The Federal government on Monday morning issued a travel adviroy to its citizens travelling to the United States and Europe.
The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said at a news conference in Abuja that the advisory was prompted by attack on Nigerians in London and the stealing of their belongings, including passports.
Mihammed said, “It has come to the attention of the government that Nigerian travelers to the United States and some countries in Europe are having their belongings, especially, money and international passports, stolen at an increasingly high rate.
“The most recent victims of this are travelers to the UK, most of whom were dispossessed of their belongings at high brow shops, particularly in the high street of Oxford.
“We have therefore decided to advise Nigerians travelling to Europe and the United States to take extra precaution to avoid being dispossessed of their belongings.
“This is not your typical travel advisory. Issuing such is the prerogative of our embassies/high commissions as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is merely a piece of advice to Nigerians who may be visiting the affected parts of the world,” the minister said
Former governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, has disclosed that his administration left behind N14 billion cash in the state’s coffers.
He also revealed that his government had successfully paid N97 billion from debt inherited in 2018 when he assumed office.
He disclosed that his administration did not borrow a dime anywhere in the world to finance the economy of the state, saying he successfully kept faith and maintained fidelity with his electoral promises.
He made the disclosures in his farewell statement, indicating the expiration of his tenure in office on Saturday, saying his administration has put Osun’s economy on a surer footing through the myriad people-centred and masses-focused projects timely and promptly implemented to make life worthwhile for the people of the State.
According to him, Osun under his watch has been stable economically as manifested in the astronomical increment in the GDP of the State since he assumed office.
Governor Oyetola affirmed that Osun is more stable economically than he met it in 2018, saying despite all the visible socio-economic challenges confronting the state with its attendant effects, he was able to take care of the fears and evil of fiscal indiscipline and lack of implementation, which hamper projects and services in the nation’s public service.
“As I step aside today following the conclusion of the four-year tenure you freely gave me, I thank God and I thank you for your support, cooperation and prayers over the years. I recall how the journey began four years ago; how by your belief in me and your conviction in the plans and programmes of our Party, you exercised your right to vote for me.
“As we draw the curtains on this first tenure, we are convinced that we neither reneged on our promise nor disappointed you. We kept faith with you and maintained fidelity with our electoral promises. It was our wish to continue to serve you but we are constrained by the outcomes of the July 16 Governorship election which we are already challenging in court.
“As a law-abiding citizen and government, we are stepping aside to allow the law take its course. However, we look forward to continue to serve you in no distant future. We have absolute trust in God that we shall be back soon, as we have implicit trust and confidence in the Judiciary to do justice in the case before it.
“We are confident that this period of temporary political eclipse shall pass. The sun shall shine again, brighter and warmer and the sustainable development and participatory governance that we enthroned, which have been applauded by local and international organisations, shall be restored and put on a surer and better footing.
“There can be no substitute to people-oriented and development-savvy governance in a democracy. The tap roots of the unprecedented good governance, inclusive and participatory governance that we introduced, which delivered massive equitable projects and programmes are too strong to be uprooted.
“As we end our first term, rest assured that Osun is more stable economically than we met it in 2018 and it remained the most peaceful state in the country under our leadership.”
The former governor added that the state was also expecting $72 million from other programmes and from the NG-CARES programme of the Federal Government, among others.
The Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, will today confer Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) on 62 lawyers elevated to the rank by the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC).
The swearing-in ceremony will kick-start the new legal year of the Supreme Court. Among the successful legal practitioners are three lawyers prosecuting for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). While two of them – Sylvanus Tahir and Rotimi Oyedepo – are employees of the EFCC, Wahab Shittu, is engaged by the anti-graft agency as a private prosecutor for specific cases.
Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Hajo Bello, who doubles as the secretary to the LPPC, said the successful candidates comprised 53 in the advocacy category while the other nine are of the academic category.
The rank SAN is awarded as a mark of excellence to members of the legal profession who have distinguished themselves as advocates and academics.
Members of the Inner Bar, as SANs are fondly called, enjoy some privileges including having seats reserved for them in the front rows of all courts with priority accorded their cases in court.
They are also distinguishable from other lawyers by their attire which is styled differently from the gown other lawyers wear. Theirs is called silk .
