Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has approved the appointment of 168 assistants and 104 board members for the 15 agencies and commissions of the state.

This is according to a statement issued by the Secretary to the state government, Bukar Tijjani, on Monday, in Maiduguri.

He said the appointees comprised nine senior technical assistants (STA), 81 senior special assistants (SSAs), and 78 special assistants (SAs).

The SSG also listed the 104 others as chairmen and board members of 15 agencies and commissions.

The appointment, Mr Tijjani said, was done based on powers conferred on the governor by the provisions of Section 208(2)d of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended.

“The governor congratulates the appointees and looks forward to their contributions to the development of Borno,” he said.

(NAN)

Nadeem Anjarwalla, one of the executives from Binance detained in Nigeria on allegations of tax evasion and other offenses, has reportedly escape from custody.

Anjarwalla, aged 38, allegedly fled from the Abuja guest house where he and his colleague were being held, purportedly taking advantage of a moment during Ramadan prayers when guards escorted him.

Despite his British passport remaining under the control of Nigerian authorities, he is believed to have exited the country using a Kenyan passport, Premium Times reported.

Authorities are currently working diligently to determine his intended destination and take steps to apprehend him.

The detention of Anjarwalla and his colleague, Tigran Gambaryan, unfolded after their arrival in Nigeria on February 26, 2024.

They were promptly subjected to criminal charges, including alleged tax-related offenses, leading to their remand by a local court.

In a separate legal maneuver, the Nigerian government brought forth additional charges against Binance Holdings Limited and the two executives, accusing them of conducting operations without the requisite registration and tax compliance.

This development comes against the backdrop of Nigeria’s intensified efforts to combat financial crimes, including money laundering and terrorism financing.

Binance, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange platform, has found itself at the center of this crackdown.
The Nigerian government alleges that over $21.6 billion in transactions on Binance involved individuals whose identities were shielded, pointing to potential illicit activities such as money laundering, terrorist financing, and market manipulation.

These activities, according to Nigerian authorities, have had adverse effects on the nation’s economy, contributing to currency fluctuations and undermining the value of the Naira.

The detention of Binance executives in Nigeria follows closely on the heels of the platform’s settlement of criminal money laundering charges in the United States.

Binance’s founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, entered a guilty plea and agreed to resign from his position.

Zhao’s criminal trial, which is linked to the charges brought by the US Department of Justice, has been postponed to April 30.

-As Honourable Minister of Works Saves for the Country Over N300 Billion on the Design of the Onitsha Axis of the Second Niger Bridge Bypass Done by the Past Administration

1. As part of efforts to secure the future of Nigeria and guarantee her progressive march to economic prosperity, the Renewed Hope administration of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR has expressed its commitment in building everlasting road infrastructure with the most effective design at the lowest possible cost. This assurance was made by the Honourable Minister of Works, His Excellency, Sen. Engr. Nweze David Umahi CON during his inspection visit to the rehabilitation of Enugu- Port Harcourt dual carriageway section IV (Aba-Port Harcourt) handled by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Ltd( CCECC) on Sunday, 24th March 2024. The Honourable Minister who was accompanied by a member of the Senate Commitee on Works and Deputy Chief Whip of the 10th Senate, and other leaders across political divide from South East said that some of the ideals in the Renewed Hope mantra under his Ministry include design and cost effectiveness, speed and standard of job delivery as well as innovations that would guarantee zero maintenance and durability of road infrastructure in Nigeria. He urged contractors to always consider the sufferings of the road users as they set up their work plans.

2. The Honourable Minister also enjoined contractors to ensure that the roads they are working are made passable for commuters during the rainy season. He thanked Mr. President for the enablement to change the narrative of the road infrastructure in Nigeria. On the section being handled by CCECC, he directed, "We will not accept anything less than two to three sections working. And I've given seven days for this particular lane, that is, the upper bound lane to be totally repaired, to ameliorate the sufferings of the commuters. I feel for them very highly. When you go through this road, you now need to take a number of painkillers. It's not desirable. So I'm begging CCECC, the controller, and engineers to do everything possible in the next seven days and create a smooth sail on this right-hand side." He further said, " I want to thank Mr. President, so much. He has done a lot in our road infrastructure. He's a man who wants all the roads to be completed as soon as possible. But let me assure him that I'm doing the best that I can with the fear of God and with commitment to his Renewed Hope agenda, which we all embraced. He continued, "And just only two days back, with these leaders, we went to Asaba to look at the design of the bypass of the second Niger bridge, and we went to Onitsha. And by that singular movement, we saw that the design was defective and we agreed on a new kind of design. That was how we saved the country over N300 billion by that singular movement to that location."

