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The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB has issued a warning to the Federal Government about its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
IPOB warned that Kanu must not die in custody of the Department of State Services, DSS.
IPOB warned that Kanu should be released because his death would be a trigger that would consume Nigeria.
Emma Powerful, the spokesman of IPOB, accused the Nigerian government of a planned systematic murder of Kanu using the instrumentality of the judiciary.
In a statement signed by Powerful, IPOB claimed that Kanu’s health has deteriorated inside the detention facilities, adding that the DSS has been using experimental drugs and practices for his serious health issues.
The statement reads: “The global family and movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), ably led by the confident and great leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, is bringing to the notice of Biafrans, friends of Biafra, lovers of Biafra freedom, and the International Communities, that the Nigerian Government and her judiciary have planned a systematic murder of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu using the instrumentality of their fraudulent judicial system.
“Our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, was kidnapped and extra-ordinarily returned to Nigeria and detained for almost 3 years in DSS solitary confinement in Abuja.
“The DSS lacks proper medical facilities to take care of his falling heart conditions. The Appeal Court in Abuja has discharged and acquitted him, yet the lawless Nigerian government has decided not to free him by using the corrupt legal system in Nigeria. They have also decided not to give him access to appropriate medical care.
It seems like the murderous Nigerian government and her judiciary have decided to eliminate Mazi Nnamdi Kanu systematically by detaining him illegally until his heart and lungs give up.
“The IPOB family is informing the Nigerian government and its judiciary that IPOB will avenge anybody or group that has a hand in the persecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu if anything untoward happens to him. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu committed no crime. Instead, it was the lawless Nigerian government and her murderous security agencies that committed crimes against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB.
“Igbo politicians must use this little opportunity they have wisely to ensure that the Nigerian government and Britain, who want to suffocate Mazi Nnamdi Kanu gradually inside DSS solitary confinement as he suffers a terminal heart and lung disease, do not do so.
“Irrespective of all the judicial abracadabra, the Nigerian government must ensure that our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, must not die in their hands nor die shortly after his release. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s life is a trigger that can consume Nigeria and the generations unborn.
“Those who intend to tag us terrorists and those who are friends of Nigeria must advise the Nigerian government to release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu healthy as the Appeal Court Justices declared. The same peaceful IPOB seen worldwide is capable of taking on Nigeria when the need arises. This is not a threat, but a promise.
“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, during his last court appearance on March 19, 2024, complained about pains in his lungs and lumps under his arms and in his armpits. He also said that the Nigerian government wants to murder him gradually.
“The use of judicial abracadabra to detain Mazi Kanu while waiting for his health to degenerate to an incurable level will not be acceptable to IPOB and Biafrans. Mazi Kanu has beaten the Nigerian government in their Appeal Court, and we insist that he be released unconditionally without any more bodily harm.
“The International Community, United Nations, European Union (EU), African Union (AU), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Intersociety, and all the reputable human rights activists and organisations across the globe must not blame IPOB should we take laws into our own hands when the time comes. When injustice becomes a law, resistance becomes a duty.”
The Defence Headquarters on Friday said it has declared 97 persons wanted for terrorism, violent extremism and secessionist threats against the state.
Prominent among the wanted persons is the factional leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Simon Ekpa.
Major Gen Edwaed Buba, Director, Defence Media Operations, confirmed the names and pictures of the people declared wanted in Abuja on Friday night.
The wanted persons, terrorists/ bandits and insurgents commanders are from the North East, North West, North Central and South-East zones.
The military authorities did not place any bounty on the wanted persons.
A breakdown of the wanted persons shows that 43 were declared wanted in North West Zone plagued by banditry, and kidnapping among others.
Some bandits/terrorists leaders include: Alhaji Shingi; Malindi Yakubu; Boka ; Dogo Gide; Halilu Sububu; Ado Aliero ; Bello Turji; Dan Bokkolo; Labi Yadi ; Nagala; Saidu Idris; Kachalla Rugga and Sani Gurgu.
