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Edo House Of Commotion: APC, PDP Fight, Assembly Roof Removed, Police Take Over

Members of the Edo State House of Assembly have turned it into a house of commotion with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Assembly neck-deep in crisis, ahead of September 19 governorship election in the State.

The crisis has led to the roof of the Assembly forcefully removed even as the police take over the structure, amidst the impeachment of deputy speaker at a session held in the government House and quick election of a new speaker.

Reports reaching us at the Greenbarge Reporters said that the APC had over-ran the PDP with two more members of the Assembly declaring for the party’s governorship candidate in the September 19 governorship election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.

Clip of the video which went viral earlier in the day showed how the roof of the Assembly was removed as several people watched.

The Deputy Speaker, Yekini Idiaye had earlier in the day, August 6, been impeached following his declaration of loyalty to Pastor Ize-Iyamu. He had led four other lawmakers to Ize-Iyamu, bringing the number of those loyal to the candidate and his godfather, Adams Oshiomhole, to 17.

After the impeachment of the deputy speaker, members loyal to Ize Iyamu also gathered to elect Victor Edoror as the Speaker of the Assembly.

This came a few hours after policemen took over the premises of the Assembly.

But, Governor Godwin Obaseki, who defected from the APC because he was denied its ticket for a second term to the APC as its candidate, has cried foul over the alleged move by the APC to impeach him through the crisis that is now festering.

During the crisis in the State House of Assembly, which resulted in the seizure of the mace, the symbol of the Assembly’s authority, truckloads of police descended on the complex to seal it off.

Meanwhile, the APC candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, has made it clear that Governor Obaseki is the best person to account for the crisis in the Assembly, especially the siege by the police.

“Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, or the APC, does not control the Police. The Edo State Government should explain to the world and Edo people what is going on.

“And they can start by explaining why a branch of government meant to carry out oversight functions and check the excesses of the Executive arm has been holding plenary inside the Government House for months over a supposed ‘fumigation and renovation exercise’ at the Assembly Complex’.”

Ex PDP Chairman, Nwodo, Reveals Plan B Of Igbos If They Can’t Get Presidency In 2023

A former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Okwesilieze Nwodo, has said that the elite in the Southeast will join Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to demand for Biafra Republic if the region does not get the presidency in 2023.

In an interview, Nwodo said: “I agree with Nnamdi Kanu in everything he says about the marginalisation of the Igbo. He, more than any other person has put it on the international map. If Nigeria tells the elites from the south-east that they would be treated as second class citizens in Nigeria, and that they can never be president, almost all of them will go with Kanu to fight for Biafra.

“Anybody who wants to be a second-class citizen can support whoever he wants. Any Igbo man who wants to bequeath a secured future for himself and generation yet unborn should support this call for Igbo presidency.”

Nwodo said that Igbo People have been persecuted for over 50 years, advising those who want a secure future for their children to elect an Igbo man as president.

“For 50 years now, we have been persecuted for having fought for freedom. When will this marginalisation stop? Anybody who loves Nigeria and who wishes Nigeria well should go for Igbo Presidency in 2023 for unity, fairness, equity and for Nigeria to move forward.

“It is only an Igbo man who will not marginalise any part of Nigeria because we constitute the semen that holds the country together. We are the only tribe that you find in every nook and cranny of Nigeria; doing business and developing wherever they are as if it was their own place.

“I don’t believe that the Igbo are not united, there has never been a time when any region produced a consensus candidate, everybody emerged through primary elections.

“There is no zone that has produced a candidate by consensus. It doesn’t matter how many people are interested, they will be subjected to party primaries and the person with the highest vote will win.

“In the spirit of fairness and equity, Nigeria should give the presidency to the south-east in 2023, otherwise, we will join him and fight for Biafra.”

Source: Vanguard.

