***As Army establishes special forces to tackle insecurity
The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, has said the sit-at-home order enforced by the Indigenous People of Biafra across the South-East states has ended.
IPOB in August 2021 commenced the sit-at-home order to demand the release of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, from prison.
The order impacted the economy in the region and resulted in the loss of lives and properties of residents in the South-East.
Speaking at the COAS combined second and third quarters conference in Abuja on Tuesday, Lagbaja said the menace ended as a result of the heightened efforts of his men and collaboration with relevant stakeholders.
He said, “We have equally heightened our efforts in containing criminalities perpetrated in the South East Region by the Indigenous People of Biafra and Eastern Security Network. Through Operation Udo Ka, our troops have, in collaboration with other relevant stakeholders, put an end to the infamous sit-at-home order that has almost crippled socio-economic activities in the Region.
“Law-abiding citizens of the Region now go about their businesses and everyday life. Similarly, our joint efforts with various government agencies have quelled attempts by criminals to disrupt economic activities in the South West Region.”
Lagbaja also revealed that the activities of Boko Haram and other terrorist activities have been curtailed, adding that residents of the troubled states had commenced commercial activities in the states.
He said, “It is heart-warming to note that our activities in Operation Hadin Kai in the North East have effectively curtailed Boko Haram and other terrorist activities in the Region. Overall, our efforts have resulted in the large-scale surrender of members of the terrorist groups and the submission of a large cache of arms and ammunition.
“The good people of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa States are steadily picking up their livelihood as the military, in collaboration with the government, is helping to restore governance to the hitherto deprived areas.”
He also said the Nigerian Army has established some Special Forces units to tackle insecurity across the country.
Lagbaja said, “In a bid to further enhance our operational effects, the Nigerian Army has established some Special Forces units using specially trained personnel to tackle various criminalities across the Country.
“The Special Forces units have continued to record impressive performances through intelligence-led operations and the use of special equipment. As we continue to procure and induct more sophisticated platforms and equipment into the various theatres as force multipliers, I charge field commanders to ensure the maintenance of these platforms and equipment to prolong their life span and enable the nation to optimize its investment.”
He promised that under his watch, the welfare of troops and their families would be given priority.
“To this end, troops’ welfare and that of their families will remain predominant in all our efforts. I intend to consolidate all existing welfare arrangements to enhance the well-being of our troops and their families, as this will keep them focused on their tasks.
“In addition to providing befitting living quarters for our personnel, we shall ensure the newly introduced ‘Affordable Home Ownership Option for All Soldiers Scheme’ designed to provide affordable and high-quality post-service homes for our soldiers”, Lagbaja said.
[Punch]
Former Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) says he does not need a title to serve in the President Bola Tinubu-led administration, which in his view, is birthing the next generation of leaders.
Fashola, a close aide of Tinubu, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the Lagos State University, Ojo, on Tuesday.
He was at the University to deliver a keynote address at the institution’s fifth research and innovation fair.
The former Lagos State Governor, who also served as Tinubu’s Chief of Staff when the President was governor of the state. was responding to a question on his role in the present administration at the federal level and possibility of an appointment.
He said, “I do not need a title to serve: the president can only appoint at least one minister, for example, from each state which he has done that.
“There are just enough places in parastatals, they are doing that; we are estimated to be 200 million, so there are not enough offices to take everybody.
“All of us must play our roles as citizens, and a citizen does not need a title to serve.
“The biggest title you need is that of being citizen and play our role; we are also talking about the next generation.
”If some do not move on, where is the place for the next batch?”
He said there was the need to bring more outstanding public spirited people to occupy spaces as they evolve.
Fashola said he looked forward to a lot more youthful people being part of the administration.
[Vanguard]
Dubai, in United Arab Emirates (UAE), has experienced a significant surge in the issuance of Golden Visas, residency visas, and tourism numbers during the first half of this year.
According to the latest data from the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) – Dubai, the Emirate recorded a remarkable 52 per cent increase in Golden Visas compared to the same period last year.
