The Federal High Court in Abuja has granted bail to ten #EndBadGovernance protesters who were charged with treason, incitement to mutiny, and other crimes.
The bail was set at ₦10 million each, alongside the provision of one surety in like sum. Justice Nwite, who presided over the case on Wednesday, stated that despite the gravity of the charges, the defendants were entitled to bail.
“The bail is hereby granted to the defendants applicant in the sum of N10m each and one surety in like sum, I have carefully considered the submission of the counsel on both divides. I hereby grant the defendants bail notwithstanding the crime,” Justice Nwite said.
The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/454/2024, saw the judge stipulate that the protesters must also refrain from participating in any further protests or rallies as part of their bail conditions.
The ten defendants—nine men and one woman—had pleaded not guilty to the six charges brought against them by the Nigerian police. These charges include plans to destabilise the country and overthrow the federal government.
Earlier, Justice Nwite had ordered the remand of the protesters at Kuje and Suleja Correctional Centres after the prosecutor, Simon Lough, opposed their bail applications. However, following legal arguments, the court agreed to grant the bail.
No fewer than 32,341 candidates have applied to fill the 206 health sector vacancies advertised by the Cross River Government.
This is contained in a document obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar, the state capital, on Thursday.
According to the document, as of the 2 September deadline for submission of application, a total of 49 doctors had applied to fill the 31 available spaces.
“1,240 nurses applied for the 153 vacancies while 184 persons applied to fill the 22 advertised spaces for pharmacists,” the document revealed.
The document further showed that although vacancies were not advertised for medical laboratory scientists, a total of 776 candidates applied for employment in that category.
NAN reports that the state government also received job applications from other health sector fields where vacancies were not advertised.
It would be recalled that in August, Henry Ayuk, the Commissioner for Health, announced that Governor Bassey Otu had given approval for the hiring of 206 medical staff members.
He said that the gesture was part of the state government’s efforts to enhance healthcare delivery in the state.
In a recent interview with NAN, Mr. Ayuk said that the Mr Otu-led government met only 20 medical doctors in the employ of the state when it came on board.
The Borno State Zoological Garden has warned residents of Maiduguri to be wary of deadly animals flushed from the zoo by flood.
Residents were told to evacuate their homes near Sanda Kyarimi Park after dangerous reptiles were flushed out of the zoo by the flood.
The General Manager of the Zoological Garden, Ali Abatcha, said the flood had damaged properties and resulted in a number of animals lost in the flood.
In a statement issued to reporters in Maiduguri, Mr Abatcha said the flood caused widespread destruction and had affected over 80 per cent of the animals in the garden.
He warned that some deadly animals, including crocodiles and snakes, have been washed away into nearby communities.
He urged the public to be aware of the danger and take necessary precautions to avoid the animals.
He said measures were being taken to ensure the safety and protection of the remaining animals and staff within the zoo.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has assured Nigerians that the administration of President Bola Tinubu will tackle the challenges of perennial flood in the country, saying that a comprehensive roadmap aimed at addressing the issue head-on has already been developed.
The Vice President gave the assurance when he visited Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, on Tuesday, for an on-the-spot assessment of the ravaging floods that have displaced communities in the state.
In a statement by his spokesman Stanley Nkwocha, Shettima, a former governor of Borno State, described the disaster as the most catastrophic flood in Maiduguri in over three decades.
He regretted that despite the implementation of comprehensive contingency plans and proactive measures adopted to mitigate potential impacts in response to the 2024 flood outlooks, the severity of the flood in Maiduguri has far exceeded the government’s estimates.
While commiserating with the victims, the Vice President said the President did not only express his “deepest sympathies but has also assured that the federal government will prioritise the welfare of the affected communities”.
The flood which began over the weekend has worsened. Authorities have blamed it on the excess water from the Alau Dam and the collapse of the spillways which has unleashed a significant surge of water downstream, causing widespread flooding in the surrounding communities.
