Infighting has divided the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP), with Shura (consultation) Council staging a coup d’etat which overthrew Amir Abba-Gana at Tumbum Kayowa and appointing Abu Dawud as its new leader.
Abba-Gana assumed the position after the execution of Ba’a Idirisa on February 9, 2019. The deceased succeeded Abu-Mossad Albarnawee after infighting. Idirisa and Albarnawee are biological children of the late Boko Haram founder, Mohammed Yusuf.
Abba-Gana was removed for the “biased” installation of Aliyu Chakkar as the new “Governor of Lake Chad”. Chakkar replaced Goni Maina, a former ISWAP commander.
The disagreement led to a bloody battle between supporters of the factional “Governors”. Dozens of insurgents died on both sides, PRNigeria reports.
Before the decision on Abu Dawud’s elevation was reached, Goni Mustapha acted as ISWAP Shura Leader and Chief Imam for three weeks.
The council was also not comfortable that lately under Abba-Gana’s leadership, some territories were lost after sequential attacks by the Nigerian military and Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) troops.
Operation Tura Takai Bango, the first offensive in 2021, has eliminated many Boko Haram and ISWAP commanders and fighters in Borno and in the Lake Chad region.
Among the top terrorists killed were Ali Bor and Mluem Modu.
The Presidency is complaining over reports of non-compliance with just signed Executive Order that makes mask wearing and observation of social distancing in the public mandatory.
The Presidency said that President Muhammadu Buhari is most reluctant to lockdown the country and continues to emphasize the non-pharmaceutical measures and the only way to avert lockdowns is to observe these measures as put in place by the Presidential Task Force.
“Nigerians have come a long way from the dreaded lockdown and the administration is unhappy about any prospects of bringing it back as many citizens will not have food on the table without venturing out on a day- to-day business.
A statement today, January 31 by the senior special assistant to the President on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, said that the President introduced the order with the best of intentions and not with any motive to punish citizens.
He therefore appealed to State Governments, traditional rulers and religious leaders to play active roles in the sensitization and enforcement of the Executive Order.
Garba Shehu called on coronavirus task forces and committees to persuade members of the public to cooperate with the government in achieving compliance “and avoid crude methods that may create resistance and resentment, thereby defeating the primary goal of the Executive Order.
“Nigerians are required to wear masks, wash hands regularly with soap and clean water, and keep safe distance with anybody not in your household, hoping that this will help check spread of COVID-19.
“Though vaccine availability is within reach, the propensity of the public for noncompliance weakens the fight against the virus.
“Nigerians must ignore baseless conspiracy theories that seek to deny the reality of the pandemic by complying with the order to wear masks.
“We have a duty to protect ourselves and others in this difficult global health crisis; no one has immunity against this pandemic. Ignoring health warnings and refusing to comply with safety measures does more harm than good.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is a major threat to public health and wearing of masks, social distancing in public places and the basic hygiene are necessary measures that have to be taken to safeguard the well-being of our citizens.
“Nigerians must always have it in mind that the COVID-19 pandemic is not only a threat to the health of the population but it is equally so to the national economy, and to every aspect of our everyday life.
“Protecting public health is one of the sacred duties of any responsible government and the administration will not abdicate that responsibility.”
President Muhammadu Buhari has complained that the nation’s elites are his headache as they seemed to have resolved not to acknowledge the efforts of his administration in repositioning the country despite the plunge in revenues.
The President, in his comments at a lunch with the governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) held in his Daura, Katsina residence today, January 30, after revalidating his membership of the party, wanted the elites to be fair in their assessment of his performance by taking cognizance of the state of the country’s economy when he took over power in 2015.
“The problem is that I will like, especially the elites, to please be reflective. When we came, where we were, the resources available from then and the condition of the infrastructure. I was contrived to go over it several times to tell Nigerians that between 1999 and 2014, let them check with the NNPC, let them check with the Governor of Central Bank. The daily production was 2.4 million barrels per days and the average cost was a hundred American dollars per barrel.
“So for these years, daily Nigeria would earn having 2.4m times 100 dollars everyday. But look at the condition of infrastructure, you know this better than I do. I know I went to every local government of the country in my three consecutive attempts to become the President. You know the road more than I do. You know the condition of the rail, the railway was dead. Now look at it everywhere we go, what did they do with all these monies?
“When we took over in this administration, production went down to about half a million barrels per day, the price collapsed. We had to do what is called a bailout, wherever we got the money from. Upon all the money from 1999 to 2014, we have to give you money from the Centre to pay salaries. No! Nigerian elites are not interested in rating the competence but they are interested in harassing us with all efforts we are making.”
The President advised the governors who are in charge of their constituencies to make efforts to convince the elites to give his administration the due relevance and respect it deserves, insisting that it is working so hard with limited resources.
