The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has announced that it will embark on a two-week warning strike from May 16 over the Nigerian government's failure to meet its demand.
 
The union disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday after its National Executive Council emergency meeting.
 
In the statement signed by its President, Anderson Ezeibe, the polytechnics lecturers said they took the decision following the Nigerian government’s failure to honour the Memorandum of Action (MoA) it signed with the union.
 
ASUP went on strike on April 6, 2021, and suspended it on June 10, 2021, over the same MoA with the government.
 
The Nigerian government had signed an MoA with the lecturers, stating a clear path to a sustainable resolution of the issues on the union’s demands with timelines attached to each of the items.
 
The issues revolve around the non-release of the approved revitalisation fund for the sector; the non-release of the approved N15 billion after 11 months of approval by President Muhammadu Buhari and the non-release of arrears of the new minimum wage.
 
Others include the non-release of 10 months of arrears owed polytechnics and the composite amount covering all federal tertiary institutions.
 
“We are deploying this medium to equally appeal to members of the public to prevail on the government to do the needful within the two weeks period so as to avoid an indefinite shutdown of the sector,” ASUP stated.
 

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Omoyele Sowore

Human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, has asked Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, to resign from office.
 
The presidential aspirant on the platform of the African Action Congress (AAC) was reacting to President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive that all members of his cabinet seeking elective office must resign on or before May 16.
  Omoyele Sowore BBC
Though the directive excludes the Vice President because he is an elected member of the cabinet, Sowore asked him to resign as well so that there would be a level playing field for all aspirants.
 
“It is good that mannequin @Mbuhari has asked his lacklustre ministers contesting elections to resign, but it is also fair + ethical and I ask that Chief Coward  @ProfOsinbajo MUST resign as well so that there is a level playing field for all aspirants,” he tweeted.
 
“As for @MBuhari my position sacrosanct, ‪#BuhariMustGo @Mbuhari is good for nothing! ‪#WeCantContinueLikeThis.”
 
Buhari had earlier in the day directed that all members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) running for elective offices to submit their letters of resignation on or before Monday the 16th of May, 2022.
 
Among those affected are Ministers of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi; Labour and Productivity, Chris Nigige; Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio; Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu and State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva who have all joined the presidential race on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
 
Others are Attorney General of the Federation, Mallam Abubakar Malami who has declared interested in the governorship position in his home state of Kebbi.
 
Running for the governorship position in Abia State is the Minister of State Mines and Steel, Uche Ogar while the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen has also declared her ambition to contest for the senatorial seat in Plateau State.
 
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, is also rumoured to be interested in running for governor of Gombe State.
 
His counterpart in the Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, has also purchased the N50 million APC nomination forms to succeed Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 gubernatorial polls.
 
Though not a cabinet member, SaharaReporters gathered that Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may also be affected by the presidential order.

It is good that mannequin @Mbuhari has asked his lacklustre ministers contesting elections to resign, but it is also fair + ethical and I ask that Chief Coward @ProfOsinbajo MUST resign as well so that there is a level playing field for all aspirants.

— Omoyele Sowore (@YeleSowore) May 11, 2022  
 
 

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An Ogun State High Court has ordered the prompt detention of the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2 Headquarters, Onikan, Lagos and Superintendent Tijani Taofiq for contempt.
 
According to The PUNCH, the senior police officers disobeyed the court order that asked them to pay N500,000 and N50,000 as damages in favour of a case involving a Chinese national, Chen Zheng.
 
The officers had arrested and detained the Chinese man for a criminal offence and later seized his passport.
 
Zheng is the Interpreter and Sales Manager of Hand in Hand Industry Nigeria Limited.
 
Justice Olugboyega Ogunfowora of the Igbesa High Court on Wednesday ordered that the top officers should be detained at the Ibara Correctional Centre, Abeokuta until the property of the Chinese man was returned.
 
In his judgement on June 9th, 2020, Justice Ogunfowora ordered the release of the applicant’s passport with No.EB4555829.
 
The Justice argued that the refusal to release the passport and also pay the fines as ordered by the court is contempt, which is punishable under the Nigerian Constitution.
 
In his judgement, Ogunfowora ordered that the officers be kept in custody until the release of the applicant’s passport.
 
Speaking with newsmen after the judgement, the counsel for the applicant, Seun Akinbiyi, SAN, commended the court for the pronouncement.
 
Akinbiyi added that such a judgement will make people believe in the judicial system as the last hope of the common man.
 
He said, “The summary of the antecedent is that, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2 as well as Superintendent of Police, Tijani Taofiq, who is now in Eleweran, Abeokuta. They have been convicted to prison by virtue of the order of the court because they did not carry out the order of the court.
 
“It is very significant that this is being done for the courage of the court, his lordship, and it is good for the sanctity of the court. We are very happy about that.
 
