The Kano State Government has filed a fresh fraud charge against the immediate past governor of the state Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, his Commissioner for Local Government, Murtala Garo and two others.

According to the charge sheet, Garo, Lamin Sani and Muhammad Takai were charged with criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, making false statements or returns and criminal misappropriation.

The state accused them of mismanaging of the 44 Local Government’s statutory allocations remitted to the State Joint Local Governments account from the Federation account.

They were also accused of criminally diverting N57.4 billion through several personal accounts of Local Government’s Cashiers and other Personal and corporate accounts, the charge sheet said.

The state government also accused them of transferring the funds into dollars for their personal benefit.

The state further alleged that they acquired a Service apartment on the Murtala Muhammad Way, a commercial apartment at Akoya Oxygen – x20868 Dubai in Tigerwood and plot 2201 Floor 22 Damac Height, Marsa Dubai Marina, a multi-billion Naira Hotel in Jabi, Abuja.

Others are filling stations, on Gwarzo Road Kano, Eastern Bypass Kano.

In the charge sheet, the state said it will call 143 witnesses.

No date has been fixed for the matter.

On April 4, the Kano government filed a suit against Ganduje, his wife, Hafsat Umar and six others before the Kano High Court.

The six others include Ganduje’s son, Umar Abdullahi Umar, Abubakar Bawuro, Jibrilla Muhammad, Lamash Properties Ltd., Safari Textiles Ltd., and Lesage General Enterprises.

On July 16, in the charge sheet with case No. K/143c/24, the state government accused Ganduje and erstwhile commissioner for justice, Musa Lawan, were charged with criminal conspiracy and misappropriation.

The Kano government accused Ganduje and Lawan of abuse of office.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to listen to the demands and concerns of the youth which necessitated the nationwide protests.

Obasanjo made the call on Friday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, while playing host to six members of the National Assembly.

The ex-Nigerian leader said what the youth were seeking through the nationwide protests was legitimate, stressing that there could be dire consequences if their demands were not met as soon as possible.

The six lawmakers are co-sponsors of a bill seeking a single six-year term for presidency and rotation between the North and the South.

Obasanjo urged the Federal Government to listen to the youth and not treat their concerns with levity.

“You are what you are today because you’re a Nigerian; I’m what I am also because I’m a Nigerian. So why should they be Nigerians and be languishing in poverty?

“They make demands and we’re not listening to them. Many of them are frustrated, desperate, angry, and unemployed. What do we expect?”

Obasanjo noted that for Nigeria to attain its highest status, all hands must be on deck, just as “our mentality should also change”

According to him, the issue is not whether the country should adopt a single six-year term or maintain the status quo.

If the mentality of the people in governance does not change, then Nigeria will remain where it is, he stressed.

The President and Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has revealed that the Dangote Refinery’s crude oil supply problem lies with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the International Oil Companies (IOCs) in Nigeria.

Africa’s richest man disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.

He was responding to a report that the NNPC supplies Dangote Refinery with about 60 percent of the 50 million barrels lifted.

In the statement, Dangote noted that the primary challenge confronting the refinery is NUPRC’s reluctance to enforce domestic supply obligations by IOCs in Nigeria.

He explained that when Dangote Refinery approached the IOCs for crude supply, they either redirected the company to a third party or responded that their cargoes were committed.

“Our concern has always been NUPRC’s reluctance to enforce the domestic crude supply obligation and ensure that we receive our full crude requirement from NNPC and the IOCs.

“For September, our requirement is 15 cargoes, of which NNPC allocated six. Despite appealing to NUPRC, we’ve been unable to secure the remaining cargoes.

“When we approached IOCs producing in Nigeria, they redirected us to their international trading arms or responded that their cargoes were committed,” he said.

Recall that in July 2024, the NUPRC directed oil refiners in the country to provide monthly price quotes on crude supply to address the challenges facing Dangote Refinery.

In a move to address the crude supply challenge faced by Dangote Refinery, President Bola Tinubu directed NNPCL to sell crude in Naira to the company and other local refineries.

However, as of the time of filing this report, Tinubu’s directive is yet to be implemented.

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has countered claims by President Bola Tinubu that the Federal Government granted N570 billion to the 36 states of the Federation.

Makinde spoke in a newsletter he published on the Oyo State official website on Thursday.

The governor, who said reports that the Federal Government gave the states N570 billion is not completely accurate, added that the funds disbursed were not a direct allocation from the Federal Government.

He explained that the money received by the states were actually World Bank COVID-19 funds, with the Federal Government acting only as an intermediary between the international creditor and the 36 states.

Makinde added that the funding was contingent on what the states had already spent on COVID-19 programs, meaning the World Bank was simply reimbursing what the states had used to address the pandemic crisis.

The Oyo governor said: “I responded to a question from a concerned citizen of Oyo State regarding the claim that the Federal Government ‘gave’ states over N570 billion as some kind of ‘hardship fund’ for citizens.

“Let me state categorically that this is yet another case of misrepresentation of facts. The said funds were part of the World Bank-assisted NG-CARES project—a Programme for Results intervention.

“The World Bank facilitated an intervention to help states in Nigeria with COVID-19 Recovery. CARES means COVID-19 Action Recovery Economic Stimulus.”

Recall that while addressing Nigerians in a broadcast over the #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests against hunger and hardship, Tinubu had said his administration had disbursed N570 billion to the 36 states.

Tinubu stated that more than N570 billion has been released to the 36 states to expand livelihood support to citizens, while 600,000 nano-businesses have benefitted from nano-grants.

The President further said that an additional 400,000 more nano-businesses were expected to benefit.

Elder statesman and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Bode George has lamented that the crisis in the party is a resultant effect of personal ambition.

