Dr. Muhammadu Indimi, a billionaire in-law to President Muhammadu Buhari has cause to have double celebrations today, August 11, as he clocked 75 years just as he received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) by the University of Maiduguri
The President, in a message of congratulation, through his senior special assistant on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, said: “It is with great joy that I write to congratulate you on your conferment with an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) by the University of Maiduguri on a day that also coincides with your 75th Birthday.
“It is undoubtedly in recognition of your commitment as a son of Borno, and a conscientious philanthropist who has supported education as the sure pathway for the upliftment of his people towards a better life that such an award is bestowed on you.
“I join your family and friends across the breadth of our dear nation in celebrating this auspicious moment.
“It is my prayer that Almighty Allah keeps you in good health so that our nation continues to benefit from your deep compassion and service to humanity.
The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has said that Nigerian government has no particular interest in the trial of former Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, over alleged organ harvest in the United Kingdom.
Fielding questions from news men today, August 11, during the ministerial briefing organized by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Malami said: “It has never been the tradition of Nigerian government to interfere with anything judicial, local or international. And that is the position of the government.”
According to the Justice minister: “as far as interest as to the federal government is concerned, it is not a matter over which we can develop any interest. Perhaps, if there are interests, there are interests that should be rooted in law. For example, relating to the child in contention, you know, we have Child Rights among others.
“For example. If there is an allegation of breach, we may possibly consider looking at it from that perspective.
“In case of consular services there is s need for Senator Ekweremadu to be accorded one, in view of the fact that he is Nigerian, and the request is made, we’ll look at it on its merits. So, what I’m saying, in essence, is not about meddlesome interloper, or perhaps maybe just coming into a scene relating to issues that border on crime.
“As you are likely aware, a number of Nigerians were before now convicted across the globe. And then a number of foreigners are equally convicted of recent in Nigeria, and over time. So, it is about issues that border on crime. If indeed, a crime allegation is an issue, the jurisdiction determines what happens both in terms of request in terms of support and not for a Nigerian government to simply because you are a high-profile personality you jump into that arena.
“It has never been the tradition of Nigerian government to interfere with anything judicial, local or international. And that stands the position of the government.”
Malami said that Nigeria has what he called “mutual legal assistance, understanding with the UK” and that “whichever of the agencies, either the Senator as an accused or suspect, or indeed the agencies in the UK, make any request for international support we will respond accordingly.”
FCT MInister, Muhammed Musa Bello and some officials
The Permanent Secretary in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Olusade Adesola, has intervened in the threat by workers of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, (AEPB) to embark on industrial action over non-payment of Consolidated Research and Allied Institutions Salary Structure (CONRAISS).
Adesola, at an emergency meeting with the workers, led by the Chairman of the Joint Unions Action Committee (JUAC), Oluwakorede Matilukuro, today, August 11, appealed to them to stop the planned strike in the interest of peace and industrial harmony in Abuja.
The permanent secretary said that his office is not opposed to paying the workers their entitlements and only waiting for the process to be completed by the National Wages and Salary Commission.
He, therefore, asked the angry workers to be patient and show understanding with the administration for the procedure to be diligently followed and completed.
Adesola explained that the present leadership of the FCT Administration is workers’ friendly and places high priority on the welfare and the well-being of workers.
He said that the implementation of a salary structure code named: ‘Research and Allied Institutions’ could have long-term implications for the careers of the officers.
”Embarking on industrial action will not serve anyone’s best interest at this time considering the efforts the current FCT administration is reputed for paying FCT worker’s salary as and when due.”
Veteran Nigerian Nollywood actress, Stella Damasus, has been appointed the talent acquisition consultant at NW Tech Capital, a diversified holding company in the United States.
The firm announced Damasus appointment today, August 11, in a statement signed by its Chief Executive Officer, Cedric Yengo. The company said the actress is expected to expand its network by acquiring the best talents in Africa.
NW Tech added that the movie star has been deployed to the beauty and wellness division in its African expedition.
The statement read: “Stella Damasus is a highly celebrated Nigerian celebrity (actor/singer) with a refined skill and several years of experience and expertise, traveling and empowering celebrities across Africa.
