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Oba Adbulrasheed Akanbi, Oluwo of Iwoland in Osun state, has called on the federal government to make provision for security votes for the traditional institution to help fight insecurity in the country.

Akanbi, who spoke to journalists in Osogbo, the state capital on Monday, said the traditional rulers are closer to the grassroots and are privy to the intelligence needed to curb crimes in communities.

According to him, the police cannot effectively perform their duty of securing the people because the force is “underfunded and understaffed”, hence the need to collaborate with traditional rulers.

“Traditional rulers should be empowered to domesticate security at the grassroots which constitutes higher percent of the hideouts for kidnappers. Co-opting monarchs will unavoidably decimate security threat,” Akanbi said.

“But traditional institution should be given security vote to engage local hunters, vigilante, the Agbekoyas, trusted local Odua Peoples Congress (OPC), among others. In my own capacity, I am trying my utmost best in my domain but the institution I represent deserves security funding to act more.

“I have personally arrested a criminal in my domain and handed him over to the police. I know the nooks and crannies of my city. No criminal can survive with illegality here. I have instilled the fear in them and this has decimated atrocities in Iwo. I am ready to do more if empowered by engaging trusted local security details.

“The police saddled with this primary responsibility is underfunded and under staffed. Nigeria of over 200 million population is parading about 300,000 policemen. The police should be equipped with modern tools and should be paid good salaries and as well be assured of job security to motivate them for maximal performance.

“Government should provide surveillance helicopters to aid technical detective assignments by the police, most especially when searching kidnappers’ hideouts.”

Akanbi linked the high rate of crimes and banditry in the country to unemployment, saying the availability of jobs will cause a drastic reduction in social vices in the society.

“…The ultimate panacea is the implementation of robust youth based programs and empowerment for the Nigerian youth,” he said.

“The root of every security threat is unemployment. Addressing this will halt the menace of criminality and clean our country of social vices.

“Strict punishment should be enacted and upheld by agencies of government. The fear of legal reprisal can equally discourage some perpetrators.”

Narrating his ordeal, the Pastor said his wife, who was a fruit seller, used to return home at late hours every day and refused to have sex with him.

”There was a day I challenged her why she always return late and denying me sex.

”She confessed that the small size of my penis was responsible for keeping late outside and for refusing to have sex with her.

”She suggested to buy local herb for the treatment of my micro penis which cost N5,000 but I priced it down to N4,000.

”I got myself treated with the ‘Agbo'(local herb) but she still felt reluctance to allow me have access to her body,” he narrated.

The pastor further alleged that the defendant maltreated his mother when she was living with him and that the ill-treatment forced his aged mother to relocate to Ilesha where she died few months later.

He told the court that Tope used to curse every member of his family and always cursed his blood brothers when they visited him.

”My lord, she is a devil, always fighting people especially females, that come to my church for prayer, accusing me of flirting with them.

”We have never stayed beyond two years in every house I rented since we married 19 years ago due to her stubbornness and troublesome character.

”The five children of our union lack home training and always cursing me whenever I tried to correct any of the kids for doing wrong things.

”In fact, our first child has ran away from home now and I cannot even locate his whereabouts.

”I urge the court to separate us so that I can have peace of mind to do my pastoral work,” he pleaded.

In her defence, Tope denied all the allegations but urged the court to dissolve the marriage as requested by the plaintiff.

She accused her husband of womanising, saying he never care for her welfare but was in the habit of drinking alcohol.

The President of the court, Chief Mukaila Balogun and the two court assessors, Chief Wahab Popoola and Chief Alao Ganiyu, in their unanimous decision dissolved the marriage.

Balogun said the court was handicapped to settle the dispute between the parties because the couple had agreed to end the marriage.

He ordered that three kids that are males including the first born that ran away should be in the custody of the plaintiff while the remaining two daughters should remain with the defendant.

He further directed the plaintiff to pay N8,000 monthly allowance for the upkeep of the two kids in the defendant custody.

He admonished the parties to refrain from fomenting trouble or disturb public peace.

Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday morning ordered that upcoming musician, Azeez Fashola, alias Naira Marley, be remanded in the prison custody.

The judge made the remand order shortly after the musician was arraigned before him on 11 counts, bordering on credit card fraud.

Naira Marley pleaded not guilty to the cyber fraud charges pressed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The trial judge adjourned till May 30 to take the bail application filed by the defence counsel, Taiwo Oreagba, on behalf of his client.

Naira Marley surrounded by EFCC officials in court on Monday

Hours after threatening the “official end” of Iran if it starts a war with the United States, Donald Trump kept up his uncompromising rhetoric, vowing not to let Iran develop nuclear weapons.

“I don’t want to fight. But you do have situations like Iran, you can’t let them have nuclear weapons, you just can’t let that happen,” Mr Trump said in an interview with Fox News late on Sunday.

Before becoming US president, Mr Trump was a vocal critic of both the Iraq war and the Libya intervention. Last year, he pulled the US out of a comprehensive nuclear deal with Iran, an agreement that was designed to temporarily curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

On Sunday, he said that “with all of everything that’s going on, and I’m not one that believes, you know, I’m not somebody that wants to go into war, because war hurts economies, war kills people most importantly, by far the most importantly”.

