A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Daniel H. Bwala has resigned his membership of the party over its choice of a Muslim-Muslim Presidential ticket for the 2023 general elections.

 

Bwala announced his resignation from the party on Sunday night amid wide condemnation and rejection that trailed the party’s announcement of the former governor of Borno State, Senator Kashim Shettima, as the running mate of the APC’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.

“Tonight, I officially resigned my membership of @OfficialAPCNg on principles and conviction that I hold so dear. At this time of our national existence, our efforts and energy should gravitate towards uniting our people,” Bwala wrote on his Twitter page.

 

Many Nigerians, especially members of opposition parties have criticised the ruling party over its Muslim-Muslim ticket, with some describing it as “terrible” and an indication of the party’s “insensitivity” to the current situation in the country.

 

Some critiques of the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket choice have also said that the party is insensitive to Nigeria’s religious composition and argued that it is capable of igniting religious dichotomy in the country.

 

 

 

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A retired three-star general has been suspended from a $92-an-hour contract consulting the Army for allegedly insulting the First Lady of the US, Dr. Jill Biden.

 

The General is said to be under investigation after posting a tweet mocking First Lady Jill Biden on a hot-button social issue, according to the Army.

Jill Biden's tweet condemned the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

 

Lt. Gen. Theodore Martin, commander of the Combined Arms Center, suspended Volesky, pending the outcome of the inquiry, Cynthia Smith, an Army spokeswoman, told USA TODAY.

 

Retired Lt. Gen. Gary Volesky, the Army's former top spokesman and recipient of the Silver Star for gallantry in Iraq, had been a "senior mentor," advising senior military officers, staff and students participating in war games and other military activities.

 

According to the report, a Twitter account under Volesky’s name carried a reply to a statement by the First Lady following the Supreme Court’s action last month overturning the abortion rights decision Roe v. Wade.

 

“For nearly 50 years, women have had the right to make our own decisions about our bodies. Today, that right was stolen from us,” Jill Biden said.

 

The tweet under Volesky’s name stated: “Glad to see you finally know what a woman is.”

 

The tweet was later deleted.

 

 

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One of the family members of the seven abducted passengers of the Abuja-Kaduna train recently released, says over N100 million was paid to terrorists for each before they were released.

 

The terrorists on Saturday released the victims after spending over 100 days in captivity.

On March 28, a train on its way from Abuja to Kaduna was attacked by terrorists. Several persons were killed, dozens injured, while others were abducted.

 

Eleven of the abducted passengers had earlier been released in June.

 

The newly-freed passengers are Muhammad Paki, Bosede Olurotimi, Abubakar Zubairu, Alhassan Sule, Sadiq Ango Abdullahi, Aliyu Usman and Muhammad Abuzar Afzal, a Pakistani.

 

“It’s so sad, each family paid over N100m each, they were not just released. Now they demanding N100m for others.

 

“We had no option but to pay after they (abducted passengers) were abandoned by the government,” the source told SaharaReporters.

There are 43 more victims of the train incident being held captive by terrorists.

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The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has warned Nigerian Christians not to vote for the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress in the 2023 presidential election.

 

The umbrella body of Christians in Nigeria said that if they vote Muslim-Muslim ticket, then they should be ready to live with the consequences thereafter.

CAN stated this while reacting to the choice of a former Governor of Borno, Kashim Shettima, a Muslim, as the running mate to the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, who is also a Muslim.

SaharaReporters earlier reported that the former Lagos State governor unveiled his running mate on Sunday at the Daura residence of President Muhammadu Buhari.

It reported that his decision to settle for a Muslim-Muslim ticket had elicited wide condemnations from Nigerian Christians, including Northern minorities.

The Nigerian Christian body, which spoke through its spokesman, Adebayo Oladeji, said it was up to Nigerians to decide their fate for the next four years.

 

Daily Sun quoted Oladeji as saying, “We knew this was what he was going to do and we have warned against it. It is up to Nigerians to decide on what they want.

 

“You are all alive when we warned Buhari not to allow Muslims to dominate the security architecture of the country and he did it. I think we can see the way the criminals are operating with impunity.

 

“So, if Tinubu says he is opting for a Muslim-Muslim ticket in a polarised country like ours, if Nigerians endorse him and vote for him, whatever happens, Nigerians will face the consequences.

 

“If you have a government where a pastor is a vice president and pastors and worshippers are being killed, you can imagine what will happen when we have a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

 

“It is left to Nigerians to make their choice, let them vote them in and we will all face the consequences together.

 

“We are raising our alarm. It is an irony that Buhari they regarded as an extremist when we raised an alarm to warn him against a Muslim-Muslim ticket, he heeded and opted for a Christian as his vice-presidential candidate.”

 

 

 

 

 

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Human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju has taken a swipe at the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, describing both of them as unserious.

Adeyanju said Atiku who should be in Osun to work towards the victory of his party in the state governorship election to hold on Saturday, July 16, 2022, was still abroad five days before the election.

 

"Atiku is still abroad and the Osun election is in 5 days. Very unserious presidential candidate. Useless party in power and Nigeria currently plagued with the most useless opposition political parties," he tweeted on Monday.

Also, in a tweet on Sunday, Adeyanju lambasted the party for failing in its role as a major opposition to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The tweet followed an announcement by Bola Tinubu, the APC presidential candidate on Sunday that his running mate for the 2023 election is a former Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, a fellow Muslim.

The Christian community has kicked against the choice of Shettima as the ruling party’s vice-presidential candidate, saying it is wrong for a party to have presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the same faith.

“PDP is a very useless opposition. Imagine PDP doing a same religion ticket in 2015. The country would have almost gone up in smoke by now,” he said.

In an earlier tweet on Sunday, Adeyanju said, “The reason they can dare such a brazen move of Muslim-Muslim ticket is because they know the opposition is useless and divided. And they will win if the opposition don’t heed my wise counsel.”

In February, SaharaReporters reported Adeyanju condemned the PDP, alleging that the party had been dormant since its defeat in the 2015 presidential election.

Adeyanju, in an open letter, addressed to the National Chairman of the PDP, noted that the PDP despite being a major opposition had simply watched on despite the anti-people policies by the APC-led government of the day.

According to him, despite the anti-people policies of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration including the humiliation of judges in 2016; refusal of President Buhari to sign the Electoral Act; accumulated loans and human rights abuses, the PDP only issued press releases that were hardly widely calculated.

He further urged the party to challenge the policies of the current administration that were not favourable to the people else it would give room for the citizenry to fight the one-party system in the country.

 

 

 

 

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As reactions continued to trail the choice of Senator Kashim Shettima as the vice-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress for the 2023 election, Catholic bishops have vowed to make their own choice in the poll.