The number of residency visas also surged by an impressive 63 per cent, while tourism witnessed a substantial growth of 21 per cent.
This surge in Golden Visas and residency visas signifies Dubai’s growing appeal as a destination for international travelers and expatriates seeking to establish themselves in the city.
The investment and living opportunities offered by the Emirate have clearly struck a chord with people from around the world.
These developments come on the heels of an exciting announcement from the GDRFA, as they revealed details about an upcoming global conference focused on the future of ports policies.
This conference, set to be hosted by Dubai, aims to bring together experts in the field of border port management to discuss and exchange ideas and experiences related to the future of travel.
The conference is expected to serve as a vital platform for addressing the evolving needs and challenges of the global travel industry. With Dubai’s strategic location and commitment to innovation, it is well-positioned to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of travel and border management policies on a global scale.
[Leadership]
Banky W, Obanikoro’s Son Get Another Opportunity As Tribunal Nullifies Victory Of Labour Party Rep
AdminOlubankole Wellington, popularly known as Banky W and Ibrahim Obanikoro, son of former Defence Minister, have expressed hope of regaining victory following the verdict of the State National and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ikeja, Lagos State.
The Lagos State Tribunal had nullified the victory of the Labour Party candidate, Thaddeus Atta victory; and ordered a rerun for the Eti Osa Federal Constituency of Lagos State.
According to the ruling of the Tribunal, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should conduct a supplementary election in the 32 polling units of Eti-Osa within 90 days.
It also asked the INEC to withdraw the return certificate issued to Attah and conduct elections in areas where the election wasn’t held on February 25.
Reacting to the news via his Instagram page, Obanikoro, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election, took to social media to celebrate.
“The Feb 25 election has just been rightly declared inconclusive and supplementary elections have been ordered by the court. INEC has been ordered to withdraw the return certificate and conduct elections in areas where it didn’t hold on Election Day,” he wrote.
In the same vein, the popular singer and actor, Banky W left, who contested the election under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), shared post on his page suggesting that it is still possible for him to be elected into office.
“It is possible. Still.” he wrote
Meanwhile, Thaddeus Atta is yet to react to this development.
[DailyTrust]
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes provided three assists and scored once to inspire Portugal to victory against Luxembourg in a 9-0 thriller and maintained their perfect start to their Euro 2024 Group J qualifying campaign.
Despite missing Cristiano Ronaldo through suspension, Portugal produced a dominant display at Estadio Algarve with Fernandes producing a hat-trick of assists before scoring a late goal himself in the nation’s biggest international victory to date.
Goncalo Inacio opened the scoring after 12 minutes and a brace from Paris St-Germain forward Goncalo Ramos soon had the home side in complete control.
Inacio headed in a fourth in first-half stoppage time from another pin-point delivery by Fernandes.
Skysports.com reports that Roberto Martinez’s side did not let up and, just before the hour, Fernandes found Liverpool forward Diogo Jota, who raced clear to fire home a fifth.
Ricardo Horta added a sixth with 20 minutes left before Jota slotted in again. Fernandes then capped his fine individual display with a well-taken goal late on and Joao Felix completed the rout to make it six wins from six.
Slovakia remain five points behind Portugal after they made a fast start to beat Liechtenstein 3-0 in Bratislava with goals from David Hancko, Ondrej Duda and Robert Mak inside the first six minutes.
Alfred Finnbogason scored in stoppage-time to give Iceland a 1-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in Reykjavik.
Croatia moved top of Group D on goal difference after a 1-0 win in Armenia, where an early strike from Andrej Kramaric proved enough for all three points.
[Leadership]
• Emirates, Etihad to resume flight operations as UAE lifts visa ban on Nigeria
• UAE keeps mum on gains
• FG, UAE may explore Egypt’s bailout option
• Stakeholders demand sustainable solution, win-win relations
Almost a year after it imposed visa ban on Nigeria and 19 other African countries, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), yesterday, lifted travel restrictions on Nigerian travellers, at the behest of President Bola Tinubu.