Mr Trump again took credit for ending the nuclear deal that his predecessor Barack Obama signed in 2015 and indicated that the strategy of isolation and sanctions is working by devastating the Iranian economy.

“I had no idea it was going to be as strong as it was … the country is devastated from the standpoint of the economy,” he said.

The US wants Iran to come to the table, and according to CNN, the White House has passed a phone number via Switzerland to Tehran. That call has not been placed yet.

There are growing concerns in Washington that if Iran backs away from its commitments under the nuclear deal in July, it could increase enrichment levels – capped under the 2015 agreement, officially called the JCPOA – to obtain a nuclear weapon.

Before his interview was aired, Mr Trump threatened Tehran that if it “wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran”.

“Never threaten the United States again!” he said.

The escalation in rhetoric comes as a rocket landed near the US embassy in Baghdad on Sunday, four days after Washington ordered the withdrawal of all non-essential staff from Iraq because of fears of attacks by Iranian proxies.

It also coincides with mounting tension in the Gulf of Oman with two US warships arriving in the region. Last week, two attacks, one sabotaging tankers at sea near the UAE and one against Saudi oil pumping stations near Riyadh, occurred within 48 hours of each other.

Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of ordering the drone attack through the Houthis, while the UAE is conducting an investigation into what happened off its coast.

Gulf states have also increased maritime patrols to deter Iran.

An African-American billionaire technology investor, Robert F.Smith stunned the entire graduating class at Morehouse College in Atlanta when he pledged to pay off their student loans.

The Associated Press estimated the loans to be up to $40 million.

Smith, this year’s commencement speaker, made the announcement while addressing nearly 400 graduating seniors of the all-male historically black college.

On Twitter, he encapsulated the reasoning for his gesture: “More than the money we make, the awards, or recognition, or titles we earn, each of us will be measured by how much we contribute to the success of the people around us,” he wrote.

Smith is the Founder and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, a private equity firm that invests in software, data, and technology-driven companies.

“On behalf of the eight generations of my family that have been in this country, we’re gonna put a little fuel in your bus,” the investor and philanthropist told graduates in his morning address. “This is my class, 2019. And my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans.”

The announcement immediately drew stunned looks from faculty and students alike. Then the graduates broke into the biggest cheers of the morning and stood up, applauding. Morehouse said it is the single largest gift to the college.

“More than the money we make, the awards, or recognition, or titles we earn, each of us will be measured by how much we contribute to the success of the people around us,” he wrote.

Though college officials could not provide an estimate of the exact amount owed by the current graduating class, students graduate with an average debt of $30,000 to $40,000, said Terrance L. Dixon, vice president of enrolment management.

Smith, who received an honorary doctorate from Morehouse during the ceremony, had already announced a $1.5 million gift to the school.

Smith said he expected the recipients to “pay it forward” and said he hoped that “every class has the same opportunity going forward.”

“Because we are enough to take care of our own community,” Smith said. “We are enough to ensure that we have all the opportunities of the American dream. And we will show it to each other through our actions and through our words and through our deeds.”

In the weeks before graduating from Morehouse on Sunday, 22-year-old finance major Aaron Mitchom drew up a spreadsheet to calculate how long it would take him to pay back his $200,000 in student loans — 25 years at half his monthly salary, per his calculations.

In an instant, that number vanished. Mitchom, sitting in the crowd, wept.

“I can delete that spreadsheet,” he said in an interview after the commencement. “I don’t have to live off of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I was shocked. My heart dropped. We all cried. In the moment it was like a burden had been taken off.”

His mother, Tina Mitchom, was also shocked. Eight family members, including Mitchom’s 76-year-old grandmother, took turns over four years co-signing on the loans that got him across the finish line.

“It takes a village,” she said. “It now means he can start paying it forward and start closing this gap a lot sooner, giving back to the college and thinking about a succession plan” for his younger siblings.

Morehouse College president David A. Thomas said the gift would have a profound effect on the students’ futures.

“Many of my students are interested in going into teaching, for example, but leave with an amount of student debt that makes that untenable,” Thomas said in an interview. “In some ways, it was a liberation gift for these young men that just opened up their choices.”

US internet giant Google, whose Android mobile operating system powers most of the world’s smartphones, said Sunday it was beginning to cut ties with China’s Huawei, which Washington considers a national security threat.

In the midst of a trade war with Beijing, President Donald Trump has barred US companies from engaging in telecommunications trade with foreign companies said to threaten American national security.

The measure targets Huawei, a Chinese telecoms giant in Washington’s sights that is listed by the Commerce Department among firms with which American companies can only engage in trade after obtaining the green light from the authorities.

The ban includes technology sharing.

“We are complying with the order and reviewing the implications,” a Google spokesperson told AFP.

The move could have dramatic implications since Google, like all tech companies, must collaborate with smartphone makers to ensure its systems are compatible with their devices.

Google will have to halt business activities with Huawei that involve transfer of hardware, software and technical services that are not publicly available — meaning Huawei will only be able to use the open source version of Android, a source close to the matter told AFP.

