The military leaders in Niger who seized power in a coup last month have formed a new government, according to a decree read out on national television on Thursday.
Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine will lead the 21-member government, with generals from the new military governing council heading the defence and interior ministries.
The newly elected Taraba State governor Emmanuel Bwacha has reportedly taken N200b loan from six commercial banks, in less than three months after he was sworn in, secret information availed LeadingReporters has revealed.
The governor who was elected under the platform of the ruling party All Progressive Congress APC in the last governorship election was said to have secretly taken the loan, in connivance with some State House of Assembly members.
The loan, the source said, was primarily to recoup monies spent during the last election and to settle some party and personal associates who made huge monetary contributions towards his emergence as the State governor.
The Governor was said to have approached some of the six bank executives and requested for the fund while assuring them that availing him of the funds will put them in the good books of the government under his watch.
The source said that the loan has already been drawn up and expended, thereby increasing the debt portfolio of the state.
“The governor’s action is quite insensitive to the plight of the impoverished citizens of Taraba. How could a governor who was just elected mobilize for as much as N200b just to carter for his election expenses without putting into consideration the effect of such loans on the state’s purse? The source quizzed.
All efforts to get the governor’s official response to the allegations were not successful as at the time of filing this report.
The immediate governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai is having a tough time convincing President Ahmed Bola Tinubu and Tinubu’s associates that he was coming to serve rather than to scheme. This follows an intel detailing how El-Rufai is planning to unsettle President Ahmed Bola’s Tinubu government by drumming tribal and religious sentiments that may pit the North against President Tinubu.
The alleged report was said to contain detailed El-Rufai’s secret activities which may negatively affect President Tinubu adversely if allowed to fester. The plan was to de-market Tinubu in the North should he plan to run for a second term. Part of El-Rufai’s plan, according to the source is to unleash tarnishing content against the president using second parties, all in a bid to cause disaffection and thus pave way for El-Rufai’s presidential ambition come 2027.
A discreet source said that Tinubu was flabbergasted at such devious schemes after El-Rufai has severally assured him of his support.
The source said that El-Rufai felt it was easier to spoil from within by serving under President Tinubu. He was said to have desperately desired to be appointed Chief of Staff to the President or Secretary to the Government of the Federation under Tinubu where he would stay and plan the President’s political downfall.
“He believes that being in the inner circle of the President’s kitchen cabinet would give him ample opportunity to understand the plans and directions of Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government, and thus plan counter strategies that would see his personal ambition materializing.
El-Rufai was said to have mobilized some religious hardliners who would in turn begin to stir religious sentiments that would make President Ahmed Tinubu look like a less-serious Muslim.
“He has perennially leaned towards religious sentiments and tribal bigotry as a way of self-marketing his political plans. He understands how to unsettle a system using the sentiments of religion and he has marshalled out his strategy to unleash religious threats that may see Tinubu as a weak Muslim in the eyes of the North. Such plans include sponsoring activities that would see the North branding Southwestern Muslims as weak Muslims. He intends to weaponize that strategy”. The source said.
There are strong indications that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has settled for Nyesom Wike as the next
Minister of Works, according to a reliable Villa source who spoke to LeadingReporters on condition of
anonymity. The President is currently having a close-door meeting with Nyesom Wike.
The source further hinted that the President has approved that the Ministry of Works and Housing,
which has hitherto existed as one ministry be split into two ministries, namely – the Ministry of Works
and the Ministry of Housing.
“The necessary legal and legislative frameworks have been put in place to ensure this happens”.
Recall that Nyesom Wike, the immediate past governor of Rivers State was reputed to be one of the
governors with the highest investment in infrastructure, mostly roads and bridges. Nyesom Wike
delivered more than 900km of roads within Rivers State with massive state-of-the-art bridges.
His exceptional performance in infrastructural development endeared him to most Nigerians. Even
those in the opposition visited, commissioned, and praised him for his uncommon performances in
infrastructural development.
President Bola Tinubu was said to have settled for Works for Wike, against other propositions put
forward by his associates. He was said to have told his associates that it was better to put Wike where
he proved his competence and capabilities.
Wike, who is a member of the People Democratic Party fell out with his party soon after the Party
National Convention that saw former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar emerging as the party’s
presidential candidate. Atiku lost the election and petitioned the Presidential Election Tribunal
President Bola Tinubu is in a closed-door meeting with former governors Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Wednesday.
The meeting came days after the Senate confirmed Wike as a minister, but did not confirm El-Rufai due to an alleged security report.
Wike arrived at the State House at about 1:40 p.m., while El-Rufai entered the presidential wing of Aso Rock at about 2 p.m.
Sources at the Presidential Villa say the meeting will focus on efforts to ensure that the Senate confirms El-Rufai as a minister.
Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Goes Viral Again After Niger Coup – Of all the former colonial empires, France appears to notably retain significant influence over its former colonies. Presently, the inhabitants of African nations once ruled by France are taking a stance against their former colonizers, seeking complete independence from them.
