The Federal Government says over N13trn was spent on subsidy payment in 16 years between 2005 and 2021. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, stated this on Monday in Abuja during the launch of the 2022-2026 Strategic Plan of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI). He said, “I have carefully studied the NEITI’s policy advisory on fuel subsidy forwarded to my office. I will like to commend NEITI for the in-depth research and outline of options to assist government in making a decision on the subsidy removal debate. “From that Policy Advisory, over N13trillion (N74Billion) is documented to have been expended on the payment of subsidy between 2005 and 2021. The figure in relative terms is equivalent to Nigeria’s entire budget for health, education, agriculture, and defence in the last five years, and almost the capital expenditure for 10 years between 2011 2020.” According to the SGF, the figure could have been more in financial terms and opportunity costs to the nation if some cost-cutting measures were not put in place by the government.   He said the government is following the debates around subsidy removal by the citizens, some of which include the need to fix the nation’s refineries and the creation of visible safety net programmes to reduce the impact on the poor and vulnerable in the society especially workers. “While we remain open to the ongoing debate, a comprehensive position to guide the incoming administration on when and how to make this decision is being developed by the Presidential Transition Council which I currently head. “I therefore have no doubt that the incoming administration will consider our position on the issue and make an informed decision in the overriding public interest. “However, I must state that the Buhari administration has done excellently well in managing the subsidy burden in-spite of the complex challenges it has posed to the economy over these years, putting at the forefront of its considerations, the welfare and needs of the average Nigerian,” Mustapha stated.

  The presidential spokesman insisted that President Muhammadu Buhari tried his best in the fight against corruption. Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu says his principal, President Muhammadu Buhari is above scandal and does not operate any bank account stashed with proceeds of corruption. “The President is still what he is; he is still above board,” Shehu said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Tuesday whilst commenting on the outgoing administration’s anti-graft fight. Some Nigerian politicians are infamous for stashing stolen monies in local and foreign accounts through cronies and companies owned by third parties, especially towards the twilight of their administrations. Former head of state, Sani Abacha; ex-Governor of Delta State, James Ibori; former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke; amongst others had been indicted by the United Kingdom and the United States for allegedly stashing millions of dollars and pounds of stolen funds in accounts overseas, some of the loots which have been recovered and returned to the Nigerian Government. Some former ministers and ex-governors had also been accused of corruption by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC). However, Shehu said his principal does not operate any account with stolen government funds and fears no scandal or prosecution after office. “As his spokesperson, I go to bed, I sleep soundly convinced that nobody, whether from Nigeria or outside the country, can call me to say we have discover this bank account and your boss has these huge millions. That’s not Buhari; he is well-above scandal and that is how it will end,” the presidential spokesman said. Buhari, 80, will end his two-term tenure of eight years on May 29, 2023 when the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu is expected to be sworn in. Buhari, a former Nigerian military head of state who hailed from the rustic town of Daura in Katsina State, North-West Nigeria had during his campaign in 2015 vowed to combat endemic corruption in the country. However, under his watch, Nigeria fell from 154 out of 180 countries and territories in the latest ranking of the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index released by Transparency International in January 2023. Many of his critics are also of the opinion that he did not perform up to expectation in the war against corruption. Asked why corruption is still ubiquitous in the country despite the President’s commitment to fight the monster, Shehu said, “If you ask the President this question, he will equally tell you he is baffled by the fact that people who otherwise would have been in jail are riding their Rolls-Royce and their aircraft, roaming around.” The presidential spokesman said under the constitution, the President or the Executive Arm can only investigate and prosecute suspected corrupt persons. “However, the moment the President or the Executive Arm takes these cases to court, his job is done. And it is up to the court to determine whether one is guilty or not,” he noted. According to Shehu, under the Buhari government, the highest officials in the nation’s parliament and judiciary have been prosecuted on corruption-related matters. “The third highest person in the Executive Arm of government is still undergoing trial,” he said.

