The Northern Elders Forum has said ordinary Nigerians do not care about religion.
It only becomes a factor during elections, the group added.

The spokesperson for the NEF, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed during an interview on Channels TV on Tuesday, monitored by SaharaReporters, accused politicians of playing games with the faith of the people.
Who emerges the running mate to the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has been a major subject of discourse in the country.
There have been arguments and counterarguments over whether Tinubu, a Muslim, can pick another Muslim as his running mate, especially as the party has zoned its vice-presidential ticket to the Muslim-dominated North.
“Ordinary Nigerians don’t care. The politicians are playing a game with the faith, intelligence and future of our people.
“It becomes a factor only during elections,” Baba-Ahmed said.
He said most of the attacks happening in Nigeria have nothing to do with religion.
“We have had situations where people have been vulnerable and they have been attacked; all those have nothing to do with faith. Will those attacks seize because somebody of a particular faith is the Vice President or President?” he asked.
“This is a game that’s being played by an elite that has to identify faith as a decisive weapon for fighting each other. The pregnant lady who died with four children in the South-East, who was slaughtered, she didn’t die because (President Muhammadu) Buhari is the president. Maybe the people who killed her then just killed her.”
Baba-Ahmed said if religion is a dominant factor in the country, adherents of the two prominent religions – Christians and Muslims – will be fighting each other every day.
He said, “If religion was such a dominant factor in terms of how Muslims and Christians live all the time, we will be fighting each other every single day. We will be fighting over ‘I didn’t get anything because I’m a Muslim.’”
He said the clashes that happen in the country are sometimes “between communities that are entirely Christians or sometimes Muslims”.
“Sometimes in a few instances, like we have seen in the last few years in Adamawa, Gombe and Bauchi, they involve Muslims and Christians. If you go down to the bottom of it, there’s nothing to do with the church or the mosque; it has to do with some communal issues,” he said.
According to him, Nigerians are wiser now “as they have learnt terrible lessons from recent leaders who might have benefited from religious politics”.
He said, “I’m telling you, ordinary Nigerians do not consider the faith of leaders now as central to the way they exist. We have been taught some terrible lessons from recent leaders who may have benefitted from religious politics but have abandoned the people with who they share the same faith, I think people are wiser now.
“The north doesn’t belong to Muslims, it belongs to Muslims and Christians and if a political party is willing to field a northerner because he believes he’s the most competent person to get a ticket, then why not.
“In Kaduna state, which had a governor who won and the Christian population is in the minority. Late (Patrick Ibrahim) Yakowa, he was voted as a governor, he was from Southern Kaduna, he became a governor, he died in a plane accident and Kaduna is the frontline for all, no religious conflict that we had.”
“I haven’t seen anybody that said I got an advantage as a Christian because I have a senior pastor in the Redeemed Church who’s a Vice President of Nigeria,” he added.

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The Anambra State Police Command on Tuesday confirmed that its operatives killed one of the armed robbers operating along Ogidi-Oraukwu Road in the Idemili North Local Government Area of the state.
 
The police command also said its personnel recovered one AK-47 rifle and six rounds of live ammunition from the robbers.

According to a police report made available to SaharaReporters, the incident occurred at about 1:05 pm when police operatives on patrol around the area engaged the armed robbery gang numbering four in a gun duel.
 
The criminals were reportedly operating with a white Toyota Hilux van without a registration number.
They attempted to dispossess motorists and their passengers of their valuables when the security operatives countered them, leading to a heavy gun duel, the police added.
 
The statement by the police said unfortunately for the robbers, the police personnel overwhelmed them, killing one while the other three fled with bullet wounds. 
The statement from the spokesperson for the state police command, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, said, “The Anambra State Police Operatives today 14/6/2022 at about 1:05 pm on patrol demobilized one out of four armed robbery gang operating along Ogidi/Oraukwu Road, recover one Ak-47 and six rounds of live ammunition.
 
“The Police Operatives engaged the armed robbers operating in white hilux without registration number, attempted to dispossess motorists and their passengers of their belongings. Due to the superior fire of the Police, the robbers fled the scene with the white hilux.
 
“Meanwhile operation is still ongoing in the area. Further details shall be communicated please.”

Activities of armed men terrorising Anambra and other states in the South-East have been on the steady rise, with members of the public being kidnapped, killed, and maimed.

Property worth millions of naira is also destroyed on a regular basis. 

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Governor Wike

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has reportedly beaten Ifeanyi Okowa, his Delta state counterpart in the contest to emerge as the running mate to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar.
However, Wike allegedly bribed the PDP panel members and some members of the National Working Committee of the party with $5 million (N2.1 billion at the official exchange rates) to beat Okowa.

