Andrew Mailafia

The Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, has flagged off the commencement of training for 7,000 recruits for the Kaduna Vigilance Service to complement the efforts of other security agencies to tackle kidnapping, armed robbery, and other crimes in the state.

The governor said the recruits are being trained at the Police College, Kaduna, in the state capital, were drawn from the 23 local government areas of the state.

Sani said the recruits, after their intensive and vigorous training, would complement the efforts of security agencies and rid the state of crimes.

Noting that the recruitment became necessary because of the shortfall of regular security agencies in the battle to tackle security challenges across the state, he said, “The Kaduna Vigilance Service is a complementary security outfit. It will assist the security agencies with actionable intelligence. With its knowledge of the local environment, bandits will have no hiding place.

“The commencement of this training is a major step towards fulfilling our promise to the good people of Kaduna State. In our administration’s blueprint, we committed to strengthening the manpower and “overall operational capacity of KADVS. Since its establishment, KADVS has been working with security agencies to degrade criminal elements.

“But we face the challenge of inadequate personnel to successfully wage the battle against bandits and other criminal elements. It is for this reason that our administration decided to recruit 7,000 personnel into the Kaduna Vigilance Service (KADVS).

The governor also stressed that the recruitment and screening of the trainees were the collaborative efforts of our local government chairmen, traditional and religious leaders, key stakeholders at the grassroots level, and security agencies.

“This award is all about service to humanity generally and the ability to practice what one has learnt in practical terms to affect people’s life positively.

“What we are doing now is to set up as agricultural technology that would help us to step out of food scarcity and insecurity, improve our income and the economy generally.”

Tragedy struck as four children of the same family involved in a building collapse in Agric Quarters, Mgbemena, in the Coal Camp area of the state were confirmed dead by the Enugu Capital Territory Development Agency after

The Chairman of ECTDA, Mr Uche Anya, made this confirmation to the News Agency of Nigeria on Saturday after inspecting the site of the collapsed building.

Noting that the bungalow, located at the Agric Quarters in the Coal Camp area, collapsed on Friday around 8pm after a downpour, he said the structure, which was initially approved for animal husbandry, was converted to a residential building.

While lamenting that the collapsed building was not healthy for human habitation, the ECTDA chairman revealed that the structure had 44 rooms with about 200 residents.

“As soon as we got the intelligence, we rushed to the place. Four children died in the episode. It was a disaster waiting to happen. The construction was irresponsible.

“The place should never have been occupied by human beings. In fact, go there and see.

“Apparently, they claim that they are doing animal husbandry and poultry there but it turned out that there are 44 rooms that human beings are occupying and there must be a population of over 200 people there.

“The fence line was totally unacceptable; nobody does that, and unfortunately, the people we lost in that tragedy are innocent children and it is very painful,” Anya added.

The Ogun State Government has given further an insights into the handling of local government funds noting that no dime that belonged to the 20 council areas were missing or tampered with.

Disclosing this during a news briefing with journalists at the governor’s office Abeokuta, the Secretary to the State Government, Tokunbo Talabi, said over N 1.8bn has been provided for the LG council since the beginning of his administration.

“Up to date, the state government has provided over N1.8bn for all these local governments to do independent projects in addition to whatever the state government has done, in addition to whatever the federal government has done and in addition to funding the deficit.

“The concept of zero allocation has not taken place. Otherwise, how have we been paying the teachers? How have we been paying the healthcare workers? How have we been paying the traditional council? How have we been paying the pensioners? How have we been paying the local government staff themselves? How is the chairman getting paid all these years? And then, we have what is called the security vote for the chairman.

Giving more insight into the workings of the Joint Account Allocation Committee, the Economic Adviser and Commissioner-designate, Mr Dapo Okubadejo, noted that JAAC is a statutory and legal instrument that operates in other states.

Noting that the state government has been able to execute many local road Projects in the State, Talabi stressed these projects were executed without the input of the local government councils.

“At the beginning of this administration, His Excellency asked the local government chairmen and other stakeholders to present three roads that are more important to them in the order of priority.

“The process of a local government account, financing or funding started many years ago, with the introduction of what we refer to as the Joint Account Allocation Committee. That’s the body that is responsible for the administration and the management of the local government direct allocation from the Federal Government,” he said.

Recall that the Ijebu-East Local Government Chairman, Wale Adedayo, was suspended after he accused the state Governor, Dapo Abiodun, of diverting council funds, and living the LGs in the state without funds to execute projects.

