The Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS Parliament has urged the Heads of State and Government in the region to lift the sanctions imposed on the Niger Republic. The Head of State in ECOWAS had last July imposed sanctions on the Niger Republic to protest the ouster of President Mohamed Bazoum by certain military officers led by erstwhile Presidential Guard Commander, General Abdourahamane Tchiani. The Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Ali Ndume, who addressed journalists after the opening session of the parliament, declared that states in Nigeria—about seven of them bordering the Niger Republic—are at the receiving end of the sanctions.   Ndume stated, “Children and women have been exposed to untold hardship. No meaningful progress has been made in resolving this issue. “We are appealing to ECOWAS states to lift the sanction and open the closed border between Niger and Nigeria because it is the poor that are suffering. Let me say this is a collective decision by concerned citizens. “This press conference is simply an appeal to the ECOWAS Heads of State to consider the humanitarian situation and resolve the political impasse in Niger.” Details later…

  The United States fighter jets struck two targets in Iraq early on Wednesday, killing eight pro-Iran fighters in retaliation for repeated attacks on American troops, US and Iraqi sources said. According to AFP, the twin strikes, which followed a similar bombardment of Iran-backed forces on Tuesday, drew condemnation from the Iraqi government, which said it had not been consulted about the military action on its soil. The US military “conducted discrete, precision strikes against two facilities in Iraq,” US Central Command said on X, previously Twitter. “The strikes were in direct response to the attacks against US and coalition forces by Iran and Iran-backed groups,” the post added. The Iran-backed Hezbollah Brigades, which form part of the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) force within Iraq’s armed forces, said the strikes killed eight of its fighters. Hours earlier, a warplane struck the vehicle of Iranian-backed fighters after they had fired a short-range ballistic missile at US and allied personnel, the Pentagon said. It was the first time the United States has announced a strike on Iran-backed forces in Iraq since they launched a flurry of attacks against US targets in response to Washington’s support for Israel in its war to destroy Hamas. Washington has targeted Iran-backed groups in neighbouring Syria, however, carrying out strikes on three occasions in recent weeks. Since the Gaza war erupted with a deadly Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, US forces deployed in Iraq and Syria have been attacked at least 66 times, most recently on Monday night, according to Pentagon officials. “We can confirm an attack last night by Iran-backed militias using a close-range ballistic missile against US and coalition forces at Al-Asad Airbase, which resulted in eight injuries and some minor damage to infrastructure,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said on Tuesday. ‘Self-defence strike’ The Ain al-Asad Air Base lies in Anbar province, west of Baghdad, and hosts forces of the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq. “Immediately following the attack, a US military AC-130 aircraft in the area conducted a self-defence strike against an Iranian-backed militia vehicle and a number of Iranian-backed militia personnel involved in this attack. This self-defence strike resulted in several enemy KIA (killed in action),” Ryder said. Government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi said the pre-dawn strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday were carried out “without the knowledge of Iraqi government agencies” and constituted an “unacceptable violation of Iraqi sovereignty”. But he also criticised the Iran-backed groups that have repeatedly attacked Iraqi bases used by forces of the US-led coalition fighting IS. “Any armed action or activity outside the military institution is deemed condemnable and an unlawful endeavour that jeopardises the national interest,” he said in a statement. Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters in Washington that US forces “have been attacked approximately 66 times since October 17 — 32 separate times in Iraq and 34 separate times in Syria.” She said the attacks had resulted in approximately 62 injuries to US personnel, but that number did not include the eight cited by Ryder. It comes amid a relentless Israeli offensive against Hamas that the Gaza health ministry says has killed 14,100 people, thousands of them civilians. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in response to its shock cross-border attack from Gaza on October 7 that Israeli officials say killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians. While US forces have been targeted in both Iraq and Syria, Washington had until now only responded with strikes in Syria in an apparent bid to avoid inflaming political tensions in Iraq, which the United States invaded in 2003 and where Iran wields substantial influence. There are roughly 2,500 US troops in Iraq and some 900 in Syria as part of efforts to prevent a resurgence of IS. AFP

