Home Blog Page 1920

Zulum Pays Visit To Supervise Humanitarian Intervention

0

Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, the Governor of Borno, arrived in Dikwa on Tuesday around 7:00 p.m. for humanitarian assistance.

The Governor was greeted by the Executive Chairman, Mohammed Alhaji Gumsama, as well as some key local government stakeholders.

Governor Zulum oversaw and became personally involved in the distribution of food and non-food items to 40,000 households in the community.

Read Also:  HURIWA Implores Umahi To Respect Law, Step Aside

Zulum was accompanied by Hon. Zakariya Mohammed, Member of House of Assembly for Dikwa State Constituency, Commissioners for Agriculture, Engr. Bukar Talba, Sugun Mai Male, and Poverty Alleviation, Nuhu Clark, as well as a number of humanitarian workers, officials, and APC chieftains.

In an interview, Governor Zulum stated that the community did not have full access to their farmlands last year, and that most of their products were destroyed, necessitating the government of Borno State’s intention to provide them with food and non-food items.

The Governor announced the opening of a Mega Islamic School in Dikwa and promised that agricultural input would be available before the rainy season.

HURIWA Implores Umahi To Respect Law, Step Aside

0

Mr. Dave Umahi has been asked to resign as governor of Ebonyi State by the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), in accordance with a federal high court ruling by honourable justice Inyang Ekwo.

It is unfortunate that a man who has served as governor of a state for more than seven years is publicly criticizing a judge of a competent court of law, which is one of the three arms of government (legislature, judiciary, and executive). For the former governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, to use unprintable words to describe a federal high court judge, and indeed one of Nigeria’s finest jurists, given his prodigious intellectual output as an author of outstanding legal books, is the pinnacle of executive rascality.

Umahi’s disrespectful attitude demonstrates the truth of what we previously stated: he, Umahi, lacks the temperament to be Nigeria’s president. If Mr. Umahi is elected President by mistake or accident, he will pocket the judiciary and install his puppets as judges to do his bidding.

Read Also:  Tension As Bayelsa Community Protest Alleged Killing of Woman By Fulani Herdsmen

To say the least, his)Dave Umahi’s) unguarded utterances and calculated but unwarranted diatribe directed at Nigeria’s judiciary is disappointing. Even worse, INEC has yet to comply with and enforce the court’s decision. Why is INEC breaking the law as well? Why is a man whose authority as governor of Ebonyi State has been legally revoked still parading around as governor, and why are law enforcement agencies aiding and abetting illegality?

INEC, as a constitutionally created body, is bound by the decision of the competent court of law, as stated in section 6 of the 1999 constitution: “6. (1) The Federation’s judicial powers shall be vested in the courts to which this section relates, being courts established for the Federation.”

(2) The judicial powers of a State shall be vested in the courts referred to in this section, which are courts established for a State, subject to the provisions of this Constitution.

(3) The courts established by this Constitution for the Federation and for the States, as specified in subsections (5) (a) to (1) of this section, shall be the only superior courts of record in Nigeria, and each court shall have all the powers of a superior court of record, unless otherwise prescribed by the National Assembly or by the House of Assembly of a State.

(4) Nothing in this section’s preceding provisions shall be construed as prohibiting:-

(a) the National Assembly or any House of Assembly from establishing courts with subordinate jurisdiction to that of a High Court, other than those referred to in this section;

(b) the National Assembly or any House of Assembly that does not require it from abolishing any court that it has the authority to create or that it has established.

(5) This section is about:

a) the Nigerian Supreme Court;

a) the Court of Appeal; b) the Federal High Court; c) the Federal Court of Appeal; d) the Federal Court of Appeal; e) the Federal

d) the Federal Capital Territory’s High Court in Abuja;

e) a State’s High Court.”

The sad reality is that if Dave Umahi had been in the PDP and had lost his position to the APC, INEC would have followed the federal high court’s judgment because there is currently no superior ruling suspending the enforcement of that judgment.

Read Also:  In Lagos, Fuel Tanker Explodes, Destroying Petrol Station, Residential Building

So, pending the outcome of the appeal filed by the former, Mr Dave Umahi, challenging the federal high court ruling, INEC should issue the certificate of return to the PDP nominees as directed by the court of law.

Remember that on Tuesday, a Federal High Court in Abuja fired Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State and his Deputy, Dr Eric Kelechi Igwe, for defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressive Congress.

Justice Inyang Ekwo ruled that the total of 393,042 votes Umahi received in the Ebonyi State governorship election on March 9, 2019, belonged to the PDP and thus could not be legally transferred to the APC.
Both Umahi and Igwe’s defections to the APC, the court noted, threw out not only the PDP, but also the votes that belonged to the party.
Umahi, on the other hand, claimed that the judgment that removed him and his deputy on Tuesday was bought.