“It is also important for the sake of our client whose international passport has been detained for almost three years. At least, I believe that with that alone, the court has decided that they are imprisoned until the international passport is being released.”
 
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria added that his chamber will see to the implementation of the judgement to the core.

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The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has extended the deadline for the sale of its expression of interest and nomination forms for aspirants eyeing various offices in the 2023 elections.
 
The party earlier fixed May 10 for the sale of expression of interest and nomination forms and May 11 for submission respectively.
 
But in a statement, the party said the deadline will now be May 12. It said all aspirants who had submitted their forms would be screened on Saturday and Sunday.
 
The party also disclosed that aspirants who have obtained the nomination forms have until Friday to submit them.
 
The party gave the recent Sallah holiday as a reason for some of the delays experienced in the purchase and submission of forms.
 
“Following the new submission date, APC has fixed Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15 for screening of all aspirants that have returned their duly completed and signed nomination and expression of interest forms to the APC secretariat,” the statement said.
The National Working Committee (NWC) of the party had fixed May 6 as the deadline for the sale of forms and May 10 for their submission.
A statement by the spokesperson for the party, Felix Morka, last Wednesday, said the sale of forms would close on May 10 and that the deadline for submission was May 11.
According to Morka, the revised timetable was issued by the National Organising Secretary, Sulaiman Argungu.
The ruling party has come under fire over the costs of the forms. APC fixed the cost of nomination forms for president at N100 million, governorship at N50 million, Senate at N20 million, House of Representatives at N10 million and state House of Assembly at N2 million.
This comes as President Muhammadu Buhari ordered all ministers vying for any elective office in 2023 to resign on or before Monday, May 16.
 
The directive was handed over to the affected cabinet members during the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.
 
 
 
 

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Amid the controversy surrounding whether the former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan will contest the 2023 presidency, he has secured an international appointment with European Corporate Council.
 
Jonathan was appointed to the international advisory board of the European Corporate Council on Africa and the Middle East (ECAM Council), PM News reports.

ECAM Council is a non-profit organisation established with the purpose of promoting and developing relations between the countries of Europe, Africa and the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, with Italy playing a leading role.
Other members of the Advisory board are Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister, José Manuel Barroso, former President of the European Commission, Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf, Secretary General GCC Gulf Cooperation Council and Amani Abou-Zeid, Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy at the African Union Commission (AUC).
Jonathan will be attending this year’s ECAM Council’s high-level advisory board meeting to hold in Italy on May 30.
 
Every year in Italy, ECAM Council hosts a summit, in cooperation with The European House – Ambrosetti.
 
ECAM Council in a letter to the Office of Jonathan informing him of the appointment stated: “For your information, the Chairman of ECAM Council Dr. Kamel Ghribi is well acquainted with Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. We are setting up an international advisory board of ECAM Council and Dr. Ghribi would be delighted to welcome him on board.”
 
It noted that the Council was “founded with the purpose of developing realistic, effective and long-lasting solutions for more sustainable healthcare systems, with a special focus on the common issues affecting the Southern hemisphere of the globe.”
 
It brings together a selected group of heads of state, government ministers and heads of multilateral agencies and focuses on long-term investment and international partnerships in healthcare and infrastructure, as well as the contribution of the private sector in creating strategic hubs in the African continent.

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A former Deputy Director of Defence Administration, Dr Kunle Olawunmi is to assume the Generalissimo (warlord) title in Yewaland, Ogun State.
Olawunmi will be crowned on Friday, May 13, 2022.

Dr Olawunmi, a retired Naval Commodore with 35 years of military service, is expected to use his experience to enhance the security of his people.
He is to be conferred with the traditional chieftaincy title of Akogun of Ilaro, Yewaland by Oba Kehinde Olugbenle, the Olu of Ilaro and Paramount Ruler of Yewaland.
The event is expected to be held at the private palace of Oba Olugbenle who is also conferring traditional honours on other Nigerians, including Senator Solomon Adeola, also known as Yayi.
Olawunmi hails from Imasayi, a town located within the Yewa vicinity. He graduated from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, earning a BSc in Economics.
He also earned a master’s degree from the Schiller International University in Paris, France and currently works as a lecturer at Chrisland University, Abeokuta, where he is the Head of the Department of Criminology and Security Studies.
Olawunmi also obtained a second master’s degree in Strategic Studies and Diplomacy from the University of Ibadan, after which he earned a PhD in International Relations and Diplomacy at the CEDS Paris in France in 2013.
A career diplomat, Olawunmi served as the Nigerian Embassy's Deputy Defence Attache and France Defence Adviser to Nigeria with concurrent accreditation to eight other countries in Europe.
 
He is an Associate Professor of Global Counter-Terrorism.
Olawunmi had been in the news after his comments on the Boko Haram insurgency during a recent interview with Channels Television.
 