Shettima, a Muslim, was announced on Sunday as the running mate to the presidential candidate of the party, Bola Tinubu, a fellow Muslim.

The Christian community in Nigeria has condemned the choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket, saying for the sake of balance, a Christian should have been picked by the ruling party as its vice-presidential candidate.

 

SaharaReporters had reported that the former Borno State Governor, Shettima was announced as the running mate to the Lagos politician on Sunday in Daura, President Muhammadu Buhari's home town in Katsina State, confirming rumours that the party would use a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

 

But reacting, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, described the choice of APC Muslim-Muslim ticket as unfortunate.

 

Archbishop Kaigama maintained that Nigeria as a country was not ripe for a same faith Presidential ticket.

 

“When you decide that only one religion will produce the major actors, excluding others who will become like strangers, it would not be fair and just. For the sake of religious sensitivity in a place like Nigeria, it is good that we have a balance so that we become like one big family,” he said.

Similarly, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Rev Hassan Kukah said it was up to Nigerians to decide if they want a Muslim-Muslim Nigerian leadership or not in 2023.

 

Politics Nigeria quoted Bishop Kukah to have said, “This is what you call team selection and everybody will choose depending on what they think will give them a fair chance. So, people will take responsibility for the choices they have made. For me, it is not something to lose sleep over.

 

“If people feel unhappy with the kind of choices that have been made, that is why we are democrats, you can’t force it. We outsiders cannot force a choice of any candidate.

 

“It is now left for you to look at the choices that have been made. And there is no guarantee that all Christians will vote for Christians and all Muslims will vote for Muslims."

 

The Director of Social Communication, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Rev Fr. Mike Umoh, described the ‘Muslim-Muslim’ ticket as ‘Insensitive’.

 

“We have made our stance and made it clear. Muslim/Muslim ticket doesn’t make sense; it is unhealthy and insensitive for now,” he said.

 

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The Nigerian government has appealed against the Federal High Court judgment that upholds the suit seeking enforcement of the National Gender Policy in Nigeria as a means of addressing discrimination against women in politics and governance.

 

Women in Politics Forum (WIPF), a coalition of nine women groups, had filed Suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/1006/2020 against the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, seeking the mandatory implementation of National Gender Policy.

The coalition of nine women groups comprises the Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF), Women Empowerment and Legal Aid (WELA), Women in Politics Forum (WIPF), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD- WEST AFRICA), Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC); Vision Spring Initiatives (VSI), YIAGA Africa, International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) and 100 Women lobby group.

 

The applicants had argued that “The predominant appointment of men to decision-making positions, especially ministerial positions, with the exclusion of women is discriminatory against women and is in violation of sections 147 and 42 of the Nigerian constitution and article 19 of the African charter.”

 

The women through their counsel, Mrs Funmi Falana said that they were being discriminated against as a result of the belief that women were inferior to men.

 

She noted that the National Gender Policy (NGP) which provides that women should be allocated 35 per cent of all appointments, is being violated.

 

“Only seven of Nigeria’s 36 ministers are female. In the eyes of the law, 36 and 7 are not equivalent. Only four of the 37 members of the Federal Character Commission are women. This is ridiculous and insulting,” Mrs Falana had said.

 

She cited section 14(3) of the Nigerian Constitution to back her call for the enforcement of the NGP.

 

She noted that the provision mandates that the composition of the government of the federation or any of its agencies, and the conduct of its affairs shall reflect the federal character of Nigeria, promote national unity and also to command national loyalty.

 

The Nigerian government on its side prayed the court to strike out the suit.

 

But delivering judgment in the suit, Honourable Justice Donatus Okorowo who presided over the case agreed with the applicants.

 

Justice Okorowo held that the non-implementation of the National Gender Policy on 35% affirmative action on the appointment of women into political positions was a breach of women's fundamental rights and dismissed the position of the Respondents.

 

However, the Nigerian government has disagreed with the judgment and filed an appeal before the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal seeking an order "setting aside the judgment; and striking out and/or dismissing the Respondents' (women) suit in its entirety."

 

The lawyers for Appellants (Federal Government and AGF; T. A. Gazali, SAN, T. D. Agbe, Suleiman Jibril, Ibukun Okoosi, Onyinye Halliday, O. D. Okoronkwo from Department of Civil Appeals Federal Ministry of Justice formulated 16 grounds of appeal for determination.

 

On one of the grounds, the appellants submitted thus: "The learned trial judge erred in law when he held that the Respondents' suit was founded on enforcement of fundamental rights, and therefore disclosed a cause of action against the Appellants.

 

"Particulars Of Error: The Respondents' suit was for the enforcement of the National gender policy. The National gender policy for 35% affirmative action on the appointment of women is not based on Chapter 4 of the Constitution. The National gender policy was a Federal Government policy which cannot be enforced by way of fundamental rights enforcement proceedings.

 

"The National gender policy was not made pursuant to any provision in Chapter 4 of the Constitution. The National gender policy has no bearing on the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights Act. The Respondents' suit was not commenced via the procedure provided under the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules, 2009.

 

"Failure to commence an action for the enforcement of fundamental rights under the appropriate procedure as provided by the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules, renders the entire proceedings null and void. The trial court having held that the Respondents' suit borders on the enforcement of fundamental rights has invariably rendered the entire proceedings null and void as same was not commenced by way of the procedure provided under Order II Rule 2 & 3 of the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules."

 

The appeal was filed on July 6, 2022, but the date for the hearing has not been fixed.

 

 

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The General Overseer, Salvation Ministries, Pastor David Ibiyeomie has again threatened to kill anyone who insults Bishop David Oyedepo, the presiding Bishop of the Faith Tabernacle in Ota, otherwise called Winners’ Chapel International. 

The cleric said people can insult him or his wife, but warned that nobody should dare insult his father. Stressing that if Bishop Oyedepo was not alive his Christianity would have been nonsense.

Ibiyeomie told a story of how a man attempted to hurl insults at Oyedepo in his office and he had to shut him out for four years, PM News reports.

He made this known in his Sunday sermon at the Church headquarters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

He said, “I can tell you something: there are people you insult, I won’t forgive you. In human life, the first person you will insult that I won’t forgive you is Oyedepo.

“Insult me, insult my wife, I don’t care but if you take your mouth to touch my wife, you are touching me. If you insult Oyedepo I will kill you, that’s how God is. You know why? If Bishop Oyedepo was not alive, my Christianity would have been nonsense.

“He made me love Christianity. Can you be alive and somebody is insulting your father? I will slap you; you are not born. Don’t you see how I tore that beast to pieces? I will tear you to pieces. I will fight you spiritually, fight you everywhere, fight you law court, till they send you to jail.

“When people fight you, fight them till they go down. God is jealous about you. If we the humans can be jealous about people, God is so jealous about you.