CJOther successful candidates include Bolarinwa Elijah Aidi, a former Director of Public Prosecution DPP, Federal Ministry of Justice, Diri Said Mohammed, Bankole Joel Akamolafe, Mohammed Abubakar, Johnson Ugboduma, Lawrence Oko-Jaja, Christopher Oshomegie, Sanusi Sai’d; Oladipo Tolani; Ayodeji Omotoso; Chijiokr Erondu; Ajoku Obinna; Yakubu Maikasuwa; Henry Omu; Dagogo Iboroma; Joseph Akubo; Gozie Obi; Inam Wilson and Abubakar Gambari. Those from the academia category Kathleen Okafor, Muhammed Andulrazaq, Amokaye Gabriel, Ismail Olatunbosun, Abdullahi Zuru, Joy Ezeilo, Theodore Maiyaki, Olaide G adamosi and Chimezie Okorie.
A coalition of youths in Anambra State have called on the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, to drop his ambition and join hands with progressives forces in the South East to negotiate a brighter political future for Igbo.
The group, Coalition of Anambra Youth Leaders, said there were fears that Obi’s insistence on contesting the presidency would rub off negatively on Igbo and brighten the chances of the All progressives Congress (APC) to retain power at the centre.
Noting that the APC experiment has been disastrous for the country, the youth coalition said all efforts must be geared towards rescuing Nigerian from the party, adding that another four years of APC may totally eclipse Nigeria.
Addressing journalists at a press conference in Awka, National Leader of the coalition, Dr. Chinedu Ekwealor, said Igbo stand a better chance of getting to power at the centre through the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
According to him, Obi ought to reconsider the negative impact of his personal ambition on the future of Igbo nation and stand down in support of the party which vice presidential candidate he was in 2019.
Dr. Ekwealor said Obi’s LP has no mathematical chance of winning the presidential election adding that emotions would not bring in the desired numbers that would satisfy the constitutional requirement to be declared winner.
Though he said it was human for people to be emotional about Obi’s ambition, the youth leader stated that emotions don’t win elections. Superior numbers do.
“Let us not be emotional about it. No Igbo man can be president without a formidable alliance with the other major regions that make up Nigeria.”
He argued that in the early ‘60s and late ‘70s, Igbo understood that point and maintained a robust relationship with their northern brothers.
“Our brother Peter Obi does not have this alliance and knows very well that an irate social media mob does not, and cannot, make him president. “Obi’s presidential run is sabotage to Ndigbo. What he has only succeeded in doing is increasing APC’s chances of winning the election by depleting the votes of the South East for PDP. The implication is that the South Easterners will have to stay out of power for a minimum of another 16 years. This is because after Tinubu (if he wins), power would return to the north for another eight years leaving Ndigbo out for another 16 solid years.
“If Mr. Peter Obi truly loves Ndigbo, he should step down forthwith and strategise with other well-meaning Igbo elites in charting a way forward for the Igbo nation. We repeat, the presidency is not won on the premise of wishful thinking and hullabaloo of an untamed mob, who probably do not even understand the need for a pathway for the Igbo nation.” Pushing for a new narrative for the Igbo nation, Dr. Ekwealor said: “Ohaneze Ndigbo and prominent Igbo leaders, including Obi, must now without any further delay, engage seriously with the frontliners in the forthcoming presidential election, and secure bankable negotiations for Igbo political renaissance and pathway to the presidency of Nigeria.”
Renowned business mogul, Aliko Dangote, is optimistic that the new multibillion naira investment in the sugar sub-sector would help provide no fewer than 300,000 jobs in Nigeria.
A statement from the Corporate Communication Department of the company quoted the Group’s President Aliko Dangote as saying that the company was providing fresh funds and thus expanding its operations in the sugar sub-sector.
Mr Dangote, who was speaking at the Flagg off Ceremony of the 2022/2023 Crushing Season and Outgrower Scheme Awards in Numan, Adamawa State, said the opportunities would include both direct and indirect jobs.
Dangote, who is Africa’s top philanthropist, expressed optimism that the massive investment will create over 300,000 jobs for Nigerians.