Tinubu’s diplomatic parley with the UAE leader, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Abu Dhabi on Monday, also came with the immediate return of suspended flight operations on the Nigerian route.
While the “landmark” diplomatic resolution has been commended, aviation stakeholders however, expressed cautious optimism on Emirates’ resumption of flight operations without a sustainable solution to defray over $800 million of foreign airlines’ funds in Nigeria.
Recall that since mid-2022, foreign airlines have been embroiled in a repatriation crisis over the inability to access foreign exchange from the official window of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which led to Emirates’ Airline quitting the Nigerian route in October 2022.
However, at the end of the meeting yesterday, Presidential spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, in a statement, said the president and the UAE ruler, had finalised the “historic agreement”, which has resulted in the immediate cessation of the visa ban placed on Nigerian travellers.
Ngelale said by this historic agreement, “both Etihad Airlines and Emirates Airlines are to immediately resume flight schedules into and out of Nigeria, without any further delay.”
The spokesperson added that in recognition of Tinubu’s economic development diplomacy drive and proposals presented by the president to his counterpart, an agreed framework has been established.
He said this newly-agreed framework would involve several billions of U.S. dollars worth of new investments into the Nigerian economy across multiple sectors.
“Additionally, President Tinubu is pleased to have successfully negotiated a joint, new foreign exchange liquidity programme between the two governments, which will be announced in detail in the coming weeks.”
An official statement by the UAE Embassy yesterday, acknowledged talks on opportunities for further bilateral collaboration in areas that serve both countries’ sustainable economic growth, including the economic, development, energy, and climate action fields. It however kept mum on the travel and flight operations between the two countries.
Aviation stakeholders also commended efforts by the Federal Government to deepen diplomatic ties between the two countries, though expressed concerns over piecemeal settlement of the undercurrent problem of foreign airlines’ stuck funds.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), since 2018, a significant amount of blocked funds had been repatriated from Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe through working with the respective governments.
Currently, $1.5 billion in airline funds remain blocked across the African continent. Nigeria accounts for about $800 million of the funds.
Though an intervention by CBN led to a pledge to release $265 million in August, leaving a balance of $200 million, the situation has remained the same.
In October last year, Emirates suspended flights operations to Nigeria over its inability to repatriate its $85 million revenue trapped in the country. The suspension was the second time the airline halted flights to the West African country over its unrepatriated funds — the first time was in August, 2022.
Secretary General of the Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative, Group Capt. John Ojikutu (rtd) said Emirate Airlines would not have lifted the ban “if the president has not promised payment of what Nigeria is owing.”
Ojikutu said it is the fault of Nigeria that Emirates left, and the solution should be the payment plan of the stranded funds of all the foreign airlines involved, “not just Emirates”.
He said: “Does he (President Tinubu) understand the problem on ground? I don’t think so. Maybe he has dollars on the side to give them. But is he going to do so with other airlines or treat Emirates differently? He should not treat them in isolation because there are other airlines like British Airways, Lufthansa, Ethiopia Airlines that are also owed.
“We should look at the agreements in our Bilateral Air Transports Agreements (BASAs) for solutions. The FG must get itself out of the direct involvement in commercial aviation and face squarely Aeronautical Safety and Security Services,” Ojikutu said.
Head of Research at Zenith Travels, Olumide Ohunayo, said the development is laudable, in so far it presents a win-win opportunity for both Nigeria and the UAE.
Ohunayo said the Lagos-Dubai routes remain very strategic for Nigerian travellers transiting through Dubai to other parts of the world, but should not be made exclusive to the UAE carriers alone.
Perhaps, another option on the FX liquidity programme between the two countries is the Gulf country considering buying off the country’s dead assets located across the country, which some financial experts had long advised the government to turn into cash.
For UAE, there is already a working template, which the Nigerian case could be plugged into. Egypt was in the middle of a currency crisis (as Nigeria has been battling) last year when it secured a pledge of $22 billion in bailouts from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to cover its current account deficit and stabilise the Egyptian pound.