Here are some quick takeaways from the first portion of the debate:
A turning point when Harris jabs Trump over the size of his rally crowds
Harris came onstage with a clear plan: Throw Trump off his game.
It was, by any measure, a dramatic success. When the vice president mentioned Trump’s criminal conviction and outstanding legal issues, he bit. When she called him out for sinking a bipartisan immigration bill, he bit harder. And when Harris suggested Trump’s rallies were boring, he nearly choked on the bait.
Rather than engage on the issues raised by the moderators, including a few that Trump considers some of his political strengths, the former president went on at length about the entertainment value of his rallies, claims the Biden administration was legally targeting him and, in a long, bizarre spell, insisted – against all available evidence, that migrants were eating Americans’ pets.
“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” Trump said, after Harris criticized him for tanking the immigration bill.
Harris looked on as though she was puzzled, but rarely returned to the claims, apparently content to allow Trump go off.
Trump seemed especially aggrieved by the vice president’s aside about his campaign events. Even after Muir sought to redirect the debate to immigration – again, one of Trump’s preferred topics – the former president refused to let it go.
“First, let me respond as to the rallies,” Trump said, mocking Harris’ crowds before returning to his own. “People don’t leave my rallies, we have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.”
The first hour of the debate then ended much like it began – with Trump off on a long, narrowcast tangent about the 2020 election, which he claimed, falsely once again, was stolen from him.
Trump traffics in conspiracy theories
Despite signals from even his running mate, Trump did not refrain from repeating the conspiracy theory du jour during the debate.
The former president brought up the unfounded conspiracy theory that migrants from Haiti living in Springfield, Ohio, are eating people’s cats and dogs.
The former president brought up the unfounded conspiracy theory that migrants from Haiti living in Springfield, Ohio, are eating people’s cats and dogs. He said at one point “in Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of people who live there.”
When ABC News moderator David Muir pointed out that city officials denied any evidence that migrants in Springfield were actually eating pets, Trump doubled down, saying “the people on television” were saying it. When pressed, Trump just said, “We’ll find out.”
When the debate moved to crime, Trump claimed that crime was up in the United States contrary to the rest of the world. There too Muir pointed out that, according to FBI data, crime had actually declined in the past few years.
Trump, again, deferred to a different conspiracy theory that the FBI is deeply corrupt and issuing “defrauding statements.” He argued “it was a fraud.”
Later in the debate, Trump argued that US elections are “a mess” and claimed that Democrats are trying to get undocumented immigrants to vote in elections.
Fierce argument over abortion, a key issue for both candidates
Few moments highlighted the difference between Biden’s June debate performance and Harris’ on Tuesday as much as the abortion debate.
The vice president, who has long been one the administration’s strongest surrogates on reproductive rights, was able to respond to the former president’s defense of his abortion policy in a way Biden was not.
The former president, who appointed three of the Supreme Court judges who overturned federal abortion protections, has sought to moderate his stance on the issue by criticizing six-week abortion bans and reiterating his support for exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. But he has also defended the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
“Now it’s not tied up in the federal government,” Trump said. “I did a great service in doing it. It took courage to do it.”
Trump repeated several of the arguments he made about abortion during his June debate with Biden. He argued that “everyone” wanted the issue returned to the states, despite widespread resistance from Democrats and some independents. He argued inaccurately that a former governor of Virginia said that babies should be executed – a reference to comments former Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, a doctor, made about care for births after nonviable pregnancies.
And Trump repeated the false claim that some states allow abortions to be performed after a baby has been born, which drew a fact check from ABC News’ Linsey Davis.
“There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born,” Davis said.
Harris responded by highlighting cases where women have been unable to get abortions after being victims of rape or struggled to get miscarriage care.
“You want to talk about this is what people wanted?” Harris said. “Pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term, suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room because the health care providers are afraid they might go to jail, and she’s bleeding out in a car in the parking lot – she didn’t want that.”
Vice president casts Trump as out for himself
Seeking to introduce herself to voters, Harris set the tone early, drawing contrast with Trump by framing herself as an advocate for middle-class Americans – and framing her opponent as self-absorbed.
