The Coalition for Protection of Democracy has urged the National Judicial Council to review all decisions taken by the former President of Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, following the confession of her husband, Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa. Bulkachuwa, who was the Senator representing Bauchi South in the Ninth National Assembly, had during the valedictory session confessed that he influenced judicial decisions in favour of some senators while his wife was President of the Court of Appeal. The senator had said: “My wife, whose freedom and independence I encroached upon while (she) was in office, and she has been very tolerant and accepted my encroachment and extended her help to my colleagues.” Reacting, the Coalition for Protection of Democracy, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Daniel Elombah, on Tuesday, described Bulkachuwa’s confession as a “monumental embarrassment” to the judicial arm of government, regarded as the last hope of the common man. The group said the NJC must review all the decisions made by the Court of Appeal on election matters under the leadership of Justice Bulkachuwa, especially those connected directly or indirectly with the ruling All Progressives Congress. “We are shocked following the voluntary confession of former Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, who represented Bauchi South in the Ninth National Assembly, during the valedictory session in the Senate chambers, that he helped some senators by influencing decisions of his wife when she was the President of the Court of Appeal. “The confession is a monumental embarrassment to the judicial arm of government, which is the last hope of the common man. “Keeping quiet on this matter by the National Judicial Council will not do any good for the judicial arm of government in this country. “We, therefore, ask the NJC to review all decisions made by the Court of Appeal on election matters connected directly or indirectly to APC. And if it is found that there are merits to the confession made by her husband on national TV, Justice Bulkachuwa’s retirement should be converted to dismissal and all those decisions overturned.” It would be recalled that Justice Bulkachuwa retired from active service on her 70th birthday, on March 6, 2020 and a Valedictory Court Session in her honour was held on the eve of her retirement. When contacted, the National Publicity Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, Akorede Lawal, described Bulkachuwa’s statement as devastating, but said the NBA had yet to take a position on the matter. Lawal said, “The comment is quite sensitive and the association is devasted by it, but whatever reaction that will be given, will have to be a holistic reaction and the NBA President is the best person to react to this.” But a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), in a statement on Tuesday, said, “This man deserves to be taken up immediately by the authorities. It is a blight on my confidence in our systems.”

  Kwara State Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has expressed dismay over the news of no fewer than 100 people who are feared dead in a boat accident in Egbu village, in the Patigi Local Government Area of the state. It was reported that the boat travelling along the Niger River was carrying wedding guests who were returning on Monday morning to Kwara State from a ceremony in nearby Niger State. In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, on Tuesday, the governor commiserated with families of the victims and members of the community where the incident occurred. He expressed deep sadness over the unfortunate incident, which claimed scores of lives. The statement read, “The Governor is sad to receive reports of the boat accident involving several people, particularly residents of Ebu, Dzakan, Kpada, Kuchalu, and Sampi — all in Patigi. “The Governor sends his heartfelt condolences to the people of these communities and those from other states. He prays to Almighty Allah to repose the souls of the victims. The statement added that the governor will continue to monitor ongoing rescue efforts, hoping that there will be some survivors. He added, “The Governor, meanwhile, continues to monitor the rescue efforts already mounted since Monday night in search of possible survivors. Speaking further, Abdulrazaq commended the traditional leader of the community and local authorities for their promptness in launching rescue operations. “He commends the alertness of the Etsu Patigi, His Royal Highness Alhaji Ibrahim Umar Bologi II, and other local government authorities for the efforts to save as many people as possible who may have survived the mishap”, the statement said. As of the time of this report, the police are yet to confirm how many people have died or how many were on board the boat, which was reportedly overloaded.