This was stated by Umahi at a press conference held in Abakaliki on Tuesday.
“I am still the Governor of Ebonyi State, and there is no tension at all,” he stated. To begin with, there is no provision in the Constitution for a saboteur to depose a governor. A governor can leave office in one of three ways: death, resignation, or impeachment. There is no other provision in the Constitution that allows a saboteur to turn it inside out.

“We’ve heard rumors that he was determined to rule against all known laws and the constitution, first to embarrass the APC and then to embarrass the federal government,” says the source.

In Lagos, Fuel Tanker Explodes, Destroying Petrol Station, Residential Building

0

A Premium Motor Spirit-laden tanker exploded at a Mobil Filling Station on 71 Agege Motor Road, Alakara, Mushin, Lagos, on Wednesday.

The fire, which started around 1 p.m. when the tanker was discharging its contents at the gas station, destroyed a three-story residential building.

However, the fuel station was destroyed, and the fire spread to a residential building near the Alakara Police Station in Mushin, Lagos.

Read Also:  In Adamawa, INEC Recorded 111,762 Online Voter Registrations

Ibrahim Farinloye, the Lagos Territorial Office Coordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), confirmed that no one was killed or injured.

“The fire has been successfully contained.” “Efforts are still underway to save the three-story structure from being completely consumed,” he explained.

Check out the images.

In Adamawa, INEC Recorded 111,762 Online Voter Registrations

0

In Adamawa State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has recorded a total of 111,762 new online voter registrations.

Kassim Gaidam, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Adamawa State, said in Yola on Wednesday that 83,395 of the total had been completed during the ongoing continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise.

Read Also:  Why sack of Umahi, deputy cannot stand…..

Other milestones in INEC’s preparations for the 2023 elections in Adamawa State, according to the official, include 2,983 voter registration status reviews, 9,512 information updates, 14,434 transfers, 3,427 PVC collections, 5,147 card loss complaints, 2,032 defaced cards for replacement, and 454 special registrations by disabled people.

All of the figures, according to Gaidam, were derived from Adamawa State’s 21 local government areas.

He announced that continuous voter registration would be suspended in June of this year in order to process the data in preparation for the general elections in 2023.

He revealed that, with the 2023 election in mind, the next activity mandated by the new electoral act is the conduct of political party primaries, which will begin on April 4 and end on June 3, 2022.

Read Also:  Eight Soldiers Killed By Bandit Terrorists In Kebbi State (Video)

He reminded political parties that the Electoral Act of 2022 mandates that they keep a membership register and make it available to INEC 30 days before the date set for party primaries, congresses, or conventions.

Tension As Bayelsa Community Protest Alleged Killing of Woman By Fulani Herdsmen

0

Following the killing of a 39-year-old woman by suspected Fulani herdsmen, angry youths from Opume community in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State took to the streets, blocking all routes leading to the community.

Waadu Alfred, the deceased woman, was reportedly tied to a stake, raped, and machete-cut by her assailants.

Read Also:  NYSC DG visits Kano, says skills and ideas is what brings money”

According to reports, after she went missing over the weekend, the community organized a search party, which led to the discovery of her decomposing body in the bush.

Angry community youths blocked the route leading into and out of the Nembe-Ogbia road after seeing her decomposing body, threatening to retaliate against the suspected Fulani herdsmen.

It was learned that it took the intervention of the police and community elders to restore normalcy.

When contacted, Asinim Butswat, a spokesman for the state Police Command, confirmed the development, saying that an investigation into the incident has begun.

The Bayelsa State Government confirmed last week that security operatives and Fulani herdsmen engaged in a heavy shoot-out in the state’s Ogbia-Nembe axis, resulting in the arrest of an unspecified number of suspects.

Read Also:  Assent to NYSC trust fund act will curb crime among youths

The suspects are being held at the Okaka Correctional Centre, and the state government has taken custody of about 150 cows pending an investigation.

Assent to NYSC trust fund act will curb crime among youths

0

 

A University Don, Dr Okpe Okpe has once again reiterated the need for the urgent passage and assent to the National Youth Service Corps trust fund act

Okpe who spoke in Abuja at a public symposium on the operations of the Act said its urgent assent would serve as a panacea for insecurity and national disintegration.

He added that it will assist in curbing incessant cases of ritualism in the country.

The symposium was organised by the Nigeria First in collaboration with several interest groups.

Okpe said the fund when in place will address financial constraints in training, orientation camp development, provision of sundry welfare and also mitigate the problem of employment in the country through the provision of capital to the corps members to establish their businesses.

