August 2021 – Page 32

Post Date : August 17, 2021

Afghanistan: Kukah, others running to US for help deceive themselves, says MURIC

Islamic human rights organisation, Muslim Rights Concern, says Nigerians including the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan-Kukah, running to the President Joe Biden government to help Nigeria are deceiving themselves. According to the group, recent events in Afghanistan and Biden’s comments on Monday showed that the United States was only out to protect its nationalistic interest. MURIC Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, stated this in a chat with The PUNCH on Tuesday. The PUNCH had earlier reported that the Islamic militant group known as the Taliban or the Mujahedeen retook Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, about two decades after they were driven from Kabul by US troops. Before then, Taliban militants seized about 20 cities in the country following the withdrawal of US troops beginning in early July. Afghanistan civilian President Ashraf Ghani subsequently fled the landlocked Asian country on Sunday, abandoning the presidential palace to Taliban fighters. Speaking on Monday, incumbent US President Joe Biden said he stood by his decision to withdraw American forces from Afghanistan, adding that the troops cannot be dying in a war that Afghan forces were not willing to fight themselves.

Post Date : August 17, 2021

Judge travels abroad as Igboho’s aides meet all bail conditions

Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja has travelled out of the country as the 12 detained aides of Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, met all their bail conditions. The detainees’ lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, told The PUNCH on Tuesday that Justice Egwuatu was supposed to sign the release warrant of his clients today but the bail office of the court informed him that the presiding judge travelled out of the country on short notice. The court had asked each of the 12 detainees to get two sureties each, making it a total of 24 sureties. The detainees had secured the sureties last week but the bail office of the court said it needed to write letters to the offices of the 24 sureties to get more confirmation. Olajengbesi said the confirmation of the sureties had been completed, adding that he was at the bail office of the court on Tuesday waiting for the judge to sign the release order of his clients but he was told that Justice Egwuatu had travelled out. “We have met all the bail conditions and the deputy registrar at the bail office has signed a memo to that effect. However, I was told by the bail office that the judge that will sign their release order has travelled out urgently for a seminar and will not return till next week,” the detainees’ lawyer told our correspondent. The lawyer said the sudden trip of the judge was a plan to delay the release of his clients after their detention for about 50 days in the custody of the Department of State Services. DSS operatives had arrested the 12 persons on July 1, 2021, during a raid on Igboho’s Ibadan residence around 1am. DSS spokesman, Peter Afunanya, had said the secret police killed two other associates of the activist in a “gun duel.” The 12 detained persons had approached the court through their lawyers led by Olajengbesi to seek their release in line with their fundamental human rights. The aides are Abdullateef Onaolapo, Tajudeen Irinloye, Dikeola Ademola, Ayobami Donald, Uthman Adelabu, Olakunle Oluwapelumi, Raji Kazeem, and Taiwo Tajudeen; while the four aides are Amudat Babatunde, Abideen Shittu, Jamiu Oyetunji, and Bamidele Sunday. Justice Egwuatu had on August 4, 2021 admitted the 12 applicants to bail. The 12 persons have spent about 50 days in the custody of the secret police in Abuja but the DSS through its lawyer, Idowu Awo filed a remand application, asking the court to nullify the bail earlier granted to four of the 12 detained associates of Igboho. Awo said investigations revealed that the four detainees were heavily involved in the alleged offence of arms stockpiling and other criminal activities of their boss, Sunday Igboho.