  The Labour Party and its presidential candidate in the last election, Peter Obi, on Tuesday, tendered more exhibits as evidence against the declaration of Bola Tinubu as the winner of the presidential election. The Presidential Election Petition Court admitted the exhibits, which were mainly results sheets and reports used by the Independent National Electoral Commission during the election. The LP and Obi are challenging the outcome of the election in which Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress was announced as the elected president by the Independent National Electoral Commission. At the resumed proceedings, counsel for the LP and Obi, Peter Afoba, SAN, tendered forms EC40GPU and EC40G1, which are the summary of registered voters of polling units and local governments where elections were cancelled or did not occur. The presentation covered 45 EC40GPU forms in 10 local government areas of Niger State, 23 in seven local government areas of Osun, 17 in three local government areas of Edo State and 52 EC40GPU forms in five local government areas of Sokoto. Obi also tendered 15 forms of EC40G in eight local government areas of Osun State, 12 forms EC40G1 in 12 local government areas of Edo, 15 forms EC40G in four local government areas of Sokoto and nine forms EC40G1 in two local government areas of Sokoto. The petitioners also tendered five reports on the conduct of the election in Niger State and eight in Edo to back up their allegations of malpractices during the conduct of the election. Also tendered were INEC Results Viewing reports in 21 local government areas of Adamawa State, 20 in Ogun State, 16 in Ekiti State, 19 in Rivers State and 25 in Akwa Ibom State. Despite objections against the admissibility of the exhibits by the respondents in the petition: INEC, Tinubu, vice-president Kashim Shetima and the All Progressives Congress, chairman of the PEPC, Justice Haruna Tsammani admitted them as exhibits The court also adjourned further hearings in the petition to June 14.

  The Nigerian stock market rose to its highest level since July 2008 on Tuesday, the first day of trading after the suspension of the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele. According to a report by Bloomberg, investors are betting on a currency devaluation and sent the main index of the Nigerian Exchange to above 57,437 points, which contrasted with a flat performance for MSCI’s main emerging equity benchmark. The report stated that this move takes the country’s stocks’ year-to-date gains to 11.8 per cent, almost double the six per cent return on the MSCI index. It noted that the rally, which followed increased gains on Nigerian dollar bonds on Monday, reflected optimism over the policy signals from the newly elected President, Bola Tinubu. The head of research at Chapel Hill Denham, Tajudeen Ibrahim, stated, “An improvement in the economy will enhance the performance of companies operating in the market.” Since resuming office, the new president has scrapped fuel subsidy and recently suspended the apex bank’s governor, Emefiele. The NGX Banking Index has since risen by 8.5 per cent to 570.64, its biggest advance in more than eight years. Ibrahim, added, “The exchange rate convergence is expected to lead to improvement in liquidity in the foreign currency market and will increase trading activities for the banks.” Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on the naira to fall towards its market value. The currency has fallen to 474 per dollar, with traders betting on further depreciation.

  Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has embarked on a medical leave abroad and has handed over the reins of office to his deputy Lucky Aiyedatiwa. The Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly Olamide Oladiji confirmed the receipt of a letter from the governor indicating his departure for treatment. “Ondo State House of Assembly said it has received the letter of medical leave from the Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu (SAN, CON),” a Tuesday statement from the lawmaker read. “Speaking through the lawmakers, the Speaker of the House Rt.Hon.Olamide Oladiji explained that the Governor had embarked on a 21-day leave for medical treatment abroad starting from the 7th of June,2023 to the 6th of July,2023. “According to the letter, the leave which commenced on the 7th of June extends to the 6th of July,2023 due to the Public Holidays on June 12(Democracy Day) and Eid el Kabir(28th and 29th, June,2023). “The Governor, who had directed his Deputy, Hon.Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa to act as the Governor while away, has assured of his resumption on the 6th of July, 2023.” ‘Aketi is Very Much Alive’ Akeredolu’s letter and handover come amid concerns about his health. While there have been speculations about him, with many claiming he is dead, the Ondo State Government was swift in debunking it. “We have been inundated with calls and messages concerning the state of health of the Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, CON,” the State Commissioner for Information and Orientation Bamidele Ademola-Olateju said in a statement. “We had chosen to ignore this wicked fabrication until it appeared that certain persons seek to draw political mileage from the disinformation. “Though the Governor has been indisposed, he has been attending to state matters and delegating functions to functionaries of the Government, when necessary. We enjoin the members of the public to ignore the rumour. Aketi is very much alive.” In the wake of the development, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state called on Governor Akeredolu to resign his position. “If for whatever reason, Akeredolu can no longer discharge his official responsibilities, the most reasonable thing to do is to hand over to the Deputy Governor as required by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended),” the party’s spokesman Kennedy Peretei said.

