The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party,(PDP), in the 20198 governorship election in Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has berated Governor Gboyega Oyetola.

Oyetola, in a statement credited to him, had derided Adeleke as a compulsive dancer who presented only his 'dancing skill' as the only quality he has to govern the state. 

The governor described Adeleke as someone lacking the requisite mental strength and academic qualifications to stand for an election.

In a swift reaction on Thursday, Adeleke declared that it was better for him to dance and exude happiness and joy than “imposing sorrows and untold hardship by looting public treasury”.

He alleged that the governor was instrumental in the economic woes the state is experiencing, claiming that the people actually preferred him to the governor.

Adeleke said: "There is nothing wrong in dancing especially when praising God, our creator. But everything is wrong with the exploitation of the weak and underprivileged.

“Osun people know that I am not the facilitator and prime partaker in the looting of Osun state’s treasury. For more than eight years, Gboyega Oyetola was the chief enabler of the most corrupt, inept and anti-people administration in the history of Osun state.

“I dare Oyetola to walk the streets of Osun alongside me and see who will get mobbed and stoned by the embittered citizens of our dear state. The people had voted the honest dancer and rejected the false progressives who had ruined the fortunes of Osun state and sentenced generations unborn to excruciating debt burden.

“It is shameful for Oyetola to be gloating over daylight electoral robbery which is being roundly condemned as rape of justice by all sectors of Nigerian society and indeed internationally. Osun people were denied the supremacy of their will and on them was foisted a governor they did not elect, a governor they rejected.

“Osun people will remember that immediately after the apex court ruling,I issued a press statement congratulating Oyetola and restraining our members and supporters from violence and anti-peace actions. I claim credit for restoring normalcy, peace and stability to Osun state after the protracted governorship battle.

"At a time Oyetola and his band of usurpers were at a loss on how to manage the usurpation and its resultant tension in the land, I deployed diplomacy, putting the safety of our people above all considerations despite the blatant robbery you now call electoral loss.

“While top state and national leaders of even his party, the All Progressives Congress and other well-meaning Nigerians appreciated our sportsmanship, the chief usurper seem to lack the decorum expected of a democratically-elected governor.

“Let me remind Oyetola that his records as the chief of staff of Rauf Aregbesola clearly confirmed his incompetence as an administrator but showed his competence at treasury looting.

“Osun people fully know his records. They are aware this his stolen tenure is going to be devoted to covering up their evil tracks of the last eight years."

He further accused the government of concealing the total debt owed by the state.

He added that the state of infrastructures in Osun is deplorable despite the government claiming to have spent billions of naira, citing the failed MKO Abiola Airport located at Ido-Osun.

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Pa Rebuen Fasoranti

Pa Rebuen Fasoranti

The Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), the New Era faction, has issued a 21-day ultimatum to the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies in the country to fish out the killers of Mrs. Funke Olakunrin, the daughter of Afenifere leader, Pa. Reuben Fasoranti.

Mrs Olakunrin was killed last Friday by masked gunmen along the Ore-Sagamu road.

However, in a statement issued by its spokesman, Adeshina Akinpelu, the OPC New Era said failure to find the killers after the ultimatum, its members will embark on an operation to drive out all the criminals amongst Fulani herdsmen, their accomplices among Yoruba and other tribes who are perpetrating all manner of evils in all Yoruba-speaking states.

Akinpelu said, “Time has come for us to act now. We will no longer fold our hands and allow herdsmen to continue to kill us like cows. We cannot continue to use the blood of our people to keep Nigeria’s unity. We are giving the police and other security agencies 21-day ultimatum to fish out the killers of Mrs. Funke Olakunrin.

“Failure to fish out the killers, we will have no option than to take the destiny of our people in our hands and drive out all criminally-minded Fulani herdsmen, their accomplices among the Yoruba and other tribes perpetrating crimes in Yoruba land,” Akinpelu threatened.

The group, while accusing Fulani oligarchy of alleged plan to re-capture Yorubaland after failing in previous attempts in the past, stated that it would resist any attempt to cajole and silence Yoruba leaders for voicing their opinion on insecurity in the country.

“We are aware that this is part of the grand conspiracy of the Fulani oligarchy to re-capture Yoruba land after failing in previous attempts in the past.

“These Fulani were responsible for the fall of first and second Oyo empires through cunning methods. Their third attempt which was real war was met with stiff resistance from the Yoruba people who drove them back after they reached Osogbo.

“The killing of Mrs. Funke Olakunrin is a part of a grand conspiracy of the Fulani oligarchy to silence some of our leaders from speaking the truth and making critical appraisal of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government," he said.

Akinpelu, however, stated further that the OPC was not in any way surprised by the Miyetti Allah’s call for the arrest of Obasanjo, disclosing that they have a great supporter in President Buhari.

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Lagos Zonal office, has arrested a Nigeria Immigration Service officer, Mr Adebimpe Kehinde, for his alleged involvement in passport racketeering.

Mr Tony Orilade, EFCC acting spokesperson, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Thursday. Orilade said that Mr Kehinde is an immigration assistant.

According to Orilade, Kehinde was arrested alongside 14 other suspected passport racketeers following intelligence reports received by the commission.

The suspects are Nnadika Timothy, Oyeyiga Samuel, Sunday Adekunle, Lola Kadoso, Adebayo Damilola, Adeola Oluwafikayomi Ajiboshin, Abubakri Adebayo.

Others are Uka Ifeanyi, Raph Emeka Ibuaku, Henry Onyebuchi, Christy Odey, Aba-Peter Blessing, Ogunmefun Oluwanishola and Busayo Balogun.

Orilade stated that the suspects conspired to extort money from unsuspecting members of the public applying for international passports.

According to him, items recovered from the suspects at the point of arrest include five laptops, mobile telephones and "official documents".

“They will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded,” he stated.