The fresh discussion after institutions managing UAE sovereign wealth funds (SWF) signed a letter of intent with Nigeria and other eight African countries for support, was not clearly spelt out by the parties involved in the deal.
The Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding, a sovereign wealth fund based in the capital of UAE, had earlier announced its intention to stake $2 billion in several state-owned companies across banking, port and agro-businesses.
Qatar followed the path of the UAE with an announcement to place another $5 billion different investment in its renewed partnership with Egypt, in a statement issued by the Egyptian government. To implement the agreement, the parties opted for a joint committee led by their foreign ministers.
While the global community contemplated the true intention of the deal, Saudi Arabia announced that it had deposited $5 billion in the Central Bank of Egypt, while another $10 billion was pledged by the Saudi government despite the political dispute between the two countries.
While Egypt shares the same political bloc with the Gulf countries, Nigeria and UAE are worlds apart in both social and political ties.
But with the country sitting on largely inefficiently managed or completely dead national assets, economists and investment experts are optimistic that opportunities abound for any investors who are genuinely interested in the local market.
UAE has the second largest sovereign wealth fund (SWF), behind China. Its fund, which is managed by the Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Dubai World, Emirates Investment Authority, the Investment Corporation of Dubai among others, is estimated at $1.9 trillion.
The new plan comes 15 months after Abu Dhabi’s Investment Authority and its holding company, ADQ, alongside Kuwait’s Investment Authority, signed a deal with some African countries to support them. The deal was signed on the sidelines of the first meeting of the Africa Sovereign Investors Forum (ASIF).
The deal, which left out details on the support, involved Nigeria, Angola, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Morocco and Rwanda.
“ASIF will enable us to explore new opportunities with potential partners in Africa for ADQ and its portfolio companies,” ADQ CEO, Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, said.
The Nigerian FX market has been constrained by challenges ranging from illiquidity to extreme volatility – challenges that are directly linked with drying up foreign investment and capital flight.
Last year, foreign capital importation declined by over $5.32 billion from $6.7 billion recorded in the preceding years, according to data obtained by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). At its peak in 2019, the figure hit $23.99 billion.
Economists said the figure buckled following the indirect capital control policy imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in recent years, a major reason given by the fleeing foreign investors.
Some of the investors have had their funds trapped in not only the aviation sector but also the capital market and another investment window. As an increasing number of current and prospective investors give Nigeria arm’s length, naira has continued to take a beating, with the arbitrage widening to about 100 per cent last year – the highest any FX market recorded.
The gap narrowed recently following the market reform. But the spread started trending up in recent months again. It is currently N150/$ or 20 per cent, which many experts consider too high for the currency market. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other institutions advise that the market arbitrage be kept below five per cent to prevent round-trip transactions.
An economist and strong advocate of pro-market reform, Dr Muda Yusuf, told The Guardian that authority would necessarily find creative ways of deflating the huge backlog of FX requests to reduce the current volatility and stabilise the market.
[Guardian]
Real Madrid are ready to commit £200million to sign Kylian Mbappe without negotiating with Paris Saint-Germain, according to SPORT.
Both clubs did not hold talks this summer despite Mbappe being frozen out by the Ligue 1 champions.
The 24-year-old has since returned to the first team and has scored five goals in his first three matches of the season.
Although there are speculations Mbappe could agree a new contract with PSG, it is believed Real Madrid intend to reach a pre-contract agreement with the player in January.
This will mean the France captain joins them for nothing when his PSG deal expires on June 30.
Real didn’t like PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi rejecting their approaches out of hand, even offers approaching £172m.
Instead, Real have decided to set aside around £200m for Mbappe in the form of wages and a signing-on fee.
[DailyPost]
The number of delisted loan apps rose from nine to 37, according to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s new report.
The number of fully approved loan apps also grew to 164 from 154 as of its last updates obtained by The PUNCH from its website on Monday. The number of loan apps with conditional approval declined to 38 from 40, and the number of apps on the commission’s watchlist grew to 56 from 20.
This followied a sustained shakeup of the digital money lending space by the FCCPC, after harassment of Nigerians by the lenders.
