The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC has justified why President Bola Tinubu acted swiftly on allegations of fraud against the suspended minister of humanitarian affairs, Betta Edu.

The party said there are processes information undergoes before it gets to the president.

The National Publicity Secretary of the All progressives Congress, Felix Morka stated this in an interview with Arise Television on Tuesday.

Morka said, “We are talking about the president of the federal republic of Nigeria, you don’t expect that every act that happens in a ministry is something that is mirrored in the presidency or that there is a board where the president is seeing everything happening in every ministry.

“When there is a problem, that problem works its way up through the channels of information of vetting and filtering to present information to the president for his assessment and decision.

“I don’t think the timeline that you are talking about is less swift because people discussed it first. My point is that the president responded as swiftly as can be and appropriately on this matter.”

Morka also said no one can regulate the actions of humans, adding that there is no mechanism available for a party to modulate the conducts of its members.

He added that the only thing that can be done is to set standards and consequences for those who take those actions.

“You are expecting superhumans to be members of the APC and therefore people who are high above reproach and will do no wrong. That is not the standard of any democracy or any political party because people populate the parties. The question is not whether people do wrong, there is no mechanism available for a party to modulate human conduct.

“You can set standards and parameters for imposing consequences for when those actions are taken. That is what this president has done. Whether people choose to do what they do is beyond the control of the president.

“The question is, has the president responded as expected in a democracy? Yes. He swiftly responded to the appearance that something wrong was done,” he said.\

Recall that Edu had asked the Accountant General of the Federation, Mrs Oluwatoyin Sakirat Madein to send public funds to a private account that belonged to Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola, identified as a project manager by the minister.

The minister had approved that N585,198,500.00 should be disbursed into a personal account.

The ministry approved funds for flight tickets and airport taxis for her team from Abuja to Kogi State, even though the latter has no airport.

Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu on Monday suspended Edu and ordered an investigation into the alleged fraudulent activities of the minister.

The Federal Government yesterday launched a probe of degree racketeering in foreign and local private universities.

A seven-member inter-ministerial committee will investigate the allegations within eight weeks.

Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, mandated it to review the role of any ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) or their officials in the facilitation of the recognition and procurement of fake certificates in question. 

The committee has the Chairman, Board of Trustees, Committee of Vice Chancellor of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU), Prof. Jibrila Amin, as the head. 

Other members are Acting Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Chris Maiyaki; Lazarus Ikpadaba from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mr Abel Olanrewaju from the Office of the National Security Adviser.

Others are Omeh Nwokpoku from the Office of the National Security Adviser, Amina Lugga from the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, and Mrs Doam Iyortyom from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

The minister, while reading the terms of reference, urged the committee to review existing policies and procedures on accreditation and certification.

He said: “The committee must also examine the rules, procedures and processes for recognition and accreditation of foreign universities and programmes by the Federal Ministry of Education.”

“Establish if unapproved foreign institutions (Degree Mills) exist or not in Nigeria in whatever form with their identities and locations if any.

“Make appropriate recommendations for review of any rules, procedures, processes to prevent re-occurrence and sanctions for identified erring officials.

“Make other recommendations that will strengthen the system of recognition, accreditations and quality assurance of degrees in Nigeria.

“Examine the extant rules, procedures and processes for granting of provisional licences to new universities by the NUC.”

The Federal Government last week announced the suspension of accreditation of degree certificates from Benin Republic and Togo.

The decision followed an investigative report titled: “How Daily Nigerian reporter bagged Cotonou varsity degree in six weeks.”

The Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Zenith, Providus, and Jaiz banks have reportedly been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) following their link to fraud allegations surrounding suspended and former Ministers of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu and Sadiya Umar-Farouq.

A source close to The Guardian confirmed the development saying Dr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu (Zenith Bank), Haruna Musa (Jaiz Bank), and Walter Akpani (Providus Bank) were arrested on Tuesday.

The source revealed further that they have been suspected of facilitating the improper diversion of public funds into private accounts.

Speaking further, the source said EFCC is working on unearthing suspicious transactions involving hefty sums of public money going into private accounts involving both Edu and Farouq during their tenures as ministers.

