Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi escaped physical attack by those he called “misguided Nigerians in Spain where he is on an official duty.
The minister himself, in a tweet today, December 6, said it was the Spanish police that dispersed his attackers and saved him from embarrassment.
He wrote at about 4.15pm Nigerian time: “some minutes ago, I was attacked by a few misguided Nigerians while I was on national assignment at a climate change event in Madrid, Spain. They were quickly repelled by the Spanish police before they could do any harm. I am fine. I was not hurt. Thanks for your support and prayers.”
President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has again, emerged as Forbes’ 2019 African of the Year for the second time. He first bagged the prestigious award in 2013 as Nigeria’s minister of agriculture. Tweeting early today, December 6, Adesina said he was honoured to have been presented the award. “I am humbled and greatly honoured to be named African of the Year by Forbes Africa,” he said. Akinwumi A. Adesina ✔ @akin_adesina I am humbled and greatly honored to be named African of the Year by Forbes Africa. “My darling wife Grace has always been my rock with her love, wise counsels, prayers and support. Forbes Africa’s “African of the Year” Award is jointly shared with Grace. Thank you very much honey!” Adesina also thanked his team at the AfDB, saying together they would continue to hasten Africa’s development. “African of the Year Award by Forbes Africa: I give a big ‘High 5’ to all the amazing staff and highly supportive Boards of Governors and Directors of the African Development Bank Group. Together, we continue to fast-track Africa’s development!” Adesina was named Forbes African of the Year in 2013 for his reforms to the country’s farming sector.
The Department of State Services (DSS) has rearrested the convener of RevolutionNow protest, Omoyele Sowore after battling with his supporters in an Abuja court. Sowore’s supporters had besieged the Federal High Court in Abuja, resisting moves by the DSS operatives from re-arresting him. The the convener of RevolutionNow had arrived in court to pursue his fundamental rights suit which he filed in November. In the process, some stern-looking officers wielding guns overpowered his supporters and took him away. The security officials however, allowed Sowore’s lawyer, Femi Falana to drive him to their office and was escorted by DSS vehicles. Sowore, publisher of SaharaReporters was released yesterday, December 5 following an order by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu that he be released within 24 hours. It is not yet known why he was rearrested.
Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the 2020 hajj operations in the Holy Land. The MoU, according to a statement today, December 6 by the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Nigeria, Adnan Bostaji, is for the maintenance and improvement in standards, cooperation and agreement. The statement said that the Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah, D. Muhammad Bantan signed on behalf of his country while the Nigeria’s Minister of state for Foreign Affairs, Zubair Dada signed for Nigerian. The minister led Nigeria’s Hajj Affairs delegation. The MoU, the statement added, also paid particular attention to early arrangements for the 2020 Hajj operations. It quoted the Minister of Hajj and Umrah as saying: ”all institutions serving the Guests of Allah are keen to provide the finest services to pilgrims following directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman and Crown Prince, Muhammad bin Salman and in accordance with Saudi Vision 2030.” It also quoted Nigeria’s Minister of state for Foreign Affairs as saying: “we thank the Saudi government for facilitating the arrival of Muslims to perform Hajj.”