Huawei will no longer have access to Google’s proprietary apps and services, such as the Gmail email service.

Huawei did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Huawei is a rapidly expanding leader in 5G technology but remains dependent on foreign suppliers.

It buys about $67 billion worth of components each year, including about $11 billion from US suppliers, according to The Nikkei business daily.

Huawei is the target of an intense campaign by Washington, which has been trying to persuade allies not to allow China a role in building next-generation 5G mobile networks.

US government agencies are already banned from buying equipment from Huawei.

Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei said Saturday that “We have not done anything which violates the law,” adding the US measures would have a limited impact.

After going public on Thursday, MTN Nigeria has brought itself under the scrutiny of the investing public; all its progress and otherwise will now be subject to the corporate governance laws of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

The identities of some shareholders, who now own billions in the second biggest company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange have now emerged.

While the MTN Nigeria is still controlled by MTN Group, the parent country, some notable Nigerians hold billions in the telecommunications company.

HERE’S A FULL LIST OF THOSE WHO OWN MTN NIGERIA AS AT MAY 17, 2019:

As expected for a money minting enterprise being the largest telecoms network in Nigeria, MTN shares are being snapped up.by investors.

Listed at N90 per share, the price has gained 21 percent in just two days trading.

Ahead of the election of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) chairman, there are indications that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors prefer their Ekiti State colleague, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, to Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai.

The seventh NGF poll will hold on Wednesday in Abuja.

El-Rufai may back out of the contest following talks among All Progressives Congress (APC) governors.

NGF has produced six chairmen in the last 20 years of the nation’s democracy. They are: Alh. Abdullahi Adamu, (Nasarawa, 1999 – 2004), Arc. (Obong) Victor Attah (Akwa Ibom State, 2004 -2006), Chief Lucky Igbinedion (Edo, 2006 – 2007), Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki (Kwara, 2007- 2011), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers, 2011 -2015) and Abdulaziz Yari (2015-2019).

The Southwest, the Northeast and the Southeast have not chaired the NGF.

Most PDP governors are said to be uncomfortable with El-Rufai because of his derision of the opposition and hardline on some national issues, especially from the religious perspective.

El-Rufai is seen by some PDP governors as one of the architects of the defeat of the opposition party in the last general elections.

The governors will attend their last National Economic Council (NEC) meeting on Wednesday. They will use the opportunity to elect a new chairman.

A PDP governor said: “We have decided not to support El-Rufai as the next chairman of the NGF because his temperament is not good enough for this office. He is a courageous, brilliant and smart individual but if he leads NGF, his caustic comments can create discontent among us.

“Also, he has a headmaster instinct, which does not fit into a forum where we are all colleagues. Since Fayemi has indicated interest, we prefer him as a moderate.”

Another PDP governor said: “The Kaduna governor does not care a hoot about PDP, a party which provided him the opportunity to climb up leadership positions. He has derided us during the campaign; we will pay him back in his own coin.

”The outgoing NGF chairman, Abdulaziz Yari, has set a template of dialoguing with the Presidency for interventions, including the latest N649.43billion and we need another governor who can continue.

“We don’t want any NGF chairman who will use the forum as a platform for 2023 general elections. We respect el-Rufai, but we won’t give him this opportunity.”

As at press time, there were indications that el-Rufai might back out of the race because of the ongoing talks among APC governors.

An outgoing APC governor said: “We want to go into the NGF election united, unlike the case in 2011 when we had a split among ourselves. The APC governors are already building consensus too around Fayemi.

“The ongoing talks may lead to the withdrawal of el-Rufai from the race, more so a governor from Northwest has just ended his tenure as NGF chairman. Equity demands that the office should be conceded to another geopolitical zone.

“I think the candidature of Fayemi is more acceptable to both APC and PDP caucuses. He is also a ranking governor in our midst.”

A former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido has warned ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo against turning himself into a bigot. He said Obasanjo’s comments at a church on alleged Fulanisation and Islamisation of Nigeria were intolerable.

Lamido advised Obasanjo to retain his national outlook instead of fanning the embers of religious divide.

But a former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode said Obasanjo was only being courageous in telling the truth.

Lamido expressed his views in a statement by his New Media aide, Masur Ahmed.

The statement said: “Speaking about ‘Fulanisation and Islamisation at St. Paul Cathedral Church’ is very much unlike you, sir!

“If it were said at a non-religious venue to a non-religious audience, may be it might have been more tolerable.

“Please, sir, don’t let your disappointment with sitting Presidents turn you into a bigot. You must not abandon the national stage.

“The cracks along the various divides in our national cohesion are already turning into huge ‘gorges’”

In a counter-statement, Fani-Kayode said Obasanjo was just being courageous.

He said the former President had done more for the core North, Lamido’s Fulani tribe, and Nigeria’s unity than any other ex-President or Head of State in the nation’s history. The former minister said posterity would be kind to Obasanjo for speaking the bitter truth.

Fani-Kayode said: “I hear one or two people like Sule Lamido are not too happy with what Obasanjo said and have called him (names) out for saying it. That is sad and unfortunate because Obasanjo has done more for the core North, Lamido’s Fulani tribe, and Nigerian unity, than any other former President or Head of State in our history.

