Crime Facts

Elon Musk terminates $44bn Twitter deal

  Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla Inc. said he is terminating his $44 billion Twitter deal, saying the social media company had failed to provide information about fake accounts on the platform. Musk said this on Friday, according to Reuters. This comes after Twitter allowed Musk access to its “firehose”, a repository of raw data on hundreds of millions of daily tweets, last month. In a filing, Musk’s lawyers said Twitter had failed or refused to respond to multiple requests for information on fake or spam accounts on the platform, which is fundamental to the company’s business performance. In a bid to privatise the microblogging platform, the billionaire had offered to buy Twitter for $43 billion in April. He later agreed to acquire the platform for $44 billion. But after several internal turmoils that trailed billionaire’s planned buyout of the company, Musk decided to soft-pedal on his acquisition bid, citing reasons of fake accounts on the platform.   “Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5 percent of users,” Musk had tweeted.

IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu’s American lawyer clash over ‘Biafran Mothers’ protest

  The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have urged women in South-East to ignore an order by Nnamdi Kanu’s American lawyer, Bruce Fein to protest. IPOB stated this in a statement by its media and publicity secretary, Emma Powerful, on Friday. Fein, a constitutional lawyer and legal counsel to IPOB’s leader, Tuesday, had asked ‘Biafran Mothers’ to take to Abuja streets and protest incarceration of Kanu. In its reaction, IPOB ordered Igbo women to shun such an advice, as it said it would be tantamount to suicide. Powerful, speaking for the separatist group, said protest is part of tools of democracy in the United States of America, which is strange in Nigeria, The statement partly reads: “Following the opinion of USA based IPOB legal adviser Mr. Bruce Fein, asking IPOB women to embark on a street protest in Abuja, we the global movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) ably led by our great leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu wish to completely disassociate from such opinion and instruct Biafran women to please ignore such opinion and avoid the unnecessary risk. “We wish to state also that Bruce Fein overstepped his bounds as IPOB legal adviser in issuing such directive which will only expose our women to avoidable dangers and harm. “Bruce Fein is our legal adviser and not IPOB Spokesperson. He does not quite understand that the version of Democracy operational in Nigeria is different from the real Democracy being practised in the US where he resides. “In the US, protests are part and a common feature of Democracy and protesters enjoy protection from security agencies. But maybe unknown to him, in Nigeria, protesters are termed terrorists and shot on sight. To protest in Nigeria, particularly under the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari, is a suicide mission. “IPOB will not advise Biafra women to hit the streets for any protest now because their safety is not guaranteed. We have lost a lot of innocent souls in the past protests and the international community watched without any intervention. “Therefore, we won’t allow more people to be sent to their untimely grave by wicked security operatives in Nigeria who run away from terrorists and Fulani bandits in the North but shamelessly show their might when it has to do with unarmed agitators of self-determination in the South. “We, therefore, urge all Biafrans to please ignore such directive from Bruce Fein, and any other of such directive not emanating from IPOB Spokesman and communicated through our proper channels of information dissemination.”

