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Police probe assassination of UI professor

On Monday, suspected gunmen killed Opeyemi Ajewole, a professor of social and environmental forestry at the University of Ibadan in Oyo State.

The 61-year-old was reportedly shot and killed in front of his home in the Orogun neighbourhood of the state’s Akinyele Local Government area by as-yet-unidentified attackers.

How my cousin fed me acid as a baby and bathed me

A family member informed our correspondent that the attackers My classmate at the University of Ibadan, the late Opeyemi, was a famous professor of social and environmental forestry. His sudden death, which occurred only a few days after he had personally congratulated me on my swearing-in, came as a startling shock.

“I deplore Prof. Opeyemi’s horrible murder and would like to send my sincere condolences to his family and the University of Ibadan Master Class of 1990. I offer up a prayer for his sweet soul’s comfort. Ajewole, who opened his house gate after getting out of the automobile and fired at him.

They allegedly forced him into his car before driving it away from the scene.

Our correspondent also discovered that his body was afterwards dumped while they drove off in his automobile.

Oladoyin Adebowale, a faculty member, claimed the professor was shot dead and his automobile taken away.

Olukayode Ogunsanwo, one of the deceased’s acquaintances, also acknowledged his passing and said, “Yes. It is real. It’s accurate.

His body allegedly lay in wait at the institution’s Department of Anatomy.

Joke Akinpelu, the institution’s Principal Assistant Registrar for Public Communications, verified the event when contacted on Tuesday.

“Yes, that is accurate, but since there has already been a police investigation, no formal statements at this time. I appreciate you being concerned, Akinpelu remarked.

Our journalist also received confirmation of the murder from the state police public relations officer, Adewale Osifeso.

“There is an investigation going on. Please expect updates in accordance with that,” Osifeso added.

Vice President Kashim Shettima, meanwhile, called the professor’s death “a harsh shock.”

“I got today the tragic news of the death of Prof. Opeyemi Ajewole who was gunned down by yet-to-be-identified gunmen,” Shettima wrote in a statement he signed on Tuesday.My classmate at the University of Ibadan, the late Opeyemi, was a famous professor of social and environmental forestry. His sudden death, which occurred only a few days after he had personally congratulated me on my swearing-in, came as a startling shock.

“I deplore Prof. Opeyemi’s horrible murder and would like to send my sincere condolences to his family and the University of Ibadan Master Class of 1990. I offer up a prayer for his sweet soul’s comfort.⁣

Cremonese demand £7m for Dessers

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Rangers target Cyriel Dessers has a £7 million price tag from Cremonese.

Dessers and Sam Lammers, both of Atalanta, were among the strikers mentioned last week as being under consideration at Ibrox.

Rangers are said to have made a sizable opening bid and are about to confirm the recruitment of custodian Jack Butland.

Cremonese are currently asking for more than the roughly £6 million they paid Genk for the 28-year-old last summer, though.

 

It is unclear if the Italian team will lower its asking price as they prepare for the financial blow of being demoted from Serie A. In 26 games in the top level last year, Dessers scored six goals.

The attacker, a four-time Nigerian cap, previously led the UEFA Conference League in goals scored during an extremely successful loan with Feyenoord in 2021–2022. He has also represented Lokeren in Belgium as well as NAC Breda, FC Utrecht, and Heracles in the Netherlands.

After spending the final few months of the previous season on loan at Sampdoria, former Netherlands Under-21 international Lammers has now returned to Atalanta. Since moving for £6 million from PSV Eindhoven in 2020, the 26-year-old, who is 6 feet 3 inches tall, has also been loaned to Eintracht Frankfurt and Empoli.

The Ibrox club, who have already begun their summer rebuild with the acquisitions of Kieran Dowell and Dujon Sterling, is also keeping an eye on Troyes attacker Ike Ugbo.

Having been pleased by manager Michael Beale’s ambition to have Crystal Palace custodian Butland at Ibrox, Butland, who spent the previous season on loan at Manchester United, is believed to have agreed to a four-year contract.

Jose Cifuentes, an Ecuadorian midfielder for Los Angeles FC, is another player who interests Beale.