According to the commission, delisted loan apps were permanently deleted by Google from Play Store.
It stated that the list of delisted apps included, “Swiftkash App, Hen Credit Loan App, Cash Door App, Joy Cash-Loan Up To 1,000,000 App, Eaglecash App, Luckyloan Personal Loan App, Getloan App, Easeloan Apps, Naira Naija, Cashlawn App, Easynaira App, Crediting App, Yoyi App, Nut Loan App, Cashpal App, Nairaeasy Gist Loan App, Camelloan App, Nairaloan App, Moneytreefinance Made Easy App
“Cashme App, Secucash App, Creditbox App, Cashmama App, Crimson Credit App, Galaxy Credit App, Ease Cash App, Xcredit, Imoney, Naira Naija, Imoneyplus-Instant, Nairanaija-Instant, Nownowmoney, Naija Cash, Eagle Cash, Firstnell App, Flypay, and Spark Credit.”
[Punch]
AS Nigeria struggles to deepen her democracy, no fewer than 17 state governments are running their local councils with transition or caretaker committees.
Currently, 323 (41.73 per cent) of the 774 local councils are without elected chairmen and councillors. This is contrary to Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which guarantees the system of local government by democratically elected officials.
However, 451 LGAs (58.27%) across 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, have elected LGAs, according to Vanguard’s checks.
Factors fingered for the inability of many states to conduct council polls include insecurity, paucity of funds, and political and legal battles. A few of the states had the elected chairmen suspended by their governors over alleged corruption.
In July 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that state governors do not have the power to sack elected council officials.
The apex court, while delivering judgment in the case of the removal of 148 elected local government officials by the Abia State Government in 2006, unanimously held that the action was illegal and amounted to “official recklessness” by the governor.
Also, in 2019, the Supreme Court councils without elected officials should not receive federal allocation, but this is yet to be implemented. The move to ensure direct allocations to the councils via the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, guidelines on the management of local governments’ funds guidelines in 2019 was aborted by governors.
Anambra, Imo, Borno, others as worst cases
Among the 36 states of the country Anambra, Imo and Borno are the worst.
The last local government election in Anambra State was conducted in November 2014, at the twilight of the administration of Governor Peter Obi. Thereafter, the state has been without elected council executives since 2017.
Next year, it will be 10 years of no council election in Anambra. Borno State is back in the league of States without elected LGAs. The Boko Haram insurgency deprived Borno State of the opportunity to hold council elections from 2007 to 2020 (a period of 13 years. The state conducted council polls in 2020 but could not sustain it when the tenure of the elected executives expired last year.
Governor Babagana Zulum, on December 29, 2022, appointed transition committee chairmen for the 27 LGAs of the state. And last July, new transition committees were raised after the six-month tenure of their predecessors lapsed.
In Imo, the last LG poll was conducted on August 25, 2018. It was the first LG poll in seven years.
In Kwara, the last council election was in November 2017; caretaker committees have been in charge since 2020.
In Zamfara, the last LG poll was held on April 27, 2019, and the state returned to appointees after the tenure of the chairmen expired.
Bauchi is another state that has not fared well in ensuring democracy at the council level. For 12 years between 2008 and 2020, there was no LG election in the state.
In October 2020, council polls wer held and when the tenure of the elected executive ended in October 2020, Governor Bala Mohammed appointed caretaker committees.
Benue suspends chairmen over alleged graft
In Benue, the last LG poll was held on May 1, 2022. However, Governor Hyacint Alia, on June 24 acted on the correspondence from the State Assembly that recommended suspension of the council chairmen, pending when they will complete investigations into cases of alleged corruption against them. The chairmen went to court but currently the councils are administered by appointees.
How Mutfwang sacked Plateau LG chairmen
Out-gone Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau swore in elected council chairmen on October 11, 2022 following their election on October 9.
However, his successor, Governor Caleb Mutfwang, on June 1, suspended all democratic structures in the 17 local councils following recommendations of the Plateau State House of Assembly, and appointed transition chairmen.
