The Federal Government has filed an eight-count charge against former Minister of Aviation Stella Oduah at a Federal High Court in Abuja, accusing her of falsely claiming to have lost her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate, among other allegations.   The charge was filed on June 26, 2023, according to court documents made available to Channels Television on Monday. This comes amid controversy over alleged falsified documents claiming the former Anambra North completed the mandatory one-year programme. One of the counts read, “That you SENATOR STELLA ODUAH AND D.A.O OSHINOWO (at large) sometime in the year, 2017, at Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did conspires amongst yourselves to commit felony to wit: make a document titled ‘Re: Request for National Youth Service Confirmation Which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 3(6) of the miscellaneous offences Act CAF M17 of the revised edition (Laws of the Federation of Nigeria) 2007 and Punishable under section 3 (1) (c) of the same Act.” In another count, the Federal Government alleged “that you SENATOR STELLA ODUAH sometime in the year, 2011 at Federal Capital Territory, Abuja Within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did forward your credential to Federal Government of Nigeria among which is an affidavit and Extract from police Crime Diary, that you lost your National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Certificate the representation you know to be false which led to your nomination as a cabinet Minister and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 39 (2) (a) and punishable under Section 39(2)(b) of the same Act. One of the other counts reads, “That you SENATOR STELLA ODUAH sometime in the year, 2011 at Federal Capital Territory, Abuja ithin the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did forward your credential to Federal Government of Nigeria among which is an affidavit and Extract from police Crime Diary, that you lost your National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Certificate the representation you know to be false which led to your nomination as a cabinet Minister and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 157 of the Penal Code Act and punishable under Section 158 (1) of the same Act.” A Related Case Last year, a senatorial aspirant in Anambra, Mr John Emeka, sued Oduah at the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking an order invalidating her nomination as a Senatorial Candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party in Anambra State. In the originating summons, Emeka prayed the court to declare that the information supplied by Oduah in her INEC Form CF001, with respect to her participation in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, was false. He alleged that the former minister lied under oath in both her expression of interest and nomination forms, including in the INEC Form CF001 which she submitted to the commission for the 2023 Anambra North Senatorial District seat. The aspirant said she had, under oath, used the same information to participate in the previous elections as the PDP’s candidate for the 2015 and 2019 Anambra North Senatorial District polls. According to him, the act contravened Sections 12(1)(a)(b)(c) and 13(1)(a) of the NYSC Act. He further prayed the court to declare that by reason of the false information given in her INEC Form CF 001 in respect of her participation in the NYSC Scheme, she was not qualified to have contested in the said elections and or any other election into the Nigerian Senate.   However, the court, in a judgement delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo on November 22, 2022, dismissed the suit for being status barred.

  The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the Adamawa governorship election, Aisha Dahiru, popularly called “Binani,” has, again, sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the nullification of her declaration as governor of Adamawa in the March 18 governorship election. Binani, through her counsel, Michael Aondoaka, SAN, filed the fresh suit before Justice Donatus Okorowo of a Federal High Court, Abuja. In the ex-parte motion marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/935/2023, the APC candidate in the poll, sued INEC, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri as 1st, 2nd and 3rd respondents, respectively.   Binani, again, sought a judicial review of the decision by INEC to reverse her earlier announcement as winner of the poll by the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Yunusa-Ari. Aondoaka while moving the motion on Monday, argued that it was the election petition tribunal that was vested with the power to decide the fate of his client in accordance with Section 149 of the Electoral Act, 2022. He said the decision of INEC would deprive Binani of Section 285(6) which gives 180 days within which her petition filed before the tribunal on May 6 could be dispensed with. The senior lawyer, who informed the court that though a similar suit was earlier filed before Justice Inyang Ekwo, said the sister-court ordered Binani to approach a tribunal her suit, having being an election-related matter. He, therefore, sought a review of the INEC’s action. He said an undertaking had been signed to prove to the court that the present suit was not frivolous. He said in the undertaking, they were ready to face any cost should the court found the case to be frivolous. After listening to Andoaka, Justice Okorowo stood down the matter for ruling. Recall that Binani had, on April 26, withdrew the suit before Justice Ekwo, following the declaration of Fintiri as the winner of the governorship poll. Binani’s counsel, Mohammed Sheriff, upon resumed hearing in the matter, had told Justice Ekwo that a notice of discontinuance had been filed to that effect and urged the court to strike out the case. Justice Ekwo reminded Mr Sheriff that an order was given on the last adjourned date directing him to address the court on whether the court had the jurisdiction to entertain the case or not. The lawyer, who informed the court that a lot of issues had come up between the last date of adjournment and today, begged for an order striking out the suit. The judge, however, held that since Mr Sheriff had failed to go by the order of the court, the appropriate thing to do was to dismiss the matter. The judge, consequently, dismissed the suit.

  Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna, says claims that he said President Bola Tinubu used religion to win the presidential election, are manufactured falsehoods. In June, a Twitter user, Will. E, had posted a video where el-Rufai, flanked by Uba Sani, his successor, was seen addressing a group of Muslims in Hausa, shortly after Tinubu was declared winner of the election. Will. E translated the video and accused el-Rufai and the APC of using religion to win the election. The video sparked angry reactions on the social media platform.   Adewole Adebayo, the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party(SDP) in the last election, described el-Rufai’s remarks as “provocative and inherently bigoted”. ‘THEY HAVE MADE UP THEIR MINDS’ Speaking at the launch of an autobiography and retirement programme of Ishaq Akintola, a professor at the Lagos State University (LASU), el-Rufai said he chose not to respond to the distortion of his statement because those involved have no regard for truth or accuracy.   “The recent furore and hysteria about my pre-inauguration remarks regarding politics and governance in Kaduna state and the electoral victory of the Asiwaju-Shettima ticket should be understood,” he said. “I thank MURIC and many concerned individuals and organisations that rose to my defence and even offered accurate translations of my remarks and the key messages contained therein. “I have chosen never to respond to these distortions and manufactured falsehoods like Islamisation, Fulanisation and the like because those that engage in these deliberate distortions will do so and have no regard for truth or accuracy. “They have made up their minds about the message and the messenger whether I speak or not.   “So for those that care about the truth, my message in Kaduna was simple – leadership based on Islamic (and indeed, even Christian) principles is fair and equitable – and prescribes that a leader must be fair and just to everyone – whether Muslim (or Christian) or not.” The former federal capital territory (FCT) minister added that he is “pleased to observe that the much-derided and opposed Tinubu-Shettima APC ticket not only won the presidential election, but has shown within weeks that the Muslim-Muslim presidency is capable of being fair to every one – Muslim and non-Muslim alike”.

  The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) yesterday said 15 people were killed following an alleged invasion of their communities in the Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State. The group also said 78 houses belonging to their members were burnt while over 2,000 cattle were still missing after the invasion. Nuru Abdullahi, state chairman of the group, disclosed this to journalists yesterday, in Jos, the state capital. Daily Trust reported on Saturday how the group accused Operation Rainbow, a state security outfit, of invading and burning their communities, an allegation that was denied by the team. He said, “On the invasion of Fulani communities in villages of Mangu, we have recovered 15 bodies killed on Friday. About 78 houses were burnt down. Cattle numbering 2,000 are still missing. This unfortunate thing is moving its head quickly into other LGAs of the state to annihilate Fulani completely in the state.” Abdullahi also alleged a plan to attack their communities by suspected militias. “There is an intelligence report that there are trained militias recruited and brought to fight and chase all Fulani out of Plateau State in the name of crisis. Therefore, at this point, we are still calling on the federal government to as a matter of urgency put a stop to what is happening in Mangu LGA. “They should take immediate action before things go out of hand. We are soliciting the FG to take necessary action so that things will not go out of hand. We will not continue watching people killing us and destroying our properties,” Abdullahi added. The spokesman of the state police command, DSP Alabo Alfred, and that of the 3 Division of the Nigerian Army, Rukuba Barrack, Lieutenant Colonel Ishaku Sabastine Takwa, had yet to respond to calls and messages from our correspondent on the incident as of the time of filing this report. Daily Trust reports that there have been crises in villages of Mangu LGA where more than 200 people have been confirmed killed, including women and children in the last few months. Meanwhile, Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang has imposed a 24-hour curfew on Mangu LGA to restore law and order and to forestall further loss of lives and property. The Director of Press and Public Affairs, Gyang Bere, in a statement, said the governor imposed the curfew following his consultation with the State Security Council. The statement said movements within the local government have been banned until further notice except for security personnel and persons on essential duties, adding that security agencies have been directed to ensure total enforcement of the curfew. The governor assured that his government was working round-the-clock to restore peace and security in the state.