Speaking during Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme in August 2021, Olawunmi had alleged that the Nigerian government knew those behind the Boko Haram insurgency in the country.
“They [government] know. Of course, it is in the news,” Olawunmi had said.
 
“In April this year, the government said they had arrested 400 Bureau De Change (BDCs)-related people that were sponsoring Boko Haram. They told us.”
The government had arrested some people with links to terrorism in the country but had refused to disclose their identities.
Speaking on it, Olawunmi had noted, “Try them, we know them. Why can’t this government, if not that they are partisan, bring those people out for trial?”
“I can’t come on air and start mentioning names of people that are presently in government that the boys we arrested mentioned,” he said, referring to his time as a member of the military intelligence team in 2017.
 
“Some of them are governors now. Some of them are in the Senate. Some of them are in Aso Rock.”
After the interview, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) had invited Olawunmi for questioning, saying it was a friendly chat.

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The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has threatened to take legal action against the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INE), Mahmood Yakubu, over his failure to move sensitive election materials from the custody of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
 
The development comes after the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, declared interest in the 2023 presidential election.

Emefiele on Monday urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to issue an interim order stopping INEC and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) from disqualifying him from participating in the primary election of his preferred political party.
SERAP had earlier called on the INEC chairman to move the election materials from the CBN custody, saying Emefiele's presidential ambition portends danger to the electoral process if the items are left with the apex bank.
 
"We urge the Chairman of INEC Prof. Mahmood Yakubu to urgently consider moving sensitive election materials from the CBN to a politically neutral location, to remove the risks of unlawful interference, following the involvement of the CBN governor in partisan politics," it had said on Tuesday.
 

BREAKING: We're suing INEC over its failure to act promptly to move sensitive election materials from the custody of CBN, following the involvement of CBN governor in partisan politics.

— SERAP (@SERAPNigeria) May 11, 2022
"We're considering our legal options to compel the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu to move sensitive election materials away from the CBN to a more secured location, given the risks posed by the involvement of the CBN governor in partisan politics."
 
In an update on Wednesday, SERAP announced it would sue the INEC chairman for failing to act as advised.
 
"We're suing INEC over its failure to act promptly to move sensitive election materials from the custody of CBN, following the involvement of CBN governor in partisan politics," it added.
 
 
 
 
 

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The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba has resigned from office.
President Muhammadu Buhari confirmed this on Wednesday while asking other members of his cabinet pursuing political ambitions in the 2023 general elections to follow suit, Daily Post reports.

Buhari was quoted to have singled out the minister for finding the courage to resign from office.
Nwajiuba had declared his intention to run for President in 2023 and picked up the N100 million expression of interest and nomination forms of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Buhari had directed that all members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) running for elective offices should submit their letters of resignation on or before Monday, May 16, 2022.
Singling out Nwajiuba, Buhari said, “I expect other members of this council seeking to be President to resign with immediate effect.”
Nwajiuba’s presidential ambition had attracted public condemnation, especially as university lecturers under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, have been on strike since February over poor funding, among other demands.
SaharaReporters had reported that the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday also asked all members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) contesting elective positions in 2023 to resign.
According to Mohammed, the President’s order excludes the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo because he is an elected member of the cabinet.
 
Mohammed added that if the need arises, the directive might involve political appointees.
 
Among those affected are Ministers of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi; Labour and Productivity, Chris Nigige; Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio; Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu and State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva who have all joined the presidential race on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
 
Others are Attorney General of the Federation, Mallam Abubakar Malami, who has declared interested in the governorship position in his home state of Kebbi.
 
Running for the governorship position in Abia State is the Minister of State Mines and Steel, Uche Ogar while the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen has also declared her ambition to contest for the senatorial seat in Plateau State.
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, has also purchased the N50 million APC nomination forms to succeed Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 governorship polls.
 
Though not a cabinet member, SaharaReporters gathered that Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may also be affected by the presidential order.
The directive may not be unconnected with the Appeal Court ruling which set aside an earlier judgement against Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act 2022.
 
 

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Pro-Biafra group, the Biafra Nations League (BNL) has lamented the failure of the Nigerian government to resettle the displaced Bakassi people, describing it as the worst form of wickedness.

 

The International Court of Justice in 2002 ceded the oil-rich peninsula to Cameroon. The development has continued to evoke sad memories among those displaced.

In a statement jointly signed by its national leader, Princewill Richards, deputy leader, Ebuta Takon, and chairman of the standing committee of senior officers, Godstime Ntukidem, BNL said expressed worry over the increasing military operations against remnants of ceded Bakassi Peninsula by Cameroonian Forces.

It warned that such actions could lead to more violence in the region "especially bombing of more military equipment by militants in the area".

