Headlines

Following crisis that rocked last Saturday’s Edo State All Progressives Congress (APC) Gubernatorial Primary Election, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party has declared the shadow election inconclusive.

The party said it will conclude the exercise on Thursday, February 22. 

A decision to this effect was reached on Tuesday night at an emergency meeting of the NWC to consider the report of the election submitted by Gov. Hope Uzodinma’s primary election committee at the party’s headquarters in Abuja.

The Nation learnt that the National Chairman  Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and the National Secretary, Sen. Ajibola Basiru briefed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the Villa of the outcome of the election. 

Though details of the meeting at the Villa were not made public, a source said the President expressed concerns at the turn of events during the shadow election and directed the NWC ensure that the exercise was concluded.

Addressing newsmen after the meeting, which lasted about three hours, National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said that based on the election report, NWC resolved that the primary election was not completed.

According to Morka: “At its emergency meeting held today, Tuesday, February 20, 2024, to consider the report on the Edo State Governorship Primary Election, the National Working Committee (NWC) deliberated on the report and resolved that the Edo State Governorship Primary Election has not been completed, and has now fixed Thursday, February 22, 2024, for the completion of the Primary Election Process.”

Three of the 10 aspirants who contested the election are laying claim to victory. Two aspirants withdrew from the election a few hours before commencement.

Governor Hope Uzodinma’s Primary Election Committee on Saturday declared Hon. Dennis Idahosa winner having polled 40,453 votes, while Senator Okpebholo was returned winner by the Chief Returning Officer, Dr. Stanley Ugboaja and Hon. Anamero Sunday Dekeri was declared victorious by the spokesman of local government returning officers, Mr Ojo Babatunde.

As of the close of work on Tuesday, three of the aspirants have filed their petition to the Appeal Committee and the office of the national chairman of the party.

Two of the aspirants, Dekeri and Okpebholo asked the NWC to issue them certificates of return while Osunbor called for outright cancellation of the exercise, claiming there was no election in the 192 wards of the State last Saturday.

The three petitioners were billed to appear before the election appeal committee on Wednesday before the new development.

The Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria has again raised the exchange rate for cargo clearance to N1,605/$.

This is coming days after the rate rose to N1515/ $ and later dropped to N1,472.

Between January and now, the rate has risen a couple of times. It was moved from N952/$ in December to N1356/$. And was moved to N1,413/$ before it went to N1,444/$. The rate moved to N1,515 before finally getting to N1.605.

LeadingReporters gathered that on Wednesday, the rate for cargo clearance was noted at N1,605 per US dollar.

President Bola Tinubu has directed an immediate settlement of N342m as an outstanding electricity bill due to the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company by the State House.

The President’s directive follows the reconciliation of accounts between the State House Management and AEDC.

“Contrary to the AEDC’s initial claim of N923m debt in paid advertorial in newspapers, the State House outstanding bill is N342.35m,” said the Presidency in a statement signed by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Tuesday.

The statement is titled ‘President Tinubu directs payment of State House electricity bill.’

The President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, assured the AEDC that the debt will be paid before the end of this week.

He also urged defaulting Mnistries, Departments and Agencies to clear their electricity bills as soon as possible.

Details shortly…

The early morning flood on Tuesday in Command and Ipaja communities in Lagos impacted about 151 houses.

Ibrahim Farinloye, Lagos Territorial Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, said this in a statement.

Farinloye said preliminary assessments in some communities affected by the rainfall showed that residents were evacuated from 23 houses at Oke Ishagun.

He said 35 houses were affected at Isale Aboru, 29 houses at Ikola Community and 15 houses at Olubodun Majiyagbe-Ajayi.

Also affected were 12 houses on Makinde Street, 16 houses on Olokowo Street, and 21 houses on Adeola Street, among others.

Farinloye, who said NEMA was working with appropriate state MDAs to ameliorate the effect of the flood on residents, added that Lagos State had promised to make the state safer for residents.

He said Tuesday’s excessive downpour is a strong signal of what to expect with the outset of 2024 rainfall.

He said it was important to imbibe disaster risk reduction strategies.

“We must begin to adhere to safety measures against flood disasters. Thanks be to God that no life was lost and no one was injured,” Farinloye said.