  The Indigenous People of Biafra spokesman, Emma Powerful, has described Nnamdi Kanu’s continuous detention as “unconstitutional”, saying that self-determination is legal as supported by the United Nations laws and by the Africa Union Charter. In a statement on Tuesday, the IPOB’s spokesman commended Anambra and Enugu state governors, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo and Dr Peter Mba respectively on their call for the unconditional release of the pro-Biafran leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. The pro-Biafran group hailed Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, Kanayo .O. Kanayo and others, who have also lent their voices towards the release of Kanu. He said, “We wish to commend people like Enugu State Governor, Dr Peter Mba, Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, Barr. Kanayo .O. Kanayo, and others for their persistent calls for the release of Kanu from detention. He expressed that the Indigenous people have an inherent right to pursue their own political, economic, cultural, and social future, stating that Kanu was unlawfully abducted in Kenya, forcibly taken to Nigeria, and held in solitary confinement for two years due to his request for a Biafra referendum supervised by the United Nations. “In Nigeria today, Kanu remains the only political prisoner held unconstitutionally in custody without charge because he is an Igbo man. The main reason for his persecution and illegal incarceration is because he is fighting for the freedom and wellbeing of his people.” The group claimed that the Federal Government has shown hostility and contempt towards the Ndigbo by keeping their leader in custody. According to the statement, the Ndigbo are now a vulnerable group that is discriminated against, targeted, and killed by security forces. “The Federal Government has demonstrated hatred and disdain against Ndigbo by illegally holding onto this Igbo illustrious son without charge. Kanu and other IPOB members in various detentions even after the Nigeria courts have ordered their release are still being held without explanation from the Federal Government. “The same Federal Government criminalised the IPOB leader and members for peacefully seeking to chat a political future for Biafrans as enshrined in UN and African Union Charters. Who beats a child and stops him from crying? Who does that? He stated that Nigeria has become an outcast state due to its animosity towards the Ndigbo and its irrational fear of an autonomous and independent Biafran nation. He emphasised that their demand for a referendum is not up for negotiation, and the Federal Government should initiate a discussion on a referendum date and terms as soon as possible. “If after referendum Biafrans vote ‘yes’ to exit Nigeria, Biafra and Nigeria can still be good neighbors. Our request for the independent state of Biafra is not out of hatred for others but for self-preservation and reclamation of racial dignity.”

  The number of deaths after a Kenyan pastor directed his followers to starve to death in order to meet Jesus has exceeded 300. The authorities also said the death toll is expected to rise as more exhumations are planned, according to the Independent UK. It also revealed that the death toll increased to 303 after 19 more corpses were retrieved from mass graves in the largely forested land in Kilifi County of coastal Kenya, where Pastor Paul Mackenzie and his followers lived. Coastal regional commissioner Rhoda Onyancha told Kenyan reporters that 613 people tied to the area are missing. On Monday, 65 of the 95 parishioners whom authorities said they rescued from the property were charged with attempting suicide after they staged a hunger strike to protest being held at a shelter. They were moved to a jail. Police went to MacKenzie’s property in April after investigators received intelligence that dozens of people were starving to death after their pastor told them it was a method to meet Jesus. The feeble followers were treated at a Malindi hospital before they were taken to the shelter, the Independent UK reported. Mackenzie is expected back in court this week after police were granted more time to hold him pending investigations. Before his arrest in April, the pastor had been charged in connection with the disappearance of children but was released on bond. Kenyan President William Ruto has likened Mackenzie to a terrorist. Interior Minister Kindiki Kithure said more mass graves were earmarked for exhumation. He suggested the pastor might be charged with terrorism or genocide-related offences.