 

Recently, a militant group, Black Marine which claims to be the armed wing of BNL, reportedly claimed responsibility for the bombing of two military gunboats in Abana waterside community near oil company quarters occupied by workers in the Peninsula.

 

This had forced authorities to ask workers to leave the quarters for safety in the meantime.

 

BNL stated that it is making efforts to stop the flow of oil in the Gulf of Guinea, describing it as the only way to get the world to speak for Biafra since “President Muhammadu Buhari is insisting on court settlement over Nnamdi Kanu, and other Biafran supporters in prison”.

 

"We are making efforts to slow down oil businesses in the Gulf of Guinea, through targeted vessels that we banned, shutting down oil firms and very soon we will disconnect the pipelines once we meet with our targets," the group said.

 

They hailed their supporters at borders, especially the recently arrested members in Ikom, Cross River State and their followers in Bakassi who have allegedly restricted the movement of foreign vessels on the waterways.

 

The group said the banning of foreign boats and vessels was a boost to the struggle, insisting that international business at sea will be frustrated.

 

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The House of Representatives has passed an amendment to the Electoral Act 2022 to recognise statutory delegates at primaries, congresses, and conventions of political parties.
The move comes hours after the Senate also took a similar decision during its emergency session.

Recall that the National Assembly passed the bill for the Act while President Muhammadu Buhari signed it into law.
But the Act did not provide for members elected into public offices and executives of the parties, known as statutory delegates, to participate and vote in the conventions, congresses or meetings of parties.
This has continued to elicit reactions with political parties close to conducting primaries to elect candidates for the 2023 general elections,
Without the provision by the law, Buhari; the Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, members of the National Assembly, governors and their deputies, members of the State Houses of Assembly, chairmen of local government areas, councillors, executives of political parties, amongst others, would have been disenfranchised.
During the plenary on Tuesday, the Senate amended Section 84(8) of the Act, passing the first, second, and third reading at a sitting.
Similarly, Clerk to the House, Dr Yahaya Danzaria, had issued a notice on Tuesday, recalling members from recess to reconvene for plenary on Wednesday, though sitting was adjourned till May 24, 2022.
The notice had partly read, “This session has become necessary especially as to amend a fundamental error in the Electoral Act.”

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A Yoruba youth group, Oodua Youth Coalition, on Wednesday gave the Muhammadu Buhari-led Nigerian government seven days’ ultimatum to resolve its impasse with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in the ongoing industrial action.
They asserted that the strike had lingered more than expected, while condemning the failure of the Federal government to reach an agreement with the striking lecturers.

The group's National President, Oluyi Tayo Akintade and Publicity Secretary, Gbenga Ajonbolo made this known while addressing journalists on Wednesday in Akure, Ondo State, while threatening to mobilise its members to shut down all the federal government roads at the expiration of the ultimatum.
According to the group, since Nigeria's return to democracy in 1999, ASUU, in protest against the government, had downed tools 16 times, disrupting and halting academic activities and mortgaging the futures of millions of students.
"For three long months, Nigerian students have been kept at home and far away from their campuses as a result of a prolonged, unacceptable and insensitive strike action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over their unending rift with the Nigerian government.
"The decision by ASUU to finally embark on an indefinite strike, starting from yesterday (Tuesday) caught us unawares and has pushed us to the wall. Since Nigeria's return to democracy in 1999, ASUU, in protest against the government, had downed tools 16 times, disrupting and halting academic activities and mortgaging the futures of millions of students.
"Nothing is more worrying than the attitude of both warring parties. Their failure to agree to a truce, in the interest of students who are the proverbial grasses under these elephants, calls for concern.
"The ASUU, in 2009, had agreed to a total of N1.3trn with the Nigerian government promising N220bn gradual release to the university lecturers within a six-year period. Unfortunately, the tranche released spanned over 10years with the government of President Buhari releasing just 7% of the total fund.
"Just days ago, Nigerian airlines issued a threat to shut down business across the country as result of the unavailability and rising costs of aviation fuel, their request was speedily granted by the FG. Since Nigerian roads are a death trap and railroads pathways to the great beyond, air travel is the only means by which the ruling class and the elite comfortably commute.
"They surely know that grounding air travel is as good as stalling the political process.
"This act has further emboldened our belief that Nigerian students mean little or nothing to the ruling class and the FG.
"What has the country done so wrong to deserve such selfish and wicked hearts at the helm? One even begins to wonder if events of October 2020 was a child's play in the minds of these leaders.
"While we believe ASUU's demands such as universities revitalization, signing 2009 agreement, paying earned academic allowances etc still stand, the refusal of the FG to accede to these requests has impacted negatively on tertiary education and future of Nigeria.
"Facilities and infrastructures on campuses are deteriorating, with the poor remuneration of university teachers leading to brain drains and resulting in the production of ill- baked graduates.
"As a body that has the interest of its members at heart, we use this medium to inform the FG that Yoruba youths are tired of staying at home. We thereby give the Nigerian government 7 days to reach a compromise with ASUU and return our students to campuses or we shut down all federal roads in the West. We value education in Yoruba land and we won't watch the efforts of our heroes past go to waste", the group said.