“Donald Trump has no plan for you,” Harris said in response to a question on the economy, looking into the camera in a direct appeal to voters.
Leaning into her personal biography as she cast herself as a “middle class kid,” Harris outlined an economic vision including tax cuts for families and tax deductions for small businesses, while Trump, she said, will “do what he has done before, which is to provide a tax cut for billionaires and big corporations.”
Trump, Harris continued, “actually has no plan for you, because he is more interested in defending himself than he is in looking out for you.”
Her campaign has argued in its ads and talking points that Trump is a candidate looking out for himself, and Harris took that message to the debate stage Tuesday.
“I will tell you, the one thing you will not hear him talk about is you. And I’ll tell you: I believe you deserve a president who actually puts you first,” she said.
A handshake sets the tone
When Harris and Trump walked onto stage in Philadelphia, it was the first time they’d met in person. Trump, after all, skipped Biden’s inauguration.
Harris set the tone by walking across the six feet separating her podium from Trump’s and reaching out for a handshake. She introduced herself and said, “Let’s have a good debate.”
“Nice to see you,” Trump responded.
It was the first handshake in a presidential debate since Trump and Hillary Clinton squared off in 2016. Trump famously loomed uncomfortably close to Clinton during their town hall-style debate.
Trump generally looked forward as Harris spoke, while the vice president communicated through facial expressions. She laughed at some Trump comments, smirked at others, shook her head at some and at times appeared bemused.
When Trump repeated a debunked myth about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, Harris laughed mockingly while shrugging and pointing at Trump.
When Trump was asked about his comment last month falsely claiming Harris only recently started to identify as Black, the former president defended his remarks as something he’d read somewhere.
“I couldn’t care less,” Trump said. “Whatever she wants to be is OK with me.”
In the weeks since those comments, the vice president has avoided engaging in that personal attack beyond calling it the “same old tired playbook.”
At the Philadelphia event, however, Harris responded to Trump’s attacks on her identity a meaningful way. But instead of defending her indisputable racial identity, the vice president laid out the former president’s history of past racial discrimination and racist behavior.
That history includes investigations of housing discrimination, calling for the death penalty for the Central Park Five – young teenagers of color falsely accused and convicted of raping and assaulting a woman in the New York park – and fueling the false birther allegation that former President Barack Obama was not born in the United states.
“And I think the American people want better than that. Want better than this,” Harris said. “We see in each other a friend. We see in each other a neighbor. We don’t want a leader who is constantly trying to have Americans point their fingers at each other.”
Trump pushed back, arguing that others, such as former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, also supported the case against the Central Park Five. He called the Biden-Harris administration divisive and argued that the vice president’s examples were outdated.
“This is a person that has to stretch back years – 40, 50 years ago – because there’s nothing now,” he said.
Trump and Harris dig their heels in on major global flashpoints
If anyone on stage Tuesday has a clear, point-by-point plan for ending the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, they did not share it with the viewers at home.
Asked how she would secure peace in Gaza, Harris first recalled the horrors of Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attacks inside Israel. She offered some mild criticism of Israel’s response, an ongoing bombardment that’s killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, before pivoting to her support for a two-state solution, Israel’s right to defend itself and a commitment to rebuilding Gaza.
“We need a ceasefire deal and we need the hostages out,” Harris declared. Biden and others recently conceded such an agreement is a long way off.
Trump offered even fewer details.
“She hates Israel,” he said of Harris, adding that she also hates “Arabs.”
Trump has occasionally sought to inflame anger among Arab Americans over Biden’s handling of the conflict. But on Tuesday he quickly abandoned the tactic, instead chiding Harris for slighting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a recent visit to Capitol Hill – she did, in fact, meet with him; she did not attend his speech to Congress – and declaring again that none of it “would have never happened” if he were still in the White House.
Ditto for the Russian war in Ukraine, per the former president, who – after stopping to note that he “know(s) Putin very well – said “Russia would have never ever … have gone into Ukraine” on his watch.
