Buhari Seeks Senate’s Approval For N10.06 Billion Refund To Kogi Government

October 15, 2019

President Muhammadu Buhari has forwarded request to the Senate for an approval to pay Kogi State Government N10.069 billion being refund of money spent by the state on behalf of Federal government.

In a letter dated 10th October, 2019 and read by the President of the Senate, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, during plenary, the President Buhari said that the requested amount is for the settlement of inherited local debts and contractual obligations of the Federal Government to the State for projects executed on behalf of the Federal Government.

The President recalled that 24 out of 25 State Governments had received the approval of the National Assembly for the settlement of claims on projects executed on behalf of the Federal Government.

He added that the sum of N10.069 billion is outstanding amount due to Kogi State Government which is the only State yet to receive a refund.

The letter reads: “The Distinguished Senate President would recall that, based on my request for the Resolution of the National Assembly approving the establishment of a promissory note programme and a Bond Issuance to settle inherited Local Debts and Contractual Obligations of the Federal Government, the 8th National Assembly passed Resolutions approving the Issuance of Promissory Notes to refund State Governments for projects executed on behalf of the Federal Government.

“The Resolutions of the 8th Assembly were conveyed through three different letters from the Clerk of the National Assembly as follows: Letter dated July 27, 2018 and referenced NASS/CAN/106/Vol.10/277 which approved the Issuance of Promissory notes to 21 states.

“Letter dated January 29, 2019 and referenced NASS/CAN/106/Vol.11/004 which approved the Issuance of Promissory Notes to Delta and Taraba States; and letter dated May 23, 2019 and referenced NASS/CAN/106/Vol.11/164 which approved the Issuance of Promissory Notes to Bauchi State.”

“The three Resolutions approved the Issuance of Promissory Notes to 24 out of the 25 State Governments requested, and the only State for which approval has not been given is Kogi State, with an outstanding claim of N10,069,692,410.15 (Ten billion, Sixty-Nine million, Six Hundred and Ninety-Two thousand, Four Hundred and Ten Naira, Fifteen Kobo).

“The Senate may wish to note that, subsequent to Resolutions of the National Assembly approving the refunds to the 24 State Governments, the Federal Government has issued Promissory Notes to all the approved States for the settlement of their claims.

“Accordingly, the Senate is hereby requested to kindly approve, the Issuance of a Promissory Note in the sum of N10, 069,692,410.15 as refund to Kogi State Government for Projects executed on behalf of the Federal Government.”

The Senate President referred President Buhari’s request to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts for further legislative work.

Nigeria’s Border Security Operatives Seize N1.4 Billion Illegal Items

Editorial staff

October 14, 2019

The Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), retired Colonel Hammed Ali has said that operatives of the ongoing Joint Border Security had seized items worth N1.4 billion since the partial closure of borders.

Hammid Ali, who spoke at a joint news conference with his counterpart from the Nigeria Immigration Service, Mohammed Babandede, in Abuja today, October 14, saidthat the items seized since the commencement of the exercise were 21,071 of 50Kg of per boiled foreign rice; 190 vehicles; 891 drums filled with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), and 2,665 jerricans of vegetable oil. Other items were 133 motorcycles; 70 jerricans of PMS, and 131 bags of NPK fertiliser.
The customs boss explained that unscrupulous elements used such fertilisers for explosives to perpetuate mayhem in the country.
According to him, 95 per cent of illicit drugs and weapons use for terrorism come through the porous borders.
He said that the rate of insecurity in the country had reduced dramatically since the closure of borders, adding that 317 suspected smugglers and 146 illegal migrants have so far been arrested during the exercise.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the joint border security exercise, codenamed “Exercise Swift Response”, commenced operation on Aug. 20.
It is set up to ensure a better security of the country’s territorial integrity, particularly the land and maritime borders against trans-border security concerns.
The exercise is being coordinated by Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in the four zones of North-West, North-Central, South-West and South-South geopolitical zones.