Governor Wike
The party’s National Advisory Committee had been given the task of picking the vice-presidential candidate of the PDP by the National Chairman of the party, Senator Iyorchia Ayu.
The committee was chaired by the Deputy National Chairman (North) of the PDP, Amb. Umar Iliya Damagum while its inauguration took place earlier on Tuesday at NWC Hall, National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, Wuse Zone 5, in Abuja.
Wike had 16 votes to Okowa’s 3 votes, making the Rivers governor the winner of the contest.
But sources told SaharaReporters on Tuesday that Wike doled out $5 million and promised to pay N10,000 for each vote cast for the party in the 2023 presidential election.
“The panel was set up by the chairman and members of NWC of PDP to choose and recommend a running mate to Atiku Abubakar.
“The panel has recommended that Governor Wike should be appointed by Atiku Abubakar as his running mate. This is because of over $5 million that Governor Wike doled out to them and he promised to use Rivers State funds to buy one vote for N10,000 nationwide during 2023 general elections,” one of the sources alleged.
Another source who lamented that the PDP is desperate ahead of the next general elections, said, “The question on the lips of every Nigerian is why are PDP and Governor Wike very desperate to buy Nigeria off and return Nigeria to darker and worse ages and time?
“Atiku Abubakar will name Governor Wike ad his running mate any moment from now. lt appears that Atiku Abubakar, PDP NWC and the panel members that nominated and recommended Governor Wike to be Atiku's running mate are in a conspiracy together.
“Nigerians will surely reject the desperadoes in the 2023 Presidential election.”
Some southeasterners had hoped that the region would produce the running mate to Atiku after it lost out on producing the presidential candidate of the PDP or the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

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A high court in Maiduguri, Borno state capital, has sentenced Aisha Alkali Wakil, aka Mama Boko Haram, to five years imprisonment for fraud without the option of a fine.
 
Mama Boko Haram was jailed alongside Tahiru Saidu Daura and Prince Lawal Shoyode, following their prosecution by the Maiduguri Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The trial commenced in September 2020.

The EFCC had accused the defendants of conspiring and falsely presenting to one Mohammad Umar Mohammed, purported contracts for installation and servicing of 10 pieces of Chison 600A, 2009 version deluxe ultrasound system and the supply of white beans through their non-governmental organisation, Complete Care and Aid Foundation.
 
Count five of the charge against the convicts read: “That you, Aisha Alkali Wakil, Tahiru Saidu Daura, and Prince Shoyade, whilst being chief executive officer, programme manager and country director respectively of Complete Care and Aid Foundation (a non-governmental organisation) and Saidu Muktar (now at large) sometime in October 2018 at Maiduguri, Borno State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court with intent to defraud, induced one Mohammed Umar Mohammed of Nyeuro International Limited to deliver to you 3,000 (three thousand) bags of 50kg white beans worth N65,000,000.00 (Sixty Five Million Naira) under the guise of executing a purported contract of supply of the said beans which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 320(a) and punishable under Section 322 of the Borno State Penal Code Laws Cap 102.”
 
They had pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Benjamin Manji, the prosecution counsel had applied for a trial date and prayed the court to remand the defendants to the Nigerian Correctional Centre pending the determination of the case.
 
In the course of the trial, the prosecution counsel, Mukhtar Ali Ahmed, had presented four witnesses and tendered several documents which were admitted as exhibits, PM News reports.
 
However, delivering judgement on Tuesday, Justice Aisha Kumaliya of the Borno State High Court ruled that the prosecution had proved the case against the defendants and consequently pronounced them guilty as charged.
 
The judge sentenced them to five years imprisonment without the option of paying a fine.
 
The Judge also ordered the convicts to pay the sum of N30,500.000 as compensation to the victim, noting that they shall serve an additional ten-year prison term in default.

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Illustration

Justice Adekunle Adeyeye of Ado-Ekiti High Court has convicted and sentenced 30-year-old Shola Oguntuase to life imprisonment for defiling a 14-year-old Junior Secondary School student.
 
Delivering judgement on the one count preferred against the convict, Justice Adeyeye held that the prosecution proved its case beyond all reasonable doubts, hence, his conviction to life imprisonment.

Illustration

In the ruling, the court held that there is “no doubt that the prosecution established beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant raped the victim.
 
“The defendant is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment."
 
Vanguard News reported that the prosecution counsel, Mr Marcus Olowoyo, had earlier during the trial, told the court that Oguntuase defiled the minor on July 7, 2020, at Ire- Ekiti in the Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State.
 
Olowoyo, in proving his case, presented the victim’s statement to the police before the court as evidence.
 
The prosecutor further called four witnesses and tendered medical reports as exhibits before the court to prove her case of rape.
 
However, the defence counsel Mr Rotimi Adabembe called no witnesses.

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The Acting Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Chukwuyere Anamekwe, has decried Nigeria’s dwindling economic fortune, saying the country has to borrow to pay workers’ salaries and wages and finance the budget shortfall.
 
Anamekwe said the current economic situation in the country is evidence that the country is facing a huge financial crisis, The Sun reports.

Speaking at a retreat organised on Tuesday, by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation for members of the Technical Sub-committee On Cash Management (TSCM), he said serious efforts must be made to revert the trend through fiscal discipline, economic diversification, boosting export, and plugging revenue leakages, among others.
 
