The Igbo Community Association of the Federal Capital Territory (ICA), the apex body of over 2.8 million Igbo residents in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has condemned the continued failure of Nigeria’s security and investigative agencies to probe and where necessary prosecute the Senator representing Bauchi State in the National Assembly, Senator Shehu Buba.
In a statement signed by its President-General, Ikenna Ellis-Ezenekwe and Secretary General, Mazi Chinwoke Emmanuel Onah, the group said the alleged inaction by the security agencies was becoming increasingly difficult to explain. It said the silence was no longer looking like oversight but could be interpreted as protection and demanded to know why Nigerians were not being told why no decisive action was being taken. The International Crisis Group (ICG) said the Department of State Services (DSS) and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had been reportedly alerted to what it described as alleged security concerns surrounding Senator Buba and his purported associations with known and wanted terrorists.
The statement reads: “Multiple sources close to the Senator have alleged direct contact between him and confirmed terrorist suspects, including claims that such persons have had access to his residence and have received money from him.
“These are not vague rumors; they are specific, serious allegations of terrorism financing against a man entrusted with oversight of the nation’s security architecture. Each day that goes by without an investigation is a day the Nigerian state chooses convenience over the safety of its own people.”
The association also likened the alleged lack of action against Senator Buba to the treatment meted out to detained Indigenous People of Biafra
The group alleged that Kanu was arrested and prosecuted although, according to the group, there was no proof that he funded, armed or directed any attack on the country.
It argued that if the Nigerian state could act swiftly against Kanu, it should show the same commitment to investigate allegations against a serving senator.
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“If the machinery of the Nigerian state can move with such speed and finality against Kanu on that record, it has no excuse for its paralysis in the face of more direct allegations against a sitting senator,” the statement said.
The group said Nigerians had a right to ask if justice was being delivered on the basis of evidence or ethnicity and political ties.
It called on President Tinubu to ensure that all Nigerians were treated equally before the law, describing the alleged disparity as a threat to national unity.
“This double standard insults the intelligence of every Nigerian and is a direct threat to the unity of the nation.
“President Tinubu cannot continue to preach one Nigeria while allowing a two-tier system of justice — one for the ordinary citizen and the politically inconvenient, another for the well connected — to fester under his watch,” it said.
The association demanded the immediate arrest and thorough investigation of Senator Buba by the DSS and other security agencies if there was enough grounds to do so.
It also demanded that the Tinubu administration be fully publicly accountable as to what action, if any, it had taken after the alleged alerts it reportedly received.
The group also called for the prosecution of the senator if an investigation proved the allegations against him, stressing that he should be made to face the law irrespective of his position.
“The same speed and severity applied to Nnamdi Kanu should be meted out to Senator Buba if the investigation proves these allegations true, and he should be made to answer for it behind the walls of a Nigerian correctional facility and not the chambers of the Senate,” the statement read.
Kano PPMV raises alarm over PCN pressure, threatens strike
Desmond Mgboh, Kano
The Association of Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendors (PPMV) in Kano State has threatened to embark on a warning strike if the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria (PCN) does not stop what it described as undue pressure on its members.
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The Chairman of the association in the state, Aminu Hikima, revealed this in an interview with Dala FM Radio, saying industrial action could become the only option available to the association to draw attention to its grievances if the situation remained unresolved.
However, Hikima stressed that the association did not prefer to resort to a strike, saying its members would rather see the issues resolved through dialog and intervention by the relevant authorities.
He called on the PCN to revisit its strategy and cease actions that he said were putting undue pressure on patent medicine vendors across the state.
He said the association’s members were still willing to cooperate with regulatory authorities and abide by all lawful requirements governing their operations.
He urged the Pharmaceutical Council to ensure its regulatory activities did not disrupt the operations of legitimate medicine vendors, stressing that compliance with regulations should be achieved without harassment.
Hikima also called on the Kano State Government to intervene in the dispute urgently to avoid the situation escalating into an industrial action.
“The government intervention was necessary to bring the two parties together, address the grievances and find a lasting solution to the issues,” he said.
The PPMV chairman warned that any disruption of the activities of medicine vendors could have dire consequences for residents who rely on them for access to medicines, especially in communities where they are a major source of pharmaceutical products.
He called on the state government to give the matter priority, warning that an escalation of the dispute could impact access to medicines throughout the state.
Hikima reiterated the association’s commitment to working with the government and regulatory authorities to ensure that medicine related businesses are run within the law.
He, however, said that while members were ready to comply with legitimate regulatory requirements, their interests and businesses must also be protected from what the association considered undue pressure.