The group called on President Muhammadu Buhari, national assembly and relevant stakeholders to join the NYSC in making sure the bill is passed and signed into law within a short time due to its importance in equipping the NYSC for more service to the country.
While applauding the national assembly for considering the NYSC Trust Fund Bill, Okpe said, “Our fervent prayer is that the bill will not only receive expedited passage but will also receive presidential assent, It is also our hope that the trust fund will provide permanent solution to the unemployment
“Let me sieze this opportunity to commend the current director-general of the NYSC Maj. Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim for initiating the idea of the Trust Fund, the fund will provide a sustainable source of funds for the NYSC, skill acquisition training and provision of start-up capital to corps members, train and retrain the personnel of the NYSC, develop camps and the NYSC formations and provide facilities therein.
NYSC Trust Fund when passed into law will also improve the general welfare of not only corps members but the general youth and unemployed Nigerians by extension, which will help in promoting national unity, integration, self-reliance and accelerated development of the national economy,” he added.

Nigeria First Convener, Richard Augustine in his welcome address said the nation needs to build an economic model where business ideas will not be killed but nurtured into business empires; where men and women of skills shall realize their dreams and potentials.

“The youths have to be encouraged to strive collectively to end poverty, hunger and deprivation in the land using instruments such as the planned Youth Fund.

“NYSC Trust Fund, on its final stage of becoming an Act, it is actually meant to address inclusive growth in Nigeria and this fact was well canvassed during the public hearing on the Bill held on Thursday, February 24, 2021. At the said public hearing, the Director-General of NYSC, Major-General Shuaibu Ibrahim informed the nation that the Bill sought to address the infrastructural deficit in the orientation camps, ensure adequate provision of other operational logistics, as well as address the problem of graduate unemployment in the country. Moreso the President has promised the Nigerian youths of leaving a legacy behind and he is always ready to append his signature on the bill if brought to his table.

“Consequently, the appreciation goes to the leadership of the National Assembly for show commitment and proving to be on the side of the Nigerian people, our appeal also goes to all friends of the scheme, including influential public figures, civil society organizations, students’ bodies, members of the academia and media practitioners, to continue the clamour as the bill is before the Senate for conclusion and make it an Act of backed by law.

Now that the bill is before the Senate at it last stage, the lawmakers should put their seal on the revolutionary legislation. There is no doubt that when the NYSC Trust Fund becomes operational, the number of corps entrepreneurs will increase drastically, and they will in turn help to provide jobs for millions of other youths of the country. This will equally help to reduce the issue of security challenges faced in the country.

“It is instructive to note that majority of the lawmakers are products of the scheme as most of them are graduates of tertiary institutions who have participated in the scheme. From their varying and variegated experience going through the scheme, they will agree that corps members are grossly underutilised and one sure way of unleashing the real potential of the corps members is to empower them to be able to acquire new skills and put to use their training.

“It is important to point out that where the world economy is headed is

digitization and ICT. The nation will be killing many birds with just one stone with the NYSC Trust Fund – indirectly building digital economy, digital ecosystems, digital entrepreneurs, and many more since the youths cluster there.The effect of the Fund is predictably foreseeable. Nigerian youths are creative, resilient, upwardly mobile and ambitious. Yes many will fall by the wayside but a greater majority shall grow through that intervention and become self-made, self-reliant and more importantly, employers of labour in no distant time. That is the big picture that should form the allure for the lawmakers. If for instance the NYSC scheme were a school, Nigerian graduates under 30, by graduation they are all alumni. Those of them in the House of Reps at the moment should consider themselves alumni and pass the Trust Fund Bill into law as a way of giving back to the institution, which made most of them.

The NYSC scheme has grown into an enviable and equitable brand to the point of becoming a mentor and model for similar budding youth schemes in some African countries. What this means is that the NYSC is not of prime importance to Nigeria but also to some African countries. These countries have copied the scheme from Nigeria for its great achievements. Such countries are also waiting in the wings to further learn how Nigeria is reinvigorating the scheme of which the coming Trust Fund is one and will key in as usual” he added

NEWS FLASH: A Court Hearing on Businessman Ned Nwoko’s Trumped-up Charges Against Activist Sowore has Been Set for March 16.

0

The Federal High Court in Abuja has set March 16 for the hearing of a defamation case brought against Omoyele Sowore, a human rights activist, by a former lawmaker, Ned Nwoko, who has repeatedly used Nigerian police to harass the activist, his lawyer, Marshal Abubakar, and his supporters.

On Wednesday, the police issued a court summons, instructing Sowore to appear at the old Special Anti-Robbery Squad Office in Guzape, Abuja – dubbed the “Abattoir” by the public.

“Good morning, sir. This is to inform you that the case between Dr. Ned Nwoko and Comrade Omoyele Sowore will be heard at Federal High Court 8 Abuja on March 16, 2022. By 0830 hours, you should be at the Abattoir, the old SARS Office in Abuja. “Thank you,” read the police notice.