“For four years, I did not pick his call. He said because of Oyedepo? I said, ‘Yes sir, don’t you know where to have your tongue? I knew you because of him; if you insult him, you are insulting my father.’ He said, ‘ah! You are overdoing your own thing.’ I said, before? Okay if you say Oyedepo is bad, me, am I good? You say the chicken is bad and the egg is good?”

Ibiyeomie in 2020 threatened to arrest and kill Daddy Freeze for allegedly insulting and criticising Bishop David Oyedepo of Winners' Chapel.

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File photo used to illustrate story.

Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have invaded First Baptist Church, Nekede in Imo State and abducted Mrs. Bola Abioye, the wife of the General Manager of Imo State Zoological Garden and Wildlife Park, Mrs. Bola Abioye.

 

SaharaReporters gathered that the hoodlums who were in police uniform drove a grey-coloured Toyota Sienna minivan to the church.

File photo used to illustrate story.

The incident happened on Sunday, around 1:30 pm when the church was about to dismiss service.

 

The assailants were said to have shot indiscriminately to scare people.

 

Narrating the incident to Daily Post, a congregant who identified herself as Dr Blessing, said the church had just concluded thanksgiving and congregants were members were heading to the car park to drive out to the venue prepared for merriment when the gunmen struck.

 

He said, “The church had just dismissed so everyone was heading to the car park with the intention to go to the home of the member, only for an ash-coloured Sienna vehicle to drive in shooting sporadically.

 

"The abductors who wore police vests were shooting right there at the car park. They first dragged a woman but after some seconds, one of them shouted it’s not this one.

 

“Before they went to drag Mrs Abioye shooting directly to scare people away. Though she tried to resist, there was so much commotion. And within minutes, they drove off still shooting.”

 

Efforts made by SaharaReporters to get the reaction of the Imo State Police Command were unsuccessful as the mobile line of the spokesman, Michael Abattam, failed to connect.

 

He also did not reply to a text message sent to him.

 

Meanwhile, he told to some journalists earlier, saying the command was yet to get information on the incident.

 

 

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The Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) claimed damages of $875,740,000.03, in contract and tort, in respect of money paid out of a “Depository Account” by the JP Morgan Bank (JPMC). These payments were made in August 2011 (in the sum of c.$800m) and August 2013 (in the sum of c.$75m).

The Payments were made by JPMC to an entity called “Malabu”. This was in respect of an oil prospecting licence called “OPL 245”.

Nigeria’s case is that those sums were paid in furtherance of a fraudulent and corrupt scheme. The Nigerian government was, therefore, the victim of this scheme, Gbenga Oduntan and Akalemwa Ngenda, Coordinating Attorneys for World Anti-Corruption Research Network (WARN), Centre for Critical International Law, UNIKENT, said in a report on Sunday.

 

JPMC presented several technical defences. These include the so-called ‘No Quincecare Duty’ because– that duty was excluded by contract. It was also asserted that JPM’s role under the Depository Agreement was intended to be, “largely automatic or mechanical”. As leading counsel for JPM put it in oral submissions, the bank’s role was “to act like an ATM machine or a robot”.

 

The judgment did not find fraud and, the FRN’s case failed. Cockerill J however, highlighted the presence of very unattractive features in the transactions and an association with past corruption.

Yet the judge concluded that this was not enough to trigger the duty in relation to a specific fraud in 2011.

Cockerill J maintains a highly artificial distinction between significant features of a transaction which highlight high risks that are relevant for Anti Money Laundering procedures on the one hand and other general financial crimes and wider corruption on the other hand. 

The Court concludes that JPMC was not ‘on notice’ of fraud in relation to the 2011 payment. Even though JPMC was on notice for the 2013 payment, the test for gross negligence was not met. The judgment will be studied by banking law experts for years to come.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian government was restrained by the United Kingdom High Court of Justice from appealing last month’s ruling dismissing a $1.7 billion (£1.4 billion) claim against JP Morgan Chase Bank over the transfer of proceeds from the sale of OPL 245 in 2011.

The high court said there was “no real prospect” of overturning the ruling, City A.M reports.

The government had in June lost its $1.7 billion claims against JP Morgan Chase Bank over the transfer of proceeds from the sale of OPL 245 in 2011, operated by Malabu Oil and Gas Limited.

According to the judgment delivered by the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales Commercial Court, there was no proof that Nigeria was defrauded in the deal.

The government had sued JP Morgan on the grounds of “Quincecare duty”, alleging that the bank “ought to have known” that there was corruption and fraud in the transaction, which saw Malabu Oil and Gas Limited sell its 100 per cent stake in OPL 245 to Shell and ENI for $1.1 billion.

Nigeria argued that there were enough “red flags” for JP Morgan to have halted the transfers. However, the bank rejected Nigeria’s claims, maintaining that all due processes were followed and money-laundering checks were done, arguing that allegations of fraud only came up after a new government took over in Nigeria.

In the judgment, Sara Cockerill ruled that the Nigerian government could not prove that it was defrauded, saying it might be that, with the benefit of hindsight, “JPMorgan would have done things differently” but “none of these things individually or collectively amount to triggering and then breaching” the bank’s duty of care to its client.

Citing the London and Milan judgments, a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke has called on the current Attorney General (Abubakar Malami)  to discontinue the cases against him. He suggests a “refrain from wasting Nigeria’s hard-earned foreign exchange by way of legal fees on local and foreign counsel in a bid to prove the existence of a fraud that never was”.

 

The report urged Nigeria to resist this siren, self-serving plea. “Firstly, because many of the charges against Adoke do not relate to fraud but hang on other alleged criminal offences.

“For example, there are issues concerning unlawfully granting tax and other benefits to Shell and Eni. Secondly, the evidence before the Nigerian courts including witness evidence are wider than that before the courts in London and Milan,” the report said.

 

It further said, “Justice in Nigeria is not to be allowed to rest on rulings outside of Nigeria. It must be contested in Nigeria under Nigerian law and the scrutiny of the Nigerian courts. The London judgment will for a long time stand as further evidence of an imperialistic and relativistic English justice. This is more especially revealed in international commercial matters and in relation to African and other developing states. This is what makes it imperative for Nigeria to pursue a sovereign redeeming jurisprudence as an independent country. The imperatives are clear, charges against Adoke and the other accused persons must be pursued. The rule of law demands nothing less.”

 

Meanwhile, there are many ramifications of this unsatisfactory judgment. The effects it has on the fight against grand corruption in Nigeria are particularly deserving of analysis. More specifically it may have negatively impacted ongoing and future prosecutions relating to the notorious Oil Prospecting License 245 scandal. The effects on the legal attempts to bring the former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke to justice deserves special attention.