With the theme: “Enthroning fiscal discipline in Nigeria’s public Financial management: A Clarion Call to Stakeholders," the acting AGF lamented that insecurity across the country has increased the government expenditure.
 
He said, “We have to borrow to augment payment of salaries and wages. This shows we are in very difficult times. Government income is highly challenged.
 
“The theme and objective of the retreat couldn’t have been better captioned, given the fiscal challenges at the moment. Records available indicate that due to dwindling revenues, the Treasury had to resort to other sources in order to augment the payment of Federal Government public servants!
 
“There is an increase in government expenditure due to increasing security challenges and social needs of the citizenry."
 
He noted that the myriads of socio-economic challenges call for an articulated deployment of fiscal discipline and strategies that will help mitigate them.
 
“Now that these challenges stare us in the face, you are all expected at this gathering to come out with ideas that will push us through.
 
“Therefore, we must all, at this retreat strive towards identifying the challenges to revenue generation and other means of enhancing inflow into Federal Government coffers; ensuring the cutting down the cost of governance in the most acceptable way and ensuring synergy amongst and within stakeholders in the sub-committee,” he added.
 
Anamekwe also charged the sub-committee to ensure that it gives quality and profitable advice to the Federal Cash Management Committee.
 
While commending the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, for her consistent support in approving them, he noted that the gesture has continued to help in improving the capacities of members and stakeholders; thereby getting them more acquainted with Nigeria’s fiscal challenges and other cash management related matters.
 
He urged the attendees to ensure that the event helps in the advancement of the desired recovery strategies since it has become a veritable tool providing the needed platform for sharing quality information and knowledge that help to keep public servants abreast with public financial management reforms; managing fiscal challenges, evolving effective and efficient cash management tool, among others.
 

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An Islamic preacher from northern Nigeria has warned against pairing the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu with a Christian from the northern region as his running mate ahead of the 2023 general elections.

The preacher and some others like him have threatened to mobilise Muslims to reject Tinubu and the APC during the forthcoming presidential election.

In a viral video, Sheikh Ibrahim Aliyu Kaduna accused northern governors of trading the destiny of northern Muslims for a sick candidate's money.
 
He said, "Northern governors, especially Muslims amongst you are treacherous because you've sold our destiny; and God will punish you for that.
 
"You set aside a critical Islamic requirement because the first criterion for choosing a leader in Islam is that the person must be healthy and physically fit.”
 
"Now your second error will be to pair him (Tinubu) with a Christian from our region. This will be disastrous because we would mobilise the people to reject the ticket at the polling units," he added.

Similarly, after congratulating Tinubu for emerging as the APC presidential candidate, a radical Muslim who identified himself as Aminu Jetaun, cautioned him against considering a northern Christian as his running mate.

He said, "You, Tinubu, make no mistake about this; do not pick a Christian as your running mate because we've yet to completely trust your own version of Islam."

The issue has been a major subject of discourse since the election of Tinubu as the APC presidential candidate. It has dominated sermons in many mosques in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.
 
Our correspondent observed that some clerics have been urging their congregants and indeed Muslim faithful to reject the APC if Tinubu is paired with a Christian from the region.

This comes as Christian leaders in the region are mobilising against a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket.

SaharaReporters earlier reported on Tuesday that the ruling APC may force a Muslim-Muslim ticket on Nigerians as Tinubu’s camp narrows down to Kashim Shettima, a former governor of Borno, to be his running mate.
 

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The national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Iyorchia Ayu, says the party will announce the running mate for Atiku Abubakar, the party’s presidential candidate by Friday.
 
The party's chairman spoke on Tuesday at a meeting with members of the party's consultative committee set up to assist Atiku in choosing a running mate.

He said Atiku didn’t consult widely before picking his running mate in the 2019 presidential election, Peter Obi.

Obi’s choice was rejected by some top PDP members, including Ebonyi State governor, Dave Umahi and the PDP later lost the election to President Muhammadu Buhari, who secured the second term in office.

Obi is the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) for the 2023 general elections.

According to him, Atiku's running mate will be someone Nigerians can relate well with and vote into office.
 
Ayu added that the meeting was in furtherance of consultations aimed at arriving at a choice that Nigerians would be glad to elect into office.
 
He said: "The presidential candidate of our party would have been here, but this morning he suddenly dashed somewhere.
 
“He apologised and if he comes early, he will join us. But we will go ahead with the assignment he has given us.
 
“The candidate wrote to us, as the administrative arm of the party, on the choice of his running mate.
 
“Various organs of the party are well represented in his committee —NWC, Governors Forum, National Assembly, former governors which have put forward their candidate. This deliberation will be chaired by my able Deputy, Ambassador Umaru Damagum.
 
“I wish you a successful deliberation and I hope you come up with a conclusion between tomorrow and Friday.
 
“Our presidential candidate, this time, has decided to carry everybody along unlike 2019 when he didn’t consult widely in his choice of running mate.”
 
The Independent National Electoral Commission had earlier given all political parties till Friday to submit the names of their presidential candidates and their running mates.
 