“She is tasked with the responsibility to expand the company’s tentacles by acquiring the best talents to fulfill our vision of establishing a flurry of high-end celebrity cosmetic brands across Africa.
“Stella brings with her a wealth of experience and refined skill in talent acquisition that is almost unparalleled in today’s market.
“With her extensive connections in the industry and her acumen for strategic alliances, we believe that Stella will help us to position ourselves as the premier Beauty and Wellness Company, in the nearest future.”
Founded in 1996, NW Tech Capital is involved in the acquisition and investment of small, mid-size, and development-stage private businesses in varied industries.
Police have been invited to investigate the missing of N31 Million from the account section of the Katsina State House, believed to have been stolen by “unknown persons.”
The Director-General in the governor on New Media, Alhaji Al-Amin Isah, who confirmed the incident in an interview with news men today, August 11, said that some of the suspects have already been arrested and are in the police custody undergoing investigation.
“Yes, it’s true that some money was alleged to have been stolen as you have asked. We have already reported the matter to the police for investigation. I can not tell you the exact figure now, but those in the best position will give you more updates, please,”
Sources familiar with what happened told Channels Television that the money stolen was in the sum of N31 million. This is the second time such an incident is happening at the Katsina Government House.
In January 2020, unknown persons allegedly broke into the office of the former Secretary to the Government of Katsina State (SSG), Mustapha Inuwa, and made away with N16 million.
The office which is located at the State Secretariat was said to have been broken into in the night and some suspects were arrested a day after in connection with the incident.
Those arrested included a security guard, and two government officials working in the SSG’s office.
Also in July 2022, the police in Katsina State said it was investigating the alleged stealing of N61 million from a cashier in the office of the Secretary to the State Government, Aminu Darma.
He was allegedly attacked by gunmen while travelling with three bags filled with N61 million cash and shot in the arm before the money was stolen
The gunmen were said to have followed Darma from the bank but he didn’t stop when they tried to stop his car around the Katsina Steel Rolling Company roundabout. Instead, he returned to the metropolitan city and the gunmen continued to chase his car.
He eventually lost control of the car and hit an object which forced him to stop.
In reaction, the police said that the cashier should not have in the first place withdrawn such a huge amount of money without a police escort.
Members of Ebira Community in Owo, Ondo State have condemned some Ebira people who came from outside the community to commit crimes, leaving them in discomfortable position with their hosts.
In an emergency meeting held today, August 11 in the palace of Odeiyani (traditional head of) Anebira in Ondo state, HRH Zubair Dan Musa, the Odeiyani spoke bitterly over the insecurity situation across the state, particularly in Ondo North.
He particular expressed worry that names of Ebira boys featured prominently and were published all over the Media, on the recent attack on a Catholic Church in Owo.
He said that the perpetrators or criminals who were arrested by security agents in connection to the attack and happened to be Ebira, infiltrated the community.
“We will no longer allow any stranger to penetrate us in Ondo state from anywhere, to tarnish the good relationship we have established with the indigenes of Ondo state.
” For a fact which is known to all, including our hosts, Ebira people are known for good character, hardworking and loving minded.”
The community called on the Ebira people in Ondo state to re-strategize and watch properly, strangers that are coming into the community and other settlements within the State.
The embattled suspended Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris is seeking for a plea bargain to avoid trial over allegation of frittering the sum of N109.4 billion belonging to the Federal Government.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which broke the news yesterday, August 10 before Justice Adeyemi Ajayi of High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), said that the suspended AGF’s his co-defendants were also part of the move for a plea bargain with the commission.
The defendants are a Technical Assistant to Idris, Godfrey Olusegun Akindele; a director in the office of the AGF, Mohammed Kudu Usman, and a firm linked with Idris, Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited.
The defendants were arraigned on July 22, on a 14-count charge bordering on money laundering, stealing and criminal breach of trust.
At a resumed trial, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), counsel to the EFCC, told the court that the suspended Accountant General had reached out to the agency through a third party for a meeting to work on ways to achieve a plea bargain arrangement.
Since section 270 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, provides for plea bargain, the prosecution counsel said he agreed to meet with the defendants, but on the condition that their lawyers and EFCC investigators (who handled the case) must be in attendance.
