In a call to action, President Bola Tinubu has urged the recently appointed ministers to collaborate with him and each other to fulfill the aspirations of the Nigerian people through their work in government. He gave the charge during the inauguration of the 45 confirmed ministers-designate on Monday held at the Conference Centre of the State House, Abuja. “We are in this boat, even if it is a vehicle and I am the driver, the entire Nigerians are behind sitting and watching as you and I navigate this vehicle. We must hold each other responsible, we have to do the job to meet the expectations of all Nigerians. “As I said earlier on, you are not a minister of a particular state, colony, region or ethnic nationality, you are a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” President Tinubu said. Also in his speech, the President reminded the newly-sworn Ministers that it is a high honour to be chosen to serve as a minister in the Federal Executive Council and also charged them with teamwork. He added that the greatest number of Nigerians are expectant of their delivery, accountability and transparency and as well expect them to work with integrity, dignity and deliver. “With the inauguration of Ministers today, we are about to accelerate our governing efforts to move forward in realizing our best aspiration for Nigeria. It’s all about a great team and I believe we have them here. It is a high honour to be chosen to serve as a minister in the federal executive council of our beloved republic. “With such high honour comes tremendous responsibility in this moment of abundant promise and peril in equal measure. All of you who have been sworn in have been called to distinguish yourselves. It is me who knows you and delegates this authority but the greatest number of Nigerians are highly expectant of delivery, accountability and transparency. Nigerians expect that you will serve with integrity, dignity and deliver. I will hold you to that standard. Your assignment began immediately. As your country honours you today by this call to service, you must each work to make yourselves worthy in the eyes of God and all our nation’s people,” he said. The inauguration of the ministers comes less than a week after President Tinubu released the list of portfolios for the appointees, which was again reviewed on Sunday. Those sworn in include former Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike as Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Wale Edun (Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy), Adegboyega Oyetola (Marine and Blue Economy), David Umahi (Works), Festus Keyamo (Aviation and Aerospace Development), and Betta Edu (Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation). Also among those sworn in are Bosun Tijani (Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy), Ishak Salaco (State, Environment and Ecological Management), Adedayo Adelabu (Minister of Power), Tunisia Alausa (State, Health and Social Welfare), Dele Alake (Solid Minerals Development), Lola Ade-John (Minister of Tourism), Sa’idu Alkali (Transportation), and Bunmi Tunji-Ojo (Interior).

  A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Joe Igbokwe has criticised the former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu’s son, Lloyd, for having an elaborate wedding event in the absence of his parents, who are currently in prison in the United Kingdom. Lloyd got married to Tiffany Adaobi Obinna-Uzor at the Basilica of Grace, Anglican Communion, Gudu District, Abuja, on Saturday. In his reaction to Lloyd’s wedding, Igbokwe wrote on his Facebook page, saying it was an elaborate event, adding that the former Senator’s son was insensitive to the plight of his parents that are in jail.   The APC chieftain said Lloyd should have organised a very low-budget wedding and celebrated an elaborate one when his parents return from prison. Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, are serving in a UK prison after they were convicted of organ trafficking by a London court in May, in their an attempt to help their ailing daughter, Sonia. They were sentenced alongside a middleman, Dr Obinna Obeta, who wanted to carry out the organ harvest operation on David Ukpo Nwamini, the boy trafficked from Lagos to London. Ekweremadu was served nine years and eight months, while his wife was handed four years and six months. The doctor was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Recalling their ordeal in relation to their son’s wedding ceremony, Igbokwe said: “If I were to be Ekweremmadu’s son I would not have staged this elaborate wedding ceremony with my father and mother in prison. “I would have done a low-key marriage ceremony and waited till my parents are free. This generation scares me stiff,” he added.