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President Buhari in his farm

The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has said President Muhammadu Buhari and his government would be held responsible should any northerner fall victim of the consequences of the concerns they raised about the safety of Fulani herdsmen in the southern part of the country.

Buhari had told Fulani herdsmen in the southern part of the country to ignore northern elders' statement urging them to leave southern  Nigeria.

However, not convinced by the assurance of safety from the presidency, CNG's spokesperson, Abdul-Aziz Suleiman, said in a statement made available in Abuja that while they welcomed the assurance by the president, they were not oblivious of the fact that the lives of their kinsmen were not secure in the southern part of the country.

“CNG wholeheartedly welcomes the assurance given by Mr. President and his government to protect and guarantee the safety of all Nigerians anywhere they are, including the threatened herdsmen in the South.

“We, however, wish to remind Mr. President and the government that northerners would hold them fully responsible should any one of them fall victim of the consequences of the concerns we raised,” he said.

Suleiman said he was amazed at the denial of southern leaders that they did not declare war on herders following the killing of the daughter of an Afenifere chieftain by those he called "unknown assassins".

The group, in conjunction with the Northern Elders Forum, had asked Fulani herdsmen to immediately return to the north if their security was no longer guaranteed in the southern part of the country.

The statement read: “Recall that on July 11 2019 in response to reactions that trailed our earlier submissions, we issued a statement acknowledging the committed concern of the Northern Governors Forum and the Northern Elders Forum in bringing an end to the tensions instigated around the farmers-herders problems.

“In that response, we indicated our acceptance of the invitation for discussions by the leadership of the two forums as a result of which a meeting with the northern elders was fixed for Tuesday, 15 July 2019.

“We went to the meeting with a prepared position which we presented to the leadership of Northern Elders Forum in which we highlighted the utterances made by the southern leaders including decisions taken by some notable political, religious and cultural leaders of the South.

“We capped our submission by pointing out the dangerous war bells sounded by the southern leaders that tended to instigate violence against the herders living in the South following the killing of the daughter of the Afenifere leader, Mrs. Olakunrin Fasoranti.

“We then politely called the attention of the elders to the imminent attack the Fulani were exposed to in the South while the federal authorities remained silent on the matter.

“We made a request to the elders by precisely saying that based on the our observations and the fact that the instigation of hatred against the Fulani persists, we feel obliged to advise the leadership of the Northern Elders Forum to consider calling on the Fulani to forego their right to live and flourish anywhere in the south and relocate to their various states in the north to ensure their safety noting the inherent return value of such denial.”

According to him, Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, Professor Ango Abdullahi, responded by acknowledging the concern.

“We are worried about their wellbeing. If it is true that their safety can no longer be assured, we rather have them back in areas where their safety is guaranteed. The bottom line is that their safety is far more important than their stay there. This is a country we all wish to keep together and not at the expense of other sections,” Abdullahi was quoted to have said.

He added, “Surprisingly, barely 24 hours after Fulani herders were accused of killing Mrs Olakunrin, leaders of southern groups such as PANDEF, Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo and a certain Middle Belt forum issued a joint statement tending to deny having made inflammatory remarks capable of instigating violence against the Fulani in the South or that the security of the herders in the South was not in danger as to have warranted concern from the North.”

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The Department of State Services (DSS) says its attention has been drawn to activities of some unscrupulous elements cloning official websites of some government agencies for the purpose of defrauding unsuspecting Nigerians.

According to  NAN, Mr Peter Afunanya, spokesman for the DSS, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

Afunanya said there were instances of the official identities/paraphernalia of certain Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) were deceptively deployed by these criminals to shortchange vulnerable persons.

“Notably, the Nigeria Social Investment Trust Fund (NSITF) and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) have so far suffered the tricks of these fraudsters who use decoys to manipulate their victims.

“This, in the case of NSITF, has resulted in loss of varying sums of money by those promised huge returns on Federal Government’s investments and other poverty alleviation initiatives which ended up as scam.

“Some persons have also engaged in the illegal sale of NYSC kits and accouterments to prospective corps members.

“They also advertise the issuance of medical clearance certificates as well as redeployment of corps members to preferred states for primary assignment on medical, security, marital grounds or other reasons,” he said.

He said the DSS was on top of the situation by working with the agencies to identify and arrest suspects. He, however, enjoined the public and prospective corps members to be wary and conscious of the fraudulent developments.

Afunanya, therefore, warned perpetrators to desist from the act or be ready to face the full consequences of their actions as the service would continue to track the criminals.

He urged the public to exercise restraint in dealing with unknown or unconfirmed persons or groups and called for verification of information from relevant authorities and agencies.

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Goje in dock

Goje in dock

Senator Danjuma Goje, has said he had never faced a N25 billion corruption charge preferred by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Goje, the senator representing Gombe Central at the National Assembly, disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

His denial is, however, running contrary to a story published by the EFCC on their website in 2013 which clearly stated that the former Gombe State Governor was standing trial along four others for 25 billion alleged fraud.

The story on the EFCC website reads in part: “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has urged Justice B.O. Quadri of the Federal High Court, Gombe, to discountenance the opposition of Sambo Muhammad Tumu to the admissibility of his statement which he claimed was obtained involuntarily.

“Tumu, a food supplier to Gombe State Government House alongside the erstwhile governor of Gombe State, Muhammad Danjuma Goje and four others are facing a N25 billion conspiracy and money laundering charge brought against them by EFCC. See Also Breaking News BREAKING: Court Throws Out Danjuma Goje's Corruption Case After Order From President Buhari, Attorney General 0 Comments 2 Weeks Ago

“At the resumed hearing of the case on Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th May 2013, his counsel Paul Erokoro, SAN insisted the statement of his client should not be admitted in evidence”.

However, in a statement signed by Mr Paul Erokoro, lawyer to the senator, Goje said the claim was “inaccurate and untrue".

Erokoro was reacting to recent reports in the media that corruption charge being faced by the senator were withdrawn following his decision to step down from the Senate president race in June.