 

The London judgment has brought sheer disappointment to anticorruption campaigners both in Nigeria and abroad. This is particularly true for those seeking to expose Adoke’s role in Nigeria’s most scandal-ridden oil deal. It appears that to exonerate JPMC from ultimate liability for Nigeria’s losses the judge arguably had to whitewash Adoke’s failings.

The court’s reasoning curiously rendered a most artificial and favourable view of Adoke’s official as well as personal actions and activities. For JPMC to avoid liability a scandalized Nigerian official facing multijurisdictional censure is now near completely exonerated in the eyes of British law.

 

It is important to discuss this unsatisfactory outcome because of the effects this judgment will have on anticorruption and transparency law and practice in Nigeria. The judgment may also have implications on a couple of ongoing criminal and civil actions in Nigeria against this former law chief.

Mr Adoke has, of course, seized on this recent judgment in a London Commercial Court as exonerating him of any wrongdoing related to the controversial sale of the OPL 245 oil licence to multinationals Shell and Eni, which resulted in over a billion dollars being paid to Malabu Oil & Gas, a company owned by Dan Etete who had effectively awarded the licence to himself when he was an oil minister during the notorious military regime of Ibrahim Abacha.

 

The deal was alleged by the Nigerian government to be corrupt and fraudulent. The FRN sued JP Morgan Chase bank for negligence in its handling of the funds from the deal. Nigeria identifies three masterminds of the scheme. They are Mr Dan Etete (1998), Mr Bayo Ojo (2006) and Mr Mohammed Adoke (2011). The judge in the London case controversially concludes that Adoke acted honestly in negotiating the deal. The judgement nonetheless describes the whole deal as an “unattractive” transaction with a “murky” past mired in corruption.

 

The judgment has apparently taken a very liberal view of several actions and situations involving Adoke. There are significant instances where the court admits that the fact ‘looks sinister’. Nevertheless, through various contortions of logic, it excused things away. The learned Mrs Justice Cockerill apparently does not fully understand the complexities and nuances of Nigeria’s grave problems with grand corruption.

 

Much of the evidence on the corruption of Nigerian officials rested on matters and issues the Judge really would have been able to take judicial notice of if the court was familiar with the terrain of grand corruption in Nigeria. Indeed the judgment appears to confess to a sheer lack of familiarity with financial realities of Nigerian life.

For instance, as the FRN alleged between 2011 and 2013 Mr Adoke as Attorney General was making property deals for himself running into millions of dollars. Mr Adoke received over $2 million into his account in cash. Yet the judgment concluded that the mere fact of the house being bought cannot be enough without more to conclude that Mr Adoke was living above his income. A Nigerian judge will of course be in a better position to understand the types of sums that suggest a Nigerian official leaving above his means.

 

Adoke’s spin on the judgment is thus in a sense understandable, even as it may be opportunistic. This is because he is facing three sets of charges in Nigeria for corruption and other offences related to the OPL 245 deal. However, on an impartial reading, the judgment fails to provide Adoke with a safe harbour. On the contrary, it provides grounds for new charges being brought against the former Attorney General. It also may have complicated his defences in a defamation claim that has been lodged against him. This suit is brought by Olanrewaju Suraju, Chair of the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA).

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The ongoing legal battle over certificate forgery involving Akan Okon; the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State, Umo Eno and the electoral body, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the Federal High Court, Uyo, has taken an interesting turn, documents exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters have revealed.

 

Okon, a contestant in the May 25 governorship primary of the PDP in Akwa Ibom is dragging Eno, the winner of the said election to court on the allegations that he is using a forged West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination result in his bid to become the governor of the state.

According to an original copy of a letter exclusively obtained by our SaharaReporters, the examination body, West African Examinations Council (WAEC) confirmed that Umo Eno's certificate does not exist in its records.

 

In the letter dated 8th April 2022 and signed by T. A. Ademola, WAEC Exams and Records, while responding to a request for confirmation of Eno's 1983 results, the examination body stated that it could not certify the certificate because it did not issue it.

 

“This is to notify you that the certificate No. PO 275878 A for candidate No. 15725119 of December 1983 submitted for certification by you does not exist in our records hence we cannot certify what we did not issue,” the letter read.

 

Responding to Okon's earlier statement of claim to the Federal High Court, Eno in his statement of defence denied all the allegations.

 

His written defence was accompanied by a copy of ‘Confirmation of Result’.

 

The documents filed by Pastor Eno are ‘Confirmation of Result’ for his 1981 and 1983 certificates which were addressed to the Attorney General/Commissioner for Justice of Akwa Ibom State.

 

However, Okon, through his lawyers, has opened more loopholes in Eno's statement of defence by highlighting more discrepancies in the confirmation of the results.

 

According to Okon's reply, while the 1983 confirmation of results has Eno Umo Bassey as the candidate’s name, the 1981 version has Bassey Umo Eno as the candidate’s name, adding that WAEC does not have Umo Eno as the holder of May/June 1981 GCE O/L but the name of Bassey Umo Eno.

 

“Having supplied the name of the candidate that wrote the examination in 1981, the examining body indicated in the last paragraph of her letter thus: ‘You will have to satisfy yourself that he/she and Bassey Umo Eno of our record, are one and the same person,’” Okon noted.

 

Okon further noted that there is a disparity in the name of the school. He stated that while the certificate carries Victory High School, Ikeja as the examination centre, the Confirmation of Result bears Victory High School ‘1’, Ikeja.

 

Another disparity highlighted was in the subjects. In the 1981 Certificate, “Religious Knowledge” is recorded as one of the four subjects, while “Bible Knowledge” is one of the six subjects in the Confirmation of Result.

 

In the 1981 certificate, the candidate number 15520232 has no punctuation mark inserted in between the digits, and the 1981 confirmation of result has 15520/232 as the candidate number with a slash (/).

 

Just like in the case of the 1981 certificate and confirmation of results, the main certificate of the 1983 WAEC has 15725119 (without punctuation sign) as candidate number while his confirmation of result for the same year has candidate number (15725/119) with a slash. 

 

“The implication flowing from the discrepancies in the certificates presented by the 2nd Defendant to the 1st Defendant for his screening shows him as having names namely; Bassey Umo Eno - 1981 WAEC result; Eno Umo Bassey - 1983 WAEC result; Umo Bassey Eno - name used on his application to the 1st Defendant,” Okon added.

 

Okon's reply further stated, “As the policy of West African Examination Council, internal candidates writing the examination for the first time or even thereafter have to enter a minimum of eight (8) subjects, including English Language and Mathematics. The Confirmation of Result issued by the Examining Body show that Bassey Umo Eno entered for six (6) subjects, excluding English Language, a compulsory subject.

