The Zamfara State government has dethroned two emirs and a district head over allegations of aiding the activities of bandits terrorising communities in the state.
The affected monarchs are the Emir of Zurmi, Abubakar Atiku, and Emir of Dansadau, Hussaini Umar.
Alhaji Sulaiman Ibrahim, the District Head of Birnin Tsaba, was also affected.
The dethronement was revealed to journalists by the state Commissioner of Information, Alhaji Ibrahim Magaji Dosara immediately after the Council meeting.
The Council upheld the recommendation of a six man White Paper Committee set up by the state government to review the report of two separate committees earlier set up to investigate the involvement of the three traditional rulers in the activities of banditry in the state.
The three deposed monarch were earlier suspended by the state Government following wide allegations of serious involvement in the activities of bandits in the state.
The findings of the committees also revealed abuse of land act in their domain and the government ordered the reversal to status quo involving the lands illegally allocated.
According to the commissioner, the government has also ordered that all land titles issued by the affected traditional leaders be revoked.
“The State Executive Council has also directed the state Ministry of Justice to issue an executive order to back up the council resolution,” he added.
The deposition of the traditional leaders comes 10 months after they were suspended by the state government.
Former House of Representatives Speaker Hon. Dimeji Bankole has joined the presidential race.
He is set to buy nomination form of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) next week.
A close ally of the former Speaker, Malam Abdullahi Bayero, confirmed this to The Nation in Kaduna on Wednesday.
According to him: “Right Honourable Dimeji Bankole is in the race and he is contesting on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“He has met with various stakeholders and their support is overwhelming, especially across the North. So, he is set to buy the APC nomination form next week.
“Many see him as someone who ticked all the boxes as far as having a young, smart, competent and patriotic president is concerned.
“Just like former military president Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida posited, Nigeria needs a young leader. I think there should be no debate over that even though the constitution did not stop old men from running for office.
“There are many northerners who believe Bankole is the right man to be supported, recalling how he handled the situation when then President Umaru Yar’adua took ill while in office. He is a candidate the North, indeed Nigeria as whole can trust,” Bayero said.
Bankole was recently in Kaduna as special guest of honour at the 16th annual Ramadan lecture by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) and Voice of Nigeria (VON).
It was learnt that the former speaker used his presence in the northern State to meet many stakeholders who have since assured him of support.
Bankole, who was the 2019 governorship candidate of Action Democratic Party (ADP) in Ogun State, officially registered as a member of the APC in March 2021.
Former governorship candidate in Imo State and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress,APC, Uche Nwosu, has berated politicians of southern extraction opposed to Igbo presidency.
Açcording to the politician, southerners clarmouring for rotation of presidency to the region but opposed to South East getting the ticket were unfair to the zone.
Açcording to him,it was double standard to accuse the North of plotting to retain power in 2023, while denying the only zone (Southeast), which has never produced the country’s president, the opportunity to do so.
The only way equity and justice can be truly served,he said,was for other zones in the Southern part of the country to support the South East as power shifts to the region.
“He that comes to equity must come with clean hands. You can’t be agitating for power shift to the South on the guise of equity and justice and when power moves to the South you no longer preach equity and justice, that is simply unfair,”the politician told journalists in Abuja, Wednesday.
Hear him: “When our brothers from the South West or Southeast come out to say they want to be President for equity and justice sake, they are simply not fair, there is no equity or justice in that. The true equity and justice is to make sure that every zone in this country will have the opportunity to rule this country, that is the peace, that is the equity, that is the justice for me.
“The Southeast is determined to get to power by the support of other zones but I still plead with our brothers from other zones to understand that the country is built on three legs, that is the Southeast, South West and the North, even though if you talk about the six geo-political zones we have now, others have tasted it, in the South West, we have Ernest Shonekan, Olusegun Obasanjo, in North Central, we have the likes Abdulsalami Abubakar, Ibrahim Babangida, in the North West, we have the President, Muhammadu Buhari, the North East produced a Vice President, it is only the Southeast that is left.
