Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has told critics of his administration that he never promised to solve all the socio-economic and infrastructural problems of the state. The governor said it was preposterous for the opposition to continue to live in denial of his performance as a governor because he could not address all the needs of the people. Wike spoke on Tuesday during the inauguration of an ultramodern secretariat he built for the National Union of Rivers State Students (NURSS) at the Rivers state University. The governor said irrespective of the country’s current economic challenges, his government had made tremendous progress in tackling some of the infrastructural deficit in Rivers. He said: “I never said I will finish the whole work in Rivers State. Did I say so? Even if you keep me here for 40 years, I cannot finish the work in Rivers State. What we have said is, go to any local government, you’ll see our impact. “I said in Omuma, we did so-so number kilometers of road. What you should bother yourself with is to go and check. On Saturday, we were in Opobo. The issue is, is there road to Opobo?” The governor urged the leadership of NURSS not to allow itself to be used by disgruntled politicians to cause friction between them and state government. “Sometimes, most of you leave what you’re supposed to do and concern yourself with irrelevant things, and allow politicians to use you to come and block Government House”, he said. Wike explained that when he assumed office in 2015, there was virtually no state government’s presence in the university. He accused the previous administration of wasting the state’s resources and completely neglecting the institution. He attributed the current ranking of the state university as one of the best in the country, to the huge investment of his administration in the past six years to improve infrastructure, capacity building and welfare of the workers. Performing the inauguration, Senator Bennett Birabi said since 1999, no governor of the state had worked to improve infrastructure and enhance the wellbeing of the people, particularly during their second term, like Wike. He urged students to make judicious use of the edifice and shun social vices like cultism. Earlier, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Special Projects, George-Kelly D.Alabo, said the NURSS secretariat had offices, conference hall, cafeteria, ICT centre and a 400 capacity auditorium. Alabo, who described the secretariat as the biggest in West Africa, said NURSS is expected to generate at least N50million as revenue from the complex annually. The Commissioner of Education, Prof. Kaniye Ebeku, thanked the governor for erecting a befitting edifice for NURSS. Vice-Chancellor of the Rivers State University, Prof. Nlerum Okogbule commended the governor for his commitment to improve academic environment in the university to enhance academic excellence.

The Minister of Justice and Solicitor-General of the Government of Alberta, Canada, Kelechi Madu, has slammed the Nigerian Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Abubakar Malami, over the re-arrest of the self-acclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu. Madu, in a post on his LinkedIn page, said if reports that Kanu was abducted from Kenya were true, Malami was not only a disgrace to the rule of law but also not worthy to be a public officer. The Canadian official, who is also the Deputy Government House Leader, said Nigeria and Kenya violated international law in the manner Kanu was extradited and called on world leaders to apply appropriate sanctions. Kanu, who is facing trial for treasonable felony, jumped bail in 2017 and fled the country for the United Kingdom when soldiers stormed his parents’ residence at Afaraukwu, Abia State. Malami, however, announced last Tuesday, that he was rearrested through the collaborative efforts of Nigerian intelligence and security services. The Abia State indigene was taken before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, where an application for his remand in DSS custody was granted. Madu, who demanded the release of Kanu, urged the Nigerian government to ensure his safety. “The Attorney General of Nigeria, Abubakar Malami is a disgrace to the rule of law, and not worthy to be an officer of the court. He has shown himself to be a bigot who does not understand what it means to live in a pluralistic society governed by the dictates of the rule of law,” he wrote. He also called on the international community and leaders of nations to use all their power to ensure “real consequences for these arbitrary violations of internationally accepted democratic norms and rules that govern civilized people.” Madu said, “Nigeria is burning, and the people of Nigeria, except those who are holding the country down, wants out. You cannot destroy the hope and aspiration of a people destined for greatness and expect them to bow down in servitude. You cannot destroy a generation of people and expect them to not fight for their freedom. The power of guns, state-sponsored terrorism will not achieve peace or the preservation of Nigeria. “The Igbos and other ethnic groups in Nigeria who are calling for Nigeria to be renegotiated do not seek violence or war. They seek peace. They seek progress and the advancement of their people. They seek fairness, safety, equity, and justice for their people. They seek the opportunity for their children to grow up and achieve their God-given abundant potential. They seek the rise of a people with the work ethic, intellect and capacity to be a truly global superpower on the continent of Africa. They seek dignity over inhumane treatment. They seek life over death. “Friends of the black world must unite and liberate the people of Nigeria from this bondage and from the claws of corrupt and inept politicians who have no business being near the corridor of Nigeria’s political power.”

