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The Federal Capital Territory, FCT High Court in Wuse Zone 2 has dismissed the no-case submission filed by Peter Nwachukwu, husband of Osinachi, the late gospel singer.

Justice Njideka Nwosu-Iheme, while delivering a ruling on Tuesday, held that the prosecution has established a case against the defendant.

The Federal Government had filed a 23-count charge against Nwachukwu, over the death of Osinachi.

After pleading not guilty, the judge ordered that the defendant be remanded at the Kuje correctional facility, pending further hearing.

The prosecution had called 17 witnesses to testify during the trial, which commenced on June 20, 2022, and ended on March 10, 2023.

Osinachi Nwachukwu, who passed away on April 8, 2022, was initially thought to have died of cancer, but family and friends claimed her death was connected to assault by her husband, who was later arrested, and trial is ongoing.

Counsel for Nwachukwu, Aliyu, proceeded to file a no-case submission, following the autopsy report by the National Hospital in Abuja, which stated that there was no mark of violence on the deceased.

Aliyu said evidence presented by the medical practitioners, exonerated Nwachukwu from the allegations of culpable homicide and domestic violence, praying for the court to discharge and acquit his client of all allegations.

The report listed the causes of Osinachi’s death as “generalised organ pallor; bilateral leg swelling; fluid in the sac containing the heart; tumour deposits in and on the heart, lungs, and kidneys; a massively enlarged heart; and fluid around the lungs that restricts breathing”.

The court, however, dismissed the no-case submission and ordered the defendant to open his defence

President Bola Tinubu has appointed Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu as chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, who announced this in a statement, on Tuesday, also said Mr. Clifford Okwudiri Oparaodu was appointed as the new Secretary of the commission.

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Ngelale said the appointments were subject to confirmation by the senate.

“In exercise of powers conferred on the President as established in Section 3(6) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, and in furtherance of the Renewed Hope mandate to reform key institutions and invigorate Nigeria’s war on corruption, President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of a new management team for the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), pending Senate confirmation:

“Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu — Chairman / Chief Executive Officer, ICPC

“Mr. Clifford Okwudiri Oparaodu — Secretary to the Commission, ICPC

“The new Chairman of the ICPC is nominated for confirmation by the Nigerian Senate, following the President’s approval of the outgoing Chairman’s request to proceed on pre-end of tenure leave beginning on November 4, 2023, ahead of the expiration of his tenure on February 3, 2024.

“The position of Secretary to the Commission does not require Senate confirmation and, therefore, by the directive of the President, the appointment of Mr. Clifford Okwudiri Oparaodu as Secretary of the Commission takes immediate effect.

“Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu has embarked upon many far-reaching reforms as the Attorney General of Jigawa State since September 2019 and holds Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate degrees in Law. He was also named as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria-designate in October 2023.

“Mr. Clifford Okwudiri Oparaodu is a lawyer with over 30 years of experience and has served meritoriously in the public service as a Member of the Rivers State Judicial Service Commission and Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of Port Harcourt City Local Government Council.

“The President implores the new management team of the ICPC to always be above board as they discharge their duties without fear or favour concerning all matters before them.”

ABUJA– A retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG, Mr. Moses Ambakina Jitoboh, has approached the National Industrial Court in Abuja, alleging that he was forced out of the Nigeria Police Force, NPF.

Jitoboh, in the process he filed before the court, said he was compulsorily retired by the Police Service Commission, PSC, even though he has not clocked the 60 years mandatory retirement age or reached 35 years in service.

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He told the court that the PSC compulsorily retired him and three others on the ground that it was upholding the police tradition of retiring senior officers when their junior is promoted over them, to avoid what it termed as “status reversal”.

The claimant maintained that his purported compulsory retirement was done in breach of Rule 020810 of the Public Service Rules as well as Section 18 (8) of the Nigeria Police Act, 2020.

He is, therefore, praying the court to not only declare his compulsory retirement as wrongful, but to also issue an order, directing the PSC to pay the sum of N500million as general damages for the abrupt termination of his employment, which he said portrayed him as a disloyal officer.