The question arises: what actions or ongoing practices by France have led to this widespread resentment? Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has long been shedding light on France’s alleged wrongdoings, and following the Niger coup, some of her statements have gained considerable attention. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has consistently expressed her concerns regarding the mistreatment of Africans by France.
She has consistently criticized France for its perceived exploitation of the resources within African nations. According to her assertions, France benefits disproportionately from African resources compared to the local populations. Meloni contends that addressing the issue of illegal immigration necessitates putting an end to the exploitation of Africans and allowing them to break free from these exploitative practices.
Two applicants have confessed that they paid N3 million each to get jobs through proxies, at the Federal Character Commission (FCC).
The applicants identified as Abdulmalik Isah Ahmed and Ali Muhammad Yero confessed this to the ad-hoc committee of the House of Representatives investigating the alleged job racketeering and abuse of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) by ministries, departments and agencies.
Leading Reporters gathered that a desk officer of the FCC, Haruna Kolo, had on Monday, August 7, told the committee that he received millions of naira from job-seekers on behalf of the chairman of the commission, Muheeba Dankaka.
Dankaka had sworn with the Quran that he neither received money from Kolo nor was she involved in job racketeering.
Narrating how they got FCC jobs, Ahmed said: “We learnt there was a recruitment in 2021 recruitment, each of the commissioners has candidates. After having the appointments, Mr Kolo promised us postings in two months’ time.
“So, we came through Kolo, through this means of paying money and he promised us that since he had others to go with our batch.
“I got to know Kolo through the driver of the Taraba Commissioner.
“I transferred a million Naira to Kolo’s account on the arrangement because I was told that, the monthly pay is about N140,000 or N130,000. So, we agreed on N1.5m with the driver first. We bargained with the driver on behalf of Kolo. His name is Yusha’u Gambo”
Also speaking, Yero said his two brothers paid N2m in instalments to secure the job for him.
“My brothers, Nurudeen Yero and Abdulrazak Yero, paid the sum of N2m Naira to Badamasi Yaro’s account on the 2nd of August 2022. Badamasi Yaro is working with Haruna Kolo and the money paid into his account was for a job at Federal Character Commission.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed a University of Ibadan, UI, 400-level student, Orire Agbaje as member of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms.
The committee was inaugurated on Tuesday in Abuja.
The presidency in a tweet on Tuesday said, “one of the members of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms inaugurated by President @officialABAT today is a 400-level Economics student of the University of Ibadan, Miss Orire Agbaje, who is also the President of @ui_taxclub, President of @SEIHUnibadan, and a Nigeria Higher Education Foundation (NHEF) Scholar.”
The committee headed by Taiwo Oyedele is expected to deliver a schedule of quick reforms that can be implemented within the first thirty days.
“Critical reform measures should be recommended in six months, and full implementation will take place within one calendar year”, the President said.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has said that with the removal of fuel subsidy is aimed to save over 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in one year.
Speaking at on Tuesday, August 8, at a one-day workshop organised by the National Council on Climate Change with the theme “Unpacking the outcomes of the 58 sessions of the subsidiary bodies of the United Nations framework convention on climate change,” organised by the National Council on Climate Change.
Represented by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Senator Ibrahim Hassan, Shettima stressed that Nigeria was on course to achieve the nationally-determined contribution targets.
Leadingreporters earlier reported that President Bola Tinubu declared an end to the petrol subsidy.
Preliminary analysis conducted by the National Council on Climate Change on the co-benefits of fuel subsidy removal indicates that there has been about a 30 per cent reduction in daily fuel consumption, amounting to about 20 million litres, equivalent to an estimated daily saving of 42,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
“When projected over one year, it amounts to over 15 million tonnes of CO2 saved, representing about 40 per cent greenhouse gas reduction from the baseline projection of 45 million metric tonnes of total GHG carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030,” he said.
This places Nigeria on course to achieve our NDC targets ahead of time,” he said.
Bauchi State Civil Service Commission has terminated the appointment of the Chief Secretarial Assistant attached to the State Pension Board, Ibrahim Garba over misconduct of salary and pension scam”.
According to a statement released by the Information Officer, BSCSC, Mr Saleh Umar, on Tuesday, August 8.
The commission stated that that Garba’s action violated the Public Service Rule (PSR) 0327(XI) which deals with the issues of financial embezzlement.
“The commission approved the termination during a sitting of the 17th plenary session held on August 1.
“A disciplinary committee of the State Pension Board found Garba guilty of swapping the account number of one Audu Mohammed, now deceased, with his own.“
This facilitated the change of pay point after the relatives of the deceased reported his death.
“Thereafter, he received an illegal pension for 55 months of N54,871 for four years and seven months which amounted to over N3 million.
This amount will be recovered from Garba’s benefits,” he said.
He further explained that the chairman of the commission, Alhaji Abubakar Usman, has called on workers in the state to be God-fearing in the discharge of their duties.
Usman said the public service rule must be observed and adhered to.
The chairman assured the civil servants in the state that no worker will be victimised for nothing, adding that the commission will not fold its hands while bad eggs sabotage the service.