A legal practitioner, Barrister Monday Onyekachi Ubani has said that Orji Uzor Kalu, who was jailed 12 years yesterday, December 5 by a court for fraud and money laundering remains a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and that he is not yet a convict until the case is finally decided by the Supreme Court. Monday Omyekachi, who reacted to the court verdict, in a statement today, December 6, stressed that Orji Kalu remains a serving Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under this new term of four years except under the following circumstances: (a) He is recalled by his constituents. (b) His seat declared vacant by the Senate President if he is unable to attend legislative sittings to a certain period allowed by the constitution. (c) If he dies while serving the sentence before his term in the senate is exhausted(God forbid). He has a right of appeal up to the Supreme Court of Nigeria. He cannot bring any application for stay of execution as Administration of Criminal Justice Act has outlawed such measures, but he can bring application for his bail pending the hearing of his appeal. This application is not granted as of right as applicable to when he had not been convicted. For now he has lost the right of presumption of innocence given to every accused person. The ground/s upon which his bail application can be granted must be on exceptional grounds, part of which has to do with serious health challenge/s that has grievous consequences if he is allowed to remain in prison to pursue his appeal. Due to his legal right of appeal which will take him as far as to Supreme Court, he is not in the eyes of the law yet as an Ex-convict until the final pronouncement of the highest court in the land is made about him on these offences he is alleged to have committed. If the Supreme Court finally pronounces him guilty as charged(unless the case does not get up to that level) he will be disqualified from contesting for any future political office until after 10 years after serving. He will answer Senator Orji Uzor Kalu for life because his election to the office of a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was confirmed recently by the Court of Appeal on National Assembly and Gubernatorial Election Matters. If he is finally confirmed guilty by the Supreme Court, he can contest election in Nigeria for any position only after 10 solid years.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has listed 524 roads and bridges which are currently under construction across the country by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Fashola, who gave an update of the ongoing projects when he briefed his colleagues at the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) said that every State in the Federation including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has at least three such ongoing projects.
Below are some of the construction projects – roads and bridges – across the country as listed by the Minister:
The Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has passed the 2020 appropriation bill with a slight increase, from N10.33 Trillion as Presented to the joint session of the National Assembly ny President Muhammadu Buhari on October 8 to about N10.6 Trillion.
In a report of the Committee on Appropriation, which was presented before it was passed, the chairman of the committee, Senator Barau Jibrin said that the N560.47 billion addition is for statutory transfers (a category into which the National Assembly budget falls).
The Senate maintained Nigeria’s daily oil production rate at 2.18 million per barrel, even as it increased the Oil Benchmark Price to $57 per barrel against the $55 proposed by the Executive.
The committee retained the inflation rate at 10.81 per cent and the exchange rate at N305-$1 as proposed by the executive. It also retained GDP Growth Rate at 2.93 per cent as proposed.
Jibrin said that the committee worked harmoniously with the Executive for the processing of the bill.
The Senate passed the budget with the breakdown as follows:
Statutory transfer – N560,470,827,235
Debt service – N2,725,498,930,000
Recurrent expenditure – N4,842,974,600,640
Capital expenditure – N2,465,418,006,955
Fiscal Deficit – N2.28 trillion
Deficit/GDP – N1.52 per cent
Jibrin explained that the increase allows for intervention in critical areas like security, infrastructure, mines and steel development, social development, among others.
He said that it is in line with the budget thrust of the government “which is focused on growing development and sustainable growth.”
He said that the committee adopted the 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) as approved by the National Assembly.
The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, thanked his colleagues and the Executive for the cooperation, He also admonished the Executive to ensure the full and effective implementation of the budget of the budget.
He said that the ninth Senate has achieved one of its key promises to return the budget cycle to January – December.
“We have done so much in a short while; we have given the Executive everything they need – budget, finance bill, MTEF, among others.”
Lawan said that the Senate will interact with Ministries, Departments and Agencies on a quarterly basis in 2020 to monitor implementation of the budget.
“We hope that with this budget passed, the Executive will ensure full implementation for the benefit of all Nigerians.”
Publisher of SaharsReporters, an online medium, Omoyele Sowore has regained freedom as the Department of State Services (DSS) released him today, December 5 from detention. He has been in the DSS detention since August 3.
Report this evening, December 5, by TheCable, another online medium quoted DSS source as having confirmed the release of the agitator for a revolution in the country, even as the medium also said that one of the Omoyele lawyers, Marshall Abubakar, equally confirmed the development.
“He has been released. I am with him as we speak,” he told TheCable over the phone, adding that Olawale Bakare, Sowore’s co-defendant, had also been set free.
