Category: News

Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State has emerged the new Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF).

He replaced Sokoto State governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal whose tenure of office would elapse on May 29.

This was contained in a communiqué signed by Tambuwal at the end of the 7th emergency meeting of the state governors held on Tuesday night in Abuja.

According to the communiqué, Abdulrazaq emerged through consensus while Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde was chosen as vice chairman of the forum.

The communiqué reads in part, ” On the leadership of the Forum, the Governor of Kwara State, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, emerged the new Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum through a consensus, and the

Governor of Oyo State Seyi Makinde is now the vice chairman.

“Members expressed satisfaction with the success of the just concluded induction for new and returning governors that took place between 14th and 19th of May, 2023.

“Members committed to sustained collaboration among the states through enhanced peer review, learning at the sub-national level and deepening the relationship with the federal government and other institutions.

“Finally, members were briefed by the Chairman of the Forum that the Hon. Minister of Finance has granted the request of the Forum to immediately stop further deductions from

the accounts of states to meet Local Government Councils London Paris Club obligations and the monies so far deducted be paid back to the states.”

Daily Trust

President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the Senate, seeking approval for a request to pay the judgement debt in the sum of $566,754,584, £98,526 and N226 billion.

Channels Television reports that the monies were owed by the Federal Government through the issuance of promissory notes.

The President’s letter of request was read at plenary by Senate President Ahmad Lawan during plenary on Wednesday, four months after 648 cases were brought against the President and other Federal Government parastatals.

“In view of the foregoing, I wish to request the Senate to kindly consider and approve, through its resolution, the settlement of a top priority judgement debts and general judgement debts incurred by the federal MDAs in the sum of $566,754,584, GB98,526 and N226,281,801,881,” the letter read.

“The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and the Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning shall provide any information that may be required by the Senate for the consideration of this request.”

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), revealed that Buhari’s regime had secured a conviction in 397 terrorism cases while 7,000 crime and anti-corruption cases had been successfully prosecuted by the government in eight years.

According to the AGF, the secured conviction was out of 3,000 terrorism-profiled charges, of which 1,500 were filed.

Channels TV

The United Kingdom has officially banned Nigerian and other international students from bringing in dependants into the UK.

The ban which is aimed at reducing migration into the UK will take effect from January 2024, Home Secretary Suella Braverman disclosed in a statement on Tuesday.

With this move the UK hopes to crack down on “unscrupulous education agents who make use of inappropriate applications to sell immigration, not education”, while blocking international students from “misuse of visa system” – switching from student route to work routes.

Only international students on postgraduate courses regarded as research programmes will be allowed to bring in their dependants.

Ms Braverman said, “this package strikes the right balance between acting decisively on tackling net migration and protecting the economic benefits that students can bring to the UK.”

“Now is the time for us to make these changes to ensure an impact on net migration as soon as possible. We expect this package to have a tangible impact on net migration. Taken together with the easing of temporary factors, we expect net migration to fall to pre-pandemic levels in the medium term.”

Foreign students brought 135,788 relatives to the UK in 2022, nine times as many as in 2019. More than 59,000 Nigerian students arrived in 2022 with about 61,000 family members.

Peoples Gazette

The Forum of National Assembly Legislative Aides from North-West has urged lawmakers-elect contesting for principal officers to respect the choices made by the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress.

The forum made the call in Abuja on Tuesday while addressing a news conference.

The NWC of APC had, in its zoning arrangements for the leadership of the 10th National Assembly, anointed Godswill Akpabio (South-South) as Senate president and Jibrin Barau (North-West) as deputy Senate president.

The party also anointed Tajudeen Abbas (North-West) as the House of Representatives speaker and Benjamin Kalu (South-East) as deputy speaker.

But some APC lawmakers-elect had gone ahead to signify interest in contesting for various principal officers against the decision of the NWC.

Zonal leader of the forum, Abdulrazaq Dunkawa, while supporting the decision of the NWC said the North-West deserved the two presiding officers’ positions.

According to him, the North-West contributed the highest number of votes to the APC in the presidential and federal parliamentary elections.

“We, Legislative Aides from the North-West, will like to place it on record that the geopolitical zone contributed the highest number of votes to the APC in the Presidential and National Assembly elections,” the group stated. “Results from the elections show that North-West played a crucial role in keeping APC in power by securing the majority of honourable members and distinguished senators in both chambers.”

The group added, “The zone no doubt rightly deserves the zoning made by the party as far as leadership of the 10th National Assembly is concerned.”

The forum called on other contestants to allow party supremacy to establish discipline, order and legislative democracy to thrive in the 10th National Assembly.

(NAN)

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday commissioned the Second Niger Bridge in the South-East, six days to the end of his administration.

The Special Adviser to the President, Femi Adesina, disclosed this in a statement, saying the President also commissioned seven legacy projects completed by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing across the country.