The police had arrested Sowore’s lawyer, Abubakar Marshal, in his home on Friday, March 4 on a fabricated allegation that he was the activist’s surety and that the activist had jumped bail.

Abubakar was hurriedly arraigned before a judge hired by Ned Nwoko to do the hatchet job in an Area Court in Kabusa.

Read also: 2023: “I’m Not a Member of NNPP….

Before being transferred to Keffi prison, he was remanded at Kuje prison.

Marshal was granted bail by an Upper Area Court sitting in Kabusa at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday.

Marshal was released at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, shortly after the court officials perfected the release warrant.

He was given to Sowore, who was also present in court to observe the proceedings.

Sowore stormed the FCT Police Command’s Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau (CIID) office twice this week, claiming that he did not jump bail as claimed.

Sowore went to the police station on Monday to get the charges that Nwoko allegedly filed against him.

Armed police officers stationed at the gate, on the other hand, assaulted and arrested him.

On Tuesday, the activist was also at the facility to protest Marshal’s illegal detention after police claimed he had jumped bail.

2023: “I’m Not a Member of NNPP….

0
Former Minister of Youth and Sports Solomon Dalung said on Wednesday that he is “not aware, privy, or part of” the formation of the New Nigeria People’s Party’s new executive (NNPP).

 

The National Movement (TNM), a political platform recently formed by Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, former governor of Kano State, formally adopted the NNPP on Monday night.

 

The interim national chairman of the TNM, John Chris Ifeimeje, was quoted as saying after a seven-hour meeting in Abuja that the movement decided to adopt the NNPP to save Nigeria in 2023 from bad governance orchestrated by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Read also: BREAKING NEWS: Senate has Rejected Buhari’s Request to Amend Electoral Act.

 

Ifeimeje was also elected chairman of the NNPP’s National Caretaker Committee.
According to the Daily Trust, he named Dalung and Buba Galadima to the caretaker committee.
Dalung has now distanced himself from the situation.
The member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said he hasn’t changed his party membership yet.

 

My attention has been drawn to media reports linking my name to the interim leadership of the NNPP in the Daily Trust Newspapers and other online news sources.
This development is not only unusual, but also humiliating for me.
Such political developments are not something I am aware of, privy to, or a part of.

 

In light of the impending collapse of internal democracy in the two major political parties, many Coalition Movements are rethinking their strategies for 2023.
The National Movement is one of these like-minded political political groups dedicated to restoring democracy.
I am certain that it is in the national interest, not the political ambitions of any single member.

 

As a result, putting my name on a NNPP National Working Committee without my consent or due consultation is a poor political branding strategy used by desperate politicians.
I strongly advise the general public to ignore this action because it does not have my support.
If they have any conscience, those involved should apologize to me for dragging my name into their 2023 power permutations.

 

Let me restate my commitment to supporting a presidential candidate from the South who is not more than 60 years old.
I believe that zoning power to Southern Nigeria, particularly the youths, in 2023 is in the best interests of fairness, equity, justice, peace, and unity.

 

Because I have not changed my political affiliation, I consider that publication to be “Fake News,” which is unfounded and should be dismissed by all.

BREAKING NEWS: Senate has Rejected Buhari’s Request to Amend Electoral Act.

0

President Muhaimmadu Buhar’s request to amend the Electoral Act of 2022 was rejected by the Senate on Wednesday.

During its second reading, the proposed law, “A bill for an Act to Amend the Electoral Act 2022,” was overwhelmingly rejected.

Before a voice vote on the bill, which had a majority of nays, several lawmakers spoke out against amending the Act and urged the Senate to follow a court ruling that barred the National Assembly from changing the electoral law.

In a letter to the National Assembly last week, President Buhari requested that the Act be amended by deleting Section 84 (12), which he claims is a “defect” that is in conflict with existing constitutional provisions.

Before running in primary elections, political appointees were required to resign their positions.

Read also: Indonesian President Joko Widodo Calls for Cease-fire in Ukraine, Talks With Russia Over Sanctions.

President Buhari, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), and the Senate President were all barred from tampering with the Act by a Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday.

In a ruling on an ex-parte application by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the judge, Inyang Ekwo, said the Electoral Act had become a valid law that could not be amended without going through the proper channels.

The court specifically barred President Buhari, the AGF, the National Assembly, and other defendants in the case from repealing or preventing the implementation of section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act for the 2023 general elections.

On Tuesday, however, Senate President Ahmad Lawan stated that the court’s decision would not prevent the National Assembly from amending the Electoral Act 2022.

He claimed that the court’s decision violated the separation of powers provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).