Bangladesh’s President Mohammed Shahabuddin on Tuesday dissolved the parliament, paving the way for the formation of an interim government.
The dissolution of the cabinet came a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country following a violent crackdown on a student-led uprising.
A statement from the President’s office also said Hasina’s arch-rival, Begum Khaleda Zia, a former prime minister, had been freed from house arrest.
The statement added that the decision was taken following meetings with the heads of defence forces, leaders of political parties, student leaders, and some civil society representatives.
Student protesters had threatened more demonstrations if parliament was not dissolved.
Hasina’s flight on Monday ended her 15-year second stint in power.
She had ruled the country for 20 of the last 30 years, having inherited the political movement of her father, Mujubur Rahman, who was assassinated in 1975.
Bangladesh’s army chief, Gen. Waker-Uz-Zaman, was due to meet student leaders to discuss the formation of an interim government that is expected to hold elections soon after it takes over.
Zaman announced Hasina’s resignation on Monday.
Hasina flew to India and is staying at a safe house outside New Delhi.
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Bangladesh president dissolves parliament, frees ex-PM
Arsenal’s Zinchenko trades 35 for lucky charm number 17
Arsenal’s dynamic Ukrainian footballer, Oleksandr Zinchenko, has made a sentimental switch to a new squad number ahead of the upcoming season.
After the departure of Cedric Soares, who previously wore the number 17 shirt, Zinchenko seized the opportunity to claim a number that holds deep personal significance for him.
In a heartfelt statement, Zinchenko shared the importance of this change: “The number 17 is a very special number to me. It was the number I wore as a young player, and I’ve always requested to wear 17 when playing for my country.”
According Online reports that the 2024/24 English Premier League season begins August 17.
A Tuesday statement on the club’s website titled,” Oleksandr Zinchenko gets new squad number,” revealed this.
Oleksandr Zinchenko will wear the number 17 shirt from now on after switching ahead of the new season.
The Ukrainian skipper has taken the number that was previously worn by Cedric Soares but has been vacated since the Portuguese defender departed earlier in the summer, and he admits that the switch is a sentimental one for him.
Explaining the reason for his change, the utility defender said, “The number 17 is a very special number to me. It was the number I wore as a young player, and I’ve always requested to wear 17 when playing for my country.
“With 17 being free since Cedric left, I asked if I could change, and thanks to everyone at the club for supporting me.
“It’s also very important to say that if anyone has bought this season’s new shirt directly from the club with my name and 35 on it, they can get an exchange for my new number.”
Zinchenko joined Arsenal from Manchester City two seasons ago and has always had the jersey number 35, According Online reports.
Hardship: I didn’t insult Tinubu – Ndume insists
Former Senate Chief Whip, Ali Ndume on Tuesday denied insulting President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Ndume said his remarks against the president were borne out of patriotism for Nigeria.
Ndume had criticized Tinubu for refusing to allow his ministers and lawmakers access to him amid the hunger in the country.
The Borno South Senator also claimed that Tinubu’s government consists of kleptomaniacs.
Following his criticisms, Ndume was stripped of his position as the Senate Chief Whip.
However, addressing journalists after a meeting with APC’s National Working Committee, the lawmaker said: “That is something that is moving forward but whatever I said or whatever I did was out of patriotism and those issues may be said strong but they are true but then I should have talked to the party as the last bus stop.
“The President and the Senate have nothing to do with this, the President did not take offence, I didn’t insult the President, I didn’t say anything against the party but I left the party out of reach on issues and so, please I think that is all I can say.”
Hardship: I didn’t insult Tinubu – Ndume insists
Updated October match dates, time announced
There have been amendments to the English Premier League fixtures for October due to broadcast selections in the UK.
The updated schedule reflects changes to accommodate European matches, affecting the dates and times of several games.
The EPL announced this in a Tuesday statement on its website.
According Online earlier reported the full fixtures for the 380 games for the entire season for the 20 participating football clubs.