 

“The certificate relied upon by 2nd Defendant, apart from not bearing his name has other striking distinctions from the letter of confirmation of result issued by the examining body and so the certificate presented at the screening of the 1st Defendant was not and can never have been his certificate”.

 

It can be recalled that in his statement of claim, Okon had alleged that Eno's name does not exist in INEC's database as a registered voter because his voter card was forged.

 

In addition, a photocopy of Eno's voter card submitted to the PDP screening committee bears 01-01-1964 as his date of birth but his curriculum vitae and credentials bear 24th April, 1964.

 

Okon, in his reply to Eno's defence, further emphasised that he does not have an authentic voter card.

 

“In answer to paragraph 11 of the statement of defence of the 2nd Defendant, the Plaintiff shall at the trial of this case rely on the certified true copy of the voter's register of Unit 06 Ward 02, Nsit Ubium Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State in addition to the relevant sections of his pleadings in paragraph 7 of the statement of claim to show that the 2nd Defendant does not have any authentic voter's card.

 

“The Plaintiff, therefore, pleads that having forged his certificates and the school he purportedly attended, the 2nd Defendant ought to have been disqualified from participating in the primaries and that having taken part in the said primaries, his votes ought to be declared void votes and the Plaintiff having scored the highest valid votes ought to declared and presented as the candidate of the 1st Defendant to fly the flag of 1st Defendant in the 2023 Governorship election.”

 

DOCUMNET : EXCLUSIVE : Forgery Case : WAEC Confirms School Certificate of Akwa Ibom Governor’s Stooge, Umo... by Sahara Reporters on Scribd

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A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has condemned the ruling All Progressives Congress’ (APC) choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket in the 2023 presidential election, describing it as terrible and insensitive.

 

Adegboruwa, condemned it in a statement made available to SaharaReporters on Sunday, calling on Nigerians of all religions to rise up against the ruling party’s choice with their votes in 2023.

This comes a few hours after SaharaReporters reported that the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu had finally settled for a Muslim-Muslim ticket as he picked the former governor of Borno State, Senator Kashim Shettima as his running mate.

 

It was also gathered that Tinubu had wanted to pick the incumbent governor of the state, Babagana Zulum, as his running mate but he reportedly pleaded that his mentor, Shettima should rather be picked.

 

Reacting to the development, Adegboruwa said, “It is a terrible choice, in one million ways!!!

 

“Nigerians, whether Muslims, Christians, Traditionalists, etc, should reject APC with their votes come 2023.

 

“A Muslim-Muslim ticket in present-day Nigeria is fuel for Boko Haram, incentive for ISWAP and a call for more terrorists.

 

“Unless of course those parading the ticket are themselves complicit.

 

“There is no better way to insult our sensibilities.

 

“I pray it is not true.”

 

 

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The report of an autopsy conducted on the remains of 21-year-old Esther Isaac Asuquo, who was murdered in Agete Hotel in Gwarinpa, Abuja on February 25, 2022, has shown that she was strangulated.

A preliminary report of the autopsy conducted at the National Hospital Abuja by a pathologist, Dr P.G. Jibrin, exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters at the weekend, said Esther Asuquo suffered "Severe Asphyxia" due to strangulation and physical assault as a direct cause of her death.

Esther was murdered in controversial circumstances in Room 901 at the hotel located in the Gwarinpa area of the Federal Capital Territory.

The family of the deceased had accused the FCT Police of compromising the case by shielding the hotel and its management in an attempt to frustrate the case.

A human rights lawyer who is representing the family, Abubakar Marshal in a letter dated April 29, 2022, addressed to the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 7 Headquarters demanded a Coroner's inquest into the circumstances surrounding the death of Esther.

This followed an attempt by the hotel management to cover up and not disclose the identity of the suspect who perpetrated the dastardly act.

 

The hotel also turned down the request by the family and lawyer demanding the CCTV footage of February 25, 2022, to ascertain what led to the death of the deceased woman.

 

The hotel was also alleged to have made an attempt to offer the sum of N500,000 (Five hundred thousand naira) to the family of the deceased to offset the burial expenses with the aim to frustrate the case and sweep it under the carpet.

 

SaharaReporters gathered that five months after the tragic incident, the FCT Police authorities had been reluctant in carrying out a comprehensive investigation into the case while the hotel continued to open for business.

 

Meanwhile, Esther was buried on Saturday, July 9, 2022, in her hometown, Calabar in Cross River State, where family members and friends wept profusely during her funeral service.

 

Esther's death sparked angry reactions on social media.
Her family has demanded justice, saying the matter must not be swept under the carpet.

 

 

 

Photo captions:

 

The preliminary autopsy report

 

The funeral service for the victim in Calabar

 

The deceased woman after the incident

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The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ahmed Tinubu on Sunday officially announced a former governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, a fellow Muslim, as his running mate.

This followed a closed-door meeting involving Tinubu, Katsina State Governor, Bello Masari and President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura.

Answering questions from journalists shortly after his meeting with President Buhari in Daura, Tinubu said Ibrahim Kabiru Masari, whose name was earlier submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission as a placeholder, had been replaced with Kashim Shettima.

He said, "There's already an arrangement to replace him fully with a substantive running mate."

When asked who was the substantive running mate, Tinubu answered, "Kashim Shettima; I've not discussed with him, but I've disclosed it to you."

 

SaharaReporters earlier today (Sunday) reported that there were indications that Tinubu had finally settled for a Muslim - Muslim ticket, by picking Shettima as his running mate.

SaharaReporters gathered that Tinubu had wanted to pick the incumbent governor of Borno, Babagana Zulum as the running mate but he reportedly pleaded that his mentor, Shettima should rather be picked.

 

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The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) and human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore on Sunday stormed the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) located at Area 10, Abuja over the illegal arrest and detention of Pastor Kassy Chukwu of Peniel International Church.

SaharaReporters gathered the pastor was arrested in Benin City, Edo State after being accused of intervening in the case of a missing child.

The child allegedly went missing at Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministries.

The cleric was said to be detained on the order of one Prophet Jeremiah Omoto Fufeyin, who accused Pastor Chukwu of daring to demand justice for the parents of the child who went missing in the church.

But upon the arrival of Sowore at the police department to see the detained pastor and ensure that his rights were not violated, he was denied access to the cleric by the police officers who were on duty.

The AAC presidential candidate was that he could not see the detained cleric and that it was based on “an order from above”.

 

The policemen were seen making phone calls, believably to their superior officers upon sighting the activist on their premises.

 

The activist condemned the arrest of the cleric and his subsequent detention at FCID without any charge preferred against him.

Sowore said, "We are at the FCID. We came here to check on Pastor Kassy Chukwu who was detained here. Apparently, he is being detained here on the order of another pastor.