“An order of this Honorable Court (NIC) setting aside the purported
compulsory retirement of the claimant as Deputy Inspector-General of Police on the 25th day of August, 2023 by the
Defendant.”

As well as, “an order setting aside all the unlawful and embarrassing decisions taken by the defendant (PSC), including the retirement of the claimant
and the promotion of another to replace the claimant, same having been done unlawfully and illegally.”

He further prayed the court to compel the defendant to pay him the sum of N50m as the cost of prosecuting the action.

In his statement of claims, DIG Jitoboh maintained that he remains an officer of the NPF until June 10, 2029, when he would have attained 35 years in service.

He argued that he ought to be entitled to his salaries, emoluments and
all other paraphernalia of office due to him, pending his retirement from the force.

Besides, he applied for a declaration of the court that pursuant to Section 4 (3) of the Police Service Commission Act, 2001, the defendant (PSC), has no valid Board to take any decision whatsoever purporting to retire or promote any Police Officer, insisting that tenure of the PSC Board elapsed in July 2023.

The PSC Board, he added, enjoys a joint tenure, adding that there was and no legal basis for Mr. Solomon Arase to remain in office after the tenure of the Board had elapsed as he was appointed to complete the tenure of Mr. Musiliu Smith who resigned as the PSC Chairman in 2022.

More so, the claimant told the court that there were precedents that senior officers remained in office despite the elevation of their junior.

He cited the case of Mr. Ogbonnaya Onovo, whom he said served under two of his juniors without being compulsorily retired until he later became the IG of Police.

The claimant further told the court that Mr. Arase, who ordered his retirement, served under Suleiman Abbawho was his junior, without being compulsorily retired until he eventually rose to the position of IG of Police.

He noted that in 2016 when the PSC purportedly retired AIG Mbu Joseph Mbu on the same ground, the action was nullified by the court for being unlawful, embarrassing and unconstitutional.

President Bola Tinubu has launched the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer initiative, targeting more than 61 million vulnerable Nigerians for post-fuel subsidy removal relief.

The launching ceremony of the initiative was programmed to coincide with this year’s International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

The Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer initiative, which will give monthly N25,000 cash support to 15 million households nationwide is expected to gulp nothing less than N1.125 trillion.

Speaking at the flag-off ceremony of the initiative, which was held on Tuesday, October 17, at the State House Press Gallery, Abuja, President Tinubu, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, described the launch as a statement of his administration’s commitment to poverty alleviation.  

According to the president, the theme of this year’s commemoration; “Decent Work and Social Protection: Putting Dignity in Practice for All” is no doubt in perfect alignment with the Renewed Hope Agenda.

He said: “Today is a significant day for us in Nigeria and for my administration for it brings with it an opportunity for me to restate my administration’s commitment to poverty alleviation as expressed in my 8 point Agenda.

“My government will lead from the front in seeking to ensure that all Nigerians have opportunities decent for dignified work and sustained social protection.

“It is only via a sustained collaborative approach that we can win this war against poverty in Nigeria and the world at large. Hope is here. I ask the Nigerian people to please ensure that they key into all the available programmes because they are here to help.

“Our objective is to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty. Yet, this will only be possible with the cooperation of the people we seek to help. Let us continue to work together to achieve our collective goal of eradicating poverty in Nigeria”, he said.

Earlier in her address, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, warned that ignoring poverty alleviation in the country will amount to sitting on a keg of gunpowder.

She observed that the N75,000 already announced by the President for disbursement to vulnerable households in the country is enough to successfully run small-scale businesses.

Edu noted: “Beyond this, the government will be providing low-cost shelter for the poor and internally displaced persons as a form of providing that cover for them. Several other interventions, including the rural vocational skills Intervention will be carried out at mass scale. All of these are targeted at the various dimensions of poverty in the country.

“As a nation, we must come together to fight poverty. Poverty is that scourge, poverty is that hydra-headed cobra in the room that if not tackled, would consume everyone.

“Sitting and ignoring poverty at any level, will only seem or equate to sitting on a keg of gunpowder and that’s why today, the president is taking it headlong.