Post Date : August 17, 2021

Prosecute repentant Boko Haram members, ACF tells FG, Zulum

The Pan-Northern socio-political organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum, has kicked against the reintegration of repentant Boko Haram insurgents into the society. The National Chairman of the group, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said the repentant Boko Haram members should be prosecuted for the crimes committed against Nigerians. Ogbeh, a former Minister of Agriculture, said this in a statement he personally signed and released by the National Publicity Secretary of the ACF, Emmanuel Yawe in Kaduna on Tuesday. The statement was entitled, ‘On repentant Boko Haram Terrorists and the Principle of Equity and Justice’. It read, “We are currently witnessing large scale surrender of large numbers of Boko Haram Insurgents, among whom are bomb makers, commanders, arsonists, rapists, and child snatchers. “Do we have good reason to cheer and hope for an end to this decade-old insanity? Is ‘I am sorry’ enough to bring relief to Nigerians and the thousands of the dead and the maimed? What of those victims bombed in the churches, mosques, schools, and markets? What of all the men and women in uniform murdered by them? “Who can count the thousands of widows and orphans they have created? “So, what do we do with them? Should we just embrace them and trust them wholesale? Are their moves informed by altruistic repentance? We seriously doubt. “We join the Governor of Borno (Babagana Zulum), The Shehu of Borno, Senator Ndume and millions of Nigerians in pondering over this development and our simple advice is: Bring them to trial, or free all others presently in custody anywhere, while we Nigerians plead guilty of naivety and gullibility in the extreme, punishable by more insurrection and anarchy.”

Post Date : August 17, 2021

Jega Rejects Rotational Presidency, Says Nigeria Needs A Competent Leader

Professor Attahiru Jega, former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has said rotational presidency is not the way forward for Nigeria. As the 2023 elections draws nearer, there has been a clamour for power shift across political parties. But when he featured on an ARISE TV programme, Jega said Nigeria’s next president can be from any region as long as the person is competent. “The way Nigeria is now, we need the best person with competence, capacity, experience to be the president to get this country out of the challenges we have presently.” “That person can come from the North, South, East or the West, but the important thing is that even if political parties decide that a candidate should come from a particular area, what we need to do is that Nigerians must interrogate the capacity of that person to lead this country appropriately. “This idea of rotational presidency cannot take us out of the challenges we have in this country, presently,” he said.

Post Date : August 17, 2021

Media Rights Agenda sues NBC over social media regulation

The Media Rights Agenda has sued the National Broadcasting Corporation before the Federal High Court, Abuja, over its move to regulate and license social media platforms. The organisation is challenging the legal authority of the NBC to regulate social media platforms; or to determine whether a platform is patriotic or not. In its originating summons, MRA is praying the court for a declaration that the NBC has no regulatory authority over social media platforms and cannot impose broadcast licences on social media platforms when they are not broadcasting stations as contemplated under the NBC Act and other legislation in Nigeria. It is also praying the court to declare that the move by the NBC to regulate social media platforms violate the right to freedom of expression as provided under Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution, Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Right (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international treaties. MRA is praying the court for the following reliefs: “A declaration that it is not within the regulatory authority of the NBC under the NBC Act or any other law in existence in Nigeria to determine whether a broadcasting station is patriotic or not. “A declaration that the NBC’s directive to broadcasting stations to de-install their Twitter handles and not use Twitter as a source of information gathering for their news and programmes is ultra vires and violates its fundamental rights to seek and receive information and to express and disseminate opinions under the freedom of expression guarantees contained in section 39 of the Constitution, Article 9 of the African Charter, Article 19 of the ICCPR and Article 19 of the UDHR and is also a violation of Nigeria’s treaty obligations by virtue of the country being a signatory to the international instruments, as the NBC’s regulatory authority does not extend to directing licensed broadcasting stations on where they should source their news and information, while the commission has no power to instruct broadcasting stations to deinstall their Twitter handles under the NBC Act or any other law or subsidiary legislation in Nigeria; and “A perpetual injunction restraining the Attorney-General of the Federation and the NBC or their servants and agents, from the unlawful imposition of sanctions or restrictions on Twitter or any other social media platform, and from harassment, intimidation, arrest, detention or prosecution of MRA over the use of Twitter and/or any other social media platform or in any other manner infringing on or interfering with its fundamental rights as guaranteed by the Constitution, Article 9 of the African Charter, Article 19 of the ICCPR and Article 19 of the UDHR.” The respondents in the suit are the Attorney General of the Federation and the NBC.