“I’ll get it done before even becoming president,” Trump added, claiming his election would reset the geopolitical state of play and, almost by definition, herald a deal.
Harris, for her part, used the Russia-Ukraine talk to attack Trump over his well-documented fondness for international strongmen and despots.
“It is well-known that these dictators and autocrats are rooting for you to be president again,” Harris said, “because it is so clear they can manipulate you with flatter and favors.”
Trump fought back there, recalling his push to get NATO member nations to pay more into the alliance and slamming Harris for Biden’s refusal to do the same, before saying the vice president “does not have the courage to ask.”
A countdown clock over debate moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis shows how much time former President Donald Trump has left to answer a question during Tuesday’s debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris replied that she believed Trump might, in fact, put a quick end to the war – by capitulating to Putin. And in so doing, she added, endangering Poland on Ukraine’s western border. (Pennsylvania has a large Polish-American population, Harris noted.)
Trump repeatedly brought up the administration’s handling of the US’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, arguing it showed weakness in the White House and that Biden did not fire enough people in response to it. Harris said she agreed with Biden’s decision to pull US troops out of Afghanistan in 2021, asserting that Trump “negotiated one of the weakest deals you can imagine” on the matter during his time as president.
Trump – having been accused repeatedly of going starry-eyed for strongmen – quoted the one running Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
“Orban said it, he said, ‘The most respected, most feared person is Donald Trump. We had no problems when Trump was president,’” Trump said.
The Department of State Services (DSS) has released labour leader Joe Ajaero.
According to Channels TV, Ajaero, who confirmed his release to their correspondent, said the secret police allowed him to go home around past 11pm on Monday.
The Nigeria Labour Congress president said he was grilled for about 15 hours since his arrest around 7am at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Ajaero, however, said his travel passport was seized by the secret police.
The labour leader said though he was detained by the DSS, some police officers also came around to grill him at the DSS office in Abuja over the #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests that took place in August.
Ajaero said he was quizzed over alleged terrorism financing involving a British national, Andrew Wynne.
The labour leader was on his way to the United Kingdom on Monday for a Trade Union Congress (TUC) event when he was arrested at Abuja airport.
The NLC had condemned Ajaero’s arrest and gave the secret police Tuesday midnight to release the labour leader. The union had also put all its affiliates, state councils, civil society allies and all patriotic Nigerians on the highest state of alert in the light of “this troubling development.”
The TUC, global rights group Amnesty International, as well as human rights activist Femi Falana, amongst others, had berated the Federal Government for clamping down on the labour leader and demanded his immediate and unconditional release.
The NLC president had honoured police invitation over allegations of terrorism financing in late August, insisting on his innocence.
Ajaero was previously arrested last November in Imo State when he was about to lead a protest over unpaid workers’ salaries, amongst others.
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on Monday, September 9, announced the appointment of new branch chiefs, Air Officer Commandings (AOCs) and redeployment of some senior officers.
The announcement was contained in a statement by Group Captain Kabiru Ali, a Deputy Director in the Department of Information and Public Relations.
According to the statement, the move was to enhance operational flexibility, inject fresh perspectives and optimise leadership capabilities.
Those affected by the new development are Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Iboro Etukudo who is appointed as the Chief of Policy and Plans, AVM Francis Edosa appointed as Chief of Training and Operations, AVM Dalhat Ladan as the Chief of Air Intelligence, AVM Suleiman Usman as Chief of Communication and Information Systems, AVM Sayo Olatunde as Chief of Defence Policy and Plans, and AVM Lanre Oluwatoyin as Chief of Defence Space Administration at the Defence Headquarters (DHQ).
Also affected are AVM Ibikunle Daramola as the Chief of Civil-Military Relations, AVM Abiola Amodu as Chief of Aircraft Engineering, AVM Patrick Phillips as Chief of Logistics, AVM Olasunkanmi Abidoye as the Chief of Standards and Evaluation, AVM Adeniyi Amesinlola as the Chief of Transformation and Innovation at NAF Headquarters, and AVM Abubakar Adamu as Group Managing Director of NAFIL Group.
