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Post Date : February 6, 2022

2023: Tinubu returns to Nigeria after UK trip

  All Progressives Congress National Leader, Bola Tinubu, has returned to Nigeria about 10 days after he travelled to the United Kingdom, The PUNCH reports. Our correspondent gathered that the former Lagos State governor and presidential hopeful landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport around 8pm on Sunday where he was received by some leaders of his 2023 campaign train. Tinubu’s spokesman, Tunde Rahman, confirmed the development to our correspondent in a telephone chat. “He (Tinubu) arrived at the Lagos airport just now,” he said. The PUNCH had reported that the 69-year-old politician travelled overseas last week to hold some meetings and further consultations in line with his 2023 presidential ambition. There were speculations that he had travelled again to London on health grounds but his spokesman debunked it, saying his principal was “vibrant”. On January 10, 2022, Tinubu had visited the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and announced to State House correspondents that he had informed the President of his intention to contest the presidential election in 2023. Before his most recent UK trip, Tinubu had travelled to some parts of the country including Oyo, Niger, and Zamfara states to widen consultations for his political ambition. With his return on Sunday, the APC leader is expected to continue consultations for his presidential bid which he described as a “lifelong dream”. Tinubu had stayed in the United Kingdom for over three months in 2021 when he underwent surgery and therapy for knee injury. He, however, returned to the country in October of the same year and travelled to some parts of the country to meet political juggernauts and stakeholders ahead of next election. The health condition of the APC leader has constantly become a subject of controversy but many of his staunch supporters have argued that Tinubu is fit to become Nigeria’s President, adding that he is not older than the current President of the United States, Joe Biden, 79; and his predecessor, Donald Trump, 75. Former member of the House of Representatives, and Director-General of the Bola Tinubu Support Group, Abdulmumin Jibrin, recently said 14 governors and 26 APC state chairmen are in support of Tinubu’s presidential ambition. Other presidential hopefuls so far in the APC include Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi; ex-Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha; former Governor of Abia State and Majority Whip of the Senate, Senator Orji Kalu; among others. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, who served as Attorney General in Lagos from 1999 to 2007 while Tinubu was governor, has also been rumoured to nurse an ambition to succeed his boss through the 2023 election but the professor of law has not officially made his intention known. Aside from the APC, chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party who have shown interest in getting the party’s 2023 presidential ticket include former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; former Senate President, Bukola Saraki; Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal; Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed; and ex-governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso. While some of them had yet to officially declare their presidential bid, there are strong indications they are eyeing the exalted seat in Aso Villa. Other PDP stalwarts including former Senate President and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Pius Anyim; former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose; ex-governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi; media personality, Dele Momodu, amongst others have also expressed interest in running for president ahead of party primaries which are expected to hold later this year.

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Post Date : February 6, 2022