Meanwhile, the Director-General of NEMA, Alhaji Mustapha Habib Ahmed, has appealed to Nigerians to start clearing their drainages and desilting them.

Ahmed urged Community Development Associations, CDAs, to be alive to their responsibility by coordinating the activities of neighbourhoods towards safer environments.

He appealed to local government authorities to sanction corporate organisations for blocking drainages around their offices.

He added that residents dumping refuse in drainages should be prosecuted for blockage of drainages, dumping of refuse in drainages as envisaged in environmental laws to save society.

The director-general expressed his support to the Lagos State government for its bold decision after the 2023 rainy season, when it pulled down structures obstructing drainages across the state.

He urged other state governments to emulate Lagos State by taking bold steps towards making the environment safer.

Suspected bandits have attacked Yar Nasarawa community in Faskari local government area of Katsina State, killing six persons, including a traditional ruler.

The attackers also burnt houses, vehicles and abducted about 38 residents of the area.

A credible source, who is a resident of the area, said about 10 persons also sustained various degrees of injuries, while eight commercial vehicles, six houses and shops were burnt in the community that is less than five kilometres from the Army Super Camp in Faskari local government area.

Residents said the terrorists abducted about 38 residents, including women and children and left 10 residents with gunshot injuries.

He said, “The assailants came prepared, I have never seen them in such number.”

An eyewitness, Auwal Liman, also said that he narrowly escaped to the bush during the attack. He explained that while some bandits were shooting indiscriminately, others were setting vehicles and buildings ablaze.
 
“We are in a sorrowful situation, we can’t go to the farm. And even when we decided to stay off from our farms and local markets, the terrorists still follow us to our communities and kill us. Our lives hardly matter,” he lamented.

Findings revealed that the terrorists stormed the community around 11pm and blocked all entry and exit points to ward off support from the military and members of the Community Watch Corps in the area.

The State Police Command’s spokesperson, Abubakar-Sadik Aliyu, confirmed the attack but did not provide the details.

The Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) has decided to suspend its planned nationwide strike following a meeting with the Federal Government and stakeholders on Monday.

The strike was intended in response to the harsh economic conditions affecting tanker drivers, who had halted operations and refused to transport petroleum products.

NARTO members had threatened a countrywide shutdown starting Monday due to the exorbitant cost of automotive gas oil (diesel), which is essential for fueling their trucks used in transporting petroleum products across Nigeria.

In the wake of the current high level of hardship in the country, the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has disclosed plans to distribute seized food items to Nigerians.

The Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, said the food items will be distributed after they have been certified fit for consumption.

In a statement by Customs National Public Relations officer, Abdullahi Maiwada on Tuesday, Adeniyi reaffirmed his commitment towards advancing President Bola Tinubu’s food security agenda.

“Furthermore, to alleviate the hardships faced by Nigerians and improve access to essential food items, the Nigeria Customs Service will facilitate the direct disposal of food items forfeited to the Federal Government.

“These items will be certified fit for consumption by relevant agencies and made available to ordinary Nigerians nationwide through equitable distribution in our Areas of Operations,” he said.

The statement, however, did not disclose when the planned distribution will commence.

Civil servants in Niger State, operating under the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC, have resolved to embark on an indefinite strike action to express their grievances to the state government.

The strike is expected to commence by 8am on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, following the failure of the state government to meet the demands presented by the NLC, despite previous negotiations.

The NLC, in a letter addressed to Governor Mohammed Bago and signed by the NLC Chairman, Idrees Lafene, and the Trade Union Congress Chairman, Ibrahim Gana, expressed disappointment over the government’s failure to meet their demands and reiterated their commitment to the strike action until their demands are met.

The letter read in part, “We are writing in furtherance to our earlier letter of ultimatum Ref no. OL/NS/040/GEN/Vol 4/29 dated 20/12/23 and the deadlock on settlement of issues as a result of negotiations with the Niger State Government Committee.

“We wish to formally inform the government that effective 8am on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, Niger State workers will commence an indefinite strike action until our demands are comprehensively met.

Among the key demands of the union are the reversal of disputed appointments, including those of Executive Directors, Chairmen, members, and permanent commissioners of the Local Government Service Commission and Civil Service Commission, as well as Directors General of some agencies.

