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The Federal Government has inaugurated the Committee on the implementation and review of reports and White Papers on the Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Agencies, and Commissions also known as the Steve Oronsaye Report.

The committee inaugurated on Thursday will be headed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, George Akume.

Speaking, Akume who inaugurated the committee on behalf of President Bola Tinubu, said the Oronsaye report was aimed at reducing cost of governance and streamlining efficiency.

A statement by the Director, Information, Office of the SGF, Segun Imohiosen, said Tinubu gave the committee a 12-week deadline to submit its report.

The statement reads: “The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. George Akume, CON, while inaugurating the Committee on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu stressed that the implementation of the White Papers on the report which would involve the merger, relocation, subsuming or scrapping of some Parastatals, Agencies, and Commissions is aimed at reducing cost of governance and streamlining efficiency across the governance value chain,” the statement read.

“President Tinubu’s approval for the implementation of the Oronsaye report comes twelve years after the panel submitted its report and multiple attempts were made at implementing its recommendations.”

He listed members of the committee to include:

SEN. GEORGE AKUME, FNIM, CON – Secretary to the Government of the Federation

LATEEF OLASUNKANMI FAGBEMI, SAN – Attorney General of the Federation/ Minister of Justice

SEN. ABUBAKAR ATIKU BAGUDU, CON – Minister of Budget & Economic Planning

DR. FOLASHADE YEMI-ESAN, CFR – Head of the Civil Service of the Federation

USMAN HADIZA BALA – Special Adviser to the President, Policy & Coordination

DR. DASUKI IBRAHIM ARABI – Director-General Bureau of Public Service Reform

SEN. ABDULLAHI ABUBAKAR GUMEL – Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate)

HON. IBRAHIM KUNLE OLAREWAJU – Senior Special Assistant to the President on the National Assembly (House of Representatives)

HAKEEM MURI OKUNOLA – Principal Secretary to the President

RICHARD P. PHEELANGWAH – Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Affairs Office.

Akume outlined the general guidelines of the Committee as follows:

Review current mandates to understand the existing functions, responsibilities, and objectives outlined in the mandates of the Agencies.

Identify redundancies and overlaps or conflicting objectives among the mandates of different organisational units.

Define strategic objectives to ensure the revised mandates align with the strategic objectives and priorities of the government.

Engage key stakeholders and gather input and feedback on the proposed revisions to the mandates.

Draft clear, concise, and actionable revised mandates for the organisations involved in the restructuring.

Ensure the revised mandates comply with all applicable laws, regulations, and policies governing government operations.

Obtain necessary approvals from relevant authorities for the revised mandates.

Effectively communicate the revised mandates to employees and stakeholders.

Implement the revised mandates effectively and monitor their implementation to identify any issues or challenges.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has suspended the Managing Director of Rural Electrification Agency, REA Ahmad Salihijo Ahmed and three executive directors over N1.2 billion fraudulent misappropriation in the past two years.

Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President

Media andPublicity disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.

The three other affected directors are Olaniyi Alaba Netufo, Executive Director of Corporate Services; Barka Sajou — Executive Director of Technical Services; and Sa’adatu Balgore — Executive Director of Rural Electrification Fund, REF.

The President ordered a wider investigation into the conduct of the officials above.

Accordingly, Tinubu also announced their replacement as follows:

Abba Abubakar Aliyu — Managing Director/CEO,

Ayoade Gboyega — Executive Director, Corporate Services,

Umar Abdullahi Umar — Executive Director, Technical Services and

Doris Uboh — Executive Director, Rural Electrification Fund (REF)

Olufemi Akinyelure — Head of Project Management Unit, Nigeria Electrification Project.

Hundreds of residents of Edo North Senatorial District on Thursday trooped to the streets to protest against the move by the Edo State House of Assembly to impeach the state’s Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu.

LeadingReporters gathered that the protesters, under the aegis of Peace Movement, as well as some members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Edo North, in the early hours on Thursday converged at Jattu, in Etsako West Local Government for the protest.

The protesters made up of men, women and youths, were armed with placards bearing various inscriptions, such as, ‘No to impeachment’, ‘We want peace in Edo State’, ‘Return the N500 million bribe to Obaseki’, ‘Shaibu is our Next Governor, no going back’, among others.

While decrying the impeachment proceedings commenced by the Edo State House of Assembly, they also appealed to the lawmakers to stay clear of any move to impeach the deputy governor in order to give the state its desired peace.

The spokespersons of the protesters, Aminu Umosor, Gafata Emmanuel and Haija Anetu Momodu, said they would mobilise the people of the state and the PDP to work against the party if the House goes ahead with the impeachment.

“This is to show all Edo people that we stand by Philip Shaibu and the mandate we gave to him. If Governor Obaseki and the House of Assembly are ready for dialogue and true reconciliation, they should come with clean hands and not impeachment notice,” they said.

The protesters, who warned the legislators against the impeachment, vowed that the protest would continue until Governor Obaseki and the lawmakers embrace peace.

Meanwhile, Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor, Musa Ebomhiana, said efforts were on to resolve matter.

“The PDP as a party has stepped in as a family to resolve the matter. The umbrella is big enough to accommodate everyone,” he assured.