He insisted that the actual amount mentioned in the charge was N9 billion.

“The so-called 'N25 billion fraud' that has been bandied about in the media, never featured in the case. The sum total of all the monies mentioned in the charge was about N8 billion.

“Of that total, N5 billion was a loan taken from Access Bank for completion of infrastructural projects such as the Gombe airport, waterworks, numerous roads, Gombe Jewel Hotels, schools, hospitals and rural electrification.

“The bank testified in court that the money was properly utilised for the projects. The EFCC investigators also confirmed to the Court that the projects were all completed.”

On the N1 billion agricultural loan, he said that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had testified in court that the loan was utilised in full compliance with the bank’s loan conditions.

“Other witnesses told the court that the governor never awarded any contract for the supply of food to Government House and Government Guest Houses during his tenure for the N1 billion alleged in the charge or for any other sum.

“On the N1.6 billion for the supply of English Dictionaries for primary and secondary schools, the Court was told that Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) gave its approval and that the contract was advertised in two newspapers and that reputable book publishers and suppliers tendered and that State Universal Basic Education Board awarded the contract to the lowest bidder.”

He said all the 19 counts of the charge around the above monetary issues collapsed during the trial.

He said because the prosecution witnesses completely exonerated the defendants the 19 counts were dismissed by the court on th See Also Exclusive EXCLUSIVE: Senate Presidency: How President Buhari Plans To Drop EFCC Case Against Danjuma Goje 0 Comments 1 Month Ago e ground of no case submission.

He added that the star witness of the prosecution, a senior EFCC operative who headed the investigation, told the court that throughout their investigation, no money belonging to the Gombe State government was traced to the governor, his family members or associates.

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According to a press statement by Ademola Olajire, NFF’s media director, Amaju Pinnick’s tenure as the first vice president of CAF was not extended at the 32nd Executive Congress held at Marriot Hotel, Cairo in Egypt, on Thursday.

“In line with Article 22(4) of the CAF Statutes, every two years when elections are held at the CAF Congress (as took place today), the CAF Executive Committee on the proposal of the CAF President, elects a 1st, 2nd and 3rd Vice President respectively from among its members,” the statement said.

It added, “Significantly, the renewal of Amaju Pinnick’s tenure was not proposed by the CAF president because of fundamental differences on focus and direction.

“Pinnick accepted the decision of the president as it aligned with his own view having considered matters surrounding the administration of African football which has dovetailed into the Nigerian football space. See Also Breaking News BREAKING: Pinnick Impeached As CAF First Vice President 0 Comments 2 Days Ago

“He will, however, remain a bonafide member of the CAF Executive Committee to continue with his mandate as such.

“It has, however, been an excellent opportunity to serve as the number two football administrator in the entire African continent and my commitment to the game is perpetual while my support for my colleagues in the Executive Committee remains steadfast.

“I congratulate, Omari, Lekja and Danny on the assumption of their new roles as 1st, 2nd and 3rd Vice CAF Presidents respectively.”

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President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Mr Amaju Pinnick, has been impeached as 1st Vice-President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

His removal took place on Thursday at CAF Executive Committee meeting,  after a well attended congress in Cairo Egypt.

Pinnick was elevated to the position after the corruption case brought against former Ghana FA President and CAF First VP, Kwesi Nyantakyi.

CAF executive committee on Wednesday agreed to allow FIFA Secretary General to take charge of the administration of CAF for a period of 6 months.

The FIFA Secretary is expected to take over the running of CAF in spite of objection by some Executive Committee members.

Samoura will be in charge for an initial six-month period due to begin on August 1, with her team responsible to carry out a “full forensic audit” of CAF, whose President Ahmad Ahmad is facing an allegation of corruption.

Ahmad was arrested over corruption charges in Paris last month, News Agency of Nigeria reports.

A Twitter user, Osasu Obayiuwana, who is in Egypt tweeted a message saying that it was unclear why Pinnick was removed.

Breaking: @PinnickAmaju has been removed as @CAF_Online 1st Vice-President. The action was taken at CAF’s ongoing exco committee meeting, taking place after the conclusion of Thursday’s congress. Details to follow. Soon. pic.twitter.com/Tv743SyRkN

— Osasu Obayiuwana (@osasuo) July 18, 2019

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Austin Nwagbara, the Nigerian Professor sacked by a Ghanaian university over  unsavoury comments about Ghana, has recounted his ordeal, vowing not to go back to Ghana because of the humiliation.

He spoke on Thursday in Abuja at a meeting with the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Citizens in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

Nwagbara noted that the police further complicated the matter when he voluntarily reported at the police station alongside the Nigeria High Commissioner. He claimed the police twisted the story that he was arrested and handcuffed.  

The Professor of English noted that the meeting in the video was supposed to be a private discussion and not a lecture as Ghanaian media claimed, adding that it was not meant to condemn the people of Ghana. See Also Ghana UPDATE: We Supply Ghana Manpower, We Get Insults Back –Nigerian Professor Arrested By Ghanaian Police 0 Comments 1 Month Ago  

He said the Ghanaian media deliberately skewed the story as part of their anti-Nigeria agenda with the view to cast aspersion on Nigerians living in their country.  

He added that the entire story was orchestrated to run Nigeria down.

He said, "It was a gathering of Nigerians who came out to see how the unfriendly relationship between Ghanaians and Nigerians could be resolved. For a large part of that meeting, Nigerians were taking the blame but the person who edited the video has his agenda.  

“I know that nobody likes to be condemned and the intention was not to talk bad about Ghanaians. I have a great Ghanaian friend. I taught many Ghanaian students and we have been in good relationships. There are great Ghanaian scholars but the media projected it in a strange way, saying,  "who is  this Nigerian to come and question our system."