The newly appointed AOCs, according to the statement, are AVM Elijah Ebiowe appointed as the Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Tactical Air Command in Makurdi, AVM Sunday Aneke as the AOC Mobility Command in Yenagoa, AVM Abubakar Abdullahi as AOC Air Training Command in Kaduna, and AVM Adeniran Ademuwagun as AOC Logistics Command in Ikeja, Lagos.
The statement stated that the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, had congrated the new appointees, and “reiterated the essence of the redeployment, which majorly allows for strategic flexibility and resource optimization for enhanced operational effectiveness of the Nigerian Air Force.
“The CAS also harped on the importance of leveraging deep and critical thinking in proffering strategies for addressing current security challenges,” it added.
President Bola Tinubu has directed the exclusion of third-party research grant funds of federal universities and research institutions from the Treasury Single Account.
The president’s directive was conveyed by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, to the Coordinating Minister of Finance and National Economy, Wale Edun, mandating the exemption.
In a letter from the National Universities Commission (NUC) to Vice Chancellors, dated 6th September 2024, the directive also grants universities and research institutions the autonomy to operate their endowment fund accounts in commercial banks.
The letter said the move is expected to enhance the financial autonomy of universities and research institutions, promoting research and innovation in the country.
The letter from the NUC, signed by the Acting Executive Secretary, Chris Maiyaki, reads: “The National Universities Commission received the directive from the Honourable Minister of Education, Ref. DE/HE/37/VII/324 and dated 4th September 2024, forwarding the correspondence from the Principal Secretary to the President, State House, also vide PRES/87/MF/71/198/MBEP/15 and dated 23rd July 2024, on the above subject.
“The letter communicates Mr President’s directive to the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy to exclude third-party research grant funds of federal universities and research institutes from the Treasury Single Account (and to grant universities and research institutes autonomy in operating their endowment fund accounts in commercial banks. Please see attached.”
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has issued a Monday midnight to the Federal Government to unconditionally release its President, Joe Ajaero, or face dire consequences.
NLC has therefore fixed a National Executive Council, NEC, meeting for Tuesday, 9am to take appropriate response if Ajaero was not released.
In a communiqué at the end of its National Administrative Council, NAC, meeting signed NLC Deputy President, Prince Adewale Adeyanju, the NLC said
“The National Administrative Council (NAC) of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) convened an emergency meeting today to address the alarming and unlawful arrest and detention of Comrade Joe Ajaero, President of the NLC, by agents of the Nigerian Government.
“Comrade Ajaero was arrested and detained at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja while en-route to the United Kingdom, where he was scheduled to attend and address the Congress of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Britain, representing Nigerian workers in critical discussions on workers’ rights and social justice.
“After extensive deliberation, the NAC resolved as follows: The Council unequivocally condemns the brazen and illegal detention of Comrade Joe Ajaero by the Nigerian State without any legal warrant or justification.
“The NLC notes with grave concern that Comrade Ajaero was lawfully discharging his duties to represent Nigerian workers and had not committed any offense warranting such action. His detention is an affront to the rights of workers and the democratic principles of freedom of movement and expression.
“The NLC demands the immediate and unconditional release of Comrade Joe Ajaero before 12 midnight today. The Council reiterates that Joe Ajaero is not a fugitive or a criminal, and his detention is an act of intimidation aimed at silencing dissent and stifling the labor movement’s voice in Nigeria. NAC also demands the immediate reversal of the current hike in the price of petrol to N617/Litre.
“State of Alert: The Congress places all its affiliates, State Councils, Civil society allies, and the Nigerian populace on red alert. The detention of Comrade Ajaero is an attack not just on the NLC leadership but on the rights of all workers and citizens to organize, protest, and express themselves freely.
“The NLC will not stand by while these rights are trampled upon. This provocation is another attempt by the State to scuttle the implementation of the new National Minimum Wage.