 

"This is the problem with the police, they have turned the police into a joke. Somebody can just call the Deputy Inspector General of Police or Commissioner of Police and get somebody detained.

 

"We came here to look for him to ensure that his rights are not violated but when we got here the moment they saw me, they started making calls, and that we cannot see him.

 

"We even went and bought food so that we can give it to him but they said we can't give him the food after they made all their contacts. We just want to report back that we were unable to see him.

 

"When this case was brought to my attention, I was told that it was politically motivated and that is why I was asking for the details but when I got here, I discovered that it was one of those despicable cases where people are just thrown in the detention because they have connection.”

 

“He was brought from Benin (City); no charges were brought against him up till now," Sowore added.

 

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Senator Stella Oduah

A former Minister of Aviation, Senator Stella Oduah has altered some of the personal information she submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 2022 from the one submitted in 2018.

From the latest affidavit submitted by Oduah to INEC on June 24, 2022, the senator who had claimed to have degrees and the National Youth Service Corps certificate, submitted a senior secondary school leaving certificate with only two passes.

Senator Stella Oduah

The National Youth Service Corps had disclosed that Senator Oduah, representing Anambra North in the National Assembly, did not complete the mandatory one-year NYSC programme.

 

This was disclosed in a letter, marked NYSC/DHQ/PPRU/783/Vol III.

The letter was in response to an inquiry made by a group known as the Concerned Anambra North PDP Stakeholders.

 

The group had written to the NYSC, alleging that some officials of the agency colluded with Oduah to bury the truth.

 

The NYSC responded through a letter by the Director-General of the programme, which was signed on his behalf by the Director of Press and Public Relations. 
The agency said Oduah commenced her NYSC programme in 1982 but absconded.

Oduah swiftly reacted in the letter addressed to the Director-General, NYSC and titled, “48 Hours Notice to Retract Your Statement as Contained in Your Letter Dated 24th May 2022 Ref No. NYSC/DHQ/PPRU/783/VOL 111”.

In the letter signed by Ezennia Nonso Chukwudebe, Director, Media and Publicity for Oduah, the senator described the statement made by the NYSC as reckless.

She gave NYSC “48 hours to retract your statement failing which legal actions shall be commenced against you.”

 

Meanwhile, in a signed affidavit Oduah submitted to INEC on October 18, 2018, ahead of the 2019 general elections, exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters on Sunday, the lawmaker claimed she has a BSc in Business Administration and attended St. Paul’s College Lawrenceville, Virginia, USA from 1978-1982.

In the document, she noted that she attended St John’s Primary School, Odoakpu, Onitsha, Anambra from 1969 – 1973  and Zixton Secondary School, Ozubulu, Anambra State from 1973 -1978.

But in the recent affidavit in support of personal particulars submitted to the electoral body, INEC, on June 14, 2022, Oduah has carefully abandoned claims that she has a BSc in Business Administration and attended St. Paul’s College Lawrenceville, Virginia, USA from 1978-1982.

The lawmaker only claimed she attended primary and secondary schools, obtaining just FSLC (First School Leaving Certificate) and GCE (General Certificate of Education) in 1973 and 1978 respectively.

Nothing was filled in the space for higher qualifications.

Oduah attached a copy of her GCE result issued in June 1978 in which she only had passes in Mathematics and Commerce, which were the two subjects recorded for her on the Ordinary Level, West African Examinations Council GCE for June 1978.

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prince Casmir I. Ajulu, had called on Oduah to withdraw from the 2023 senatorial race following the certificate forgery allegation against her.

Ajulu, who is a founding member and convener of PDP in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State asked Oduah to emulate former Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun.

Adeosun resigned in 2018 after the allegation that she tendered a forged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) exemption certificate as part of her credentials.

SaharaReporters had reported that the lawmaker representing Anambra North Senatorial zone did not complete her National Youth Service.

The Director-General of the NYSC had said though Oduah was mobilised for the national service in 1982/83 and deployed to Lagos State, she absconded after the orientation and never completed the service.

In a statement obtained by SaharaReporters, Ajulu said all relevant documents of the Senator would be forwarded to the National Working Committee of the PDP together with an affidavit verifying the facts contained therein for necessary action.

He had said, “From the afore-stated facts, it is not in doubt that Senator Stella Adaeze Oduah committed fraud by claiming that she completed her service year and was issued with NYSC discharge Certificate. She also committed perjury by deposing an affidavit to the effect that she lost her original NYSC discharge Certificate.

“By the extant provision of the law, she is estopped from occupying any public office having not participated or obtained exemption letter from the NYSC and having deposed affidavit to the effect that she graduated from a foreign higher Institution with B.Sc. (Business Administration).”

 

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Senator Stella Oduah

A former Minister of Aviation, Senator Stella Oduah has altered some of the personal information she submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 2022 from the one submitted in 2018.

From the latest affidavit submitted by Oduah to INEC on June 24, 2022, the senator who had claimed to have degrees and the National Youth Service Corps certificate, submitted a senior secondary school leaving certificate with only two passes.

Senator Stella Oduah

The National Youth Service Corps had disclosed that Senator Oduah, representing Anambra North in the National Assembly, did not complete the mandatory one-year NYSC programme.

 

This was disclosed in a letter, marked NYSC/DHQ/PPRU/783/Vol III.

The letter was in response to an inquiry made by a group known as the Concerned Anambra North PDP Stakeholders.

 

The group had written to the NYSC, alleging that some officials of the agency colluded with Oduah to bury the truth.

 

The NYSC responded through a letter by the Director-General of the programme, which was signed on his behalf by the Director of Press and Public Relations. 
The agency said Oduah commenced her NYSC programme in 1982 but absconded.

Oduah swiftly reacted in the letter addressed to the Director-General, NYSC and titled, “48 Hours Notice to Retract Your Statement as Contained in Your Letter Dated 24th May 2022 Ref No. NYSC/DHQ/PPRU/783/VOL 111”.

In the letter signed by Ezennia Nonso Chukwudebe, Director, Media and Publicity for Oduah, the senator described the statement made by the NYSC as reckless.

She gave NYSC “48 hours to retract your statement failing which legal actions shall be commenced against you.”

 

Meanwhile, in a signed affidavit Oduah submitted to INEC on October 18, 2018, ahead of the 2019 general elections, exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters on Sunday, the lawmaker claimed she has a BSc in Business Administration and attended St. Paul’s College Lawrenceville, Virginia, USA from 1978-1982.

In the document, she noted that she attended St John’s Primary School, Odoakpu, Onitsha, Anambra from 1969 – 1973  and Zixton Secondary School, Ozubulu, Anambra State from 1973 -1978.

But in the recent affidavit in support of personal particulars submitted to the electoral body, INEC, on June 14, 2022, Oduah has carefully abandoned claims that she has a BSc in Business Administration and attended St. Paul’s College Lawrenceville, Virginia, USA from 1978-1982.