According to Jacobs, the meeting planned for last Tuesday failed to hold because the defendants came without their lawyers.
Jacobs stated that a lawyer from Idris’s legal team, who he identified as Kanayo, later came to the venue of the meeting to complain that the defendants were not carried along.
POLL
“The first defendant sent a third party to me that he wanted a plea bargaining meeting and he wanted to meet me.
“That was on Tuesday morning, and I replied that I cannot meet the defendants in the absence of their counsel.
“I added that by the nature of our calling, we must be open and transparent. Section 270 of ACJA allows plea bargain.
I told them to come with their lawyer and let us meet at the EFCC office and that I will also invite the investigators to be at the meeting.
“Kanayo, one of the counsel in the legal team of the first defendant, came to meet me at the EFCC office in Wuse 2, and protested that they were not carried along and that his clients would not come for the meeting.
“I spoke with Chief Chris Uche (SAN), head of the first defendant’s legal team, for about 30 minutes to let him know that we did not invite them and that the planned meeting was at their instance.
“None of the defendants entered EFCC’s office. So, they did not attend any meeting at the EFCC office,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs was responding to complaints by lawyers to the defendants, that the EFCC did not invite their clients the previous day and prevented them from meeting with the defendants, who they further claimed were at the office of the EFCC for the better part of the day.
Meanwhile, counsel representing Idris and Gezawa (1st and 4th defendants), Gordy Uche (SAN), at the commencement of proceedings, objected to an application by Jacobs to tender some statements made by the first defendant.
Uche argued that Jacobs should not be allowed to tender the statements because he (Uche) was yet to interview his client in relation to the documents.
“I was to interview the first defendant on Tuesday, but I learnt he was in the office of the EFCC. We were, as counsel, not carried along”, Uche said.
Uche argued that it was disrespectful of the court for the EFCC to invite the defendants without their lawyers’ knowledge when the case had already been charged to court.
He contended that the EFCC was expected to have concluded its investigation before charging the defendants to court.
However, Uche denied that his clients proposed plea bargain to the prosecution as claimed by Jacobs.
He said the standard practice was for the lawyer to a defendant to initiate such arrangement, not for such move to be made behind the lawyer to the defendant.
Uche prayed the court for adjournment to enable him confer with the first defendant.
Lawyers to Akindele and Usman( 2nd and 3rd defendants)- Peter Abalaka and Ibrahim Isiyaku (SAN), who said they shared Uche’s position, also prayed for an adjournment to enable them confer with their clients.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina has bagged a Love FM 104.5 Ace Leadership Award as part of its Merit Awards 2022. The award was presented to him today, August 10 by the management of radio station.
Presenting the award, the representative of Love FM, Ewuzie Anele Lilian, expressed the organization’s pride in the work of Adesina as a journalist, having got to the peak of his career through dint of hard work.
“We are happy to identify with you because we know how you started. You rose through the ladder and here you are, still doing the media work. We know it is not everybody that will accept what you are doing.”
She assured the Presidential spokesman of the support of Love FM despite some reports that suggest otherwise.
“Sometimes we criticize you, we learnt that from you anyway. Before you got here, you were criticizing others. We have come to say congratulations despite all that has happened. “We are proud at the level you have reached and pray that God will sustain you and give you more wisdom to deal with the challenges associated with the job.”
This was even as Femi Adesina expressed appreciation to the organization for considering him worthy of the award.
He asked media practitioners to partner with the government to move the country forward instead of being adversaries, saying: “what you find in the media at times is that they are so adversarial to government, which does not have to be. This is our country and we don’t have any other one.
“If they send the country into a tailspin through too much criticism, even the media won’t be able to do its work. So, we should always bear in mind that it is our country and whatever we make of it is what we get.”
Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced the release of Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), Mop-Up Examination result conducted on Saturday, 6th August.
The Board, in a statement today, August 10 in Abuja, advised candidates to check their results by simply sending RESULT to 55019, using the same phone number that he/she had used for registration and the result would be returned as a text message.
The statement said that candidates could also print their result from the Board’s website, www.jamb.gov.ng after linking their email address to their profile.
“The Board, in line with its desire to adhere to the ease of doing business protocol of the government, has emplaced this user-friendly and simplified process of checking UTME results.