Recall that Farouq, a former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs under the Presidency of Muhammadu Buhari, was accused of embezzling N37 billion meant for the conditional cash transfer program under Buhari’s tenure.

Meanwhile, Betta on the other hand was accused of fraud involving the sum of N585.189.

Peter Obi, the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general election has faulted the recent National Assembly’s approval of President Bola Tinubu’s request for the securitisation of outstanding N7.3 trillion ways and means debt balance.

While Ways and Means is a loan facility through which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) provides short-term financing to cover the government’s budget shortfalls, securitisation is the practice of pooling together various types of debt instruments and selling them as bonds to investors.

Reacting to the development in a statement issued via his verified X page, Obi described the securitisation as “illegal”.

“This is the time when we need to go beyond politics and partisan grandstanding to address the fundamental issues of rational economic management. I am afraid that the current administration is not paying sufficient attention to issues of rational economic management,” he said.

The LP’s presidential candidate said former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration also got the senate to approve N22.7 trillion in ways and means borrowing from the CBN, barely 26 days to the end of the eight-year tenure.

“In seven years, CBN lending to the Buhari government had climbed 2700% in flagrant violation of the CBN Act,” the former Anambra governor said.

“Indifferent to the illegality of the excessive ways and means borrowing, the national assembly still approved the new Tinubu administration’s request for an N7.3 trn securitization of the existing ways and means facility just before considering the 2024 budget proposals.

“No questions asked. No explanations were sought as to the precise purpose of these borrowings all within the seven-month tenure of this government.

“Ordinarily, minimum public accountability should require that the president and his administration offer more specific explanations about the purpose of these borrowings. But so far, all we have been told is that these borrowings are meant to fund ‘capital’ expenditure,” he said.

Samuel Eto’o, a former captain of Cameroon has asserted that Africans are more gifted football players than Europeans.

Eto’o who made the assertion on Tuesday said that an African nation can triumph in the FIFA World Cup with ease.

Speaking before this weekend’s 2023 African Cup of Nations (AFCON), the former Barcelona and Chelsea player noted (via SportBible’s Instagram handle): “Africans have a lot of talent, Europeans a bit less.

“I don’t see why an African country will not win a World Cup. It’s one of the easiest things to do. It’s just a couple of football matches.”

Former France, Barcelona and Arsenal striker, Thierry Henry, has revealed that he struggled with his mental health during his career, adding that he “must have been in depression.”

The 46-year-old ended his glittering 20-year club career in 2014, which also included stints at Monaco, Juventus and New York Red Bulls.

He scored 228 goals for Arsenal during his two spells, winning two Premier League titles before moving to Barça, where he won a pair of LaLiga titles as well as the Champions League.

A World Cup winner with France, Henry has also managed Arsenal’s youth teams, served as assistant coach of Belgium, and was the head coach of Monaco and Montreal Impact in MLS. He was appointed as the head coach of France under-21s in August.

“Throughout my career, and since I was born, I must have been in depression,” Henry told The Diary Of A CEO podcast.

“Did I know it? No. Did I do something about it? No. But I adapted to a certain way.”

Henry said it had been a difficult time for him during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he was managing Montreal.

“I was in isolation in Montreal, and not being able to see my kids for a year was tough,” he added.

“Tears were coming alone. Why I don’t know, but maybe they were there for a very long time.”

[Leadership]

Manchester United legend, Rio Ferdinand has warned Axel Disasi that he could lose his spot at Chelsea next season if Thiago Silva remains at the Premier League club.

Since his £38.5 million move from Monaco last summer, Disasi has made 22 appearances for the Blues.

The defender has played at both centre-back and right-back under Mauricio Pochettino due to injuries.

Silva’s future at Stamford Bridge remains uncertain, with the 39-year-old’s contract due to expire at the end of the season.

The Brazilian remains one of Chelsea’s standout performers and Ferdinand feels he should partner Levi Colwill if he extends his stay at Stamford Bridge for another campaign.

“I don’t think he gets to play.

“Next season I’d keep Thiago Silva still and I’d play Colwill left centre-back,” Ferdinand said on Vibe With Five when asked about Disasi’s start at Chelsea.