  Former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has disclosed that he worked against his party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the February 25, 2023 election.   Fayose, who is a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), revealed that he worked against Atiku “100%” because the “PDP has not been fair to me”. The PDP stalwart said he worked for the victory of the flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, in Ekiti in the last general elections. “I never worked for PDP during the last election. I cannot work for two people at the same time,” he said on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme. “The reality is that I worked for Asiwaju (Tinubu). He is a respectable person from the South-West. It is the time of the South.”   ‘PDP Suspended My Son And I’ Fayose, who met the President at Aso Villa in Abuja, on Thursday, July 6, 2023, expressed his grievances with the PDP, saying that the party suspended him and his son, Oluwajomiloju, despite that he has “suffered tremendously for PDP”. “The same PDP, because I said it was the turn of the South, removed my son, suspended my son, expelled my son, suspended me. For a man that has suffered tremendously for PDP?” he queried. The ex-governor, and member of an aggrieved group within the PDP known as the G5 or the Integrity Group, said his party played games with Nigerians by giving its presidential ticket to Atiku, an ex-Vice President who is from Adamawa State in North-East Nigeria. Fayose argued that with the expiration of the two-term tenure of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, who is also from the North, a Southern Nigerian should be the next President of the country. Legal Threat He vowed to sue the PDP if the party takes disciplinary actions against him for supporting Tinubu in the last elections. “If PDP take action against me, I will take them to court,” the ex-governor stated. “If anybody suppresses my voice, I will say things more than this.” Fayose further stated that his recent visit to the President was not connected to his court case with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). “Tinubu has no power to stop EFCC trial,” he said of the case which has last five years. The PDP stalwart said he won’t accept any ministerial position from the President. He urged Tinubu to apportion 40 percent of his cabinet members to people above 60 years of age and 70 years of age, 30 percent to women and 30 per cent to young people. In the 2023 presidential election, Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State trounced Atiku in Fayose’s Ekiti State. Tinubu won in all 16 Local Government Areas the state. Tinubu also won in 11 other states out of Nigeria’s 36 states. He scored a total of 8,794,726 votes almost two million votes more than Atiku, who polled 6,984,520 votes, and the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, who, secured 6,101,533 votes.

  The decomposing corpse of an Abuja-based construction engineer, Humphrey Nnaji, has been evacuated from his apartment in the Dawaki area of the Federal Capital Territory. PUNCH Metro gathered that the engineer was at home when some suspects gained entry into the premises, killed him and fled. It was learnt that Nnaji’s neighbours, who were unaware of what had happened to him, started smelling a foul odour emitting from his apartment on Saturday and informed the police. A commercial driver in the area, who gave his name simply as Musa, said policemen detailed to investigate the case, upon gaining entry into the apartment, found Nnaji’s remains on a chair in the apartment. Musa said, “The engineer’s corpse was found in his apartment in the Dawaki area. The policemen came to evacuate his corpse on Saturday around 8pm. The corpse was already decomposing which means that the incident might have happened before Saturday. People in the area are still yet to come to terms with how the incident happened. The house has been cordoned off as we speak.” A source in the FCT Police Command told our correspondent that policemen, while observing the crime scene, found a hammer beside Nnaji’s corpse, and a written note stating that the killing was allegedly carried out by one Alfa, who claimed to be avenging the death of his sister. The source said, “The deceased must have been killed with a hammer. A sledgehammer with blood stains was found beside him. Also, the backside of his (Nnaji’s) head had a deep cut. He was seated on his chair with two pieces of handset charging cord cables around his neck. “Also, a (written) note by someone who identified himself as Alfa was seen on his table. He claimed he killed the deceased to avenge the death of his sister and also accused him of using other girls for Yahoo Plus. “ Contacted, the spokesperson for the FCT command, SP Josephine Adeh, confirmed the incident, adding that an investigation was ongoing on the matter.

  A report by FITC has revealed that bank customers in Nigeria lost N472m to fraud in the first quarter of 2023. It was also disclosed that there was a total of 12,553 cases of fraud recorded within this period. This was according to the Q1 report obtained by The PUNCH from the website of FITC. FITC’s institutional members are members of the Nigerian Banker’s Committee, which comprises the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation and all licensed banks in Nigeria. The data, however, showed a decline in losses compared to what was lost to fraudulent banking activities in Q4, 2022. According to FITC, a total of N3.18bn was lost to fraudsters across banking platforms in Q4 2022, which meant that the losses declined by 85.13 per cent in Q1 2023.