The lawmaker only claimed she attended primary and secondary schools, obtaining just FSLC (First School Leaving Certificate) and GCE (General Certificate of Education) in 1973 and 1978 respectively.

Nothing was filled in the space for higher qualifications.

Oduah attached a copy of her GCE result issued in June 1978 in which she only had passes in Mathematics and Commerce, which were the two subjects recorded for her on the Ordinary Level, West African Examinations Council GCE for June 1978.

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prince Casmir I. Ajulu, had called on Oduah to withdraw from the 2023 senatorial race following the certificate forgery allegation against her.

Ajulu, who is a founding member and convener of PDP in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State asked Oduah to emulate former Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun.

Adeosun resigned in 2018 after the allegation that she tendered a forged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) exemption certificate as part of her credentials.

SaharaReporters had reported that the lawmaker representing Anambra North Senatorial zone did not complete her National Youth Service.

The Director-General of the NYSC had said though Oduah was mobilised for the national service in 1982/83 and deployed to Lagos State, she absconded after the orientation and never completed the service.

In a statement obtained by SaharaReporters, Ajulu said all relevant documents of the Senator would be forwarded to the National Working Committee of the PDP together with an affidavit verifying the facts contained therein for necessary action.

He had said, “From the afore-stated facts, it is not in doubt that Senator Stella Adaeze Oduah committed fraud by claiming that she completed her service year and was issued with NYSC discharge Certificate. She also committed perjury by deposing an affidavit to the effect that she lost her original NYSC discharge Certificate.

“By the extant provision of the law, she is estopped from occupying any public office having not participated or obtained exemption letter from the NYSC and having deposed affidavit to the effect that she graduated from a foreign higher Institution with B.Sc. (Business Administration).”

 

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Femi Falana, SAN.

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) has called on the Attorney-General of the Nigerian Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami to immediately charge arrested sponsors of terrorism and terror suspects before the court for proper prosecution.
Falana, who is the Interim Chair, Alliance on Surviving Covid-19 and Beyond (ASCAB) also called on the National Assembly to ensure they monitor their prosecutions so that the funds appropriated for that would be judiciously used. 

Femi Falana, SAN.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria stated this in a statement on Sunday titled: "Why Has The FG Refused To Try Hundreds Of Sponsors Of Terrorism And Terror Suspects?" 
In the statement, Falana, however, blamed last Tuesday's terrorists attack on Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja, where over 600 inmates including Islamic terrorists escaped without a trace on the Nigerian Government's non-implementation of section 28 (1), (2) & (3) of Nigerian Correctional Service Act which stipulates how security of prisons should be organised.
The statement made available to SaharaReporters reads, "During a visit to the Kuje Correctional Centre last week, the Minister of Defence, General Bashir Magashi (retd) told journalists that all the 64 Boko Haram members were among the over 600 inmates that were freed by the terrorists who attacked the facility in a commando fashion. 
"Before jetting out of the country after the attack, President Buhari visited the prison and asked certain rhetorical questions. The questions would have been totally unnecessary if the Federal Government had complied with section 28 (1), (2) & (3) of Nigerian Correctional Service Act provides as follows:
"(1) There shall be provided monitoring devices to protect, control and safeguard correctional activities, including observatory towers, double perimeter walls, close circuit television, body scanners, e-monitoring devices, electrically activated alarm systems and other instruments of restraint.
 "(2) The Correctional Service shall establish and maintain a fully equipped armed squads, intelligence and investigation unit to enhance security, surveillance, monitoring, intelligence gathering and protection.
"(3) In deploying the facilities under subsection (1), priority shall be given to the security requirements of maximum security custodial centres."
"Before the attack on the Kuje Correctional Centre, terrorists and other armed criminal gangs had successfully attacked 14 other Correctional Centres and freed thousands of convicts and awaiting trial inmates in many States of the Federation."
The Rights Activist stated that to ensure that all correctional centres in the country were secured in line with the provisions of NCS Act the Federal Executive Council should urgently approve fund for the purchase and installation of the necessary security equipment.
"However, having regard to the security implications of the escape of the freed terror suspects the Nigerian people have expressed concern. 
"Since only 64 terror suspects are detained in Kuje Correctional Centre, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami SAN should disclose to Nigerians where the 400 sponsors of terrorism and the 800 terror suspects who were due to be arraigned in the Federal High Court last year are being detained. 
"Before then the 10 soldiers led by an Army Captain who ambushed and killed the three police officers who had arrested an alleged kidnap suspect, Bala Hamisu (a.k.a.Wadume) in Jalingo, Taraba State in August, 2019 were not arraigned in the Federal High Court even though a charge was filed against them by the police.  
"In fact, the case was discontinued against them by the Attorney-General of the Federation in a purported exercise of his powers under section 174 of the Constitution. It has been confirmed that Wadume one of the terror suspects who escaped from Kuje Correctional Centre last week. 
"During his own visit to the facility last Thursday, the Minister of Interior, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola noted that Nigeria was experiencing asymmetric warfare and that the insurgents have been degraded in the North-East. The Minister further said that “We have 61,000 of them in our custody in the North-East; the result of the effectiveness itself in degrading them in the North-East is what we are experiencing.” 
"It is common knowledge that majority of the detainees have been detained for over 10 years. Since terrorism is said to be a federal offence the Governors of the North-East region have requested for the fiat of the Attorney-General of the Federation to have the suspects tried by the respective State Ministries of Justice. But for some inexplicable reasons, Mr. Malami SAN turned down the request. Hence, the suspects have been abandoned in prolonged detention. 
"In view of the foregoing, we are compelled to call on the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami SAN to ensure that the indicted sponsors of terrorism and terror suspects are charged before the Federal High Court. 
"We also call on the members of the National Assembly who have been appropriating fund for the prosecution of terror suspects to monitor the prosecution of the indicted terror suspects."

 

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Sule Lamido

The former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, has said that Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State is like a boiling pot that when it overboils, will spill over and mess up the body of the pot.  
Lamido said while those who love Wike are making sure they remove the log which is aiding the fire, others who feel they love him (Wike) are the ones adding the log to the fire. 