Zimbabwe Man Marries Mother-Inlaw As Second Wife

Editorial staff

October 14, 2019

A man in Zvishavane, a small town in Zimbabwe, Vashko Sande, has formally married his own mother in-law as a second wife whom he dated secretly for seven years.
Vashko Sande who described himself as his own fathe-inlaw, was said to have fell in love with his mother-in-law secretly thereby betraying his wife’s trust.
Reports said that because of the man’s maltreatment of his first wife, the wife, Vimbai Magora had to take him to court, seeking for peace order.
In her application for a peace order, Magora said: “We got married in 2008 and since 2011 my husband became hostile as he had fallen in love with my mother.
“He started beating and insulting me, threatening to chase me and my four children out of our matrimonial home.”
She said that even family elders failed to resolve their problem as he never listened to their advice, but continued in the relationship with his mother-in-law putting their marriage on the rocks.
In response, Sande confirmed the allegations levelled against him, saying that he loved the two women and wanted to spend his life with them.
“It is true that I am in love with her mother, but I still love my wife as well. Therefore, I would like to spend all my life with them,” said Sande.
Zvishavane magistrate, Shepherd Mjanja granted the peace order in favour of Magora.
Sande was ordered not to physically and emotionally abuse his first wife.

Court Freezes Bank Accounts Of 3 Companies Over Alleged Rice Smuggling

Editorial staff

October 14, 2019

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the temporary freezing of bank accounts belonging to three companies allegedly involved in smuggling of rice into Nigeria.
The companies whose accounts were domiciled with ten commercial banks in Nigeria are Sun Sam A1 International Limited, Sun Sam International Limited and Sunchrist O. Trans Nigeria Limited.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed directed the Head offices of First Bank Nigeria PLC, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Union Bank PLC, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Zenith Bank PLC, Sterling Bank, Access Bank, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Polaris Bank and Eco Bank Nigeria to freeze forthwith all transactions from those accounts for 45 days.
Justice Mohammed said that this was pending the outcome of the investigation and inquiry currently being conducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Ruling on an ex-parte application on behalf of the apex bank by its counsel, Nosike Nicholas, to freeze the accounts for 90 days, the Judge granted the apex bank permission to freeze the accounts for only 45 days. He said that the order of freezing for 45 days was subject to renewal for further days upon an application by the CBN, in the event that its investigation could not be concluded within the first 45 days.
Nosike anchored the application on section 60, Paragraph (B) of the Banks and other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 1991 as amended. He told the court that there was an ongoing investigation against the defendants who are customers of the commercial banks. According to him, transactions under the accounts can cause significant financial loss to the rice industries in particular and the Nigeria economy in general. The case was adjourned to Dec. 12 for further hearing.

The Day Mamman Daura’s Daughter Abused Aisha Buhari

Editorial staff

October 14, 2019

Facts have emerged as to why the First Lady, Aisha Buhari ranted int thepresidentialvilla, Abuja, whose video went viral last week at the time social media was filled with rumour of President Muhammadu Buhari taking a second wife.

In a statement today, October 14 by a spokeswoman of the First Lady, Mrs. Bisi Olumide, Aisha Buhari acknowledged that she acted the way she did because Fatima Mamman Daura, daughter of Buhari’s uncle, locked the villa door against her and abused her.
Reacting effectively to what she called infamous video clip which Fatima Daura admitted that she shot and leaked to public via social media, Aisha Buhari said: “Fatima didn’t showcase her part in the drama where the door was locked against the first lady to deny her access to some areas of the villa, neither did she acknowledge the abuse she first vented before the first lady reacted under the instruction of DG Lawal Daura who was brought into GOV by Mamman Daura.”
The statement titled: “what Mamman Daura’s daughter Fatima did not say in her interview” goes thus:
By now, the airwaves are awash with Fatima mamman Dauras daughter consenting to the fact that she indeed shot and leaked the now-infamous video clip which showed the wife of the president in a very angry mood.
The incident happened over a year ago when the wife of the president on the instructions of the president asked the Daura’s to vacate their living quarters inside the villa for a sick Yussuf Buhari who was recuperating after an accident. For this reason, the quarters were needed and the Dauras were asked to move to another part of the villa. Long before the accident, Yusuf’s mother had requested in writing for the Daura’s to vacate the place because the building is officially designated for the biological children of any serving president. The IG of police, DG DSS, NSA and the Vice President who was the acting President were all notified of this request. Despite this, the Daura’s deliberately refused to comply with the instructiions of the security agencies. Mamman Dauras daughter Fatima did not say this in her interview
What really was the intent for the video being released now if not for mischief.