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The abducted Anglican Communion Bishop of Jebba Diocese, Rt Rev Oluwaseun Aderogba and his wife have been freed by suspected terrorists on Tuesday, about 48 hours after they were kidnapped by suspected terrorists.
The Diocese of Osun Anglican Communion -@anglicanosun- disclosed this on its Twitter handle, stating that the victims were being taken to the hospital for medical attention.

“Praise be to God. Bishop Adeyinka Aderogba, his wife and driver were released from the den of kidnappers after 48 hours.
"They are being taken to the hospital for medical attention,” the church said.
However, it is not clear if any ransom was paid to secure the release of the bishop, his wife and the driver.
SaharaReporters had reported that the bishop and his wife were kidnapped by terrorists on Sunday evening along Ogbomoso-Oyo Road.
The Bishop’s Chaplain who was with the victims narrated how he escaped from the ambush.
He said, “We were travelling from Jebba to Oyo, when it was a few kilometres to Oyo, our vehicle developed a fault. My Lord bishop called the Lord bishop of Oyo Bishop Aladekugbe for help.
“However, before help could come, some armed men surrounded and ordered them into the bush. I was lucky. They didn’t see me because of my black cassock.
“I fell flat on my belly to hide myself while they marched my bishop and wife deep into the forest," he added.

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Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity says his principal takes decisions without consulting with the so-called Aso Rock (Presidency) cabal.
He noted this in a statement issued on Tuesday while reacting to last week’s primary elections of the All Progressives Congress.

Shehu said the outcome of the primary election shows Buhari is committed to democratic principles by not imposing any candidate.
He also said the election has proven the various speculations about the president being at loggerheads with the winner of the presidential primaries, Bola Tinubu and other APC stalwarts are untrue.
“Those still assailing the APC and the President expounding conspiracy theories and making all manner of speculations about who did what or did not need to understand the important point about the country’s leader: President Buhari takes his own decisions and carries them out without the backup of a so-called “cabal” or back room boys," he said.
“The strong leader myth in Nigeria has lasted far too long. People make assumptions that if you are a leader, you dominate everything, and even determine electoral outcomes.
“Luckily for Nigeria, President Buhari does not suffer from such constraints. He refuses to act as the elected autocrat.
“The President had a clear purpose leading up to the primary: to ensure a transparent, free and fair process that will bring back people’s faith in democracy by taking good governance up to the grassroots level.
“By this alone, people’s faith and that of the international community in our democracy has received a major boost since the completion of the APC nomination.
"The flagbearer has been chosen. He has the President’s unwavering support. The journey to victory continues."
Ahead of the APC National Convention, SaharaReporters has previously reported how the Aso Rock cabal pushed for former President Goodluck Jonathan to be the consensus candidate of the party.
When the plot failed, there were reports that the cabal subsequently moved to ensure the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan would emerge as the presidential candidate of the party.
And indeed, shortly before the convention commenced, the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Adamu, announced Lawan as the party’s consensus candidate, saying he had had a consultation with Buhari.
Buhari, however, swiftly denied picking any aspirant as the consensus candidate of the party.

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File photo used to illustrate story.

A Twitter user, identified as Ameerah Sufyan has narrated how she was kidnapped along with 16 others in Abuja by unknown gunmen in police uniform on Tuesday.
Ameerah disclosed that the gunmen were six in number – four Yoruba and two Fulani. She said among the abductees were three pregnant women and two children.

File photo used to illustrate story.

She tweeted, "Please whoever has my WhatsApp number I sent a broadcast message of my location, we were abducted at gunpoint by ppl with police uniforms and a van from our houses from different parts of abuja, we’re 17 including 3 pregnant women and two little kids, they didn’t see my phone.
"They’re 4 yoruba and two fulani men. They divided us up an hour ago we’re 7 here. The other vehicle they said they will reach Ilorin and ours will reach ibadan or ikeja as they said."
When SaharaReporters contacted CSP Muyiwa Adejobi, Nigeria Police Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO) on the issue, he said he was not aware of the incident.
SaharaReporters had reported that Ogun State Police Command confirmed the abduction of two Christian worshippers at Celestial Church of Christ, Oshofa Parish at Wasimi, Ewekoro Local Government Area of the state during a vigil on Tuesday.
According to the spokesperson for the state police command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, suspected terrorists attacked the church and abducted two worshippers identified as Oluwaseun Ajose, an Assistant Shepherd of the parish, and Dagunro Ayobami, who was said to be a Sunday School teacher.

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The United Kingdom’s first flight which was planned to take asylum seekers to Rwanda has been scheduled to depart on Tuesday.

The UK government, however, warned against last-minute legal challenges.

This was stated by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Sky News reports.

She said, “We are expecting to send the flight later today. I can’t say exactly how many people will be on the flight. But the really important thing is that we establish the principle.

“There will be people on this flight and if they are not on this flight, they will be on the next flight because we are determined to break the model of the appalling people traffickers.’’

In April, both countries signed a controversial immigration deal to take those who enter the UK illegally to the eastern African state. It was gathered that the estimate of the Bilateral agreement between the two nations was a 120-million-pound (148 million dollars) deal.