“The NLC reaffirms its commitment to defending the rights of Nigerian workers and citizens. The Congress will not relent in its efforts to oppose all forms of oppression. NAC – in – session therefore summons an emergency meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) by 9:00 AM tomorrow, the 10th day of September, 2024 to take compelling action to engage the current forces of retrogression.
“The NAC urges the Nigerian Government to reverse this dangerous trend of authoritarianism and lawlessness, which threatens the country’s democratic fabric. NAC in session demands the immediate implementation of the New National Minimum Wage which has been signed into Law. The Nigeria Labour Congress will not waver in its duty to protect the rights of workers and the freedom of all Nigerians.
The Department of State Service (DSS) on Monday morning arrested the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, in Abuja.
The NLC chief was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, while traveling to the United Kingdom for an official assignment.
Ajaero’s arrest came a few weeks after he was invited by the police for alleged terrorism financing, treasonable felony, cybercrime, and other related offences.
After he honoured the police invitation on August 20 and declared his resolve to fight for better living conditions for Nigerians, the labour leader was re-invited by the police eight days later on fresh allegations.
In the new allegations, Ajaero was accused of criminal intimidation, engaging in conducts likely to cause a breach of public peace, and malicious damage to properties.
The police last week linked the NLC leader to a British citizen, Andrew Wynne, who has been declared wanted for an alleged attempt to overthrow President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
However, it has not been ascertained if Ajaero’s arrest by the DSS was connected to the police allegations.
The Kano State Government has postponed the resumption date for primary schools for the 2024/2025 academic session.
School resumption was initially set for September 9, 2024. According to a Saturday statement from the Director of Public Enlightenment, Balarabe Kiru, the new date will be announced soon.
Commissioner for Education Umar Doguwa cited “urgent reasons” for the delay but did not specify the reasons.
“I wish to inform pupils, students and parents that the announcement earlier made for school resumption on 8th and 9th September 2024 is now being postponed. This is due to some urgent reasons that will help in improving the provision of a conducive learning atmosphere for our children. Another date for the resumption will be announced in due course,” Kiru said.
The government urged students and parents to bear with any inconvenience caused by this decision. This postponement follows a similar move by the Edo State Government, which has indefinitely delayed the reopening of all schools due to challenges from a recent fuel price hike. Further updates on the resumption dates are expected from the respective ministries.
The multi-billion naira Ebonyi State water scheme at Oferekpe – Ikwo will commence operation before the end of this month.
The State Governor, Chief Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru dropped the hint when he led Members of the State Executive Council on inspection tour of the Old Abakaliki Water Scheme, Water Works, Abakaliki.
The Governor said it is part of his administration’s commitment to complete inherited projects and execute new ones in the interest of the masses.
“It is our target to provide water to every home in the State. Oferekpe Water Scheme will start pumping water from the end of this month and water from the scheme will be reticulated to Izzi, Abakaliki, Ebonyi, Ezza North and Ezza South. In no distant time, Ukawu Water Scheme will also receive Government attention”.
The Governor said in addition to the Oferekpe water scheme, the Old Abakaliki Water Scheme is being reactivated to boost water supply
“Old Abakaliki Water Scheme will come alive again. For instance, at the low lift here we are building a new pump house and the same thing is happening at the High lift at Juju Hill. They are cleaning and replacing obsolete facilities, while the Water Works reservoir has been fully reactivated “.
On the issue of Power and Energy, Governor Nwifuru said he has commenced discussions with Transmission Company of Nigeria to Establish 330 Mega Watts transmission station to boost industrialization.
“Though it is capital intensive and estimated to take over 50 billion naira but we are already talking with TCN to know the possibility of embarking on the project because it is crucial for development.
“It is only 3 States including Ebonyi that do not have a Mega Watts station. We provided Land for TCN at umuoghara, but unfortunately nothing was done”, the Governor said.
The Governor also inspected the State Pulverization plant at Umuoghara where all the recycling waste machines have been installed and ready for use.