The federal government had come under intense pressure over the detention of the activists despite fulfilling the conditions of the bail granted to them.
Earlier in the day during the trial of the duo at a federal high court in Abuja on “treasonable felony”, Ijeoma Ojukwu, the presiding judge, gave the secret police a 24-hour ultimatum to release them.
The judge said that after she signed the warrants for the release of the defendants from custody, and same was served on the defendants, the DSS had no justifiable reason to continue to hold them in custody.
The prosecuting counsel, Hassan Liman (SAN), had insisted that the DSS had not obeyed the court order for their release, adding that the DSS had no power to constitute itself into a parallel court.
The judge also awarded the cost of N100,000 against the prosecution to be paid to the defendants for foisting “frivolous adjournment” on the court.
She ordered that the cost must be paid before the next hearing which is Friday.
A Kaduna State High Court has ordered that the leader of the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), also known as Shiite, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat be transferred from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), to a correctional centre in the state.
Justice Gideon Kudafa, in his ruling today, December 5, explained that the decision to remand El-Zakzaky and his wife in a correctional facility was to enable their lawyers and doctors to have easy access to them.
Shortly after the ruling, the judge adjourned the case to tomorrow for the commencement of trial.
El-Zakzaky is facing trial over allegations of culpable homicide, unlawful assembly, and disruption of public peace, among other charges.
Recall that Justice Kudafa had on March 26th adjourned the case indefinitely following his appointment as a member of the Election Petition Tribunal in Yobe State.
The IMN leader and his wife were not in court during the last proceedings, although their counsel, Femi Falana, claimed that their absence was due to their deteriorated health conditions.
El-Zakzaky and his wife were denied bail by the presiding judge during the last sitting on January 22, 2018.
In the application for bail filed by his lawyer, Femi Falana, El-Zakzaky had prayed the court to give a mandatory order for his client and his wife to be flown abroad.
Falana had informed the court that this was to enable them to receive proper medical attention since the Federal Government has glaringly failed to cure them of the injuries they sustained during the alleged army’s onslaught on their residence in December 2015.
The judge in his ruling, however, ordered that El Zakzaky should be allowed by the government to bring doctors of his choice to examine him in the presence of doctors from the government before the date of the next sitting.
The conviction and sentencing of a former governor of Abia State and incumbent is further proof that the war against corruption is in full swing,
Buhari Media Organization praised the conviction of the current Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu over a N7.56 billion fraud, describing it as another proof of the Muhammadu Buhari’s government war against corruption in the country.
The group said that the conviction of Orji Kalu, who was once governor of Abia State, also showed that being a member of the All Progressive Congress (APC) is not a shield from prosecution, contrary to what opposition elements had been saying about the ruling party.
In a statement today, December 5 by chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, the group saidn that the conviction of a high ranking APC chieftain proved that the courts are indeed independent in this dispensation.
” For some time, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its supporters had been casting aspersion on the anti-corruption crusade, especially in the run-up to the 2019 elections.
“The claim then was that all a politician seeking protection from trial needed to do was to join APC. And this was even after two former governors who are also members of the ruling party, had been convicted and sent to jail.
“This speaks to the focus and uncompromising nature of the administration, and if a high ranking Senator is in jail, then clearly a message has been sent out on the rule of law.
“So if there was any doubt about President Muhammadu Buhari’s sincerity, then the fact that a ranking member of his party has been sentenced to a 12-year jail term is proof that such doubts had been unfounded.
“We hope that the judgement delivered by Justice Muhammad Idris of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos would clear all doubts about the seriousness of the anti-graft crusade.”
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Publisher of SaharsReporters, an online medium, Omoyele Sowore has regained freedom as the Department of State Services (DSS) released him today, December 5 from detention. He has been in the DSS detention since August 3.
A Kaduna State High Court has ordered that the leader of the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), also known as Shiite, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat be transferred from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), to a correctional centre in the state.
