President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of the following as Special Advisers: 1.Mr. Dele Alake Special Adviser, Special Duties, Communications and Strategy 2. Mr. Yau Darazo Special Adviser, Political and Intergovernmental Affairs 3. Mr. Wale Edun Special Adviser, Monetary Policies 4. Mrs. Olu Verheijen Special Adviser, Energy 5. Mr. Zachaeus Adedeji Special Adviser, Revenue 6. Mr. Nuhu Ribadu Special Adviser, Security 7. Mr. John Ugochukwu Uwajumogu Special Adviser, Industry, Trade and Investment. 8. Dr (Mrs.) Salma Ibrahim Anas Special Adviser, Health Abiodun Oladunjoye Director Information State House June 15, 2023

  A Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former President of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba has asked President Bola Tinubu to remove the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmoud Yakubu. The senior lawyer, in a statement on Thursday, said the 61-year-old INEC boss must leave office by resignation or removal, otherwise the electoral reform task in Nigeria will be impeded.   Remain Committed To Democracy, Agbakoba Tells Nigerians In the statement by his Media Assistant, Niyi Odunmorayo, Agbakoba commended the President for “getting rid” Godwin Emefiele as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); and AbdulRasheed Bawa as the Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).   The senior lawyer said, “Full congratulations go to President Tinubu for getting rid of Emefiele and Bawa and fuel subsidy and forex corruption. Endemic corruption has suffered a massive blow. “Next is for the president to dismantle INEC. Everyone will agree that logistically, the 2023 elections are the worst in our history. I do not refer to the merits of the results of the elections. Many results are disputed and are in Tribunals. Both petitioners and respondents suffered at the hands of an incompetent INEC. “As we await rulings from the courts massive reforms of the electoral framework ought to begin but this means that the INEC Chairman will have to leave office by resignation or removal, otherwise the reform task will be impeded. “I add very quickly that the suggested reforms have nothing to do with the merits of election results at all. Both winners and losers of the elections were victims of the failure of INEC. Confidence in Nigeria’s democracy will be enhanced by a deep cleansing of INEC.”   Then President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Yakubu as INEC chair in November 2015 to succeed Attahiru Jega, who supervised the 2015 general elections. In October 2020, Buhari reappointed Yakubu as the electoral commission boss.

  President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday morning, inaugurated the National Economic Council at the Council Chamber of the State House Abuja. Thursday’s inauguration comes a week after Tinubu directed council members to concretise intervention plans to mitigate the effects of the petroleum subsidy. Tinubu, who inaugurated the NEC at 11:25 am, said the task of growing the nation’s economy is quite enormous. “Therefore, there will be no excuse for failure or complain as all the elected officials, asked, campaigned and danced for the job,” the president said. The president also urged the council to work together and support his administration’s mandate to transform the economic fortunes of the country saying “Collaboration is. Not a crime. Please let u do so.” Afterward, the president departed the chambers for his office as VP Shettima steered the discussions amongst council members. The NEC was established by the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended; Section 153(1) and Paragraphs 18 & 19 of Part I of the Third Schedule. N’Assembly elects leaders Chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, the Council, which meets monthly, has the mandate to “advise the President concerning the economic affairs of the Federation, and in particular on measures necessary for the coordination of the economic planning efforts or economic programmes of the various Governments of the Federation.” Its members comprise the 36 State Governors, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and other co-opted Government officials. Present are the Governors of Kwara, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq; Osun, Ademola Adeleke; Kogi, Yahaya Bello; Ekiti, Biodun Oyebanji; Nasarawa, Abdullahi Sule; Akwa Ibom, Umo Eno; Enugu, Peter Mbah; Cross River, Bassey Otu; Plateau, Caleb Muftwang; Kebbi, Nasir Idris; Katsina, Aliyu Radda; and Benue, Hycinth Alia. Others are Governors of Zamfara, Dauda Lawal; Ogun, Dapo Abiodun; Anambra, Charles Soludo; Yobe, Mai Mala Buni; Taraba, Agbu Kefas; Gombe, Inuwa Yahaya, Delta, Sheriff Oborevwori; Rivers, Siminalayi Fubara; Niger, Mohammed Bago; and Sokoto, Ahmad Aliyu. Also attending are those of Ebonyi, Francis Nwifuru; Kaduna, Uba Sani; Edo, Godwin Obaseki; Abia, Alex Otti; Bayelsa, Douye Diri; Kano, Abba Yusuf; Bauchi, Bala Mohammed; Oyo, Seyi Makinde; and Deputy Governors of Borno, Umar Kadafur and Ondo, Lucky Ayedatiwa. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, Acting Accountant General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, Acting Governor of Central Bank, Folashodun Shonubi, Permanent Secretaries Budget and National Planning, Federal Capital Territory Administration and State House are also in attendance.