"You cannot plan a coup in an open place, you cannot do it in an open restaurant and what will I be planning a coup for? That is an absolute lack of knowledge to say a Nigerian with thirty others were planning to take over the government of Ghana." See Also Education Ghanaians Vs Nigerians: Ghana University Dismisses Vocal Nigerian Professor Nwagbara 0 Comments 1 Month Ago

The professor also said he was not given enough time to defend himself before the panel of enquiry set up by the university to investigate the matter.  . 

The University of Education, Winneba, Ghana, had sacked Nwagbara, a visiting Nigerian lecturer, over comments he made in a video that has since gone viral.

He was accused of making unsavoury, unethical and damning comments about Ghana, its history as well as its educational system. 

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One of my favorite works of Professor Wole Soyinka is “telephone conversation,” a poem written more than 50 years ago while he was a student in London. 

Telephone conversation is a hilarious take on a very serious subject of racism encountered by African students from prospective landlords in 1950 London. It is engrossing, brilliant and as relevant today as it was back then.

The poem begins this way: “the price seemed reasonable, location indifferent.  The landlady swore she lived off premise. Nothing remained but self-confession, “madam,” I warned, “I hate a wasted journey, I am African.”

Then further down the poem continues.

“Are you dark? Or very light?” The landlord asks.

The response: “you mean like plain or milk chocolate?”

The poem ends this way:

“Facially, I am brunette, but madam you should see the rest of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my feet are peroxide blonde.”

For nearly 60 years, Professor Soyinka, who turned 85 this month, has championed freedom, justice and human rights. He has been an advocate for the voiceless, vigorously opposed censorship and served as a drum major for democracy worldwide.

He has used his poems, plays, novels, memoirs and essays as vehicles to challenge repressive and incompetent leaders, skewer pomposity, challenge our assumptions and to take on a wide range of subjects, many of these uncomfortable, but necessary. 

For instance, in Kongi’s harvest, his prize-winning play which was later made into a movie by Ossie Davis, Soyinka satirizes a West African dictator who apparently plans to be president for life. 

He has confronted crooked civilian leaders, mediocre civil servants and brutal megalomaniac military dictators. 

In mid-1967, he was arrested and imprisoned without trial for nearly two years by Nigeria’s military dictator for trying to negotiate a peace deal with the leader of a breakaway region.  Shortly after his release from prison, he was forced into exile in the United Kingdom, where he taught at Cambridge University. While in exile, he published “the man died: prison notes of Wole Soyinka,” a critically acclaimed memoir and searing indictment of military dictatorship.

An equal opportunity critic, he opposed Soviet hegemony in Eastern Europe, fiercely campaigned against apartheid in South Africa and scolded the United States for intervening in Nicaragua. He was a vocal critic of Sudan’s atrocities in Dafur. And he has long opposed the notion that African and Asian countries should be held to lesser standards on human rights violation for the ridiculous reason that western culture is still relatively new to them. 

Soyinka once told an interviewer: “I have one abiding religion and it is human liberty.... Conditioned to the truth that life is meaningless, insulting, without this fullest liberty….”

Soyinka has also used literature as a channel for exploring, explaining and celebrating his native Yoruba culture – and by extension African tradition. 

In Ake, a heartwarming 1982 memoir about the early years of his life, Soyinka entertains readers with tales of growing up in his hometown, Abeokuta, in southwestern Nigeria in the 1930s and 1940s. The New York Times named Ake one of the 12 best books of the year. 

Unlike many of the literary titans of the last 60 years – novelist Toni Morrison, playwright August Wilson, poet Derek Walcottand short story writer Alice Munro – Soyinka has consistently distinguished himself as a master of several literary genres.  He is a celebrated playwright, poet, memoirist and novelist, an actor, filmmaker and journalist. Soyinka may well be the most versatile writer in the English language today. 

In 1986, his prodigious body of work earned him the Nobel Prize for literature – making him the first African and the first black person to win the world’s most important literary award. 

In awarding him the prize, the Swedish academy singled out his plays "Death and the king's horseman" and "A dance of the forests" as "evidence that Soyinka is `one of the finest poetical playwrights to have written” in the English language. 

The literary critic Thomas Hayes wrote: "(Soyinka’s) drama and fiction have challenged the West to….accept African standards of art and literature.

But Soyinka is more than just a brilliant writer and activist.  He is a teacher who has shaped and influenced many lives. 

For half a century,  he has taught at some of the world’s finest universities, including Harvard, Yale, Cornell and Emory.Henry Louis gates, Jr.’, the distinguished Harvard scholar, has repeatedly described Soyinka as his mentor.

Writing in the New York Times, the noted historian Adam Hochschild described Soyinka as “among the Africans who deserve a secular sainthood….”

For me, Professor Soyinka exemplifies much of the ideals of a liberal arts education and much of what we try to instill in our students: broadmindedness, selflessness, courage, determination, vision and creativity. These pillars are critical not only for success in this increasingly global, highly competitive environment and uncertain times, but they are vital to ensuring that they create a legacy that is both meaningful and significant. 

Wole Soyinka personifies success, significance, sacrifice and selflessness; one of the world’s greatest men of letters – the playwright, novelist, poet, actor, social critic, human rights activist, teacher and Nobel prize laureate professor Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka. Happy 85th!

 

Benjamin Ola. Akande is a former President of Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri and Vice Chancellor at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri

benjaminakande@wustl.edu

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A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has described the call by Nigeria's Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, for a national security summit as “escapist and diversionary.”

He expressed his displeasure with the call in a statement on Thursday.

Falana said, "Not too long ago, a former President regularly convened security meetings to address the security challenges facing the country when he was in power. But under his watch, the country witnessed the highest rate of politically motivated killings in the history of the country because the recommendations of the security summits were never implemented.

"On February 8, 2018, the Senate convened a well attended national security summit at Abuja. The executive branch of the Federal government participated at the summit. Incidentally, Senator Ahmed Lawan was the Chairman of the ad hoc committee set up by the senate to review the security situation in the country. The committee submitted a report with far-reaching recommendations. But apart from the enactment of the Police Security Fund, the other recommendations of the committee have not been implemented.