In the North East plagued by Boko Haram and Islamic State for West Africa Province terrorists, 33 persons were declared wanted.
Among them are terrorists commanders, Abu Zaida; Modu Sulum; Baba Data; Ahmad; Sani Teacher; Baa Sadiq; Abdul Saad; Kaka Abi; Mohammad Khalifa; Umar Tella; Abu Mutahid; Mallam Mohammad; Mallam Tahiru Baga; Uzaiya and Ali Ngule.
In the North Central and South East 21 Insurgents/militants and violent criminals were declared wanted.
They include factional IPOB leader Simon Ekpa; Chika Edoziem; Egede; Zuma, ThankGod Gentle; Flavour ; Mathew; David Ndubuisi ; High Chief Williams Agbor; Ebuka Nwaka; Friday Ojimka.
Others in the South East include Obiemesi Chukwudi aka Dan Chuk ; David Ezekwem Chidiebube and Amobi Chinonso Okafor aka Temple .
[Vanguard]
Gov Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has called for a probe into the stampede at Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK), which led to the demise of two female students.
The incident occurred on Friday during the state government’s distribution of palliatives to students across the state, an initiative aimed at alleviating the economic challenges faced by students.
Reports from the scene indicated that the tragedy unfolded at the NSUK convocation square, the designated venue for the palliative distribution.
The overcrowding and ensuing chaos resulted in suffocation and the unfortunate demise of two students, with several others sustaining injuries of varying severity.
Governor Sule, in a statement conveyed by his Chief Press Secretary, Ibrahim Addra, expressed profound sorrow over the loss of lives.
“I pray their souls rest in peace. Our thoughts and condolences go to their families and friends at this moment of grief,” he said.
Describing the deaths as painful, Governor Sule emphasized the importance of uncovering the circumstances that led to this unfortunate event and ensuring such a tragedy does not recur.
The governor’s directive has prompted NSUK authorities and security agencies to initiate an immediate inquiry into the incident to identify the factors and individuals responsible for the stampede.
In solidarity and concern, the state deputy governor, Dr Emmanuel Akabe, visited the injured students to offer support and ascertain their recovery progress.
The palliative distribution initiative, praised for its intention to support students financially and nutritionally, had been successfully executed without incident in other educational institutions within the state, including the Federal University, Lafia, and the Isa Mustapha Agwai Polytechnic, Lafia, among others.
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN, has issued a new order to agencies under his ministry.
He announced a temporary suspension of any public-funded foreign travels by agencies and officials affiliated with the Ministry.
This is in adherence to President Bola Tinubu’s instruction to halt publicly-funded overseas trips by ministers and government officials.
Keyamo instructed all agencies and personnel within the ministry to cease all authorized foreign travels starting from the 21st of March 2024.
This was contained in an official document dated March 21, 2024, and signed by Dr Emmanuel C. Meribole, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Aviation on behalf of the Honourable Minister.
The statement reads, “I am directed to inform you to suspend all foreign trips approved by the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development for all Officers in the Ministry and Agencies under Aviation with effect from 21st March 2024. This is in furtherance of a Presidential directive to suspend public-funded trips by government officials at all levels.
“Any Officer who intends to go on any public funded International trip must seek and obtain Presidential approval at least 2 weeks prior to embarking on such trips which must be deemed absolutely necessary.
“All previously given approvals by the Honourable Minister is hereby put on hold from today 21st March 2024. Please, direct all your DFAs not to process any flight tickets and estacodes for now. Please, this is for strict compliance.”
Bello Bodejo, the leader of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore group has been arraigned on terrorism charges.
He was arraigned before a Federal High Court in Abuja for allegedly establishing and supporting unlawfully an ethnic militia group – Kungiya Zaman Lafiya.
Bodejo was arraigned on Friday on a three-count charge filed by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), in which he was accused of violating the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Bodejo pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to him, following which Justice Inyang Ekwo ordered that he be further detained in the custody of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).
