The governor of Taraba State Agbu Kefas has appointed 1,270 executive aides.

A total of 1,075 were appointed within 24 hours between Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th July 2024.

In a press statement issued by the Secretary to the State Government Gebon Kataps, the appointees are to serve as either special advisers, senior special assistants, special assistants, constituency special assistants, or members of boards, commissions, and agencies of the Taraba government.

As of Monday, the state government released a total of 573 names and subsequently released 502 Tuesday night.

The number adds to the previous 195 earlier approved by the state government. The appointees are yet to be given portfolios.

The appointment is however in addition to the five others appointed with portfolios in his cabinet on assumption of office.

The last batch of appointees is awaited as the state government says the appointment is in four phases.

Assembly Appeals Judgement

Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has reinstated Philip Shaibu as the Deputy Governor of Edo State, months after he was impeached by the state assembly. 

In the Wednesday judgment, Justice Omotoso declared the impeachment by the Edo State House of Assembly as illegal, unconstitutional, null, and void.

The court held that the said impeachment was in gross violation of the provisions of both sections 188 and 35 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

The judge held that the impeachment was in gross violation of the Constitution.

Aside from restoring Shaibu, the court also ordered that his salaries and allowances should be paid to him from April when he was impeached as the deputy governor of the state.

The court issued an order of perpetual injunction restraining Governor Godwin Obaseki and the Edo State House of Assembly from stopping Shaibu from performing the functions of his office.

Justice Omotosho also ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun to restore his security details. 

Meanwhile,  the Edo State House of Assembly has appealed the judgement of the High Court and has filed a motion for a stay of execution pending appeal.

Wednesday’s verdict came about three months after the lawmakers impeached the embattled 54-year-old as the state’s deputy governor.

In a move that was seen as the culmination of the long-drawn battle between him and Governor Godwin Obaseki, the lawmakers after investigations said they found Shaibu guilty of disclosure of government secrets.

The seven-man panel set up by the Edo State Assembly therefore recommended his impeachment on that ground.

The assembly then upheld and approved the recommendation of the seven-man panel and subsequently impeached him as the state’s deputy governor.

Eighteen out of 19 members present at plenary voted for Shaibu’s impeachment. Only one abstained from the headcount and voting process, ending the process.

The President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, has forwarded a letter to the Senate, seeking their approval to add ₦6.2trillion to the ₦27.5trillion 2024 budget.

The President’s request was contained in a letter read during plenary on Wednesday by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

Details of the letter show President Tinubu seeks Senate approval for the withdrawal of ₦3.2 trillion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, for capital expenditure.

The President, in the second leg of the request as contained in the letter, seeks approval for the withdrawal of another ₦3 trillion from the consolidated revenue fund for additional recurrent expenditure for the year ending on the 31st day of December , 2024.

He also requested in the letter, an Act to amend the Finance Act, 2023, to impose and charge windfall tax on banks and to provide for the administration of the tax and matters related thereto.

Naija News understands the President’s requests have already been listed on the Order Paper as Executive bills for consideration by the Senate.

The president said, “Pursuant to section 58 (2) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, I forward herewith the above-named bills for consideration and passage by the senate.

“The appropriation act amendment bill seeks to amend the principal act to provide the sum of N3,200,000,000,000 for Renewed Hope Infrastructure Projects and other critical infrastructure projects to be undertaken across the country and the sum of N3,000,000,000,000 to meet further recurrent expenditure requirements necessary for the proper operation of the federal government.

“They shall be funded by accruing to the federal government of Nigeria.

“Furthermore, the proposed amendments to the Finance Acts 2023 are required to a one-time windfall tax on the foreign exchange gains realised by banks in their 2023 financial statements to fund capital infrastructure development, education, and healthcare as well as welfare initiatives all which are components of the Renewed Hope Agenda.”

French Ligue 1 giants, Paris Saint Germain, are in the pole position to sign Super Eagles of Nigeria striker, Victor Osimhen, in this summer transfer window.
The future of Victor Osimhen has been uncertain since last December following his contract extension with Napoli which comes with an agreement that the Nigeria international is free to leave if a suitor pays his release clause.

Osimhen’s release clause in the contract which will expire on June 30, 2026, is said to be worth around €130 million. The said amount has scared most of his suitors away including Chelsea who initially looked like the favourites to sign him.

Even Arsenal and Manchester United who were reportedly ready for a player and cash swap deal with Napoli are yet to submit any concrete deal for the 25-year-old forward.

