The Kano State Police Command, on Monday, banned all forms of protests in the state, with immediate effect.
This followed intelligence received by the Command that the two dominant parties; the New Nigeria People’s Party, and the All Progressives Congress have assembled a crowd to embark on a protest, without the endorsement of the Nigeria Labour Congress.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has begun the inauguration of 45 ministers-designate in Aso Villa.
The Special Adviser to Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Aguri Ngelale, is currently reading the citation of the Ministers, which would be followed by oath-taking.
It would be recall that on August 7, the Senate confirmed 45 ministers-designate out of 48 sent by the President.
More to come…..
At least 23 local government areas in Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi states are battling to survive as kidnappers, cattle rustlers and bandits make life difficult for them.
Findings by News Agency of Nigeria states that affected residents were being forced to migrate, enter into an agreement with the criminals or live a life of uncertainty.
Similarly, residents said local government areas worst affected are Isa, Sabon Birni, Gwadabawa, Illela, Tangaza and Goronyo in Sokoto state.
NAN gathered that residents had been forced to abandon their farms, while some villages had been deserted across the affected LGAs.
The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Ahmed Aliyu, Mallam Abubakar Bawa, said the state government was aware of the enormity of the situation
Bawa said, “We are giving priority to ensuring a safe environment. Addressing security challenges has remained top on our administration’s nine-point agenda.
“Our target as a government is to ensure that citizens sleep with their two eyes closed and continue to live and relate peacefully with one another.”
Bawa further noted the Nigerian Army, police and other security agencies had been sustaining efforts to secure the areas.
Also, the spokesman for the Sokoto State Police Command, ASP Ahmad Rufai, said the Commissioner of Police, Ali Kaigama, had been engaging residents to facilitate the flow of actionable information to address banditry and other criminalities.
The police spokesman said local governments in the eastern parts of Sokoto State were mostly affected by the security challenges.
Also in Zamfara State, a civil society activist, Faruk Shehu, said many communities in the 14 LGAs of the state have been displaced, with residents of Maru, Anka, Shinkafi, Maradun, Zurmi, Gusau and Bungudu LGAs worst affected.
Shehu said previous attempts at dialogue with the bandits had failed, resulting in the escalation of the security challenges in the state.
“The security challenges in the state started as cattle rustling and later transformed into banditry and kidnapping,” Shehu said.
He expressed the hope that the ongoing engagement started by Governor Dauda Lawal with the military and other security agencies would lead to an escalation of attacks on the bandits to secure the areas they have dominated.
The situation in Kebbi State has already claimed the lives of at least 2,500 people between 2019 and 2023, according to Bamaiyi An’iko, the Secretary of Zuru Development Foundation.
An’iko said the 2,500 people were killed in Danko, Wasagu, Fakai, Sakaba and Zuru LGAs, all under Zuru Emirate.
He said bandits have been attacking and displacing rural communities in the emirate, adding that some communities around Bena, Danko, Wasagu had come under siege or total control of the bandits.
“Some communities had to sign an agreement with the bandits,” the foundation’s secretary said, adding that, “There are a lot of Internally Displaced Persons requiring urgent provision of relief materials, including food and toiletries, clothes and mats.”
The state Deputy Governor, Senator Umar Tafida, said the government was determined to end the security challenges and would continue to provide support for victims of bandits’ attacks who have been forced to leave their homes.
He said, “The state government, under the leadership of Dr. Nasir Idris, will leave no stone unturned in making sure that banditry comes to an end in the state.”
The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Ahmad Idris, said, “The government is doing its best to ensure that the situation is fully tackled.”
The Director, Defence Media Operation, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, admitted that insecurity is widespread in the North-West region.
He added that the military had deployed troops to various locations in the region to address the scourge.
Buba said, “The issue of insecurity is quite widespread in North-West of the country. It is for this reason troops are strategically deployed to address the situation through Joint Task Force Operation Hadrin Daji; and Operation Whirl Punch, both of which are in the North-West.
“Periodic reports that have been made available to the media have indicated incremental improvements in the security situation as a result of these operations.”