“When it is done North and South, it is now the turn of the South, when you come to the South, it is the turn of the Southeast and if we have brothers from the South who are are accusing the North of wanting to retain power but when the power shifts to the South, you that have occupied the office is trying to take it again and you are accusing the North, so for me when we talk, we talk with talk with dignity, with principle and with our conscience open. People should come out and do things with conscience and in the way it will please God.
“If you are accusing the North, that the North doesn’t want to release power to the South and you that have tasted power in the South, wants to take power again, you’re not sincere, because if you’re accusing the North that they have done eight years and you that have tasted power in the South wants it, you’re just playing to the gallery, if you’re coming to equity you must come with clean hands.”
He, however,said the South East was not losing any sleep following the emergence of aspirants from other region for the 2023 presidential election.
“We are not discouraged that other zones are interested, this is democracy and you don’t just sit at home and expect them to give power to you, you also have to move and campaign for you to get it, so we know that you can’t sit in the Southeast and power will come from the North, South West or South-South and be given to you”,he said.
He hailed presidential aspirants from the South East for closing ranks and agreeing to work together to actualize the age long aspiration of producing a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction.
“The most important thing is that the Southeast are coming together, few days ago the Presidential aspirants from the Southeast met in Abuja and agreed to work together both those in the APC and the PDP. Before people had thought that it will be impossible for them to come together, but they are coming together. Initially they said if the Southeast can come together, they will support them, they will also that the aspirants coming from the Southeast are many they should select one person, the ones coming out from other zones are they not many , we should stop trying to use cheap blackmail to stop a section of the country from tasting what others have tasted.
“What we need now is a unifier, we want somebody who can come and treat the six geo-political zones as one, we don’t need an ethnic bigot who will come in and the first thing he will do his to face his region, we don’t need that kind of President, we need the president that will look at the entire zones as his own, we need someone who will unite this country as one and we have them in the Southeast, the likes of Owelle Rochas Okorocha, Dave Umahi, Chris Ngige, among others,”he said.
President Muhammadu Buhari says without mass and popular support to the “hardworking” Armed Forces, it will take Nigeria much longer to finish off the “successful” war being waged against terrorism, banditry and kidnapping.
He said this Tuesday at an iftar dinner with members of the business community and the leadership of political parties.
Buhari implored all political parties in the country to join his administration’s drive to defeat insecurity.
The president, who urged the political parties to keep elections and election-related differences aside, described insecurity as a ‘‘common enemy’’ bedeviling the country.
“Our country must be kept safe for progress and prosperity to be entrenched.
‘‘I look forward to seeing the reflection of this spirit in the relationship between the parties and the government, especially as the electioneering season will soon be on us,’’ he said.
The president, while speaking on ease of doing business in the country, told captains of industry and political leaders at the dinner that his administration had done exceedingly well in improving the business climate.
He urged the private sector to complement government’s effort in poverty reduction and job creation for the young people.
Senator Abdullahi Adamu, the National Chairman of APC urged leaders of political parties to make firm commitments towards peaceful and successful 2023 general elections, and challenged them to work in unison to achieve the purpose.
Speaking on behalf of leaders of other political parties, Engr. Yusuf Yabagi, the chairman of Action Democratic Party (ADP) and coordinator Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) who described the President as a true democrat, said the Iftar event and the invitation by the President had introduced ‘‘credibility, respect and admiration in the polity’’.
He announced that IPAC was preparing to give the President an award as ‘‘Hero of Democracy’’, citing the historic signing into law of the Electoral Act that will guarantee peaceful, acceptable and all-inclusive elections in the country.
On the forthcoming elections, Yabagi said: ‘‘Mr President, history beckons on you. 2023 is going to be your glorious exit. That is our prayer and for that to happen you have to take charge of every activity that matter in the exercise’’.
The IPAC Coordinator, who commended INEC for innovation and reforms towards ensuring credible elections, appealed to the President to look into the role of security agencies in the forthcoming general elections.