He said, “We are making a massive investment in Adamawa State through expansion of DSR Numan’s sugar refining capacity from 3000tcd to 6000tcd, 9800tcd, and to 15,000tcd. DSR will be able to create about three hundred thousand jobs, direct and indirect, with positive multiplier effects on the economy nationwide.”
The Dangote Group is the biggest employer of labour in Nigeria outside the government.
Dangote was appointed Chairman, National Job Creation Committee in 2010 to assist the Federal Government in providing more employment opportunities for Nigerians.
The Dangote President had also announced that his company was doubling its spending on CSR schemes in host communities in Adamawa State, the location of its 32,000 hectares integrated sugar complex.
Speaking in Numan, Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, described the Dangote Sugar Refinery as the biggest contributor to the development of the sugar development effort of the Federal Government.
The Minister also commended Mr Dangote for the massive support through his Corporate Social Responsibility scheme.
In the same vein, the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals is expected to create some 250,000 job opportunities when completed next year.
Already, Dangote Cement Plc is one of Africa’s biggest job providers in the manufacturing sector.
The Presidential Campaign teams of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; and Labour Party, LP, yesterday, lashed out at the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, over alleged lack of capacity to lead the country.
The duo spoke in response to Tinubu’s attack on them during APC presidential rallies and activities in Delta and Lagos last weekend.
In Gbaramatu, Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State, Tinubu had pleaded with HRM Oboro Gbaraun II, the Pere of the Gbaramatu Kingdom, during a visit, to order the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate to stop running for the presidency.
Tinubu during the visit to the revered monarch at his palace in Oporozo, noted that there were few presidential candidates contesting elections.
“One says he is Atiku. How many times has he been running? He’s always on the run. He is never tired of running. Tell him to go and sit down… The other one (Peter Obi of the Labour Party) lies with statistics and arithmetic.
”No Indian can solve it. To mention his name is a disgrace to me. He gives wrong statistics and wrong arithmetic about the economy,” Tinubu had said.
Not done, Tinubu, at a rally at Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos on Saturday, urged Nigerians to retire Atiku permanently in 2023 because he and the PDP had nothing to offer the citizenry, following their 16 years in power.
Tinubu desperate to divert attention from APC’s 7 disastrous years —ATIKU CAMPAIGN
However, the Atiku-Okowa Presidential Campaign yesterday urged Nigerians to see through the desperate attempt by Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu to divert attention from his party’s seven disastrous years at the helm of affairs.
Spokesperson of the campaign, Mr. Kola Ologbodiyan, said this in a telephone chat with Vanguard, in Abuja, yesterday, that Tinubu, who was obviously embarrassed by the disastrous outing of the Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration over the past seven years, was looking for ways to divert the attention of Nigerians by taking a dig at the PDP and Atiku.
Also, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, the special assistant on Public Communications to the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, described Tinubu as a clown fit for the theatre, not Nigeria’s presidency.
Ologbondiyan said: “It is unfortunate that a candidate that cannot offer, let alone activate alternative programmes is seeking to counsel Nigerians on how to cast their votes.
“Is it not laughable that a candidate, who cannot campaign on a single achievement of his party’s misadventure in governance, is seeking to blackmail Nigerians?
“It is instructive for Tinubu to know that Nigerians are desirous of returning to those 16 years with improvements from our presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, as life was far better to the misrule which Asiwaju and his co-travellers imposed on Nigerians just because of his life ambition.
The PDP campaign spokesman noted that Nigerians, who were today suffering from the misrule of the APC, were praying for February 2023 to come quickly for them to vote the APC out and return the PDP to power in order to secure the future of generations yet unborn.
Tinubu is a clown, fit only for the theatre—ATIKU’s AIDE
Also speaking, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, said: ”Tinubu should be contesting to be the Grand Comedian of the Federal Republic and not Grand Commander of the Federal Republic going by his utterances.
”It is public knowledge that every time Tinubu comes out in public to make a statement or two, he has always goofed.
“If he is not saying that voter’s card has expiration date; he is saying young Nigerians are tweeting on WhatsApp or that 50 million youths should be recruited into the Nigerian Army and be fed with cassava in the morning, and Agbado in the night.
