A Northern group, Civil Society For Credible Election has stated that erstwhile president, Muhammadu Buhari should be blamed for the economic crisis plaguing the nation.

The group lamented that President Bola Tinubu inherited the challenges from his predecessor.

They shared their reservations while addressing newsmen in Kano.

Umar argued that Tinubu had since hit the ground working to reverse the situation through various steps and policies put in place.

He subsequently called on Nigerians to exercise patience with the President as things will be better in no distant time in the country.

According to him, “We recognize the fact that Nigerians are passing through hardship at the moment. It is a result of a global economic meltdown, but only further compounded by some shortcomings of the last administration under former president Muhammadu Buhari.

“What people need to know about Nigeria’s present challenges is that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu inherited them from the past administration of former president Buhari but as a determined leader, Tinubu is pulling all strings together to overcome them head-on.

“Nigerians are all living witness to the phantom steps and policies of the present administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to address the country’s sociocultural, economic and political indices.

“What President Tinubu need from all Nigerians now is patience, cooperation and understanding of the administration reforms policies. These reforms are strategic and competent enough to in no distant time make all Nigerians proud of their beloved country.”

Yoruba nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Igboho, has described as incorrect, the assertion made by some Nigerians that President Bola Tinubu is responsible for the rot in the country.

Tinubu, who was sworn in on May 29, 2023, announced the removal of the subsidy during his first address, a decision that increased the cost of petrol and economic inflation.

This is against the backdrop that the Buhari-led government did not make provisions for petroleum subsidies in the 2023 budget.

Speaking during a visit to the palace of the monarch of Igboho town in Oyo State on Friday, Adeyemo said, “Some people believe it is Tinubu that spoils the country; it is not Tinubu. When Buhari was in government, I was shouting for us (Yoruba) to be united and free ourselves from slavery, saying that Buhari did not have anything to offer us.

“Let’s free ourselves and divide Nigeria. Some people were saying it is what he will eat that he is looking for. Buhari handed over spoiled Nigeria to Tinubu. Tinubu spent six months in office; we are cursing him. What did he do?”

On July 1, 2021, Igboho escaped from a deadly night raid on his Ibadan residence by the operatives of the Department of State Service.

Buhari knocked for economic crisis, EFCC defies order with night raid: Weekly news recap
He was subsequently arrested in Benin Republic on his way to Germany on July 19 together with his wife, Ropo. Igboho was, however, released in October 2023.

The Yoruba nation agitator returned to Nigeria about 30 months after for the burial of his mother, who died on July 22, 2023.

In a video that has since gone viral on social media, Igboho was spotted sitting on top of a car while being welcomed by a mammoth crowd in his home town of Oyo State.

While addressing his supporters at the monarch’s palace, he accused Buahari of sending the security agency to kill him because he was defending the rights of the Yoruba people.

He said, “Buhari sent his soldiers and DSS to arrest me in my house because I said Yoruba’s are not slaves to Fulani. Fulani cannot suppress us in our father’s land.

“Fulani can’t stop our fathers and mothers from going to their farms. Fulani can’t dare it. But, I’m back with the power of God and authority, not that of man. I use the power that God used to create the universe.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission has insisted that the 2023 poll was free and fair, noting that it reflected the wishes of Nigerians.

The commission added that an analysis of the poll showed that no party dominated it and the spread of results across party lines was better than in previous elections conducted in the country.

INEC’s position was contained in a 526-page document titled, ‘The Report of 2023 General Election,’ made available to Saturday PUNCH.

The commission, however, noted that the currency swap by the Central Bank of Nigeria, attacks on INEC facilities, and a few glitches were the challenges encountered during the elections.

The National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, described the poll as unique “in terms of keeping to the timetable, new 80 clauses in the Electoral Act, and introduction of new technologies which made voting easier.”

Olumekun stated, “In keeping with our tradition over the last four electoral cycles, and our commitment to transparency, we are pleased to announce the release of the official INEC report on the 2023 general election.

“The report showcases the election’s unparalleled diversity in party representation, demonstrating significant democratic progress. This election saw four political parties winning governorship races, seven parties winning senatorial seats, eight in federal constituencies and nine in state legislatures, illustrating a broad shift in political representation across Nigeria.”