Wike never wanted VP slot, says Lamido

A former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, has said Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State made it clear that he was not interested in becoming the vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 general election. The opposition party had been immersed in a crisis following the outcome of its presidential primary and the emergence of the Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as the running mate of its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a development which prompted the party to begin reconciliation efforts. Some party leaders, including the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, and a former governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, had criticised the party’s handling of the primary, Wike’s treatment and the selection of the running mate of the PDP. But Lamido explained that Wike, who contested the presidential primary of the PDP, said he was not using the primary to negotiate for a VP slot. The Jigawa governor, who said he was a member of the committee that recommended three persons for presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, however, said the former vice president was not obliged to the committee’s advice. “I was on the panel. Now, the criteria the members of that committee might have used might have been confined within the walls of the PDP, but they chose somebody for Nigeria not for the PDP. “If the whole thing is going to be centered on the PDP, by the time we have an in-house thing, we may lose the election, no problem, but then, whatever we do, we are going to bring it outside and tell Nigerians that this is what we are giving them, that was what we did. “Therefore, Atiku is not obliged to pick our own recommendation. We gave him three names to choose from. In any case, (for) those who are ranting, Wike said he didn’t have the aspiration to run for vice president, and that he was running not for any negotiating purposes. He said so. “He made it very clear. He said whatever he did was purely for that purpose and will not use his aspiration to negotiate for anything,” Lamido told Saturday PUNCH. The Rivers governor had maintained silence since Atiku rejected him as his running mate, fuelling the suspicion that he might not support the former vice president in the general elections, having received the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, and that of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso. But Lamido, who dismissed the suspicion, said though Wike was unhappy about the situation, people around him were crying more than the bereaved. The former Jigawa governor said, “No, he’s angry, he’s just like a boiling pot. When the pot boils over, it will spill over and what will happen? It (the spill) will mess up the body of the pot. “Now, for those who love Wike, people like me, we should make sure we remove the log from under the pot which is the fire. When that is done, the temperature of the pot will come down first. “For people who think that they love Wike more than we do, beyond these emotional things, what can they do? I’ve been saying, can any of them, Fayose and Ortom, take him around Nigeria and support him to win the election, can they? ” ‘Lamido against Wike’ Meanwhile, a chieftain of the PDP and Chairman of Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, Dr Samuel Nwanosike, said the former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, was one of the committee members that voted against Wike to be selected as the running mate to the party’s presidential candidate. Nwanosike, however, said the recent remarks by the Benue State Governor (Ortom) had answered the comments credited to Lamido. Nwanosike, who is a strong supporter of the Rivers State governor, stated this during a telephone chat with one of our correspondents in Port Harcourt on Thursday. He said, “The reply to Lamido is in the statement by Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State. Governor Ortom has told the world the truth and nobody has contradicted him. Lamido was one of the people that dissented in voting. Out of the 17 members in the committee, 14 voted in favour of Governor Wike, three voted against. “Lamido is one of the three that voted against and went and convinced the candidate of the party who initially was neutral and was expecting the committee to do their bid.” Nwanosike described Wike as an outstanding leader that believe that power should come to the South for equity, justice and fairness.

Peter Obi: Why I Won’t Probe Buhari, Others If Elected President

  The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, has explained why he would not prioritise probing previous administration if he emerged president in 2023. He said this on Friday in Abuja while answering questions after he formally unveiled Dr. Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed as his running mate for the 2023 elections. According to him, his is to avoid distractions and to stop corruption. “As for probing the past government let me tell you, you see me argue it that you can’t close your shop and be chasing thieves. Those who only look at yesterday and today will miss tomorrow. God did not give us eyes at the back, mine is to look forward. “If you come into government today and decide to stop the leakage first, you will get more. I am not going to be part of any form of victimization or witch-hunt, it won’t happen. Nigerians must live within law and order,” Obi said. He added that many thought corruption was something impossible to deal with. “But I can tell you right away if you the principal person, local government chairman, the governor or the president, are not stealing, your family is not, those around you are not, you will reduce it by 70 per cent. “And I challenge everybody, go and show me anybody who was a contractor, who is a civil servant, who was a supplier, who will say in my eight years of being in government in Anambra State, I sat down with him and I said add one naira to this. I will resign I won’t continue with this (if it is true). That was why we were able to save about N70 billion naira. “Go and read what my former Head of Service said. He wrote an article, ‘Stingeness as a development strategy’ because whatever money I saved when the civil servants were arguing with me, when I started paying them their dues, their leave allowance they started asking me where I got the money. Public money should be used for public good.” Announcing Baba-Ahmed as his running mate, Obi said he (Baba-Ahmed) was eminently qualified to bring his private sector and academic achievements to bear in the drive to rescue Nigeria from the primitive politics of ethnicity. According to him, the LP will anchor its manifesto in coming days on the 17 goals of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He said that in the coming weeks, the party would unleash its ingenuity and resourcefulness of the youths, adding that the Labour Party administration would unlock the new asset of vast land in the north and turn it to future oil. He said it was the party’s intention to secure, unite and make Nigeria productive and this could not be done without having people with similar vision and idea prepared for the task ahead. Obi said, “He (Baba-Ahmed) has been described as one of the brightest, youngest personalities in Nigeria who has distinguished himself in all areas. “He brings to this mission, a great wealth of experience from the background of a private sector, to public sector and a global knowledge that will help in a journey of turning around this country. “Today, our country is facing so many challenges which I will not want to mention here because we’re just here to introduce our vice presidential candidate but I will not be doing great service to our country if I don’t mention some of those (challenges). “We are today the poverty capital of the world. We are today hugely indebted and I have said it in my interview few days ago. We are actually about to default in our debt servicing, which will just trigger us into junk status. I pray it doesn’t happen. “All this is collective effect of bad leadership. We’ve decided to halt this collapse, to stop this drift. We made this choice and I and Datti have sat down and discussed. I said to him, what we are doing is not just two of us. We are bringing all Nigerians into this big tent where everybody will be involved because we want to end the primitive politics of ethnicity, religion. What we want now is to replace that with competence. “We are committed to turning all those vast land in the north into the oil of the future. Oil is a diminishing asset, we must unlock the new asset which is the land, our people will go back there to production. Kano and Kaduna will be processing center. “We will unlock what the port can do in Port Harcourt. It is a trans-shipment port that can generate enough income. We have people in Aba that can do the shoe and clothing that Vietnam is doing and earning over $60 billion in a year. This country must produce and that is what we are going to do. Datti has PhD in Economics for nothing, it is to be utilized.”