With each team playing 38 games, the season begins on 17 August 2024 and ends in May 2025.
Below is the revised schedule, including fixtures that have been moved due to European commitments. All kick-off times are at 15:00 BST unless otherwise mentioned.
Saturday 5 October
12:30 Crystal Palace v Liverpool* (TNT Sports)
Arsenal v Southampton
Brentford v Wolves
Chelsea v Nott’m Forest
Leicester v AFC Bournemouth
Man City v Fulham
West Ham v Ipswich
17:30 Everton v Newcastle (Sky Sports)
*Match will move to 20:00 BST if Liverpool play an away match in the UEFA Champions League on Wed 2 Oct.
Sunday 6 October
14:00 Aston Villa v Man Utd (Sky Sports)
16:30 Brighton v Spurs (Sky Sports)
Saturday 19 October
12:30 Spurs v West Ham (TNT Sports)
Fulham v Aston Villa
Ipswich v Everton
Man Utd v Brentford
Newcastle v Brighton
Nott’m Forest v Crystal Palace
Southampton v Leicester
17:30 Liverpool v Chelsea (Sky Sports)**
**Match could move to Sun 20 Oct depending on clubs’ participation in the Champions League on Tue 22 Oct.
Sunday 20 October
14:00 AFC Bournemouth v Arsenal (Sky Sports)***
16:30 Wolves v Man City (Sky Sports)***
***Match could move to Sat 19 Oct depending on clubs’ participation in the Champions League on Tue 22 Oct.
Friday 25 October
20:00 Leicester v Nott’m Forest (Sky Sports)
Saturday 26 October
Aston Villa v AFC Bournemouth
Brentford v Ipswich Town
Brighton v Wolves
Man City v Southampton
17:30 Everton v Fulham (Sky Sports)
Sunday 27 October
14:00 GMT Chelsea v Newcastle (Sky Sports)
14:00 GMT Crystal Palace v Spurs****
14:00 GMT West Ham v Man Utd****
16:30 GMT Arsenal v Liverpool (Sky Sports)
*Moved due to a club playing in the UEFA Europa League on Thurs 24 Oct.
Dangote used Nigeria’s money to become Africa’s richest man – Adeyanju alleges
Activist lawyer, Deji Adeyanju has accused business mogul, Aliko Dangote of using Nigeria’s money to become Africa’s richest man yearly.
Adeyanju said Dangote has killed a lot of businesses in Nigeria because he hates competition.
The constitutional lawyer disclosed this while featuring on The Honest Bunch podcast.
According to Dangote: “Aliko Dangote is a shameless guy, he uses Nigeria’s money to become Africa’s richest man yearly. He has killed a lot of businesses so I don’t know why he’s now crying.
“Dangote does not like competition, he’s an Agip, All Government In Power. What he does is, before any government comes into power, he identifies who will win and donates money to them.
“And when they assume power, he starts ass-kissing them, unfortunately, that did not work with Tinubu and that’s why they are angry with him.
“They are after him because Tinubu’s guys are monopolistic themselves, like Dangote. They feel there is nothing Dangote can do that they can’t. They can do the oil and bring in the sugar.
“So, Nigerians should not sympathize with Aliko, let them fight and finish up themselves.
“You know Nigerians love to take sides in battles that do not directly benefit them.”
Dangote used Nigeria’s money to become Africa’s richest man – Adeyanju alleges
INEC releases final list of voters in Edo, Ondo
The Independent National Electoral Commission has released the final register of voters for the upcoming Edo and Ondo governorship elections.
The decision followed a meeting held by the commission on Tuesday, as contained in a statement signed by the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun.
The new register incorporates new voters from the recent Continuous Voter Registration and includes successful applicants for transfers from other states to Edo and Ondo.
In Edo, “The State now has 2,629,025 registered voters. The new register marked a 4.9 per cent increase from the 2023 General Election figure of 2,501,081. Among these, 1,370,061 are male, representing 52.11 per cent, while 1,258,964 are female, making up 47.89 per cent. Youths aged 18 to 35 accounted for 983,133 voters, which is 37.4 per cent.