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File photo used to illustrate story.

At least three people were killed while one was injured when gunmen attacked Yadagungume and Limi villages in Ningi Local Government Area of Bauchi State, at about 12am on Wednesday.
Punch reports that the victims are identified as; Shuaibu Salihu (17), Ruwa Ali popularly known as Mai Inji (45) and Sunusi Isah Burra.

File photo used to illustrate story.
A source in Ningi town, who preferred to hide his identity, said the gunmen first invaded Yadagungume and started shooting sporadically, creating tension in the village. The attackers afterward proceeded to Limi village.
The source, who did not directly witness the assailants’ operation said, “From the information I gathered, the gunmen whose number is yet to be known first attacked Yadagungume with gunshots and a boy came out and shouted, so they shot him.
“The gunmen abducted two people and somehow, one of them escaped. But we don’t know what happened, they later shot the other person they went with. It was some women who were going to the farm early this morning that saw his corpse and raised the alarm.
“They later attacked Limi village and killed one person there before leaving. We don’t know what exactly their mission was because they didn’t burn any house and they didn’t kidnap people except those two whom they later killed. One person was left with gunshot injuries and is being treated in the hospital. All the people killed were buried this morning in accordance with Islamic rites.”
However, the reason behind the attack has not been revealed as of the time of filing this report.

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The Nigerian government has adopted a digital security system aimed at tackling insecurity in the country.

The system, Nigerian Internal Security and Public Safety Alert System (NISPSAS) mobile application, will be unveiled on Thursday in Abuja.

The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, disclosed this in statement issued through the acting director of public relations in the ministry on Thursday.

Aregbesola said that NIPSAS mobile app which is available on Google and IOS stores is owned by the ministry on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

He said agencies fully collaborating in NISPSAS include the Nigerian police, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Federal Fire Service, the Nigerian Immigration Service, and the Nigerian Correctional Services and others.

The minister explained that NISPSAS project is part of the government’s efforts to provide adequate and prompt response to emergency and safety of lives and properties.

"It has a Mobile Application dashboard for the public to report fire, crime, medical and accident distresses. The NISPSAS platform will provide internal security identity verification platform on ICON mark ‘VERIFY’ which help in the protection of innocent citizens from failing victim of crimes, terrorism and public safety concern," the release said.

Recall that the federal government had on February 2019, launched NISPSAS as part of measures to boost national security, counter-terrorism and protect the public against avoidable disaster.

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The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has vowed to wipe off all the armed criminals and their sponsors who have been terrorising the region, killing people and destroying properties.   

The IPOB on Wednesday said the days of the criminals are numbered, while vowing to destroy the rampaging gunmen in Abia, Anambra states and the entire South-East region.

The group’s Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, in a statement, named some prominent personalities in the region as the alleged sponsors of the killings and criminalities going on in the region.

“Those our intelligence unit uncovered sponsoring these criminals are Chief Charles Ogbonna (Evuluogu Ibeku), RT. Hon. Ude Uko Chukwu and Chief Chimedum Orji Ikuku, the son of the T. A Orji (former Governor of Abia State),” he stated.

In particular, the IPOB spokesperson accused Theodore Orji’s son of sponsoring the establishment of a fake Eastern Security Network (ESN) who have been kidnapping and killing people and enforcing the sit-at-home order.

“Anyone who knows these people whose names are mentioned above should advise them to retrace their steps because if they continue on this evil path, they shall regret their actions. IPOB will not warn them or mention their names again. Soon these monsters they created will turn their attention to them,” Powerful warned.

According to him, IPOB has embarked on uprooting all cultist members and hoodlums in Abia state and will extend the same action against cultists in Anambra State and the entire region.

“It is unacceptable to us for people destroying our region and claiming they are IPOB or ESN operatives, while in reality they are not.”

The group which is agitating for self-governance said its members cannot attack or kill anybody as that is not their quest.

“Anybody who is associating with and who knows these criminal groups in the region must inform them that IPOB is coming to visit them and their evil sponsors and they should therefore be prepared for what is coming after them soon. We will not allow that nonsense to continue anymore in our region. Those sponsors across the region, your days are numbered,” Powerful reiterated.

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The prospect of contrived crises looms large as the ruling party - the All Progressives Congress (APC) - and the major opposition party - the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) - head towards their respective nominating conventions to crystallise their presidential candidates. Meanwhile, we must learn to express our gratitude to the almighty God that Nigeria still manages to stand on her feet despite the considerable shellacking she has suffered, and continues to suffer, on politico-socio-economic fronts.  

