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Court remands Sen. Ali Ndume in Kuje Prison

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Court remands Sen. Ali Ndume in Kuje Prison
The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Monday, ordered Sen. Ali Ndume to be remanded in Kuje Prison following Abdulrasheed Maina, former Chairman, defunct Pension Reformed Task Team (PRTT)’s refusal to appear for his trial.

Justice Okon Abang gave the order when Ndume, who represents Borno South Senatorial District, failed to file a formal application to show cause why he should not forfeit the bail bond of N500 million deposed to on May 5 to stand as surety for Maina.

The EFCC’s Lawyer, Mohammed Abubakar, had, on Nov. 18, asked the court to make an order for the lawmaker to forfeit the bail bond since Maina, who he stood as surgery for, had jumped bail.

Abubakar also asked the court to revoke Maina’s bail and issued a warrant of arrest on him.

Although the court granted the applications by the EFCC on Maina, it gave Ndume an opportunity to appear with his legal representation and adjourned until Nov. 23.

Justice Abang, in his ruling, ordered Ndume’s remand pending the time he was able to fulfill the bail bond or produce Maina in court.

Akeredolu sacks Ondo attorney-general

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Akeredolu sacks Ondo attorney-general
Ondo State Rotimi Akeredolu Monday sacked Adekola Olawoye as the commissioner for justice and attorney-general of the state.“Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has rejigged his cabinet,
Segun Ajiboye, chief press secretary to the governor, said in a statement.

Read also: https://thenigerian.news/metro/akeredolu-bans-okada-unauthorised-tinted-vehicles-in-ondo/

“Following this, he has appointed front line human rights lawyer, Sir Charles Titiloye, as his new Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice,” the statement said.

Read also: Trump sacks defence secretary Mark Esper after failed re-electio

“Titiloye is a human right activist and a renowned social critic. He was former Secretary of the Nigerian Bar of Association (NBA), Akure Branch. His name will be forwarded to the state House of Assembly for confirmation.

No reason was given for Olawoye’s sack.

Read also: Mass resignation after Trump fires Defence Chief

0:59 / 29:31 Nigeria’s Second Recession in five years:- Matters Arising

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0:59 / 29:31 Nigeria’s Second Recession in five years:- Matters Arising

I have 3 children in public universities – Ngige

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I have 3 children in public universities – Ngige

Minister of Labour and Employment Chris Ngige says three of his children are in public universities in the country.

Read also: No agreement yet with ASUU – Ngige

Speaking on Arise TV on Monday, Ngige debunked claims that government officials have been foot-draggers in the ongoing negotiations with university lecturers because their children school abroad.

Read also: No hope of ending strike — ASUU

Public universities have been shut for about eight months due to the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

“I have three biological children in public schools. They are in public schools; they are not in private universities. Unlike ASUU members who have most of their children in private universities, three of mine are here. So, I am a very big stakeholder in the public tertiary school system,” Ngige said.

Read also: https://thenigerian.news/world/us-closes-schools-again-over-surge-in-covid-19/

“So, when ASUU says politicians don’t care because they have taken their children abroad, Chris Ngige cares because my children are not abroad even though they have dual nationality – two of them have American citizenship; they can be in America but I choose them to be here with me.

“So, ASUU cannot accuse me of not being nationalistic enough. Anything that will help the university system here, I am in the forefront.”

Read also: https://thenigerian.news/world/us-closes-schools-again-over-surge-in-covid-19/