"Furthermore, on June 8, 2019, the executive convened a security summit attended by the President, Vice President, the 36 state governors and service chiefs to review the security situation in the country. The resolutions of the summit have not been implemented.”

Falana said instead of calling for the set up of another security summit, the senate should implement the resolutions of the senate and the recommendations of the executive on national security.

He added, "Notwithstanding that section 214 of the Constitution provides that there shall be one police force in Nigeria, the National Assembly enacted the Security and Civil Defence Corps Act in 2003 and thereby established another police force. In addition, the operatives of the graft agencies, customs, prisons, federal road safety corps etc have been authorized to bear arms by a Presidency that is opposed to State Police.

"Therefore, the National Assembly should end the official hypocrisy by ensuring that the Constitution is amended to allow each government to establish a state police service to secure the life and property of the Nigerian people.

"As a matter of urgency, the National Assembly should appropriate a Special Security Fund for the recruitment and training of police personnel without any further delay.

"In line with the provisions of the Constitution, the Nigeria Police Council (constituted by the President, state governors, Inspector-General of Police and Chairman of Police Service Commission) should meet on a regular basis to administer, organize and supervise the Nigeria Police Force.

"Pursuant to Section 14 of the constitution, the federal, state and local governments should be constituted in such a manner to reflect the diversity of the people. In particular, workers, women, youths and physically challenged are entitled to be included in the governments.

"Recently, the Federal Ministry of Finance announced that the sum of N605bn had been recovered from asset recovery and the whistle blowing policy of the federal government. In the same vein, the anti graft agencies, Federal Ministry of Justice and Presidential Panel on Public Property have announced the recovery of hundreds of billions of Naira. From the recovered loot the federal government should earmark the sum of N1 billion for job creation in each local government in the country.

"State governments should embark on the immediate prosecution of all armed robbery, murder and kidnap suspects that have been paraded by the police and other security agencies.

"In order to end the violent clashes between farmers and herders, state governments should speed up the establishment of ranches and abattoirs in various parts of the country."

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An army commander and at least 20 soldiers have been killed in an ambush by Boko Haram insurgents in Yobe State, TheCable reports.

The troops were ambushed on their way from Borogozo in Yobe where the headquarters of the army’s 29 task force brigade to Benisheikh in Yobe, where they have a forward operating base (FOB). 

A military source in sector 2 headquarters of operation Lafiya Dole told TheCable that the incident happened around 6pm on Wednesday. 

“They were on their way to Benisheikh when they ran into the enemy. The commander of that brigade, a colonel, and about 20 soldiers were killed,” he said. 

Reinforcement was reportedly sent to the town and it was confirmed that the brigade commander had been killed.

Among the bodies reportedly identified was that of a captain and four soldiers. Their bodies have since been moved to the 7 division hospital in Maiduguri, Borno state capital.

Sources said one of the soldiers who escaped the ambush has returned to the base in Benisheikh.

In June, at least 28 soldiers were reportedly killed while the insurgents ransacked a military base in Gajiram, Nganzai local government area of Borno.

Musa Sagir, army spokesman, had not responded to a text message sent by TheCable as of the time this report was filed.

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Nigeria has spent a total of $12.38 billion in the last 46 years. Between 1999 and 2019 Nigeria Spent N2 trillion and Buhari spent 45% of that fund. 

The chronological  timeline is shared below 

1973-1998: The Nigerian government spent $1.83bn on installing 5.715GW Hydro and Gas power plants.

Please note the Nigerian Naira was stronger than the USD from 1973 till 1985 and it started tumbling from 1986 onwards.

1999-2019: Our federal lords spent a paltry N2 trillion and they expect Magic to happen.

The cash we have spent in the last 46 years in the power Sector is not up to the Annual revenue generated From the South African Electricity Sector.

N955bn+ which was released to the power ministry within the year captured exclusive of MYTO subsidies as follows:

*1999 – N11.206 billion appropriated, N6.698billion released;

*2000 – N59.064billion appropriated, N49,785 billion released;

*2001 – N103. 397 billion appropriated, N70.927 billion released;

*2002 – N54.647billion appropriated, N41.196 billion released;

*2003 – N55.583billion appropriated, N5.207billion released;

*2004 – N54.647billion appropriated, N54. 647billion released;

*2005 – N90.283 billion appropriated, N71.889 billion released;

*2006 – N74.308 billion appropriated, N74. 3 billion released;

Total - N374.65 billion ($2.88 billion) Obasanjo Regime.

*2007 – N100 billion appropriated, N99.8 billion released;

*2008 – N156 billion appropriated, N112 billion released;

*2009 – N89. 5 billion appropriated, N87billion released;

*2010 – N172 billion appropriated, N70 billion released;

Total N368.8 billion ($2.63 billion) Yardua Regime and a Grand total inclusive of  MYTO subsidies N442.4 billion ($3.28 billion)

 

*2011 – N125 billion appropriated, N61 billion released;

*2012 – N197. 9 billion appropriated, N53. 5billion released;

*2013- N146 billion appropriated, N49 billion released;

*2014 – N69.8 billion appropriated, N48 billion released; and,

Total N211.5 billion ($1.36 billion) GEJ Regime and a Grand total of N293 billion inclusive of MYTO subsidies $1.89 billion
 

*2015 – N5. 240billion appropriated, no record but we can say it is not 100% funded. 

*2015 -2019 N900 billion  was released according to Vice President Osinbajo and another 600 billion is in the pipeline 

N155b released as subsidy fund for MYTO Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO)   ($1.05 billion)

The funds were given for a period of five years. A breakdown of the interventions funds are as follows:

*2009 – N30.8 billion

*2010 -N43.2 billion

*2011 – N37.0 billion

*2012 – N11.5 billion

*2013 – N32.6 billion.