Kuje Prison Attack: You can only run, but can’t hide, FG tells fleeing inmates

  An angry Interior minister, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola on Friday stormed the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre of the Nigerian Correctional Service NCoS in Abuja following Tuesday night’s terrorist attack on the facility. The minister who arrived the custodial centre at about 5:35pm, first met with personnel of the Nigerian Army deployed in the facility.   Inspecting the perimeter fence through which the terrorists penetrated the outer cordon of the centre, Aregbesola queried; ” How many soldiers do you have here? Thirty one? One Armoured Personnel Carrier. Then the armed squad on top of the towers. Anybody inside those towers would see far enough and beyond the fence? “I am disappointed by the level of defence by the team that was about here to protect the facility. We had enough officers and men to protect this facility but unfortunately, they could not hold their grounds effectively and that was the reason for the breach. Otherwise, the facility itself is a world class custodial centre. “My position is clear. Since April 2022, I declared that all our custodial facilities are red zones and that whoever attempts an attack must be not live to tell the story. I still maintain this. “Kuje is the most fortified in the country if fortification for security is the determinant of whether is medium or maximum, it is medium by size but maximum by the security being put there. We have a platoon of soldiers deployed here. We have the high grade of military and police and other security forces deployment for protection but strangely something happened most of which I cannot say on camera. “I want to believe those who escaped can only run but cannot hide . “It is very regrettable that this happened let put it in context, the nation was experiencing asymmetric warfare. Yes , the insurgents have been degraded in the North East of Nigeria, 61, 000 of them are in our custody in the North East, the effect of the effectiveness itself in degrading them in the North East is what we are experiencing. As sad as it is, we must put behind whatever it is happening in the contest of the asy warfare unleashed on the nation by this criminal elements and we will rise to it, that’s the assurance I want to give to Nigerians , as I said if deployments is the basis of security, Kuje was as at Tuesday heavily fortified”, he added.

2023 Elections Not About Religion Or Ethnicity – Datti Baba-Ahmed

  Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, running mate to Peter Obi, Labour Party Presidential Candidate, has said the 2023 elections is about who is capable, not the other way round. Baba-Ahmed, who was unveiled as Obi’s running mate earlier in the day, stated this in an interview with BBC Hausa Service. Datti Baba-Ahmed warned Nigerians not to make mistake again by measuring candidates base on their religion or tribe. He said, “For more than 60 years, religion and tribalism have eaten deep into Nigerian politics and this is what present administration used to win elections. “After it won, who cried over maladministration most? Who rained curses on the administration? It is people from where the president comes. The region where he (president) comes is the most affected.” Datti Baba-Ahmed, who is also a former senator, charged Nigerians to elect leaders irrespective of differences. “God doesn’t make mistake in making us in different religions, it’s His will to see us that way. We are not contesting for leadership in any religion, we are contesting for presidency, so I see no reason for considering religion.” On why he agreed to be Obi’s running mate, he said “What Nigeria needs for now is to rescue it from total collapse, therefore, Obi gave me convincing reasons after observing his character and capacity to do the job.”