Justice Ekwo adjourned till May 27 for the commencement of trial.
No fewer than two Nigerian students have been arrested for allegedly faking their own kidnap.
The Lagos State Police Command confirmed the arrest on Thursday.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, told NAN that the suspects also demanded $100,000 (about N150 million) ransom from their parents.
He gave the names of the suspects as Ayodele Balogun, 21, a 200-level student of Education at the Lagos State University, Ijanikin, and his friend, Dennis Okuomo, 21, a student of NIIT Lagos.
According to him, both faked their kidnap and demanded N150 million to assist Ayodele, who is from a poor family.
“It was Dennis’s idea because Ayodele is from a poor family and his best friend; he wanted to use it to raise money for him so that he can be able to take care of his family,” Hundeyin said.
The command’s spokesman said that on Feb. 2, Ayodele disappeared from home, while Dennis used his (Ayodele’s) phone to inform his father, Mr Balogun, of his son’s faked kidnap and demanded $20,000 (about N30 million) ransom.
Hundeyin said the suspects had directed Ayodele’s father to pay the ransom through Bitcoin, which wallet they had sent him while Ayodele was hiding in Dennis’s room in his (Dennis’s) father’s hotel.
“Ayodele’s father, a driver with a private company, received the message with many worries, wondering where to raise $20,000.”
Hundeyin said when Balogun could not raise the money, Dennis decided to also fake his own kidnap and demanded for 100,000 dollars (about N150 million) from his own father.
According to him, both suspects decided to leave the hotel to hide in a bush and remained there for five days while the negotiation and investigation were ongoing.
“On March 16, as no money was paid and the suspects were not comfortable with the condition of the bush, they decided to return to Dennis’ s room in his father’s hotel.
“They told everybody that they just escaped from kidnappers’ den, and quickly called Ayodele’s father to inform them about their purported escape from the kidnappers’ den.
”They took Ayodele to the hospital believing that he just came from the kidnappers’ den.
“Investigation so far revealed that the suspects faked their own kidnap.
“They are in our custody, two perpetrators of self-kidnap,” he noted.
The immediate-past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has dismissed rumours that he plans to dump the All Progressives Congress (APC), for the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Recall that the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) made an unexpected appearance at the SDP National Secretariat in Abuja on Wednesday.
The National Chairman of the SDP, Shehu Musa Gabam, and other chieftains of the party received the former Kaduna governor.
Reacting in a statement on Thursday issued by his spokesman, Muyiwa Adekeye, El-Rufai said he only visited the SDP headquarters to return a visit to the party’s chairman.
The former Minister said Gabam was among his friends who took part in the break of the Ramadan fast (Iftar) at his house in Abuja on Tuesday.
El-Rufai said he is known for being open and forthright, adding that his political decisions would not be subjected to speculation.
The statement reads: “I consider the most recent speculations about Malam Nasir El-Rufai as reflecting an unhealthy obsession with politics.
“People have personal histories and relationships that predate political affiliations. It cannot be a hallmark of civilisation to have friends from within only your political party. When people visit each other or mingle across party lines, it is because human relationships exist, distinct from the political or the partisan.
“Malam Nasir El-Rufai is a senior member of the APC, one of the signatories to its merger documents, and a significant contributor to the party’s demonstrated viability. These contributions do not require that he treats friends as anathema on account of politics or maintains an antiseptic distance from them.
“Malam Nasir El-Rufai hosted some friends to Iftar on Tuesday, 19 March 2024. NSA Nuhu Ribadu was at the Iftar with a senior APC figure like Alh. Kashim Imam. SDP National Chairman Shehu Musa Gabam was among the friends who partook in the Iftar. Gabam was not accused of considering crossing over to the APC on account of that.
“When Malam Nasir El-Rufai visited Gabam the next day, he was merely returning a visit to a friend who happens to be the SDP chairman.