  The Department of State Services (DSS) has pledged to work with sister agencies for the seamless inauguration of Bola Tinubu as the President of Nigeria on May 29. DSS spokesman, Peter Afunanya, in a statement on Tuesday, said the secret police alongside other security agencies will resist criminal elements desperate to undermine democratic transition. The statement by the DSS comes about 24 hours after the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba said the May 29 handover date of President Muhammadu Buhari and the inauguration of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the President remains sacrosanct, warning politicians who have kicked against the ceremony and who argued that Tinubu did not win the February 25 poll which is being challenged in court. “The Service wishes to state and very clearly, that it will continue to collaborate with sister agencies to rid the nation of criminal elements particularly at this transition period and even beyond,” Afunanya stated. “This is more so that certain persons are desperate to undermine the process. But the Service will resist this and ensure a seamless event. It will continue to cooperate with stakeholders to achieve a peaceful environment critical to the pursuit of legitimate businesses by law abiding citizens and residents.” Terrorist Blows Self Up With Suicide Jacket Similarly, the DSS said its secret agents, troops of the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police Force on Monday simultaneously raided hideouts of terrorists in parts of Kaduna and Kano states. “During the raid in Kaduna State, the terrorists deployed Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) against the fighting forces. One of the terrorists who wore suicide jacket blew himself up. “While three (3) suspects were arrested, items recovered upon a search on the group’s accommodation, after Police EOD had diffused other IEDs, were: two (2) suicide jackets, one (1) AK-47 rifle, a pistol and one (1) laptop. “In Kano State, two (2) suspects were arrested while recovered items include: a pistol, eleven (11) mobile phones, two (2) hand grenades, one (1) fully charged AK-47 magazine, two empty AK-47 magazines, one (1) Peugeot 307 car and an ID card belonging to a suspect that escaped,” the statement added.

  The Lagos State Police Command has denied torturing Afrobeat musician, Seun Kuti who is in custody over the assault of a policeman in the state. Following the altercation with the yet-to-be-identified officer, the singer turned himself in at the Ikeja police command in Lagos in the company of his lawyer and family representative. An order for his arrest was subsequently put out by the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu. Spokesman of the State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, said since the singer turned himself in, police authorities have not and will not lay a finger on Seun Kuti. Contrary to some people’s emotion-laden expectations, we are smart enough not to torture him. We will not undermine our case. Not a finger has been laid on him nor will be laid on him. Like we assured, full and transparent investigation… https://t.co/CZORF8Fzyk — SP Benjamin Hundeyin (@BenHundeyin) May 15, 2023 He pledged the commitment of the Command to ensure a full and transparent investigation of the case. “We will not undermine our case. Not a finger has been laid on him nor will be laid on him. Like we assured, full and transparent investigation,” Hundeyin stated.   “Contrary to some people’s emotion-laden expectations, we are smart enough not to torture him.” Seun Ready To ‘Defend Himself’ Meanwhile, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika who is the lawyer to the afrobeat musician says his client will at the right time and place and in as rigorous a manner as possible defend himself under the law. Olumide-Fusika stated this In a press statement dated May 16th and obtained by Channels TV’s judiciary correspondent, Shola Soyele. The lawyer was reacting to certain comments made in the media by the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin. According to Olumide-Fusika, his client expected that “having completed his investigative work, Mr Benjamin Hundeyin, a law enforcer, would proceed according to law by sending the file containing his report of investigation for legal evaluation towards possible prosecution.” “Although he had been with the Police since 8:00 am on Monday 15th May 2023, Mr Seun Kuti notes that it was at about 8:00 pm that day, after Mr Benjamin Hundeyin had already completed and published his investigative report above, that he was asked to make a statement to the Police at the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba. “Mr Seun Kuti has therefore volunteered to his interlocutors a statement to the effect that since Mr Benjamin Hundeyin has already done the investigation and issued and published his report on it, there was no useful purpose to be served by any statement from him.” The lawyer also said that he and his client await the next move of the police on the allegation of crime against Mr Seun Kuti, who is ready to defend himself against what he calls, “Mr Hundeyin’s published ‘investigative findings’.

  Over 20 deaths have so far been recovered from two communities of Fungzai and neighbouring Kubat in the newly created district of Bwai in the Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State in North Central Nigeria.   According to sources in the communities, the invaders attacked Kubat on Tuesday morning setting houses on fire. The marauders also attacked fleeing members with dangerous weapons leading to the death of some residents while others were injured. Members of neighbouring Fungzai community, who saw the burning Kubat village, mobilised women and children to move out of the community in other to escape the wrath of the attackers who have started advancing to the community after the attack on Kubat. However, the escapees in vehicles and motorcycles ran into an ambush by the advancing attackers, killing about 20 people, mostly children and women. The sources added that corpses were still been recovered from the bush in the affected communities which has made ascertaining the number of deaths difficult. As means of curbing reprisal and escalation of the situation, a 24-hour curfew has been imposed on the local government area. In a statement signed by Mangu Local Government Chairman, Minister Daput, the stay at home order was agreed on after consultation with security heads as means of restoring law and order in the affected communities as well as avoid the situation from getting out of hand considering the numbers of casualty involved in the attack. Public Relations Officer, Plateau State Police Command, DSP Alfred Alabo stated that the command has deployed additional troops to the communities while investigation into the attacks were ongoing. In the meantime, Governor Simon Lalong, in a statement through his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Simon Makut condemned the unprovoked attack, describing it as yet another attempt by crises merchants and criminals to return the state to dark days of agony. He vowed that the government will stop at nothing to ensure that those behind the heinous crime are not spared.