“Furthermore, this simplified process would also serve to preclude the unconscionable exploitation of candidates by shylock business centres and cybercafes which often take advantage of hapless candidates.”
First, two impeachment attempts against former President Donald Trump and now the January 6 proceedings to criminalize a president who isn’t even in office: all over the world, people look on and think America is having an episode.
But politicians all over the world overlook on and think: I’ll have some of that.
Since the Democrats started going after Mr. Trump in the name of democracy, around the globe, copycat impeachments have been popping up in dozens of countries. From Malta to Peru and South Africa to Nigeria, suddenly democratically elected leaders the world over are being challenged, not by the voters, but their rival politicians.
Sure, the job of opposition leaders is to hold those in power to account. To help them do their job we have structures — committees to challenge and question, with powers of subpoena — and much more.
But it’s not opposition politicians’ job to remove democratically elected leaders from office. That’s for the voters. And when politicians snatch that role from them, it undermines democracy itself.
There are exceptional circumstances when presidents and other office holders deserved to be impeached: President Andrew Johnson in 1868 for defying the will of Congress and by extension, the American people in their commitment to political equality for Black Americans following the civil war, and more recently, Rod Blagojevich, the former Democratic governor of Illinois removed from office in 2009 on federal corruption charges. Both were slam-dunk cases of malfeasance in the highest office.
But two impeachments and one congressional investigation? That smells like political persecution.
The January 6 investigation is well-timed show trial — handily in the run-up to the November elections when President Biden and its aging, failing Democrats are running on fumes. It’s also a third Mr. Trump impeachment by any other name, just as the election day nears. And that’s not just a problem for American democracy, but for freedom and democracy the world over — for where America leads others follow.
In Nigeria, the world’s third largest democracy after India and the United States, there’s a copycat attempt underway.
Just last week, in a headline-grabbing stunt, opposition lawmakers in Nigeria staged a mass walkout from the Senate plenary. Their grievance? the Senate president did not entertain a motion to impeach the country’s two-time democratically elected leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, just months before the end of his second and final term.
It is no coincidence this occurs just months before Nigeria’s next presidential election. Nor is it a coincidence that the calls for impeachment are led by senators from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, which was defeated by Mr. Buhari after its leader, Goodluck Jonathan (president from 2010 to 2015), became synonymous with corruption and incompetence. And as in many other countries around the world, it is no coincidence that no other Nigerian president has faced impeachment proceedings. Recent events in the U.S. gave legitimacy and international attention to this unscrupulous and underhanded political tactic.
The Nigerian presidency responded predictably and appropriately. It called on the opposition to collaborate with the government more closely on tackling the same security issues that form the basis of their complaint, rather than resorting to theatrics. But the damage was already done. The headline grabbing stunt achieved what was intended: allowing left-wing international broadcasters such as CNN and BBC to naively report the impeachment attempt — without bothering to understand or cover the underhand reasons behind it.
Nigeria does face serious security challenges that have worsened under the pandemic and global cost of living crisis. But the current administration has made significant inroads in tackling the threats. West African terror cell Boko Haram, which before Mr. Buhari held territory the size of Belgium within Nigeria, has now been reduced to a shell of its former self. The Islamic State’s West Africa Province group that terrorizes the region lost its leaders thanks to Nigerian airstrikes using American-made fighter jets. Consequently, the U.S. and the U.K. are boosting security cooperation with the government in a way they never did with its predecessors for lack of trust.
Africa has sadly replaced the Middle East as the global breeding ground of Islamist terrorism. African governments and their stretched security forces are on the frontlines of battling this scourge. With many of these violent groups linked to global networks of terror, this is a threat that could extend well beyond the borders of Africa. Those African governments that are giving their all to fight this threat need and deserve all the support we can give.
As leaders of the free world, politicians in the United States should think carefully about their actions. They influence politicians in democracies the world over, particularly in newer democracies like those in Africa. If we play dirty politics at the expense of democracy, those democracies that look to us will follow suit. And then those who we should be united in fighting, the enemies of freedom, will gain the upper hand.
• Saul Anuzis is president of the 60 Plus Association, the American association of senior citizens; a former member of the Republican National Committee; and former chair of the Michigan Republican Party.