  A court in the United Kingdom has sentenced Lucy Letby, a serial child killer, to whole-life imprisonment. According to BBC, the 33-year-old was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six other infants at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Letby was said to have deliberately injected the babies with air, force fed others milk and poisoned two of the infants with insulin. The murders and attempted killings took place between June 2015 and June 2016, when Letby was a nurse in the neonatal ward of the Countess of Chester hospital in northwestern England. She was tasked with caring for premature babies. Reading the sentence on Monday, Justice Goss, the judge, said the “cruelty and calculation” of Letby’s actions were “truly horrific”. “You acted in a way that was completely contrary to the normal human instincts of nurturing and caring for babies and in gross breach of the trust that all citizens place in those who work in the medical and caring professions,” he said. “There was a malevolence bordering on sadism in your actions. “During the course of this trial, you have coldly denied any responsibility for your wrongdoing. You have no remorse. There are no mitigating factors.” Letby refused to appear in court for her sentencing hearing. WHAT IS A WHOLE-LIFE SENTENCE? The whole-life sentence, which is reserved for the country’s most heinous offenses, means she will spend the rest of her life in prison. A whole-life sentence is different from a regular life sentence. When a judge passes a life sentence, they must specify the minimum term an offender must spend in prison before becoming eligible to apply for parole. But when an offender is given a whole-life sentence, they will spend the rest of their lives in prison, with no minimum term and no chance of early release. Her conviction also makes her the UK’s most prolific child serial killer in modern times. The mother of a baby boy killed by the nurse said she was “horrified that someone so evil exists”. The mother of one of the other babies had also told the court that knowing her son’s murderer was watching over them was like “something out of a horror story”.

  Nyesom Wike, the new minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), says any house built in contravention of the city’s masterplan will be demolished. Wike said this soon after he was inaugurated as one of President Bola Tinubu’s ministers on Monday. “People who are distorting the masterplan of Abuja… too bad,” he said. “If you know you have built where you are not supposed to build, it will go down. Be it a minister of anywhere, be it an ambassador… if you know you have developed where you are not supposed to, your house will go down. “Those who have taken over the green areas to build, sorry. The green areas must come back. “So if you know anyone involved, that has taken over the green areas or parks and turned them to restaurants, we will not accept that. “If your father has done that, sorry. If your mother has done that, sorry. There’s nothing I can do. It will go down. “There is refuse everywhere. Those who are paid for refuse collection, what are they doing?” Wike also warned land speculators that a new sheriff is in town. “And those doing land marketing, the period for that is over,” he said. “And those who have been given CofO (certificate of occupancy) and failed to develop, and they have become land speculators, the land is gone. I will revoke them.” Recently, the president sent the list of 48 ministerial nominees to the senate for screening and confirmation but only 45 were cleared. On August 16, President Bola Tinubu assigned portfolios to the ministerial nominees. Over the weekend, the successful ministers-designate had their documentation at the office of the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF).

  The Osun State House of Assembly has directed the immediate suspension of the ongoing staff audit for workers on the payroll of Osun State Government, being handled by Sally Tibbot Consulting. This was disclosed in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker, Osun State House of Assembly, Olamide Tiamiyu, obtained in Osogbo on Monday. The audit had witnessed pockets of disruption, the latest being the faceoff between the consultant, Sa’adat Bakrin-Ottun and staff members of Osun State University last week Friday during the verification exercise. Tiamiyu also said the decision to suspend the audit followed an emergency meeting of the lawmakers on the petitions written against the consultant. He further said the Speaker had constituted an ad-hoc committee to look into the issues around the petitions and come up with necessary recommendations. The statement further read, “The Osun State House of Assembly has directed the consultant handling the staff audit of workers in the employment of the State Government, Sally Tibbot Consulting, to suspend the process until further notice. The directive of the House was conveyed by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Adewale Egbedun, to the newsmen on Monday after an emergency meeting with other Honourable members to review the petitions written against the consultant to the Osun State House of Assembly. The Speaker further constituted an ad-hoc committee to look into the issues around the petition and come up with necessary recommendations. “Consequently, all relevant stakeholders have been invited to the House of Assembly for a meeting on Tuesday 22nd August by 10.00 am prompt.”