“We want to encourage Nigerians, we want to encourage the private sector, we want to encourage our development partners that are here, it’s time to step up to the occasion.

“We have a clear-cut roadmap, an action plan for implementation of the eradication of poverty from Nigeria. Everyone must key in and be part of it.”

Edu assured that Tinubu will eradicate poverty in the country by the year 2030.

Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of Economy, Wale Edun, said the 63% statistics of Nigerians living in poverty, representing 84million of the population, is unacceptable to President Tinubu

He stated: “Clearly to Mr. President, it is totally unacceptable as it is to the rest of us. And that is why it is perhaps his number one priority, tackling poverty and he has a program to stabilize the economy and grow the economy in general.

Edun added that the cash transfer program will help reduce poverty in a significant way.

The World Bank country representative, Shubham Chaudhuri confirmed that cash transfers are a method widely acknowledged and universally accepted.

Chaudhuri stressed that the method has proven to be one of the most effective ways to provide assistance to citizens, particularly the impoverished and vulnerable who have been impacted by economic shocks or rising living costs.

He said: “This aid is crucial in helping them overcome the initial period during which they might otherwise be compelled to make decisions with long-term consequences. For instance, these decisions might include reducing daily meals to just one or withdrawing their children from school.

“The type of cash transfer referred to as ‘shock-responsive cash transfer’ that is currently being implemented is utilized by countries worldwide to offer temporary relief in such situations.”

The Beneficiaries present at the flag were, Larai Suleiman, Shuaibu Hassana, Sariki Bala Gamu,Okor Jonah and Hameed Kosemani Isiaka.

Some protesters have stormed the streets of Abuja to condemn the appointment of Mr Ola Olukoyede as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Leading reporters gathered that the protesters who converged under the group Centre For Democracy and Human Rights held several placards, calling on President Bola Tinubu and the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, to immediately discontinue the appointment.

The protesters marched to the gate of the National Assembly, after which they proceeded to submit their petition against the appointment to the leadership of the National Assembly.

Secretary General of the group, Adebayo Lion Ogorry, said that the appointment of Olukoyede as EFCC Chairman was a flagrant disregard and breach of the provisions of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Establishment Act, 2004.

Ogorry said the law states that the EFCC Chairman must have cognate experience of not less than 15 years but that Olukoyede only has eight years of experience at the Commission.

“We queried how he manufactured an additional 15 cognate years of experience as contained as required by law to as contained in Section 2 (1)(iii) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Establishment Act, 2004,” Ogorry said.

The group called on the Senate to reject Olukoyede’s nomination as EFCC Chairman and urged President Tinubu to withdraw the appointment.

“We call on you to use your office to give this appointment the proper scrutiny it deserves and stop the flagrant disregard and breach of the provisions of the extant laws of the EFCC Establishment Act 2004,” Ogorry said.

Note that the Senate revealed today that it received President Bola Tinubu’s request for Olukoyede’s appointment.

Nigerians have expressed their concerns on social media over the recruitment of 50 repentant thugs into Kano State Police Command. The repentant thugs were recruited

Nigerians have expressed their concerns on social media over the recruitment of 50 repentant thugs into Kano State Police Command.

The repentant thugs were recruited as police special constabularies in Kano, according to Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Usaini Gumel.

During the passing out parade, Command’s spokesperson, Abdullahi Haruna said, “Today is a happy day for the good people of Kano State and the Police Command because we passed out fifty (50) youths from the two hundred and twenty-two (222) repentant thugs who have since surrendered themselves.”

Reacting to the development, Nigerians took to X (formerly Twitter) to express their views, stressing that this might increase unruly abehaviour among the security agents.

Defending the move by Kano state, the Force spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi said, “They are not policemen. I was told, and it’s been in the news that they are repentant individuals who have been mobilised into the constabulary scheme of Kano State. The Constabulary scheme is not police but a community-based initiative.”

Replying to Adejobi, @ifyforever pointed out, “From your explanation I can deduce that you know nothing about their supposed repentance until recently when you were “told”.