“He also fought in a civil war to keep the country together. For anybody from the core North to call him names for speaking the truth and baring his mind over what is unfolding in Nigeria today tells you how blinded by power, insensitive and callous some of these people are.

“It is only those that subscribe to the Fulanisation and Islamisation agenda that will criticise or oppose Obasanjo’s observation and describe him as ‘a bigot’ for making them.

“What Obasanjo said was timely and necessary and millions are commending him for it. He spoke the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

The former minister alleged that Nigeria was driven to this stage because the world refused to listen to early warnings.

He added: “President Obasanjo remains the only politically active southern and Middle Belt leader that understands what is really going on, the grave danger that we are in and what lies ahead. He is deeply courageous and his latest contribution that there is an agenda to Fulanise West Africa and Islamise Africa says it all.

“Obasanjo needs say no more. History and posterity will be kind to him for speaking the bitter truth and saying what almost every other southern and Middle Belt politician and leader knows to be true but is too timid and too scared to say publicly.

“With his latest contribution, he has vindicated yours truly and many others. I saw this coming in late 2013 and I told the world. Nnamdi Kanu saw it coming in 2014 and he told the world. Asari Dokubo saw it in 2015 and he told the world.

“Afenifere, OPC, YOLICOM, PANDEM, MEND, the Middle Belt Forum, the Niger Delta Avengers, IPOB, MASSOB and Ohanaeze Ndigbo saw it in 2017 and they told the world. The Christian Elders Forum, CAN and the Church saw it in 2018 and they told the world.

“Sadly, the world refused to listen, left us on our own and, instead of rising to the occasion and confronting the evil, Nigerians went on bended knee to the powers that be and acted as if they were not saddled with a major problem that was bound to eventually consume them all. Now, they know better, even though most of them are still in denial.

“Now, they must live with the consequences of their indifference, ignorance, cowardice and stoicism. What a pity!”

Edo Commissioner of Police, Mohammed DanMallam, on Sunday confirmed the killing of a lecturer with the Igbinedion University, Okada, near Benin, by suspected kidnappers.

DanMallam said the lecturer, Kelvin Izevbekhai, was killed in an attempted escape bid when the victims were being marched into the forest by the kidnappers.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the gunmen were said to be operating near Okada junction along the Benin-Lagos highway.

It was learnt that the gunmen abducted Izevbekhai and other passengers in the bus they were travelling in.

“The driver of the minibus was said to have fled into the bush along with four other passengers.

“Unfortunately, one of the passengers who tried to escape during the abduction was killed by the gunmen. The police went after the kidnappers in the bush and succeeded in rescuing the victims.”

He said the police were working on a new strategy which entails taking the war to the kidnappers’ den in the jungle, adding that it is the best way to tackle the scourge.

Spokesman for the university, Jide Ilugbo, who confirmed the killing described it as “barbaric.”

İlugbo said late Izevbekhai was a First Class graduate and was employed in the university in 2016.

He said it was now dangerous to travel on the Benin-Lagos highway due to frequent attacks by armed robbers and kidnappers.

The official said it was unfortunate he ran into hoodlums, saying that the trailer parked before Okada junction is a hideout for criminals.

The Lagos State police command says a gardener in a secondary school has been arrested over an alleged murder of a Senior Secondary school student.

The Command’s spokesman, DSP Bala Elkana confirmed the arrest in a statement on Sunday.

According to Elkana, on May 16, at about 2.40pm, Iponri Police Station received a complaint from Jubril Martins Memorial Grammar School Iponri.

The complaint said that on May 15, at about 4.40pm, a gardener with the said School engaged a 16-year-old SSS 3 student in a fight along Oke-Olu Road Iponri.

He said that in the process, the student fell down and became unconscious and was rushed to Smith Medical Hospital where he later died.

“Eye witness accounts show that the deceased person was returning home with his friends after writing WAEC and the suspect blocked him on the way and pulled him down, on the accusation that the deceased student had insulted him before.

“Homicide detectives from State Criminal Investigation Department Yaba, have visited the crime scene, corpse of the deceased is deposited at the mortuary for autopsy,” he said.

According to him, the suspect has been arrested and will be charged to court for murder.

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has petitioned President Muhmmadu Buhari over the released guidelines by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) on granting financial autonomy to Local Governments.

The NGF in a letter signed by Chairman and Governor of Zamfara, Abdulaziz Yari, and made available to newsmen on Sunday in Abuja, expressed “dismay and angst” over NFIU action as attempt to dabble into a matter that was beyond its mandate.

Yari accused the NFIU of “stoking mischief and also deliberately seeking to cause disaffection, chaos and overheat the polity”.

The NFIU, which was excised from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), set June 1, 2019, as the takeoff date of the new order, making it compulsory for all local council allocations to go straight to their respective bank accounts.

The decision is contained in a guideline released by the NFIU after a meeting with officials of commercial banks in Abuja.

Yari said in the letter, dated May 15, that the guideline was not only illegal but was also an attempt by the NFIU to show total disregard for the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) as amended.