FIFA bans CAF President Ahmad for five years over corruption

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FIFA bans CAF President Ahmad for five years over corruption
World football governing body, the Federation of International Football Associations, has banned Confederation of African Football head Ahmad Ahmad for five years following charges of misappropriation of funds.
Ahmad, who is seeking a second term in office after taking over from Issa Hayatou in 2017, had been under investigation for months.
In a press release on its official website on Monday, FIFA said its adjudicatory chamber found Ahmad, who is from Madagascar, guilty of breaching the body’s Code of Ethics.
“The adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee has found Ahmad Ahmad, the President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and a FIFA Vice-President, guilty of having breached art. 15 (Duty of loyalty), art. 20 (Offering and accepting gifts or other benefits) and art. 25 (Abuse of position) of the 2020 edition of the FIFA Code of Ethics, as well as art. 28 (Misappropriation of funds) of the 2018 edition,” FIFA stated.
The world body then gave details of Ahmad’s misdemeanours that led to the long ban.
“The investigation into Mr Ahmad’s conduct in his position as CAF President during the period from 2017 to 2019 concerned various CAF-related governance issues, including the organisation and financing of an Umrah pilgrimage to Mecca, his involvement in CAF’s dealings with the sports equipment company Tactical Steel and other activities,” FIFA explained.
“In its decision, following an extensive hearing, the adjudicatory chamber ruled that, based on information gathered by the investigatory chamber, Mr Ahmad had breached his duty of loyalty, offered gifts and other benefits, mismanaged funds and abused his position as the CAF President, pursuant to the FIFA Code of Ethics.”
FIFA also accused Ahmad of breaching several articles of the organisation, making his position untenable. He has also been issued with a fine along with the lengthy ban.
“Consequently, the adjudicatory chamber found that Mr Ahmad had breached arts 15, 20 and 25 of the current edition of the FIFA Code of Ethics, as well as art. 28 of the 2018 edition, and sanctioned him with a ban from all football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at both national and international level for five years. In addition, a fine in the amount of CHF 200,000 has been imposed on Mr Ahmad,” FIFA added.
“The terms of the decision were notified to Mr Ahmad today, the date on which the ban comes into force. In accordance with art. 78 par. 2 of the FIFA Code of Ethics, the full, motivated decision will be notified to Mr Ahmad in the next 60 days, after which it will be published on legal.fifa.com.”
The ban means that Ahmad’s bid for a second term is effectively over and he might never return to high-level football administration.

Cult War: Wike Imposes Two Weeks 24-Hour Curfew In Okoro-Nu-Odu

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Cult War: Wike Imposes Two Weeks 24-Hour Curfew In Okoro-Nu-Odu

The Rivers state government on Sunday imposed a two-week, 24-hour curfew around the soon to be completed Okoro-nu-odu flyover in Obio Akpor local government area of the state, due to reported cases of incessant cult activities by some youths.

Governor Wike, who made the statement during a statewide broadcast in Port Harcourt, said the curfew takes effect from Monday.

He added that the decision became imperative after a state security council meeting and mandated security agencies to enforce the curfew and arrest defaulters.

Wike noted that all forms of trading and vehicular movement around the flyover are also prohibited.

“Again, we wish to warn that community leaders that allow cultism and related activities to thrive unabated in their communities would be treated as collaborators to the resulting crimes and dealt with accordingly,” Wike said.

“We urge all citizens to be part of the efforts to curb cultism in the State by reporting any suspicious cult activity, including gatherings and initiations in or around their neighbourhoods to the security agencies for immediate action.”

US to begin withdrawal of troops mid-January

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Trump will cut US forces in Afghanistan to 2,500 from 4,500 by mid-January, the Pentagon said, seeking to wind down the US’s longest war. The withdrawal of foreign forces – Britain plans to follow the US’s lead – could mean greater scope for the Taliban to expand its influence.

The peace talks in the Qatari capital have faltered and the Taliban refuses to call a ceasefire, launching attacks that have at times prompted the US to launch air raids to protect urban areas.

But senior diplomats told Reuters that a breakthrough was expected in the peace talks after the donor conference.

“Taliban and Afghan government representatives will take a break from the peace talks after the Geneva conference but not before they have a joint declaration of agreement over key security issues,” said a senior Western official.

At the Geneva meeting, the government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will present a peace and development framework meant to allocate funds to key projects, safeguard millions of jobs and protect democratic institutions.

“The conference will remain focused on making Afghanistan self-reliant by the end of its transformation decade which is 2024,” Naser Sidiqee, a senior official of the Afghan finance ministry, said in Geneva last week.

The Taliban is not invited to the conference but the armed group have urged donors to continue their humanitarian assistance while accusing Ghani’s government of pocketing the aid money.

“We request the international community and organisations to deliver aid, collected in the name of the people, to the people,” the armed group said in a statement.

UN calls for continued Afghan aid ahead of donor conference

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UN calls for continued Afghan aid ahead of donor conference

UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi has urged the international community to remain committed to Afghanistan, calling for greater support for refugees and internally displaced people ahead of the opening of a two-day international donor conference.

The UNHCR chief said on Monday that the future of millions of Afghans depends on the outcome of peace negotiations between the Kabul government and the Taliban being held in the Qatari capital Doha and on the international community’s commitment to developing the war-torn country.