I wrote my PhD on Boko Haram – Lawmaker explains why terrorism increases

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Jimoh Ibrahim, the Senator-elect for Ondo South Senatorial District, announced on Tuesday that he completed his second PhD on Boko Haram.

This was revealed by the lawmaker while speaking on the Channels Television programme Politics Today about “Arresting Insecurity And Growing Violent Attacks.”

The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain stated that Nigeria has spent a large amount of money fighting terrorism in the last 20 years, but Boko Haram terrorists continue to operate in the country.

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According to him, Boko Haram is a political problem that must be addressed differently than the government and military have been.

“I wrote my second doctorate on Boko Haram.” In the last 20 years, Nigeria has spent $1.2 trillion on Boko Haram. Children have left the NDA as lieutenants, becoming Major Generals in Boko Haram, and the war continues – Jimoh Ibrahim.

“Is the military a test for herself?” No. Because Boko Haram is a political problem, it must be addressed through political socialization. “The first thing Mr President should do is withdraw his troops from the front lines of Boko Haram and return them to their barracks,” Ibrahim said.

In response to a follow-up question from the interviewer, the lawmaker stated, “Do you think Boko Haram will carry a gun and shoot himself?” When you use a conventional strategy to fight an unconventional war, you will fail.

“Here, the military strategy isn’t the best. To deal with unconventional warfare, the military employs a conventional war strategy. Boko Haram’s conflict is unique.

“You can’t deploy troops; you have to look for information, socialisation, and stakeholders.” This is not Russia or Ukraine.

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When asked what President Bola Tinubu should do to combat Boko Haram, Ibrahim said, “You have to socialise domestically… Boko Haram will have vanished if you spend 10% of N1.2 trillion on political socialisation. But you spent 89% of your budget on insignificant factors to confront Boko Haram; Boko Haram will be there… who will stop it?”

Again, INEC denies Obi’s request to tender exhibits in 17 states against Tinubu’s election

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has strongly opposed a request by Mr Peter Gregory Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), and his party to tender exhibits in 17 states of the federation opposing the election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The exhibits, primarily from EC8B, used by the electoral body in collating results at the state ward level during the February 25 presidential election were opposed to being tendered by INEC, which issued the exhibits to Obi and the Labour Party.

INEC, represented at the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN, Steve Adehi, informed the court that he would provide a rationale for his objections at the address stage of the proceedings.

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Mr Benbella Anachebe, Obi’s lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN, explained that the exhibits were obtained from INEC custody while introducing the documents.

Furthermore, Anachebe stated that the documents were duly certified by the electoral body before being distributed to his clients.

Apart from INEC, which conducted the disputed election, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC), who were declared election winners, also objected to the exhibits’ admission.

However, in accordance with the pre-hearing report and counsel agreements, the reasons for the objections are to be reserved at the address stage of the petition hearing.

Adamawa, Bayelsa, Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Ondo, Sokoto, Delta, and Ekiti are the states where the exhibits were tendered and accepted.

Imo, Kaduna, Oyo, Cross River, Edo, Akwa Ibom, and Lagos are among the others.

The case of Ebonyi was postponed because INEC had yet to make the exhibits available to the two petitioners.

The exhibits revealed that the combined Ward results were tendered in 21 local government areas in Adamawa, eight in Bayelsa, 23 in Benue, 21 in Kogi, 11 in Nasarawa, 25 in Niger, 18 in Ondo, 23 in Sokoto, and 25 in Delta.

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The remaining 11 are from Ekiti state, 25 from Imo, 21 from Kaduna, 27 from Oyo, 18 from Cross River, 15 from Edo, 31 from Akwa Ibom, and 20 from Lagos.

Meanwhile, the Court’s Chairman, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, has postponed further hearings in the petition until June 7.

Alleged N1.35bn fraud: Appeal Court reserves ruling in Sule Lamido’s case

Tuesday, the judgement in the appeal that was filed by the former governor of Jigawa, Sule Lamido, challenging the decision of the Federal High Court to dismiss his no-case submission was reserved. The appeal was filed against the decision of the Federal High Court.

On trial for alleged fraud totaling N1.35 billion are Lamido, his two sons Aminu and Mustapha, Aminu Wada Abubakar, and their companies, Bamaina Holdings Ltd. and Speeds International Ltd.