“Malam El-Rufai is known for being open and forthright. If he had any political decisions to make, it would not be in character to let them be subject to speculation.
“Unfounded speculations about Malam Nasir El-Rufai have become an industry that has delivered tons of lies and clickbait in the last 18 years. This is unlikely to abate anytime soon, given the persistent obsession of its purveyors who relish in negativity and their tireless indulgence in conflating assumption with fact.
“A recent instance was when he visited former presidents late in 2023 to explain his Nigerian governance study book project covering each of their tenures, the speculators said it was about politics! That is why it is sometimes necessary to clarify matters lest the unwary be taken in.”
Ferdinand Uzodinma, the brother of Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State has been appointed as Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of General Services.
This is as the governor also reappointed Cosmos Iwu as the Secretary to the State Government; Nnamdi Anyaehie as his Chief of Staff and Sydney Agbor as the Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Operations.
The three officials served in the same capacities in Uzodimma’s first four years as governor.
Also appointed are Patrick Ekeji as the Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Administration and Sam Nwaobasi named as the Special Adviser on Programme and Policy Implementation and Monitoring.
A statement issued on Thursday by the governor’s spokesman, Oguwike Nwachuku, disclosed that the appointments took immediate effect.
The statement read, “The Governor of Imo State, Sen. Hope Uzodimma, has reappointed Chief Cosmos Iwu as the Secretary to the Government of Imo State.
“In the same vein, Nnamdi Anyaehie, Chief Patrick Ekeji and Olisaemeka Sydney Agbor have been reappointed as Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff (Administration) and Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations) respectively.
“Also, the governor has approved the appointment of Chief Ferdinand Uzodimma, a one time Councillor, Transition Committee Chairman and Sole Administrator of Oru East Local Government Area as his Deputy Chief of Staff (General Services) with Mr. Sam Anyalewechi Nwaobasi named as Special Adviser on Programme and Policy Implementation/ Monitoring.
“The appointments take immediate effect.
“Governor Uzodimma, who congratulated the new appointees, urged them to bring to bear their professional competence in the efforts to drive the vision of the Shared Prosperity 3R Government of Imo State.”
A bill for the amendment of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Act to increase its funding from the consolidated revenue from 2 per cent to 4 per cent has scaled second reading in the House of Representatives.
Chairman House Committee on Basic Education and Services, Honourable Bako Useni, made this known on Thursday, March 21 during the committee oversight function at the Digital Resource Center built by UBEC in Abuja.
UBEC’s Digital Resource Centre is to provide quality digital educational content for schools across the country as well as contemporary capacity building to relevant actors in the Nigerian education sector.
Useni said the 10th Assembly saw the need to increase financial resources to the Basic education sub-sector for set objectives to be further met, hence the amendment bill sponsored by Honourable Muktar Shagaya to increase revenue accruing to UBEC from 2% to 4%.
“The amendment bill which passed the second reading Yesterday (Wednesday) when concluded will make UBEC stronger.
“Since UBEC was established in 2004 to date, a lot has been achieved. However, the House felt that if UBEC is motivated with more funding, it will go a long way in achieving more of what it has achieved.
“It was on this basis that one of us, Honourable Mukhtar Shagaya proposed an amendment to the UBEC Act to increase funding to UBEC from 2% to 4%/from the consolidated revenue fund.
“It is going to bring a new approach to basic education in Nigeria. It is going to improve teachers’ training and content,” he said
“We have also assured the center of our collaboration and support through budget allocations and oversight functions to make sure that whatever funds that are provided are used for the betterment of Nigerians.
“We will continue to visit to monitor the kind of training that is being given to our teachers and other resource persons because it is a center for Nigeria to develop its education sector.
Executive Secretary of the UBEC, Dr Hamid Bobboyi said it was gladdening to have taken the House Committee members on a tour of the facilities of the center, which includes: the digital Museum, Library, Artificial Intelligence Center, the Studio, Micro-labs, lecture halls, accommodation among others.
