Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has lost his mother, Florence Morenike Saraki.
The sad news was announced on Tuesday evening by TVC News in a statement on social media.
Florence Morenike Saraki, aged 89, was the widow of Olusola Saraki, a Senator in the Second Nigerian Republic and a political icon in Kwara until his death in 2012.
The family had celebrated her 88th birthday in August 2023.
Kaduna State Correspondent of the Daily Times newspapers, Mr. Idibia Gabriel, has decried eye injury as a result of arrest, torture and inhuman treatment he went through in the hands of operatives of Nigeria police force in Kaduna state.
The Journalist said he was arrested for taken a snapshot of a large number of cattle Shepherd by the operatives of Nigeria policemen on public road on 11th June 2024, without any other disagreement between them.
He was released with one side of the eyes almost blinded as a result of the torture, unholy and merciless treatment meted out to him while in the police custody at Criminal Investigative Department (CID), Kaduna branch office.
Mr. Idibia, explained that he met two of the police officers before taken the snapshot of the cattle with the intention to use the photo as prove to clarify with the state police command spokesman on reasons for the arrests of the cattle, numbering over 50, which has been the usual practice.
The Journalists told his colleagues that the police deleted the snapshot from his handset and took every of his detail, including contact number, address and even description of his residents before he was released on self recognition, fearing that they may come after him later.
The victim, in a statement, stressed that he was arrested and taken to the CID police station at Gabasawa solely for taken the snapshot of a large scale number of cattle Shepherd by the police around Valid Oil filling station, along the popular Kachia expressway at U/Boro, Kaduna, around 8:30am, and released in the evening time.
“I’ve just arrived my residents on leg, at about 9:30pm, in U/Boro, Sabon Tasha suburb, an area of about 6 kilometers from Kaduna main town where I was arrested and kept since morning of today (Tuesday) 11th June 2024.
“I was arrested and taken to Gabasawa, CID police station for taken a snapshot of a large number of cattle arrested and Shepherd by police around Valid Oil filling station, along kachia expressway, after identity myself, without a kobo on me.
“When I rush out of my house on hearing of heavy traffic holdup crisis caused by cattle and police at kachia raid, around the new market U/boro, I had no penny on me.
“My phone and ID Card were seized before i was even taken into a police van and drove to Abattoir area of U/Pama road where they waited, assembled and kept the cattle before I was later taken to the CID office at Ibrahim Taiwo road, inside Kaduna main town”, he stated.
President Bola Tinubu has emphasized that Nigerians are not the only ones facing poverty in the world.
In a statement on Tuesday, June 18 by presidential spokesperson Ajuri Ngelale, Tinubu said this in Lagos when he received a delegation from the National Assembly who came to felicitate with him on the occasion of Eid-el-Kabir.
While admitting that there are poverty and suffering in the land, Tinubu said the challenges must be tackled.
The delegation was led by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, alongside the Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, among others.
One of the ways of tackling them, he explained, is to eliminate banditry and terrorism so that farmers cab return to the farm.
According to him, it is imperative for Nigerians to have a change of value system for the nation to make progress.
“Yes, there is poverty; there is suffering in the land. We are not the only people facing such, but we must face our challenges.
“We must find a way to eliminate banditry and terrorism so that farmers can bring out food from the farmland.
“If you do not have good roads to bring the food to the population, even if you grow the food and you are losing 60-70 per cent to damages, you will pay the price,” the president said.
He challenged citizens to have a change of mindset about Nigeria if the nation is to overcome its current challenges.
“The need (for some citizens) to change the rent-seeking mindset and become more productive to the economy is a challenge. The need to stop smuggling and all economic sabotage.
“Why should we have people removing rail tracks and all that, stealing electric cables and sabotaging the economy?
“We must embrace the campaign to change our value system. We must tell our people that the challenge we face is for all of us to change our mindset about our country,” Tinubu stressed.
“The president also commended the leadership of the National Assembly for the support extended to his administration, which he said had resulted in some of the important developments recorded by his administration.
“It is great pride for me to have the best of partners in the National Assembly. We have to drill down and be all-inclusive in our bid to satisfy our people.
“It is daunting, but we cannot run away from the fact that this country must survive the hardship,” he stated.