Commenting on the APC registration and revalidation exercise, the President charged the Caretaker Committee members to ensure the return of the party to the people by using the bottom-up approach.
“No more crowning from Abuja downward. Let the people know this and appreciate it that they are in charge of their constituencies and they are in charge of the party. Without any incentive they must come out and defend the party at any level so that we, you and the party will feel secure and comfortable because the old time of putting hands in the pocket is over because the money is no longer available.”
He said that the appointment of the Yobe state governor, Mai Mala Buni, as the Chairman of the APC National Caretaker Committee was in order because he had served as the party’s Secretary for a long time and so was knowledgeable about all the challenges facing the APC.
The APC Caretaker Chairman and Yobe state governor in his comments thanked the governors and other party stalwarts at the lunch for finding time within their busy schedules to attend the meeting.
He told the President that the party was proud of his achievements in salvaging the economy and dealing with the challenge of insecurity in the country.
“In line with the mandate given to us by the National Executive Committee of our great party under your leadership, it is to review this party bottom up.
“In line with that, we started with reconciling some aggrieved members of our party across the country and then we started the process of this registration by printing of materials to ensure that the materials are being distributed across the country.”
President Muhammadu Buhari has assured Nigerians of full implementation of the 2021 budget, with transparency and openness in meeting the targets
Speaking to newsmen in Daura, after the registration and revalidation exercise of the All Progressives Congress ( APC), the President said the budget captured some of the visions of the administration, and all efforts will be to ensure effective implementation.
“We have directed all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies to follow what is in the budget so that we can get the National Assembly to easily support the next budget. We can tell them what we have received, and how it was spent.
“We are always ready to make the balance sheet available for all Nigerians and the National Assembly. We have nothing to hide.’’
President Buhari said the administration gives more attention to agriculture in order to diversify and strengthen the economy.
“We are still grateful to Morocco for the support they gave us in producing fertilizer in the country. We have 42 companies producing fertiliser in six geopolitical zones.’’
The President’s registration exercise in Daura was attended by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, ten governors, including the Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, who is the Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee, and other party stalwarts.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that it is conducting a forensic audit that would ensure that Nigerians are compensated for wrong deductions and data depletion.
The forensic audit would also enforce maximum protection of Nigeria’s over 208 million consumers.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the commission, Professor Umar Danbatta, in a statement today, January 29, said: “the Commission plans to get to the bottom of why consumers are experiencing data depletion and the possibility of compensating them for wrong deductions, which may arise from short message service.
“We have instituted and we have insisted that despite the fall in data price, that forensic audit must go on and must be concluded and the outcome communicated to the CEOs of telecom companies.”
The Executive Vice Chairman said that the commission has taken conscious steps to ensure that mobile operators in the country become more consumer- centric.
Danbatta appealed to consumers to wait for the outcome of the audit, adding that NCC would enforce full compliance of the defaulting telecom operator.
“Operators will be made to comply with whatever directions are given after the investigation with a view to ensuring maximum protection for telecom consumers.”
Danbatta said that the commission has helped over 30 million consumers to block unsolicited text messages on their phones with the introduction of the Do-Not-Disturb.
The NCC head said that stern regulatory actions are constantly taken by the regulator against any operator that prevents a consumer from subscribing to the DND service.
He said that the launch of the 622 Toll-free Number was aimed at helping consumers lodge service-related complaints to the Commission for resolution.
According to him, thousands of complaints have already been resolved, saying that consumers deserve protection as critical stakeholders in the Nigerian telecommunications sector.
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has said that the administration will not relent in the fight to contain the second wave of coronavirus.
Speaking today, January 29 at a stakeholders meeting at the Conference Hall of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, the minister admitted that so far, FCT has attained the status of an epicenter, but that the administration has been successful in its response to the virus.
He solicited the support and cooperation of the stakeholders, including traditional rulers and religious leaders among others to adequately battle the virus to a standstill.
“My appeal to you is that please, let us work hard, particularly at the community level and that is why I am so happy to see that out of the six Area Council Chairmen, five are present today.”
The minister appealed to the PTF for funding to help in the enforcement of the guidelines.
The Minister said that the Task Force on coronavirus guidelines enforcement will be re-invigorated to ensure that enforcement cascades down to the community and grassroots level even as he reminded the security agencies that enforcement of coronavirus guidelines is now a presidential directive that must be implemented.
This was even as Minister of State in the FCT, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu expressed the appreciation of the FCTA to the Presidential Task Force on coronavirus for its commitment and dedication in directing the nation’s response to the pandemic.
She advised the residents to work together to effectively combat the virus.
“If there is anything we have learned in the fight against COVID-19 thus far, it is the realization that working together, we can conquer any challenge that threatens our collective wellbeing”
She said that the FCT, through committed efforts, has succeeded in containing the magnitude of the pandemic and saved a large number of lives.