Presidency To Religious Leaders: Don’t Join Fake News Merchants On Repentant Boko Haram

The presidency has cautioned some religious leaders and a few in the legislature not to join the supply chain of fake news in the country, especially as it relates to the repentant Boko Haram insurgents.
The presidency considered important to clear the false reports that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is absorbing repentant Boko Haram terrorists into the military.
In a statement today, August 5, by the senior special assistant to the President on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, the presidency made the public to know that nobody has ever been absorbed into the military from the de-radicalized Boko Haram and that there is no such plan for their absorption.
The statement emphasized that none of the 601 former Boko Haram members who voluntarily laid down their arms, and have recently graduated from the Federal Government’s de-radicalization and rehabilitation programme, is going into the military.
According to the statement, this is the fourth such graduation of repentant Boko Haram fighters and not one of such graduates has been absorbed into the military.
“The public needs to be reassured that the de-radicalization, rehabilitation and reintegration of violent extremists of the Buhari administration code named “Operation Safe Corridor,” follows an established example from countries with similar experiences, and is supported academically and materially by the European Union and the United Nations.
“The lead agency for the implementation of the programme in Gombe is the International Organization for Migration, a leading inter-government organization which is represented in Nigeria.
“It is also important to note that this programme does not have a place for hard boiled, ideologically hardened terrorists. It only admits, after careful scrutiny, repentant fighters that were captured and forced to bear arms in the first instance, and there are many who have been drafted by force.
“At the point of their graduation, a determination is made that the former combatants have repented and are better citizens, imbued with genuine nationalism. They must no longer represent a danger to society or to themselves.
“Where they are certified as such, communities have the duty of accepting them. Unless they want them to take up arms and resume terrorism from which they have repented, community leaders must work with the relevant agencies to end their rejection.
“The Buhari administration is a responsible one and is conscious of its duty to the state and society, and to the victims of terror as well as to those who inflicted these pains and losses on our people.”

Coronavirus Has Forced Us To Reconstruct Nigeria’s Health Infrastructure – SGF

Boss Mustapha
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and head of Covid 19 Presidential Task Force, Boss Gida Mustapha has said that coronavirus outbreak has forced Nigeria to reconstruct its health infrastructure.
“By and large, we are also satisfied from where we have started from. We started with two laboratory tests. Today, we have 60 in 31 States plus the Federal Capital Territories (FCT), Abuja. Are we returning to two laboratories after this? No.
“It means that the reconstruction of our health infrastructure has begun. We are working hard to ensure that this month, the entire nation is covered with testing facilities.
“We are working with CACOVID and NNPC to ensure that before the end of this pandemic, we have at least a structure that can be defined as a proper molecular laboratory, a testing facility, an isolation facility, and an ICU facility integrated into one.”
Boss Mustapha, who spoke to newsmen  today, August 5, after submitting the mid term report of the Task Force to the President at the presidential villa, Abuja, said that with the help of the media and other stakeholders, most Nigerians now believed that coronavirus is real.
He said that what is lacking mainly is enforcement “and my appeal is that the sub-nationals should ensure enforcement.
“As a matter of fact, when we listed some of our challenges, top on the list is lack of enforcement of even the regulations that have been put in place. “As a result of signing the Quarantine Regulation, it’s a regulation, it’s a law, but you see, the issue of enforcement has been lacking and it’s not only in this area and like keep saying, most times that COVID-19 has exposed the weaknesses of our systems, all systems, not only the Nigerian system, even the American system, its inadequacies, despite its 300 years of democracy, have been exposed by COVID-19.
“if not, how can a President
be arguing with the mayor of a city  as to who has authority over what happens? It means there’s a big gap in that system.
“I believe that if we can just work on the enforcement aspect of it, which is the responsibility of the sub-nationals, we will go a long way.”
Boss Mustapha cautioned that the fact that about 10,000 coronavirus patients were discharged the previous day did not mean Uhuru, saying that as those patients were being discharged, there was a decrease in the testings.
“In the last couple of days, we tested just barely 2,000 across the nation, but we have  a testing capacity of much more than 2,000.
“Another reason is that everybody is still in the Sallah mood, even the essential workers. Remember when I talked of fatigue, this is part of it. We’ve been doing this thing for the last three to four months. It get to a point when you want to lay back and say we are already overcoming this, but I know that in the next couple of days, the testing will be rampart because people would have come out of the Sallah celebrations and come back to work.
“The sub-nationals and local governments will begin to go into the communities to search because this is the point at which you have to go into the local communities and begin to search. If you don’t do that, so much is happening as a result of the community transmission that has been cascaded into the local communities that if you wait for it to present itself, it will present itself in a very explosive manner and we can get into a panic mode.
“We don’t want to have that, that is why we are encouraging the state governments to go into the local communities to ensure that they search for those infected with this virus, test them, if they are positive, isolate them and provide care for them.”