Post Date : August 17, 2021

Anambra 2021: Our growing popularity in South East will give us victory – APC

All Progressives Congress (APC) says its growing popularity in the South-East geopolitical zone has increased its hope for victory in the forthcoming Anambra governorship election. Gov. Mai Mala Buni, Chairman, APC Caretaker and Extra-ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), said this at the party’s national secretariat on Tuesday in Abuja. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Buni spoke while inaugurating the party’s National Campaign Committee for Anambra Governorship Election, slated for Nov. 6. Buni, who is also the governor of Yobe, said that the inauguration of the committee underscored the importance which APC attached to the committee and the task before it. He said that members of the committee were carefully selected based on their individual capacities and the belief that they would collectively deliver the state to the party. He urged members of the committee to work as a team and carry everyone on along, especially those who were aggrieved by the outcome of the party’s governorship primaries. Buni also advised the committee to reconcile the seeming differences among party members, stressing that this had become necessary to enable APC to confront the governorship election with a united front. He expressed optimism that the committee would do the party proud and capture the state. “The growing fortunes of the party in Anambra in particular and the South-East geopolitical zone, in general, have increased its hope for victory. “This will, no doubt, increase our chances of winning the election with a landslide victory,” he said. Buni charged the committee to concentrate on issues that would add value to the party’s success and avoid issues that could distract it from the path of victory. “We should remain resolute, committed and law-abiding throughout the assignment and beyond,” he said. The CECPC called on the party’s stakeholders and members to support the committee in achieving its set target of delivering Anambra to APC. “To the people of Anambra, this is an opportunity to belong to the national party. We should all support the committee for a successful assignment for a brighter future and for the good of the state,” he said. In his remarks, Chairman of the committee and Governor of Imo, Hope Uzodinma, assured that the committee would do everything legally possible to win the state for APC. He said that the committee would leverage the Federal Government’s achievements to ensure victory for the party in the state. He thanked the party leadership for the confidence reposed in members of the committee, assuring that it would deliver on its mandate. “We will speak with the people of Anambra; we will sign a contract with them and I am sure that God willing, we shall deliver. “All I ask of us is to work hard so that this opportunity presented by the gubernatorial election in Anambra completely integrates the people of the South-East zone into the national polity. “We are going there committed; we are going there willingly. I have seen a new determination, even among our brothers and sisters in Anambra. “God will help us to realise our noble dream. We will not disappoint you,” he said.

Post Date : August 17, 2021

2022 budget: FG to borrow N4.89tn, says finance minister

The Federal Government plans to borrow about N4.89tn from internal and external sources to finance the deficit in its proposed 2022 budget of N13.98trn due to dwindling revenue. The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, made this known in Abuja on Monday at an interactive session organised by the House of Representatives’ Committee on Finance on the 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper. Ahmed noted that perception of the naira as being over valued over despite recent the adjustment by the Central Bank of Nigeria has compounded Nigeria’s risk aversion in the global capital market, which she said would further put pressure on the foreign exchange market, stressing that foreign portfolio investors have yet to return to the Nigerian market. The minister stated that while the government plans to borrow to fund the N5.62tn deficits in 2022, it will reduce capital expenditure by N259.315bn, as the reduction would become necessary due to economic volatility occasioned by unstable global oil market as well as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ahmed said for capital expenditure next year, ministries, departments and agencies would get N1.76tn as opposed to the N2.02tn spent in 2021. She also the exchange rate has been pegged at N410.15 to a dollar per dollar and oil benchmark at $57 per barrel. Other key macro-economic assumptions in the MTEF/FSP include a crude oil benchmark crude oil production of 1.88 million barrels per day, an inflation rate of 13 per cent, and a nominal GDP of 149.369tn. The minister noted that interestingly, non-oil GDP continues to grow at 169.69tn, compared to oil GDP of 14.68tn included in the nominal GDP. Nominal consumption is 130,49.36bn. She said, “The budget deficit and the financing items for the expenditure projected for 2022 is N5.62tn, up from N5.60tn in 2021. The deficit is going to be financed by new foreign and domestic borrowings, both domestic and foreign, in the sum of N4.89tn, then privatisation proceeds of N90.73bn and drawdowns from project titles of N635bn. This amount represents 3.05 per cent of the estimated GDP, which is slightly above the 3 per cent threshold that is spent recommended in the Fiscal Responsibility Act. The revenue that we expect is N6.54tn, N2.62tn to accrue to the Federation Account and VAT, respectively.” The minister further said the net oil and gas revenue, which would be available for the Federation Account for distribution, would be N6.151tn in 2022.