Truth be told, nations have convulsed and governments toppled from power for less than one-tenth of the bad results of wrong-headed acts of misgovernment that the Nigerian polity has witnessed. Is it that Nigerians are intransigent optimists and the ‘happiest people on earth,’ as someone once claimed many years ago, or that we are simply hopeless complainants and grumblers whose comfort zone is domiciled in being able to bark without biting?

This explains why the existentialism theory piqued my interest just recently. It is fundamentally opposed to the rationalist tradition and to positivism, while emphasising that we are each responsible for creating purpose or meaning in our own lives. If this is indeed true - and I have no cause to think otherwise -the remains of the iconic ‘father’ of the theory, Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, and other legendary exponents, such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, among others, must all be violently turning in their graves as they cast a transcendental glance at siddon-look Nigerians! 

But there can be no gainsaying that Nigeria is finally at the ‘mother of crossroads.’ Outside the events leading up to the civil war, the stability and unity of our fatherland have never been so imperilled. But rather than seek win-win compromises, a particular group of politicians appears hell-bent on sacrificing the peace, unity and progress of this nation on the puny altar of misplaced vested interests. Most notable is the crystallisation of essentialism - as opposed to existentialism - within the polity itself. 

Essentialism is a philosophy that calls for introspection and finding one’s ‘essence’ that already exists. It fosters an entitlement mentality that explains why some believe that it is their ‘birthright’ to rule and the lot of others to remain as hewers of wood and fetchers of water. This attitude is now being re-enacted in the form of intrigues and power-play as the APC and the PDP get set to choose their candidates.

"All things being equal” (ceteris paribus) is a phrase that is very popular in economics, but it would seem to have wormed its way into our national lexicon. All things being equal, it won’t have mattered from what part of the country a president comes from. All that would have mattered is for him/her to wow the Nigerian public by concretizing legacies that would add real value to the lives of the hard-pressed citizenry.

But we can’t run away from the reality that this country has been afflicted with a long-running chronic malady of failure of both leadership and followership. It bears repeating that no geopolitical zone in Nigeria has the permanent right to metaphorically sit in the cake-sharing ‘security council’ while others - the real bakers of the cake - ephemerally pine away in the toothless ‘general assembly.’ 

To ease rising tensions, a kind of gentleman’s agreement was reached among political parties that saw power rotating between the North and the South. Furthermore, conventional wisdom guided political parties in ensuring that their presidential tickets balance out the two major religions of Islam and Christianity given the secular nature of the country. The first and only time since the commencement of the presidential system of government in 1979 that a presidential ticket of a major political party satisfied the first ‘rule’ but violated the second ‘rule’ was that of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) combination of MKO Abiola (a Muslim from the South) and Babagana Kingibe (a Muslim from the North) in 1993.

But too much water has since flowed under the bridge. No major political party would dare to enter an electoral contest on the basis of such an ‘insensitive’ ticket in recent times. Which explains why the heads of the two major parties that coalesced to form the APC - General Muhammadu Buhari (retired) of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), couldn’t run on a joint ticket in the 2015 election. A Buhari/Tinubu ticket satisfied the balancing of North and South but violated religious balancing as both are Muslims. That’s how Professor Yemi Osinbajo opportunistically came into the picture. 

After eight years of Buhari - a Northern Muslim - conventional wisdom dictates that it is now the ‘turn’ of a president of Southern extraction - preferably a Christian. Hence it beggars belief to see the preposterous and dishonourable ways the Northern political elite have been practically thumbing their noses at Southerners. While one can understand the desperation of a serial presidential contender like former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar who sees the 2023 presidency as his last hurrah and ultimate opportunity for a Hail Mary odds-defying long throw into Aso Villa, the same cannot be said of the much younger aspirants. Patriotism ought to be made of sterner stuff. 

It seems to me that powerful and highly-connected Northern cabals are financially empowering an increasing number of Southerners to declare their presidential ambition by the day as a way of rubbishing Southern solidarity and making it harder for them to reach a consensus among themselves. It is a tried and tested divide-and-rule strategy aimed at triggering an unending family feud, while external parties, masquerading as do-gooders, step in to cart away the highly coveted prize constituting the object of their infighting. 

And make no mistake about it, the Northern cabals in question have a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and even a Plan D, should push turn to shove. 

Plan A is to get the APC and the PDP to nominate presidential candidates of Northern extraction. Plan B kicks into motion should Plan B suffer a miscarriage. 