  The Federal Government announced late Tuesday night the launch of a portal for startup support and engagement registration. The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, made this announcement via a statement on X. “We are pleased to announce the launch of the Startup Support and Engagement Portal, https://startup.gov.ng, a key requirement for the implementation of the Nigeria Startup Act,” Tijani said. He added that the startup portal will drive the identification and aggregation of Nigerian startups, venture capital companies, hubs and innovation centres in order to facilitate engagement and support for ecosystem players. The Minister said that the launch of the portal will allow the country to initiate the process of setting up the startup consultative forums to select representatives to the National Council for Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship. According to Tijani, this will then help to facilitate discourse and consensus among Nigerian ecosystem players. “We invite all Nigerian startups venture capital companies, hubs and innovation centres to register at the portal https://startup.gov.ng,” Tijani stated. He also said that the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy looks forward to working with all industry stakeholders. Tijani added that working with all industry stakeholders will help to ensure that the Ministry fully implements the Startup Act for the benefit of Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem.

  The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) says over 5,000 kilometers of oil pipelines are not working. Mele Kyari, the group chief executive officer (CEO) of the company, made this known on Tuesday, during an interactive session with the senate committee on petroleum (downstream). He said the nation’s four oil refineries will be functional very soon, describing oil pipeline vandalism as a national calamity. The NNPC said pipeline vandalism has been bedevilling the oil sector over the decades as the company had not been able to pump through pipelines from Warri to Benin within the last 22 years.   “Over 5,000 kilometers of oil pipelines in the country are not working. As a result of pipeline vandalism, 10 million litres of oil was lost from volume pumped from Aba to Enugu at a time,” Kyari said. “The company has been unable to pump oil from Warri to Benin within the last 22 years and cannot connect to Ore. “There is no amount of security measures that had not been taken to curb the crime without success, which to us in NNPCL, is substantially a national calamity.” However, Kyari said the company is replacing a large number of outdated and vandalised pipelines as a way to tackle the menace. He said NNPC is now a profitable business as a result of the oil industry’s deregulation — particularly the removal of the petrol subsidy in May this year. The NNPC GCEO said the company lost N802 billion prior to the deregulation in 2018, but made an excess profit of N687 billion following the deregulation in 2021. Kyari said although 67 million litres of oil were consumed daily during the subsidy regime, the average consumption is now 55 million litres, adding that the issue of smuggling the product across borders has become a thing of the past.

  Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, said the FCT Administration has pegged the cost of issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) at N5 million. Wike made the pronouncement at a meeting with estate developers in Abuja on Tuesday. He said payment could be made within four months of land allocation, after which the C-of-O would be handed over to the applicant. He added that he would seek the approval of President Bola Tinubu to link applicants’ national identification numbers (NIN) to C-of-Os before issuance. Wike said the era where three or more people were allocated the same plot of land with fake C-of-O was over. “Allocation of land to three or more persons will no longer be allowed because the C-of-O enables you to do business. “When we make the right decision, some people will be happy, and some will not. The rich will kick against some of our decisions, but anything that will help our people must be done,’’ Wike said. He promised to ensure orderliness and sanity in the land administration system and processes in the FCT. Wike inaugurated a task force on the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) for housing estates and the recovery of land use contravention fees on Nov. 14. He explained that the measure was to ensure that each unit in the housing estates had its separate C-of-O.

  No fewer than 17 persons were killed in an auto crash on Tuesday at Takalafia village on the Yawuri Expressway in Magama Local Government Area of Niger. Corps Public Education Officer at the Federal Road Safety Corps, Mr Bisi Kazeem, a deputy corps marshal, confirmed the accident in a statement he issued in Abuja. Kazeem stated that the accident occurred at about 3 a.m. and involved 229 persons comprising 220 male adults, four female adults, and five male children. He said that the crash involved a DAF articulated vehicle engaged in speed violations, resulting in a loss of control. He added that 206 male adults, one female adult, and one male child were rescued but had varying degrees of injuries. “A total of 17 persons were killed in the crash. The injured victims have been evacuated to Kontagora General Hospital, Niger, for immediate medical attention. “The dead were deposited in the mortuary of the same hospital,’’ Kazeem stated.