Post Date : August 16, 2021

US gives conditions for recognising Taliban govt in Afghanistan

The United States has given conditions for recognising a Taliban government in Afghanistan. US Department spokesman, Ned Price, said on Monday that the US would only recognise a Taliban government in Afghanistan if it respects the rights of women and shuns, denounces extremist movements such as Al-Qaeda. “Ultimately when it comes to our posture towards any future government in Afghanistan, it will depend upon the actions of that government. It will depend upon the actions of the Taliban,” State Price told reporters when asked about recognition. “A future Afghan government that upholds the basic rights of its people, that doesn’t harbor terrorists and that protects the basic rights of its people including the basic fundamental rights of half of its population – its women and girls — that is a government we would be able to work with,” AFP quoted Price as saying. He said that the US negotiator on Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, remained in the Taliban’s diplomatic base of Qatar and that US officials have been in talks with the insurgents in the Gulf state. Also, US President Joe Biden promised to prioritise the treatment of women and girls under the Taliban in Afghanistan. Biden said this during his national address on Monday. In a copy of the speech obtained by The PUNCH, the US president said, “We will continue to support the Afghan people. We will lead with our diplomacy, our international influence and our humanitarian aid. We’ll continue to push for regional diplomacy and engagement to prevent violence and instability. “We’ll continue to speak out for the basic rights of the Afghan people, of women and girls, just as we speak out all over the world. “I’ve been clear, the human rights must be the centre of our foreign policy, not the periphery. But the way to do it is not through endless military deployments. It’s with our diplomacy, our economic tools and rallying the world to join us.”

Post Date : August 16, 2021

There’s Nothing Like Unknown Gunmen’, Ebonyi Blames South Easterners For Killings In Region

Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State has blamed some persons in the South East for the widespread violence in the region. The governor said this while reacting to the sit-at-home order of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The outlawed group had declared a weekly shutdown of the South East in protest of the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu, its leader. But Umahi warned residents against observing the order, threatening to sack any worker who obeys IPOB’s directive. Umahi said any shop that fails to open on Mondays will lose its right of occupancy. “I have therefore directed that any civil servant who is absent from work is automatically sacked and those absent in any of our construction sites would also be sacked.” “Any shop or stall in Ebonyi that does not open for business will lose its right of occupancy and I want this directive to be widely publicised,” he said. He also asked people in the region to speak against the rising cases of violence. “No one can wage war in the south-east and our people especially the youths should rise and condemn such acts.” “There is nothing like unknown gunmen as those killing and the ones being killed are citizens of the zone,” he said. Umahi said security personnel who have dedicated their lives to protect the people do not deserve to be killed. “I have directed the security agencies and the Ebubeagu security outfit to be on daily patrol across Ebonyi and flush out all unruly behaviour from the state,” he said. “The police personnel killed inside the vehicle which plunged into a mining pit is another supreme sacrifice from security agencies.” (NAN)

Post Date : August 16, 2021

American troops can’t be fighting a war Afghan forces are not willing to fight -Biden