Justifying the sack, Governor Muftwang said: “The suspension followed their inability to produce documents related to financial transactions in the various local governments,” saying all efforts to make them produce the documents proved abortive.
He explained that “the state government, after careful study of the recommendations, resolved to suspend the chairmen to conduct an efficient and proper investigation into the development.”
Muftwang urged the transition chairmen to cooperate with the PLHA and ensure that all documents required for the investigation were provided for appropriate action.
N-East, South-East zones worst hit
Among the six geo-political zones, the North-East is the worst. Only one of the six states operates democracy at the grassroots. Only Adamawa (21 LGAs) have elected executives. The other five states – Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe (91 LGAs) don’t have elected councils.
In the South-East, three of the five states (Abia, Anambra and Imo) with 65 local councils are without elected executives. Only 30 councils in Ebonyi and Enugu are democratically administered.
N-West tops the zones
Conversely, the North-West zone is the best; only two out of its seven states (Sokoto and Zamfara) with 37 LGAs are not under democratic rule. The other states (Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Kebbi) with 149 LGAs have elected executives.
How other zones fare
In the South-West only 48 LGAs from Ondo and Osun are without elected councils as the remaining four- Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun and Oyo have democratically administered 69 LGAs.
The North-Central has 65 democratically administered LGAs and 56 without.
In the South-South, 97 LGAs from four states (Delta, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Edo are democratically administered while 26 LGAs in Bayelsa and Cross River are not.
Until last week, Edo State had been without elected council executives since 2020 when the tenure of the officers elected in 2018 lapsed.
Govs carried out coups against LGAs— Agbakoba
A disappointed Dr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, who took the governors to the Supreme Court and got a judgment that local councils not democratically administered should not get federal allocation, said governors were preventing LGs from having polls because they wanted to control the third tier of government.
His words: “Section 7 of the constitution provides for democratically administered local governments. A lot of governors manipulated the process and failed to conduct LG polls through state Independent Electoral Commissions, SIECs, which they control.
“I took the case to court to determine whether undemocratic councils should get allocation. The court ruled in my favour. However, one of the judges said. If the undemocratic LGs are denied funds it would hurt the grassroots.
“What the governors did was a coup against the local governments. 90 per cent of our problem is with the state structure. We must question what the governors do.
In states, governors can do anything. Why are state governors preventing LGs from holding democratic elections? It is because they want to control the councils.”
We’ve peculiar circumstances in Nigeria– NULGE
Decrying the scenario, National President of the National Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, Mr. Ambali Kazeem, said: “The Supreme Court had ruled against illegal caretaker committees in local government administration.
The NULGE Secretariat is addressing the issue. Our preference is that state governments should run local governments with the provisions of the constitution. You can’t be wrong with that .
“We have peculiar circumstances in the country. I want to thank Vanguard Newspapers for the story and support in deepening democracy at the grassroots. The effort to amend the constitution and address the local council problem is ongoing.”
Imo’ll hold LG poll this year – Uzodimma
Contacted on the issue, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo, who is Chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum, blamed insecurity for his inability to hold council polls in the last three years and assured that the elections would be held before the end of 2023.
Imo State Information Commissioner, Chief Declan Emelumba, said: “The truth is that we have concluded plans to conduct local government elections. The governor has announced that he will conduct the election. The reason we have not been able to hold LG polls is insecurity. It will be held very soon, before the end of this year.”
Democracy not working at LGAs — Akhaine
Speaking on the rising number of LGAs without elected officials, Professor Sylvester Odion-Akhaine, who teaches Political Science at the Lagos State University, LASU, decried the absence of democracy in many councils.
Akhaine, a rights activist and governorship aspirant in Edo State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, said: “Democracy is not working at the local level at all because democratic principles have been emasculated by the governors.
I think the governors need to buckle up and let due process, rule of law and democratic principles flourish at the local level. People at the local government need to elect their local councillors, and chairman and hold them responsible.”