The UK paid Rwanda $158 million upfront.

Additional payments based on the number of people deported are expected to follow.

The British government explained that the policy was necessary to curb the cycle of migrants risking their lives in Channel crossings. It said it would also smash the people-smuggling networks.

But this policy has generated lots of controversies and criticisms from political opponents, charities and church leaders who have described it as inhumane.

The most notable one was when the United Nations’ refugee chief called it “catastrophic”.

The leadership of the Church of England denounced it as an “immoral policy that shames Britain”.

Also, human rights groups said the policy would put migrants at risk.

The UNHCR equally stated that Rwanda, with a human rights record under scrutiny, does not have the capacity to process the claims, and there was a risk that some migrants could be returned to countries from which they had fled.

The courts have thrown out last-ditch bids by human rights groups and campaigners to halt the first flight, but London’s High Court was set to hear further cases before it departs on Tuesday evening.

Due to the ongoing trial on the matter, at least three High Court appeals were still to be heard. Only a few people are now registered to leave on that first plane.

Some 37 individuals had been scheduled to be removed, which charities said included people fleeing Afghanistan and Syria as well as Iran and Iraq.

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Following the abduction of the former Chief Medical Director of the Abia State University Teaching Hospital, Professor Uwadinachi Iweha, the branch of the Nigerian Medical Association in the state has declared an industrial action.

The medical doctors said the strike will go on until Dr. Iweha is released.

The state chairman of NMA, Dr. Chimezie Okwuonu, who announced the strike after a prayer session, said this was to press home their demand for the state and federal governments to ensure the release of their senior colleague.
 
SaharaReporters had reported that Prof. Iweha was abducted on Sunday, June 6, 2022, in front of his country home while returning from a church service.
 
But declaring the industrial action, the NMA Chairman said shortly after he was abducted, his family was contacted but regretted that since Monday, the next day, "nothing has been heard from them".
 
Okwuonu stated that the withdrawal of medical services in Abia State will affect public and private health facilities.
He, however, noted that emergency services would be maintained.
"With this kidnap and continued detention of Prof. Iweha, we are not sure of our safety. With this, our safety cannot be guaranteed and difficult for us to work.
"We still plead with the state and the federal government to ensure Prof. Iweha is released," he said.
 
Reacting, the Medical Director, Federal Medical Center, Umuahia, Prof. Azubuike Onyebuchi described the abduction of Dr. Iweha as painful.
 
He, however, lamented the impact of the strike action on patients, saying "most patients cannot afford the exorbitant cost of private clinics."
 
He advised the doctors to think about the impact of their actions on the poor patients and to work with security agencies to ensure the release of their colleagues.
 

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Malawian President, Lazarus Chakwera has cancelled two international meetings in June, saving K268 million (N109 million at official rates) in line with the expenditure control measures he announced on 31st May 2022.
 
According to Malawi24, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nancy Tembo disclosed this while addressing journalists on Sunday.

The meetings Chakwera has decided to skip are OPEC Fund Development Forum in Vienna, Austria and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, also known as CHOGM 2022, in Kigali, Rwanda.
 
Both meetings are taking place in June.
 
Meanwhile, his Minister for Energy, Ibrahim Matola and Minister of Water and Sanitation, Abida Mia will represent him at the OPEC meeting and the host of the meeting will fund the trip.
 
Minister of Foreign Affairs Nancy Tembo will also represent the President at CHOGM meeting.
 
Speaking also, Finance Minister, Sosten Gwengwe said K268 million will be saved as a result of Chakwera’s decision not to attend the OPEC Fund Development Forum and Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings respectively.
 
Gwengwe said fiscal consolidation is key to making sure expenditure is tightly controlled.
 
According to Gwengwe, the government has not banned foreign trips but public officers are restricted to only essential trips.
 
However, despite being broke, his Nigerian counterpart, Muhammadu Buhari has been junketing across the world in the last three months even though Nigeria is broke.
 
On June 1, 2022, the Nigerian President left for Madrid, Spain, on a State Visit at the invitation of the Spanish President, Pedro Sanchez.
 
Then on May 26, he travelled to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, to participate in the African Union Extra-ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government
 
Buhari also in May 2022 travelled to United Arab Emirates, UAE, on a condolence visit to the new President of the country, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
 
The President on May 9 led an eight-man Nigerian delegation to Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, to attend a two-day United Nations organised conference on the future of land, regarding desertification, drought, degradation, rights, restoration and implications for national and world economies.
 
He was on March 1, 2022, in Kenya for the Special Session of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP@50).
 
Two days after returning to Nigeria from Kenya, Buhari left the country for his routine medical trip to London, United Kingdom.
 
His ministers had at various times said Nigeria is broke and has been borrowing to fund its budgets and relying on loans to pay salaries.
 
For example, Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr Chris Ngige, while doctors were on strike over poor allowance, had in September 2021 confirmed that the Nigerian government under President Buhari borrowed funds from international sources to pay the salaries of workers because of a shortfall in the country’s revenue.
 