They were arraigned before Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court in Abuja on a 37-count amended charge of money laundering to the tune of N1.35 billion fraud. The charge was brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) made the allegations that between 2007 and 2015, Lamido abused his position as governor and laundered several sums of money.

The agency that investigates and prosecutes corruption also stated that the ex-governor had received such sums of money as “kickbacks” from businesses to which the Jigawa State Government had awarded contracts while he was in office.

Before resting its case, the commission presented testimony from sixteen different witnesses during the trial that began in 2015.

The defendants chose to argue that there was no case to be made against them by submitting a “no case” motion to the court. Their reasoning was that the prosecution had not presented enough evidence to the court to warrant their defence.

But Justice Ojukwu rejected the argument that there was no case to answer and sided with the EFCC’s attorney, Chile Okoroma, who argued that Lamido and the other defendants did have a case to answer for their actions.

After that, Ojukwu gave them the order to present their defence during the subsequent adjourned date of the case, which was from November 8 to November 11 in 2022.

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Lamido was dissatisfied with that outcome, so he appealed the decision to a higher court.

During the resumption of the appeal’s hearing on Tuesday, the appellate court stated that it would decide the case at a later date that would be communicated to the parties.

In the meantime, the next scheduled dates for the continuation of hearings in the substantive case before Justice Ojukwu are June 19, June 21, and June 22.

Akpabio faces more opposition as more lawmakers-elect withdraw support

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Godswill Akpabio, the consensus candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) for the seat of Senate President, has continued to face opposition from within the party as the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly draws closer. This opposition comes as the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly draws closer.

Since the APC National Working Committee (NWC) announced him and Barau Jibrin as the party’s consensus candidates for the seat of Senate President and Deputy respectively a month ago, the two of them have been met with a variety of opposition from various members of the party. Barau Jibrin is the candidate for the seat of Senate President.

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According to what Naia News has been told, Akpabio’s camp has suffered yet another defeat just days before the 10th National Assembly is scheduled to take office. This is due to the fact that even senators-elect who had been backing him up until this point have continued to distance themselves from him.
A senator-elect who confirmed the withdrawal of support for Akpabio questioned how the former governor of Akwa Ibom State can lead the National Assembly, which he despised when he was the Minister of the Niger Delta. Akpabio’s support had been withdrawn earlier this week.

The newly elected senator disclosed to the Daily Sun, “I have decided to withdraw my support for Senator Akpabio.” It’s not just me, either. The fact that many of us have withdrawn our support will be reflected in the standings.

I used to hold Senator Akpabio in very high regard as a person; however, I cannot support him in his bid to become the President of the Senate.

The Senator-elect posed the question, “How can he (Akpabio) come and preside over an institution which he once described as a cesspit of corruption after benefitting from the same institution?” Akpabio has previously described the institution in question as a cesspit of corruption.

In a similar vein, Sumaila Kawu, who will be the next Senator for Kano State, has cautioned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to meddle in the process of electing the presiding officers of the two chambers of the 10th National Assembly.

According to him, “The constitution is very clear about how the President of the Senate and the Deputy President of the Senate are to be elected.” For example, the criteria and procedures for selecting Presiding Officers of the Senate are outlined in Chapter 2 of the 9th Standing Orders of the Senate 2022 (as amended).

“Similarly, Section 50(1)a of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as amended) states that, “there shall be a President and Deputy President of the Senate, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves.

In addition, subsection (b) of section 50 states: “There shall be a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves.

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“It is therefore clear that the election of these Presiding Officers is a purely internal affair that concerns only members of the National Assembly. As a result, they should be allowed to decide who among them would occupy the positions in order to avoid repetition of the past mistakes – we may all recall the occurrences of the 7th and 8th National Assembly,” he said. “It is therefore clear that the election of these Presiding Officers is a pure internal affair that concerns only members of the National Assembly.”

Okonkwo: INEC has broken guinness world record, now an international mmbarrassment

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Kenneth Okonkwo, who is serving as the spokesperson for the 2023 Labour Party Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, has claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) does not maintain its neutrality.