Plan B involves getting one party - the PDP - to nominate a Northerner as its candidate if the other party - the APC - for any reason at all, nominates a Southerner. Then the North will play two cards in the election proper in 2023: the regional and the religious cards, while still banking on block votes from the South-East and South-South, regardless of whatever the cost would be to the broader attributes of equity and justice. Did I hear you scream Tufiakwa! If so, dream on! That’s why there’s all the juggling and mind games over which of the parties would conduct its nominating convention before the other - to ascertain where the candidate of the first to do so comes from!   

If Plan B fails, Plan C would be triggered. This would involve spending the shortest possible time in political limbo before power rotates to the North. And this is how former-President Goodluck Jonathan has become a beautiful bride to Northern cabals because he can only spend four more years in office. Truth be told, I don’t think Jonathan is really enamoured with the same APC that disgraced him out of office. I see it as a strategy to force the hand of a jittery PDP into ceding the ticket to him as its consensus candidate. 

Plan D can be considered as the last resort when all the calculations and permutations embedded in Plans A to C fail and the North reluctantly recognises that the actual situation and needs of this country are best served by conceding to the South its ‘turn’ to produce a president in 2023, after the exit of Buhari from office. According to this plan, Northern politicians would stage-manage the emergence of a quisling from the South in order to effectively govern by proxy.  

In the final analysis, Southerners can only raise the ante by maintaining - with as near a united voice as is possible - that the name(s) of any Southerner(s) who support(s) a Northern presidential candidate or nicodemusly hanker(s) to return to Egypt as a running-mate in the 2023 presidential election would be written in the Book of Infamy and have his/their generations - including those yet to be born - forever tarred with ignominy and opprobrium. Drastic situations require drastic measures.

Opinion AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 

The National Assembly has announced Senator Danjuma Laah, the senator representing Kaduna South Senatorial District, as the new Deputy Minority Whip of the 9th Senate.

This was made known by the Nigerian Senate via their official Twitter page on Wednesday.

According to the tweet, “Senate President @DrAhmadLawan announces Senator Danjuma Laah as the new Deputy Minority Whip of the Ninth Senate.”

Senator Laah had been the senator representing Kaduna South Senatorial District since 2015.

On February 23, 2019 he was again re-elected into office having garnered 268,287 defeating Yusuf Barnabas Bala of the APC who had 133, 923 votes.

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The Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun Campaign Organisation (DACA) has accused his predecessor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun of sponsoring a smear campaign to malign the governor.
The camps of the duo clashed over the governor’s alleged criminal records in the United States as they both have been battling each other for the control of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

A petition submitted to the National Secretariat of the APC in April 2022 had sought Abiodun’s disqualification from the party’s governorship primaries over fraud allegations.
A member of the party in the state, Ayodele Oludiran, had in the April 12 petition alleged that the governor had been accused of “concealing criminal offenses he allegedly committed in the USA in the 1980s.”
Oludiran insisted that Abiodun’s candidacy would portend danger for the APC with the damning allegations against him.
Meanwhile, documents allegedly featuring the mugshot of Abiodun and his purported court conviction for criminal offences which bordered on credit card fraud, petty theft, and forgery also surfaced online on Monday.
Reacting to the allegations, Dapo Abiodun Campaign Organisation (DACA) accused Amosun of sponsoring a smear campaign to malign the governor.
In Abeokuta on Tuesday, the group in the statement, by the spokesman of APC, Tunde Oladunjoye, accused Senator Amosun and his loyalists of fabricating “malicious, unfounded and totally false allegations to incriminate the governor and present him as one who is ineligible to contest the high office he’s occupying.”
Meanwhile, Amosun in a statement by his media aide, Bola Adeyemi, described the allegations as ‘wild and callous’ imploring Abiodun to employ every legal means to bring whoever is involved in any ‘smear campaign’ against him to book.

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The Chairman of Mallinson Group, Chief Afam Mallinson Emmanuel Ukatu, has filed a fundamental rights suit asking the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos State to order the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to release him "forthwith" and "unconditionally" or upon such terms as the court may deem fit.

The NDLEA had alleged that Ukatu imported two containers containing 1,284 cartons of Tramadol worth N22 billion in 2019 and also said he was behind a N3billion shipment of Tramadol linked to disgraced police chief, DCP Abba Kyari.

But Ukatu, asides protesting his innocence, averred that the anti-narcotic agency failed to arraign him in court, despite there being a Federal High Court within a 40km radius of where he is being held.

He also knocked the NDLEA for failing to grant him administrative bail since his arrest on April 13, 2022.

The businessman prayed the court to declare that his arrest by the agency at the Murtala Muhammed local airport terminal, Ikeja, Lagos, and continued detention in its cell at NAHCO Compound, International

Airport Road, was "without reasonable cause or upon reasonable suspicion" of a crime," and violates his fundamental rights.

He further prayed for an order of Perpetual Injunction restraining the NDLEA from "re-arresting, further re-detaining, further re-incarcerating" him contrary to his fundamental rights to liberty and freedom as enshrined in Section 35 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) among other laws.