A post by transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano on his X page earlier today, July 17, confirmed that PSG and Napoli are in advanced talks over the future of Victor Osimhen.

If the ongoing talks are a success, Osimhen will become a direct replacement for French forward, Kylian Mbappe, who left the Parc des Princes for Real Madrid on free this summer.

The transfer expert wrote: “Paris Saint-Germain are advancing in talks with Victor Osimhen’s camp as their interest is now getting concrete.

“Osimhen is keen on joining PSG and open to the move if they can agree on a deal/fee with Napoli.

“He’d be very high on PSG’s list if one centre striker left.”

Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, a former NBA player and father of Basketball Hall of Fame guard Kobe Bryant, has died at the age of 69, La Salle University announced on Tuesday.

Bryant played at the Philadelphia school from 1973-1975 and coached the Explorers from 1993-96 after a career that saw him play from 1975-1983 for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, then-San Diego Clippers and Houston Rockets as well as in Europe.

“We are saddened to announce the passing of La Salle basketball great Joe Bryant,” the school said in a statement. “He was a beloved member of the Explorer family and will be dearly missed.”

Bryant, a forward, played in Italy from 1983 to 1991 before closing his playing days with French side Mulhouse in 1991.

For his NBA career, Bryant averaged 8.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists a game.

As a head coach, Joe Bryant went 40-24 over parts of three seasons with the Women’s NBA Los Angeles Sparks. He also coached in Asia on clubs in Tokyo, Hokkaido, Bangkok and Fukuoka.

Kobe Bryant, born while his father was playing for the 76ers, was a five-time NBA champion, two-time Olympic gold medal winner and the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player who spent his entire NBA career from 1996-2016 with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Lakers legend Bryant, an 18-time NBA All-Star guard, was killed in a 2020 helicopter crash at age 41.

The planned arraignment of Yahaya Bello, former governor of Kogi State on alleged N82 billion fraud charges took a dangerous dimension on Wednesday when two senior advocates engaged in a war of words during the proceedings.

The two lawyers are Abdulwahab Mohammed, standing for Bello, SAN, and Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, standing for the federal government.

Trouble started when Mohammed announced his appearance for the former governor and left out his colleague, Adeola Adedipe, SAN.

However, the federal government counsel opposed the exclusion on the grounds that Adedipe should be included in the proceedings until discharged by the court.

Adedipe interrupted the argument of the federal government lawyer, insisting that he was not prepared to be part of the proceedings.

At this stage, Mohammed interjected and announced that Adedipe had filed a notice of withdrawal from the proceedings.

As Justice Emeka Nwite was about to deliver a ruling on the contentious appearance matter, Bello’s lawyer stood up and requested to be allowed to stay outside the proceedings if the court proceeded with the ruling.

Fuming with anger, Mohammed openly called Pinheiro, SAN, a rough lawyer who takes delight in misleading the court.

His attempt to make further abusive remarks about the federal government lawyer was aborted, but Mohammed refused to apologise, insisting that he would leave the court should the judge go ahead with the ruling.

When tempers rose beyond control, Justice Emeka Nwite, out of anger, abruptly brought the proceedings to an end by walking straight into his chamber.

At the time of this report, tension was still high in the courtroom.

Thousands of students at the University of Ibadan have protested against a hike in school fees and other issues.

As early as 8 a.m., the visibly angry students moved in large numbers to all the entrances of the institution and blocked them.

Both academic and non-academic staff were locked outside the gates.

After blocking all the entrances, they moved from one faculty to another to ensure that academic activities were totally paralysed.

The students who warned sternly that there should be no video recording of the protest explained that the school management has not been fair to them.

Some of them who spoke with Vanguard said three issues compelled them to troop out.

A male student said, “We are protesting against injustice and insensitivity of the state school authorities to our plight.”

“You can imagine the authorities saying they will be shedding power henceforth, which means there are days we will be in darkness. How do they expect us to study?”.

“Secondly, they have hiked school fees astronomically to an unimaginable proportion. Do they want us to abandon our studies? Our parents are saying there is no money. Even feeding is difficult and we are still trying to wriggle out of this they are bringing hike in tuition fees. We cannot take this any longer. Enough is enough”.

“The third issue is the victimization of some of our colleagues who protested last time. The police have arrested them and up to now, they are still being detained for saying no to injustice. They are hurting us and they don’t want us to complain.”

Three female students who are in science said the situation is worse for them as they have to pay through their noses.

One of them said when she gained admission, she paid around N78,000 but now she is asked to pay over N300,000; some are paying N200,000.