[DailyPost]

Popular traditional chief in Ogun state, Adeyinka Folarin, the Baasegun of the Itunsokun village in the state, has been shot dead by unidentified gunmen.

He was shot at his Sagamu residence around 8:00 p.m. on Monday, January 9, by the gunmen suspected to be cultists. 

The tragic incident was confirmed by two traditional rulers seeking acknowledgment.

One of the traditional rulers said: “The information is correct but I don’t have much information about the incident. We heard that the chief who is a popular traditional chief and member of the Akarigbo in-council was killed last night. He is popularly called Baasegun, we however can’t say these are the people who did these terrible acts. We leave the police and other security agencies to do their job.”

According to a Sagamu local government employee who preferred anonymity, the incident also forced the LG employees to quickly end their workday to save their lives. 

The source said: “Already, tension is very high in the town as I speak to you, workers are already moving out of the local government secretariat to avoid being caught in any form of crisis. Many are saying the man was killed by cultists but no one could really confirm this, the information is still scanty now.”

However, the spokeswoman for the Ogun state Police Command, SP Omolola, is yet to confirm the incident. 

[TheNation]

President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday approved “cost-cutting” measures that involves slashing, by 60%, official entourage on local and international travels.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, revealed this while briefing State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday.

Ngelale said the directive applied to the Offices of the President, Vice President, First Lady, Wife of the Vice President and all Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

He said, “President Bola Tinubu has approved that anywhere he travels within this country he will no longer accept or allow huge security delegations to be following him from Abuja, which attracts massive bills with respect to estacode and duty allowances from now on.

“He has approved a massive cost-cutting exercise that will cut across the entire Federal Government of Nigeria and the Offices of the President himself, the Vice President and the Office of the First Lady. It will be conducted in the following fashion.

“On international trips, the President has directed that no more than 20 individuals be allowed to travel with him. That number will be cut down to five in the case of the First Lady. Additionally, the number in the entourage on official international trips for the Vice President will be cut to five. The number that will be placed as a limit on the wife of the Vice President is also five.

“In terms of local trips, the President has approved a new limit of 25 members of staff to accompany him on domestic trips. within the country.

Ngelale noted that the Office of the First Lady and that of the Wife of the Vice President is now limited to 10 staff members on official trips within the country.

The Vice President will be limited to 15 members of staff on official trips within the country.

The presidential spokesman said ministers are now limited to four persons for foreign trips while heads of agencies can only travel with two persons.

Ngelale added, “By this directive, every minister will be limited to having not more than four members of staff going with them to any event anywhere in the world. In the case of CEOs of agencies, they will be limited to two staff going with them to anywhere in the world.”

Tuesday’s development came four weeks after the Tinubu administration came under harsh criticism for conveying a massive entourage to the COP28 Climate Change Summit in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

Details shortly…

[Punch]

The Presidency has refuted media reports that President Bola Tinubu summoned the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, for questioning at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Reports have it that Tunji-Ojo was summoned in relation to links between him and a company said to be involved in the financial mismanagement involving the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu.

It would be recalled that the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs is said to have given a consultancy contract to the tune of N438 million, for the National Social Register to New New Planet Projects Ltd, a company the interior Minister is linked to.

The Interior Minister had come under fire for alleged involvement in a 438.1 million consultancy contract from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.

It was gathered that Tunji-Ojo has since left the Presidential Villa after a meeting with President Tinubu but he was silent about the purpose of the visit.

According to Vanguard, a presidency source has denied media reports that the minister was summoned over the scandal.

The source said, “We are too intelligent to be stupid.”

It is understood that the company, New Planet Project Limited, was one of the numerous consultants awarded contracts from N3 billion given out by the suspended minister for the National Social Register contract.

In a document posted by the editor of a media platform, Pointblank News, Jackson Ude, Tunji-Ojo’s New Planet Project Limited was initially paid N279 million for verification of the list and another N159 million for the same purpose.

But in an appearance on Politics Today on Monday, the minister refuted being a Director in the company, stressing that he resigned years ago from the company.

The minister added that he resigned from the company in 2019 and has no current link with the management of the company.

[NaijaNews]