APC during the 2023 general elections.

He urged the ministers to provide employment opportunities for the youths and consider them for appointments into boards of agencies and parastatals.

Mr Ekwote pointed out that Mr Tinubu was known for grooming youths for leadership positions and has demonstrated this by appointing some young persons as ministers in his cabinet.

“We are expecting that the new ministers will reciprocate this gesture by prioritising young people in their governance structure.

“Youths that worked to sustain APC leadership in the country need to be recognised, patronised, and appreciated.

“This could be done through providing employment opportunities and appointments into the boards of agencies and parastatals,” he said.

He explained that the APC-NYAF emerged from the amalgamation of several APC youth support groups across the country.

Mr Ekwote argued that the groups had campaigned vigorously, day and night, online and offline, during the 2023 general election and mobilised voters at various polling units that ensured APC’s victory.

He, however, said the groups were not given the attention and recognition they deserved, considering their contribution to sustaining APC’s position as the ruling party in the country.

“We decided to come together under this platform to agitate, lobby, and push for the inclusion of youths in President Tinubu and Shettima-led administration.

“We are aware that the duo cannot absolve the numerous youths that supported and worked for the success of the party.

“This is why we are calling on the ministers to absorb as many youths as they can in their governance structure,” he said.

(NAN)

The World Bank has announced that over 148 million Nigerians will be empowered with digital Identity so as to reduce the level of poverty in the country.

The Bank’s Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri announced this at a meeting in Abuja.

He said the move will help improve lives, and create job opportunities for youths while leveraging digital technologies to drive transformation.

Chaudhuri revealed that the registration process will be done through a partnership with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

“Our main mission here in Nigeria is to eliminate poverty, make lives better, create jobs for all Nigerian youth.

“One of the areas that we think have the greatest potential is the area of using digital technologies to transform.

“And to do that, it begins with having this digital national ID. So, one of the main partnerships we have is working with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to ensure the rollout of the registration so that all 220 million Nigerians have a digital national ID.

“This will begin of course with all people of working age and I think the target for that is at least 148 million people by the middle of next year,” he said.

Chandiri also said the bank will assist Nigeria in leading the broadband infrastructure for broadband connectivity because without broadband connectivity, digital technologies will lead to a digital divide.

Reacting to the new development, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani said the government has approved half a billion dollars to fund a local program, that will boost entrepreneurship in the digital sector.

He said, “So we’ve got access to about half a billion dollars to start local funding.”

The minister also added that the beneficiaries of the funding would be Nigerians.

The conference of Southwest Directors of Veterinary services has confirmed the outbreak of two Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADs) in the region namely the African Swine fever in pigs and Anthrax in herbivores.

A release signed by the Chairman of the conference, Dr. Taiwo Jolaoso stated that TADs are contagious epidemic diseases of livestock that have the potential to spread rapidly across the globe with negative socio-economic and public health consequences, and require collaboration of different countries to curtail.

The statement further said that all affected farms and slaughter slabs have been decontaminated and disinfected  while modalities relating to issuance of movement permit in the region are being worked out.

The release added that public awareness would be intensified among high risk groups such as butchers, hunters, animal product processors and marketers, as well as livestock farmers to further check the spread.

The conference advised all the pig farmers to improve on their biosecurity measures and refrain from stocking their farms and for the Anthrax they implored all stakeholders to avoid contact with sick or dead animals especially if it oozes blood from the orifices while such cases should be reported to the nearest veterinary office.

 
 
 
 

President Bola Tinubu on Saturday advised U.S. Presidential Envoy & Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Molly Phee, to ensure that U.S. policy is intentionally collaborative with independent African democracies at a time when they are under assault by anti-democratic forces within and outside of the continent.

The President noted that American-backed development finance and multilateral institutions, which were designed to support war-torn Europe after World War II, require swift and comprehensive reform to meet the developmental requirements of younger democracies in Africa, which operate in authoritarian-crowded environments, such that the legitimate yearnings of Africans would no longer be manipulated to serve the narrow aims of self-seeking demagogues through unconstitutional takeovers of power.

"Yes, the private sector will lead the way within an enabling environment we create for them, but the U.S. Government must be innovative in its thinking and systematically create incentives for U.S. industrial investment in Nigeria. Under my leadership, Nigeria stands ready to address their specific regulatory, tax and environmental concerns. I am determined to create prosperity for all Nigerian families," the President declared.

The Nigerian leader affirmed that the crisis in Niger Republic would not deter him from concluding his economic reform programme successfully for the benefit of Nigerians and that he takes a queue from no nation, but will only advance the interest of the Nigerian state in his approach toward ECOWAS' handling of the regional standoff.

"We are deep in our attempts to peacefully settle the issue in Niger by leveraging on our diplomatic tools. I continue to hold ECOWAS back, despite its readiness for all options, in order to exhaust all other remedial mechanisms. War is not ideal for my economic reforms, nor for the region, but the defense of democracy is sacrosanct. The ECOWAS consensus is that we will not allow anyone to insincerely buy time," the ECOWAS Chairman affirmed.

Pledging its support for the position of ECOWAS, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy expressed the high regard the U.S. Administration has for the leadership of the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Bola Tinubu, and extended an exclusive invitation from U.S. President Joe Biden to meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City to advance discussions further in late September.

"We know there is more we can do to incentivize large-scale American investment in Nigeria and we are committed to working closely with you to achieve that, as part of efforts to strengthen the Nigerian economy and the regional economy. We appreciate your willingness to create an enabling environment for that. President Joe Biden is asking to meet with you on the sidelines of UNGA, and you are the only African leader he has requested to meet. It is a mark of his high regard for your leadership," the U.S. Special Envoy said.

The President concluded that he accepts the invitation to meet the U.S. President on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and that the work of perfecting democracy is never done, even in developed democracies, as seen recently in America, as well as other emerging democracies in the world.

Ajuri Ngelale

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

August 26, 2023

Gunmen have kidnapped Kawu Yakassai, the organising secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna state.

Yakassai is said to have been abducted on Friday night in Soba LGA of the state.

No ransom has been demanded for the release of the APC chieftain yet.

Confirming the development on Saturday, Mohammed Shehu, chief press secretary (CPS) to Uba Sani, governor of Kaduna, said his principal has directed security agencies to fish out the kidnappers and rescue Yakassai.

Shehu said the Kaduna government is working to recruit 7,000 vigilantes to complement the efforts of the security agencies in Kaduna.

“Yes, he was abducted on Friday,” the CPS said.

“The state governor has directed security agencies to go after the kidnappers.

“This is partly the reason why the state government is seeking to engage 7,000 vigilantes to complement the efforts of the security agencies in tackling the security issues.”

The state has been combating the menace of kidnapping for years now.

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.

Last modified on Saturday, 26 August 2023 16:08

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.