  The Inspector General Of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, has ordered the sealing of all the 17 local government secretariats of Plateau state following the ongoing crisis in the state. Daily Trust reports that Governor Caleb Mutfuwang, who was sworn in two week ago, had suspended the chairmen for alleged misappropriation of funds. He had appointed interim chairpersons to oversee the LGs but the chairmen revolted and declared that the governor had no right to suspend them. They insisted on continuing functioning as chairmen of their respective LGAs, a situation that nearly resulted into the break down of law and order on Wednesday. In a statement on Thursday, spokesperson of the state police command, DSP Alabo Alfred, said the IG had ordered the state commissioner of Police, Bartholomew Onyeka, to seal off all the 17 secretariats. “It has become necessary as a result of tensions around the leadership of the Local Government Areas, and the possible threat that supporters and Local Government Chairmen are posing to critical infrastructure, lives and properties in the State.” “The decision to take this action is in accordance with the exercise of our constitutional responsibility as the Nigeria Police Force, to ensure that the above doesn’t hold sway on the Plateau. “To this end, the Nigeria Police Force on the Plateau cannot sit down and watch things go wrong under our watch, hence the need to make this critical decision of sealing up the Local Government secretariats. “The command therefore warns that it will not take it lightly with anyone who tries to disrupt this process or causes any confusion around the Local Government Secretariats, as we will ensure that the law takes it’s full course on such persons.”

  An eight-month-old pregnant woman has reportedly been raped by a 40 year old commercial motorcyclist, John Akpo at Irabi, Obi Local Government Area of Benue State. It was gathered from a source in the area who spoke on condition of anonymity that the suspect picked the lady at about 7pm on the fateful day to convey her home from the market but on the way forcefully took her into a bush and sexually assaulted her. He said: “From the account of the woman, she was going home from the market around 7pm few days ago. She flagged down an okada man and bargained with him to take her home. “Whie on their way home, the okada man diverted from the main road to a nearby bush, held her down and raped her. “As he was raping her, the woman became unconscious and the bike man, thinking that the woman was dead, dragged her and dumped her by a river bank where she laid till the next day. “In the morning, she woke up and discovered herself in a state of subconsciousness. She was too weak to stand so she just laid there praying for help.” “She laid there by the river bank when her people who were already searching for her, found her in that state and took her to the hospital. “The matter was reported to the nearest police station and they traced the suspect and arrested him. After his arrest he was moved to the Police Headquarters in Makurdi for further investigation.” It was gathered that after being treated at a hospital in Obi the victim was moved to Makurdi for further medical attention. Contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent, SP. Catherine Anene, confirmed the incident.

  An unidentified woman was severely brutalised by some police officers stationed close to the Lagos State House of Assembly, Alausa, Ikeja, on Wednesday at about 2pm. According to eyewitness accounts, the dark-skinned woman, spotting a low cut, was picked up close by the cops, who accused her of being a cultist. According to the eyewitness, the helpless woman was stripped of her shirt, brutally beaten with sticks, a belt, punched and slapped by three policemen. “Despite her screams that she was innocent and only came to the area to relax and was not guilty of anything, the policemen dragged her on the floor, removed her footwear, handcuffed and drove away,” the eyewitness, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation, said. When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, said, “I am not aware of the incident.”