He said Section 7 (6) (a) and (b) of the Constitution confered on the National Assembly (NASS) and the Stale House of Assembly, the powers to make provisions for statutory allocation of public revenue to the local councils in the Federation and within the State, respectively.

“Similarly, Section 162 (6) of the Constitution expressly provides for the creation of the State Joint Local Government Account (SJLGA) into which shall be paid all allocations to the Local Government Councils of the State from the Federation Account and from the Government of the State.

“Section 162 (7) of the Constitution goes on to canter on the NASS the power to prescribe the terms and manners in which funds from the SJLGA may be disbursed and in Subsection (8), the Constitution empowers the State House of Assembly to prescribe the manner in which the amount standing to the credit of the Local councils in the State shall be distributed.”

The governor said that nothing in the NFIU Act 2018 gave the unit the powers that it sought to exercise in the recently released Guidelines.

He added that in doing that, the Unit had acted In excess of its powers and in complete disregard to the constitution of the country.

“The so-called Guidelines are in our view an exercised in mischief-stoking and one calculated to cause chaos and overheat the potty. The Guidelines have nine (9) previsions including two (2) sections covering sanction, penalties. powers that they clearly do not possess.

“The NFIU in proposing far reaching guidelines of this nature ought to have consulted widely and carried all stakeholders along.”

Yari urged Buhari to call to order, Director of the NFIU, saying such “reckless guidelines had the potential to cause disaffection in the country.

He said that in principle the NFIU should concentrate on its core mandate of Anti-money Laundering (AML) activities and Combatting Financing Terrorism (CFT) as prescribed in the Act establishing it and should desist from encroaching on or even breaching constitutional provisions.

The NFIU, according to Yari, was the Nigerian arm of the global Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) once domiciled within the EFCC but now for the purpose of institutional location domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“This means the NFIU is only mandated to trace or track laundered money that finds its way into terrorism financing and report such to the nation’s security agencies.”

Yaro advised the NFIU that it should seek to comply with those standards on combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism and its proliferation as stipulated and not dabble into matters that were both constitutional and beyond NFIU purview.

“We invite Mr President to note that the Local Government is a creation of the Constitution and is neither a financial institution nor a Reporting entity and cannot be brought under the NFIU in the manner contemplated by the guidelines.

“Finally, Mr President may recall the role played by the Governors in getting the country out of recession and our contributions in strengthening the democratic experience In Nigeria.

“The NGF identifies with Mr President’s efforts to combat corruption, money laundering and terrorism amongst other social ills and will use our best endeavours in ensuring that our financial system is preserved through our concerted and individual efforts at fighting these ills.

“However, due process and constitutionalism are major planks in our journey to sustainable democracy.

“We appeal to Mr President to direct that the said Guidelines be disregarded in view of its unconstitutionality and total disregard for due process,” the petition read in part.

The letter was copied the Attorney General of the Federation, acting EFCC Chairman, Governor of CBN, Director General of DSS and the 36 State Governors.

The National Human Rights Commission said on Sunday that it had reached a resolution with the Abuja Environmental Protection Board and other agencies of the Federal Capital Territory Administration to suspend the raids of nightclubs and other leisure places in Abuja.

The Director Corporate Affairs and External Linkages of the NHRC, Lambert Oparah, said in a statement that the resolution was reached at a meeting between the representatives of the NHRC, the AEPB and civil society organisations.

Oparah recalled in his statement that the NHRC had on May 10, 2019 issued summons on the Director of the AEPB following complaints received from some civil society organisations “over allegations of raids on nightclubs, arrests, molestations and sexual assaults of some women by agents of the FCT led by the AEPB”.

He said in obedience to the summons, the Coordinator of Abuja Municipal Metropolitan Council, Alhaji Baba Lawal alongside the Directors, Security Services, Social Welfare, Development Control and AEPB, appeared before the NHRC on May 16.

He said the representatives of the various civil society groups led by the Head of the Amnesty International Mr. Osai Ojigho, were also in attendance.

The statement read in part, “At the end of the meeting the summary of the resolutions were as follows:

“That further raids by the FCT Task Force should be put on hold pending the mainstreaming of human rights into their operations.

“That issues concerning the distortion of master plan of the FCT should be targeted at business owners and the FCT officials themselves who approve such alterations and not the innocent citizens of the FCT using the facilities provided.”

It was also resolved that an investigation would be “carried to fish out and bring to book those officials and security agents who perpetrated the various acts of violation and impunity in the course of the raids”.

“A meeting between the clubs, similar business owners, and the FCT be facilitated by the NHRC to reduce noise pollution in Abuja, ensure respect for the right of others, the rule of law and compliance to official regulations”, the statement added.

He noted that the Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Tony Ojukwu, had observed at the meeting that the allegations over the molestation of women in FCT had raised a lot of public concern.

Ojukwu was said to have explained that the NHRC’s intervention in the matter, in line with its powers and mandate, was not a witch-hunt but to correct the wrongs, and forestall future occurrences to check impunity.

Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Directorate of Road Traffic Services (VIO) says pasting ‘For Sale’ sticker on moving vehicles as a way of marketing was illegal and a violation of the law.