A Dutch court has ordered Shell to compensate Nigerian farmers for oil spills that polluted swathes of their land in the Niger Delta.
After 13 years of legal battles, an appeals court in The Hague ruled that Shell’s Nigerian branch must pay out for leaks on land in two villages.
It also held the Anglo-Dutch parent company, Royal Dutch Shell, liable for installing new pipeline equipment to prevent further devastating spills.
“The court ruled that Shell Nigeria is liable for the damage caused by the spills. Shell Nigeria is sentenced to compensate farmers for damages,” Judge Sierd Schaafsma said.
The court ordered Shell to compensate three out of four farmers who first lodged the case in 2008, saying the amount of damages would be determined later. The case involving the fourth farmer will also be resolved at another time.
The case has dragged on so long that two of the Nigerian farmers have died since it was first filed.
The Dutch arm of environment group Friends of the Earth, which backed the case, said there were “tears of joy” and that “after 13 years, we’ve won.”
“Until this morning, Dutch multinationals could act with impunity in developing countries… and this has changed now,” Donald Pols of Friends of the Earth said outside court.
Shell Nigeria said it was “disappointed” by the verdict.
The farmers sued Shell over pollution in their villages Goi, Oruma and Ikot Ada Udo, in southeastern Nigeria.
At a hearing last year lawyers for the farmers showed gushing and burning oil spills as well as villagers dragging their hands through water sources, their hands streaked with the dark-coloured liquid.
A lower court in the Netherlands found in 2013 that Shell should pay compensation for one leak but that Shell’s parent company could not be held liable in a Dutch court.
But in 2015 the Hague appeals court ruled that Dutch courts did indeed have jurisdiction in the case.
Today, January 29, the court ruled that Shell Nigeria must pay compensation for the leaks at Goi and Oruma.
“In the Oruma cases, Shell Nigeria and… Royal Dutch Shell are ordered to equip the pipeline with a leak detection system so that environmental damage can be limited in the future,” the court said.
Shell Nigeria should have shut down oil supplies on the day of the spill in the cases in Goi, it said.
The court said it needed more time to resolve the case of Ikot Ada Udo.
“We are happy about the ruling. It shows that our people can get justice for the years of devastation of our environment by Shell,” King Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi, ruler of the Ogale Community in the Niger Delta, told AFP.
A lawyer for the farmers, Channa Samkalden, said outside court it was “fantastic news”.
“My clients have been struggling and waiting for this for a very long time,” Samkalden said.
Shell has always blamed all of the spills on sabotage and said it has cleaned up with due care where pollution has occurred.
“We continue to believe that the spills in Oruma and Goi were the result of sabotage,” Shell in Nigeria said in a statement.
Nigeria was the world’s ninth-largest oil producer in 2018, pumping out volumes valued at some $43.6 billion (37 billion euros), or 3.8 percent of total global production.
In a separate case in the Netherlands, the widows of four Nigerian activists executed by the military regime in the 1990s have accused Shell of complicity in their deaths.
Managing Director of Famzhi Interbiz Limited, a multipurpose and wide ranging business outfit, Hajiya Mariam Suleima Omayoza has pledged to refund several millions of naira to no fewer than 15,000 investors who invested in her multi billion naira business concerns.
In a Human Right radio phone-in programme today, January 29 in Abuja, Hajiya Mariam apologized to the investors whose money had tied down since the business collapsed about nine months now.
She gave assurance to the investors, some of who took the complain of none payment of their money to the radio station on behalf of others, that she had no intention of keeping their money.
The Famzhi boss, who was drilled on the programme by Alhaji Ahmed Isa, popularly called “ordinary President,” insisted that she meant well towards involving Nigerians in her business for the purpose of growing with them in terms of income, but that Coronavirus came to destroy the business and place the company on a fast and steady slide.
Some investors who thronged at the Human right radio station in Abuja standing with Ahmed Isah (holding microphone), Popularly called Ordinary President, January, 29
This was even as the anchor of the programme, Ahmed Isa pleaded with the aggrieved investors to give the Managing Director the benefit of doubt, asking them not to engage in any form of attack on her before the time she promised to refund the money to them.
“I am a mediator between the investors and the Famzhi MD, but will turn to attacking on behalf of the investors if Hajiya (MD) fails to fulfill the promise of refunding all the investors before or on the date.”
Ahmed Isa personally promised to avail his radio station to the MD to advertise for free, any property she wishes to sell to make up the money to refund the investors their money.
Hajiya Mariam Suleiman had established Famzhi Interbiz Limited over five years ago, with investment in many economic fields, including poultry, animal husbandry, water production, estate and micro banking. She encouraged Nigerians and foreigners to invest money into the business with promise to be paying such investors 20 percent of what ever each of them invested.
It was learnt that Hajiya Mariam actually fulfilled her own side of the deal up to April last year when Coronavirus pandemic set foot on Nigeria, leading to lockdown and crippling of economic activities.