But the state government, in a swift reaction, denied the allegation when 19 out of the 20 council chairmen prostrated before Abiodun in Abeokuta and pleaded on behalf of the suspended Ijebu-East LG chairman.

The State House of Assembly is also looking into the matter, while the Department of State Services was said to have arrested Adedayo for questioning.

Some of the cadets and staff of the Nigeria Police Academy have accused the Commandant, Assistant Inspector-General, Sadiq Abubakar, of high-handedness and financial mismanagement of feeding allowance meant for the students.

This followed the death of a 100-level course 9 police cadet, A.S. Jika, at the Nigeria Police Academy, Wudil, Kano State, on Saturday, after being continuously starved and malnourished for over two weeks.

Jika, who hailed from Adamawa State, and was in the Department of Computer Science, collapsed inside the toilet in the early hours of Saturday.

A cadet, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid being victimized, said the victim was rushed to the academy’s clinic.

“He was left untreated because there are no drugs and no medical officer to attend to him in the unconducive environment, before he gave up and died,” the source told The Punch.

A cadet, who also asked not to be identified, said there was usually high traffic of sickly cadets at the unequipped clinic on a daily basis.

He said, “Since the new commandant assumed office, they’ve been providing very bad and inadequate food for us. The boy that died was not up to 20 years old. The boy wouldn’t have died if they’d attended to him. The commandant also ordered the closure of the market and laundry and approved undeserved training exercises during lecture hours.

“Cadets collapse daily here during training due to fatigue, because it’s either they’re starved, malnourished, or both. We’re usually threatened by the commandant and forced to engage in unwarranted training exercises. Also, many cadets have been dismissed on the basis that they fell sick; that’s why many are trying to manage themselves to avoid expulsion from the academy.”

Also, staff members, who spoke to newsmen lamented on the monthly feeding allowance of the academy.

A source privy to the running of the academy revealed that part of the money was usually diverted into private pockets by some top officials.When contacted on Saturday, the Commandant, AIG Abubakar, didn’t respond to phone calls and text messages from our correspondent.

The Federal Government has recalled the Nigeria’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Ambassador Sarafa Tunji Isola following the expiration of his tenure.

A letter dated Thursday, August 31, signed by the minister of foreign affairs, Yusuf Mallama Tugger noted that President’s decision to recall Sarafa signalled the end of your tenure as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the United Kingdom.

According to the letter, “By this communication, you are now expected to commence the process of winding down your affairs, and take formal leave of your host government within sixty days and to return to Nigeria by 31 October, 2023 at the latest.

The Minister however, expressed president Bola Tinubu’s appreciation for the service Sarafa had rendered to Nigeria as capacity as its Ambassador and Principal Representative in United Kingdom.

“While looking forward to welcoming you in Abuja on your return, please allow me to join Mr President in thanking Your Excellency for your exemplary leadership and service to Nigeria. I wish you God’s continued guidance in your future endeavours.”

The Department of State Security (DSS), Ogun State command, has detained the suspended chairman of Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State, Wale Adedayo, over allegation of diversion of councils’ allocations against Governor Dapo Abiodun.

Adedayo had earlier accused the governor of withholding local government funds in the last two years.

He was at the DSS Abeokuta office on Friday, to honour the invitation of the service on the allegations.

Although Adedayo was also at the DSS office on Thursday on the same matter, he was detained on Friday, September 1.

One of his aides told Daily Trust correspondent on Friday night that Adedayo may likely spend weekend in the custody.

According to him, “We got here together and I took his phone and stood outside, since then he has not been allowed to come out.

“After he got into the place, the governor also came into the DSS office and left after over 30 minutes. Only God knows what is happening to my boss right now, please help us. This is 8:34 pm and he has still not been allowed to come out.”

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has commenced investigation on a petition it received from the Chairman of the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee, Yusuf Gagdi, regarding job racketeering.

The anti-corruption graft disclosed this in a statement released on Friday, September 1 by its spokesperson, Mrs Azuka Ogugua, stressing that it also received a petition from Premium Times, an online newspaper.

According to the petition, “The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has commenced investigation into petitions received from Premium Times and Hon. Yusuf Adamu Gagdi, Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Ad-Hoc Committee on the Investigation of Job Racketeering and Gross Mismanagement in Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies, over bribery allegations against the probe panel.”

The House of Representatives had earlier issued a warrant for the arrest of a former desk officer at the Federal Character Commission, Haruna Kolo.

Also, the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Federal Universities earlier denied paying money to bribe members of the House Committee investigating the job racketeering in Ministries Departments and Agencies.