In 2023, Social Media Will Vote – Datti Baba-Ahmed

  Vice presidential candidate of the Labour party in the 2023 elections, Datti Baba-Ahmed believes social media support will translate into actual votes in the 2023 elections. He expressed this belief while responding to questions on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday. “Go and start looking at the bookings of major European airlines into Nigeria,” Baba-Ahmed said. “Not during Christmas time. After Christmas time. Late January to third week of February. You will see that they are getting full. Unusually. I’m into the business of data and statistics. And I decided to particularly look at that. This tells you that social media is going to vote. Even if they are in Antarctica, one person is there and he mobilises 100,000 people here to go out and vote. It has succeeded. In 2023, social media is going to vote. Only one party is on green fertile land, and that is Labour party. – Senator Datti Baba-Ahmed#PoliticsToday#CTVTweets pic.twitter.com/b6LALlraYt — Channels Television (@channelstv) July 8, 2022   “We are not scared. The bank balance of any big politician is starting to be irrelevant. Those of us who sweated for the little that we have, we are spending it very wisely and carefully. Those of them who made it from government, who will just open the coffers and bring it out; they will continue to splash it and it will continue to mean less and less.” Young and bright The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, had announced Baba-Ahmed as his running mate earlier on Friday. He made the announcement at an event in Abuja, saying the decision followed a series of consultations with stakeholders. “I thank all those gathered here today,” Obi said in his address. “They will bear witness and lay claim to being present on the day when the journey to Nigeria’s rebirth began. It is my honour to inform you, my fellow Nigerians and especially the OBIdients that finally, after very long and wide consultations, we in the Labour Party have found an eminently qualified Nigerian who will be my partner as we embark on our march to a secure, united and productive Nigeria. “I have the distinct honour of presenting to you, my friend and running mate, and God willing, the next Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, who has been described as ‘one of Nigeria’s youngest and brightest personalities’ who has distinguished himself in various areas of human endeavours.” Baba-Ahmed represented Zaria in the House of Representatives from 2003 to 2007, and later Kaduna North senatorial district between 2011 and 2012. According to Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, the vice-presidential candidate brings to the mission great personal, academic and entrepreneurial strengths, as well as impeccable credentials with the added value of rich experience as an academician, businessman, public servant, economic and development expert, and politician. He described Baba-Ahmed as a recognised wealth creator and manager who fits well into the mould of a transformative and adaptive leader. “Today, I will not dwell too much on our national challenges. Yet, I will be remiss to gloss over them completely,” the presidential candidate stated. “These are extremely difficult times for our country. Nigeria straddles the lowest rungs of the global development indices. We are hugely indebted and the poverty capital of the world. Nigerians are hungry and angry and fed up with bad leadership. Times like this do not call for politics of business as usual. “As I have always said, my vision and mission is to give full expression to our democracy by moving our country from consumption to production. Now that the presidential team is complete, we will in the days ahead, unveil our governance principles, priorities, and programmes for turning Nigeria around, which shall be anchored on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” “Securing, uniting, and making Nigeria productive require steady and trusted hands. I am confident that with Dr Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed by my side, we shall ensure that in moving Nigeria forward, no state or community will be left behind. Pursuant to its statutory responsibility to protect, our government will promote the rule of law, ensure that governance is inclusive, cost-effective, transformative, less transactional, and national investments regenerative. “Finally, with human capital development as the core premise, we will pursue proactively, well-articulated strategies and intrusive policy coordination and implementation, aimed at tackling the key challenges that are routine and of utmost concern to domestic and foreign investors.”

Court refuses to nullify Rivers’ PDP guber primaries

  A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed a suit seeking to nullify the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, Rivers State gubernatorial primaries held on May 26, 2022. Trial judge, Justice Taiwo Taiwo also declined to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from accepting the winner of the primary.   He held that Dagogo had no locus standi to file the suit. The primary election was won by the immediate past Accountant General of Rivers State, Siminaliayi Fubara. The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/, was filed by a PDP guber aspirant Doctor Farah Dagogo as plaintiff, joining the PDP and INEC as first and second defendants. Dagogo is a “serving member of the lower chamber of the National Assembly representing Degemma/Bonny federal constituency of Rivers State.” The lawmaker, in his originating summons of May 12, averred that he purchased the PDP Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms for the gubernatorial primary, completed and returned same to the 1st defendant with all the relevant accompanying documents. He claimed that he presented himself for screening on April 28, 2022, “only to be whisked away by security agents at the order of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, with the active connivance of members of the Screening Panel/Committee,” He contended that the PDP, by failing to screen him to contest the governorship primary had violated his right contrary to section 84(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022, sections 36, 40 and 42 of the 1999 Constitution. It had also, he claimed, violated Part V, Clause 2 (c) & (d) of the PDP Electoral Guidelines for Primary Elections made pursuant to the PDP Constitution by the 1st Defendant.” But, the PDP filed a motion on notice of May 24, 2022, praying for an order striking out the suit on the ground, according to it, that the court lacks the competence and jurisdiction to entertain the matter. On June 17, 2022, when the matter came up for adoption of processes, S. Larry SAN represented Dagogo, while K. C. O Njemanze SAN represented the 1st defendant, following which the court adjourned for judgment. In his judgment seen by The Nation yesterday, the court upheld the PDP’s application. Justice Taiwo held: “Therefore, it is my finding that the grouse of the plaintiff cannot be met or decided by this court for lack of locus standi on the part of the plaintiff. I so hold. “Since I have in my humble view decided that based on the law and facts presented by the plaintiff, he lacks the locus standi to file this action, it will amount to mere academic exercise to consider any other grounds of objection even if the grounds can be decided against the plaintiff in the extant motion on notice of the 1st defendant. “The action of the plaintiff, therefore, fails in limine and same is liable to be dismissed. The suit is therefore accordingly dismissed. This is the judgment of the court.”