“How can you say Nigerians are tweeting on WhatsApp? Is that the kind of person we want to hand 21st Century Nigeria over to?
“In his latest gaffe at the Lagos rally, he asked Nigerians to get their APV in order to vote for APC when even primary school children know that PVC is the only item that admits a voter into a polling unit.
“Without mincing words, Tinubu’s gaffes already supply comedians, skit makers, meme-makers, and TikTokers with content.
“He is a self-writing joke and will make Nigeria a bye-word for scorn among the comity of nations, which is why he shouldn’t get close to power,”Shaibu further said.
He explained that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s claim at the Lagos rally that Tinubu would lift Nigerians out of hardship and hunger was an indictment of the APC, an admission that, indeed, over 133 million Nigerians now live in abject poverty as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS.
“Now they are selling a message of a renewed hope. It is common knowledge that darkness cannot cure darkness and sickness cannot cure sickness. How can the APC be promising to fix problems exacerbated by the same APC? This is balderdash,” he said.
Tinubu lacks capacity to grasp Obi’s statistics – OBI-DATTI CAMPAIGN
On its part, the media team of the Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, said the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, dreads facts and figures used by opponents in place of mere rhetoric.
The Obi-Datti Media Office said in a statement yesterday noted that Tinubu had said at a rally of rented crowds in Gbaramatu, Delta State, that Peter Obi of the Labour Party lied with figures, stressing that “a speech-challenged contestant, who cannot pronounce or spell ‘m.u.l.t.i.p.l.i.c.a.t.i.o.n’ and wants to argue about numbers, arithmetic, and statistics says a lot about how low we have climbed in this country.”
The campaign team further stated the LP candidate was brimming with practicable ideas and was demystifying electioneering rhetoric by employing simple facts and figures in his campaigns.
“Providing the numbers shows Peter Obi’s preparedness for the high office of the president if and when hired by Nigerian voters come 2023,” the media office said.
The Obi-Datti Media Office said it was aware of the inability of some candidates in the presidential race to cope with Peter Obi’s speed and deep knowledge of issues; saying, “this has resulted in a grand design to distract his focus from the issue-driven campaigns, which are resonating very well with Nigerians, who are ready and committed to taking back their country from forces that have held it down over the years.”
On the use of figures to convey facts, the LP statement added that it was risky to dine with the devil without the proverbial long spoon or to run with the robber and confuse passers-by about the identity of the real thief.
“Our candidate has said repeatedly that his assertions were verifiable and dared anybody with contrary facts and figures to come up.
”Analysts, media houses, and opponents have formed fact-checking units in their organisations ostensibly to contradict Peter Obi’s facts and figures, but, they are yet to succeed,” the media team said.
It cited a recent Arise TV town hall meeting in Abuja where a team of fact-checkers was raised to hook Obi, but noted that they ended up apologising to him.
“The acceptable mantra is always if you can’t beat them, join them, but in Nigerian politics the reverse is the case: if you can’t beat them pull them down. That is what Obi’s opponents, who cannot cope with his deep know-how about the economy are doing.
“We find it extremely laughable and shameful that a candidate who is aspiring to lead his country has not been able to present any identifiable record of his origin, age, and educational background and he is challenging the man who is indisputably equipped with the way to go about salvaging our dear country.
“The fact that the APC man has questionable bio-data has left the electorate guessing his real age and health status,” the media office noted.
The Federal Government through the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, said weekend the federal government has identified 100 high-risk financiers of Boko Haram,
According to him, the financiers have links to at least 10 countries of the world.
Aregbesola made the disclosure at the 3rd Ministerial Conference on Counter-Terrorism Financing, with the theme, “No Money for Terror”, which took place in India.
The minister, who disclosed this in a statement by his aide, Abdulmalik Suleiman, yesterday, said: “The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, has played a significant role, in supporting all our intelligence, security, and military services.
”The unique ability of the NFIU to work with counterparts in the region and across the world, particularly through the framework of the Egmont Group of FIUs, is a key asset for our country.
”In particular, I would like to take a few minutes to discuss some recent results achieved with the support of our partners. In 2019, the NFIU commenced an in-depth analysis of the financing of the Boko Haram group.