  As part of measures to protect local inventions, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora, has recommended the banning of all foreign goods that can be produced locally in Nigeria. Addressing State House correspondents at the 71st Ministerial Media Briefing, Mamora expressed regret over the under-utilitised research works and inventions simply gathering dust in the various agencies because of lack of investors. More fundamentally, he highlighted the challenge of protecting the intellectual property of the inventors as well as taking research outputs to the market. He therefore underpinned a resolve by lawmakers and the government to follow through with a legislation to compel protection of the inventions before pushing them to the market. Admitting to the slow pace of the ministry, Mamora noted that the ministry would continue to engage with the relevant stakeholders, as it looks to strengthen synergies between research institutions and the market through investors.

  A senior Advocate of Nigeria and counsel to troubled music star Seun Kuti, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, has expressed concern over the welfare of his client over claims that the music star is being starved while in detention. Kuti’s lawyer, in a statement, slammed the investigation conducted by Benjamin Hundeyin, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, regarding the incident. Olumide-Fusika, in the same statement, disclosed that not only did the police refuse to provide his client with food, but his wife was denied access to him as well, causing the music star to starve. He continued saying that Kuti would address Hundeyin’s published “investigative findings” in due course, at an appropriate time and place, defending himself against any allegations made. He said, “Mr. Benjamin Hundeyin who goes by the formal title of Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer but doubles as the Investigating Police Officer into the case of alleged assault of a policeman by my client, Mr. Seun Kuti, has issued a Report of his investigative work. “Mr. Seun Kuti would have expected that having completed his investigative work, Mr. Benjamin Hundeyin, a law enforcer, would proceed according to law by sending the file containing his report of investigation for legal evaluation towards possible prosecution. “Mr. Seun Kuti is nevertheless not surprised that Mr. Benjamin Hundeyin chose instead to make his investigative report the subject of the media publication, as for instance, in the Punch online publication of Monday, May 15, 2023, titled ‘Assault: Seun Kuti apologised, gave cop ₦‎12,000 to repair the vehicle, police say’. “According to Mr. Benjamin Hundeyin, in his investigative report handed over to The Punch, ‘Seun Kuti was the one that bashed the officer’s vehicle, and the policeman followed him to call his attention to it, but the musician alighted from his car and slapped the policeman as seen in the trending video. However, the officer reported the incident at the Police Command in Ikeja.’ “The policeman was alone. After the altercation, he followed Seun Kuti to his home in Ikeja, and the musician apologised to the policeman and gave him ₦12,000 to repair his damaged vehicle. But the officer reported the incident at the Area F Police Command in Ikeja, and deposited the ₦12,000 at the counter while he gave a written statement concerning the incident.’ “Although he had been with the Police since 8:00 am on Monday 15th May 2023, Mr. Seun Kuti notes that it was at about 8:00 pm that day, after Mr. Benjamin Hundeyin had already completed and published his investigative report above, that he was asked to make a statement to the Police at the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba. “Mr. Seun Kuti has therefore volunteered to his interlocutors a statement to the effect that since Mr. Benjamin Hundeyin has already done the investigation and issued and published his report on it, there was no useful purpose to be served by any statement from him. He will, at the right time and place, and in as rigorous a manner possible under the law, defend himself against Mr. Hundeyin’s published ‘investigative findings’. “The consequence of this for Mr. Seun Kuti was that his wife was refused the “privilege” of delivering a meal to him, even though there was no other arrangement in place to have him fed. We await the next move of the Police on the allegation of crime against Mr. Seun Kuti.” Recall that Seun Kuti was arrested and handcuffed on Monday following his visit to the state police command.

  The body of a yet-to-be-identified male has been found inside the premises of a popular secondary school in Ilọrin, the Kwara State capital. Channels Television learnt that the discovery was made last week at Ilọrin Grammar School around Garin Alimi, leaving the school authorities puzzled over the circumstances surrounding the mysterious demise. It was gathered that some students who were cutting grass as part of the school’s labour activity first discovered “a decomposed leg” before raising the alarm.   Explaining further, the principal of IGS (Senior), Ms Muslimat Abdullahi, told our correspondent in a telephone chat on Sunday night that “after the student informed us, we discovered it was a male body that was already decomposing”. Describing the school as “very big”, she added that the corpse was found behind a fence “very far from the classrooms or administrative block”. According to Abdullahi, nobody perceived any odour until it was discovered. “We reported immediately and wrote the Ministry of Education, copied the teaching service commission and informed the police that later came to evacuate it,” she said.   A police officer who spoke to Channels Television on condition of anonymity said they suspected the corpse belonged to one of the cultists hit by bullets during a recent cult war in the state and may have died while trying to escape. When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Kwara State, Ajayi Okasanmi (SP), confirmed the incident. “Yes, they alerted the police about it and when our men got there, they saw that the body had spent days in the bush and was already decomposing. But we are still investigating,” he said.

  Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State has asked President Muhammadu Buhari not to approve any study leave or whatever kind of leave for any officer critical to the take-off of the incoming administration of Bola Tinubu.   The governor specifically mentioned the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, who he said has been speculated to have requested leave and urged the President to deny the CBN governor such a request. Matawalle hailed the President and his wife for making efforts to ensure a seamless transition and handover to the president-elect Bola Tinubu but lamented that some other officers in government are acting differently. Focusing on Emefiele, the Zamfara governor accused the incumbent CBN governor of superintending over the mismanagement of the country’s financial and monetary systems. He insisted that the CBN governor must stay to give an account of everything that happened under him to the incoming administration.   “He is the one who initiated and implemented the recent disastrous Naira swap policy, the Naira confiscation program, which put Nigerians through untold woes and trauma and set our economy backward. “Two of my brother-governors and I took the Federal Government to court over this ill-advised policy and fought resolutely until we got a respite for our people from Emefiele and company. “This same Emefiele now wants to proceed on study leave when he has some 10 months left of his tenure apparently in a bid to evade rendering accounts. This is unacceptable. President Buhari should not countenance this. “Emefiele must stay at his job to give full accounts of all that transpired under his watch to the incoming administration. He must answer all the questions the new regime may have for him particularly when he still has some months left of his tenure,” Matawalle said. He also appealed to the President not to approve foreign postings or grant any foreign travels for any officer at any level in the outgoing government who may be critical or strategic to the smooth take-off of the incoming government. The governor alleged that some government officers are behaving as if they want to put spanners in the work for the incoming regime. “I’m aware that some officers in the outgoing government are moving to surreptitiously leave the country at this critical time they are needed to answer specific questions, though I would not want to mention their names here. “President Buhari should not heed their inordinate and unpatriotic plan. These plans are dangerous and devilish. They show clearly that these officers have something to hide. This must be halted immediately. Any plan to evade rendering accounts is neither in the interest of accountability, transparency, and anti-corruption, which President Buhari had championed in government, nor in the interest of an unencumbered take-off of the incoming administration.   “It’s also not in the interest of the country, which the president has always promoted and championed. This is my appeal and why I have decided to speak out as a patriotic Nigerian and concerned governor,” he added.

  Worried by the alleged failure of the Federal Government to meet its demand, the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) on Monday declared a five-day warning strike. Channels Television gathered that the industrial action will commence on Wednesday, May 17, and end on Monday, May 22. The decision to down tool was taken after the doctors’ extraordinary National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held virtually on Monday. President of NARD, Dr Emeka Orji, confirmed the incident to Channels Television via a WhatsApp message. He, however, promised to make a press conference on Tuesday, May 16, saying a press statement will be made available to journalists also. The resident doctors have been at loggerheads with the Federal Government over poor remuneration, and better welfare for their members among other concerns. They are demanding an immediate increment in the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure to the tune of 200 per cent of the current gross salary of doctors and the new allowances included in the letter written by the association to the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, on July 7, 2022, on the review of CONMESS. On April 29, the association issued a two-week ultimatum to the Federal Government to implement the agreements or face industrial action. Strike Unnecessary – FG But reacting to the planned industrial action by the aggrieved resident doctors, the Federal Government described the move as unnecessary. Briefing journalists in Abuja after a special Federal Executive Council meeting, the Labour Minister, Dr Chris Ngige said the parent body of the association – the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) – is already engaging with relevant government agencies on the issue. “On the demand for 200 per cent salary increase, the NMA is the father of all doctors in Nigeria and they have about four or five affiliates of which the resident doctors is an association affiliating there,” he stated. “You have the Medical and Dental Consultants Association (MEDIAN), they are the consultants who are training these medical doctors to become specialists. You also have a general medical practitioners association and you also have doctors working in the private sector.   “So, NMA is the father of all including me. So, NMA is discussing with the Federal Ministry of Health, salaries income and wages commission, and the Ministry of Labour and we know that NMA has accepted a salary increase between 25 and 30 per cent across the board for their members. “So, I don’t know the logic by which people who are members of NMA are now coming up to say pay us 200 per cent increase. I don’t understand it. “I have called the NMA President to contact them because, on the issue of remuneration negotiation, it’s NMA that the government deals with. So, I have told the President of NMA to contact them, and we will engage them. They should not go on any strike, it’s not necessary.”