Sacked Delta PDP gov candidate approaches Appeal Court

  The Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Sheriff Oborevwori, has gone to the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal to challenge Thursday’s judgment by a Federal High Court in Abuja nullifying his nomination as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state. Oborevwori, in a nine-ground notice of appeal, filed on Friday, wants the appellate court to set aside the judgment given by Justice Taiwo Taiwo in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/795/2022 by David Edevbie. He has also filed a motion on notice before the Federal High Court in Abuja for a stay of execution of the judgment pending the determination of his appeal. He was appealing, among others, that Justice Taiwo misdirected himself in law when he assumed jurisdiction to entertain the claim of the plaintiff, predicated on Section 29(5) of the Electoral Act, 2022 before submission of his name (the appellant’s) to the Independent National Electoral Commission. Oborevwori faulted Justice Taiwo for allegedly ignoring the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Modibbo Vs Usman (2020) 3 NWLR (PT. 1712) 470, in which he claimed the apex court held that Section 29(5) of the Electoral Act, 2022 which was the same with Section 31(5) of the Electoral Act, 2010 had settled the law that cause of action only arose when the name of a candidate was submitted and published. He said, “The trial Judge side-tracked the decision of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal contrary to the established doctrine of stare decisis and by his decision overruling the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. “The first respondent (Edevbie) on oath admitted that the name of the appellant was yet to be submitted and the trial court held that the first respondent by law, need not wait for the publication of the name of the appellant by INEC.” Oborevwori argued that it was in the law that information about a candidate’s qualification could only be challenged after the political party sponsoring the candidate submitted the name and INEC published the name and the accompanying affidavit. He further contended that the trial judge misdirected himself in law when he agreed with Edevbie that he (appellant) failed to meet the constitutional requirement of sections 177 (a) and 182(1) J of the 1999 Constitution and that his certificates were forged. Oborevwori was of the view that the constitutional requirement of Sections 177(a)and 182(1)(J) of the 1999 constitution could only occur upon presentation of a forged certificate to INEC and no other body or person, which had not occurred in his case. He said, “The reliance on the documents of the appellant presented in the year 2018 to INEC for the election to the House of Assembly of Delta State or submission of documents to the PDP on April 30, 2022, as held by the court makes a mockery of the law as any of those acts took place way after 14 days of the filing of the suit contrary to Section 285(14) of the 1999 Constitution, and is statute-barred.” Oborevwori also faulted the trial judge for holding that he did not challenge the averment that his certificate was forged and that he was deemed to have admitted same. “The burden of proving declaratory reliefs is on the plaintiff and not on the weakness of the case of the defendant. Even where the defendant admits, the burden still lies on the plaintiff to prove same,” he said. The appellant argued that the trial judge erred in law and occasioned grave miscarriage of justice on him when he held that Edevbie had proven his case and therefore entitled to judgment. He added that Edevbie, who alleged that he made false deposition and presented forged documents in order to participate in the PDP governorship primary, ought to have been required to prove such criminal allegation beyond reasonable doubts.

Notorious Kidnap Kingpin, Wadume Still In Kuje Prison – Says Lawyer

  Contrary to our earlier report, Notorious kidnapper and gunrunner, Hamisu Wadume, is still in Kuje detention facility and not among the over 300 escapees. The Kuje Medium Prison on Tuesday night came under heavy bombardments by unknown terrorists, throwing the entire area Council into confusion. The first explosion, a high capacity bomb, went off around 10.25pm. It was followed by second and third blast and sporadic gunshots that left the residents scampering into safety. Over 600 inmates according the the Federal Government escaped. More than half of this number has since returned to the facility. But 64 top commanders of Boko Haram Terrorist group are still at large. Our source who had earlier told us that Wadume and embattled Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP Abba Kyari aren’t in the facility said they took refuge in another corner of the facility and wasn’t in their cell after the attack. “Wadume, who was remanded in custody at Kuje prison, for armed robbery, kidnaping and gun running after his arrest by operatives of the Intelligence Response Team(IRT), has not been found since after the attack on the facility,” our source had told us. He has been in custody at Kuje prisons since 2020. His lawyer, Zakari Sanusi Wakili also told our correspondent that his client “Alh Hamisu Wadume is right there in kuje, he didn’t escape nor attempted to escape. “Your report that he escaped from prison is false because I met him in prison this morning,” Barrister Wakili added.