“Now who certify these guys ” Repentant”?

“Secondly, does the lion building hold a debrief of them, psychology evaluation and assessment or is the job of the state department.”

“Thirdly, do you rely on whatever you were told just because it came from your officers and do not carry out your own investigation to ascertain the clarity of pictures they paint for you.

“Many questions on my mind don’t even know which one to write.”

In the reactions that have trailed the recruitment, @greasedbygrace called on the Adejobi and Lagos Police Public Relations Officer Benjamin Hundeyin, saying, “@Princemoye1 @BenHundeyin Can u guys confidently authenticate this. I remember u saying we should recruit the best people to the police force

“Constable is not the police but they wear the same uniform,” @_weyimi reacted. “If they are out on the streets performing police duties and they are told it is wrong, what will the police do to them??? You do realize this is a problem or let’s all believe this is a skit.”

Speaking about an alleged notorious miscreant among the new recruits, @harrizone98 tweeted, “Frame 1: Nigeria Police Special Constabulary Officer in uniform. Frame 2: Chile Maidoki, repentant Kano criminal. FPPRO either doesn’t know this or he’s making up excuses for a criminal.”

“Nigeria is comedy central tbh, it’s only sad that these comic acts are played in real-life situations,” @AkinronbiDave said.

@ItisRitchie reacted, “Repentant criminal? Was he ever arrested or even taken to court? This is how they recruited criminals as SARS then.”

CP makes further clarification

Speaking further on the controversy, the Commissioner of Police said no criminal was recruited into the force.

Gumel said one Nasiru Abdullahi, whose enlistment into the constabularies, has generated serious attemtion, was among the 222 ‘repentant influential youths’ who denounced violence and chose to become “good ambassadors” of the state.

He said that Abdullahi, also known as ‘Chile Madobi’, was among the 222 youths who had been granted amnesty by the state government.

According to him, following instructions from the state government,  the youths were de-radicalized and properly profiled, during which about 50 of them volunteered to help police in the ongoing fight against criminal elements in the state.

He faulted reports alleging that the state command was training constabularies at a training school,  wondering when and where the state it had built a training school.

Gumel said,  “All the 222 influential youths, who surrendered themselves were properly profiled and the state government organised a training for them into various trades under its skills acquisition programmes.

“The State Governor, who already gave them amnesty directed us to profile them and find out where they can fit in for skills acquisition and human empowerment. Out of the 222 influential youths, 50 of them volunteered to help the police in fighting crimes and criminal activities in the state. Nasiru Abdullahi is one of them.”

President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday launched the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer for 15 million households.

The event coincided with World Poverty Eradication Day and was held at the Press Gallery of the State House in Abuja.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, represented the president at the event.

In attendance were the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Eradication, Betta Edu; Minister Of Finance, Wale Edun; World Bank Country Director, Shubham Chaudhuri; and the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator For Nigeria, Matthias Schmale, among other dignitaries.

The 15 million households, according to Edu, represent 62 million Nigerians.

She said that N25,000 would be transferred to the beneficiaries monthly for three months, which amounts to N75,000 for each beneficiary.

The minister also disclosed that another scheme would be launched in no distant time, code-named ‘Iya Loja Funds’, which would provide soft loans of N50,000 to support petty traders.

In addition, at the beginning of the next farming season, she said that farmers would be provided with incentives to boost their farm yields.

A 23-year-old man, Akaninyene Isaac, has hacked his mother to death with a cutlass for denying him food for three days in Oruk Uso Otoro village, Abak Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom state.

According to a statement by Akwa Ibom police command’s spokesperson Odiko MacDon, issued to reporters in Uyo on Monday, Isaac was arrested by operatives of Abak Division last Wednesday for allegedly murdering his 55-year-old mother, Christiana.

The police spokesperson added that Isaac confessed to killing his mother with a cutlass for failure to provide him food for over three days.

MacDon quoted the suspect as saying, “I used a machete to inflict grievous injuries on her, leading to her death.”

He said that the suspect would be charged in court upon the conclusion of investigations.