ICPC Has Recovered, Restrained N166.5bn Assets in Two-And-Half Years – Report

  The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has revealed that it recovered and restrained cash and assets valued at N166.51 billion from corrupt persons in the last two and half years. This according to ICPC spokesperson, Mrs. Azuka Ogugua, represents an increase of 378 per cent over the assets recovery target of N44 billion under the Commission’s Strategic Plan 2019 – 2023. The achievement was contained in the Commission’s Mid-Term Performance Report (2019 -June 2021) presented at the ICPC Board and Management retreat held in Abuja recently. Recovery of proceeds of corruption through seizures and forfeiture of assets is an enforcement activity of the ICPC. According to the Mid-Term Performance Report, assets worth N81.23 billion were seized and recovered in 2019; N82.57 billion in 2020 and N2.71 billion between January and June 2021. The recovered assets include houses, vehicles, electronics, jewelry, clothing and accessories, plots of land, and farms. The Chairman of ICPC, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, commended the board, management and staff for ensuring that the chain of the Commission remained strong. He said, “Lead with fresh impetus from the front and not from behind. Be proactive in leadership, pull your weight and the effects will surely be seen. Be prudent with public funds and be firm with staff who are not adding value”. While acknowledging efforts of the Commission in the fight against corruption, Prof. Owasanoye enjoined the management and staff not to rest on the achievements. ”We need to walk the talk. You know the problem and you have the solution so just implement it and produce results,” he stated. In the Mid-Term Performance Report (2019 – June 2021), the Commission recorded an overall average performance of 134% which represents the weighted average of all targets. The report further indicated that the anti-corruption agency had an impressive performance in some Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as corruption monitoring activities; the Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard assessment of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs); anti-corruption activities undertaken by ICPC-supported CSO platforms; filing of cases in court; staff training and non-petition intelligence-led investigation. Under its Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Initiative, the ICPC tracked over 2,000 projects worth over N300 billion during the period under review. In the same period, 326 contractors of abandoned projects across the six geo-political zones of the country were forced by the Commission to return to the site to complete projects amounting to N32.183 billion. The Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Initiative has aided improved service delivery and higher completion rates for funded projects in compliance with regulatory requirements as well as ensured value for money in the national budget under the present Administration. The Commission’s Systems Study and Review of personnel and capital votes of MDAs resulted in savings of N261 billion to the government between 2019 and June 2021. The government saved N89 billion in 2019, N147 billion in 2020 and N25 billion in 2021. The report further showed that the Commission received 3,940 petitions between January 2019 and June 2021, out of which 1,045 investigations were concluded. It also concluded 119 non-petition intelligence-led investigations during the period. While the Commission filed 200 cases in court, it however secured 56 convictions during the period under review. Apart from the notable gains in the enforcement mandate of the Commission, ICPC made giant strides in the areas of sensitisation of the public on and against corruption, staff training and inter-agency partnerships. The mid-term report showed that ICPC successfully conducted the total of 1,492 sensitization sessions across government agencies and other anti-corruption stakeholders within the two and half years of the report.

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Post Date : February 6, 2022

Ortom to Atiku: Benue people not happy you abandoned them during trying times

  Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue, says former vice-president Atiku Abubakar abandoned the people of the state during their trying times. Ortom spoke on Sunday when he received Atiku and his campaign team at the Benue government house. The Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign technical committee headed by Raymond Dokpesi, former chairman of Daar Communications, has been mobilising support for the presidential ambition of the former vice-president. Abubakar has however not announced if he will contest the 2023 presidential election. Speaking during the visit, Ortom said Abubakar should have visited the state when residents were under repeated attacks. The governor said the visit of the former vice-president — who holds the highest chieftaincy title in the state — is “long overdue”. “Your visit to Benue as the ‘Zege Mule U Tiv’ is long overdue. But it’s better late than never. You are in your home and we are happy to receive you,” the governor said. “But let me say here that our people were not happy that you didn’t visit when terrorist groups were attacking and killing the people in Benue.” Ortom alleged that the federal government is treating the killing of Benue residents by suspected herders with levity. He expressed optimism that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will salvage the country in 2023. On his part, the former vice-president said he was unable to visit the state earlier because he was out of the country for further education.   Before leaving the state, Atiku donated the sum of N50 million for the welfare of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

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Post Date : February 6, 2022

Goodluck Jonathan not resigning from PDP – Former Aide

  Reno Omokri, former aide to Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday, reacted to reports that his former boss might have left the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. The popular Nigerian socio-political activist, described the reports that Jonathan resigned from the PDP as false. In a series of tweets, the former aide to Jonathan urged Nigerians to disregard the report. According to Omokri: “The news floating around that former President @GEJonathan has resigned from the @OfficialPDPNig is false. Very false! “This news is being floated by people who were rejected in their state and went to their slave master’s town to receive dubious ‘honours’. Ignore it.”   He also described the former president as a stable man who has been a member of one party all his life. Omokri stressed that Jonathan does not jump from one party to another. “Sule Lamido, you have nothing to fear. Former President Jonathan is 64 years old. Throughout his life, he has only been a member of one political party. “His character is distinct. He is stable. He does not jump from party to party. Relax, Mallam Lamido,” he added.