Those aggrieved with govs’ conduct should go to court – NGF source
On the position of Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF, on the issue of 17 members of the body breaching Section 7 of the constitution by running local councils with caretaker committee, a source who did not want his name in print, said: “The matter sounds political and the NGF does not dabble into politics.
‘’The issue varies from state to state. We don’t sit as a council in the NGF to discuss what happens at the local governments. The things we talk about are things that affect our core mandate on good governance. We can advise governors on good governance but if they don’t take the advice, there is nothing we can do.
“All governors must abide by the provisions of the constitution. If any governor is doing something illegal, those aggrieved should go to court.
“Talking about local government finances, until the Joint Allocation Accounts Committee, JAAC, is abolished, there is no way any LG will get its allocation directly. If any local government chairman is not running its council properly, he may not get allocation from the governor.”
[Vanguard]
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) generated N3.01 billion as revenue in 2022 — a 43.9 percent decrease compared to N5.37 billion earned in 2019.
The bureau disclosed this in its 2022 postal services data released on Monday.
The NBS said the total revenue made from postal activities in 2022 fell by 17.05 percent from N3.63 billion in 2021 to N3.01 billion in 2022. It further dropped by 44 percent when compared to the 2019 figure.
The agency said Nigeria had 2,794 post offices and postal agencies in 2021. However, by 2022, the number decreased by 19 percent to 2,251.
Despite the decline in the number of post offices, the bureau said the number of mail received from abroad and delivered in Nigeria increased by a whopping 107 percent, from 9.4 million in 2019 to 19.5 million in 2022.
Further analysis by TheCable Index shows that revenue from Postcash, an electronic money order service that sends and receives money nationwide and worldwide, increased by 3,424 percent from N458,546 in 2019 to N16.16 million in 2022.
In August 2021, the federal government unveiled plans to unbundle NIPOST into three viable subsidiary companies — a property company, a microfinance bank, as well as a transport and logistics company.
In a bid to revamp the agency, a lot of changes took place, forcing NIPOST workers in January this year, to embarked on a protest over “irregularities” in the ongoing reform/commercialisation of the agency.
The workers — under the aegis of the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government-Owned Companies (SSASCGOC) and the National Union of Postal and Telecommunications Employees (NUPTE) — alleged that every aspect of the reform has been shrouded in secrecy.
[TheCable]
More...
One of the Ministers of President Bola Tinubu has been declared as winner of the February 25 Parliamentary election.
Simon Lalong, former Plateau State governor, who was Director-General of Tinubu/Shettima Campaign, was among the seven governors declared as losers of senatorial elections.
Tinubu had subsequently appointed him as Minister of Labour.
But on Monday, the National and State Petition Election Tribunal sitting in Jos sacked the senator representing Plateau South, Napoleon Bali, and declared Lalong as winner.
Bali contested the election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while Lalong ran under the All Progressive Congress (APC).
The tribunal also sacked Peter Gyendeng as member representing Barikin Ladi/ Riyom federal constituency of the House of Representatives and declared Fom Dalyop of the Labour Party (LP) who became second in the February 25 general elections in the state, as winner.
In their separate rulings, Justice Omaka Elekwo and Justice Muhammad Tukur nullified the election of the two PDP candidates because of the party’s refusal to respect the order of a Jos High court to conduct ward congresses before the last general elections.
The Justices therefore said the evidence presented by the APC and LP candidates were relevant and admissible.
[DailyTrust]
The Imo State National and State House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal has nullified the election of a member of the House of Representatives, Ikenga Ugochinyere of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The tribunal ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a supplementary election within 90 days.
The three-member panel of judges, in a unanimous decision on Sunday in Mararaba, Nasarawa State, held that Mr Ugochinyere was not validly nominated by the PDP to contest the Ideato North/South Federal Constituency election held on 25 February.
Justice Anthony Akpovi, who chaired the panel, read the judgment.
He said the supplementary poll should be in 55 polling units, where elections did not hold on 25 February.
PDP excluded from supplementary poll
The PDP and its candidate should be excluded from the supplementary election, the tribunal ruled.
The judgment followed a petition lodged before the tribunal by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abazu Benson.