Mr Kalu Emetu, the directorate’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) made this known in Abuja, on Sunday.

Emetu said that such act was a violation of the FCT Administration’s transportation master plan.

He noted that a lot of vehicles had been impounded for violating the law; and warned car owners to use proper channels of marketing their vehicles.

He also said that it was illegal for any vehicle owner to market their vehicles in unauthorised car marts in the FCT.

“We have been impounding vehicles because it is illegal to be marketing your vehicle inside the city without authorisation, once you put up any car for sale, it is meant to be at the right place.

“Once you put any car for sale, you pay for advertising, and other fees, so if you have a vehicle for sale, arrange with an authorised car dealer to help you sell it,” he said.

The PRO said that once vehicles in an illegal car mart were impounded, a certain fine would be paid on each, depending on the type, before they are released.

According to him, the fine ranges from N50,000 to N25,000, adding that the vehicles will also be towed to their office for safe keeping, pending the time the owner pays the fine.

“When we get the fine from you, you will have to write an undertaking that you will not repeat such act again, when all these are done, your vehicle will then be released,” he said.

He, however, said if the offence was repeated even after paying the fine, the car owner would be re-arrested and be made to pay another fine.

Emetu said the fine was another way of generating revenue for the government.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has confirmed the arrest of a member of staff of the Information Technology department of Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State,  for allegedly diverting N180m school fees belonging to the school.

The EFCC’s acting Head, Media and Publicity, Tony Orilade,  in a text message to  one of our correspondents  said, “I  can confirm that  a Covenant University staff has been  with us for some days now over an alleged case of stealing reported by the Chancellor of the school.”

The diversion of the money was said to have taken years before the university discovered his alleged fraud.

The Chancellor of the university and Presiding Bishop of Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo, reportedly described the suspect’s lifestyle as “riotous”.

The suspect was said to have bought some flashy cars, which he allegedly kept in a mansion he bought with part of the stolen money at  Lekki, Lagos,  despite having a house in the school where he lives with his wife.

The Punch

The Lagos State governor-elect, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said he will end the protracted gridlock in Apapa area of the state within the first 60 days of his administration.

He said not minding the politics involved, he would rid the area of all the trailers whose operations have been responsible for the intractable gridlock.

Sanwo-Olu said this on Saturday during an interactive session with his classmates at the Executive Master of Business Administration class, University of Lagos, 1998/2000 set.

The erstwhile classmates held a Congratulatory Dinner Reception, in Sanwo-Olu’s honour at Wheatbaker Hotel in Ikoyi.

At the dinner, they presented to him a policy document designed by them, which contained their ideas and suggestions on some of what Sanwo-Olu could do in office to have a successful tenure.

They also asked him specific questions and his plans about them.

One of the questions was what he would do about the trailers causing the gridlock in Apapa.

Taking on the issue, Sanwo-Olu promised that within the first 60 days in office, he would rid Apapa of the trailers.

He said, “The Apapa trailer issue; it’s a campaign issue; it’s very serious; I’m going to take it very seriously.

“I believe that it is something that we are going to solve in the first 60 days of our government. Whatever is going to be required of us, we will take them out.

“There is a lot of politics being played around there. But no, it cannot be the way we’ll continue to live. We cannot continue to give excuses.”

The governor-elect, however, said as a long-term solution, his administration would develop the Badagry Port, to diffuse the pressure on the Apapa Port

Food stuff dealers in Anambra State have raised alarm over alleged extortion from their members nationwide by workers attached to Federal Quarantine Service Post at Orokam, Makurdi and Katsina Ala, Benue state.

The group, under the agies of Federated Food Stuff Dealers Association of Nigeria (FFSDAN), with headquarters in Onitsha, called on Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbe to urgency address the issue to forestall crises.

The petition addressed to Ogbe and copied to the Inspector General of Police, Commissioner of Police in Benue State and others, was jointly signed by the group’s President General, Chief Christian Afiiaonwu, Secretary, Udoka Abukanna, Operational Officer, Sabastine Ageebee and Public Relation Officer, Adamu Alidu.

It condemned the Quarantine Post at Orokam, describing it as ATM to the workers through which it daily extorted money ranging from N3, 000 to N7,000 from their members since June 2018.

According to FFSDAN, Orokam Quarantine Post ought not to exist in the first place as there should not be three Quarantine Posts in one state.

The Petition read in part, “For your information sir, there are three Quarantine Posts in Benue State located at Makurdi, Katsina-Ala and Orokam.

“These Posts came into operation in June 2018 and have in recent time been turned into ATM at which money ranging from N3, 000 to N7,000 are extorted from our members on daily basis.

“These extortions are usually carried out with intimidation under the watchful eyes of security agencies mostly Police officers.

“The Association noted that its members are aware of the importance of Quarantine Posts which is primarily to checkmate the spread of animal diseases and unwholesome food stuff moving from one location to another and not to extort money from unsuspecting members of the public.

“We also know that Quarantine Posts are usually located at border areas between countries.