He further stated that the 2023 general elections were “perhaps the best planned and most innovative election in Nigeria”.

“The election witnessed the highest number of eligible voters and voting locations across the country with the participation of over one million election duty officials and the deployment of enormous logistic requirements including over 100,000 vehicles and about 4,000 boats protected by gunboats,” the report added.

Meanwhile, political parties have criticised the 2023 general elections report released by the INEC.

The chief spokesperson of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Yunusa Tanko, blamed INEC for covering its “illegality,” adding that the release of the report was medicine after death.

Tanko said, “This is medicine after death. INEC should have made this particular clarification at the time of the election and promised to make amends and pick up from where they stopped.

“However, what is happening is that INEC is trying to cover its tracks after the judiciary had one way or the other legalised their illegality.

“Let me explain better. If INEC says that this is what they are going to do and later on goes to the court to say that they have the right to do manual collation then the court justifies that particular action, it is unacceptable. It is a conspiracy.”

In the same vein, the presidential candidate and former chairman, of the Inter-Party Advisory Council, Yabagi Sani, urged INEC to deal with the culprit involved in the glitches it encountered during the elections.

“Whoever was responsible for the glitches should be dealt with in a manner that should serve as a deterrent for the future because accountability is key.

“INEC should be commended for coming out clean. They should be given a pass mark. We will keep improving in our electoral process. We can now point out exactly what happened,” Sani noted.

The spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party, Debo Ologunagba, when contacted said the party needed to critically look at the report before making its decisions known.

But the Publicity Director of the All Progressives Congress, Bala Ibrahim, said, “Nigerians should salute INEC for being honest and sincere by admitting errors or failures on its side. Whatever we do, we should admit that we are humans and we are not infallible.

“Everything that is technologically based or IT-based is liable to some failures. Even in established democracies where they have perfect infrastructures on IT, they still have glitches here and there.”

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has accused the Nigerian government of inflicting hardship on lecturers and students.

Speaking on Friday at a press conference organised at the University of Lagos by the Lagos Zone of the union, the Zonal Coordinator, Prof Adelaja Odukoya, explained that it was imperative to update Nigerians about the events that transpired after the last nationwide strike that was suspended on October 14, 2022, ASUU’s interactions with the present administration, and the possible consequences of the lack of notable actions by the authorities.

ASUU had over time lamented the government’s refusal to fulfil the agreements it had with lecturers.

Odukoya said the government had shown consistent insensitivity to agreements and the well-being of patriotic academics in Nigeria’s public universities.

“The government has persisted in inflicting misery on lecturers and students in Nigeria, despite their sincere efforts to elevate our public universities to a global standard. ASUU is unfazed in its patriotic endeavors.

“To reposition the Nigerian university system, we call on other patriots in the media, labour movement, student organisations, and civil society organisations to join ASUU in the rejection of the government’s master-slave posture on labour matters,” he said.

Odukoya insisted that despite its promises ahead of assuming office, the Bola Tinubu administration had failed to live up to expectations concerning the issues that had been at the forefront of the union’s recent strike actions, the last being from February to October 2022.

Some of the issues he highlighted were the renegotiation of the FGN/ASUU 2009 agreement, withheld salaries, unpaid arrears of earned academic allowance, removal from integrated personnel and payroll information system, public universities and the treasury single account, and proliferation of universities.

Speaking on TETFUND and foreign partnerships, Odukoya said, “As if the abuse and violation of TETFUND by the government are not enough, our union has further noted reports in the media, not refuted, of TETFUND’s intention to help King’s College, London, to establish a medical school in Nigeria in the name of partnership.

“We urge the leadership of the Fund to provide further updates on this proposed course of action and allay fears that it is contemplating funds meant for the development of Nigerian institutions for the development of foreign ones. We believe very strongly that there are many areas in which the agency can strengthen its interventions to the benefit of Nigerian universities.”

The federal government has said that the Port-Harcourt refinery would begin operation by producing two million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol and 2.2 million litres of diesel per day.
The government said this after an inspection tour of the facility along with the leadership of organised labour.

Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, who disclosed this, said the refinery was 80 percent completed.

She explained that the old plant would begin with 54,000 barrels per day, while the new plant which is currently going through its last phase of completion would also begin production before the end of the year.

