Tiktoker Murja Kunya once ran afoul of sharia police in Nigeria’s northwest city of Kano, where “hisbah” units enforce Islamic law that runs alongside common law. Earlier this year, the units detained Kunya and other influencers for racy media posts and parodies the agency deemed indecent. But now the morality police are trying a softer approach to curb online celebrities like 24-year-old Kunya who they see as a moral risk in Nigeria’s majority Muslim north. The tussle with influencers is just one sphere where the conservative religious sensibilities of north Nigeria are being tested by new trends. Earlier this month, the Hisbah invited Kunya and dozens of influencers for a meeting to “sensitise them on the negative effects of immoral content”, Abba Sufi, Hisbah’s director-general told AFP. Kunya, who has one million followers on Tiktok, attended the meeting in the hijab head scarf commonly used by women across the north. That contrasted sharply with the less modest videos, some replete with obscenities, she posted and that earned her Hisbah’s wrath. “The meeting with Murja Kunya and other Tiktokers is a change in Hisbah strategy in dealing with the immoral online content,” Sufi said. “It is better to show compassion and care to someone you want to reform instead of vilifying and stigmatising them.” Kunya declined to speak to AFP on the Hisbah meeting. Other influencers have also not commented. But on Sunday, Kunya launched a Tiktok tirade against the Hisbah. “Now that you don’t know what to do you are resorting to preaching? You should stop wasting your saliva,” she said. “I’m not interested in your preaching.” – Carrot and stick – The Hisbah dismiss criticism they violate freedom of expression by targeting influencers. The agency says it is just carrying out its mandate to protect society. Abdallah Uba Adamu, a professor of anthropology and popular culture at Kano’s Bayero University, said for the Hisbah the carrot and stick approach alone had not curbed influencers. “The dialogue approach is a very good,” he said. “They can use the stick, they can use the carrot, but it can never prevent people from doing what they think they want to do in order to survive, because they rely on this for survival.” For influencers, the meeting was likely seen as another way to get more followers, part of their online theatre, he said. And also why most had not commented. “What do you want them to say? That they were invited by Islamic authorities and they they didn’t like it?”

  The Zamfara state chief judge, Justice Kulu Isa Aliyu, has released thirty (30) prison inmates who are serving various jail terms in the state. The thirty (30) inmates who are at the Gusau correctional centre were released during CJ’s 2023 correctional centre visit in the state. Addressing the inmates shortly after they gained freedom, the chief judge of the state cautioned them to be careful not to recommit any offence that would make them return to prison.   According to her, any of the released inmates found wanting again will definitely face the wrath of the law. She said there was a need for them to be good ambassadors anywhere they found themselves. Earlier on, during the correctional centre visit, the Director of Litigation at Zamfara State High Court, Aisha Jibrin, disclosed that this year’s correctional centre visit commenced last week on Tuesday and ended on Thursday, October 23, 2023, in the state. She said the thirty inmates released were based on health grounds; others were the result of failures by the Ministry of Justice and the police to produce their case files. The Director of Litigation added that some of the inmates spent six years in custody without trial. Their files could not be produced by the police or the Ministry of Justice; they have to be released,” she said. “The most dominant cases treated this year are capital offences such as armed robbery, culpable homicide, kidnapping, misappropriation of funds, and those obtaining money under false pretence. Added to that, there were a few cases that included rape, theft, and offences that were public disturbances, among others, in the state.

  Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), has again opened up about the political crisis in Rivers state. Speaking at a media parley in Abuja on Friday, Wike said Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers, is “trying to create” a political crisis for himself. “Let me tell you — I don’t like ingrates. I can’t stand it. What is happening now (in Rivers) is what Odili said in his book: ‘Give a man power and money, then you will know the person.’ If you haven’t given a man power and money then you don’t know the person,” Wike said. “However, I’m not worried because I am a politician. I know what other states are suffering because of debt. But go (to Rivers) and check if I had liabilities, the records are there. Advertisement “I left projects for him to commission so he would showcase during his hundred days, then politics came in. We are just starting. God gave you something, you are now importing crisis. “God gave this (power) on a platter of gold, no crisis. The federal government is not fighting you, nobody at home is fighting you. You are the one trying to create a crisis for yourself. “What kind of system is that? Who does that? Only ingrates that (it) is in their blood that will support what is happening there (in Rivers). Only those who are natural ingrate.” Advertisement Wike who is the immediate former governor of Rivers and Fabura, his successor, have been at loggerheads over the control of the political structure in the state. The crisis between the two politicians heightened last month, culminating in an attempted impeachment of Fubara. Despite President Bola Tinubu’s reported intervention to restore peace in the state, there are speculations that the political crisis is far from being resolved. Early this month, Wike said he would do all it takes to maintain his “political structure” in the state. Nobody can take away the political structure in Rivers. Nobody can intimidate me. If I want to do something, I will do it. The impeachment is not a military coup, it is provided under the constitution,” Wike had said.

  Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) has witnessed a 2.54 percent growth in the third quarter (Q3) of the year 2023. This was confirmed by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in a statement on its X handle. “Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 2.54% (year-on-year) in real terms in the third quarter of 2023,” NBS posted. “This growth rate is higher than the 2.25% recorded in the third quarter of 2022 and higher than the second quarter 2023 growth of 2.51%.” The bureau further said that the performance of the GDP in the third quarter of 2023 was driven mainly by the Services sector. According to the statement, the country’s Services sector recorded a growth rate of 3.99% and contributed 52.70% to the aggregate GDP. The agriculture sector grew by 1.30%, up from the growth of 1.34% recorded in the third quarter of 2022. The growth of the industry sector was 0.46%, an improvement from -8.00% recorded in the third quarter of 2022. NBS added that in terms of share of the GDP, agriculture and the industry sectors contributed less to the aggregate GDP in the third quarter of 2023 compared to the third quarter of 2022.