President Bola Tinubu has refushuffled the portfolios to some of the ministerial members of his cabinet.
A statement released on Sunday,, August 20 by the Special Adviser to the president on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale stated that Abubakar Momoh was redeployed from the Federal Ministry of Youth to the Ministry of Niger Delta Development and Adegboyega Oyetola was redeployed as the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy.
Ajuri, further, expressed that the Federal Ministry of Youth would be reassigned to a minister-designate soon.
Other intending cabinet members include Bunmi Tunji-Ojo and Hon. Sa’idu Alkali who were redeployed as the Minister of Interior and Minister of Transportation respectively.
Disclosed that both Ministers of State in the Oil & Gas sector have been domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources,Ajuri stressed that Senator Heineken Lokpobiri has been assigned the portfolio of Minister of State (Oil), Petroleum Resources, while Ekperipe Ekpo was named the Minister of State (Gas), Petroleum Resources.
“The president has approved the renaming of the Federal Ministry of Environment and Ecological Management as the Federal Ministry of Environment. All aforementioned changes take immediate effect by these directives of the President,” the statement added.
Former governor of Kaduna, Nasir el-Rufai has taken to social media to share a cryptic message a few weeks after the senate refused to confirm him as a minister.
The former governor’s names name was among the forty-eight ministerial nominees forwarded by President Bola Tinubu to the upper legislative chamber for screening and confirmation.
During screening on August 7, the former Kaduna state governor and two other nominees were not confirmed by the senate.
Noting that there were adverse security reports against El-Rufai, the Senate stated that he is required to await clearance.
The development however, generated reactions within and outside the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Although there were reports that el-Rufai had opted to bow out of the race due to the delay, the former Kaduna governor has remained silent on the issue.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter)— on Sunday, El-Rufai shared the lyrics of Bob Marley’s ‘Who The Cap Fit’.
“Man to man is so unjust, children/ Ya don’t know who to trust/ Your worst enemy could be your best friend/ And your best friend, your worse enemy/ Some will eat and drink with you,” the former governor wrote.
“Thank God, we’re past the worse/ Hypocrites and parasites (hypocrites and parasites)/ Will come up and take a bite (will come up and take a bite)/ And if your night should turn to day/ A lot of people would run away/ And who the cap fit let them wear it!/ Who the cap fit let them wear it!”
In what appears to be a reference to El-Rufai’s post, Shehu Sani, former Kaduna senator, tweeted that he has “turned him into a Rastafarian and Reggae artist”.
El-Rufai and Sani were former allies but their relationship went sour over the past few years.
A Human rights lawyer and senior advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana has demanded the immediate release of the embattled Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa.
Leadingreporters earlier reported that Bawa was invited by the State Security Service and probed for alleged financial impropriety under his watch.
He has been in the custody of the Department of State Services for exactly 67 days since June 14, 2023.
In a statement issued on Sunday August, 20 in Lagos, Falana said the remand order for Bawa had expired, stressing thatthe Department of State Services lacks the legal backing to continually detain Bawa.
“In view of the fact that Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa has not been charged with any criminal offence whatsoever, the State Security Service ought to have released him from custody. I am not unaware of the claim that Mr. Bawa is being detained on the basis of a remand order issued by a Magistrate Court in the Federal Capital Territory.
“It ought to be pointed out that the remand order has become spent, invalid and illegal as no magistrate has the power under Section 493 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 or Section 35 of the Constitution of Nigeria to authorise the detention of a criminal suspect for 67 days without trial.he added.
According to the statement, “Indeed, under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, the cumulative lifespan of a remand order is 56 days.
Noting that Bawa’s detention has exceeded the permitted period by the Administration of Criminal Justice Act and the Constitution of Nigeria, Falana advised the State Security Service to release Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa from illegal custody without any further delay.
“The Federal Government should ensure that the rights of Messrs Emefiele and Bawa are respected by the State Security Service and the office of the Director of Public Prosecution in the Federal Ministry of Justice, even though the duo had a penchant for disobeying the orders of the courts when they were in office.