Kogi Election: Natasha Akpoti Asks Court To Disqualify Yahaya Bello Over Alleged Double Registration

Editorial staff

October 14, 2019

Disqualified Governorship aspirant of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Kogi State, Natasha Akpoti, has filed a suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja praying for the disqualification of Governor Yahaya Bello as a candidate in the forthcoming November 16 governorship election in the state.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/122/2019 filed today, October 14, Natasha Akpotianchored her prayer on Yahaya Bellow’s alleged double registration as a voter.
Apart from disqualification, the plaintiff also asked the court to bar Yahaya Bello, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the forthcoming poll, from holding public office for 10 years.
She also prayed for another order compelling the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to “thoroughly investigate the act of double registration” and “to immediately prosecute him upon the expiration of his first tenure in office as governor of Kogi State in January 2020.”
The plaintiff’s lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), who filed the suit on her behalf contended that Yahaya Bello’s act of double registration as a voter grossly violated section 24(e) of the Electoral Act.
Ozekhome argued as part of the grounds of the suit that “By his willful act of making double registration”, Bello as APC’s candidate, “is not a fit and proper person to be allowed by the 2nd defendant, INEC, to vote or be voted for in the forthcoming Kogi State governorship election, having committed acts of electoral fraud.”
The senior lawyer also maintained that Bello underwent double voter registration as a voter in gross violation of the electoral law, and that INEC had sacked two of its employees who allegedly “aided and abetted Yahaya Bello in his act of double registration as a voter”.
In the affidavit she deposed to in support of the suit, Akpoti, said she contested the March 23, 2019, Kogi Central senatorial election but lost.
She noted that she had emerged as the Social Democratic Party’s candidate in the forthcoming governorship election in the state but was unjustifiably disqualified by INEC.
She described herself as “an indigene of Kogi State, a legal practitioner, an astute politician, a political reformer, a pro-masses advocate, a philanthropist and one deeply involved in and concerned with the parlous state of affairs of Kogi State people and Nigerians alike.”
She alleged that Bello first registered as a voter in Abuja in 2011 and procured the second voter registration in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital in May 2017.

Source:Punch

On Ese Oruru, World Shook, And On KANO 9 Teenagers, World Goes Silent, By Kabiru Dalha

Editorial staff

October 14, 2019

If we can recall sometimes about two years ago, there was a case of a girl called Ese Oruru from Bayelsa State, who eloped with her boyfriend to the hometown of the boy in Kura local government area of Kano State.
The girl was about 19 years old then and was pregnant for her boyfriend also.
The Kano born boy was popularly called ‘Yellow’.
The girl decided to change her religion from Christianity to her boyfriend’s religion which is Islam, out of her love for her boyfriend, but that was her greatest mistake and offence, which was transferred to her innocent boyfriend.
I could recall, Hell was let loose, a simple case of love affairs involving two teenagers and despite the efforts of the emir of Kano to address the issue it went out of hand as nearly all the media houses, civil society organisations, human rights activists, CAN and even some political leaders went on rampage insinuating grand design by Nigerian Muslims to convert their girls through abduction and forceful conversion to Islam.
All these voices sustained their campaign until they made sure that the helpless boy aka Yellow was jailed. Later on I think Ese Oruru was put to bed of a bouncing healthy child. The rest is now history.
The point I am trying to make here is that all those voices that were very loud during the Ese saga, a girl that willingly wanted to convert to Islam without changing her name are now dead silent on a more terrible and sensitive case.
Remember, like I said, Ese was about 19 years then, an age good enough to decide her fate and she was not stole from her parent. She willingly eloped with her boyfriend, but her parents changed the story and Yellow ended up in jail.
Now we are talking about nine innocent children all between the ages of two and 10 years, stolen from their parents and taken to Onitsha in Anambra State, renamed and converted to Christianity against their wishes. Yet all the noise makers cannot find their voices. What type of hypocrisy is this?
Where are all the media houses that are good at spreading even a less sensitive case than this? Where are all the civil society organisations that are good at echoing even a less important case compare to this?
What of all the Human Rights activists that claim to be protecting the rights of the citizens? Where are those political leaders from the North that want to at least make names?
I will not ask of CAN, because of the obvious reason that they are now happy because their followers have increased, but I would rather ask of those Muslim organizations that seem to be quiet in the face of this deadly case for the Muslim ummah.
Should the North and Northerners be this intimidated into keeping silence just because our own is at the helm of affairs?
Where is the Kano State government? This is the type of case that you need to champion to which all of us will support and rally around, irrespective of political interest, because the innocent children stolen do not even understand what politics is all about.
Those children are Kano children from Muslims parents that are stolen and converted to Christianity unknown to them, as such we must stand-up for them. Their State government must protect their rights and this protection must be visible. This is beyond politics, but it is a matter of forceful conversion to a religion without consent. It is a matter of life.
It so sad that the Northerners are being intimidated, beaten to shape and made to feel guilty of all our country’s woes, simply because our own is at helm of affairs. This is unacceptable!
This dangerous syndicate must be uprooted completely, and all the culprits must be severely punished to the glare and knowledge of everyone.
May almighty Allah save Us from ourselves.