Ngige had said the government took borrowed funds from foreign institutions like the World Bank to offset some recurrent expenditures.
 
Also, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, had in April 2021 admitted that Nigeria’s economy was facing a difficult time, saying borrowing was inevitable.
 
She had said, “We have very low revenues, we have very high expenditures. What we have done so far is just to provide some stability to make sure salaries are paid, pensions are received every month; that we send funds to the judiciary and the legislature; that we meet our debt service obligations.
 
“That’s what we are doing. It also means we have had to borrow more than we had planned before the COVID-19 started because we need to still continue to invest in infrastructure using our national budget. We borrowed to invest in key projects such as roads, rail, airports, seaports and several other investments that are required in health and in education and upgrading the social standards and quality of life of our people and Nigeria is not unique as several countries of the world went into recession.
 
“Almost every other country has had to borrow more than it planned. It means we expanded our deficit very fast in 2020. 2021 is a year that we see as the year of recovery.
 
 “So, FAAC reduces and whenever FAAC reduces, it is a very difficult situation and in the past one year, we have tried to fall back on some specific accounts that are meant to be saved; savings that when you have such a situation, you fall back on the resources and augment.
 
“So, we take funds based on Mr President’s approval either from Excess Crude or Stabilisation Account or in some cases, President approved for us to take funds from LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) dividends. In the month of March, we had a shortfall of FAAC that was about N50 billion; we didn’t have enough accrued in any of those accounts other than some N8.5 billion that we took from the exchange rate differential account so we added that and we ended up with the FAAC of N605 billion.”
 
Nigeria’s dwindling finances have also come under intense pressure as the Buhari-led government has been amassing foreign loans.

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The leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has stated that the ongoing war in Ukraine, along with other conflicts around the globe, means 'World War III has been declared.'

The Pope noted that the human race has seen three world wars in a century. This, he said, is a 'calamity' for humanity.

Pope Francis also noted that Russian President, Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine was 'perhaps in some way provoked' by NATO.
 
Daily Mail reports that the cleric, who denied being 'pro-Putin,' said Russian troops were brutal, cruel and ferocious.
He, however, praised the bravery of Ukrainian soldiers who have been fighting for their country's survival since the invasion began in February.
 
He also decried Russia's 'monstrous' use of mercenaries from Chechnya and Syria - which have been drafted in by the Kremlin to bolster its faltering war efforts - and criticised the global arms trade.
 
This revelation was made in the text of a conversation he had last month with editors of Jesuit media and published on Tuesday, saying that the situation was not black and white.
 
He said, "We see what is happening now in Ukraine in a certain way because it is closer to us and pricks our sensibilities more.
 
"But there are other countries far away - think of some parts of Africa, northern Nigeria, northern Congo - where war is ongoing and nobody cares. Think of Rwanda 25 years ago. Think of Myanmar and the Rohingya. The world is at war.
 
"A few years ago, it occurred to me to say that we are experiencing a third world war fought piecemeal. Today, for me, World War III has been declared,' he said, according to the transcript of the conversation, published in English by Vatican News.
 
"This is something that should give us pause for thought. What is happening to humanity that has had three world wars in a century? I experienced the first war through the memory of my grandfather on the Piave River.
 
"Then the second and now the third. And this is bad for humanity, a calamity. You have to think that in a century there have been three world wars, with all the arms trade behind it!" the Pope said in his comments last month.
 
While condemning "the ferocity, the cruelty of Russian troops”, Pope Francis said the world must not forget the real problems if it wants them to be solved.
 
"It is also true that the Russians thought it would all be over in a week. But they miscalculated. They encountered a brave people, a people who are struggling to survive and who have a history of struggle,” he said.   
 
"This is what moves us: to see such heroism. I would really like to emphasize this point, the heroism of the Ukrainian people. What is before our eyes is a situation of world war, global interests, arms sales and geopolitical appropriation, which is martyring a heroic people," he said.
 
According to the report, Francis said that several months before President Putin sent his forces into Ukraine, the pontiff had met with a head of state who expressed concern that NATO was 'barking at the gates of Russia' in a way that could lead to war.
 
"We do not see the whole drama unfolding behind this war, which was perhaps somehow either provoked or not prevented," he also noted.
 
Asking himself rhetorically if that made him 'pro-Putin,' he said: "No, I am not. It would be simplistic and wrong to say such a thing. I am simply opposed to reducing complexity to distinction between good and bad."
 
In his comments, Francis also noted Russia's 'monstrous' use of Chechen and Syrian mercenaries in Ukraine.
 
"What we are seeing is the brutality and ferocity with which this war is being carried out by the troops, generally mercenaries, used by the Russians,” he said. “In reality, the Russians prefer to send forward Chechens, Syrians, mercenaries.”
 
"I hoped to meet Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill at an inter-religious event in Kazakhstan in September."
The two had been due to meet in Jerusalem in June but that trip was cancelled because of the war.
 