$8.23bn was released to NIPP from ECA to push our installed generating capacity with  5GW and OBJ regime released  $3.08bn while the balance was spent between 2007-2015

Federal Government made  $2.238 billion about  N358 billion from the sale of 15 Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN

Our Spending according to CBN and other verifiable sources like Budget office

(1)Obasanjo Regime -N374.65 bn $2.88 bn)

(2)Yar'adua RegimeN442.4bn ($3.28bn)

(3)GEJ Regime -   N293 bn $1.89 billion

From 1999 - 2015 Nigerian Government invested N1.109 trillion inclusive of MYTO subsidies

(4)Buhari Regime - N900bn  $2.95 billion

This is a grand total of N2 trillion in the last 20 years and in Dollar Value is $11 billion in twenty years 

From 1973 till date Nigerian Government has spent a total of $12.83 billion and when the sold PHCN the made $2.238 billion.

The Presidential Review Panel on the NIPP set up by the NEC, said the panel found that as at 2007, total project allocations/ estimates to NIPP was $10.231 billion inclusive of the $2 billion Federal Government counterpart funding for Mambilla Hydro Power project and $1.4 billion for additional nine turbines.

out of these commitments, $3.08 billion was funded and scrutinised with advance payment guarantees from “first class” Nigerian banks and Letters of Credits issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).  $1.5 billion of the sum is still in the custody of the banks.

At no time did OBJ spend $16bn on power or the Nigerian  government  spend $16bn in the last 46years. it is outright  falsehood.
 

Ettu  Mohammed

Opinion AddThis :  Original Author :  Ettu Mohammed Disable advertisements : 

I started following Vice President Osinbajo closely in my last year in university before I returned home in 2016. His speech at the 50th Anniversary of the civil war that I listened to on YouTube convinced me that we have a leader in him. Whenever I news item comes up on him I investigate it.  

I have also been interested in Mr Bayo Oluwasanmi especially for his forthright, although sometimes needlessly strong language in engaging the issues of our times and they are many. This is why his article titled...Re: Muhammad Gulani: Lying Sicko Defends Pastor RUGA Osinbajo... caught my attention and I chose to research the points especially the lies he claims Osinbajo told. I am not a lawyer, I am a physicist and so I cannot claim any strong capacity for argument but I like the truth and fairness. Bayo says rather boastfully of himself “I am a radical truth-teller in my writings. Whenever I sit at my desk to build another cathedral of paragraphs to stubbornly repudiate lies, half-truths, corruption, incompetence, impotence, of Buhari- Osinbajo administration, I do it with the zeal of an evangelist.”  

This sort of zeal is both good and dangerous as we will see, as it may lead to the use of hyperbole, dissembling, and even lies to justify the zealot’s preconceptions. Be careful. But let’s consider his allegations
Bayo Oluwasanmi accuses the VP of lying about the number of Nigerians in poverty during Jonathan’s presidency. “He said 112.7 million Nigerians were in poverty under Jonathan. Whereas, United Nations and World Poverty Clock contradict Osinbajo. According to the two bodies, 87 million Nigerians are in poverty in 2018 under Buhari.”

Well, I checked this out and found that Mr. Oluwasanmi was wrong. The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics(NBS) under the Jonathan administration is the source of the figure of 112.7 million (see https://nigerianstat.gov.ng/elibrary?queries[search]=poverty (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17015873).

This was the last household poverty study done in Nigeria. There are no official current figures the new surveys are just being conducted. Besides I read an article by Oluwasanmi himself published in Sahara Reporters (Dec. 2016) titled “Happy 54th Birthday, Saraki: Mafia Boss of Nigerian Politics!” where he said “Nigeria remains a largely poor country with 80 per cent of its population still ekes out a living on less than $1 a day. Life expectancy is at abysmal 45 years......” assuming our population is 170 million, 80% will be 136 million! 20 million higher than Osinbajo’s “lie”. Of course, if our population is 200million Bayo’s own figure will then be 160 million.

Second, he says, that “while speaking to the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) Osinbajo lied that the greatness of Nigeria is its diversity. The opposite, Mr. Oluwasanmi says, is true. We all know he says that “for 58 years, the diversity of Nigeria has not translated into peace, progress, and prosperity.”

Except if the word “lie” now has a different meaning or there is some overzealousness on his part to find lies, how is it a lie for someone to assert that our greatness lies in our diversity? So, we have, a Nobel Laurette, Wole Soyinka (Yoruba/ religion unknown) the richest man in Africa, Dangote (Hausa/ Muslim), inventor of the world’s fastest computer, Phillip Emegwali (Ibo/Christian) just to mention the most obvious. How can this obvious truth that the strength of a nation is in its diversity be a lie? Even if the country has several challenges that fundamental truth is in no way diminished.

Fourth, he says Osinbajo lied that APC didn't promise Nigerian’s restructuring. I have not come across anywhere where the VP said this. His position is that restructuring Nigeria geographically, i.e. going back to the old regional arrangements is not useful, what we need according to him are stronger more autonomous States (https://www.pulse.ng/news/local/yemi-osinbajo-vice-president-at-lagos-assembly-advocates-stronger-autonomous-states/1zxzr99) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4CZ8C69ZX4).

Fifth, he said that Osinbajo lied during the presidential town hall meeting. “He said the legislature did not send the Disability bill, “Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Bill, 2018 to the executive arm of government. The bill was sent to the president December 18, 2018. “

Both President Buhari and Osinbajo have been strong advocates of the Bill. Indeed, Buhari is the first President to appoint a Senior Special Assistant on Disability in the person of Dr. Samuel Ankeli. The fact that they were not aware of the Bill being in the Presidency is not necessarily a lie. The President has never been shy of refusing assent if he doesn’t agree with a bill. In any event he signed the Bill into law and it is now law. It seems a case of calling a dog a bad name to hang it to say that it was a lie to say that they were not aware the Bill was in the Presidency.