We’re Going To Have Bumper Harvest In Katsina Despite Insecurity, Gov Masari 

Governor Bello Masari of Katsina State has predicted a bumper harvest in the state despite the spate of banditry attacks on communities and killing of innocent people.
Governor Masari, who answered reporters’ questions today, August 5, shortly after a private audience with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja admitted that banditry would obviously affect food production in some areas.
“Certainly, there is going to be some issues, because in the entire state, it is only nine local governments out of 34 that are affected, and even in the nine local governments affected, it is only villages and areas that are bordering the forests that face the challenge.
“So, I admit that in some of the areas, there may be some drawbacks, but on a general note, the season looks good.
“We are hoping that we will have a bumper harvest.”
He said that he and President Buhari spent more than 30 minutes during the private audience discussing the current security situation in the state, adding that so far, the situation is under control.
“But it is not over until it is over and we have discussed extensively and offered our own suggestions and those of us who are on ground and that is actually what we discussed with the President.”
Governor Masari said that currently over 2,000 military personnel and officers are in Katsina for their annual super camp, adding that it is a signal to the bandits that the military is ready and willing and have the capability and  capacity to deal with the situation.
He hoped that the military, including the police and other security agencies, have been given the marching orders.
“To control the situation by all means is a task that must be done because we cannot allow the situation in the North West to develop like  it has in the North East. So, I think the people living in the rural communities will testify that actions are ongoing and those that are being displaced are being well taken care of and so this is the situation .

NNPC Rolls Out Drums To Celebrate Drop In Pipeline Vandalism

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has cause to celebrate as it recorded an encouraging 43 per cent drop in cases of willful damage of its oil pipeline infrastructure by suspected oil thieves in May this year.
The corporation, in a statement today, August 5, by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru, said that details of the report contained in the May 2020 version of the NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR) indicated that 37 pipeline points were vandalized, representing about 43 per cent decrease from the 65 points recorded in April 2020.
He said that further breakdown showed that Mosimi-Ibadan pipeline axis accounted for 38 per cent of the vandalized points while Atlas Cove—Mosimi axis recorded 19 per cent of the breaks. This is even as Suleja-Kaduna logged 16 per cent of the breaks, while other locations make up for the remaining 27 per cent.
NNPC said that in collaboration with the local communities and other stakeholders, it would continuously strive to bring the malaise under control.
The spokesman said that the corporation had continued to diligently monitor the daily stock of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol, to achieve smooth distribution of the products to ensure zero fuel queue across the nation.
He said that towards this end, 950.67million litres of white products were sold and distributed by the corporation’s Downstream subsidiary, the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) in May, 2020. “This comprised 950.67million litres of PMS only with no Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) or Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK), adding that there was no sale of special product in the month.
“Total sale of white products for the period May 2019 to May 2020 stood at 19,865.80million litres and PMS accounted for 19,704.49 million litres or 99.19 per cent.”
The report said that ₦92.58billion was made on the sale of white products by PPMC in May 2020. Total revenue generated from the sales of white products for the period May 2019 to May 2020 stood at ₦2,393.88billion, where PMS contributed about 98.84 per cent of the total sales with a value of ₦2,366.15billion.
In the gas sector, natural gas production in May 2020 increased by 2.38 per cent at 226.51Billion Cubic Feet (BCF) compared to output in April 2020; translating to an average daily production of 7,480.36 million Standard Cubic Feet of gas per day (mmscfd). Likewise, the daily average natural gas supply to gas power plants increased by 5.87 per cent to 834mmscfd, equivalent to power generation of 3,128MW.
The NNPC May report said that the Group’s operating revenue, compared to April 2020’s, increased by 15.33 per cent or N31.68billion to stand at N238.33billion, while expenditure for the month decreased by 0.76 per cent or N1.81Billion, to stand at N235.66billion.
The report indicated a trading surplus of ₦2.68billion compared to the ₦30.81billion deficit posted in April 2020 when the effect of COVID-19 was at the peak, leading to reduced demand with fluctuating prices.
It said the 109 per cent upturn in revenue this month is the cumulative result of improved performances by some of the corporation’s Strategic Business Units.
While the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) posted a surplus due to substantial growth in the market fundamentals as demand began a slight recovery; the Nigerian Gas Marketing Company (NGMC) recorded 257 per cent increased profit attributed to improved debt collection.
Similarly, PPMC’s surplus rose 250 per cent from investment dividend received and significant drop in average product landing cost.
In addition, Corporate Headquarters deficit ebbed by 47 per cent in May, according to the report, compared to last month’s, while NNPC Retail, Integrated Data Services Limited (IDSL), NNPC Shipping and Ventures also contributed positively to the month’s performance, leading to the significant NNPC Group surplus position during the period under review.