“The president acknowledged the challenges and the task ahead, assuring the nation of his unwavering determination to turn things around.”
Supporters of Governor Siminalayi Fubara have destroyed the statue of former governor Nyesom Wike in Obio/Akpor Local Government Council, Wike’s hometown.
The development follows Fubara’s directive for Heads of Local Government Administration (HLGAs) to assume leadership of the 23 council areas, following the expiration of the three-year tenure of elected chairmen, vice chairmen, and councillors.
The crisis has its roots in a court ruling recognizing a three-man House of Assembly, which annulled the tenure extension granted by the 27-member Assembly loyal to Wike.
Despite the ruling, chairmen insisted on remaining in office for six more months.
In Ikwerre, Samuel Nwanosike, the immediate past Executive Chairman, defied Fubara’s directive and stormed the council secretariat.
Nwanosike, a close ally of Wike, accused Fubara of sponsoring insecurity in the state, claiming that the governor has armed youths who have attacked local government chairmen and police across the 23 council areas.
The situation across the state has more or less been the same, with youths laying siege to the different Local Government Secretariats.
The Lagos police command has rescued the three abducted Fouani brothers, Abbas Fouani, Youssef Fouani, and Amtal Fouani.
The brothers, who are part of the prominent Fouani Nigeria Ltd family, were kidnapped on June 14 around 6 pm while travelling by boat from their factory.
Fouani Nigeria Ltd, a leading electronics company, is the sole distributor of LG, Hisense, and Maxi products in Nigeria.
Leading reporters reports that the Monday night rescue was disclosed by the police spokesperson in the state, Benjamin Hundeyin, on Tuesday.
More to follow…
The Senate spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu, has revealed that the Bola Tinubu-led government is finalizing a N6.6 trillion supplementary budget, which will be submitted to the National Assembly following its resumption on July 2.
According to him, the proposed supplementary budget aims to fund several key transformational projects across the country.
Among the highlighted projects are the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road and the proposed Sokoto-Badagry Road.
He further stated that the budget will allocate funds for the completion of all ongoing railway projects that currently lack counterpart funding.
”Furthermore, the supplementary budget will support the rehabilitation and expansion of dams and irrigation schemes.
”These enhancements are intended to boost agricultural production and contribute to the broader economic growth of the nation,” he said.
Adaramodu emphasized that the budget is still under computation by the executive but assured that it will be forwarded to the National Assembly promptly after their session resumes.
President Bola Tinubu will depart Lagos for Pretoria, South Africa, to attend the inauguration of President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday, June 18.
Special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, in a statement on Monday said Tinubu will return to Nigeria after the ceremony.
Ngelale said the inauguration of President Ramaphosa follows his re-election as President for a second term.
South Africa’s parliament re-elected Ramaphosa following a coalition deal between the governing African National Congress (ANC) and opposition parties.
The new administration comprises Ramaphosa’s ANC, the Democratic Alliance (DA), the main opposition, and other political parties.
After ruling for 30 years since the end of apartheid in South Africa, the ANC had lost its firm grip in the last election which brought about a coalition.
President Tinubu had earlier congratulated the South African president over his re-election.
Youths in Rivers State have shut down the Asari Toru Local Government Secretariat, demanding the removal of their Chairman.
This comes amidst a heated dispute between Local Government Area (LGA) chairmen and Governor Sim Fubara.
The Chairman, whose tenure expires today, has reportedly fled his office as residents invaded the secretariat.
The incident is linked to the ongoing legal battle between the LGA chairmen and the state government. The matter is currently in court, with the next hearing scheduled after their tenure ends.
Security operatives have been deployed to maintain order at the council secretariat.
Recall that the LGA chairmen, loyal to former Governor Nyesom Wike, had vowed not to leave office in June.
According to Chief Hon. Dr. Irastus Awoto, Legal Adviser of the 21 LGA chairmen and Chairman of Andoni LGA, the Chairmen will stay in office for an additional six months.
Awoto stated, “We were elected in 2021, and our tenure expires in June. However, LG elections should have been concluded, and winners should be awaiting swearing-in. The Assembly recognizes that no action has been taken to conduct elections, and therefore, we must maintain democratically elected Chairmen until elections are done, as stated in the local government law.”