The event disrupted the early take-off of a programme scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Department of Economics, CBN Hall.

The students went to the premises and shut all the gates, while a few staff members who managed to trek from the gates scampered for safety.

The Nigeria Labour Congress, on Tuesday, threatened to shut down the country for a month in protest against plans by the National Assembly to deregulate the national minimum wage.

NLC’s threat came as the nation awaits a new national minimum wage following months of negotiations between Organised Labour, the Federal Government, and the Organised Private Sector.

NLC President, Joe Ajaero, declared the position of the union while speaking on the sidelines of the 67th Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association Annual General Meeting in Lagos.

Ajaero said, “As we are here, a Joint Committee of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Judiciary are meeting. They have decided to remove section 34 from the Exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list so that the state governors can determine what to pay you and so that there will be no minimum wage again. You cannot decide what you should earn.

“The very moment the House of Representatives and the Senate come up with such a law that will not benefit Nigerian workers, they will be their drivers and gatemen, and there will be no movement for one month. We cannot accept any situation where the governors and the National Assembly members will foist a slave wage on workers and force poverty on the citizens. Organised Labour will not accept it.”

The NLC president further stated that “We don’t have a situation where people determine their wages that amounts to some level of illegality. In the constitution, there is a provision for equal work for equal pay. If we go into job analysis and job evaluation, we may discover that a clerk here may be doing the same work as the clerk in Sokoto.

“The so-called decentralisation of wages to pay somebody here less than what the other person is receiving is against the concept of equity and equality before the law.”

According to the NLC president, the International Labour Organisation recognises wage as a national law, saying it is not for the sub-nationals.

The labour leader maintained that “every country has their minimum wage and some states are paying higher than the basic minimum wage, and that is the position of the law anywhere”.

However,  he said,  some people instigated by the governors were saying they would not be able to pay N60,000 even when their members were in the meeting with labour, saying this was being done in bad fate.

“We have put our members on notice that if these people succeed in coming up with such unpatriotic and obnoxious law. This democracy they are playing with, we have enough in this country in terms of hardship. Some people, based on their privileged positions want to inflict more Injuries on the workers and citizens of this country and that will not be accepted,” he stressed.

He added that the labour movement will not accept “slave wages”.

“Every worker in Nigeria across the country is seen as Nigerian workers and any attempt to discredit them in a federation will first be resisted by the NLC.

“There is no governor that is not receiving the same thing nationwide, they are not receiving according to their revenue in their states, but they want that of the workers to be so. So, the issue of using revenue as a basis for the payment of minimum wage is a lame one. If any governor is making that argument, then he doesn’t know what governance is all about,” he stated.

Such a governor, Ajaero emphasised, must use his capacity and acumen for the prosperity of the state.

“Governors can do better, and they should stop lamenting; because lamentation year in and year out that they can’t pay will not pay as far as there is a lot of money for them to control,” he cautioned.

Ajaero further argued that an average family of six live within N60,000 in a month and still go to work.

He submitted that NLC had proposed many options apart from the amount of the minimum wage, which if the government had addressed long before the removal of oil subsidies would have saved Nigeria from the current challenges.

Meanwhile, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Mr. Kingsley Chinda, said there is a proposal before the National Assembly Committees on Constitutional Review to move the minimum wage from the exclusive list to the concurrent legislative list.

The minority leader’s clarification came against the backdrop of Ajaero’s position that the parliament had begun moves to decentralise minimum wage to enable states fix what is convenient for them to pay.

Speaking exclusively with The PUNCH in Abuja on Tuesday, Chinda stated that there were different opinions and views on whether minimum wage issues should be on concurrent or exclusive list, noting that “There is a proposal to move it to concurrent list where  states could  legislate on labour matters.”

While noting that federal laws prevail when they clash with state laws, the Peoples Democratic Party stalwart, however, advised that labour matters should remain on the exclusive list.

He continued, “On minimum wage, the Federal Government should consider a minimum living wage for all workers, both public and private. States or firms can go above the set wage, but not below.

“Labour disputes should be standardised and industrial courts should have precedents. The implication of making it a state responsibility is that states will set up their own industrial courts.”

He also added that a decentralised system “will weaken the labour movement and affect checks on the government. Governors  are more likely to pocket the labour union in their states.”

According to him, international labour issues are treated on countries basis, stressing that “It will be complex if state labour groups become independent.”

The International Monetary Fund yesterday downgraded its forecast for Nigeria’s economic growth in 2024 to 3.1 per cent citing weaker growth recorded in the first quarter of the year, Q1’24.