Sixth, as for the number of jobs created by the Social Investment Programme under the office of the Vice President and the successes of the Programme. I will rely more on what independent analysts have said than what the government says. The Nigeria Economic Summit Group, (NESG), the Policy Innovation Unit (PIU) conducted detailed evaluation of the NSIPs. The PIU is jointly made up of NESG, Accenture and Busara Center for Behavioral Economics. (https://allafrica.com/stories/201906070560.html) (https://kufm.net/2019/06/06/n155-billion-sip-fund-have-measurable-results-nesg/) And they found that “NSIP have delivered measurable results even though it has only received 31% of the Annual Budget of N 500 Billion.” My view is that when the SIP gives the figure of 500,000 young men and women (N-Power) currently engaged , and many confirm regularly how they have benefitted from the scheme , many are teachers in every local government today and jobs created through feeding of over 9 million children daily in 31 States you can say it is not enough but without demonstrating empirically that it is false, it would appear that this is another case of excessive zeal to find fault. I would suggest that an “evangelical” search for truth may benefit from conducting an internet poll, asking for at least two N-Power graduates in any local government in Nigeria to indicate with facts that they are indeed beneficiaries. That way Mr. Oluwasanmi can publicly demonstrate falsehood if that is the case.

Lastly on the VPs comments on security in Nigeria. I must confess that I haven’t seen any video of what he said. But let’s face it, in the US itself where he spoke, almost every week there is a mass shooting incident. In 2018 there were 340 mass shootings in the US, 56,952 cases of gun violence leading to 14,640 deaths (https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6654920/mass-shootings-america-2018-how-many-killed-us/) Despite these figures have you ever heard VP Mike Pence go to a foreign country and say the US is unsafe, or that domestic security is a problem? Every country has its own security challenges, you don’t go around the world singing about it!

But my biggest surprise was his citing of Frank Gaffney’s allegations purporting that Osinbajo is for Islamists. Gaffney is a manifestly weird if not outrightly crazy character, he is described as an islamophobe and Islamic conspiracy theorist. He said once that Obama is America’s first Muslim President. He accused Barack Obama of changing the logo of the Missile Defense Agency to include the Islamic crescent. he had to retract when it was pointed out that the logo was designed in the George Bush Administration. Gaffney also claimed that John McCain and John Boehner were "parrots of the Muslim Brotherhood positions on a number of issues.” His Centre for Policy has claimed weirdly that American courts were being taken over by Sharia! He also claimed that one-time CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper, and former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano were deeply sympathetic to Islamists and could be part of a plot bring Sharia law to replace the US legal and political system! Why would anyone take such a guy seriously?

Lastly while I agree that the Buhari administration is far from delivering on its change promise, my assessment is that the Vice President is a major force for good and progress in our country and should be encouraged rather than vilified especially without facts.

Oritsewunmi Adolor writes from Abuja
 

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The Supreme Court of Nigeria has dismissed the lawsuit filed by Adebayo Shittu, former Minister of Communications, challenging his exclusion from the primary of All Progressives Congress during the governorship election in Oyo State.  

The Supreme Court, in a unanimous verdict by a five-man panel led by Justice John Okoro, dismissed the suit for being statute-barred.

“This appeal is dismissed haven been withdrawn by the appellant and no objection and there is no order as at cost," Justice Okoro said.

Shittu was prevented from running for the governorship position in Oyo State when it was revealed that he never did the mandatory one year National Youth Service.

The former minister, a member of the APC, had sued the party, seeking redress for allegedly being denied participation in the governorship primary in Oyo State.

His counsel, had, among other things, urged the court to determine whether the ground for disqualifying his client was lawful or in contravention of the constitution.

He argued that the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria required anyone seeking to be a state governor to possess a maximum of Senior Secondary School Certificate and not necessarily an NYSC certificate.

Adebayo Ojo, the defence counsel, in his opposition to the plaintiff’s prayer, said that the matter was already a dead issue, and therefore, academic.

He appealed to the Federal High Court to strike out the suit on grounds that Shittu filed the case after the expiration of the 14 days stipulated by the law.

He argued that the APC constitution prescribes that aggrieved members must fully explore all internal crisis resolution mechanism before going to court which accounted for why he could not challenge the party’s decision in court within the stipulated time.

Legal Politics News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunlesi has raised the alarm over the security challenges in the country, declaring that the southwest does not want war. 

Oba Ogunlusi made this known at a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the statehouse on Thursday, ChannelsTV reports.

Speaking on behalf of other traditional leaders in the region, he noted that the challenge in the southwestern part of the country was real as most rural communities have been occupied by strange people.

The Ooni reiterated that the traditional leaders were worried and prepared to work with the government as they called for a reinforcement of federal apparatus to defend themselves from people he describes as bad eggs who may not all necessarily be Fulanis.

He called on all those beating the drums of war as well as politicians escalating issues to desist from acts capable of causing anarchy as the nation cannot withstand a war.

He further disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari assured him that he will reveal his own side of the story on the issue of Ruga settlement as the issue has been taken out of context.

President Buhari also said that firm and unwavering action is required to put the security threats under control adding that any evasion of rules and regulations in ways that aid corruption and illicit financial outflows must be vigorously fought and defeated.
 

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Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association Of Nigeria, HURIWA, has described the continuous detention of the leader of Shiites Islamic movement, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, and erstwhile National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd.) as an act of treason.  

In a statement on Thursday, the civil rights group called on global leaders to prevail on President Muhammadu Buhari to release on bail the duo “who have languished in underground jails for over three years extralegally”.  

Citing section 36(5) and section (6) of the Nigerian constitution which states: “Every person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed to be innocent until he is proved guilty; provided that nothing in this section shall invalidate any law by reason only that the law imposes upon any such person the burden of proving particular facts”, Huriwa expressed disbelief that world leaders could fold their arms and watch as President Buhari “unleashed venoms and vicious attacks on its citizens”.