Nigeria Police May Drag Sahara Reporters To Court Over Alleged Maliciously Publication 

The Nigeria Police Force is mobilising a team of lawyers to drag Sahara Reporters,  an online newspaper to court for alleged what it called “misleading report” published on August 03, 2020 under the heading ‘Exclusive: How Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police, Adamu, Illegally Raised Millions of Naira for Construction of Training School in Nasarawa.’
A statement today, August 4, the Force spokesman, Frank Mba, said that the Force “has instructed its legal team to initiate legal actions against Sahara Reporters to address the defamatory and libellous components of the report.”
The statement which described the report as spurious, said that the allegations against the IGP, Mohammed Adamu were that he was involved in a multi-billion Naira fraudulent scheme. “The publication which referenced several unnamed and unverifiable sources alleged, essentially, that the IGP ‘used his office to unlawfully compel and in fact threaten Mobile Police Commanders into generating millions of Naira monthly through illegal means for the purpose of establishment of a MOPOL Training School in his home town of Endehu in Nasarawa State.
“The Force wishes to state unequivocally that the publication in its entirety is false and baseless. It was published in the tradition of Sahara Reporters to blackmail and impugn the credibility of strategic leaders of the country in an apparent attempt to advance their ignoble and unpatriotic intentions.
“While being conscious of the need not to glorify the falsehood contained in the reportage, it is considered expedient and in national security interest to put the facts straight. In this regard, it is to be clarified as follows:
The establishment of the Police Mobile Training School in Endehu, Nasarawa State, North Central Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria was informed by overriding national security consideration on the need to strengthen the operational capacity of the special forces of the Nigeria Police Force.
Also, the insinuation that the IGP sited the facility ‘in his hometown of Endehu in Nasarawa State’, is also utterly misleading. For the avoidance of doubts, Endehu is not the hometown of IGP Adamu. He is, in the contrary, from Lafia.
The allegations that the IGP used his office to threaten Mobile Police Commanders into generating Millions of naira monthly through illegal means for the establishment of the institution is also totally false. It is on record that the parcel of land where the institution was sited was donated to the Police with the full complement of the Certificate of Occupancy which the Executive Governor of Nasarawa State publicly presented to the Nigeria Police. The acquisition of the land was, therefore, without any financial commitment by the Police.
“Furthermore, the construction of the facility was achieved with the support of the Nasarawa State Government and well-meaning corporate bodies within the context of their Corporate Social responsibility (CSR). In all instances, all the support so extended were not in cash but in form of donation of materials. The only involvement of some Squadron Commanders was to ensure the delivery of some of the construction materials so donated by the corporate bodies. Hence, the allegation that the IGP had each Squadron Commander cough out nothing less than N500,000 monthly for the purpose of erecting different structures in the training school is a preposterous and feeble attempt to discredit the innovative reasoning that engendered the successful implementation of the critical national security asset that the facility represents.
“The construction of the project through corporate intervention is a demonstration of the commitment of the Force leadership to meet its obligation to citizens in terms of their safety and security and in furtherance to the Reform agenda of the Nigeria Police Force. It was not established as a personal asset of the IGP. Rather, it is a national security legacy project. It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time that corporate organisations and governments at all levels are assisting the police to bridge operational and infrastructural gaps. Dangote Foundation, the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Bankers’ Forum, State Governments, Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC), and well-meaning individuals among others have in the past donated fleets of vehicles and have rendered other supports to the Police.
“The attempt by Sahara Reporters to malign the Force leadership shall not in any manner impact on the firm determination of the Nigeria Police Force to advance its strategic plan and to continue to adopt innovative reasoning in changing the policing narratives in Nigeria towards stabilizing the internal security order. While members of the public are called upon to discountenance the content of the publication in its entirety, it is to be noted that the Nigeria Police Force has instructed its legal team to initiate legal actions against Sahara Reporters to address the defamatory and libellous components of the report.”