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Post Date : February 6, 2022

Woman Arrested For Allegedly Stabbing Teenager To Death In Ogun

  A woman has been arrested for allegedly stabbing and killing an 18-year-old who is said to be the nephew of her husband. The Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed this in a statement issued in Abeokuta, the state capital over the weekend. Oyeyemi said the suspect was arrested following a distress call received by policemen attached to the Agbado divisional headquarters that a boy had been stabbed in the neck by his uncle’s wife, following a misunderstanding over broken glass. “It was revealed that a mirror glass being used in the house got broken and the deceased was alleged to have broken it,” the statement partly read. “It was the allegation that led to a disagreement between the deceased and his uncle’s wife, subsequent upon which the suspect took a kitchen knife and stabbed the deceased on his neck,”. The PPRO affirmed that upon the distress call, the Divisional police officer, Agbado division CSP Kehinde Kuranga quickly led his men to the scene, where the suspect was promptly arrested, and the victim who was in the pool of his own blood was rushed to hospital. “He was unfortunately confirmed dead by the doctor on duty and his corpse was deposited at Ifo General Hospital mortuary for autopsy” The Commissioner of Police, CP Lanre Bankole, has, however, ordered the immediate transfer of the suspect to the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for further investigation and diligent prosecution.

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Post Date : February 6, 2022

Pat Utomi: Nigeria doesn’t need someone who wants to be president because he’s wealthy

  Pat Utomi, a professor of political economy, says Nigeria does not need someone who wants to become the president just because he is wealthy. Speaking on Sunday during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Utomi said the country needs a selfless and intellectual leader to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023. Utomi, a former presidential candidate on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), noted that a coalition that will change the country in 2023 will soon be unveiled. “Nigerians need a person of competence and compassion, someone who is very selfless and a pan-Nigerian nationalist with a track record of a life service,” Utomi said. “Not somebody who spends his life just thinking about himself and suddenly decides that okay I have enough money I can now lead them. “We need a true Nigerian accepted in all parts of the country, exposed to all parts of the country in the reality of his life not in talks and the person must have friends in every part of Nigeria. We need a person, who is interested in collegial leadership. “The prospect of a coalition that will change Nigeria, which I envisage, and is being put together as we speak, is a coalition of the youth, the women, the intellectuals and the professionals.” On whether he has the desire to contest for the presidency in 2023, Utomi said, “It is not a criminal offence. We will cross that bridge when we get there.” “Our commitment is to a better society. I don’t need a title to make a contribution to the betterment of my country. If it then turnouts that a title drops itself in, well, so be it, but I don’t need a title to make a difference to my country’s history. “My heart goes out to the youths of Nigeria, they have been most abused by politicians. In spite of everything this country has done to them, the promise remains very high and the possibilities of the demographic dividends coming to Nigeria from our intelligent youths is very high.”

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Post Date : February 6, 2022

2023: After Declaring For Presidency, Dele Momodu Traces Ancestral Home

  The Publisher of Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu, has traced his ancestral home to Ihievbe community in Owan East Local Government Area of Edo State. Dele Momodu was born on 16 May 1960 in Ife, Osun State.   But after declaring his presidential ambition recently, the publisher is now seeking the blessings of his kinsmen to achieve his ambition. Speaking when he was received on Sunday by his kinsmen, Momodu said his reuniting with his ancestral home has finally put an end to all the teasing from those accusing him of not knowing where he came from. He said through him God had given his community a global champion. The presidential aspirant said he had been practising how to be the president of the country all these years, adding that the time had come for it to be truly manifested. “We have integrity and that is why we have not stolen a penny. I have never been a Commissioner, I have never been a senator, I have never been a governor, I have been a journalist all my life. “Many people used to tease and taunt me that you don’t know where you come from? “They will stop asking that question now. You can’t know where your mother come from if you don’t know where your father comes from”, said. “My own people, my fathers, my mothers, my brothers and sisters, good afternoon. I am very happy to come home today. This is a day I have been looking forward to. I have our baba, I am told that our baba is 101 years old. Baba, thank you, sir. “All I have to do was to call uncle Yisa Braimoh and here we are. It Is taking me 49 years after my father’s death for me to achieve this. My father died on June 14, 1973, when I was13 years old. “I was not brought home because at that time there was a superstition that if you go home they will kill you. “So, after my father died, I told my mother who is a Yoruba woman, I said I want to go to my village. She was afraid that I told uncle Yisa then and I came.”. On his part, Senator Yisa Braimoh said the people of Ihievbe had decided to send Momodu forth to rescue Nigeria for them. “He has declared his intentions to run for presidency. We love his homecoming and we have resolved to send him forth to rescue Nigeria for us”, he said.