The new forecast was contained in the July 2024 World Economic Outlook of the IMF released, yesterday.

The downgrade represents 0.2 percentage points below the earlier forecast of 3.3 per cent.

The downgrade followed weaker-than-expected Gross Domestic Product, GDP, and growth recorded by the country in Q1’23.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, showed that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, growth dropped, quarter-on-quarter, QoQ to 2.98 per cent in Q1’24 from 3.46 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023, Q3’23,

The IMF however retained its 3.0 per cent forecast for Nigeria’s economic growth in 2025.

As a result of the lower forecast for Nigeria’s economic growth, the IMF also downgraded its forecast for Sub-Saharan economic growth in 2024 to 3.7 per cent from the April WEO forecast of 3.8 per cent. It however raised its economic growth forecast for the region in 2025 to 4.1 per cent from 4.0.

“The forecast for growth in sub-Saharan Africa is revised downward, mainly as a result of a 0.2 percentage point downward revision to the growth outlook in Nigeria amid weaker than expected activity in the first quarter of this year,” the IMF said.

For the global economy, the IMF retained its growth forecasts of 3.2 per cent in 2024 and 3.3 per cent in 2025.

The IMF said: “The Global Economy in a Sticky Spot Global growth is projected to be in line with the April 2024 World Economic Outlook (WEO) forecast, at 3.2 per cent in 2024 and 3.3 per cent in 2025.

“However, varied momentum in activity at the turn of the year has somewhat narrowed the output divergence across economies as cyclical factors wane and activity becomes better aligned with its potential.

“Services price inflation is holding up progress on disinflation, which is complicating monetary policy normalization. Upside risks to inflation have thus increased, raising the prospect of higher-for-even-longer interest rates, in the context of escalating trade tensions and increased policy uncertainty.

“To manage these risks and preserve growth, the policy mix should be sequenced carefully to achieve price stability and replenish diminished buffers.”

Bauchi fixes LG poll for August 19, Kogi election holds October 19

Jigawa, Imo, Anambra, Abia, Katsina, Kebbi, Benue set for exercise

No fewer than 13 states have fixed dates for Local Government elections in the aftermath of last Thursday’s Supreme Court judgement which prohibited federal allocation to council being administered by caretaker committees.

The states that have commenced council poll preparations include Kaduna, Kogi, Bauchi, Katsina, Osun, Enugu, Benue, Rivers, Jigawa, Imo, Kebbi, Abia, and Anambra states.

On Tuesday, the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission scheduled the council poll for October 19, 2024.

The Supreme Court had declared it unconstitutional for state governors to hold funds allocated for the local government councils.

In the judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the seven-man panel held that the 774 local government councils in the country should manage their funds themselves.

The court delivered the landmark judgment in suit: SC/CV/343/2024, filed by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) against the 36 state governors.

The AGF had sued the state governors through their respective state attorneys-general.

The apex court declared that the government is divided into three tiers: federal, state, and local governments.

S’Court verdict

The court further declared that a state government had no power to appoint a caretaker committee and a local government council was only recognisable with a democratically elected government.

“A democratically elected local government is sacrosanct and non-negotiable,’’ the apex court declared, putting an end to the practice of appointing caretaker committees to run the councils by the state governors.

The court further asserted that the use of a caretaker committee by the state governments to administer the local government violated the 1999 Constitution.

The Supreme Court further affirmed that the local government areas should be governed by a democratically elected government but “The state by the abuse of their power has worked against this law.”

The court declared that the 36 state governors had no power  to dissolve democratically elected local government councils to replace them with caretaker committees.

“Such an act is unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void,’’ Agim stated.

The apex court barred the state governors from receiving, retaining or spending the local government allocation.

It said the practice of receiving and retaining local government funds by the states had gone on for too long, describing it as a clear violation of section 162 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

The court held that the 1999 Constitution states that any money leaving the federation account must be distributed to the three tiers of government.

It added that it is the local government administrations that should receive and manage funds meant for the local councils.

Agim declared, “I hold that the state’s retention of the local government funds is unconstitutional.

“Demands of justice require a progressive interpretation of the law. It is the position of this court that the federation can pay LGA allocations to the LGAs directly or pay them through the states.

“In this case, since paying them through states has not worked, justice of this case demands that LGA allocations from the federation account should henceforth be paid directly to the LGAs.”

Following the verdict which was widely applauded, the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Wale Edun, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) were reported to have scheduled a meeting for Tuesday (yesterday) with the Federal Accounts and Allocation Committee officials to discuss the implementation of the apex court verdict.