Terrorism, Kidnapping, Others Traced To Proliferation Of Hard Drugs

Security outfits in Nigeria have reached a consensus that the increase in the level of hard drugs in circulation is the major cause of terrorism, kidnapping, banditry and other criminal activities that have refused to abate.
“If you look at the criminality, the colouration of each crime, especially kidnapping, banditry and terrorism, it is not the killing of the people but the way people are killed, goes to show one thing. It is extremely abnormal, inhuman and these acts can only be perpetrated by people who are out of their minds.
“One thing we in the security and intelligence arm have been able to trace, is that there are certain drugs of choice that have saturated the entire landscape of the country.”
They identified such drugs as condone, opiums, cocaine, tramadol and pertamines and cannabis sativa.
Speaking to newsmen today, August 4, shortly after a  security council meeting, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, at the presidential villa, Abuja, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Rtd General Babagana Monguno, said that the service chiefs were of the opinion that widespread use of these substances had dangerous impact on the social and economic situation of the country.
According to the National Security Adviser, the popular drug of choice, tramadol, is easily acquired and that it  has been the drug of choice for terrorists, bandits and kidnappers.
“I, the chief of Defence staff, Army Chief, Inspector General of police, Heads of the various intelligence agencies gave synopsis each of the current security situation and what our various organizations and agencies are doing about the security situations.”
He stressed that the drug trafficking and abuse of drugs, has taken on a worrisome dimension, adding that Nigeria’s perception on the drug trafficking index has changed from the status of a transit hub to a production center.
“Between 2011 and 2019, approximately 17 manufacturing laboratories of metal and metulin substances were located by the various security agencies and destroyed. That is a large number. At the same time, we have had increasing activities of illegal cultivators of Canabis in Nigeria.
“These people basically use extremely large space of arable land to cultivate this illegal substance, employing militia men to protect their farms and also their storage facilities.
“When you look at drugs, our main concern as security operatives, is the ultimate destruction to the social fabric and economy of the nation.
“There is hardly any violence crime today in Nigeria that is not propelled by the use of these hard substances. And these hard substances have been coming in from all nooks and crannies. What is worrisome is that the report we have received from the chairman National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), show that the number keeps increasing. Despite the closure of borders, we are still having to contend with the influx of these drugs.”
The Security Adviser warned that unless there is a collective and concerted effort to deal with with this problem, it will result in this country going down the bottomless pit of self destruction.
“We don’t want that to happen and one of the ways of dealing with this issue is by using a whole of society approach in conjunction with the whole of government approach to achieve the whole of the nation approach.
“You have a minimum of three parties operating at the same time: the drug peddler (the supper fly), the consumer (the junkie) and that person in the center who has been entrusted with denying these drugs access  into the country. It is important to note that if there is a compromise then things become tedious and problematic.