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Post Date : February 6, 2022

NDLEA Seizes 22,160 KG Worth Of Illicit Drugs In Lagos

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has seized over 22,160 kilograms of Codeine syrup, Methamphetamine and Skunk at the Apapa seaport and a notorious drug den in Mushin, Lagos State in two separate operations. This was disclosed in a statement issued on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, the Director, Media & Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja. According to the statement, a total of 14,080kg codeine syrup (8,080 litres) and 4,352.43kg cold caps used to conceal the former in a 40ft container imported from India, were intercepted on Wednesday, February 2 at the Apapa port, while Cannabis and other drugs imported from Ghana including Methamphetamine weighing 3,727.72kg, were seized in an early morning raid at Akala, Mushin.   17 suspects including five females were arrested in connection to the Mushin raid. The seizure at the Lagos seaport followed intelligence from foreign partners and the cooperation of other port stakeholders. At Akala, NDLEA Strike Force operatives in their numbers with support from the military stormed warehouses in the drug den and evacuated bags and bottles of cannabis, ‘loud’, ‘skunk’, ‘skuchies’ and Methamphetamine as well as the 17 suspects for further investigation. Meanwhile, a female drug kingpin, Jemilat Seriki, who is one of the owners of 12,385 pellets of ‘loud’ imported from Ghana and intercepted at Eko Atlantic beach, Victoria Island Lagos on Saturday, November 27, 2021, has been arrested by narcotics officers after weeks of manhunt. Seriki admitted to being one the owners of the consignments seized, adding that her bags of drugs had ‘Jah Bless’ written on them. Meanwhile, in Niger State, a 64-year-old former Divisional Police Officer of Idanre Police station, Ondo state, who was dismissed from service for drug-related offences, Mr. Monday George Chika, has again been arrested with an accomplice, Emmanuel Eniola, with 280 blocks of compressed cannabis weighing 168kg. They were arrested on Sunday, January 30, in Mokwa, Niger State, after their Toyota Avalon car marked EKY 429 BZ (Lagos) loaded with the substance was intercepted at Idanre, enroute Kanji, Borgu area of the state. At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja Lagos, attempts by some traffickers to export different quantities of Methamphetamine to Brazil and United Kingdom were scuttled by narcotics officers. The first bid was made on Friday, January 28, through the SAHCO export shed where operatives intercepted 0.80kg of Meth concealed in relaxer plastic containers for tranmission to the UK. A suspect, Akuta Chioma Lucy who presented the consignment for search, was arrested for further investigation. The second attempt was on Friday, February 4, during the outward clearance of passengers at Gate ‘C’ Departure hall of the airport when an intending male passenger on an Ethiopian Airline going to Brazil, Onyeaghala Chidi was intercepted with 500 grams of Meth concealed inside three plastic hair relaxer containers. Also at the airport, a male passenger, Iliyasu Yushau Yushau, coming from Kampala, Uganda via Nairobi, Kenya was intercepted by operatives with 268 debit cards belonging to Access Bank, GTBank and Zenith Bank, during the inward clearance of passengers on the flight on Sunday, January 30. In Edo State, NDLEA operatives on Friday, February 4, stormed the Igbogiri forest, Orhionwon LGA and destroyed four dry season Cannabis farms measuring 3.067718 hectares, following the evacuation of 20 bags of compressed blocks of Cannabis weighing 269.5kg stored in a bush at Uzebba, Owan West LGA, the previous day and the arrest of Afadama James, 42, with 348kg cannabis at Owan, Ovia North East LGA on Wednesday, February 2. While operatives in Delta State arrested a 21-year-old student of Federal Polytechnic, Auchi, Kate Osagie over a 17.6grams designer drug she ordered from Onitsha, Anambra state, their colleagues in Borno State on Thursday, February 3 nabbed one Fatima Musa, 30, for attempting to smuggle pentazocine injections into the camp of surrendered insurgents. In Plateau State, operatives intercepted a truck marked LSD857XB coming from Ekpoma, Edo State with 885 blocks of Cannabis Sativa that weighed 736kg. The sun of N400,000 paid to bribe the arresting officers has also been warehoused as part of exhibits for prosecution, just as two suspects; Ebunoluwa Babalola, 40, and Sulyman Sheu, 30, were arrested at Ganmo, Ilorin, Kwara State with 90kg of Cannabis. In the same vein, 2kg of Methamphetamine being brought to Abuja by a 29-year-old Charity Omuche from Anambra state was intercepted on Friday, February 4, by operatives at Gwagwalada area of the FCT, while officers of the Kaduna Command of the Agency also arrested a suspect, Buhari Isah Umar with 300 shisha pens and 999 portions of synthetic cannabinoids with a gross weight of 9.690kg. Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) has commended officers and men of the Strike Force, Apapa seaport, MMIA, Lagos, Niger, Edo, Borno, Plateau, Kwara, FCT and Delta Commands of the Agency for the successful interdiction operations that led to the seizure of thousands of kilograms of illicit drugs from across the country in the past week. He charged them and their compatriots in other commands not to rest on their oars.