  The Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, has called for the dissolution of Nigeria Air, the national carrier unveiled during the previous administration. This is as he suggested that the country should rather invest in a flagbearer airline than a national carrier, which he described as a ‘moribund’. Onyema, who spoke on Arise Television’s morning show on Wednesday, criticised the shareholding structure of the airline, saying that it favours Ethiopia. He argued that Nigeria is contributing the financial investment for the airline, while Ethiopia is set to earn 49% of the venture without actually putting any money into it. The PUNCH reported that the Federal Government took delivery of the first plane of the country’s national carrier, Nigeria Air, amid protest from local airline operators that it was contrary to a court order, which barred the government from taking further action on the project. The Air Peace boss further revealed that in 2019, Ethiopian Airlines approached Air Peace for a partnership, but he turned down the offer because of his patriotism for Nigeria, adding that according to the agreement signed for the stake in Nigeria Air, Ethiopians were not expected to bring in any money as an investment into the project. Also, he alleged that the leadership of the entire management of the proposed Nigeria Air—the DFO, CEO, and all the management positions—were to be headed by Ethiopians while the deputy position was given to Nigeria. Onyema stressed that the unveiling of Nigeria Air despite the litigation was a total disrespect of the judiciary that should not be tolerated. On the agreement between Nigeria Air and Ethiopian Airlines, he said, “The leadership of the entire management—DFO, CEO, all the management positions—was to be headed by Ethiopians while the deputy slots were given to Nigeria. “Look at the shareholding; ET has 49%; there is a company called Fairfax, who is this Fairfax? It is owned by ET; their transaction advisers and they are going to get three per cent, 1.4/1.5% of the shareholding capital which is put at $250m and ET will bring $122m but not as cash but as rentals. “It is only the Nigerian companies that are going to bring money; SAHCO and MRS. I have the document here. ET is not bringing a penny into Nigeria; ET will pay rentals for their plane for five years. It is written here in black and white. Even if they pay the $122 million, Air Peace alone is worth over $2 billion. As I speak to you, Boeing is in my office now for the delivery of our 737 Max, which is costing over a billion dollars. He added, ”The aircraft from Embraer that we started receiving cost about a billion dollars; five of them have entered Nigeria; ET is bringing nothing and they are going to get 49% of your country’s wealth. I call on President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to immediately dissolve this charade called Nigeria Air and start his own thing.” Speaking on why the idea of owning a national carrier should be abandoned, Onyema said, “Contrary to what the minister has been saying about Nigeria and the importance of having a national carrier, the national carrier is a moribund idea worldwide. Countries don’t go that route any more, it is a drain on any country. Those who are in it are running out of it. The phrase national carrier means government ownership. What governments do these days are flag carriers. begins in September – FG “British Airways is a flag carrier; it is owned by the IAG group. Only a very few countries are still into national carriers like South Africa, and South African Airways is bleeding the treasury of the country. They have tried to close it several times, but the unions fight back; the government is tired. “Countries don’t go that route, why should Nigeria in 2023 be going backwards instead of moving forward? All they needed to do was strengthen the ease of doing business so that people of means, and private concerns of means could invest in the aviation industry. He added, ”We are not fighting for ourselves and neither are we afraid of competition, nobody is afraid of this national carrier because it will fall and fail like a pack of cards. What we are saying in AON is that they should improve the ease of doing business in Nigeria, remove those challenges that are stunting the growth of airlines in Nigeria and these airlines will blossom, but they did not.” On whether Air Peace was interested in partnering with Nigeria Air, he said: “When they wanted to do the national carrier, we gave our comments and we knew the whole thing was shrouded in secrecy, our members told Air Peace to apply and when you go to that website, you will be blocked. We never got anywhere. We did try.” Speaking on why it was yet to commence London flights, he said, “When we applied, first of all, to get the destination, it was difficult. Later, when I was given a destination, they gave us three frequencies. I cried out, I said, “Why these? This is a low-hanging fruit of a six-hour trip; I can do daily flights to London. They told me that another airline, OmniBlu, was also getting some frequency and I was asking, “Whose airline is OmniBlu in Nigeria? Later, they increased it to four and then we applied. “You need to apply for TCO; they wrote to the Nigerian authorities to ask if they know about Air Peace and I was denied. They said no, we didn’t know them, we didn’t know they were applying, we didn’t authorise them to apply and I said for what? So TCO, that’s the European Tech Companies Operators, you need to get this before going into any European countries for operations; they stopped us. “NCAA didn’t allow us to go into London for four years; the reasons they gave were that Arik messed up, Arik and Medview messed

  The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raided a local herbal medicine factory in the Tarfa LGA, Niger state. A recent investigation exposed how a low-end herbal product — Baban Aisha herbal medicine — is touted to cure common diseases. The investigation uncovered that while the herbal product breached regulatory frameworks on registration, it was also tested to be unsafe for consumption. Umar Sulaiman, NAFDAC team lead, investigative and enforcement, said the agency carried out the raid in collaboration with its Kaduna office, following a complaint received about the factory. Sulaiman said the team found the production of herbal medicine was being done with an expired licence, violating good manufacturing practices (GMP). “We went into action after investigations and had the factory raided. The factory is called Sacramultilink Ltd., owned by Dr Salisu Sani, Nawagini Baban Aisha, who sells herbal medicine,” NAN quoted him as saying. “We are all here for one purpose and that is to safeguard the health of the nation. Upon our arrival here, we found a lot of violations of good manufacturing practices (GMP), the production of herbal medicine with an expired licence. “We also witnessed an illegal production of some of the products which have not been registered with NAFDAC, along with poor hygiene practices and that is why we took this step. “We are going to seal this place and arrest any responsible officer here. This facility was registered but for only one product. A NAFDAC registration number was issued to the man and since then we have not seen him again. “He had gone ahead to produce other products, placing the same approved number for a particular product on other products.” Nasiru Mato, NAFDAC coordinator, Kaduna state, said Baban Aisha’s product has fallen below the standard and expectations of consumers.   “So we had no option than to seal the entire premises, evacuate all related equipment and facilities used for production,” he said. Equipment moved away from the factory included one HD injection polythene 25 kg, and one HDPE polythene of 25 kg. The agency also took away sacks with labels, Hana big box scale, speakers used in advertising the products, a workmaster heat gun, and packaging bottles.

  Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to put measures in place to avert industrial action. The union embarked on strikes for several months during the last administration of former President Muhammad Buhari over issues concerning funding and platform for payment of lecturers’ salaries.   ASUU President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke said the union foresaw an improved working relationship between ASUU and the federal government led by President Tinubu. He spoke yesterday at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, during the foundation laying of ASUU NAU Guest House as well as appreciation of former executives and retired members. “We are trying to meet with the president to ensure harmony, industrial peace and cordial relationship with the government where nobody with bad blood will lord it over the universities. “He needs to set up a team of experts to negotiate with ASUU leadership to ensure that all loopholes that will lead to industrial action are blocked,” he said. He, however, expressed worry over what he called bureaucratic attack on Nigerian universities by the federal government.   He described as anomaly the government’s undue interference in university administrations, including usurping the powers of councils, appointments and salary payments of staff members.