Kirill, who is close to Putin, has given the war in Ukraine his full-throated backing. Francis said last month that Kirill could not become 'Putin's altar boy', prompting a protest from the Russian Orthodox Church.
 
In the conversation with the Jesuits, Francis said he had told Kirill during a video call in March: 'Brother, we are not clerics of the state, we are pastors of the people'.
 
In another message published on Tuesday, Francis said the invasion of Ukraine is a violation of a country's right to self-determination.
 
The pope spoke of the war in Ukraine in a message for the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of the Poor, which will be marked in November.

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Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, has convicted and sentenced one Adekunle Abiodun Aderibigbe to two years in prison for internet fraud.
 
The operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Lagos Command had earlier arrested Aderibigbe, who had been on the watch list of the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), for internet fraud.

A spokesman for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, who announced the conviction of Aderibigbe on the anti-graft agency’s official Twitter handle - @officialEFCC, stated that the convict is a member of a syndicate operating in the United States.

According to him, the syndicate specialises in stealing.
 
The tweet read, "Aderibigbe, a member of a syndicate operating in the United States, specialises in stealing of United States citizens' data to obtain fraudulent tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service, IRS.
 
"The defendant, alongside other members of the syndicate, perpetrated the fraud through the help of one Curtis Betley serving a jail term in the U.S. to steal the identities of American nationals and use the same to file over 255 fraudulent tax fund returns with the IRS, making over $1.6million.
 
"The EFCC, acting on the FBI report and after diligent investigation, arrested Aderibigbe."

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One of the drillers who allegedly caused the raging fire at Caritas University, Amorji-Nike, Enugu, has reportedly died, SaharaReporters learnt on Tuesday.

The fire, which started on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, is suspected to be fuelled by methane gas.

When SaharaReporters visited the site on Tuesday morning, the fire was still raging, meaning it has raged non-stop for 21 days despite efforts to put it out.

Sources told SaharaReporters that even though over 12 tanks of water with four drums of chemicals had been used, the fire continued to rage. 

One of the sources said, “The unfortunate thing is that this fire has claimed one life now. I was here a few days ago when one of the drillers came and told me that the guy who ignited the fire, who was partially burnt, is died. It is so tragic.

“He blamed the whole situation on him (deceased) for not listening to advice. He said if he had listened when he was asked not to ignite the fire on the substance, probably we wouldn’t have got to where we are now.

SaharaReporters had reported that there was trepidation in the school community when the fire started three weeks ago.

One of the drillers who was reportedly burnt was taken to the National Orthopaedic Hospital (NOHE), Enugu for treatment.

Meanwhile, some experts from Port Harcourt, Rivers State were seen working at the site to possibly put out the fire.

A security guard at the site told SaharaReporters that the experts that came from Port Harcourt did everything possible on Monday to put out the fire but that their efforts were futile.

“Yesterday (Monday), they did everything to put out the fire yet it still rages on. We hope and pray that God will give them wisdom and knowledge to devise another means to solve this problem. Otherwise from the way I’m looking at it, it would require bringing foreign experts.

“The state and federal fire services have run out of ideas on how to extinguish the fire. They have used over 12 tanks of water and four drums of chemicals,” he said.

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Human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), has written to British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson to stop the government’s plan to deport asylum seekers in the country to Rwanda.
 
Boris had on April 14 announced that the British government would send migrants and asylum-seekers who cross the Channel thousands of miles away to Rwanda in a move to clamp down on record numbers of people making the perilous journey.

“From today… anyone entering the UK illegally as well as those who have arrived illegally since January 1 may now be relocated to Rwanda,” Prime Minister Boris had said.
 
“Rwanda will have the capacity to resettle tens of thousands of people in the years ahead.”
 
In a letter dated June 13 and addressed to the Prime Minister, Falana described the plan as racist, unlawful and discriminatory which is inconsistent and incompatible with the UK’s international human rights obligations.
 
The letter read, “I am writing to urge you to provide the leadership necessary for the UK government to immediately halt the patently unlawful and discriminatory plan to send asylum seekers and refugees who flee conflict and persecution to Rwanda, and to comply with the UK’s international legal obligations.
 
“I note that you announced on 14 April 2022 that under the UK and Rwanda’s new migration and economic development partnership, “[a]nyone entering the UK illegally, as well as those who have arrived illegally since January 1, may now be relocated to Rwanda.”
 
“I also note that the UK government simultaneously published a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concluded with the government of Rwanda for the provision of an asylum partnership arrangement. The MoU foresees the transfer of “asylum seekers whose claims are not being considered by the United Kingdom, to Rwanda, which will process their claims and settle or remove (as appropriate) individuals after their claim is decided.”
 
“I am very concerned that the Home Office is offering to fly asylum seekers and refugees back to the conflict zones they escaped from in the first instance if they do not wish to be sent to Rwanda. According to my information, asylum seekers and refugees are being sent to Rwanda because of their method of reaching the UK – generally crossing the Channel to enter the UK. The largest nationality groups affected seem to be Afghans, Iranians and Sudanese. Sudanese refugees reportedly represent more than a third of those being sent to Rwanda.
 
