The senate has passed the bill for the establishment of a Police Pension Board to exclude the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) from the contributory pension scheme (CPS) and return the force to the old defined benefit scheme (DBS). The upper chamber announced on its Twitter handle on Tuesday that it had passed the bill, although a 2014 federal government white paper rejected the agitation and previous attempts had been turned down by the federal lawmakers. Under the CPS, both the employee and the employer make contributions towards the employee’s pension — in contrast with the DBS under which all the burden is borne by the government. This had led to unfunded pensions and pile-up of pension liabilities running into trillions of naira before the Olusegun Obasanjo administration carried out an industry reform in 2004. Under the bill passed by the senate, the federal government will now be fully responsible for police pensions and this is expected to cost trillions of naira over time. At the public hearing organised by the senate committee on police affairs on January 20, 2023, the National Pension Commission (PenCom), which regulates the industry, the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) opposed the bill. Boss Mustapha, who was then secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), wrote to the inspector general of police reminding him that there was an SGF circular Ref. 59149/S.1/C.1/11/266 and dated July 20, 2021 which said the police must be under the CPS and that the directive had not changed. Mustapha also referred to the White Paper on the report of the Presidential Committee on Restructuring and Rationalization of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies which expressly forbids any government body, apart from the military and the intelligence services, from exiting the CPS. The national assembly also passed a bill recently to exempt its staff from the CPS. Former President Muhammadu Buhari assented to on the even of his departure.

  A report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) says the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has finally taken responsibility for a fatal airstrike on Kwatiri, a Nasarawa village. In January 2023, TheCable reported how at least 27 persons were killed following the airstrike. The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) said the airstrike occurred after the herders went to get 1,250 of their cows impounded by the Benue livestock guards. A day after the accident, Abdullahi Sule, Nasarawa governor, said the explosion in Kwatiri was not carried out by a NAF aircraft.   He said enquiries revealed that “no air force plane flew through the area,” adding that the bombing was done by a drone whose operators were yet to be identified. Nearly six months after the incident, the HRW report revealed that NAF has provided little information on the incident. The human rights organisation said the military’s unacceptable delay in owning up to the killing of dozens of civilians, only compounds the tragedy of the attack.   The human rights organisation called on NAF to provide financial compensation to the victims and bereaved families. “The Nigerian air force admitted for the first time, in response to an inquiry from Human Rights Watch, to carrying out the airstrike,” the report reads in part. “It said it was an air component of Operation Whirl Stroke, a joint military, police, and Department of State Security operation deployed in response to security problems in and around Nasarawa state. “The air force claimed it carried out the airstrike in response to suspected terrorist activities but provided no details. “In a response on May 17, Air Commodore D. D. Pwajok, on behalf of the chief of air staff, acknowledged that the air force carried out the strike based on credible intelligence and in synergy with other security forces and agencies in Nasarawa state. “The letter said that air force surveillance footage showed the movement of suspected terrorists who converged around a truck suspected to be a logistics vehicle, which arrived at the location at night and was determined to be a target for the airstrike. “The letter did not respond to key questions, including how information regarding the suspected threat was considered and verified, whether efforts were made to investigate and verify the identity of those targeted, or if any assessment was carried out before the airstrike to avoid or mitigate civilian harm. “The absence of details raises the question of whether the air force carried out the airstrike based on mere suspicion. The letter concluded that the Nigerian air force is committed to upholding human rights and is open to further deliberations on the issue.”   Since 2017, over 300 people are reported to have been killed by airstrikes that the Nigerian air force claimed were intended for bandits or Boko Haram terrorists.

  Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), has stated that the formation of the Labour Party from the NLC does not imply that the party holds any authoritative control over their actions. NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had on Monday reached agreements with the federal government to suspend the planned strike scheduled for Wednesday. During an interview on Channels TV, Ajaero authenticated the affiliation between the party and the NLC, but disputed that the party sponsors the union. He said, “Well, I wouldn’t know wether these issues are informed issues, it it clear to everybody in Nigerian that Labour Party is owned by the NLC and no leader of NLC can deny that. “But even when this issue of subsidy was analyzed by various presidential candidates, the NLC was clear and I could remember I stated that if the Labour Party candidate went into that, he would even have double punishments from the Labour Movement because that counters our demands that was given to him and the ideology for which the Labour Party was formed. “The fact that we formed Labour Party does not mean that if it does anything wrong, and is an insult to say that Labour Party is now dictating for NLC that formed it? That is the worst insult anybody can say. “If people are going into blackmail, it should not be such, we determine what happens in Labour Party to a large extent. Who is Labour Party and their candidate to tell NLC what to do? What we are doing now, has it not consistent with what we have been doing on fuel subsidy?”