“The middle-aged group, aged 36 to 49, comprised 914,806 individuals, collectively constituting 72.2 per cent of the registered voters. 868,764 students constitute the majority of voters or 33.05 percent. Additionally, there are 4,199 Persons with Disability, representing 0.16 per cent of the voters in the state. The new register represents 4.9 per cent increase over the 2023 General Election figure of 2,501,081,” the commission explained.
In Ondo, “The State now has 2,053,061 registered voters.” The new register shows a 3.0 per cent increase over the 2023 General Election figure of 1,991,344. Of these, 1,034,006 are male (50.36 per cent), and 1,018,964 are female (49.64 per cent). Youths aged 18 to 35 years make up 726,944 voters (35.41 percent), while the middle-aged group consists of 721,982 individuals (35.17 percent). Together, they represent 70.57 per cent of the registered voters in the state.
“In terms of occupation, 694,938 students constitute the majority of voters (33.85 per cent). There are 1,782 (0.09 per cent) PWDs. The new register represents a 3.0% increase over the 2023 General Election figure of 1,191,344,” the statement added.
Olumekun noted that INEC has uploaded a detailed breakdown of the voter register by Local Government Areas, gender, age, occupation, and disability to its website and social media platforms for public access.
He further stated that the commission would release the timetable for the collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards for all categories of voters in both states, including new registrants, those who applied for transfers, replacements, and uncollected cards from previous registrations.
“In the next few days, the Commission will release the timetable for the collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards for the two States for all categories of voters including new registrants from the last CVR, voters that applied for transfers, replacements and uncollected cards from previous registrations,” the national commissioner said.
The Edo election is slated to take place on September 21, 2024. Seventeen political parties are presenting candidates for the election.
The Ondo election is scheduled to take place on November 16, 2024. Seventeen political parties fielded candidates, but notably, no female candidates were among the governorship candidates.
EndBadGovernance: No protester was shot by security operatives in Azare – Bauchi Police
The Bauchi State Police Command has dismissed reports insinuating that its operatives shot and killed one of the violent protesters in Azare, headquarters of Katagum Local Government Area of the state yesterday.
TVN recalls that the State Government had declared a 24-hour curfew in Katagum on Monday, following the escalation of the crisis in Azare, the headquarters of Katagum, where hoodlums took advantage of the protest to vandalise the Government House Annex, the house of a former Deputy Governor of the state, broke into shops and looted properties.
But reacting to a purported video circulating online in some sections of the media claiming that security operatives gunned down a protester in Azare, the Command in a statement made available to journalists in Bauch on Tuesday by its Spokesman, SP Ahmed Wakili, said the claims are untrue and misleading.
According to the statement, no such inhumane act was recorded by the Command at the mentioned location or any other part of the state.
“The video is fabricated, and it is important for the public to know that the police were not involved in any such incident,” Wakili claimed.
He explained that “Prior to the nationwide protests, the 22nd Indigenous Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun PhD, NPM, issued a directive on July 31, 2024, that all officers are to appear in camouflage uniforms with a red band on the left-hand side. This is to provide clear identification of all policemen deployed nationwide.”
”In light of this, the video in circulation does not portray or indict any policeman as published by some sections of social media.” he added.
The Spokesman disclosed that the Command has constituted a team of investigators composed of seasoned detectives who have been tasked to address all allegations, suspicions and insinuations from various sources.
EndBadGovernance: No protester was shot by security operatives in Azare – Bauchi Police
Nigerian farmers’ interest must be considered – Customs CG
The Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adeniyi, has said the service will begin implementation of the duty waiver on imported foods in a week.
He, however, mentioned that the long-term interests of Nigerian farmers and other stakeholders who are involved in the production of the affected food items must be considered.
Adeniyi made this known on Tuesday in Abuja during a combined news conference by the heads of security agencies and Service Chiefs, convened by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa at the Defence Headquarters.