‘‘Members of IPAC are worried by the programme of INEC that elected candidates will spend 10 months campaigning around the country. That is a herculean task.
‘‘We also want the President to consider the appointment of a Political Liaison Officer,’’ Yabagi said, noting that the office will ensure better coordination between the President’s office and political parties.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has urged political parties to make drug integrity tests part of the screening requirements for aspirants seeking to contest various political offices in the 2023 elections on their platforms.
NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brigadier-General Buba Marwa, made the proposal in response to questions from reporters on Wednesday at the agency’s national headquarters in Abuja.
“For politicians, we have long advocated and I take the opportunity again to repeat the advocacy that when they run for public office, it demands a lot of responsibility from the person and we need to be certain if he’s a person that is already a drug addict/user who will spend all the money he’s given for public service to consume cocaine and his head will not be in a stable condition to handle the affairs he has been entrusted with,” he said at the agency’s 2022 First Quarter Best Performing Commands Awards ceremony
“For this reason, we have advocated and will continue to advocate that drug test be conducted for politicians; some state governments like Kano State is already doing this.
“Not just politicians, but government appointees, and I’ve just sent a letter this morning to the National Chairman of APC, who will be the first of the national working committee I wish to pay an advocacy visit on this issue. I recommended that drug tests be incorporated in the screening process for all those interested in running for public office; we’ll do the same to the PDP and other important parties.”
According to Marwa, the ceremony has become part and parcel of NDLEA’s corporate culture while recognising and rewarding hard work and excellence has always been a pragmatic way of stimulating productivity and enhancing the attainment of organisational goals.
He also highlighted some of the feats the agency has recorded in the last three months, including the arrest of over 3,500 suspects.
“Statistics from the first quarter (Q1) report indicated that our performance level has not dropped off,” said the NDLEA chief. “Indeed, achieving 3,539 arrests, 677 convictions, and seizures of 65,916 kg of drugs in three months is no mean feat.
“Little wonder our performance continually earns the agency deserved accolades from the right quarters within the country as well as from abroad, especially from international partners and peers.
“While we have not yet achieved the utopia of a drug-free society, the results showed that we are getting it right.”
He told the officers that the awards and commendations were expected to spur them to surpass their current feats at the next awards ceremony.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved a contract that will ensure the revitalization and operation of the Ajaokuta Steel Company and the National Iron Ore Complex, Itakpe in Kogi State.
It also approved contracts worth N10.48 billion and $27.09 million for the Federal Ministry of Power as part of the government’s effort at repositioning the nation’s power sector.
Addressing State House Correspondents after the week’s virtual FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the contract worth N853.25 million is about appointing contractors that would run the process of concessionning the companies.
Mohammed, who spoke on behalf of his colleague in charge of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, said the Council’s decision was in response to one of the two memoranda presented by the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development.
“Council approved the engagement of transaction advisors for consultancy services for the concession of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and also the National Iron ore mining complex in Itakpe in favor of mrses CPCS Transform Consortium in the sum of N853,266, 644.4 inclusive of 7.5percent VAT.
“I am sure we are all familiar with the story of the history of the Ajaokuta Steel complex. The contract was awarded in 1979 to a Russian company called TPE. By the end of 1983, the contract had reached an advanced stage, regrettably, since then it has been suffering by 1994, TPE demobilized from the site, and in 1996, the contract was determined.
“Subsequently, various administrations have tried to revive the Ajaokuta steel complex without much success. However, you will recall that Mr. President was on a state visit to Russia on the 22nd and 24th of October 2019 and here it was resolved that the Ajaokuta steel complex which the Federal Government has made a massive investment must be resuscitated.
“Regrettably COVID-19 has slowed down the efforts of the ministry of mines to bring this to fruition. However, today, the council has approved the award of the contract not just for Ajaokuta but for the iron ore in Itakpe.