“We therefore wonder why the Quarantine Service Department of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture is keeping quiet and apparently feeling comfortable seeing that people are extorting money from Food Stuff Dealers in three Federal Quarantine Posts located in one State.”

Describing as fraudulent and unacceptable the interception of their members at Orokam after being forced to pay at Makurdi and Katsina Ala Posts, the group appealed to the Minister to wade into the matter to prevent a breakdown of law and order.

“Vehicle conveying our goods have had several accident cases owing to strong barriers mounted before them by the Quarantine Posts workers in a bid to force them to stop.

“This is pure act of corruption which our members have vowed to resist henceforth if nothing is done to address the issue,” the group stressed.

The Vice Presidential Candidate of Hope Democratic Party (HDP) in the 2019 Presidential Election, Alhaji Haruna Yahaya-Shaba, and national executive committee members of the party have disowned the legal action pending in the election petition tribunal.

The Presidential Candidate of the party, Chief Ambrose Owuru, had instituted legal action against the election of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Yahaya-Shaba, who is also the Deputy National Chairman of the party, disclosed this in a statement he personally signed and issued to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday.

He said that he was working with other National Executive Committee (NEC) members against the legal action taken by Owuru.

“We called an emergency NEC meeting to discuss very serious issues affecting our great Party.

“We have taken the decision to instruct our Lawyers to communicate the decision of the NEC to the Presidential Election Tribunal sitting in Abuja.

“In the last two weeks, I have been inundated with calls from many party members, including some NEC members, to explain the information that our party has filed a petition at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja,” Yahaya-Shaba said.

He said many people were shocked and surprised when he explained that as the deputy national chairman and indeed the vice presidential candidate of HDP, he only heard of the news of filing petition at the tribunal from the media.

“HDP is not a personal property of any individual. It is, therefore, illegal and unacceptable for any individual in the party to take such a unilateral decision without getting official approval of the Party.
“As the running mate of the party in the last presidential election, I therefore dissociate myself from this unilateral action.”

He also disclosed that the NEC of HDP had also constituted a seven-man committee to investigate allegations against Owuru that he allegedly received substantial amount of money from the opposition PDP to institute the illegal petition. (NAN)

The route to the Speakership of the 9th House of Representatives seems to be getting smoother for Femi Gbajabiamila (APC, Surulere, Lagos State).

Four of his co-contestants for the position have pulled out of the race for him but two others are still in the contest with him.

The battle for the Senate Presidency remains a three-way affair for Dr. Ahmad Lawan, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Danjuma Goje and a former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume.

Sources said Idris Ahmed Wase (Plateau), Abdulrazak Namdas (Adamawa), Aliyu Betara Mukhtar (Borno), and Yusuf Yakubu Buba (Borno) have stood down their ambition for Gbajabiamila who is favoured by the APC hierarchy for the job.

Umar Mohammed Bago (Niger) and John Dyegh (Benue) are yet to withdraw from the race.

Although Wase has been adopted for the office of Deputy Speaker, he faces a fresh hurdle from the camp of outgoing Speaker Yakubu Dogara which is demanding the slot for a Christian candidate.

But some members-elect are insisting that religion should not be a factor for Wase because, according to them, there had been a Christian-Christian mandate in the House in the past.

They said merit and capacity, rather than religion, should be the overriding factor.

Investigation by our correspondent revealed that the withdrawal of the four ranking Reps for Gbajabiamila is a fallout of ongoing negotiation between the Gbajabiamila camp and critical stakeholders in the chambers.

A source called it a major breakthrough in the quest to install Gbajabiamila as the next Speaker.

The four have also agreed to join forces to work for Gbajabiamila whose party (APC) has over 226 of the 360 members-elect.

Gbajabiamila, who also has associates in PDP, needs about 181 votes (if there is a full house of elected members) to emerge as Speaker.

A well-placed source said: “So far, the campaign for the office of the Speaker is taking a good shape for Gbajabiamila with the withdrawal of these four heavyweights from the race.

“We are however not taking things for granted. There is a little relief in the APC camp because the PDP appears not keen any more for the office of Speaker because of the intense lobbying from Gbajabiamila’s friends, associates and strategists.

“About three weeks to the election of principal officers, most PDP lawmakers-elect are still awaiting directive on who to vote for. Instead of losing out, some of them have decided to align with Gbajabiamila to be in good stead for the House politics.

“Notwithstanding, the campaign team of Gbajabiamila has sustained its outreach by paying more attention to his sterling legislative qualities than sentiments around his recommendation for the office by the party.

“We have spent quality time to clarify the godfather allegation being circulated to prove that Gbajabiamila is a cosmopolitan candidate.”

On Umar Mohammed Bago and John Dyegh who are still in the race, another source – a returning Rep – said: “The APC and its leaders at all levels are trying to prevail on these two candidates to step down. We will still take advantage of the next three weeks to lobby them accordingly.

“We are hopeful that they will defer to the APC and concede the slot to Gbajabiamila.

“Alternatively, if all entreaties fail, we will go ahead for outright election between Gbajabiamila and the two candidates. We know their limit but we are only appeasing them to have a united House.