  Women leaders across the Niger Delta region on Monday issued a one-month ultimatum to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, to resign from the hallowed chamber over his controversial ‘holiday enjoyment’ utterances. This was even as they vowed to mobilize over one million Niger Delta women to a massive protest at the National Assembly on September 26 if their demand is not met. The development is coming barely two weeks after Akpabio announced to his colleagues at the Senate that money was sent to their accounts for them to “enjoy” their annual recess. He had said, “In order to enable all of us to enjoy our holidays, a token has been sent to our various accounts by the Clerk of the National Assembly. “I withdraw that statement. In order to allow you to enjoy your holiday, the Senate President has sent prayers to your mail boxes to assist you to go on a safe journey and return.” His comment had generated heated debate and criticisms from Nigerians, with many berating the senators for being insensitive at a time the masses are still struggling to adjust to the removal of fuel subsidy. A statement issued by the National President of Niger Delta Women League, Sheila Tamuno, on Monday however called for the immediate resignation of Akpabio for allegedly ‘desecrating the hallowed chambers by adding insults to the economic injuries of the average Nigerian man on the streets.’ The statement reads, “We call on Senator Godswill Akpabio to honourably resign his position as President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and drop the gavel with immediate effect. We also call on distinguished senators to stand up for the masses and vote Akpabio out should he not agree to toe the path of honor by resigning his office. “For a man like Akpabio that comes with so much baggage to the hallowed chambers, we ordinarily would have expected him to take a break from his chequered past. We shall be mobilizing one million Niger Delta Women on September 26, 2023 to the gate of the National Assembly to either thank the Senate or pressure them to do the needful. “As we continue to groan under the fangs of the current economic woes where families can no longer afford two square meals, skyrocketing cost of transportation, good health care services and bludgeoning electricity tariffs, we will not sit down and watch Akpabio sniff out the minutest hope of life through his unguarded acts of impunity and indiscretion. A stitch in time saves nine.”

  Newly sworn-in Minister of Tourism, Lola Ade-John, on Monday knelt before President Bola Tinubu after signing the oath of service. The inauguration of the new ministers was held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja. During the event, Ade-John signed her oath of service register, before walking to where the President sat and knelt before him, then shook hands with him. Among attendees of the event include Tinubu; Vice President Kashim Shettima; Senate President Godswill Akpabio; Speaker of the House Representatives, Tajudeen Abass; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; and Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila.

  Gunmen, on Saturday, abducted eight members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) along a highway in Zamfara State, Nigeria’s North-west region. All the corps members were traveling inside AKTC bus from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, to Sokoto State en route Zamfara State, to take part in the mandatory national service when their vehicle was intercepted along a highway in Zamfara, PREMIUM TIMES learnt. A source in the transport company confirmed the incident to our reporter, Monday morning. The source, who did not want his name mentioned in the report because he was not authorised to speak on the incident, said the corps members were 11 in number but that three escaped from the gunmen. Apart from the eight corps members, the driver of the bus was also abducted, he said The corps members were offloaded (from the bus) and taken into the bush,” he said. “The police have recovered the bus.” “They left here (Uyo) on Friday, and slept over in Abuja. It was when they were proceeding to Sokoto that they were kidnapped,” he said. He said the incident had been reported to government authorities and security agencies. A Facebook user, Malachy Blessed, at about 9:14 a.m. on Sunday disclosed in a Facebook post the identity of one of the abducted corps members as Emmanuel Esudue, a graduate of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Akwa Ibom State University. He said the corps member’s phone number has been unreachable since Thursday. Another victim has been identified as Betty Udofia. A Facebook user, Edidiong Richard, said the kidnappers have contacted Ms Udofia’s parents, and that they were demanding N4 million ransom When PREMIUM TIMES contacted the police spokesperson in Zamfara, Yazid Abubakar, Monday morning, he said was going to verify the incident and get back to our reporter. This newspaper could not immediately reach the NYSC authorities for their comment as its spokesperson, Eddy Megwa, did not respond to calls made to his phone line.