Sule Lamido
The former governor who said this in an exclusive interview with Sunday PUNCH, described Wike as currently surrounded by ranting and raving people who are trying to cry more than the bereaved, 'whereas they cannot take him around Nigeria and support him to win the election'.
He asked why those who are ruling up Governor Wike could not sell him during the party’s primary elections.
Asked if Wike’s silence since the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar rejected him (Wike) from being his running mate is not suspicious, seeing that he is free to talk to the opposition parties, Lamido said, “No, no, no, he’s angry; he’s just like a boiling pot. When the pot overboils, it will spill over. And what will happen? It will mess up the body of the pot.
“Now, for those who love Wike, people like me, we should make sure we remove the log from under the pot which is the fire. When that is done, the temperature of the pot will come down first. 
“But then, people around him are the ones adding the log into the fire because, naturally, with that kind of temperature, it will spill over. But then, in doing so, he is also messing up the body of the pot. I think the problem is not about Wike; it is about those who are trying to cry more than the bereaved. 
“And for people who think that they love and like Wike more than we do, beyond these emotional things, what can they do? Can any of them, Ayo Fayose and (Samuel) Ortom, take him (Wike) around Nigeria and support him to win the election, can they? 
“Even Atiku (Abubakar) cannot win the election (alone), it has to be the Nigerian PDP members who will go and tell Nigerians that they have the best candidate, to vote for him, we have to all come on board. But when you take a personal position and you say, Mr A must do this, can those saying that sell anybody? If they can, why didn’t they sell him during the primary?”
On why it has been difficult for Atiku and the leadership of the PDP to reach and pacify Governor Wike, the ex-governor said, “There is wisdom in life. We’ve been through it. I am a former governor, so I know the psychology of serving governors because I was once one. 
“We are waiting for those who have monopolised the political space around him to finish ranting and raving. The space is now totally being occupied by those holding political positions given to them by the PDP, so it is not them talking, it is the office talking. 
“All these people talking, it’s not them, it is the office; remove the office, (and) they’ll be like Sule Lamido, a former governor. We are now saying that we will take it easy by allowing the pot to cool down and then you’ll find out that it is we who love the PDP most. And even though we have been seen against Wike, ultimately, you’ll see that it is we who love Wike.”


 

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The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has accused the Nigerian Government of planning to use personnel of the Department of State Services (DSS) to attack its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who is being held in DSS custody in Abuja.

The IPOB said the Nigerian government in collaboration with the United Kingdom plans to  attack Kanu “due to their disdain for allowing Indigenous People across the world to enjoy freedom such as the British enjoy Brexit from the European Union.”

The secessionist group which made the allegation in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, said that the two governments see Kanu “as a stumbling block from their modern-day oppressive tendencies and therefore want him dead.

The group alleged they made several unsuccessful attempts in Afaraukwu, Abia State, Nigeria; London, UK; USA; Kenya and even in Abuja, Nigeria's capital to kill Kanu.

The group described the recent attack on Kuje prison by terrorists as a test of what the Nigerian government is planning to use DSS officers to do to Kanu, saying, “This latest plan was conceived and planned by Fulani caliphate and some Fulani governors in the North, some of whom are (Nasir) El-Rufai of Kaduna State, Governor Umar Ganduje of Kano, Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina and Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto, jointly adopted by the Government headed in Nigeria by Catriona Liang (British High Commissioner/Nigeria Government supervisor).”

In the statement sent to SaharaReporters, IPOB said, “We the global movement and family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) under the command and leadership of our great leader Mazi Nnamdi KANU wish to reiterate our earlier emphasis over intended make-believe plan to attack DSS facility Abuja by already drawn up stunt actors (DSS agents) at the very location where our leader Mazi Nnamdi is held incarcerated haven successfully tested with Kuje prison without consequences.

“The plan was hatched by the Nigeria Government with strategic and tactical input from the UK Government, the reason for UK and Nigeria alliance in such cowardice and evil plan is due to their disdain for allowing Indigenous People across the world to enjoy freedom such as the British enjoy Brexit from the EUROPEAN Union.

“This alliance perceives Mazi Nnamdi KANU as a stumbling block from their modern-day oppressive tendencies, therefore, wants him dead haven tried several unsuccessful attempts in Afaraukwu, London, USA, Kenya and even in Abuja for which Chukwu Okike Abiama had always proven himself. IPOB intelligence unit, the M.Branch intercepted this purported plan by Britain and Nigeria to stop Biafra agitation and freedom from Nigeria and Nigeria its allies have decided to replicate what they did in 1967-1970 and still on the way to do it again against the innocent citizens of Biafra. The world should take note. 

“The world should take note because if anything untoward happens to our leader Mazi Nnamdi (The leader of over 75 Million of fanatical lovers of Biafra freedom), in DSS custody nobody should blame IPOB for inevitable and uncontrollable boundless calamitous consequences that would befall to whom it may not concern, know it that your silence or accomplices hardens our conscience towards the pursuit of this great nation called Biafra. IPOB needs unconditional release of our Leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu because there is no prison in the South that is safe for him, therefore we still need him released unconditionally to avoid dangerous terms IPOB may take against Nigeria.” 

IPOB noted that there have been several jailbreaks in the country since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power in 2015 but nothing has been done about them.

“There are many jailbreaks in Nigeria since Buhari and his APC party took over power and nothing was done or checked out the cause of these prison breaks. The number of prison breaks was so alarming and therefore no country in the world experienced the kind of jailbreaks in history." 

The group noted, “This latest plan was conceived and planned by Fulani caliphate and some Fulani Governors in the North some of whom are El-Rufai of Kaduna State, Governor Umar Ganduje of Kano, Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina and Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto states, jointly adopted by the Government headed in Nigeria by Catriona Liang (British High Commissioner/Nigeria Government supervisor). We warn that such cowardice plan be dropped, having been exposed to the public. 

“It is not our business that the notorious FBI most wanted super-criminal cop Abba Kyari was among major reasons for the "Kuje prison break" and has been whisked to Ghana, as at now, and we demand IPOB member's corpse in Kuje be released to us for proper funeral.

“IPOB leadership works day and night to ensure that Biafra freedom is totally achieved. Mazi Nnamdi Okwuchukwu Kanu is a gentle, disciplined and peaceful leader compared to most of the characters being led, therefore we caution again that the hashed plans to tamper with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu's life be nullified immediately. 

“Haven lost confidence in Terrorists dominated security of Nigeria, the last thing we must never hear or condole is planned attempt on our leader's life, such attempt would never bear good fruit as teeming supporters and lovers of MNK and Biafra struggle in over 108 countries prefer to die for Kanu, a situation Nigeria can never survive from. 

“We urge the British Government to jettison pretence and direct the Nigeria Government and to release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally or send back to the UK where he lives, let him be returned back to Amaechi Mbazuruike or Professor George Obiozor for his safety. 

“Britain must realize that we sincerely had never written nor taken our campaign to Russia, formally informing them that it finances Ukrainian war weapons from resources stolen from Biafra through British aided Nigeria Military occupation and media controlled massacre of our people. Boris Johnson and Buhari the (impostor) at CHOGBM in Kigali Rwanda never agreed to free the Innocent man Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and Igbos continue to question why the British have eternal hatred for them.”

 

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