They also called for a clear statement from the government regarding the payment of wage awards.

The NLC also stressed the need for the government to cease the appointment of Permanent Secretaries from outside the civil service, insisting on career progression from within the service.

They also called for an end to the victimization of teachers and members of the educational sector following a recent debate by primary school pupils in Agaie LGA.

“We also wish to stress that the idea of appointing Permanent Secretaries who are not eligible and within the service will no longer be tolerated by the Organised Labour.

“Accordingly, we call on the government to withdraw the recent appointment of a Vice Principal on secondment as a Permanent Secretary to allow for career progression from within.

“We also call on the government to desist from victimising teachers and members from the educational sector as a result of the recent debate by some primary school pupils in Agaie LGA.”

The organised labour said their doors remain open for negotiation, provided the government meets their conditions, and expressed their continued commitment to Governor Bago’s New Niger Agenda.

However, NLC noted that there had been no response to their previous correspondence, leading to the commencement of the strike action.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, announced this at the ongoing Public Wealth Management Conference organised by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated on Tuesday in Abuja.

Edun also stated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited has been asked to improve oil production to boost revenue.

He added that a bill will soon be presented to the National Assembly that will authorise the removal of all taxes and levies that constitute nuisance from the country’s tax system as a measure to wean itself from future Ways and Means indebtedness.

The government, Edun added, will pursue policies that will allow it to harvest revenue in real-time from government-owned enterprises and Corporate entities.

Edun said, “We have to stem liquidity. The Central Bank has led the way in pointing out that the ways and means have to be tailed down and eliminated and that is what we agree with.

“We are doing in that direction, there was an inherited amount of N22.7trn in backlogs. We are auditing it and it is like when I am ready to pay a loan from a bank and I ask for an audit before finding the agreed sum to pay.

“But apart from that, how do you get your ways and means down? We have to get revenues up and expenditure reduced as much as possible.”

Ways and Means is the money that the Central Bank of Nigeria lends to the Federal Government in the meantime to augment spending based on the time the revenue is generated.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, has said that the apex bank will no longer give Ways and Means to the President until the previous loans are repaid.

Olayemi noted that it was one of the measures taken by the apex bank to curtail the economic downturn currently plaguing the country.

Details later…

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Tuesday warned against any protest in the Southeast over the current spate of hunger and economic hardship ravaging Nigeria.

IPOB warned that anyone who organizes protests across the Southeast will regret such an action.

The spokesman of IPOB, Emma Powerful, said the current economic hardship and hunger was part of the reason the group has been agitating for the actualization of Biafra.

A statement by Powerful reads: “Following the unprecedented hardship in Nigeria, we the global family and movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) ably led by the great leader, Mazi Nnamdi Okwuchukwu Kanu hereby caution the people of Biafra not to join any Nigerian to protest against hunger in Nigeria in any Biafran territory. Any Nigerian agent who dares to organize any protest in Biafraland will regret it.

“The current hardship in Nigeria should be the concern of Nigerians, not Biafrans. Biafrans are no longer interested in the affairs of Nigeria. Biafrans were abused, intimidated, beaten, killed and denied voting rights during the election of this present government.

“Ndigbo were told to wait that it is their turn to rule, not the turn of Ndigbo. The aftermath of the fraudulent elections was the demolition of Ndigbo’s properties and investments in the West and Northern parts of the zoo called Nigeria. Has anyone or groups organized a protest against the demolition of Ndigbo’s properties in the West and North? Anyone who organized any protest against economic hardship in Biafraland will put Biafrans in danger.

“We understand that Biafrans are equally affected by the economic hardship arising from the reckless and thoughtless economic policies of Emilokon, but God Almighty Chukwu Okike Abiama is still seeing Biafrans through. We are worried about the suffering of other tribes but there is nothing we can do.

“The current situation is why Biafrans are fighting for freedom. Nevertheless, we must apply wisdom. Biafrans have gone far for Biafra restoration Independence, and it must materialize very soon. Biafrans have gone through the worst economic crisis and emerged victoriously during their planned war of annihilation against the Igbo race.”