“It is fruitful to bring the Honourable members to come and see what UBEC is doing in the area of digital education in the Basic education sub-sector of the country.
“The facility will ensure that our teachers are trained on the new pedagogy. We have brought in many teachers, school administrators, and quality assurance officers.
“For them to understand what is digital. learning and also to prepare them to be real participants and not just copycats in the class, where they can develop their digital resources and also take advantage of digital resources already on the ground.
“This is an experiment that we have started and believe that it will be a game changer in our basic education sub-sector,” he said.
[PRESS RELEASE]Civil Service To Begin Online Recruitment Portal, Computer-based Tests For Hiring, Promotion - Olaopa
AdminTo ensure that opportunities for employment in the federal civil service are open for all eligible Nigerians, the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) under the chairmanship of Prof Tunji Olaopa is to introduce an online recruitment portal.
The move which is also part of Olaopa's objective of reforming the civil service and keeping it abreast of the digital era will see to the introduction of computer-based tests ( CBT) for hiring and promoting of federal civil servants.
Prof Olaopa disclosed this at the maiden edition of the commission’s Monthly Seminal Series held on the agency's premises on Thursday.
He said that since the inauguration of the reconstituted FCSC on the 13th of December, 2023, its mission had been to engage two concerns that had been woven into two seminal questions.
Shedding light on these questions, Olaopa said: "Why is it that in spite of the many spirited institutional reforms of the civil service since 1999, the federal bureaucracy seems to be declining in some vital indicators and parameters?
" And what has the FCSC failed to do as the gatekeeper of the federal civil service to safeguard its professional integrity through upgraded systems of recruitment and staff promotion practices? "
Olaopa asked further : "Indeed, how did the commission become an abandoned space with dilapidated infrastructures, operating with such outdated work methods, analogues processes and uninspiring work environment, one which pool officers regard as a kind of Siberia that is punishment posting to anyone that ever finds him or herself there?"
According to Olaopa, the profession of public administration in Nigeria is also at a juncture that demands a measure of introspection by professional bureaucrats that should take them back to first principle and to such basic questions as: who a civil servant is and should be, and what qualities he or she should possess.
"We need answers to these questions as a basis for reprofiling who and who should be admitted to become civil servant, all within the framework of the reform to build a new generation of public managers in Nigeria.
"The present commission is however sold out to the mission to restore FCSC as a professional hub and centre of excellence solution house for HR practice in the federal service", he said.
To Olaopa, the starting point of that transformation journey is for the commission to get back its originating mandate as the promoter and protector of the merit system in the civil service. According to him, this will make inevitable the hinging of the implementation of the federal character policy on meritocracy.
He said : "We however recognise that restoring competency-based HR practices and the merit system will be meaningless if intended reforms fail to address the wage and compensation dimension of meritocracy. It is this recognition that inspired our engagement with the Chairman, National Incomes Salaries and Wages Commission, whose insights were not only reassuring, but also seminal in its solution content.
"This takes me to the objective of today’s maiden FCSC monthly seminar series which is designed to institute a seminal space and learning lab for federal officers. One where the commission contributes to deepening the sharing and learning sustained interrogation of key reform issues and benchmarking in Nigeria. And this is commencing today with the topic ‘The Institutional Framework and Procedure for the Conduct of Directorate Level Exercise: Guaranteeing Integrity, Transparency and Accountability of Standard Practices’; as commencement point to begin to overhaul the commission’s core operations and practices."
In this connection, according to him, the commission is transiting through the upcoming 2024 promotion exercise from analogue-rooted practices to computer-based tests (CBT) and the modernisation and digitization of its core operations.
"The commission is therefore introducing the following: Installation of online recruitment portal that is accessible to all Nigerians, and which enables eligible candidates to pre-fill recruitment form and update the same from time to time ahead of advertisement for recruitment into the federal service.