It will be recalled that INEC had declared the PDP candidate, Mr Ugochinyere, as winner of the election with a total of 13, 026 votes.
The candidate of the Labour Party (LP) came second with 5,696 votes, and the petitioner who was sponsored by the APC, came third with a total of 2, 368 votes.
Dissatisfied with the outcome of the election, the APC candidate filed a petition wherein he contended that Mr Ugochinyere was not qualified to participate in the election.
The petitioner, among other things, argued that all the votes that were credited to the PDP candidate amounted to wasted votes.
He told the tribunal that contrary to the provision of the Electoral Act, the PDP conducted its primary election in a venue that was outside the constituency.
The tribunal stressed that documentary and oral evidence that was laid before it, established that the primary election of the PDP conducted on 25 May, 2022, which produced Mr Ugochinyere was outside the constituency.
It was held at Aladinma Shopping Mall, a location that was outside Ideato North/South Federal Constituency.
Relying on the provisions of Section 84 (5) (c) of the Electoral Act 2022, the tribunal held that the PDP primary election was invalid.
It held that a valid candidate could not have emerged from an invalid primary election.
“Failure of the 3rd respondent (PDP) to abide by the sacrosanct provision of the Electoral Act invalidated its sponsorship of the 2nd respondent,” Justice Akpovi held.
The tribunal maintained that for a primary election to be valid, it must be done in compliance with section 29 (1) of the Electoral Act.
It held that since Mr Ugochinyere was not validly nominated, he was therefore not qualified at the time the House of Representatives election was held.
Why LP candidate can’t be declared winner
The tribunal also ruled that owing to the principle of margin of lead, the candidate of the LP could but be declared the winner of the seat.
INEC had admitted that it could not conduct the election in 55 polling units in the constituency because of insecurity.
The tribunal directed INEC to conduct a supplementary poll in the remaining polling units with all the parties participating, except the PDP.
Other justices on the panel were Usman Kudu and Ibrahim Mohammed.
(NAN)
The National and State Houses of Assembly Election Tribunal has sacked the son of Professor Jerry Gana from Nigeria’s House of Representatives.
Joshua Audu Gana was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP for Edati/Lavun/Mokwa Federal Constituency of Niger State in the February 25 general election.
Joshua Gana, who won the election with 47,942 votes as against 40,003 votes scored by the candidate of All Progressive Congress, APC), Mr Abdullahi Usman Gbatamagi, was declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Dissatisfied with the declaration, the APC and its candidate, Gbatamagi, through their Counsel, Johnson Usman, SAN, challenged the return of Gana.
The petition is via a petition number:EPT/NG/HR/06/2023 on the ground that the election was invalid by reason of non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022 in that the margin of win was less than the permanent voter cards, PVCs collected in the polling units where elections did not hold or were cancelled.
Delivering the judgment on Monday, the three-member tribunal headed by Justice Sylvester Godspower agreed with Mr Usman’s arguments.
The tribunal proceeded to invalidate votes in the 26 polling units of the constituency, thereby reducing the votes of Gana to 46,494 votes while that of Gbatamagi now stood at 39,159 votes, leaving the PVCs collected in the affected polling units at 14,411.
The tribunal consequently set aside the Certificate of Return issued to Joshua Gana by INEC and ordered the commission to conduct a supplementary election in the 26 polling units within 90 days of the judgment with a view to determining the winner of the election.
[VON]
Nollywood actor Stanley Ebuka, also known as Stan Eze, and his wife Blessing Obasi celebrate their wedding anniversary with a pregnancy reveal.
In a post on his official Instagram page, the actor shared a video of himself and his pregnant wife to commemorate their anniversary.
he said, “2 years today; Still the best decision of our lives.
I don’t know what we did right to deserve this kind of love. We are grateful Jesus
Our 3rd year is a unique phase – our year of nurturing. Please say a prayer for us.
Happy 2nd Anniversary to us.
The couple got married on Saturday 11th, September 2021, and are expecting their first child
[ThisNigeria]