President Joe Biden says the United States forces can’t be fighting a war Afghan forces are not willing to fight themselves. He said the US mission in the Taliban-torn Afghanistan 20 years ago was to get the attackers of September 11, 2001 and not to build the landlocked Asian country. “American forces cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves,” Biden said. The militants captured Kabul, and many other cities, with little bloodshed — but in the capital, a sense of panic and fear overwhelmed residents, some of whom worried about a repeat of the insurgents’ brutal Islamist rule from 1996 to 2001. At the airport, frantic Afghans tried to board the few flights available throughout the day, before US forces — sent in to secure the facility — shut down military and civilian operations. “We are afraid to live in this city,” a 25-year-old ex-soldier told AFP as he stood among huge crowds on the tarmac. “Since I served in the army, the Taliban would definitely target me.” The United States — which was left shocked by the rapid collapse of the Afghan government — has sent 6,000 troops to ensure the safe evacuation of embassy staff, as well as Afghans who worked as interpreters or in other support roles. Full transcript of President Biden’s remarks on Afghanistan Good afternoon. I want to speak today to the unfolding situation in Afghanistan, the developments that have taken place in the last week and the steps we’re taking to address the rapidly evolving events. My national security team and I have been closely monitoring the situation on the ground in Afghanistan and moving quickly to execute the plans we had put in place to respond to every contingency, including the rapid collapse we’re seeing now. I’ll speak more in a moment about the specific steps we’re taking. But I want to remind everyone how we got here and what America’s interests are in Afghanistan. We went to Afghanistan almost 20 years ago with clear goals: get those who attacked us on Sept. 11, 2001, and make sure Al Qaeda could not use Afghanistan as a base from which to attack us again. We did that. We severely degraded Al Qaeda and Afghanistan. We never gave up the hunt for Osama bin Laden and we got him. That was a decade ago. Our mission in Afghanistan was never supposed to have been nation-building. It was never supposed to be creating a unified, centralized democracy. Our only vital national interest in Afghanistan remains today what it has always been: preventing a terrorist attack on the American homeland. I’ve argued for many years that our mission should be narrowly focused on counterterrorism, not counterinsurgency or nation-building. That’s why I opposed the surge when it was proposed in 2009 when I was vice president. And that’s why as president I’m adamant we focus on the threats we face today, in 2021, not yesterday’s threats. Today a terrorist threat has metastasized well beyond Afghanistan. Al Shabab in Somalia, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Al Nusra in Syria, ISIS attempting to create a caliphate in Syria and Iraq and establishing affiliates in multiple countries in Africa and Asia. These threats warrant our attention and our resources. We conduct effective counterterrorism missions against terrorist groups in multiple countries where we don’t have permanent military presence. If necessary, we’ll do the same in Afghanistan. We’ve developed counterterrorism over-the-horizon capability that will allow us to keep our eyes firmly fixed on the direct threats to the United States in the region, and act quickly and decisively if needed. When I came into office, I inherited a deal that President Trump negotiated with the Taliban. Under his agreement, U.S. forces would be out of Afghanistan by May 1, 2021, just a little over three months after I took office. U.S. forces had already drawn down during the Trump administration from roughly 15,500 American forces to 2,500 troops in country. And the Taliban was at its strongest militarily since 2001. The choice I had to make as your president was either to follow through on that agreement or be prepared to go back to fighting the Taliban in the middle of the spring fighting season. There would have been no cease-fire after May 1. There was no agreement protecting our forces after May 1. There was no status quo of stability without American casualties after May 1. There was only a cold reality of either following through on the agreement to withdraw our forces or escalating the conflict and sending thousands more American troops back into combat in Afghanistan and lurching into the third decade of conflict. I stand squarely behind my decision. After 20 years, I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw U.S. forces. That’s why we’re still there. We were clear about the risks. We planned for every contingency. But I always promised the American people that I will be straight with you. The truth is, this did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated. So what’s happened? Afghanistan political leaders gave up and fled the country. The Afghan military collapsed, sometimes without trying to fight. If anything, the developments of the past week reinforced that ending U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan now was the right decision. American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves. We spent over a trillion dollars. We trained and equipped an Afghan military force of some 300,000 strong. Incredibly well equipped. A force larger in size than the militaries of many of our NATO allies. We gave them every tool they could need. We paid their salaries, provided for the maintenance of their air force, something the Taliban doesn’t have. Taliban does not have an air force. We provided close air support.