"Eligible candidates will in addition, henceforth undergo computer-based tests (CBT) and oral interviews with results collated and released real-time.
"FCSC is the meantime entering into an outsourcing contract with the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) and JAMB as technical partners with a view to taking advantage of their infrastructure, networks and experience to enable online accreditation, CBT examinations and promotion interview for officers in the federal service starting with the directorate-level officers.
"Today’s seminar is therefore convened to critically examine some of the first level issues and risks associated with the planned transition from analogue to online computer-based commission’s assessment processes as they touch on promotion exercises for federal civil servants. A number of other technical conversations will follow, as part of due diligence, before we begin social media orientation, education and mock-tests, to prepare federal officers for the 2024 promotion exercise which is scheduled to hold in the third-quarter of the year
"Beyond the CBT and the digitization and computerisation programme, there are many other facets to the commission’s reform plan, which will be unveiled progressively as we get the sign-on and endorsement of our principal. Of course, the commission requires enhanced staff capacity and upgraded institutional capability to sustain the momentum that this series of reform initiatives will create.
"We are however hopeful that in so far as all the efforts are channelled to strengthen the professionalism of the federal bureaucracy to enhance the potential of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President to game-change Nigeria’s national transformation journey, thereby relieving the burdens and pains that the irreducible policies of the Federal Government may have created, then we sure will not lack the oxygen required to keep the implementation of the reform programmes on course."
The one-day seminar with the topic "Institutional Framework and Procedures for the Conduct of Directorate Level Promotion Examination: Guaranteeing Integrity, Credibility, Transparency and Accountability" was convened by the Chairman of the FCSC, Prof. Olaopa. It had the following as the speakers and panelists: Mr Olu O. Ilesanmi - Rtd. Permanent Secretary, Federal Civil Service; Dr Ahmed Dunoma Umar - Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Youth Development; Mr Ataboh Ademu - Director (Learning and Development) OHCSF; Prof Olugbenga D.Ojo - Director, Examination and Assessment (NOUN) ; and Mr Mato Yusuf Abdullahi - Director (ICT) FCSC .
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President Bola Tinubu says lawmakers who alleged that the 2024 budget had been embellished did not understand the arithmetic of the appropriation act.
Tinubu spoke on Thursday night, during an iftar gathering of members of the senate, at the presidential villa.
Iftar is a meal taken by Muslims at sundown to break the daily Ramadan fast.
On November 29, Tinubu presented the sum of N27 trillion as the proposed budget for the 2024 fiscal year, to the national assembly.
On December 30, the national assembly passed the appropriation bill, increasing its size from N27.5 trillion proposed by Tinubu to N28.7 trillion.
THE BUDGET PADDING ALLEGATION
Early this month, Abdul Ningi, senator representing Bauchi central, stirred controversy when he alleged that the 2024 budget was padded by N3 trillion and that the country is operating two budgets concurrently.
Following the claims, the senate debated the matter at the “committee of the whole”.
Subsequently, the senator was suspended for three months for allegedly not providing evidence to back his allegations.
Godswill Akpabio, senate president, had said many Nigerians would no longer trust the upper legislative chamber because of the allegation.
“Nigerians are bashing the senate. Many Nigerians will never in future come back to respect this chamber. The integrity of this chamber has been totally damaged and we wanted you to repair it with your speech,” Akpabio told Ningi.
‘SENATORS’ INTEGRITY INTACT’
Addressing the legislators on the budget padding claims, Tinubu said the integrity of the senate is intact.
“I know the arithmetic of the numbers that I brought to the senate and I know what I got back,” the president said.
“And I appreciate all of you for the expeditious handling of the budget. Thank you very much.
“Those who are talking of malicious embellishment in the budget didn’t understand the arithmetic and they didn’t refer to the numbers… the baseline of what I brought.
“All of your integrity is intact. I am very grateful for what you have been doing.”
Tinubu assured Nigerians that the challenges and economic hardship in the country will soon be over.