“It is the view of the human rights platform that the continuous detention and duplication of charges against the duo by President Muhammadu Buhari is an act of treason against the constitution just as HURIWA stated that it is necessary that they are not allowed to die in detention following reports of their deteriorating health conditions," the statement added.

The group also reacted to the recent order issued by the Inspector General Police, Mr Adamu Mohammed, on the restriction of public protests in certain locations in Abuja. 

It will be recalled that the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, said the Inspector General of Police, Mr Mohammed Adamu, gave the order on Wednesday.

According to Huriwa, the order by the IGP is “illegal” as it is “against the clear provisions of the constitution in chapter four and provisions of the constitution guaranteeing the fundamental freedoms of movement and peaceful assembly, including the binding Appellate court’s verdict clearly stating that police don’t have any legal right to stop protests and against the most cherished values of constitutional democracy built around the tripod of freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of movement which are even guaranteed by a plethora of global human rights laws.”

The group added that they were shocked that  whilst constitutional democracy gradually dies away in Nigeria due to deliberate whittling down of respect for human rights by the current administration, world leaders in the US and UK simply don’t care but pretend to be unaware of the global consequences of a deluge of refugees from Nigeria should democracy collapsed under the heavyweight of tyranny and totalitarianism of the current administration.
 

CRIME Legal Military News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 

The kidnappers who abducted Beauty Ogere, mother of Samson Siasia, a former Coach of the Super Eagles, has called in to demand N70m  as a ransom.

76-year-old Ogere was kidnapped alongside two others at Odoni community, Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State on Monday.

The kidnappers reportedly called Siasia with a foreign number to demand a ransom. See Also Breaking News BREAKING: Gunmen Kidnap Ex-Super Eagles Player And Coach, Samson Siasia's Mother 0 Comments 6 Days Ago

Details later...
 

CRIME Police Sports News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 

Two soldiers were killed by suspected kidnappers at a road construction site in Ukanafun council area of Akwa Ibom.

An expatriate, working with Al Madal Construction Company, was also kidnapped by the same people.  

The incident happened on Wednesday while the expatriate was inspecting the construction of Ukanafun road construction project.

According to an eyewitness, Friday Idiok, the soldiers were killed while escorting the expatriate during the inspection. 

Idiok said the kidnappers took custody of the expatriate when they discovered the two soldiers were dead.

He said, “There was sporadic shooting here, two soldiers were killed. The gunmen also escaped with the soldiers’ guns and took the expatriate to their hideout. Everybody here is in panic. We do not know what the government will do on this matter.”

Speaking on the incident, Obong Johnson Obosi, the clan head of Inen, said the community was doing the burial of one of their sons,  Udoimo, when they heard gunshots and the residents ran away.

“The next report was that two soldiers attached to an expatriate working on the road construction project that links my community with Ukanafun have been killed and the expatriate abducted,” he said.

Obosi, who could not establish the nationality of the kidnapped expatriate, said soldiers from Ibagwa barracks arrived in their ambulance and carried the corpse of the soldiers to the morgue.

Confirming the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria, on Thursday, the Police Public Relations Officer in Akwa Ibom, SP Odiko Macdon, said the command was aware of the incident and was working with the sister security agencies in the state to arrest those involved.

“We have received information about the unfortunate incident at the road project in Ikot Ibritam, Inen Ekeffe leading to Ukanafun. We are working with our sister agencies to identify, and arrest and prosecute those involved,” he said. 

Macdon appealed to residents of the community to remain calm and go about their normal duties, promising that security operatives would apprehend the culprits and bring them to book. 
 

Insurgency Military Terrorism News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 

Members of ‘Omo Kesari’, a gang in the Isheri area of Lagos State, attacked residents of Ikotun and Igando areas of Lagos on Wednesday night, leaving many injured as they robbed residents and motorists.

The group has been terrorizing residents of Pipeline, Isheri, Idimu, Council, Carwash, Ikotun, and Igando areas of Lagos for a while.

Residents of these communities told SaharaReporters that they had been living in fear for a long time.

They called on the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to intervene in the situation.

The Omo Kesari group, which comprises teenagers, are known for perpetrating crime in traffic where they destroy people’s cars, steal phones and maim people.

A resident who spoke with SaharaReporters on the condition of anonymity said, “I don’t know much, but all I know is that there are some teenagers who rob people with axes, cutlasses, and knives.

“They are always many of them on bikes, and they operate mostly at night around 9 pm and 11 pm, and early in the morning, around 4 am and 6 am. I have heard of many (attacks) that happened a few weeks back around Carwash, Idimu and Isheri axis.

“Of recent, they’ve been attacking people in the area. For at least three weeks now, I’ve been hearing news of them attacking people and robbing them of their mobile phones."

Another resident, who does not want his name mentioned, said his father was wounded and almost got robbed on July 15, 2019, around Pipeline in Isheri area of Lagos.

He said, “They attacked my dad between the hours of 5 am and 6 am on Monday, they cut him with axe and cutlass on the chest, his left arm, and on his head while they tried to rob him of his mobile phone. The three guys who were on a bike attacked him from behind with an axe but we’re glad he managed to escape.

“The bandits are teenagers around the ages of 14 and 18, and their leader whose name is Kesari would be around ages 18 and 20. They are known as “Omo Kesari”, and people also call them “One Million Boys”.

“When they attack people, they don’t ask for money. They’ll only collect your phone and ask you if the SIM card in the phone is registered with your bank account, and if the SIM card is registered with your bank, they would take the phone and transfer all the money in your account,” another resident told SaharaReporters.

Another resident said, “Operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) are now in the area. The Isheri monarch has also warned everyone to stay indoors from 7 pm.”

Lagosians have called on the state government to find a quick solution to the menace as they no longer feel safe walking on the streets of Lagos.

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