Inland Revenue, Postal Service Fight Dirty Over Stamp Duties

Two Nigeria’s Federal Government parastatals, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST) are at each other’s throats over the the control of stamp duties.
While the FIRS said in a recent circular that it had opened a portal for automated stamp duty collection where all citizens, government agencies, institutions, and private organisations should log into and pay stamp duties, NIPOST chairman, Maimuna Abubakar tweeted to say that the FIRS’ claim on stamp duties was illegal.
Maimuna tweeted: “NIPOST are the sole custodians of national stamps, another agency printing and selling stamps is against the law of the land.”
But FIRS spokesman, Dr. Abdullahi Ahmad fired back by saying that the agency had not violated any law by collecting stamp duty.
According to Abdullahi, there is a difference between stamp duty and postage stamp.
“We appreciate the general public for demonstrating deep knowledge of the difference between Stamp Duty and Postage Stamp. It is unfortunate that Mrs. Maimuna Abubakar, Chairperson of the NIPOST Board is yet to understand this.”
The FIRS Chief spokesman described Maimuna’s tweet as indecorous, which he said would not have deserved any response but for the sensitive nature of the issue at stake, which if not sensibly treated and promptly corrected would likely mislead the public.
“To be sure, NIPOST is a government parastatal established by Decree 41 of 1992 with the function to develop, promote, and provide adequate and efficiently co-ordinated postal services at reasonable rates.
“This function is clearly contrary to the claim by NIPOST over the administration of stamp duties in Nigeria. On the other hand, the FIRS is the sole agency of got charged with the responsibility of assessing, collecting, and accounting for all tax types including Stamp Duties.
“It is therefore shocking to us that such a privileged young lady who happened to be appointed to high office would throw all caution to the air to cast aspersions on reputable public institutions like the National Assembly and FIRS, which she accused of stealing NIPOST idea.”
Dr. Abdullahi said that the FIRS is determined to get back all funds collected by NIPOST into its “illegally operated Stamp Duties Account.”

APC To PDP: Account For Failed $460 Million Abuja CCTV Project, $2 billion China Loan

File photo of failed CCTV project in Abuja

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to account for several projects running into billions of dollars and naira which it took foreign loans to execute but never saw the light on the day.

In a statement today, August 3, the APC deputy national publicity secretary, Yekini Nabena asked PDP to explain the over $2 billion China loan its administration took between 2010 and 2013 alone; $16 billion spent on power with no electricity; fuel subsidy rackets; counter-insurgency funds that were diverted and shared to political cronies among other shocking heists.

Nabena recalled that the failed CCTV installation project was initiated by late President Umaru Yar’Adua and awarded in August 2010 by former President, Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to help security agencies in the Federal Capital Territory check the growing insecurity.

“Since the agreement became signed, Nigeria has been servicing this loan to China while Nigerians are yet to attest to the visibility of CCTV project and unable to explain the status of the video surveillance project. The matter is subject to a legislative probe.”

The APC spokesman, who was reacting to the Media Office of former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar on the standard sovereign guarantee and sovereign immunity clause embedded in Nigeria’s loan agreements with China to fund the ongoing national railway projects, described such position as unresearched, unintelligent and pedestrian.

“As the Minister for Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has explained, the guarantee/clause in the loan deal is standard, irrespective of the the country granting the loan.

“Perhaps, Atiku and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) could redirect their energies to explaining to Nigerians the status of the failed $ 460 million Abuja Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) awarded in August 2010 by the immediate past PDP administration.”

Nabena insisted that the PDP remains a corrupted and damaged product, adding that Nigerians must continue to reject the party at all levels of government.

“In the area of fiscal discipline, prudence, curbing leakages, are we currently getting it right? It is an emphatic yes! “Every kobo expended on infrastructure counts. Verifiable evidence abound in the fast expanding national railway projects, airport remodelling among other critical infrastructure projects being undertaken by the President Muhammadu Buhari government.

“The days of phoney contracts as institutionalised by successive PDP administrations are fast fading.”

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