“Take the case of Bago, he does not enjoy the backing of Governor Abubakar Sani Bello and all members-elect from Niger State. His best bet is to face the reality of the futility of his aspiration.

“In the case of John Dyegh, he is the only elected member of the House from Benue State. Where does he draw his electoral strength from? We cannot afford to ignore him but he has not come to terms with the pervasiveness of the ongoing intrigues in favour of Gbajabiamila.”

Responding to a question, the source admitted that although Wase has been adopted for the office of Deputy Speaker, he faces a fresh hurdle from the camp of outgoing Speaker, Yakubu Dogara which wants a Christian for the position.

“Some forces are trying to give religious colouration to the race for the office of Deputy Speaker to stop Wase but the parliament is not made for such sentiments,” he said.

“We are always broader in our perspectives. Of the 12 Speakers we have had six were Christians and six were Muslims. They all came on merit without religious imputations.

“The Deputy Speakers so far have been eight with five Muslims and three Christians without animosity. Many political factors, including zoning by parties, interplay more than ethno-religious indices. We hope those promoting religious division in the legislature will stop it.

“Wase has sacrificed by stepping down for Gbajabiamila despite the fact that he is also a strong candidate for the Speaker slot. We will not allow mischief-makers to whip up religious sentiments.”

The Nation

Dear President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, Ramadan Kareem. May Almighty Allah guide and be with you, especially at this time with the affairs of our nation Nigeria.
Democracy thrives on a vibrant and viral opposition. I have wondered if the word opposition is an appropriate word to use given that I really do not see those with alternate views as being in opposition. I prefer to see them as partners in progress on the way to getting the country to achieve its destined lofty heights.

Mr. President, the actions and utterances of your aides, especially Minister Lai Mohammed, are tantamount to stifling the opposition. As if the latter’s comments are not unfortunate enough, one just needs to look at the other organizations within the Executive like the EFCC and ICPC, among others, to become curious as to how come, suddenly, under your watch, the main victims of their activities are opposition figures and persons perceived to be close to them.

Your Excellency, whereas I personally love and wish that you bequeath a corruption free country to us as your legacy, I must add that within the period that should come under review in this fight, it is embarrassing to give the impression that none of those in cahoot with you and your government are guilty, if not more, of the same corrupt enrichment and abuse of office that your agents seem so fixated on. The impression every discerning Nigerian gets is that your anti-corruption torch light mainly exposes the main figures of the opposition as the only ones deep in this national malaise.

Mr President, I get the fact that the opposition can come with some form of irritation, but with great respect, this comes with the responsibilities you carry as a civilian president and I hope you understand that it is a great achievement that, like Obasanjo, Like Buhari, you both are the only ones that it has pleased God to grant the grace of serving both as head of state and as president.

I write you this open letter that you might not allow anyone to destroy your legacy or allow them to caste you in the mould of dictators, the likes that, for all of history, sit in a very condemnable place. Unfortunately, history is usually mild on incompetence in leadership, but for those who allow themselves to be painted with the tar of despot, history is never kind and the mess is left for their children and descendants. Now, why should you allow that to be the lot of your people given that deep down, I know you are not a wicked person; you are just firm and perhaps set in your ways as to how to sharpen up this country and its mostly indisciplined citizens.

I honestly don’t want you to allow the extremely incompetent Lai Mohammed, who in my opinion, mismanaged the goodwill with which you came into office in 2015, to destroy whatever is left. I, though in opposition, have wondered why you tolerated them until such a point that your perception audit ebbed so low. I would never know why, but I wish to tell you that the narrative about opposition being responsible for security crisis and treason coming in one press release is extremely dangerous to the country, to opposition elements, but most especially, to you and your reputation!

That is a line that they ought not to cross. I want to suggest that the right approach would be to name specific individuals that credible intelligence fingers in this. To do otherwise is to become the victim of a Frustration-Aggression-Displacement Theory, which posits that once a person is frustrated, mostly as a result of not being able to achieve a task (mostly caused by incompetence) that aggression is what follows and this also is mostly misdirected. In this case, rather than direct it at those you have saddled with the responsibilities of doing a job, sir, you are directing it at the opposition and it is made most unacceptable when they now insinuate that your main opponent in the 2019 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, GCON, is in anyway involved.

This is a dangerous precedence that must stop immediately. We have, as Nigerians, enough challenges at nation building that we do not need to rip the country in halves. You just need to look at the numbers as presented presently to see that between those who were returned for you and those allocated to Atiku, our country is truly divided, a division that runs through the tribal cleavages, the religious tendencies, the social classifications. Indeed, our country is divided.

I believe that once the presidential election tribunal is done with its duty and all is settled, whoever is finally adjudged to have won will need to do a whole lot of work to bring the country together. Statements like those made by Lai Mohammed, your Minister of Information, are most unacceptable and unfortunate.

Mr President, as you are in the holy land of Mecca for prayers during this most holy month of Ramadan, I plead with you to present our country Nigeria before Almighty Allah in supplication and may it please Allah to count you amongst the rightly guided leaders when all is done and dusted. Be assured of my highest regards.

Citizen Segun Showunmi,
Spokesperson,
Atiku Abubakar, GCON.