“The natural challenge that we face will be over,” he added.
“On the economic challenge, we are about turning the corner.”
Former Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has damned the consequences of meeting with officials of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
The former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), who is a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), was seen in a viral video on social media paying a consultation visit to the national chairman of the SDP, Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam.
The party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam, had earlier visited El-Rufai at his Abuja residence.
Later, the SDP National Working Committee (NWC) officials received El-Rufai at the party’s secretariat.
During the visit, Gabam reportedly noted El-Rufai’s rich and remarkable political pedigree, saying he is a friend and respected national figure.
“This is a welcome development that concerned Nigerians are cross-fertilizing ideas on how to salvage the nation’s present unpleasant socio-economic challenges of the times. The prevailing circumstance calls for bi-partisan and robust collaborations that transcend ethnic and religious lines to address the nation’s woes and find sustainable ways to redeem the situation,” Gabam was quoted to have said at the meeting.
He also said to achieve the needed transformation in the country, Nigerians need a leader like El-Rufai whom he said has a high political pedigree.
However, in one of the videos of the visit, someone was heard at the background telling the photographer not to upload the photos and video on X, but El-Rufai responded, saying, “Let them upload it; I don’t care.”
The former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was on his way to securing a ministerial appointment in the government of President Bola Tinubu but he was dropped in the dying minute.
Although Tinubu nominated him and he was screened by the senate, the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly failed to confirm him, citing a security report.
Subsequently, the former minister went abroad and literarily withdrew from politics.
However, he returned to the country and continued his life quietly.
Wednesday’s visit to SDP has sparked rumours on El-Rufai’s interest in contesting the 2027 presidency against Tinubu.
‘El-Rufai not running against Tinubu’
But Muyiwa Adekeye, the former governor’s media aide, has denied that his principal is gearing to square up with Tinubu.
In a statement posted on X, Adekeye said, “I consider the most recent speculations about Malam Nasir @elrufai as reflecting an unhealthy obsession with politics. People have personal histories and relationships that predate political affiliations. It cannot be a hallmark of civilisation to have friends from within only your political party. When people visit each other or mingle across party lines, it is because human relationships exist, distinct from the political or the partisan.”
“Malam Nasir @elrufai is a senior member of the APC, one of the signatories to its merger documents, and a significant contributor to the party’s demonstrated viability. These contributions do not require that he treats friends as anathema on account of politics or maintains an antiseptic distance from them.
“Malam Nasir @elrufai hosted some friends to Iftar on Tuesday, 19 March 2024. NSA Nuhu Ribadu was at the Iftar with a senior APC figure like Alh. Kashim Imam. SDP National Chairman Shehu Musa Gabam was among the friends who partook in the Iftar. Gabam was not accused of considering crossing over to the APC on account of that.
“When Malam Nasir @elrufai visited Gabam the next day, he was merely returning a visit to a friend who happens to be SDP chairman. Malam El-Rufai is known for being open and forthright. If he had any political decisions to make, it would not be in character to let them be subject to speculation.
“”Unfounded speculations about Malam Nasir @elrufai have become an industry that has delivered tons of lies and clickbaits in the last 18 years. This is unlikely to abate anytime soon, given the persistent obsession of its purveyors who relish in negativity and their tireless indulgence in conflating assumption with fact. A recent instance was when he visited former presidents late in 2023 to explain his Nigerian governance study book project covering each of their tenures, the speculators said it was about politics! That is why it is sometimes necessary to clarify matters lest the unwary be taken in.”
The National Peace Committee, led by former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, on Thursday, explained why it did not penalise candidates and political parties who flouted the peace accord entered into ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The NPC had come under criticism over its silence following reported skirmishes, intimidations, and alleged vote-buying activities, especially at the February 25 presidential election where the current President, Bola Tinubu, was declared the winner.