kabir Dalha Kabir wrote In from Kano.

Committee Indicts 5 Emirs, 33 District Heads, Top Military Officers In Zamfara Banditry

Editorial staff

October 14, 2019

A committee set up by Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State to find solutions to banditry and other security challenges in the state has indicted top military officers and traditional rulers for complicity in the spate of violence that has killed more than 6, 000 people in the last 10 years.

The committee on banditry in Zamfara State was inaugurated by Matawalle in July and its investigation covered June 2011 to May 2019. The committee, chaired by former Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, which submitted its report on Friday, said it had material evidence that five emirs in the state, 33 district heads, and several village heads were complicit in the wave of banditry in which more than 6,319 men and women had been killed.
Abubakar, who made the revelation, did not announce the names of the indicted traditional rulers.
He said 10 soldiers, some policemen, and civil servants were discovered to be involved in the banditry, which has lasted for about a decade in the state.
The former Inspector-General, however, lauded some security personnel and one emir, whom he said acquitted themselves creditably in the protection of the people. He said the committee had recommended that the emir be conferred with national honour while the officers should be promoted.
Abubakar said the 300-page report of the committee would be relevant to other state governments and the federal government in the effort to address security issues in the country.
The committee said in the report that a total of 4,983 women were widowed, 25,050 children orphaned, and 190,340 persons displaced by banditry over the period. It said Fulani herdsmen lost 2,015 cattle, 141 sheep and goats, 2,600 donkeys, and camels to rustlers, while 147, 800 vehicles, motorcycles and others were burnt at different times and locations within the period.
Matawalle said while receiving the report that the state government would set up a N50 billion fund to support victims of banditry in the state, especially orphans and widows. He said a foundation would be set up to manage the fund in line with the recommendations of the committee.
The governor said, “I commend the foresight of the committee members for recommending to my administration to launch a N50 billion orphans and widows foundation.
“I will discuss this important recommendations with President Muhammad Buhari with a view of launching the foundation in the first quarter of 2020.”
He said the foundation would have a board of trustees made up of trusted and credible Nigerians with impeccable records of selfless service.
The governor said 6,319 men and women were killed within the period, vowing that the government must take care of the education of the 25,050 orphans and meet other responsibilities to the victims.
He spoke on other recommendations of the committee, saying, “I am very glad about the agricultural and other empowerment programmes that the committee recommended.
“Unless and until the state and federal governments provide necessary support and assistance to empower individuals and groups, provide soft loanable funds to finance small and medium enterprises that are capable of addressing the ever growing unemployment rate, whatever peace we may achieve can be short-lived in the country.”
Source: ThisDay.

Fear Of Flood: Ondo Closes Down Public Schools

Editorial staff

October 14, 2019

Ondo State government has shut down public schools situated around flood-prone areas across the State. The closure is believed to be as a result flash floods which affected most flood-prone areas in the state, especially the riverside communities.

The closure of the schools was ordered today, October 13 by the State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.
The governor said that the closure of schools, which would affect only public primary and secondary schools, would take effect from Monday and last three weeks, adding that the move was to ensure that the vulnerable students, as well as teachers, were prevented from unforeseen circumstances pending when the rains subsided.
“Following the flash floods that have affected most flood-prone communities, especially in the riverine areas of the State, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has directed public Primary and Secondary Schools submerged in the floods to proceed on a three weeks holiday beginning from Monday, October 14, 2019.
“This becomes necessary in order to forestall possible attendant incidents that may likely affect lives of vulnerable pupils in those areas as a result of the floods. It is also aimed at protecting valuables from avoidable destruction.
“All Head Teachers and Principals are to enforce this directive; and in particular, ensure that all perishable educational materials are evacuated while Government works out remedial logistics believing that the floods would recede within the period of the three weeks holiday.”