“Failure on either account would see Afghanistan slide backwards with disastrous consequences, including further displacement possibly on a large scale,” Grandi warned in a statement before the 2020 Afghanistan Conference.

Grandi’s appeal comes after his visit to the South Asian nation, which is struggling with growing violence, a US troop withdrawal and flagging peace talks pushed by the outgoing Trump administration.

Analysts say the partial US troop withdrawal the Trump administration announced this week is further weakening the Kabul government during the ongoing peace talks in Doha.

Despite a February agreement signed between Taliban and the US, violence has risen in the country, with Grandi saying nearly 300,000 Afghans who have been displaced inside the country by conflict this year remain in “acute need” of humanitarian support.

Afghanistan faces aid cut

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that some international donors are considering cutting aid to Afghanistan and imposing tighter restrictions on vital aid money amid the dual crises of war and COVID-19.

Afghanistan’s economy is set to contract by at least 5.5 percent this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, stated the World Bank in a recent report.

The nearly three million previously displaced and the nine million people who have lost their livelihoods due to the COVID-19 crisis are also in need of help.

Ministers from about 70 countries and officials from humanitarian organisations are expected to pledge billions of dollars to safeguard development projects, at the virtual conference hosted in Geneva on Monday and Tuesday.

Although the fragile economy depends heavily on foreign aid, Kabul will see cuts in donations and donors will introduce stringent political and human rights conditions on the money, five participants told the Reuters news agency.

The strategy aims to protect the peace talks and prod the Afghan government to improve allocation, they said.

Donors at the last conference, in Brussels in 2016, pledged $15.2bn for 2017 to 2020, or $3.8bn a year.

That could be cut by 15 percent to 20 percent, said a senior Western diplomat who was attending the conference.

“This is the best countries can offer amid the domestic challenge of managing a pandemic.”

Until Nigeria is led by an intellectual, recession will not end – Moghalu

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Until Nigeria is led by an intellectual, recession will not end – Moghalu

Nigerian political economist, lawyer, and former presidential candidate in the last general elections, Kingsley Moghalu has said Nigeria’s economy will not be transformed until the country is led by an intellectual and competent leader.

Moghalu in a series of tweets on his Twitter page was reacting to the report of Nigeria sliding into another recession.

According to him, the report is not surprising and the COVID-19 pandemic is no excuse for Nigeria to slide into another recession.

Moghalu who also former deputy Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday said unless the problem of leadership selection and constitution structure is addressed, Nigeria’s economy cannot create wealth for its citizens except for those with political connections.

His tweets read: “No surprise Nigeria is entering yet another recession. Until Nigeria is led by an intellectually competent leader, with visionary politics backed by sound economic thinking and knowledge, economic transformation will remain a dream. It’s for citizens to do the needful.

“Covid-19 contributed to our current recession, but is no excuse. Nigeria’s econony has been weak for several years. Was the 2016 recession caused by Covid too? The deeper problems of economic management led to our weak response to the Covid crisis.

“South Africa’s budgetary fiscal stimulus response to the crisis was $26 billion. Ours was a budgetary provision of N500 billion ($1.3 billion) and a @cenbank intervention of N1 trillion ($3 billion). And only a fraction of our desperately poor households received the 20K disbursements from the money budgeted.

“Unless we address the problem of our constitutional structure and the leadership selection problem in our politics, Nigeria’s economy simply can’t create prosperity for its citizens, only for a very few with the right political connections for rent-seeking.

“The few real entrepreneurs who make it do so in spite of, not because of the government.”

#EndSARS: Lagosians groan as they wait long hours for non available BRT buses

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#EndSARS: Lagosians groan as they wait long hours for non available BRT buses

Following the #EndSARS protests that rocked Lagos and the destruction of both public and private properties including the burning of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) vehicles, Lagosians have been lamenting over high costs of transportation in the state.

There has been long queues and heavy traffic at makeshift bus stations coupled with inadequate vehicles to convey commuters.

A Twitter user Oseni Olanrewaju took to his handle on monday morning to post a short video on the situation with the following statement:

“While I wait for my Boss to pick me At Berger, This is the Situation at the makeshift BRT Park. When Next The Sorosoke, Drone & Dragon Geng Calls On Lagosians, We Will Think Twice. Let @mrmacaronnni @AYCOMEDIAN @SavvyRinu @PeterPsquare Come &Carry Us Now.”

 

 

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