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Post Date : February 6, 2022

Abia APC crisis: Kalu calls for unity

  Chief Whip of the Senate and leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) Caucus in Abia State, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has enjoined all party members to eschew rancour and close ranks ahead of the 2023 general elections. Kalu, a former governor of the State and current Senator representing Abia North senatorial district also appealed to different factions to jettison the idea of defecting to another political party amidst the disagreements in the party. In a statement made available to newsmen on Sunday, Kalu noted that disagreements were inevitable in democratic settings, adding that he does not belong to any of the factions. Speaking from his capacity as leader of the party in the state, Kalu said he was watching keenly the developments in the party with a special call on all aggrieved members to remain strong with a view to strengthening the party He said defection cannot be the solution to their grievances, adding that everyone should allow the party’s national leadership to address the grievances amicably. He said: “As the leader of the party, I have being neutral but that does not mean I am paying deaf ears on the grievances by individuals and groups “I wish to call on aggrieved members to keep confidence with the party, while we explore all peaceful means for amicable solution. “I want to state that it is very normal for any member or faction to feel some kind of way, but we must allow the national leadership to use various reconciliation strategies to make the party stronger. “The wisest actions from all members is to strengthen the party and work with everyone to achieve the common goal of successful outing in 2023 “The Ward Congress, Local Government Congress and State Congress is over. I will encourage everyone who believes in our party to remain steadfast because what is ahead is more and better “Abians are strongly behind APC and we have what it takes to wrestle power from the ruling party in the state” the former governor said.