Emeka Emekesiri, self-acclaimed founder of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has reacted to the arrest and re-arraignment of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of IPOB. Last Tuesday, Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF), said the IPOB leader was “intercepted” on June 20 “through the collaborative efforts of Nigerian intelligence and security services”. Malami did not state where Kanu was brought from to Nigeria, but Kingsley Kanu, brother of the separatist leader, had alleged that his brother was apprehended in Kenya. The IPOB leader was arraigned before Binta Nyako, and the judge ruled that he should be remanded in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), while the case was adjourned till July 26. Speaking on the development in a video published after Kanu’s arrest, Emekesiri, the presumed founder of IPOB, said he had received several calls asking for his comments on the recent development. “I have received many calls from many people, asking me to make comments on the arrest and trial of Nnamdi Kanu,” he said. “I wondered why they asked me to make comments. Some say that they want my opinion; some say that they want to know the way forward. Well, I’m a lawyer. You know that I believe in the rule of law. “I heard that he was arrested and returned to the court where he was standing trial in 2017, and I was told he was standing trial and he jumped bail and there was a warrant issued for his arrest — bench warrant. “Now, it appears that the warrant has been executed. If that is the case and you want me to make a comment, what do you want me to say? “I’m a lawyer. What I will say is that let justice prevail. Let the law takes its course.” Emekesiri recounted how Kanu joined IPOB and was deployed to manage the broadcast section of the group, after he left Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB). The IPOB “founder” said Kanu declared himself as the leader of the group in what appeared like a “coup” speech, which he announced on the radio. “I created the IPOB, under the elders. So, when he joined us, we believed that he had talents for broadcasting, and so we put him in the media department so that he could use the media to promote the work,” he said. “Initially, he did very well promoting the work, but along the line, we didn’t know he had an ulterior motive. Using the radio, he made an announcement just like the army takes over when they plan a coup. “He now announced that our elders are saboteurs and traitors, and that he had dissolved the council of elders of IPOB and he is now the leader. “Well, we excommunicated him on 12th of May, 2014, from this body called Indigenous People of Biafra. So, the one he is carrying on with is fake.”

The Department of State Services has refused to release five youths arrested at Dunamis Gospel Church for wearing ‘Buhari Must Go’ shirts. The youths were arrested by the DSS while leaving Dunamis headquarters, Abuja, on Sunday. On Monday, human rights activists – Omoyele Sowore and Deji Adeyanju – visited the Senior Pastor of the church, Paul Enenche. Briefing journalists after their meeting with the Enenche, Adeyanju quoted Enenche as saying that he had no hand in the arrest of the five youths. He further quoted the cleric as saying that the youths did not stage a protest inside the church auditorium and that he would ensure that the youths are released. Adeyanju said, “He (Enenche) was preaching when the incident happened and it was three hours later, after the third service that he was informed of what happened and he had even taken steps to ensure that they are released but you know the overzealous security agencies we have in this country.” He added that the church had no hand in the arrest of the youths from all indications. Also speaking, Sowore said he had been able to confirm that it was indeed the DSS that arrested the youths. “The DSS was lying. We have confirmed that they (arrested youths) were taken to the DSS,” Sowore said. However, the short press briefing which was held on the fringe of the church premises, took a dramatic turn when an armed policeman asked everyone to leave. When the policeman was challenged, he threatened to shoot journalists saying, “I will kill somebody here,” just as he complained about being captured by a reporter’s camera. The Spokesman for the DSS, Peter Afunaya, asked our correspondent to send him a text message when he was contacted on Monday. He had, however, yet to respond to an inquiry as of press time.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State has dismissed the news making the rounds that the party has fallen out with the former governor, Emeka Ihedioha, over what they claimed to be his U-turn on Nnamdi Kanu’s re-arrest. In a statement issued in Owerri by the State Publicity Secretary, Ogubundu Nwadike, denouncing the news, the party urged members of the public to disregard the provocative propaganda and blackmail by the All Progressives Congress (APC) regime in the state. Nwadike said that the party would not join issues on the lingering altercations between the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the way they are handling the issues and affairs of the (IPOB) and their leader Nnamdi Kanu and APC. PDP, however, described the decision by the APC to now involve PDP in the debacle as a diversionary distraction designed by the APC to divert the attention of the masses, albeit temporarily, from focusing on the streak of failure of the APC. He said: “PDP is very much aware that its leader in Imo State, His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, CON, has never had any relationship or dealings with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.” On the blackmail that Ihedioha is betraying Kanu, the party described it “as an irresponsible propaganda and blackmail that failed on arrival.” The party insisted that “there couldn’t be a U-turn when there was never a drive out.” The party, however, asserted that Ihedioha never had any interest in Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and his IPOB, and “never spoke with anybody anywhere concerning Kanu in any ramification”, adding that there was no betrayal of Kanu by Ihedioha, “and thus there is no fallout with Emeka Ihedioha by Imo PDP over a U-turn on Kanu’s re-arrest.” While stating the position of the party, he added that “such trite propaganda and blackmail is a waste of scarce resources of the idle minds that concocted such fictitious stories that are simply sourced from the figments of the malarial imagination of the lousy authors and their paymasters.” It said that since Governor Uzodimma was declared governor, PDP has discovered “the lingering phobia the Uzodinma regime has been nursing and suffering for long, forcing it to unnecessarily always attack our great party and our leader in the state to divert Imo people’s attention and distract them from continually cataloguing his failure to deliver good leadership and good governance.” The PDP cautioned Governor Hope Uzodinma and the APC regime in the state to stop fabricating propaganda and blackmail against the party and its leader, insisting that no amount of diversionary distraction would subvert the wish and will of Imo people to stand with PDP at all times.