“The combined capacity of the two plants, when fully on stream, would produce 10 million litres of PMS per day,” Onyejeocha said in a statement issued by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Olajide Oshundun on Thursday.

A scheduled visit to the Port-Harcourt refinery was one of the points listed in the 16 – points agreement reached with the government last year by organised labour.

The minister reiterated the government’s commitment to social dialogue with organized labour and other stakeholders towards achieving industrial peace and harmony, while prioritising workers’ welfare.

She appealed to union leaders to see the strike as the last option.

The minister said: “Issuing of constant strike threat could send wrong signals to potential investors. This is not healthy for our business environment.”

According to the statement, the minister met with the leadership of TUC to review the progress reports of agreements reached in October 2023 between the government and organised labour.

“During the review, the minister read each item on the memorandum of understanding among which were the payment of four out of six months on wage award, the committee of minimum wage review, payment of outstanding salaries and wages of tertiary education workers in federal- owned educational institutions, suspension of VAT on diesel, payment of N25,000 conditional cash transfer to 3,140,819 households, including the pensioners.

“While she said the government has made a huge financial commitment to the provision of CNG Buses and conversion Kits, she also explained that the procurement process was slowing down the launch but measures were already in place to fast-track the process.

“The minister explained that the government has commenced a series of engagements with relevant stakeholders on tax incentives, just as the leadership crises rocking NURTW and RTEAN have been resolved.

“Among the progress made are subsidized distribution of fertilizers to farmers across the country, government’s engagement with various state governments and the private sector on the issue of the implementation of wage award for their workers, and plans to encourage MSEs in the country to create jobs and boost the economy.

“Speaking on the inspection visit to the Port-Harcourt refinery by TUC and federal government delegation, the minister said reports by organized labour and government established that the Port-Harcourt refinery is 80% completed,” the statement said.

The leadership of TUC led by its Secretary General, Nuhu Toro commended the government for the progress recorded so far in implementing a substantial part of the agreement, but differed with the government on some of the items.

He said, for instance, that while the issue of RTEAN has been resolved, that of NURTW has not been resolved.

“If the issue of the president of the union has not been resolved, it suggests that the issue of NURTW has not been resolved.

“You have carefully done justice to the items, and we commend you and the federal government, but we expect fulfillment of all the agreements,” said Nuhu Toro.

He said some of the items have not been fully implemented but from their own assessment, the government has achieved 50% implementation.

According to Toro, “50% is a pass mark, but we urge you to do more. We know there are challenges, but we are very optimistic that they could be addressed”.

While the minister disagreed with the 50% rating by the union, citing reasons, Comrade Toro said 50% is a good performance on the side of the government.

Deputy President of TUC, Kayode Alakija, thanked the minister for her consistency with union leaders and appealed to her to back some of the gray areas with data to reconcile them.

He said: “We will appreciate it if you back up the VAT with empirical data. You said you got the information from the office of the Finance Minister. So, we would appreciate it if they could supply you with data on how they arrived at the information.”

Among those present at the meeting were the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Ismail Abubakar; the Director of Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations, M A. Yusuf and other directors and departmental heads of the ministry.

On the side of the TUC, were its Secretary General, Toro, its Vice President, Alakija Kayode, Deputy President, and two others.

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has disclosed that he has no plans to leave the party.

He also described insinuations from certain quarters that he was leaving the party as the handwork of political mischief makers.

Obi, in a statement on Friday, signed by the Peter Obi Media Reach (POMR) said enemies of democracy bent on causing crisis in the Labour Party are the ones spreading rumours about his defection.

The LP candidate, in a statement signed by his media aide, Michael Jude Nwolisa, on Friday, dismissed the trending fake and fallacious news story suggesting that he was parting ways with the Labour Party.

“This is not true and it did not originate from Obi or the Obidient Movement but from mischief makers bent on sowing the seed of discord in the party.

“These rising misdemeanors on the party did not start today as they set out to destroy and disorganize the party all to get at Obi and derail the inevitable journey of rescuing Nigeria.

“Presently our principal is preoccupied with making Nigeria work not on partisan politics which ended on October 26, 2023, when the Supreme Court of the land took their final decision on the general elections.