“The plight of both suspects should be a lesson for all public officers in Nigeria who always behave as if there will be no tomorrow. However, the Government which rules by law is under a legal obligation not to breach the fundamental rights of citizens except in a manner prescribed by the Constitution of Nigeria.
Kwara State Government has confirmed it had received N2 billon out of the N4 billion fuel subsidy relief funds that the Federal Government released for purchase of rice to be distributed en masse to vulnerable members of the public in the state.
The state also said it awaits a balance of N2bn of the funds as well as N1bn worth of maize (40,000 bags) which the Central Bank of Nigeria is selling to each state from the national strategic reserve.
Explaining the details of the N5bn Federal Government’s relief package earlier reported in the media, the Chief Press secretary to the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye said that each state is to receive N4bn to purchase bags of rice in the current market value and distribute same to citizens in the state, with the most vulnerable persons as the first priority.
“Each state is to also receive N1bn worth of maize from the strategic national reserve through the Central Bank of Nigeria. This is not in form of cash; it is maize. As of Friday August 18, 2023, the Kwara State Government has received N2bn of the N4bn. It awaits the balance. The state also awaits the maize from the CBN. It is important to mention that 48% (N1, 920,000,000.00) of the N4bn is a noninterest loan that will be paid back over a period of 20 months at N120, 000,000.00 monthly. This deduction begins in November.
“The state government has consequently ordered immediate purchase of rice in the value of the amount.
The governor however to encourage transparency mandated the kwara State Police commissioner, Ebun Adelesu who will be supported by the Emir Shonga Dr. Haliru Yahya, state chairman of Jama’átu Nasrul Islam and Christian Association Chairman (CAN) chairman (or their representatives), Dr. Lawal Olohungbebe and Mrs Grace Funke Bolaji (both representing CSOs); chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations Dr (Mrs) Saudat Abdulbaqi, Mr. Steven Awoyale (youth), a representative of the DSS, a female representative each from the ‘disability’ community and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), and Permanent Secretary (General Service) in the Office of the Secretary to the State Government Alhaji Abdulrahman Ameen Babatunde (Secretary).
He noted that further details on the palliatives will be released by the committee.
“Similarly, the state government hereby confirms receipt of the remaining three trucks of the bags of rice. The government had on August 8, 2023 announced delivery of two truckloads of bags of rice, while awaiting three more.
“Distribution of the remaining three truckloads has commenced through various channels of reaching out to the public, including lawmakers who represent the 24 state constituencies and other stakeholders in the state.”
The State Government urged that these palliatives be shared in the spirit of fairness to all, particularly to the most vulnerable persons, because it is simply impractical for everyone to get at the same time.
The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) on Friday launched a book documenting the COVID-19 Vaccination Experiences of Northern States in Nigeria to mitigate impact and response to vaccine acceptance in the country.
Executive Director, CITAD Dr. Yunusa Ya’u represented at the book launch by the Coordinator Public Education of COVID-19 Vaccine, Hamza Ibrahim stated the book is important to decipher the issues of disinformation and misinformation regarding response to vaccine.
Ya”u, noted that during the last COVID-19 pandemic that ravaged the nation, people were reluctant to accept the vaccines due to rumors about its effect which was widely spread on social media.
He further explained that the issue of hesitancy is not only around COVID-19 vaccine, but it’s also around immunisation and a host of others hence the need to document
experiences regarding vaccination exercise in the 19 Northern states while taking into consideration various hindrances and challenges specific to the entire states.
His words:
“The prevalent misinformation or disinformation or hindrance to accepting the COVID-19 will be different from one state to another. And we think this, if documented, can help in future initiatives aimed at addressing the future pandemics.
“So these are experiences of vaccination exercises from nineteen to northern states. And they are beautiful experiences because they have been collated from the primary health care development agencies.
“There are many issues and this is the reason why we came up with this book, and we highlighted the number of strategies that different states developed and has worked for them in the vaccination exercises.”
He added that the book will serve as a learning tool and serve as a way for people to respond to vaccination issues in future.