The PUNCH was unable to confirm if the meeting was held.

Kaduna LG poll

Announcing the date for the council poll at a meeting with political parties and other stakeholders on Tuesday, the Kaduna SIECOM Chairperson, Hajara Mohammed, explained that the current council officials members were sworn into office on November 1, 2021, and would end their three-year tenure on October 31, 2024.

She said, “The current council members were sworn into office on 1 November 2021 and will end their three-year tenure on 31 October. KAD-SIECOM is responsible for organising the elections of chairpersons, vice-chairpersons, and councillors in the state.

“In consonance with the provision of section 25(1) of the KAD-SIECOM Law 2024, the general public is hereby informed that the LGA council election will be held in Kaduna on Saturday, 19th October 2024, between 8am  and 4pm

“The commission issues the election timetable today, Tuesday 16th July 2024. The 2024 election guidelines have been released with the election timetable KAD-SIECOM is ready to conduct the election on the set date.”

The Kogi State Independent Electoral Commission also announced October 19 for the local government election across the state.

Addressing a stakeholders’ meeting in Lokoja on Tuesday, the Chairman of the electoral commission, Mamman Eri, said the decision was in line with the provision of the Constitution and the powers vested in the state Independent Electoral Commission.

He explained that a comprehensive timetable and schedule of activities had been prepared to ensure a transparent, fair and credible electoral process.

“We assure you that these activities have been designed with utmost consideration for inclusivity, transparency and adherence to electoral laws,’’ he said.

According to the election timetable, a councillorship candidate will pay a N100,000 deposit while a chairmanship candidate will part with 250,000.

It prohibits a candidate who has been dismissed from public service or private employment from contesting for any of the elective positions.

Also, anyone who has been found guilty of an offence involving narcotics or any other psychotropic substance by any court or tribunal cannot contest the poll.

Eri appreciated the continued support and collaboration towards the success of the election.

Also, the Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission has fixed August 19 for the local government elections in the state.

The Chairman of the commission, Alhaji Ahmad Makama, who disclosed this at a news conference on Tuesday in Bauchi, said all necessary arrangements had been concluded to ensure free and fair elections.

He reiterated the commitment of the commission to conduct a credible and transparent election, urging citizens to come out and vote for their preferred candidates across the parties on election day.

He denied alleged rigging plans, noting that previous elections were free and fair.

Makama said the commission had organised a series of meetings with political parties, security chiefs and relevant stakeholders, as part of the election preparations.

NAN quoted the chairman to have urged the public to support the commission to ensure hitch-free local government elections.

It was learnt that Katsina, Kebbi, and Benue have also set machinery in motion to conduct the local council polls.

The exercise will take place in Enugu on October 5, while Benue will conduct the council poll on  November 16.

Others are Kebbi, August 31; Rivers, October 5; Kwara and Imo, September 21.

Katsina has announced February, while Osun will conduct the poll on February 22, 2025.

Ondo election postponed

However, the preparation for the council election in Ondo State has been put on hold

Announcing this on Monday, the Chairman of the Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission, Dr Joseph Aremo, regretted that no single political party complied with the guidelines of the proposed election, despite the issuance of guidelines for the election.

This would be the second time the commission would postpone the election earlier fixed for February and later shifted to July 2024.

Before the latest postponement, the commission had earlier scheduled the council poll for July 13, 2023.

Following the expiration of the tenure of the last executive of the local governments in August 2023, heads of local government administration had been at the helm of affairs in the 18 local government areas of the state.

Addressing stakeholders from various political parties in the state, in Akure, Aremo stated, “Ours is to conduct an election that will usher in a democratic government at the local level. It’s unfortunate that no single party complied with the guidelines for the election.

“We have yet to receive the nomination of candidates, yet to verify and release it to the public for scrutiny.”

Aremo added that the commission would go back to the drawing board and make its position known at a later date.

Reacting, the Ondo State Chairman of the Inter-party Advisory Council, Adesanya Olaoluwa, admitted that all political parties agreed to the terms, knowing that no election could take place without them.

He said, “They now know our reasons. We want to see Mr Governor. It is not that we don’t have trust in ODIEC. We know that they can conduct credible election but we want to see Mr Governor,” he noted.

However, the People’s Democratic Party said that the ODIEC had postponed the elections because the All Progressives Congress was no longer popular in the state.

The state Publicity Secretary, Mr Kennedy Peretei, said, “We knew all along that ODIEC will not conduct the LG election because the APC is not on the ground.”