The applicant made the prayers in his originating summons in Suit FHC/L/CS/796/2022 before Justice Nicholas Oweibo, filed by his counsel Victor Opara, SAN, of Victor Opara's Chambers.
In the alternative, the businessman prayed for an order admitting him to bail on the most liberal terms pending the conclusion of NDLEA's investigation and/or his arraignment.

He further sought an order directing the NDLEA to tender a public apology to him for the "unlawful arrest and unlawful detention" to be published in three national newspapers to wit: Punch, The Nation and Vanguard.

The applicant further prayed for an order directing the NDLEA to pay him, N200million as damages for unlawful arrest and unlawful detention.

The court is yet to fix a date for hearing of the application.

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Pinnacle and Gas Oil Limited has reiterated that its owner, Peter Mbah was never prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged illegal financial dealings and misappropriation of funds.

The company was reacting to a story published by SaharaReporters over a plan by some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders in Enugu State to pick Mbah as governorship candidate despite prosecution by the EFCC.

The newspaper had reported how the former Commissioner of Finance in the state was charged before Justice Samuel Candide-Johnson of the Lagos State High Court, Igbosere for alleged intention to defraud and obtain by false pretences the sum of N986million from the Nigerian government.

He was also said to have “requested to obtain payment payable to the Integrated Resources Limited, by the Nigerian government, under the petroleum support fund, in respect of 19.347 million litres of PMS, which they falsely claimed to have purchased from Guinness Petroleum limited.”

The case was however withdrawn by the EFCC a few months later.

Reacting in another statement, Florence Tobi, Corporate Spokesperson for Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited said the case was initiated and fully struck out 10 years ago-specifically on July 31, 2012 by Justice Candide-Johnson and cannot be referenced in this situation.

She said, “The Board and Management of Pinnacle Oil and Gas refutes in its entirety the claims made by certain individuals circulated in your publication and wishes to state categorically that neither Peter Mbah nor Pinnacle Oil & Gas Limited is under EFCC prosecution as even the anti-graft body has stated clearly that it has no case against them.

“A case that was initiated and fully struck out 10 years ago-specifically on July 31, 2012 by Hon. Justice Candide-Johnson cannot and will never be referenced in this situation. For further effects, it should be noted that the EFCC at that time specifically said: that the charges preferred against the defendants in this case were misconstrued by the prosecution and were inadvertently filed against the said defendants.

“That a review of the prosecution’s case and the evidence available to the prosecution clearly show that the Defendants did not commit the offences for which they are charged.

“Dr. Peter Mbah has never committed any fraud, and this is well known to these characters but they chose to move from one wrong end to the other. In the view of the Party, which has absolutely nothing to do with Pinnacle Oil and Gas, Mbah in his Governorship screening form, presented his untainted credentials-easily the best any aspirant can parade either for Governorship or the Presidency of this country.

“Descending to the gutter, remaining there and looking for who to drag there with them will certainly do very little favours to these individuals who we do not know and have no business whatsoever with. Mbah is an international maritime lawyer of repute as well as a public administrator of outstanding distinction.

“For a man who has grown Pinnacle oil and Gas Group to the leadership of the downstream end of the Nigerian oil sector, a former Chief of Staff and Commissioner for Finance in his state, it must be a difficult task to pick out dirt of any colour from this Master’s degree holder in Business Administration from the globally acclaimed IESE Business School Barcelona, alumnus of the Chief Executive programme of the Lagos Business School, University of Oxford, Stanford Business School and Harvard Business School. Matched with the facts, it is very clear that the plan of these individuals and their sponsors to practically manufacture and throw dirts on Peter Mbah and Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited, failed the second they took the first step.”

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On Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari asked all members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) contesting elective positions in 2023 to resign.

 

They were asked to submit their letters of resignation on or before Monday the 16th of May, 2022.

According to the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, the order excludes the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo because he is an elected member of the cabinet.

 

Mohammed added that if the need arises, the directive might involve political appointees.

 

Among those affected are Ministers of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi; State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba; Labour and Productivity, Chris Nigige; Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio; Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu and State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva who have all joined the presidential race on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

 

Others are Attorney General of the Federation, Mallam Abubakar Malami, who has declared interested in the governorship position in his home state of Kebbi. 

 

Running for the governorship position in Abia State is the Minister of State Mines and Steel, Uche Ogar while the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen has also declared her ambition to contest for the senatorial seat in Plateau State.

 

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, is also rumoured to be interested in running for governor of Gombe State and to have picked up the APC governorship forms.

 

His counterpart in the Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, has also purchased the N50 million APC nomination forms to succeed Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 governorship polls.

 

Though not a cabinet member, SaharaReporters gathered that Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may also be affected by the presidential order. 

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