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The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has said that Nigerian government has no particular interest in the trial of former Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, over alleged organ harvest in the United Kingdom.
Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced the release of Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), Mop-Up Examination result conducted on Saturday, 6th August.
Impeachment Proceedings, Damaging Democracy Everywhere, By Saul Anuzis
But politicians all over the world overlook on and think: I’ll have some of that.
Since the Democrats started going after Mr. Trump in the name of democracy, around the globe, copycat impeachments have been popping up in dozens of countries. From Malta to Peru and South Africa to Nigeria, suddenly democratically elected leaders the world over are being challenged, not by the voters, but their rival politicians.
Sure, the job of opposition leaders is to hold those in power to account. To help them do their job we have structures — committees to challenge and question, with powers of subpoena — and much more.
But it’s not opposition politicians’ job to remove democratically elected leaders from office. That’s for the voters. And when politicians snatch that role from them, it undermines democracy itself.
There are exceptional circumstances when presidents and other office holders deserved to be impeached: President Andrew Johnson in 1868 for defying the will of Congress and by extension, the American people in their commitment to political equality for Black Americans following the civil war, and more recently, Rod Blagojevich, the former Democratic governor of Illinois removed from office in 2009 on federal corruption charges. Both were slam-dunk cases of malfeasance in the highest office.
But two impeachments and one congressional investigation? That smells like political persecution.
The January 6 investigation is well-timed show trial — handily in the run-up to the November elections when President Biden and its aging, failing Democrats are running on fumes. It’s also a third Mr. Trump impeachment by any other name, just as the election day nears. And that’s not just a problem for American democracy, but for freedom and democracy the world over — for where America leads others follow.
In Nigeria, the world’s third largest democracy after India and the United States, there’s a copycat attempt underway.
Just last week, in a headline-grabbing stunt, opposition lawmakers in Nigeria staged a mass walkout from the Senate plenary. Their grievance? the Senate president did not entertain a motion to impeach the country’s two-time democratically elected leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, just months before the end of his second and final term.
It is no coincidence this occurs just months before Nigeria’s next presidential election. Nor is it a coincidence that the calls for impeachment are led by senators from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, which was defeated by Mr. Buhari after its leader, Goodluck Jonathan (president from 2010 to 2015), became synonymous with corruption and incompetence. And as in many other countries around the world, it is no coincidence that no other Nigerian president has faced impeachment proceedings. Recent events in the U.S. gave legitimacy and international attention to this unscrupulous and underhanded political tactic.
The Nigerian presidency responded predictably and appropriately. It called on the opposition to collaborate with the government more closely on tackling the same security issues that form the basis of their complaint, rather than resorting to theatrics. But the damage was already done. The headline grabbing stunt achieved what was intended: allowing left-wing international broadcasters such as CNN and BBC to naively report the impeachment attempt — without bothering to understand or cover the underhand reasons behind it.
Nigeria does face serious security challenges that have worsened under the pandemic and global cost of living crisis. But the current administration has made significant inroads in tackling the threats. West African terror cell Boko Haram, which before Mr. Buhari held territory the size of Belgium within Nigeria, has now been reduced to a shell of its former self. The Islamic State’s West Africa Province group that terrorizes the region lost its leaders thanks to Nigerian airstrikes using American-made fighter jets. Consequently, the U.S. and the U.K. are boosting security cooperation with the government in a way they never did with its predecessors for lack of trust.
Africa has sadly replaced the Middle East as the global breeding ground of Islamist terrorism. African governments and their stretched security forces are on the frontlines of battling this scourge. With many of these violent groups linked to global networks of terror, this is a threat that could extend well beyond the borders of Africa. Those African governments that are giving their all to fight this threat need and deserve all the support we can give.
As leaders of the free world, politicians in the United States should think carefully about their actions. They influence politicians in democracies the world over, particularly in newer democracies like those in Africa. If we play dirty politics at the expense of democracy, those democracies that look to us will follow suit. And then those who we should be united in fighting, the enemies of freedom, will gain the upper hand.
• Saul Anuzis is president of the 60 Plus Association, the American association of senior citizens; a former member of the Republican National Committee; and former chair of the Michigan Republican Party.