In a fresh motion, the immediate past Governor of Anambra State, Willie Maduabuchi Obiano has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to quash the N40bn corruption charges brought against him by the federal government.

His request is contained in a new motion on notice filed before Justice Inyang Ekwo and brought pursuant to provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the Administration of the Criminal Justice Act 2015.

In the grounds for the motion, Obiano claimed that there is a subsisting appeal by the Anambra State government challenging the authority of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC’s authority to investigate the funds.

In the motion filed by his lead counsel, Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, Obiano argued that there was no connection between the proof of evidence and the alleged accusation against him.

He averred that there was no testimony from any witness indicating that he issued directives for the disbursement of security votes and other funds belonging to the Anambra State government.

He emphasised that he cannot be held accountable for any alleged unlawful actions by officials of the Anambra State government as there is no concept of vicarious liability in the criminal justice system.

The former governor is being prosecuted by EFCC on 9-count charges bordering on money laundering to the tune of N40 billion.

The anti-graft agency alleged that Obiano bypassed financial institutions in numerous unlawful cash transactions using funds allegedly stolen from the state’s account.

The EFCC claimed that the cash amounts involved in the transactions exceeded legally permitted limits.

The motion on notice was brought pursuant to section 6 (6) (a) and (b) and section 36(6) (6) b of the 1999 constitution as amended and section 1(1) & (2), 266, 271(b), 383(4) &492 (3) of the Administration of the Criminal Justice Act 2015.

Among others, Obiano is seeking “An order of the court quashing the instant charge for it amounts to flagrant abuse of judicial process and a mockery of the criminal Justice

“An order quashing the charge for non-disclosure of a prime facie case being vague and devoid of precision in respect of all the 9 count charges.

“No prima facie case has been disclosed against the defendant in this charge. There is no link between the proof of evidence and the purported allegation made against the defendant in the charge

“No evidence exists from any witness showing that the defendant passed down a directive for the disbursement of security votes and other funds belonging to Anambra State government.

“The defendant cannot be made answerable for any purported unlawful actions of officials of Anambra State government as there is no vicarious liability in our criminal jurisprudence.

“The thinking and conclusion of the prosecution on the counts arose from speculation and suspicions

“The subject matter of the charge borders on accountability for security vote funds.
The honourable court lacks the requisite jurisdiction to entertain issues on accountability for security vote funds

“There is an appeal filed by the Anambra state government challenging the powers of EFCC to investigate the security vote of Anambra state government.

“The preferment of the entire charge is in bad faith. This honourable court has inherent judicial power to grant all the reliefs sought above.

Meanwhile, the trial Judge has fixed March 13 for all pending motions to be heard.

There was pandemonium in Kuriga town of Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State when bandits invaded LEA Primary School, Kuriga (1), and abducted dozens of pupils.

The number of persons abducted couldn’t be ascertained as of press time, but residents said they were about 100.

Head teacher of the school and some other staff are reportedly among the victims.

Daily Trust gathered that the incident happened at 8:20am immediately after the assembly on Thursday.

The junior and secondary school relocated to the school building inside the Kuriga town a few years ago due to insecurity concerns, abandoning their former school building located outside the town.

A resident, Shitu, confirmed the incident, saying most of the pupils ran out of their classes when they sighted the bandits on the school premises.

Another resident, Lawal Kuriga, also told Daily Trust that abducted victims were marched into the forest.

As of the time of filing this report, there was no official reaction from the state government as the Overseeing Commissioner of the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, didn’t react to a text message sent to him.

The State Police Command Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Hassan, couldn’t be reached on the phone and is yet to reply to a text message sent to him too.

The Nigeria Labour Congress has demanded N794,000 as the new national minimum wage for workers in the South West geopolitical political zone.

The labour union in the South West, through the chairperson of the Lagos State chapter of the NLC, Funmi Sessi, made the demand during her presentation at the ongoing public hearing of the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage in Ikeja, Lagos on Thursday.

Sessi noted that the demand was jointly agreed on by all the members of the union in the South West .

President Bola Tinubu, through Vice President Kashim Shettima, inaugurated a 37-member panel on the new minimum wage in the Council Chamber of the State House in Abuja on January 30, 2024.

Details later…

A gang of suspected terrorists, on Thursday morning, kidnapped a Chinese national and killed one officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Obangede, Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi State.

Information made available to LEADING REPORTERS revealed that the the NSCDC officer who lost his life was part of the security detail assigned to protect the abducted Chinese road engineer.

At the time of reporting, the identities of both the abducted individual and the deceased officer could not be confirmed. When contacted for confirmation and updates on the incident, the state police spokesperson, William Ovye Aya, stated that he would provide further information later.

This incident comes amidst a similar occurrence on February 3, where approximately 14 passengers of God Is Good (GIG) Motors and ABC Transport were abducted in Kogi while en route to Abuja. The incident took place in Inyele Eteke, Olamaboro LGA.

The abducted passengers, who were reportedly traveling from the southeast region, were later released after a few days in captivity.

Reports indicate that the gunmen intercepted the vehicles and forcibly took the passengers captive, demanding a ransom of N15 million from each individual for their release.