The Second Niger Bridge was conceptualised in 2005. In 2014, there was an attempt to begin the project through Public Private Partnership (PPP) but this was not successful. The construction began in 2016 with the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF).

Also commissioned were the Loko-Oweto Bridge across River Benue to link Benue to Nasarawa State and the Ikom Bridge in Cross River State. The road project is the completed section of the over 200 kilometres of Kano-Kaduna Dual Carriage Expressway and three new Federal Secretariats.

“The first of the Federal Secretariats at Awka is located at Executive Business District Layout, Awka South Local Government Area, Anambra State and is situated on 5.106 Hectares of land. The project was first awarded on 9th December, 2011 but was practically completed and taken over by the Ministry of Works and Housing on 14th July, 2022,” the statement read.

“The Secretariat has a total of 498 Office Spaces, a Conference Hall, four Committee Rooms, an Exhibition Hall, a Banking Hall, a Post Office and befitting Reception. In addition, the Secretariat has lift facilities, well laid out parking spaces and drainage, staff canteen, fire hydrants and other vital facilities.

“The second, Federal Secretariat Gusau, Zamfara State is located at Unguwan Dan Lawan, off Sokoto By-Pass Road, Gusau, Zamfara State. The project is situated on 7.5 Hectares of land and was awarded also on the 9th but was practically completed and taken over by the Ministry on 30th November 2022.”

The commissioning Second Niger Bridge was widely lauded with some officials referring to it as the “Muhammadu Buhari Bridge”.

The Special Assistant to the President on Digital Communications, Bashir Ahmad, in a tweet on Tuesday, said, “The Second Niger Bridge is to officially be called/known as Buhari Second Niger Bridge. The Muhammadu Buhari Bridge is officially commissioned today, by President Muhammadu Buhari.”

Similarly, the Special Assistant to the President on Digital/New Media, Tolu Ogunlesi, tweeted that the decision to rename the bridge was taken by the five governors of the eastern region.

“Following consultations, the Governors of the South-East have agreed that the Second Niger Bridge shall be named the Muhammadu Buhari Second Niger Bridge,” his tweet read.

Channels TV

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has directed all political appointees in the state to hand over on or before May 26, 2023 ahead of the expiration of the second tenure of his administration on May 29.

Governor Ugwuanyi’s directive was conveyed through the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Simon Uchenna Ortuanya, when the SSG met with Heads of Boards, Parastatals, Agencies and Commissions in his office in Abuja Building, Government House, Enugu, on Tuesday.

Prof. Ortuanya listed the affected political appointees to include all Commissioners of Ministries, Special Advisers (SPAs) to the Governor, Chief Executive Officers of Government-owned Companies, Senior Special Assistants (SSAs) to the Governor and Special Assistants (SAs) to the Governor.

Others were Technical Assistants to the Governor, Technical Assistants to Commissioners, Technical Assistants to Special Advisers, Technical Assistants to Enugu State House of Assembly Members, Board Chairmen and Board Members of Government-owned Companies, Executive Secretaries of Parastatals or Government-owned Companies, and State Project Coordinators of World Bank-Assisted Projects.

The SSG said “the above mentioned political appointees are to hand over their affairs to the Permanent Secretary or Director of Administration or Director of Personnel Management, as the case may be.”

The state government also directed all civil servants holding political positions to return to their parent ministries.

Prof. Ortuanya explained that the decision was in line with established procedure, as the second tenure of Governor Ugwuanyi expires on May 29, 2023.

“Enugu State Government expresses gratitude and sincere appreciation for the contributions you have rendered towards the development of the state. The state wishes you well in your future endeavours,” he added.

Former Vice President and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on Tuesday, said he was not worried that the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, would be sworn in on May 29, before the conclusion of petitions seeking to nullify his election victory.

Atiku, who is currently challenging the declaration of Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, as winner of the presidential election that held on February 25, said he was hopeful that he would reclaim his mandate in court.

Speaking through his lead counsel, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, shortly after the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, sitting in Abuja, consolidated his petition with the ones that were filed by candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi and the Allied Peoples Movement, APM, Atiku, maintained that the court, has the powers to sack Tinubu from office, even after the swearing in ceremony.

Noting that full blown hearing on the three merged petitions would commence on May 30, a day after Tinubu’s swearing in as President, the PDP candidate, through his team of f lawyers, said: “I have been asked about May 29, I want to assure people that swearing in is only a ceremony that does not in any way tie the hands of the court.

“The taking of oath binds the person who takes the oath and not the court

“The court has given you its timelines for parties to present their case. We are happy that with the development, the petitions will be expeditiously determined, ” Atiku’s lawyer, Uche, SAN, added.

It will be recalled that the Justice Haruna Tsammani-led five-member panel had during the presentation of its pre-hearing report on Tuesday, okayed Atiku’s request to be use three weeks to present evidence before the court, through 100 witnesses.