3. The Honourable Minister who also visited the Upgrading of the 15km section of the East-West road section III: (Port Harcourt - Eleme Junction to Onne Junction in Rivers State) handled by RCC, the rehabilitation of Enugu- Port Harcourt Expressway Section 3, Enugu- Lokpanta handled by CGC and the rehabilitation work at the collapsed bridge site at the New Artisan Bridge near NNPC mega fillings station Enugu Capital City, Enugu State, expressed satisfaction with the job being done but charged contractors to step up their pace to cover a milestone ahead of the rainy season. He said of the project along Eleme refinery road, " We are upgrading the 15km road between Eleme flyover to Onne junction. We are starting with excavation to fill all the failed sections to make them stable. And when we get to where stable, we build up the boulders. After boulders, we put up sharp sand, and after the sharp sand, we compact. After the compaction, we put the first layer of stone base, 20cm first layer that will build up against another 10cm of stone base, we compact. After compacting, we leave it out for the traffic. So that it gets maximum compaction. After that, we put 10 cm with 5% cement to stabilize it and make it very strong. That will make the road very stable and it will last for a long time. "

4. The stakeholders from South East, who accompanied the Honourable Minister, thanked Mr. President for appointing a round peg in a round hole and for taking a bold and reassuring step to recover the economy of the country. They enjoined Nigerians to continue to have faith in the Renewed Hope administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR. The Deputy Chief Whip, Sen. Barr. Onyekachi Peter Nwaebonyi, who is also the Deputy Chairman Public Accounts and member, Works Commitee of the 10th Senate said, "This is what we were lacking before, like he said here, he is not an office Minister. He moves from site to site to ensure that the jobs are done according to specification. That is what we want in this country, and I want to commend Mr. President for finding him worthy. This is the very first time an expert is leading this ministry, and I want to assure Nigerians that very soon, they will see the difference in all our projects." The former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and former Senate President, Sen. Anyim Pius Anyim, GCON said, "I want to remind you that the day the Honourable Minister took oath of office, he had a reception and I chaired it and I reassured Nigerians that he would exceed their expectations. I think this trip is a follow-up to that assurance to satisfy myself that he's actually exceeding expectations. And I can tell you that it's amazing. His passion, his expertise impacts the design, the quality, the speed, the durability, and, in fact, impacts the style of project implementation. And for the two days we've been on the road, it's been like never before. And I want to say that I am proud that he is exceeding expectations. And I want to say that I have been vindicated that the President did not make any mistake. Again, I want to reemphasize, like my brother, there is a case of square peg in a square hole. Thank you, Mr. President." The former National Publicity Secretary of the People's Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh said, "I want to state clearly, publicly what I have seen in the past two days. In the last two days, I have witnessed things that I never knew were possible on the issue of road construction in Nigeria, especially on these roads. I've gone with the Honorable Minister. I have seen, I've been satisfied. I feel that it is a question of a round peg in a round hole. Our request, Mr. President, is that the hope is real, and as long as the Minister is in charge, he's being supported, he's being funded, Mr. President is going to write his name in gold in the annals of our history for generations to come. This will be a reference point about what he has done on our roads in the entire country. It's a legacy project for Nigerians. I want to state that the most important thing is not only the quality of the roads that we have seen but the fact that it's being done with the lowest amount of money. What the Honourable Minister is saving the country, saving from the budget, saving the Nation on the instruction of Mr. President is unquantifiable. This is democracy in action. Mr. President, thank you so much. We thank Mr. President and we thank you, Mr. Honourable Minister."

 Hon. Barr. Orji Uchenna Orji

Special Adviser (Media) to the Honourable Minister of Works

The crisis rocking the Labour Party, LP, took a dangerous dimension last week, with members of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, picketing the party’s national secretariat and some of its state offices.

There are also indications that the presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi and his supporters known as Obidients have abandoned the party’s National Chairman, Julius Abure to his fate.

This is not unconnected to the internal crisis that has been rocking the party structure since the 2023 general elections was concluded.

After a series of legal battles with the factional chairman of the party, Lamidi Apapa, Abure has been in the news over alleged financial impropriety and other disturbing issues.

Abure’s unending alleged financial scandals

DAILY POST recalls that Peter Obi in February 2024, called for a thorough and forensic investigation into an embezzlement allegation levelled against the party’s chairman, Abure.

The call by the former Anambra Governor was in response to allegations earlier made by Oluchi Oparah, the national treasurer of the party, accusing Abure of allegedly misappropriating N3.5 billion.

Oparah also alleged that the Abure-led National Working Committee, NWC, was working hand-in-hand with the Edo State Government and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, ahead of the September 2024 governorship polls.