Nigeria’s Opposition Missing, By Garba Shehu

Editorial staff

October 13, 2019

Last week, the Nigeria’s senate majority leader reintroduced anti-sexual harassment legislation to parliament, following a serious exposé by the BBC of a sex for grades scandal at the University of Lagos.

The bill had been tabled before – in 2016 – but it was not passed: some members of our party, working with the opposition, then stronger in numbers than today, blocked it.

This time around, there has been no such attempt by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to scupper the legislation. We cannot tell whether they remain opposed to it, for they have been too busy to let the 200 million citizens of Nigeria know. Instead, last week – whilst this matter was in the Senate, and the first Federal Budget following our February General Election, was being tabled before the House – the opposition’s full attention was elsewhere: on the affairs of the President, who we were told by the internet, was planning to marry in secret to one of his cabinet ministers.

The interminable nonsense of fake news is hardly unique to Nigeria. In the United States, Britain – indeed across much of the democratic world – we see waves of falsehoods and untruths peddled across digital and mainstream media. It has led to journalists and the press to become less trusted than almost any other profession or estate. Yet elsewhere, whether the fake facts emanate from governments or oppositions, neither have sought to abdicate their unique responsibilities in the act of governance.

In Nigeria, the opposition is close to reneging completely on the compact it holds with the voters. Every modern democracy exists for its checks and balances. Voters may elect a government to govern but they also elect an opposition – to oppose, to scrutinise, and to hold the majority to account. In the absence of either weight or counterweight, the scales of democracy become imbalanced. This cannot continue for long without the full functioning of governance being affected.

Whether citizens voted for President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC), or for the opposition’s presidential candidate and his People’s Democratic Party (PDP), no one voted for failure. They may have voted differently on policy and personality, but regardless of a voter’s choice of candidate and party, for their vote they expect responsibility. No voter expected, nor wanted, the opposition somehow to simply go missing. But that, effectively, is what they have done.

Immediately after the February election that saw President Buhari re-elected to a second four-year term, and his APC secure a workable majority both in the Senate and House, the PDP went to court to challenge the result.

The world over election losers tend towards “lawfare” once they have lost the campaign battle in the field. None can begrudge the PDP their day in court: yet it was never in doubt that they would fail to persuade the judiciary to overturn President Buhari’s 4 million votes and 14 percent margin of victory over his opponent.

“Biased judges!” screamed the opposition. Perhaps. Judges do tend to be biased – towards the facts. Yet those, it would seem, matter no longer to the opposition at all – for last week they opened their next salvo in lawfare by taking their exact same, fatally flawed case to Nigeria’s Supreme Court. We must sincerely hope the opposition have the wherewithal to appreciate they will fail once more, given the facts and the math remain the same.

The opposition’s over-excretions are leaving a mess for the elected government to clean up. These do not just extend to the fact that even the most serious, and well-intentioned anti-sexual harassment legislation needs scrutiny, or the fact that the opposition yelled “corruption, padding!” at the Federal Budget – even before it had been tabled. More importantly, it leaves a stain on the terms of acceptable debate.

The median age of our 200 million population is 18 years old. Over 100 million Nigerians have access to the internet, and to cell phones. Many will, of course, see the opposition’s fake news and failure to hold the government to account fully and sanely for what it is: dereliction of duty. But there will be those who do not.

Nigeria is leading the fight in Africa against terrorists claiming to be adherents of Islam. This battle is being won – but not without cost. Our fight matters not just to our country, or West Africa – but to the whole world. We are defeating the terrorists both through military and through educative means. We hold up to the terrorists the inalienable truth that society is better when there is reasoned debate, the exchange of views, argument without harm – and that it is through this process of consent which leads to unity.

Without that process working as it should, not only is good governance threatened but it imperils the principle of our system of governance – based on scrutiny of the executive based on facts – and makes it out to be a sham. It imperils the principle of governance by consent which is the firewall against impressionable young people being swayed towards terrorists, whom it emboldens. Nigeria’s opposition is missing. We need them back.

Garba Shehu is Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity.

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