  The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos in a 2 to 1 judgment on Friday affirmed Dapo Abiodun as the duly elected governor of Ogun State in the March 18 poll. The State and National Assembly Appeal Court In the majority judgment delivered by Justice Joseph Ikyegh dismissed the appeal by candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Ladi Adebutu, in the state governorship poll. But the minority judgment delivered by Justice Jane Inyang upheld the appeal and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to conduct a fresh election in the state within 90 days.

  The Kano State government has laid off 3,234 staff found wanting of not being eligible to be employed into the Civil Service. The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Abudullahi Baffa Bichi made this known while briefing journalists, on Friday. He said the development followed the government’s decision to implement report of the committee on screening and verification of employment conducted by the immediate past administration. He said, “The verification committee report was received by the Government and its salient observations and recommendations were noted and accepted. The majority of the employment was not captured in the 2023 Approved Budget and a significant percentage of those employed had neither applied nor indicated interest to serve which form a major aspect of employment requirement. “Most of those employed did not undergo processes of screening and recruitment interviews as expected by the service regulations; employed were found to have suspicious or forged certificates, while many non-indigenes were employed in spite of a large number of qualified unemployed indigenes roaming. “The employment did not take into consideration the actual manpower needs of the respective MDAs but was influenced by the desire to tie down the new Administration financially; our streets and those employed were wrongly placed through deployment to non-career posts or the calling of their respective qualifications. He explained that the committee in view of the number of those employed, broke into three panels to handle the screening of the 12,566 as against the 10,800 earlier reported. However, based on the observations and having regard to the recommendation of the Technical Committee, the SSG said that the Governor has approved the reinstatement of a total of 9,332 staff across 51 MDAs that were found eligible by the committee. “Those found with offers of appointments but not on the payroll should be subjected to further interviews by relevant recruitment centres in the Service; Proper placement and posting, deployment of eligible staff to relevant MDAs for optimal utilization should be undertaken while in case of those employed into the lower cadre without any regard to their qualifications they should be properly placed depending on need and availability of vacancy.” Daily Trust reports that at the inception of the current administration, the government directed suspension of the salaries of some civil servants. It said the decision was informed by the seemingly ominous spree with which the last administration undertook mass employment without recourse to necessary guidelines and service regulation.

  The Court of Appeal in Abuja has affirmed the election of Uba Sani of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the governor of Kaduna State. Delivering the judgment on Friday, a three-member panel of the appellate court held that the tribunal acted in error when it depended on inadmissible evidence to order the conduct of supplementary polls in 22 polling units of four local government areas (LGAs) where the exercise was deemed inconclusive. The court stated that a key witness called by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the tribunal hearing merely gave hearsay evidence as he was not present when the malpractices he alleged happened. The appeal court held that the allegations of deduction of votes, stuffing of ballot boxes, and mutilation of sensitive electoral materials made by the said witness were born out of hearsay.   The court also held that the tribunal was right in dismissing the petition of the PDP and Isa Ashiru because the petitioners had abandoned their petition for their failure to apply for the issuance of a pre-hearing information sheet after close of pleadings as required by paragraph 18(1) of the first schedule to the Electoral Act 2022.

  The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, says obtaining a Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) in Abuja will now require a National Identification Number (NIN) and Bank Verification Number (BVN). Speaking to journalists in Abuja on Friday, Wike also noted that existing landowners in the capital must get recertification to incorporate these new features. According to the minister, he has been refraining from signing C-of-Os during his tenure as the FCT minister to introduce enhanced security measures, such as the inclusion of NIN for individuals and BVN for corporate bodies. “There are a lot of discrepancies, a lot of cloning of C-of-Os, so we have come up with an idea that every allottee who seeks and applies for a C-of-O must supply his NIN; this is one of the features we are going to put in the new C-of-O,” he said. “If a corporate body doesn’t have an NIN and they have a property, they must put their BVN. So many persons have not registered, and this will make them go and re-register.” Addressing the issue of existing landlords with C-of-Os, Wike stated that they would only be required to pay a nominal fee for recertification. “For everyone who has a C-of-O, they will come for a recertification, so that we can incorporate the NIN or BVN,” he said. “Those who had a C-of-O before don’t need to pay money again; the highest they can pay is N50,000, and corporate bodies will pay N100,000. It helps in terms of security; it also helps to improve our revenue generation.” READ ALSO: Oyedele Raises Concerns Over N6tn Revenue Generation, Tax Waivers Annually “There are people who own seven properties, so this will identify them so they can pay taxes.” Furthermore, Wike highlighted the benefits of this initiative in identifying property owners accurately for tax purposes. He also addressed the proposed N5 million fee for C-of-O from the annual ground rent, explaining that the fee is based on land ownership rather than the structure built on it. “The task force proposed N5 million, and the stakeholders said let it be reduced. They asked, ‘If it’s going to be on properties four-bedroom or bed-bedroom?’, again, you have to understand that the C-of-O is not based on the building but the land. The only difference is the annual ground rent. “The one with a two-bedroom property cannot pay the same as the person with a three-bedroom property,” he said.