MultiChoice, the owner of DStv and GOtv, has been forced to revert to its old subscription prices following a court order.
The company had previously increased its prices, but the court ruled that the hike was unjustified.
According to reports, the company has lost over a million subscribers in Nigeria due to the price increase.
The price hike was implemented to align with market realities following high inflation in Nigeria and the naira’s devaluation.
The old prices are as follows: DStv Premium package: N29,500 (down from N37,000); DStv Compact+ package: N19,800 (down from N25,000); DStv Compact Bouquet: N12,500 (down from N15,700); DStv Confam package: N7,400 (down from N9,300); DStv Yanga package: N4,200 (down from N5,100); DStv Padi package: N2,950 (down from N3,600).
GOtv subscribers will also see a reduction in prices, which is as follows: GOtv Super+ package: N12,500 (down from N15,700); GOtv Super package: N7,600 (down from N9,600); GOtv Max package: N5,700; GOtv Joli package: N3,950; GOtv Jinja package: N2,700 (down from N3,300).
It is not clear if MultiChoice will also offer a month-free subscription as ordered by the court. However, the company has vowed to challenge the court order, saying it does not favour its business model.
As part of efforts aimed at repositioning the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory, Bennett Igweh has again reiterated his commitment to the force by revolutionizing the force with the monitoring and mentoring unit.
A governance and self-reliance advocate, Light I. Shedrack reeling his recent experience with the force stated that the monitoring and mentoring unit of the commissioner’s office has created a disruptive strategy to reposition the police force and thus endear the people to a force that many Nigerians hitherto disdained.
Light explained that before now, what we mostly knew about the police was the monitoring unit which we usually ascribed as the ‘hitman’ arm of the commissioner’s office.
He noted there seems a new vision and concept that would clear this perennial misconception if holistically sustained and that is the “Mentoring” in the monitoring unit which he astonishingly had a first-hand experience of the efficiency of the Command’s “mentoring’ services adding that the Nigeria Police Force is fast replacing the symbol of threat with floral branch of communality.
Narrating his experience, Light said:
“A few weeks ago, I was invited by the Commissioner of Police, FCT Bennett Igweh through the Monitoring and Mentoring Unit MMU of his office over a petition filed by a government functionary against our organisation. My organisation has written an FOI letter requesting clarification of certain allegations against the government’s officer.
“We did not have all the information regarding the allegations and thus we leveraged the Freedom of Information Act and enquired about the allegations made.
“We felt that for us to get the proof we were looking for; we would need to extend a strongly worded letter of enquiry to the public officer, and we did.
“Anyways, the letter in question is not the crux of this writing, but the unknown or better still, the un-hyped virtue of the Nigeria police “mentoring” services.
So, when that call came, the caller said he was calling from the Commissioner’s Monitoring and Mentoring Unit. What immediately stuck with me was the word “Mentoring” and I teased the caller “Did you mention mentoring”. He said yes. And I quizzed again. “Does Nigerian Police mentor? A rather mischievous question, you’d say!
“The caller was civil and specific. He told me the call was related to a petition from someone my organisation had written to. It was not in the usual hush tone, neither was it the usual response laden with the threat of “when you come, you will be told”.
On arrival, there was absolute civility. I started the discussion. “Did you say mentoring in your call?” I curiously quizzed again.
“The gentleman answered in the affirmative and explained that the unit was not only about inviting, and arresting, it also offers mentoring and reconciliatory support services to the public. I was taken aback because, in the history of the force, we have been wired to think that the Nigeria police is synonymous with threat, brutality and coercion.
While the discussion lasted, I was offered a table of water.
“Each visitor was given one also. In all my experiences with Nigerian police, I have not witnessed that level of civility and professional conduct.
“During an interface with the Commissioner and the petitioner, the commissioner made it clear that I was right to ask the questions I did, but that our organisation rather went far with the tone of my letter. He described the ‘enquiry’ as rather a verdict and asked how I would feel if someone wrote to me in such a tone.
“I was enthused at the counsel and frankly, my flaming ego began to melt. Reconciliatory steps were initiated, and counselling was given.”
He emphasized that this is what police should stand for and this is the level of professionalism that needs to be heard of adding that of a truth, the Nigeria police force can evolve with the right vision and leadership.