  The Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has directed that Mmesoma Joy Ejikeme be handed over to the State Guidance Counselor for counselling following her admission of faking her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result. This was disclosed in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the Anambra State Ministry of Education, Nnaemeka Egwuonwu, and made available to Channels Television. He stated that in a letter to the Principal of Anglican Girls Secondary School Nnewi, Governor Soludo further directed the immediate commencement of psychological counselling and therapy sessions for Mmesoma. The Governor in the letter signed by the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, also directed that Mmesoma be handed over to a Professor of Clinical Psychology. The directive is in line with one of the recommendations of the Committee set up by Anambra State Government to investigate the matter, following the parading of the fake results which elicited interest and generated controversy and misgivings to the general public. Channels TV reported that the committee of inquiry set up by the Anambra State Government to look into the examination fraud involving Mmesoma confirmed that she manipulated her UTME result, giving herself a score of 362 as against an actual score of 249. The Committee in its eight-page report said that the candidate admitted that she manipulated the fake result herself, using her phone.

  A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere Ikeagwuonu representing Ideato Federal Constituency has accused Imo State Governor and Chairman Progressives Governors’ Forum, Hope Uzodimma of being the brain behind APC Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu’s rejection of National Assembly’s principal officers as announced by Senate President Godswill Akpabio and House Speaker, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas. Recall that the Senate President and Speaker had on Tuesday announced the other principal officers of the two chambers of the National Assembly. They all represent the All Progressives Congress, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Labour Party, and New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP. But, the Senator Abdullahi Adamu-led National Working Committee, NWC, of the APC, immediately disowned the leadership positions announced by Akpabio and Abbas, saying the party had not officially communicated with both presiding officers. Reacting to the development, Ugochinyere who represents Ideato North, South Federal Constituency of Imo State, in a statement he personally signed alleged that Governor Uzodimma is working with Abdullahi Adamu to undermine the cross party joint task efforts and smooth run of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu government.Ugochinyere said Uzodinma is still pursuing his failed pre primary agenda to stop emergence of Tinubu to favour his longtime ally Ahmed lawan who Uzodinma was alleged to have dreamt of running with as President and Vice. He said the hostile efforts of Uzodinma and Abdullahi Adamu before their party primaries is the same agenda that is playing out with the recent attempt to undermine the choice of principal officers made by lawmakers. Ugochinyere said, all lawmakers have confidence in 10th National Assembly leadership, and are in support of the principal officers as chosen by Akpabio and Abbas. He recalled how Uzodimma was reluctant to endorse Akpabio and Abbas after the ruling party announced them as consensus candidates. According to him, Governor Uzodimma was part of the plan to support a Senate presidency candidate other than the choice of the ruling All Progressives Congress, adding that he only caved in and pledged his support when he realised his preferred candidate will lose. The lawmaker while passing vote of confidence on the recently announced principle officers of the 10th nass announced by the Speaker and Senate President, said that nobody can change the decision freely made by members except the members themselves as spelt out under order 7 rule 4 of the standing orders of the House . He therefore advised President Tinubu and the Department of State Services to cut Uzodimma to size before its too late and be very careful in dealing with him before he derail the current govt like Imo state where governance and human lives have been turned upside down. Ugochinyere said, “No doubt, Imo State Governor and Chairman Progressives Governors’ Forum, Hope Uzodimma is the brain behind APC Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu’s rejection of National Assembly’s principal officers as announced by Senate President Godswill Akpabio and House Speaker, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas. “Remember Adamu spoke at a meeting with the Progressive Governors’ Forum PGF, led by Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, met with members of the National Working Committee, NWC. Adamu’s statement obviously was a result of what he was told by Uzodimma. Uzodimma is a trouble maker who is never satisfied with anything good. We saw how reluctant he was to endorse Akpabio and Abbas after the ruling party announced them as consensus candidates. He claims to be a loyal party man but it took him weeks before he finally announced that he’s supporting his party’s choice. “The lawmakers are in full support of the choice of principle officers as announced by the Speaker and Senate President. The lawmakers chosen represents all region and parties, so the nass leadership were considerate in their choices. I think the ruling party made a wrong decision in choosing Uzodimma as Chairman Progressive Governor’s Forum. I therefore advise President Tinubu and the Department of State Services to politically cut him to size before he brings the leadership rascality he currently displays in Imo to the national level.”