  President Bola Tinubu has directed the National Economic Council (NEC) led by Vice President Kashim Shettima to device an approach and begin the process of working on interventions to mitigate the impact of subsidy removal on the Nigerians.   Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, stated this after leading some major oil marketers on a courtesy visit to the President at the State House in Abuja. Addressing correspondents after the meeting, Abiodun, who was a former chairman of the oil marketers association, stated that the marketers expressed solidarity with the President for removing the N4trn subsidy burden, a move that can enhance the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocation to states. The group of marketers subsequently announced their intention to donate to 50 to 100, fifty-seater mass transit buses that would run on CNG, costing a N100m each and N10bn cumulatively, to cushion the effect of the removal within the next 30 days. They are hoping other corporate bodies can emulate their action.   The President’s meeting with the oil marketers comes amid the controversy and protests trailing the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit known as petrol. The President during his inaugural speech on May 29 at the Eagle Square in Abuja had announced the removal of subsidy payment on petrol. The President said that the immediate past administration of Muhammadu Buhari did not make provisions for subsidy in the 2023 budget beyond June. Many Nigerians had expected that the new price regime would come into effect by July 1 but almost immediately after the presidential pronouncement, queues resurfaced at filling stations across the country even as retail outlets hoard the product and increase prices. Already, a litre of petrol is being sold at over N500 across the country following NNPC price adjustment and the presidential pronouncement on subsidy removal.   Fuel queues have since surged for the vital commodity, compounding the traffic situation in parts of the country, even as transportation cost skyrocket to more than 100% increment. The Organised Labour had resolved to embark on a nationwide strike beginning Wednesday but was restrained by a court order of Monday, June 5, 2023. The Organised Labour subsequently shelved its planned strike after a meeting with the Federal Government late Monday.

  Aloy Ejimakor, Special Counsel to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu has said the Department of State Services (DSS) did not allow the medical team to see his client. Vanguard reported yesterday that Kanu’s medical team arrived at the DSS headquarters in Abuja to give proper care to the IPOB leader. Hours later, Kanu’s brother alleged that the self-determination group leader was not allowed to see his doctors, as they were asked to leave the medical facility on Tuesday. Confirming the development, Ejimakor, via a Twitter post, confirmed on Wednesday that Kanu did not receive medical attention from his doctors. “After going through so much trouble to advance the cause of arranging proper medical care for Onyendu #MNK, the DSS made sure it didn’t happen. This will not stand. Onyendu must get the proper medical care that he needs from physicians of his own choice,” Ejimakor wrote.

  A Nigerian student, Cyril Kenneth, who arrived in the United Kingdom in February has been arrested by the police for allegedly attempting to sexually harass minors in the Belfast province of the country. In a video posted by Far and Wide TV on Youtube with the caption, “Nigerian man arrested in UK for dating children”, Kenneth was being interviewed and he confessed to chatting the children between the ages of 14 and 15. The police confirmed that there was evidence of him grooming and sexually harassing the young girls. While confessing, Kenneth said, “We chat, I asked if they liked me, and I ask about their age. They told me 14. “They are just two and we began talking after I got here because I was bored and new to the country. “I always asked if their mothers were at home to be sure of the kind of messages I send to them,” he added. In the text messages he sent to the victims, Kenneth sent his unsolicited indecent pictures, asked some of them for their house addresses, and invited one of them to his house for sex, among other disturbing messages. The suspect, however, blamed the crime on temptation from the devil while appealing for mercy and promising to desist from such an act. He was subsequently handed over to the police for further investigation and possible prosecution.