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Post Date : February 6, 2022

Presidency slams Financial Times editor over article on Nigeria

  The Presidency has rebuked the Financial Times’ Africa Editor, David Pilling, over an article on the Buhari regime published on January 31, 2021. In an open letter to The Editor, Financial Times, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said, “The caricature of a government sleepwalking into disaster (What is Nigeria’s government for? January 31, 2022) is predictable from a correspondent who jets briefly in and out of Nigeria on the same British Airways flight he so criticises. “He highlights rising banditry in my country as proof of such slumber. “What he leaves out are the security gains made over two Presidential terms.” According to Shehu, the terror organisation Boko Haram used to administer an area the size of Belgium at inauguration; now, they control no territory. He continues “The first comprehensive plan to deal with decades-old clashes between nomadic herders and sedentary farmers–experienced across the width of the Sahel–has been introduced: pilot ranches are reducing the competition for water and land that drove past tensions. “Banditry grew out of such clashes. Criminal gangs took advantage of the instability, flush with guns that flooded the region following the Western-triggered implosion of Libya. “The situation is grave. Yet as with other challenges, it is one that the government will face down.” In his article titled ‘What is Nigeria For?’ Pilling had written: “On the British Airways flight between London and Nigeria’s administrative capital of Abuja, one of the airline’s most profitable routes, nearly all the space is taken up with flatbeds. The unfortunate few making their way to a crunched economy section at the back must trudge through row after row of business class. “Evidently, there is plenty of money to be made in Abuja’s corridors of power. Nigeria’s economy may be flat on its back, but the political elite flying to and from London will spend the flight flat on theirs, too. “Next year, many of the members of government will change, though not necessarily the bureaucracy behind it. Campaigning has already begun for presidential elections that in February 2023 will draw the curtain on eight years of the administration of Muhammadu Buhari, on whose somnolent watch Nigeria has sleepwalked closer to disaster. “Buhari has overseen two terms of economic slump, rising debt and a calamitous increase in kidnapping and banditry—the one thing you might have thought a former general could control. Familiar candidates to replace him, mostly recycled old men, are already counting their money ahead of a costly electoral marathon. It takes an estimated $2bn to get a president elected. Those who pay will expect to be paid back. “There are some promising candidates. If Yemi Osinbajo, the technocratic vice-president, were miraculous to make it through the campaign ticket and emerge as president, the hearts of Nigerian optimists would beat a little faster. “But that may be to underestimate the depth of Nigeria’s quagmire. The problem is not so much who leads the government as the nature of government itself. “Nigeria’s administration is fuelled by oil — though not its economy; more than 90 per cent of output is generated from non-oil activities. But for decades, the business of government — whether military or, since 1999, democratic — has been to control access to oil revenues and earn patronage by spreading petrol-dollars to federal and state supplicants. “Outside oil, government raises a petty amount of revenue, proportionally much less than other African states. Since the provision of services is so dire, no one who can afford to pay taxes is willing to do so. Nigerians with money opt out of the system. They send their kids to private school, attend private hospitals, employ their own private security and generate their own power. The state borrows ever more heavily to fund what little capital expenditure there is and service mounting debts. Like a giant leech at the top of the body politic, government is essentially there to fund itself. “This thwarts the aspirations of millions of highly capable Nigerians. Officials extract “rent” by controlling access to business opportunities. The objective thus becomes to slow down investment not speed it up. “Almost all the energy, drive and wealth creation in Nigeria happens outside government. New unregulated businesses in the booming tech sector, fashion, design and the creative arts are flourishing. Every day, tens of millions of Nigerians somehow get by, despite the efforts of those supposedly looking out for them. “As is said of India, Nigeria grows at night while the government sleeps — hardly surprising that some libertarian tech entrepreneurs want the government to withdraw and leave the private sector in charge. “In reality, the government is not too big. It is too small. The federal budget — not counting money transferred to states — is about $30bn, derisory for a population of more than 200m people. Only trust in government — and a willingness to pay taxes — can redress this balance. “Nigeria desperately needs an administration whose energies go not into preserving its own privilege but into providing public goods — basic education and health, rule of law, security, power, roads and digital infrastructure. It must remove distortions and subsidies that direct entrepreneurial activity from production to arbitrage. “The chances of a corrupt system reforming itself are slim. But if Nigeria’s ruling class cannot manage it, any remaining faith Nigerians have in their system of government will evaporate. That way lies disaster.”

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