Similarly, in a letter signed by Comrades TItus Amba and Chris Uyot, the chairman and the secretary of NLC Political Commission, the party expressed concerns over recurrent scandals and pending cases of fraud.

Labour Party administration under Abure

Abure was recently accused by some stakeholders of the party, including the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, of running the LP as a “sole administrator.”

DAILY POST recalls that the Deputy President of the NLC Political Commission, Dr Theophilus Ndubuaku, who spoke when the workers occupied the Labour Party headquarters in Abuja recently, said the decision to picket the party’s headquarters was taken to express workers’ grievances against Abure’s style of leadership.

He said, ”Now, it is in the hands of this usurper, he is looking for N30 million, N40 million, and so on to buy forms, excluding the people who founded the party. Enough is enough, Abure must go,” said the acting General Secretary of NLC, Comrade Bello Ismail on the cost of governorship interest and nomination forms.

Similarly, in a letter issued by Comrades TItus Amba and Chris Uyot, the chairman and secretary of NLC Political Commission, respectively, the union also knocked Abure for not being committed to the ideology of the Labour Party.

Controversial national convention

The embattled LP Chairman was in the news recently again over his alleged plan to hold National Convention without due processes.

DAILY POST reports that the Abure-led National Working Committee, NWC, was accused of planning to hold the national convention of the party in Umuahia, Abia State capital on March 27.

The planned convention was captured in a notice issued to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on March 13.

The move was, however, rejected by critical stakeholders, such as the House of Reps Caucus and the NLC, leading to the recent picketing of the party’s secretariat last week.

Recall that the Nigeria Labour Congress Political Commission – the political wing of the NLC, had in an open letter dated March 15, condemned the planned convention.

While demanding for the immediate resignation of Abure, the commission described the plan as illegal, noting that it would not allow any form of illegality in the affairs of the party to stand.

A source who spoke to DAILY POST on Saturday on condition of anonymity, alleged that Abure’s intention was to impose leadership on the party.

He said major stakeholders in that party were against the March convention, stressing that the party needs more time to select its leaders.

“Everybody in the party including our leader, Peter Obi is tired of Abure’s leadership. If we are not in court today, we will be in the news for one allegation or the other.

“The time we need to use to prepare for elections like the ones coming up in Edo and Ondo is used in settling disputes.

“Abure knows that everyone wants him out and the next thing he wants to do to remain relevant in the party is to impose a chairman on the party.

“How can you be talking about conventions and stakeholders of the same party are not even aware? The Labour Party is not Abure’s personal company”, he said.

Search for new chairman begins

DAILY POST gathered on Saturday that a former Deputy National Campaign Manager to Peter Obi/Dati Presidential Campaign, Comrade Isaac Balami from the Northern region may take over from Abure.

An insider told DAILY POST that some party leaderships and chieftains have had a meeting and suggested Balami as the next National Chairman of the party.

When contacted, Balami told our correspondent on the phone that he was “under pressure to run for the chairmanship of the party”, but that there are issues on ground still stopping his declaration.

According to him, he doesn’t even know whether the convention will be held as scheduled as “there are forces fighting against the unity and progress of the party”.

“But then, I can’t refuse or turn down a request coming directly from the youth constituency of the party.

“You know they were instrumental to the change in the political narrative and advancement of the Labour Party in the last election, so we can’t joke with their position.

“I truly appreciate their commitment to the success of our party and I won’t take their call for granted.

”In a couple of hours, we shall make our final decision on this matter.”

DAILY POST reports that the former All Progressives Congress, APC, chieftain had prior to the 2023 general elections, dumped his party for the LP, saying he believed in the ideology of the party and its candidate, Mr Peter Obi.

Speaking on the controversy surrounding the convention, Dr Yunusa Salisu Tanko, Chief Spokesperson for the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council for the 2023 election, told DAILY POST on Saturday that Abure failed to carry the stakeholders of the party along in the planned convention.

He said, “all we want is for us to build a political party we all will be proud of. A part that will represent the interest of everybody.

“We have all that it takes to build the structure of the party. That is the best thing that can happen to us as a party.

“We don’t want a closed convention like the Chairman is trying to have. Because it is likely going to be a closed convention instead of an open convention and that is not good for us.

“Many people did not even know that there was going to be a convention. I was not aware of the convention too. I saw it in the newspaper just like any other person.

“This is what NLC is also saying. Nobody is against any particular person but for us to have a convention that all of us will be proud of. Peter Obi has also said that the convention should be open for everybody.”

Asked to clarify the viral report purporting Peter Obi’s decision to dump the Labour Party ahead of the 2027 presidential elections, Tanko simply said, “It is not true. As far as I am concerned, there is nothing like that”.