He said that the guidelines for the implementation were still being worked out at the Ministry of Finance, saying it would begin as soon as the guidelines were ready.
Adeniyi appealed to Nigerians to exercise patience, adding that efforts were ongoing to address the demands of the protesters, especially concerning the food inflation and cost of living.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that President Bola Tinubu had directed the suspension of import duties and taxes on essential foodstuffs to reduce inflation.
“I like to let Nigerians know that there has been a lot that is going on to address these issues that are related to ameliorating this situation.
“This is through a mixture of fiscal policies of government and a number of strategic interventions from the government.
“The Federal Government’s effort as part of intervention is the distribution of strategic food items which was released from the national grain reserves about a month ago.
“This was released to all states of the federation. We also recall that a number of the food items that are consumed in Nigeria are imported,” the President said.
He added “Better parts of the components are imported and importations are not done off the shelf, it takes some time before they are done.
“So, one of the things that the president has done is to reduce the cost, to
push on the effects of cost inflation by suspending customs duties and taxes on imported food items for a period of time.
“We believe that when this is implemented, it will help to bring down the price of food items in the market.”
According to him, Nigeria Customs is committed to the implementation of this particular fiscal policy as enunciated by the government.
“But I also like to remind Nigerians that we need to be very, very careful in implementation of this and this is why the guidelines for implementation is being meticulously worked out at the Ministry of Finance,” he said.
Adeniyi said there was a need to understand what the intervention implied for the local markets, adding that the government was trying to address the interests of all the stakeholders.
He added that most of these food items that enjoyed the duty waivers and concessions were also being cultivated by Nigerian farmers, hence the need to balance interests.
“There is the issue of striking a balance between the long-term interest of Nigerian farmers and stakeholders who are involved in the production of these items and the short-term interest of addressing food inflation.
“So the guidelines are being worked out at the Ministry of Finance and I can assure you that within the next one week, these guidelines will be ready and Nigeria customs will begin implementation of these particular fiscal policies,” he added.
NAN.
Ogun to hold local council election November 16
The Ogun State government has fixed November 16 for election in the 20 local government areas of the state.
The Chairman of the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC), Babatunde Osibodu, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Abeokuta.
He said guidelines for the elections would be released on August 8 while campaigns by political parties would begin the following day.
Osibodu said: “The political parties are also scheduled to hold their party primaries between Monday, August 26, and Monday, September 9, 2024.”
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Police arrest 10 with Russian flags, 101 for violent protest in Gombe
The Gombe State Police Command on Tuesday paraded 10 suspects with Russian flags during the #EndBadGovernance protest.
Briefing journalists at the state Criminal Investigation Department, the Commissioner of Police, Hayatu Usman, said the outright display of another country’s flag was disrespectful to the national symbols.
Represented by the Public Relations Officer, ASP Buhari Abdullahi, said the protesters were arrested in the violent protest utterly showed disrespect to the country.
He said, “Raising of foreign flags on 5th August; 2024 we have also seen the unsettling display of foreign flags by some protesters. This act not only disrespects our national symbols but also commits treasonable felony-related offenses. Hence, 10 suspects were arrested flying Russian flags.
“The command’s primary goal remains to restore peace and order and protect life and property. We are committed to a measured response, ensuring that the rights of peaceful protesters are respected while addressing those who engage in violence or unlawful activities.”
While parading those involved in the looting of property across private and public establishments, Usman added, “Looting of public and private property: The looting of both public and private property during these protests is a grave concern.
“For instance, the looting of Gombe State Revenue Recovery Tribunal, Bima Lodge, Gombe State Bureau of Public Service Reform, NITEL Company, and Blue-J motors among others.
Such actions not only undermine the rule of law but also disrupt communities and harm businesses.
“However, the command is coordinating with local communities and other agencies to address these illegal activities and hold those responsible accountable. Therefore, 92 suspects were arrested with some of the vandalised and stolen property and they are still under investigation.”
He noted that nine suspects were nabbed for partaking in violent acts.