“We believe that with this development, we would have made a significant step in bringing back to life both the Ajaokuta and the iron ore company in Etakpe and move forward the industrial revolution of Nigeria because when these two complexes begin to function, then, not only are we going to save money in terms of foreign exchange, but we are going to see a lot of industrial development and also technology transfer”, he said.
“The FEC also approved revised fees payable for Mining Engineering and Geoscientific Services, which set benchmarks for professionals in the mining sector to enable them to get fair remuneration for their services,” Mohammed added.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said he served all his principals with utmost loyalty during their difficult moments.
Osinbajo was the Attorney General of Lagos State when Bola Tinubu was the governor, from 1999 to 2007.
Presently, he is the second-in-command to President Muhammadu Buhari, who chose him as his running mate in 2015 and 2019.
As the 2023 presidential election draws closer, Osinbajo has declared his interest to take over from his principal, Buhari.
But, his ambition seems to be clashing with that of his former principal, Tinubu, who is also interested in the presidency, calling it a lifelong ambition.
Many have since tagged Osinbajo a betrayer, saying he ought not to jostle for the presidency when he was aware Tinubu is also eyeing the office.
However, Osinbajo has subtly replied to those describing him as a betrayer, revealing that he has never betrayed any of those he served.
According to him, he stood with all his principals when their jobs and lives were being threatened.
In some cases, the Vice President said he was the only one standing when others have left those principals.
Speaking in Ogun State on Tuesday, Osinbajo said: “There is no one out of those I’ve served under (that I did not stand within their difficult times). I want to say that every one of those people I have served was in their most difficult moments. I am not talking about when everything is doing well, but in their most difficult moments; moments even when their jobs were threatened and sometimes even when their lives were threatened, I was always with them.
“Sometimes, I was the only one standing with them, I cannot go into details for confidentiality reasons, but that is the truth. Not one of them can in truth say I have not stood with them in their most difficult moments.”
He added that his allegiance is to Nigeria and not to any individual.
Meanwhile, Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has finally picked Osinbajo as his preferred aspirant, saying he supported him during the 2019 governorship election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lagos State has commenced the distribution of over 33,000 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for newly registered voters in the state.
Mr. Olusegun Agbaje, the Resident Electoral Commissioner made this known on Wednesday in Lagos.
Agbaje told newsmen while handing over PVCs to registered voters at INEC offices in Somolu and Kosofe local government areas that the PVCs were for those who registered between June 2021 and Dec. 2021.
He urged the affected persons to approach INEC offices in the 20 local governments between 9 am and 3 pm from Monday to Friday to collect their PVCs.
According to him, there is no collection of a PVC by proxy, every applicant must appear physically to collect the card.
He said the Commission, in an effort to prevent the PVCs from falling into the wrong hands, would take the data and photographs of those collecting their PVCs.
“PVCs for registered voters in the state are ready and we have symbolically flagged off the distribution in Somolu and Kosofe.
“For those who registered between January 2022 and now, INEC will announce when they will collect theirs,” he said.
The INEC chief urged qualified residents to take part in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) at INEC offices before its expiration on June 30.
He said the PVCs of those who engage in double or multiple registrations would not be printed.
Responding to the need to decentralize the distribution of PVCs at the ward level, Agbaje appealed to voters to collect their cards at the INEC offices in each council.
“Voters need to make sacrifices by collecting their cards at the INEC offices.
“When INEC headquarters decides that we should take the PVCs to Wards, we will do so in Lagos,” he said.
Manchester United will be without six players when they host Chelsea in Thursday’s Premier League fixture.
United’s manager Ralf Rangnick disclosed this during his pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
Rangnick revealed that Fred will not make the game as he is still not fully recovered from his hip flexor problem.
He disclosed that Harry Maguire and Jadon Sancho, have also been added to the absentee list, which already included Edinson Cavani, Paul Pogba, and Luke Shaw.
“Fred is unfortunately not yet available,” Rangnick told reporters.