George disclosed that the ambitions of certain chieftains were tearing the party apart. 

He stated that the development constitutes an obstacle to genuine reconciliation,

“Elders of the party have to come into the room to resolve the personalized ambitions of people. That is what is killing our party,” he said.

He spoke on the sidelines of an interactive session with the media on the State of the Nation, held at his office in Ikoyi.

According to the retired Commodore, the founding fathers of PDP, led by the late Dr. Alex Ekwueme, put ethnicity and religion aside while laying its foundation.

George recalled that by dividing Nigeria into six zones and distributing the top six positions in the country among them, the party fostered inclusion and a sense of belonging.

He expressed fear that holding on to personal ambition may create problems of marginalization and exclusion.

George, who also reflected on the state of the nation, urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to restructure the country to foster true federalism.

The Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has claimed that most of the protesters in the state during the #EndBadGovernance protest were Almajiris, who knew nothing about the demonstrations.

Naija News recalls that the #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests, which started on August 1, were initially peaceful across the states in the country.

But the protest took a different turn after looting and destruction in some northern states led to the imposition of curfews.

Featuring on Thursday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today, Governor Sule expressed concern over several challenges facing the northern region.

According to Sule, many protesters involved in the demonstrations were young, and most did not know what they were protesting against.

He said, “During this last protest that we had in Lafia, the majority of those that came out on the streets were the Almajiris – some of them five years old, seven years old, nine years old.

“A lot of them didn’t even understand the meaning of the protest. When I spoke with them later, they didn’t even know what they were protesting against.”

The Media Team of Ex-Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has chided media handlers of President Bola Tinubu, over attempts to hoodwink Nigerians into believing that the president was compassionate.

It described the use of an old video of President Tinubu appealing to Nigerians; to cover up for his poor outing during his last national broadcast on the #Endbadgovernance protests as evidence of this duplicity. 

Atiku’s Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, in a statement, in Abuja, yesterday said, “In the afternoon of Wednesday and on Day 7 of the #EndBadGivernanceInNigeria protest, the official X handle (formerly known as Twitter) of President Bola Tinubu posted a video clip of the President appealing to Nigerians to relax the protest and give his administration more time.

“The video went viral on the social media and it was adjudged to have shown more empathy for the concerns of protesting Nigerians, unlike the shambolic speech by the President on Sunday that will forever be remembered in ignominy.

“Curiously, much later in the evening of the same day, presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, made a post on his X handle telling the country that the video clip that was posted on the President’s handle, “is not a new video. It’s a clip from a broadcast he made last year.” What a wawu!

“The scenario says a lot about the character of the Tinubu presidency, the proficiency of his media managers, and the attitude that the presidency accords the current #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest.

“For a start, what the Tinubu presidency did with the old video is to pull the wool over the eyes of Nigerians, to distract them. It’s a mannerism that is symptomatic of this presidency.

“This president and his media managers are a class act in propaganda.

“It is indeed shameless that in a time where misinformation and disinformation is being blamed for public outrage in many parts of the world, the Nigerian government is caught red-handed in the act, adopting it as a state policy.

“The flip-flopping episode that played out in the management of the President’s social media handle typifies the Tinubu administration’s policy flip-flops, and trial-and-error policies.

“It is for this very reason that the country has been on a tight noose since the beginning of the administration.

“The president’s media team knew they did a poor job in the Sunday broadcast by the president and in trying to make amends, came out to do what they know how to do best: deploy propaganda.

“This type of dysfunctional narrative is why Nigerians have lost confidence in the Tinubu administration. It is obvious even to the blind and the deaf that this government is deficient in credibility.

“As a matter of urgency, the Nigerian people deserve an unreserved apology from the Tinubu presidency for leading them into a tailspin of misinformation and disinformation and the attendant consequence of bad governance.”

Former president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Issa Hayatou, has passed away at the age of 77.

The football administrator, who was a key figure in African football for decades, died in Paris on Thursday, August 8, 2024, a day before his 78th birthday.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino described the late Hayatou as a ‘passionate sports fan” in a post on Instagram on Thursday evening.

He wrote: “Saddened to hear of the passing of former Caf president, former Fifa president ad interim, Fifa vice president, and Fifa council member, Issa Hayatou.”

“A passionate sports fan, he dedicated his life to sports administration.

“On behalf of Fifa, condolences go to his family, friends, former colleagues and all who knew him. Rest in peace.”

Hayatou was in charge of African football from 1988 to 2017 and served as interim FIFA President from 2015 to 2016 when Joseph Sepp Blatter was suspended amidst a corruption scandal.

It was also under his tenure that South Africa hosted the World Cup in 2010, becoming the first-ever African nation to host the tournament.

A former Center for Democracy and Development (CDD) Director, Jibrin Ibrahim, on Wednesday, said Nigerians are angry because they are being deceived by the President Bola Tinubu government.

Ibrahim made this claim during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today.

He said governance was collapsing in Nigeria because the government had failed in its promises.

Ibrahim said, “When they removed the fuel subsidy, they said in weeks we will have CNG buses and the price of transportation will crash. They said this 13 months ago. Nigerians have not seen those buses. It is called waiting for Godot in literature. When you are told continuously that you will see them and you wait for weeks, months and a year and nothing is coming. You know that what you are told is just a narrative not based on reality.

“That is why Nigerians are very upset. They are very angry. They are being deceived regularly and systematically by a government that feels that it can tell stories and we survive. We refuse to do what we need to do but we survive because we tell stories that will cover up. And Nigerians said no you can’t tell stories.”

He further stated that patients were dying on a daily basis because they did not have money to buy medicine.

According to him, Nigerians are starving because of the economic situation in the country, but the government wants them to starve in silence.