Ibrahim Magu, former acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is set to be promoted to the rank of assistant inspector-general (AIG) this week by the Police Service Commission (PSC), TheCable understands. Magu, who was promoted commissioner of police in 2018, had been recommended for removal as EFCC boss by the Justice Ayo Salami panel, which also asked that he be prosecuted over allegations of abuse of office. The panel had specifically recommended that Magu should be removed “for failing to properly account for N431,000,000.00 security votes/information fund released to the office of the Executive Chairman of EFCC between November 2015 and May 2020”. He was also accused of causing “disappearance of evidence, stoppage and suppression of cases under investigation and prosecution, and omitting to arrest suspects” in cases involving a former deputy senate president and a former MD of Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC). Advertisement Magu was further accused of supressing high profile cases involving four former governors, one of whom is currently a senator. The panel recommended that Magu should be referred to the inspector-general of police for “necessary disciplinary action”. However, since the panel submitted the report in November 2020, only a few of the recommendations have been implemented. A new chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, was appointed in February 2021 while several police officers were recalled to the headquarters. Magu, who has been in limbo since his probe by the panel, is believed to be in the good books of the PSC chairman, Musiliu Smith, a former inspector-general of police from Lagos state. Some senior police officers are reportedly grumbling over the failure to discipline Magu, who has always denied all the allegations against him. TheCable had revealed in August 2020 that the panel, in its interim report, recommended Magu’s sack and prosecution over allegations of corruption and abuse of office. In July, TheCable had also reported that the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) was preparing charges against Magu. Abubakar Malami, the attorney-general of the federation, had petitioned the president, levelling allegations of corruption and insubordination against Magu. Magu was arrested on July 7, 2020, detained and suspended as the acting chairman of the anti-graft agency. Credit: The Cable

Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs Maryam Katagum, on Monday slumped while on an official engagement in Bauchi State. The minister, who was in Bauchi to launch an empowerment programme held at Sanin Malam Plaza in Bauchi, suddenly slumped as she tried to deliver her speech at the ceremony and was rushed to the Trauma Centre of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) for medical attention. An eyewitness revealed that since she arrived the venue of the ceremony, the minister had looked withdrawn touching her head occasionally as the programme was going on with the Bauchi State Deputy Governor, Sen Baba Tela, in attendance. ‌Another eyewitness said that the minister slumped as she stood up to deliver her address and launch the programme, adding that she just held her head and went down flat. As of the time of filing this report, she was at the trauma centre of the ATBUTH where she is receiving medical attention with the Deputy Governor monitoring the situation. When Tribune Online visited the Trauma Centre of ATBUTH, officials of the ministry as well as those of the state government were seen monitoring the situation as one of them confirmed that the minister was indeed inside the hospital.

Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka has asked the Federal Government to apologise to Sunday Igboho after officials of the Department of State Services invaded his home and killed two of his associates. The DSS invaded Igboho’s house in Ibadan, Oyo State, early on Thursday based on intelligence it said it had received that he was stockpiling arms to cause chaos within the region. Igboho, who has been declared wanted by the DSS, had recently been calling for a ‘Yoruba Nation’ over what he has described as a ‘Fulani invasion’ of the South-West. In an interview with BBC Pidgin published on Monday, Soyinka said the government’s actions and rationale for invading Igboho’s home “stinks.” “My advise to the government is that they should stop pursuing Igboho as a criminal, because you have begun by acting in a criminal fashion against him,” he said. “If and when Igboho comes to trial, I guarantee you the government will be very embarrassed. “I think they should tell Igboho ‘we made a mistake’, ‘we should not have acted in this way’, ‘you are no longer wanted’, ‘go back to your home, in fact escort him to his home’ and let him resume his normal life.” According to Soyinka, Igboho’s fight for freedom was preceded by criminal acts of enemies of Nigeria who “appear to be supported by the force of the State.” While Soyinka noted he doesn’t ‘like the sound of a Yoruba Nation’ anymore than he likes the sound of a Tiv or Igbo nation, he said the country must be restructured through the decentralisation of power. According to the erudite professor, Nigeria’s current structure was imposed upon the people by the military.