  Former President Donald Trump was placed under arrest shortly after arriving at a heavily fortified Miami courthouse on Tuesday afternoon to face his first federal indictment. Trump flew to Miami from his New Jersey golf club on Monday afternoon, then was driven to the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse from his golf club in Doral, a 12-mile drive across town, on Tuesday to face 37 counts related to his alleged willful mishandling of classified documents. Trump’s motorcade pulled up to the courthouse shortly before 2 p.m., entering through an entrance fortified by heavy security. Once the vehicles were cleared for entry by police, they headed to an underground garage. Trump’s motorcade headed into an underground garage at the Miami courthouse. Trump’s motorcade headed into an underground garage at the Miami courthouse. Trump and his co-defendant, former Diet Coke valet-turned-personal aide Walt Nauta, were booked by the U.S. Marshals Service by 2:15 p.m. Nauta is accused of moving boxes of documents around Mar-a-Lago after a subpoena was issued for the return of all classified materials, then lying to investigators. Trump was not expected to be handcuffed or made to empty his pockets, according to sources cited by ABC News. He also was not expected to have his mugshot taken, with authorities using a “previously taken photo” instead, CBS News reported. He was likely to be electronically fingerprinted in an underground garage out of the public view, Miami Herald federal court reporter Jay Weaver told NPR. When Trump faced an indictment on state charges in New York in April, he was not photographed. Trump is accused of, among other offenses, violating the Espionage Act by refusing to hand over national security secrets he took to his Mar-a-Lago resort after he left office. Documents were stashed in storage rooms, a bathroom, Trump’s bedroom, and a ballroom accessible by visitors and staff, the feds say. After a subpoena was issued for the return of any classified material, Trump suggested his lawyers ignore it or just say “we don’t have anything here,” the indictment alleges. Is Bringing the Trump Documents Case in Florida a Mistake? The former president had called on supporters to protest outside the courthouse on Tuesday, and authorities were on standby in case any of the pro-Trump rallies, including one purportedly organized by a local chapter of the Proud Boys, turned ugly. However, the turnout was lower than Trump had apparently hoped, having claimed to be expecting some 50,000 people on hand. Among the few hundred Trump loyalists outside the courthouse, Osmany Estrada, 40, stood draped in a Cuban and American flag with a pig’s head on a pike. He told The Daily Beast the severed head didn’t represent anything specific, but that he was simply making a “bold” statement. Culled from Yahoo News

  Yet-to-be-identified gunmen have killed Rev. Nichodemus Kim of the Church of Christ in the Nation (COCIN) and 20 others in Riyom and Barkin Ladi Local Government Areas, Plateau state. The pastor was assassinated in Barkin Ladi’s Gana-Ropp hamlet, while others were slaughtered in Riyom’s Rim, Jol, and Kwi communities. Mr. Rwang Tengwong, National Publicity Secretary of the Berom Youth Movement (BYM), a socio-cultural organisation, announced this in a statement issued on Tuesday in Jos. According to Tengwong, the communities were targeted simultaneously and with great precision. He explained that the attacks on Sunday night left numerous persons with varied degrees of injuries, and that scores of people are temporarily displaced. ”Twenty-one persons were killed and several others injured on Sunday during coordinated attacks by militias on residents of Rim, Jol, Kwi communities of Riyom as well as Gana-Ropp community in Barkin Ladi. ”Two persons were killed at Rim, Seven at Jol, 11 at Kwi, all in Riyom, while a clegyman, Rev. Nichodemus Kim, was killed in Gana-Ropp Barkin Ladi ”The attacks on Rim, Jol and Kwi were simultaneously coordinated and held between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Sunday. ”In Kwi, an entire community, Hei-gwe, was razed and over 100 farmlands destroyed,” he said. Tengwong called on the government and the security agencies to fashion out lasting solutions to the spate of attacks and killings in communities. ”The BYM under the leadership of Solomon Mwantiri, hereby condemns the coordinated attacks and other forms of provocation meted out on innocent persons of Plateau since after the 2023 general elections. ”We call on the new administration both at Federal and state levels, to come up with new strategies to address the security situation in the country and particularly in Plateau. ”Security personnel must also wake up to their statutory responsibilities to safeguard lives and property. BYM equally calls on the Berom nation to remain calm and law abiding, but must explore every avenue to defend their communities as we cannot sit and watch while they kill us one after another,” he said. DSP Alabo Alfred, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the command, could not be reached for comments. But, Governor Caleb Mutfwang confirmed the killings in a statement by Mr Gyang Bere, his Director of Press and Public Affairs (DOPPA). He promised residents of the state of his commitment towards tackling the spate of attacks, killings, kidnapping and other security challenges currently facing the state. ”Let me assure the people that we are retooling the security apparatus of the state and by the special grace of God we will have a secured Plateau,” he said. The governor called on the residents of the state to keep away their differences and unite towards moving the state forward.