“In case anything comes up in the future, this book really vital, it is well-detailed with several strategies that can help to respond to vaccination issues.
“Today we are happy to say that we are formally unveiling the book to be distributed to different states and libraries for people to read and benefit from what has been implemented”.
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, has vowed to sue the the Central Bank of Nigeria for floating of the naira.
Stating that the floating is illegal, Falana disclosed that the decision will be challenged in court.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, on Friday, August 18, Falana mentioned that according to the CBN Act, the central bank is obligated to set the exchange rate.
“There’s no provision for floating the naira. It’s illegal. You say, ‘The value of the naira will be determined by market forces. That is not there in the law.
“I’ve had to sue the Central Bank of Nigeria at the Federal High Court because Section 16 of the Central Bank Act has imposed a duty on the Central Bank to fix and determine the rate of the naira vis-a-vis other currency,” he said
Noting that Section 20(1) of the CBN Act states that the official legal tender in Nigeria is solely the currency notes issued by the Central Bank, specifically the naira. He further explained that Section 20(5) of the Act deems it an offense, punishable by six months imprisonment, for anyone to use any other currency in Nigeria without the approval of the central bank, Falana stressed that unless government officials take steps to strengthen the naira and establish it as the sole legal tender in Nigeria, our progress will be limited.
He also noted that the Federal Government’s approval of N5 billion for each state and the FCT as palliatives is a temporary measure intended to divert attention.
“They are temporary measures. Some of them are quite diversionary and the people in government have not addressed the root of the crisis, which is the dollarisation of the economy.
“Whatever palliatives that are announced will be eaten up by the dollarisation of the economy.”
A dispute has ensued between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Osun State Government regarding the alleged withholding of palliatives by the Federal Government aimed at mitigating the impacts of the removal of fuel subsidies.
The leadership of the APC in Osun State, represented by its state chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, voiced their concerns on Thursday, accusing the state government of holding onto 3,000 bags of rice meant for residents for twelve days.
According to Lawal, “It was authoritatively learnt that five trader-loads of rice with other items donated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration were sent to the Osun State Government as the state shares of the people’s palliatives to cushion the effect of the biting effect of the subsidy removal on fuel. Up till today, the state government has not deemed it fit to announce the federal government gifts as palliatives for the people of the state.”
“I can’t fathom the reason why Governor Adeleke is finding it difficult to announce the arrival of the federal government palliatives to the state and also why it has been pretty difficult to distribute same. Is Governor Adeleke waiting for the people of the state to die of hunger before he deems it fit to make the palliatives available to serve its purpose at the right time?”
“Adeleke is trying to play fast politics on the palliatives from Abuja by inscribing ‘Imole De Rice’ on it. We shall resist it by all legal means. I wonder if Governor Adeleke and his co-travellers are not ashamed that his government is nauseatingly too slow on the handling of the palliatives for the people of the state when other states have since finished distribution and even started the second batch of cash transfer of =N=10,000 to citizens and civil servants. “
He added that “Adeleke must bring out the palliative rice from Abuja that he has been hoarding if his government is finding it difficult to provide its own palliatives for the people of the state.”
But contrary to these claims, the Osun State Government dismissed the allegations from the opposition party.
The Osun Commissioner for Information, Kolapo Alimi, clarified, “Federal government approved a total of three thousand bags of rice palliatives to Osun state. Six hundred bags were loaded per each truck and disbursed through four trailers: making two thousand and four hundred received so far.
He explained further that, “Out of the five trailers of bags of rice palliative to the state, we are waiting for the completion of the palliative supply before the announcement and distribution. Members of the public are also informed that the Commissioner of Ministry of Special Duties, Dr B.T Salaam has received four out of the five trailers and the state is awaiting the last batch of six hundred bags of rice palliatives, to complete the three thousand bags earmarked for the state.
“Governor Ademola Adeleke is a passionate and accountable governor who will never hurt or deprive the citizenry of its palliative. The governor is concerned about the welfare of the populace, and will not fail in its delivery.”