”This analysis, which took almost 18 months to complete, resulted in the identification of almost 100 high-risk financiers and identified links to 10 different countries.
“The NFIU was able to build a thorough picture of the transnational sources of the group’s finance, using intelligence from several countries, including our immediate neighbours, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Togo.
”Ultimately, the results of the analysis resulted in the arrest of 48 of the financiers and the ongoing prosecution of a number of them.”
Aregbesola also canvassed for improved welfare for Nigerians living, studying or seeking business opportunities in India.
He made a four-point demand from the Indian government for an improved well being of Nigerians living in that country.
Aregbesola, who also advocated a change in Indian visa policy for Nigerian students, added:
“This is to allow Nigerian students have visa for study programs and not on six monthly basis which is burdensome in cost and time.’
He equally canvassed granting of special visa for Nigerian businessmen and women to facilitate trade between the two nations.
He urged the Indian government to, as a matter of urgency, reciprocate Visa on Arrival policy for Nigerians visiting India.
Less than five hours after the inauguration of the sixth executive governor of Osun State , Ademola Adeleke, the number one citizen in the state has approved the appointment of Alhaji Kassim Akinleye as the the Chief of Staff.
Adeleke also appointed the former Chairman of Osogbo Local Government, Teslim Igbalaye as the Secretary to the State Government and Mallam Rasheed Olawale as the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor.
The executive members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), led by its President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, is scheduled to meet and discuss the inability of the Federal Government to meet their demands.
ASUU NEC is also expected to deliberate on the half salary paid to its members by the Federal Government last month. The meeting is expected to cause palpable tension among university communities.
The meeting will take place at the union’s headquarters at the permanent site of the University of Abuja campus. The union’s leadership will address the government’s decision and discuss their potential responses to the development.
ASUU President, who disclosed this in an interview with The Guardian, said the Federal Government was yet to meet any of the union’s demands.
However, Osodeke steadfastly declined to disclose the meeting’s date, saying: “ I won’t say in advance when the meeting will take place. We are having a private meeting and will release the outcome when it is appropriate.”
Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, last week, stated that the government would not pay lecturers’ full salary, despite their statewide protests.
It appears that the Federal Government and the ASUU are gearing up for another confrontation. ASUU had, last Monday, begun protests across the country to press home their demand for full salary, after the Federal Government failed to pay them for the eight months the lecturers were on strike.
Speaking in Abuja, on Wednesday, Adamu emphasised that the protesting academics would not be paid for work that was not completed in accordance with the “No work, no pay” policy.
In a related development, a civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights’ Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has expressed sadness and disappointment that less than one month after the ASUU suspended its eight-month strike, the union and the Federal Government were back on a warpath, largely as a result of the bellicose and lawless position of the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chris Ngige.
HURIWA, which condemned the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government for being totally nonchalant towards the educational rights of the children of the poor and less-privileged in the society, warned the government that: “it is playing with fire by pushing millions of youths in public universities system to the wall.”
The group lamented that the children of political elite were educated abroad, using the country’s commonwealth.
HURIWA claimed that ASUU was set to meet tomorrow to decide whether to embark on another strike or not.
“HURIWA believes that the Federal Government has failed in every aspect of our national life and has completely collapsed the economy of Nigeria…,” the group said.
Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has ordered immediate freezing of all accounts of the state.
The newly sworn in governor has also reversed all appointments Adegboyega Oyetola, his predecessor, made from July 7, 2022, till he left office.
He said he would raise a committee to review all appointments and make recommendations.
Adeleke has also reversed the Osun appellation from “The State of the Virtues” to “The State of the Living Spring”.Ademola Adeleke has been sworn in as the governor of Osun state.
Speaking after taking his oath of office at the Osogbo City Stadium, Adeleke said he was aware of the expectations of Osun residents, promising not to disappoint them.
He also promised to transform education, security, healthcare, infrastructure, local government administration, judiciary, public service, among other sectors.
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, PDP Presidential Candidate; Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, Atiku’s running mate; Senator Iyorchia Ayu, PDP National Chairman; former Senate President Bukola Saraki, were among the dignitaries in attendance.