The investors, some of who invested as much as N10 million are demanding the refund of the exact amount they originally invested for which the MD is reported to be finding it difficult to do.
The Presidency has cried out over what it called “another orchestrated smear campaign against President Muhammadu Buhari,”using some online newspapers and blogs.
According to a statement today, January 29, by the special adviser to the President on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, the campaign, scheduled to be launched anytime soon through editorials and purported special investigative stories, is designed to further exacerbate tension in the land, by portraying the President as pandering to ethnic and other primordial tendencies, contrary to his pledge to belong to all Nigerians.
Adesina said that impeccable security findings indicate that those behind the plot have procured online blogs and newspapers, which are to launch coordinated publications, alleging subjugation and suppression of a particular religion and ethnic groups.
“A specific medium has so far contacted some opinion leaders, especially those very critical of President Buhari.”
The presidential spokesman said that part of the planned publication is to make unwary readers believe that the President has continually used the powers of his office to shield and protect an ethnic group against crimes of murder, kidnappings, rape and banditry in the southern, middle belt and some northern states.
He said that the publication will also refer Nigerians to a 58-page document, which chronicles purported atrocities of the ethnic group in the South since 2017, all of which it claims the Presidency has turned blind eyes to.
“Again, the hatchet job will allege that the President has continued to place members of his ethnic nationality in sensitive positions, so as to confer undue advantage on them. This allegation is by no means supported with reasonable facts and figures.
“Just on Thursday, President Buhari, while meeting with the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), led by Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, restated his even-handedness on the issues of ethnicity and religion. Said the President:
“The Federal Government under my leadership does not, and will not, allow religious prejudice or partisanship to influence any of its decisions and policies. It is my solemn decision to be fair and just to all segments of society.”
Femi Adesina said that those who are bent in stoking ethnic and religious unrest in the country remain deaf to reason, and impervious to reality.
“They are hell-bent on distorting reality, and Nigerians are urged to be wary of them. It is all about quest for power, and filthy lucre.”
The Nigerian Presidency has accused Transparency International (TI) of rehashing old tales on corruption indices in the country.
A statement today, January 28 by the senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu said the government is currently analyzing the sources of data used in arriving at the latest Transparency International report on Corruption Perceptions Index in Nigeria since by their own admission, they don’t gather their own data.
Insisting that Buhari government had done wonderfully well in reducing corruption in the public service and will continue to vigorously support prevention, enforcement, public education and enlightenment activities of anti-corruption agencies, Garba Shehu said that the TI
report is not an accurate portrayal of the facts on ground.
“In the coming days, the Government’s Technical Unit on Governance Research (TUGAR) will be providing more detailed information on the sources of the TI data.
“While this is being awaited, the examination carried out on their 2019 report showed that 60 percent of their data was collected from businesses and other entities with issues bordering on transparency and the ease of doing business at the ports.
“Although this is a government ready to learn from mistakes and make corrections, the economy of this country, in its fullness, is bigger than the sea ports we have.
“We are also not unaware of the characters behind the TI in Nigeria whose opposition to the Buhari administration is not hidden.
“We have repeatedly challenged TI to provide indices and statistics of its own to justify its sensational and baseless rating on Nigeria and the fight against corruption. We expect them to come clean and desist from further rehashing of old tales.
“A Naira denominated review that excludes recoveries in Dollars, Pounds, Euro shows that a sum of N1.2tn was recovered by EFCC between 2009 — 2019. N939bn of that total was recovered between 2015 – 2019 with less than N300bn recovered in the first six years.
“Additionally, preventative instruments deployed by this administration such as Treasury Single Account (TSA), Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) coverage expansion and the removal of 54,000 ghost workers from federal civil service saving us N200bn annually serve as evidence that perception is not reality.
“Reality is based on verifiable facts and data. And any evidence-based analysis would prove that whether it is by prevention or punitive measures in recoveries and prosecution, this administration would be rising fast up these rankings rather than standing still.
“Organizations should be factual in their analysis and be prepared to rely on inputs outside of sensational media reports and age-old narratives which have not been updated to reflect today’s reality in Nigeria concerning its globally-respected war on corruption.
” In the existential fight against this multi-pronged malice and manifestations of corruption, President Muhammadu Buhari has avowed that he would take-no-prisoners, guided by respect for the rule of law.
“We invite Nigerians to stand with an administration that has done so much on asset recovery, prosecution, legislation, political will and leadership by example in the fight against corruption.
“Equally, we urge our friends in the media, development partners and the civil society organizations to continue to support efforts to strengthen accountability, transparency, ethical values and integrity in Nigeria’s public sector.
“President Buhari has put his hand to the plough and will not relent in working with those passionate about the welfare, stability and prosperity of future generations to come in Nigeria.”
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