  The Chairman of Kaduna State Christian Association of Nigeria, Reverend Joseph Hayab, on Wednesday, urged Nigerians to ignore the state’s immediate past governor, Nasir El-Rufai, over the latter’s alleged Islamization claims. He also claimed that the ex-governor’s recent statement on the Muslim/Muslim ticket and that the victory of President Bola Tinubu silenced his critics and CAN was a ploy and divisive tendency aimed to further his (El-Rufai’s) alleged presidential ambition. The CAN chairman was reacting to a trending video on social media where El-Rufai was alleged to have said that the Muslim-Muslim ticket in the Kaduna governorship election would be sustained beyond 20 years in the state. In the video, the former governor, who spoke in Hausa, also claimed that Muslim domination was being replicated at the national level. But reacting to El-Rufai’s alleged comment while featuring on Arise TV’s Morning Show on Wednesday, Hayab said Nigerians should not be bothered about El-Rufai’s comment as he was just seeking relevance and playing to the gallery to rile up unsuspecting Nigerians. According to him, El-Rufai is living in that dream that he could play these religious games, and possibly tomorrow he can become the president of Nigeria. He said, “You know, since he (El-Rufai) is up to something, he is playing a game and what he would do is to confuse people and set up Christians against Muslims; set up Christians against the present government, and then he would stand to benefit from it tomorrow. Unfortunately, I will say to him, he has failed from the onset. “With this, he has actually proved to Nigerians that he is not in the first place fit to be a leader and I think that is one of the problems in Nigeria. We give people power without testing their emotional stability whether they are mentally alright to lead.” When asked to give an official response to El-Rufai’s statement, Hayab said, “Our simple response is that ignores the madman. Ignore the man who is calling for attention and ignore the man who is up to a gimmick and ignore the man who is up to an agenda, don’t even take him seriously. “If his Muslim/Muslim ticket has actually succeeded, we wouldn’t have had the killings, the division, and the problems we have in Kaduna. So, there was not even success to record this in his administration. “El-Rufai is just trying to play games and we don’t even want to glorify his game, we simply see him as someone whose era, influence, and power are over but he wants to still be relevant and he wants to bring up something that will give him relevance because he knows that there are so many ignorant people around who may think that he is defending faith but I can tell you so many Imams will remind him how he demolished their mosque; how he maltreated them and never respected them as people of faith, so he is just playing politics and trying to take advantage of the situation. “Buhari, in all his three initial attempts to be president, played all these games and it never worked for him. But because he (Buhari) had played that game before, then he went into alliance with other political party and he eventually became the president. “But Buhari, who he (El-Rufai) is trying to mimic has three things El-Rufai does not have. Buhari was at that time seen, to be honest; Buhari was not talkative nor talk carelessly like you (El-Rufai), and Buhari was seen by people to some extent as someone who they can deal with. But you (El-Rufai), 90 per cent of the people know that everything you (El-Rufai) say is a lie and only for your own gain. So, we know that Kaduna Muslims know that El-Rufai is not speaking for them and we know Muslims won’t think along El-Rufai’s way. “Someone (El-Rufai) who has eaten and become fat from our commonwealth should not because of his selfishness divide us and create unnecessary confusion, Nigeria must not take such a person seriously because if truth be told, he (El-Rufai) needs some checks at the psychiatric (hospital) so that we will be sure whether he is healthy.” The Kaduna CAN chairman added that with El-Rufai’s alleged agenda, he was setting a trap for President Tinubu. “El-Rufai is deliberately also setting a trap and setting a slippery ground for Bola Tinubu because the moment these things became heated, then people will go to Bola Tinubu but we know the difference between El-Rufai and Bola Tinubu and others,” Hayab said. Efforts to reach the former governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Communication, Muyiwa Adekeye, for his reaction proved abortive as calls to his telephone line did not connect. Also, a text message sent to him was yet to be responded to as of the time of filing this report.

  With the suspension of its planned strike, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) on Wednesday shed light on the rationale for its insistence on reducing the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (or petrol). Failed talks with the Federal Government had led to plans by organised labour to embark on industrial action, in light of President Bola Tinubu’s inaugural speech last Monday declaring “fuel subsidy is gone“. The President’s remarks followed former President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to halt payment of fuel subsidy beyond June 2023. TUC President Festus Osifo, in a live appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, stated that at its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, different options were considered. “The options were, one, should we stall the negotiations or discussions and ask the government to return the pump price before we continued the discussions?” he said. “Some people argued that — let’s assume the government today returns the pump price to say they want to have discussions for the next one month till the end of June. “The argument was that what is going to happen is that marketers are going to hoard , the same workers and Nigerians that we want to protect, are the same people that would bear the brunt.” According to him, the expectation is that Nigerians would pay a “much higher price” and “long queues” would resurface at fuel stations across the country. “It now came that, ‘while we’re insisting that you return [the price], we should still continue the conversation and the discussions’. That was the resolution that came from the TUC’s NEC.”

  Former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has been offered a new appointment as a Managing Partner of Ballard Partners, a global lobbying organisation. The new position is coming in less than two weeks since the dissolution of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet. In a statement on Ballard Partner’s official Twitter page, the ex-minister’s new position was officially acknowledged. The post disclosed, “Ballard Partners, a leading government relations business in the US, will open its first office in Africa in Abuja, Nigeria, the country’s capital. “The firm’s satellite office in Lagos, the country’s financial hub, will be managed by Lai Mohammed, the recently-retired minister of communications and culture of Nigeria.” Mohammed was appointed to the position, according to the firm’s president, because he “is one of the most respected officials in the country”.