“This patently racist, unlawful and discriminatory plan is inconsistent and incompatible with the UK’s international human rights obligations, and commitments to refugees. The UK authorities cannot and should not escape their international legal obligations to asylum seekers and refugees and push to shift such obligations to another country.
 
“Specifically, the MoU and the plan to send asylum seekers and refugees to Rwanda blatantly violate the UK’s legal obligations under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees; the Convention against Torture; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the European Convention on Human Rights.
 
“It is patently unlawful and discriminatory for the UK government to penalise asylum seekers and refugees who belong to a group of nationalities simply because of their alleged irregular entry into the UK. The MoU and plan to send asylum seekers and refugees to Rwanda may also violate the internationally recognized right to non-refoulement, and lead to violations of other human rights.
 
“You will agree with me that the MoU cannot be justified under international law as both UK and Rwanda are states parties to the United Nations 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol.
 
“Therefore, sending asylum seekers and refugees to Rwanda, a country with appalling human rights records will amount to double jeopardy for asylum seekers and refugees: denying them their internationally recognized human rights in the UK while also exposing them to the risks of grave human rights violations in Rwanda.
 
“The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has already raised a number of concerns about the asylum process in Rwanda, including discriminatory access to asylum, a lack of legal representation and interpreters, and difficulties in launching an appeal.
 
“Indeed, the Rwandese government has been accused by the UK and other Western countries of violating the human rights of its own people while also denying them access to justice and effective remedies. In the circumstances, it is the height of hypocrisy on the part of the UK to dump the refugees in Rwanda.
 
“As you are no doubt aware, the rights of the refugees to effective remedies cannot be guaranteed as Rwanda has withdrawn its declaration to the Protocol on the Establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights which allows direct access of individuals and NGOs to the court.
 
“I, therefore, urge you to immediately halt any plan to send asylum seekers and refugees to Rwanda, and to fully and effectively respect, protect, promote and fulfil their human rights to equality, equal treatment and non-discrimination, consistent with the UK’s international legal obligations. While thanking you in advance of your attention, I look forward to continued dialogue on the issue.”

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The factional youth wing of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo on Tuesday, berated Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State over his recent utterances following the failure of South-East presidential aspirants to get the tickets of the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party.

Umahi, who sought the presidential ticket of the ruling APC, lost to a former Lagos State governor, Ahmed Tinubu. He, however, lambasted South-East political leaders and delegates to the primaries for chasing after money and abandoning the 2023 Igbo Presidency project.

SaharaReporters earlier reported that the governor had disowned the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Prof. George Obiozor for his inaction during the primary election when it matters most.
 
SaharaReporters also reported that Umahi had said that the people of his state would not vote for the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, as there is nothing like Igbo presidential candidate. He had insisted that he would only pursue the Ebonyi State agenda henceforth.
 
But reacting to the governor's outburst, Okwu Nnabuike, the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council, a splinter group in Ohanaeze main body, berated the governor, adding that he needed urgent psychological attention.
 
He said ever since the governor’s “disgraceful performance during the APC presidential primary election, he has been behaving and talking strangely”.
 
“What he needs urgently now is urgent psychological help because his woeful outing during the primary election has affected his reasoning,” he said.
 
He added, “Umahi was deceived into joining the APC, with a fake promise of a presidential ticket. They did not just scam him but have also denied him the opportunity to produce his successor.”
 
On the issue of Ohanaeze’s role in the presidential primaries, Nnabuike challenged Umahi to “state in clear terms the efforts he made to galvanise the support of his colleague governors to the Igbo presidency project.
 
“Whereas the Ohanaeze made all the regional organisations, including the Afenifere, the Middle-Belt Forum, the Niger-Delta Forum, among others, to support the Igbo cause, Umahi could not get the support of a single Governor. This goes to show that he is a paper tiger and must not be taken seriously.”
 
He maintained his earlier stand that the South-East governors sold the Igbo presidency project and would get the reward at the appropriate time.

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A former Nigerian striker, Akeem Omolade, has been found dead inside his vehicle at Palermo, Italy
 
According to a report by Goal, the 39-year-old, who spent his entire career in Italy, was found dead on Monday in a Peugeot car.

He was found dead in his car days after complaining of pain in his legs.

The Kaduna-born football star was said to have arrived in Italy at the age of 17, joining Treviso, with whom he made his professional debut in Serie B. He subsequently joined Torino, with whom he made his Serie A debut.
 
Following his departure from Torino, he went on to play in the lower leagues of Italian football. In 2011, he moved to Sicily to join Mazara. In 2012, he played for Ribera 1954 in Serie D, before returning to Mazara in 2013.
 
Torino said in a statement: “President Urbano Cairo and all of Torino Football Club sincerely share in the Omolade family’s grief at the passing of our former player Akeem Omolade.
 
“Signed from Treviso, he first played in our youth side and then for the first team, making his Serie A debut against Inter Milan on February 2, 2003.
 
“The entire Torino family sends its deepest sympathies to his loved ones, his parents and his many friends.”

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