  Police operatives on Wednesday dispersed protesting members of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, Osun State branch, as the Chief Judge, Adepele Ojo, resumed back to her office. The protesters had since Monday paralysed activities in the State High Court in protest against alleged abuse of office and high-handedness by Ojo. But on Wednesday, Ojo made her way into the premises and the protesters who had left the gate to the premises open, upon realising that the CJ had entered, moved towards where her vehicle was being parked.   Osun CJ: Court workers protest, Assembly lists sins Police operatives on the premises subsequently fired teargas to disperse the protesters and those at the scene ran in different directions. Addressing journalists after the incident, the Chairman, Osun JUSUN, Gbenga Eludire, said, “Following the action of the police and attitude of the Chief Judge, I, Comrade Gbenga Eludire, hereby ordered that workers in the sector should withdraw their service till further notice

  There was confusion in Kano State on Tuesday with the emergence of a Certified True Copy of the Court of Appeal judgment on the state gvernorship election. While the widely reported verdict of the court last Friday indicated that the appelate court upheld the decision of the petition tribunal sacking Governor Abba Yusuf, the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Haruna Isa-Dederi, argued that CTC of the judgment showed that Yusuf’s Victory at the poll was affirmed by the appeal court. Isa-Dederi disclosed this while addressing a presa conference on Tuesday night. He said as indicated in the written judgment, the Court of Appeal set aside the judgment of the Kano Election Petition Tribunal for lacking in merit. “The evidence contained on page 67 of the the copy of the Appeal Court judgment released on Tuesday and signed by Registrar, Jameel Ibrahim Umar, appellate court upheld the victory of Abba Kabiru Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party as duly elected Governor of Kano,” he said. The PUNCH reports that the three member panel of the appeal court, on Friday, November 17, 2023, had dismissed the appeal filed by the governor on the basis of his membership status. The appellate court subsequently affirmed Nasiru Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of March 25, 2023 governorship poll in the state. Dederi noted that page 67 of the certified true copy of the judgment clearly indicated that the tribunal’s ruling that sacked the governor was set aside. The commissioner insisted that contrary to what the justices read to the public in the courtroom on November 17, the written evidence has vindicated Yusuf as legitimate governor of the state. Our correspondent obtained a copy of the CTC and noticed what appears to be a mix up in the conclusions. According to the CTC, in his lead judgment, Justice Moore Adumein, wrote, “I will conclude by stating that the live issues in this appeal are hereby resolved in favour of the first respondent and against the appellant.” Having been earlier sacked by the state governorship election petition tribunal, the governor who approached the Court of Appeal seeking to upturn the tribunal’s judgment is the appellant before the appellate court. The All Progressives Congress, the Independent National Electoral Commission and the NNPP are the first, second and third respondents respectively. According to the CTC, Justice Adumein continued, “In the circumstances, I resolve all the issues in favour of the appellant and against the first respondent. “Therefore, I find no merit in this appeal which is liable to be and is hereby dismissed. The judgment of the tribunal in Petition No.: EPT/KN/GOV/01/2023 between: AL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS (APC) v. INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION & 2 ORS. delivered on the 20th day of September, 2023 is hereby set aside. “The sum of N1,000,000.00 (one million naira only) is hereby awarded as costs in favour of the appellant and against the 1st respondent.” In resolving all issues in favour of the appellant (Yusuf), it means the Court of Appeal granted the governor’s appeal to quash his sacking by the tribunal. But in concluding that he found no merit in the appeal while dismissing it also means that he upheld the decision of the tribunal sacking the governor. The mix up in the judgment became more pronounced with the judge’s final declaration that the judgment of the tribunal delivered on September 25 sacking the governor is set aside while awarding N1m in favour of the governor and against the first respondent (APC). The two other justices of the appeal court , Justice Bitrus Sanga and Justice Lateef Ganiyu, agreed with the lead judgment.

  A Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja on Wednesday granted a former Governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, bail. He was granted bail in the sum of N300m and two sureties in like sum. Ruling on his bail application on Wednesday, Justice Hamza Muazu said the sureties must have Certificates of Occupancy and titles of property within the Maitama District. He also ordered Emefiele to deposit all his travel documents with the registrar of the court and to remain within the Abuja Municipal Area Council. Muazu held that the former CBN governor be kept in Kuje Correctional Centre till he meets the bail conditions. Emefiele is standing trial for alleged procurement fraud. The Federal Government had initially preferred 20 charges of procurement fraud to the tune of N6.5 billion against the former CBN governor. But the FG reduced the charges to six to the tune of N1.2bn, which he was arraigned on last Friday. Muazu, at the last proceeding, remanded Emefiele in Kuje prison pending his ruling on the former CBN governor’s bail application. He adjourned the matter till November 28 for the commencement of trial.