“Those bent on creating a crisis in the Labour Party are clearly enemies of democracy wishing for the failed status quo to remain.

“OBI’s focus at the moment is on creating an environment where democracy is to be practiced according to the defined tenets not the rascality and all forms of impunity prevalent in the country today

“Peter Obi, therefore, would like to assure Nigerians, particularly the Obidient family that his way with Labour is unshaken and intact and that the struggle to rescue Nigeria from the criminal gangs holding it down will not stop until it’s achieved through the will of the Nigerian people,” the statement reads.

Super Eagles of Nigeria have landed another goalkeeper option as the world football governing body, FIFA, approved the nationality switch of Arthur Okonkwo.

Arthur Okonkwo was born to Nigerian parents in London, England, on September 9, 2001. He developed his football career at Arsenal Academy from childhood.

The 22-year-old goalkeeper gained promotion to Arsenal’s senior team on July 1, 2021, but wasn’t able to establish himself at the club’s senior side.

Hence, Arthur Okonkwo was on loan at Crewe Alexandra between July 29, 2022, to January 15, 2023. He spent the second half of the 2022-2023 season on loan at Sturm Graz.

Since September 1, 2023, Okonkwo has been on loan at fourth-tier club, Wrexham AFC, and he is expected to return to Arsenal at the end of this season.

Since then, the English-born goalkeeper has made 26 appearances in all competitions for Wrexham, in which he kept 11 clean sheets.

Arthur Okonkwo has played for England under-15, under-16, under-17, and under-18 national teams. He has made a total of 11 appearances for all the aforementioned teams.

Now that FIFA has permitted Okonkwo to play for Nigeria, it is left to be seen whether the NFF will invite him to the national team anytime soon.

If that happens, the youngster will compete with Francis Uzoho and Stanley Nwabali for the starting shirt in the national team. Recall that Nwabali overtook Uzoho in the national team and was Super Eagles’ first choice goalkeeper throughout the 2023 AFCON.

Former National President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Olumide Akpata, has emerged as the Labour Party, LP, governorship candidate in Edo State.

Akpata won the LP primary election held in Benin City, the state capital, on Friday.

He was declared the winner of the primary after polling the highest number of votes.

Akpata scored 316 votes to defeat other aspirants in a landslide victory.

Chelsea could shift attention to Victor Boniface as they continue their search for a new striker this summer.

The West London side have been linked with Boniface’s compatriot, Victor Osimhen.

Osimhen is expected to leave Serie A champions Napoli at the end of the current season despite signing a new contract last December.

Chelsea, who are desperate to sign a new striker following another underwhelming campaign, face competition from Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal for the 25-year-old.

According to BILD chief transfer expert, Christian Falk, the Blues are now keeping tabs on Boniface.

“Nicolas Jackson has not yet managed to solve the striker problem at Chelsea,” Falk told CaughtOffside.

“Someone else could do that in the future: Victor Boniface, [he] came from Saint-Gilloise in 2023 for €16m…Contract until 2028. Current market value €40m. Chelsea are tempting, but Bayer don’t want to sell him.”

Boniface, who is currently sidelined with an abductor injury has scored 16 goals and registered eight assists in 23 games in all competitions for Bayer Leverkusen this season.

Nigeria Defender, William Troost-Ekong says he would consider playing in the Saudi Arabia Professional Football League in future.

Troost-Ekong was named the Most Valuable Player, MVP, at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.

The 30-year-old is said to have caught the eye of a number of clubs in the Saudi Arabian top-flight during the competition.

The centre-back is currently on the books of Greek Super League outfit, PAOK Salonica.

The former Watford player admitted he will be interested in playing in Saudi Arabia if he had the opportunity.

“I can’t tell you that now because it’s not right in front of me,” Troost-Ekong stated in an interview with CNN World Sports Amanda Davies.

“The Saudi League is something which is exciting, you saw quite a lot of the best players who were part of the AFCON have headed in that direction and are playing there.

“If that option is in front of me, then, I will have to study it a bit more and consider it.”

Asked if he would love to play alongside Portuguese superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo’, he said; “Who wouldn’t? One of the best players in the world. We’ll have to see what happens but I’m happy at PAOK.”