Kenneth Okonkwo, who is serving as the spokesperson for the 2023 Labour Party Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, has claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) does not maintain its neutrality.

Okonkwo stated that INEC is making every effort to satisfy a specific group while speaking in regard to the ongoing presidential election petition tribunal.

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He went on to say that with such actions, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which is currently headed by Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, has broken the Guinness World Record for being the worst electoral commission on earth.

While arguing before the tribunal, the chieftain of the Labour Party expressed shock at the fact that INEC is contesting its own documents in an effort to appease some of the parties there.

The actor and politician claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has brought international shame to Nigeria as a result of its actions.

On Tuesday, he posted the following message to his Twitter account: “We are back today again at the Presidential Election Petition Court (COA) for the continuation of our Petition. I can say with absolute certainty that Professor Yakubu Mahmood has led the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to become the most inept electoral commission in the history of the universe. How is the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) going to be able to say in court, “Mi Lord, I object to the tendering of INEC’S certified true copies of the election results”?

This institution is quickly becoming a source of embarrassment for Nigeria on the international stage. I have never encountered a situation in which an organisation that is required by law to remain impartial raises frivolous objections to its own documents simply in order to appease certain constituencies. However, since God is in charge, we can safely put our faith in Him.

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According to recent reports, the Labour Party and Peter Obi, the party’s candidate for president, are challenging the results of the 2023 presidential election, in which Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was announced as the victor.

Abuja High Court stops EFCC, ICPC from detaining ex-Zamfara governor Yari

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practises and other related offences Commission (ICPC) have been stopped by an Abuja Federal High Court from detaining Abdul’aziz Yari, the former governor of Zamfara State, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.

Additionally, the court ordered the Department of State Services (DSS) to cease its attempts to detain the senator-elect.

On Monday, Justice Donatus Okorowo issued the order in a ruling that he delivered on a motion that was considered ex parte.

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The judge ordered the respondents (the EFCC, ICPC, and DSS) to show cause on the next adjourned date as to why the prayers sought on the motion ex-parte should not be granted. These prayers were sought on the motion that was filed in secret.

“The respondents were, however, restrained from detaining the applicant until the return date for the order to show cause,” the judge ruled. “The applicant may not be detained until the return date for the order to show cause.”

The respondents will have until June 8 to show cause, so the hearing has been postponed until then.

In an expert motion, the former governor of Zamfara had asked the court for an order restraining the EFCC, ICPC, and DSS from arresting him. If the court grants the request, the former governor will not be able to take part in the proclamation of the 10th Senate, which will take place on June 13 and be presided over by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

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Yari, who stated that he is interested in running for the position of President of the Senate, made the allegation that some members of his political party, the All Progressives Congress, are using the respondents and their agents to harass him and threaten to arrest him on trumped-up charges in the time leading up to the first sitting of the Senate, which is when nominations and elections of presiding officers shall be constituted. Yari said he has the desire to run for the position of President of the Senate.

EPL: Romano confirms two clubs ready to sign N’Golo Kante from Chelsea

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Fabrizio Romano, a transfer expert, has confirmed the two clubs interested in signing Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante this summer.

Kante’s current contract with Chelsea expires this summer, and talks about a possible extension for the Frenchman are ongoing.

The World Cup winner in 2018 is widely regarded as one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the game.

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According to Romano, two Saudi Arabian clubs, Al Ittihad and Al Nassr, are interested in signing the former Leicester City player.

“N’Golo Kanté’s situation remains open as he would like to stay at Chelsea, but talks have not progressed to the final stages after being close to full agreement in March,” Romano tweeted on Monday night.

“Understand that Al Ittihad and Al Nassr are two Saudi clubs eager to tempt Kanté with new experiences.”

Nasarawa postpones 7th Assembly’s inauguration indefinitely.

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The inauguration of the seventh Assembly of the State House of Assembly, which was originally scheduled to take place on Tuesday, has been indefinitely postponed by the government of Nasarawa.

The statement was released in Lafia by Mr. Ibrahim Musa, who is acting as Clerk of the House. He explained that the postponement was made due to the fact that Governor Abdullahi Sule was given security advice.

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Musa appealed to the public and the members-elect to bear with the decision for the time being because a new date would be communicated to them in due course.