“He tried to train yesterday but after training, I had a long conversation with him and he just told me that he doesn’t feel fully fit, he’s not at 100 percent, and with a player like Fred who’s always committed to giving his very best, I don’t think it makes sense, with the muscular injury that he had, to play him too early, because that would mean we take the risk of a re-injury and this is something that I don’t want to do. So he won’t be available unfortunately tomorrow.
“And apart from that, we have Harry Maguire who is not available. He has some issues with his knee, not a big thing – some niggle in his knee. He hasn’t been training, neither yesterday nor today.
“Paul obviously, Fred, Edinson, Luke Shaw, and Jadon – Jadon is ill, he has had tonsillitis since yesterday, couldn’t train today, and will also be not available tomorrow.”
Rangnick is hoping to have Cavani back in training the day after the game against Thomas Tuchel’s side, with a view to having him available for the final three fixtures of the season.
“Well, he should be back in training on Friday, so the day after the Chelsea game, according to the team doctor, and then we will have to see,” Ralf said.
“He has been out for quite some time now but according to our team doctor he should be back in training on Friday.”
The Red Devils are currently in sixth place on 54 points and are six points adrift of fourth place currently occupied by Arsenal.
A governorship aspirant on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Segun Sowunmi, has vowed to probe and prosecute those who have governed the state and plundered its resources if elected governor come 2023.
He specifically declared that he would ensure that looters are jailed, asking the people of the state to ensure he is jailed if he involves in the embezzlement of public funds as an elected governor.
Sowunmi equally expressed worry over the debt profile of Ogun, saying it would require a new administrator to renegotiate the debt.
The PDP governorship aspirant who was the spokesperson for the PDP Presidential candidate in the 2019 election, spoke at his Abeokuta residence, Ogun State, during Iftar (breaking of Ramadan fast) with journalists in the state, on Tuesday.
Sowunmi boasted that he remains the best aspirant his party can present to defeat the incumbent governor in 2023.
While lamenting that the state, despite its abundant natural and human resources is lagging behind, he said he would ensure a paradigm shift in government policies to ensure a vibrant economy, good security system, quality but affordable education, and the healthcare system.
Sowunmi, who said he joined the gubernatorial race in order to inspire the youth and bring about desired changes to governance, disclosed that he would run a decentralized government if he is given the mandate to govern Ogun.
He said “I’m chasing immortality by the policies and programmes that we will run here. And if one day you find me a thief, jail me, because I will jail those who have stolen before me.
“Let nobody be deceived, I’m not asking to lead Ogun so that we can pamper ourselves. No!
“Government business is a sacred trust which you hold on behalf of all the collectives.
“This is Ogun. The vast majority of people living here are bonafide citizens of this place whose parents are the owners of this land. You can not be in charge of our land, assets, taxes, and goodwill, and all you will do is steal and they will not probe you? You must be joking”. He stated.
He, however, also declared that the gubernatorial election in the state can never be for the highest bidder, rather there should be issue-based campaigns on how to fix the state and inspire the younger generation.
“Ogun can never be for the highest bidder. It has never been for the highest bidder. It will never be for the highest bidder.
“We are noble people. We just don’t think that you should be throwing your weight around. We are not people that are coming to you with money. We are people of parents who have given us pedigree who have shown us hard work, and values and insisted on us that it can be done.
“I’m interested in leading Ogun so that we may do three things. If we win, go and start a new deal. Whatever it is that they are limping on, called Obafemi Awolowo’s model needs to be rewritten, extended, and redesigned.
“How do you explain that you can’t find Igbo people begging for money and it is Awolowo’s children littering the place doing “Babiya Allah”, a thing that was alien to our grandparents. Our grandparents didn’t really go to school, but do any of you have a recollection of your grandparents running up and down the streets, begging for money? So, it means our model is not working. If our model is working, why are our people poor”? He added.
Sowunmi, who accused the state government of paying lip service to security, education, and development issues in the state, disclosed he would ensure biometric capturing of residents to assist in easy identification of culprits each time an offence is committed for diligent prosecution if elected to lead the state.