The Vice Chancellors at a panel hearing on Friday noted that they paid money into a particular account in order to get some foreign currencies needed for their travel.

The Vice-Chancellor, the University of Jos, Prof. Ishaya Tanko, who spoke on behalf of the vice-chancellors when they appeared before the committee, said the money that was sent by some vice-chancellors was meant for foreign exchange for them to attend an international workshop organised for them in Birmingham, the United Kingdom beginning from Tuesday, September 5.

Tanko mentioned, “During our last meeting, we requested for two weeks because some of the universities did not come with some of the documents required from them.

“But we read the very disturbing media publication and I can say that the vice-chancellors are not part of that. The vice-chancellors have not provided any bribe to anybody

President Bola Tinubu has charged the United Nations to be more practical in supporting Nigeria in the fight against terrorism.

Speaking in an audience with the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office on Counter-Terrorism, Mr Vladimir Voronkov, at the State House on Thursday, the President stressed that terrorism had consistently reversed the gains on development and increased instability in families and communities.

According to Tinubu, “We appreciate all that you have been doing. We know that in the face of many demands and challenges, you can still do much better. We can score you ‘A’ in collaboration but ‘B’ in physical support. You have to do more because terrorism is an effective danger to democracy; terrorism is also an effective danger to development.

“Growth and prosperity cannot be achieved until we banish terrorism. We have to equally look at other sides of the issue, and I have said it is the where, how, and when of terrorism,” the President said.

Responding the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, said he had highlighted some of the conditions that promote insurgency like poverty and injustice with the UN team while noting the Nigerian Government’s response.

“Nigeria continues to make significant investments in education and social security,” he noted.

The Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Rivers State Chapter, Joseph Obele, has urged the Federal Government to ensure that the nation’s refineries are fixed as planned.

Obele said that the cost of Petroleum Motor Spirit,l would crash below N200 per litre if the refineries become functional.

This is coming against the backdrop of the removal of petrol subsidy, which has led to a corresponding hike in fuel prices and a hike in the cost of living.

He noted that ro revive the nation’s economy, President Bola Tinubu promised to ensure that the Port Harcourt Refinery begins production by December 2023.

Obele raised concern that the scarcity of dollars had continued to affect importers, adding that the product would continue to increase if the government failed to offer a short-term solution.

“Until our nation-owned refineries are functional, fuel prices will keep increasing due to international variables. But when our refineries are functional, Nigerians will buy fuel less than N200 per litre.

“The scarcity of dollars has made it difficult for importers of petroleum products to continue further importation. For about two weeks now, the petroleum distribution chain has experienced turbulence. This is evident on the NNPC buying portal of marketers.

The federal government has said that it had released N2 billion of the N5 billion loan offered to each state as a palliative to mitigate the effects of the petrol subsidy removal.

Speaking on Friday, September 1, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Wale Edun, said the government is aware of the potential negative consequences of releasing all of the palliative funds at once, “so it decided to release them gradually”.

The Minister said, “On the issue of the 5 billion, it is a combination of grants from the federal government and borrowing by the states.”

“And of course, although the sum of 5 billion is earmarked, you will agree with me that to release such funds across all the states all at once will be self-defeating because it will lead to an inflationary spiral. It will lead to the cost of goods being sold going up and it will affect the exchange rate.

“And so, it is N2 billion that has been released as an initial intervention and FCT will be included is the information that I have.”

Edun also stressed that the government would effectively manage debt, assuring that borrowings will be “linked to return on investment”, under the current administration.

Noting that the current administration intends to increase revenue.In achieving this, he said tax revenues will improve, leakages will be avoided as well as the effective management of debt so that borrowings can be properly serviced.

“The key is to increase revenues so that the government has enough funding to carry out its obligations and to stabilise the economy as a whole,” the minister said.

“On one hand, it is by increasing tax revenue, not by increasing taxes necessarily, but by bringing greater efficiency.

“We have with us the chairman of the tax reform committee, and it aims to bring greater efficiency to cut leakages and maximise the legitimate revenue that should come to the government.

“Likewise, in order to gain and build public trust, there will be an emphasis on efficiency in government expenditure, and similarly, effective debt management, so that borrowing is linked to it, the return on investment. You borrow and you will see the cash flow that will repay that borrowing.

In August, the federal government announced a N5 billion palliative package for each state of the federation, including the federal capital territory (FCT), to cushion the impact of the removal of the petrol subsidy.

Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno, had said the palliative would enable state governments to procure 100,000 bags of rice, 40,000 bags of maize and fertilizers, to cushion the effect of food shortage across the country.