Atiku had in his joint petition with the PDP, marked: CA/PEPC/05/2023, maintained that the declaration of Tinubu as winner of the presidential election was “invalid by reason of non- compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022”.

He argued that Tinubu’s election was invalid by reason of corrupt practices.

Aside from praying the court to declare him winner of the presidential election, having secured the second highest number of votes cast, Atiku and the PDP applied for the withdrawal of the Certificate of Return that was already issued to Tinubu by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Meanwhile, the President-elect, Tinubu, has barred his legal team from speaking to newsmen throughout the duration hearing of the petitions seeking to invalidate his election victory.

The lead counsel that appeared for the APC at the resumed proceedings on Tuesday, Chief Niyi Akintola, SAN, made the disclosure in the open court after the panel gave a hint that it may ban both lawyers and members of the public from entering the courtroom with their mobile phones and other electronic gadgets.

Justice Tsammani said the decision was based on the need to enhance security within the courtroom and to protect the sanctity of the proceedings.

Responding, Chief Akintola, SAN, said: “My lords, that is why those of us that are representing the 2nd and 3rd respondents (Tinubu and APC), are acting on strict instructions.

“We have taken a decision not to talk to the press. We have 38 SANs in our team and my lords, in fact, the penalty for anyone that goes against the instruction and speaks to the press after every proceeding, is expulsion from the team,” he added.

Vanguard

Nigeria’s president-elect, Bola Tinubu, on Monday, urged the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja not to harmonise the three pending petitions challenging his victory.

Mr Tinubu’s victory at the 25 February presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is being challenged in three separate petitions pending before the court.

Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, Labour Party’s Peter Obi and the Allied Peoples Democratic (APM) filed their petitions in March to challenge the outcome of the poll.

The petitions, containing largely similar complaints, accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of widespread irregularities during the conduct of the presidential election.

Atiku and Mr Obi, in their separate suits are urging the court to either declare them president or nullify Mr Tinubu’s victory and order a fresh poll.

The APM on the other hand is praying for the court to declare Atiku president.

Last week, the court asked lawyers of parties in the petitions to address it on the provisions of paragraph 50 of the Fourth Schedule of the Electoral Act, 2022, which allow the court to consolidate the petitions.

Why petitions shouldn’t be consolidated

At the resumption of the court’s pre-hearing session on Monday, Mr Tinubu’s lawyer, Akin Olujinmi, appealed to the five-member panel of the court led by Haruna Tsammani not to consolidate the petitions.

Mr Olujinmi, a former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), argued that consolidating the suit would undermine the “interest of justice.”

“The interest of justice in these petitions should be a restraint on the power of this court in granting a consolidation of these petitions,” he said during the pre-hearing session of the APM’s petition on Monday.

While Mr Olujinmi conceded that some of the petitioners’ prayers were similar, he said “some issues are not the same”.

“The counsel representing the petitioners and respondents are different and the grounds of the petitions are different.

“It will be overreaching for the respondents if consolidation is granted. We most humbly urge my Lords not to grant consolidation,” Mr Olujinmi said.

Arguing in the same fashion, APC’s lawyer, Charles Uwensuyi-Edosomwan, said consolidating the petitions would be “unwieldy.”

“We are opposing the consolidation of the petitions. The interest of justice will not be served by a consolidation of all of these petitions,” Mr Uwensuyi-Edosomwan, a SAN, said.

He contended that “The trial of the petitions will be unwieldy, and the substance of the case will be lost.”

But INEC’s lawyer, Kemi Pinero, neither supported nor objected to the consolidation of the petitions.

Similarly, APM’s lawyer, S A T Abubakar, did not object to the consolidation of the petitions.

Similar debate is expected to come up during the hearing of the cases of the PDP and the Labour Party.

Meanwhile, the inauguration of the president-elect, Mr Tinubu, whose election is still being challenged in court, is about a week away.

The election petition hearing is expected to drag on till September. This will be followed by another lap of hearing at the Supreme Court where parties displeased with the outcome of the eventual decision of the Presidential Election Petition Court are entitled to appeal to.

Premium Times

The Presidential Election Petitions Court sitting in Abuja has rejected application for live transmission of its proceedings.

Atiku Abubakar, Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Peter Obi, Presidential Candidate of Labour Party had made the request, which was objected to by Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), winner of the February 25 presidential poll.

The Chairman of the Presidential Election Petition Court, Justice Haruna Tsammani, has dismissed the application for live coverage of court proceedings.

At the 2023 Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) sitting in Abuja on Monday, the justice said the application by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) lacked merit.

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, had filed an application on May 8 for an order to allow the live coverage of the daily court proceedings on the case they brought against the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, following the February 25 election.

The Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, followed suit with a similar application asking that proceedings of the tribunal be televised.

However, a week later, Tinubu opposed the application for a live broadcast of the proceedings of the election petition, describing it as an abuse of court process.

Channels TV/Daily Trust