Reacting to the criticism, NPC’s Head of Secretariat and Executive Director of The Kukah Centre, Revd Fr Atta Barkindo explained that the national peace committee does not have the constitutional power to arrest or prosecute any politician.
Addressing newsmen at the public presentation of preliminary evaluation report on support to the NPC through The Kukah Centre on Wednesday, Barkindo said it was the responsibility of the police and other security agencies constituted by law to go after violators of the peace accord.
He said, “What people don’t understand is that the NPC as a peace committee doesn’t have a constitutional power to arrest or prosecute anybody.
“All the agencies constituted by law are available to do all that. What we are adding is a moral intervention where these institutions have failed. So what we do is once we sign an accord and it is violated, there are institutions we hand them (erring politicians) over to.
“Even without the NPC handing them over, people can clearly see what is happening. Let the police and those who are constituted by law get up and do their job.
“We are simply adding value, and I don’t want people to place too much expectation on the National Peace Committee to go beyond its mandate. But beyond the signing of the peace accord, when you assemble presidential candidates two days to an election and they are all over the media, they can actually publicly recommit themselves to the process.
“For me, that is adding value to the entire electoral costs and that is what we bring to the table because it helps to douse the tension, reduce the level of bitterness and helps citizens to hold these people to account especially, when they publicly declare that they will accept the outcome of the vote as long as it is free, fair and credible.
“And to be honest, people are abiding by the terms of the accord because at the end of the day, when the results were announced, there was no widespread violence. People went to court, and that was what the accord said.
“If you’re aggrieved, go to court. Some people were aggrieved, and they actually went to court. So as far as we are concerned, the terms of the accord have been really complied with. The rest of the issues of violence, there are agencies constituted by law to address that. I think they should just get up and do their job.”
The Federation Account Allocation Committee shared N1.152.trn to the three tiers of government for February 2024 from a gross total of N2,326.14trn.
This was revealed in a statement signed by its Director, Press and Public Relations, Mohammed Manga, after its February 2024 meeting chaired by the Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, on Thursday.
FAAC is responsible for reviewing and adopting the allocation of funds to states and the Federal Government.
Every month, the committee distributes revenue to all 36 states and 774 local governments in Nigeria.
This funding is expected to fuel development and assist governments at different levels in fulfilling their responsibilities
From the stated amount inclusive of Gross Statutory Revenue, Value Added Tax Electronic Money Transfer Levy and Exchange Difference, the Federal Government received N352.40bn, the states received N366.95bn, the local government areas got N267.15bn, while the oil-producing states received N166.24bn as derivation, (13 per cent of mineral revenue).
The statement added that N66.45bn was given for the cost of collection, N856.93bn was allocated for transfer intervention and refunds, and N250bn was saved.
The document showed the total revenue distribution for the month.was drawn from Statutory Revenue of N101.34bn VAT of N428.80bn, N15.15bn from EMTL, and N607.44bn from Exchange Difference, bringing the total distributable amount for the month to N1,152.75trn.
The communique issued by the FAAC at the end of the meeting indicated that the Gross Revenue available from the VAT for February 2024 was N460.48bn, which was an increase from the N420.73bn distributed in the preceding month, increasing to N39.75bn.
From that amount, N18.42bn was allocated for the cost of collection and N13.26bn was given for transfers, intervention and refunds.
The remaining N428.80bn was distributed to the three tiers of government, of which the Federal Government got N64.32bn, the states received N214.40bn, and local government councils got N150.08bn.
Accordingly, the Gross Statutory Revenue of N1,192.42bn received in the month was higher than the sum of N1,151.80bn received in the previous month of January 2024 N40.62bn. From that amount, the sum of N47.40bn was allocated for the cost of collection, a total sum of N843.67bn for Transfers, Intervention and Refunds and a total of N200bn saved.
From the remaining balance of N101.34bn, FG got the sum of N7.35bn, States received N3.72bn, while the sum of N87.39bn was allocated to LGCs as Derivation (13 per cent Mineral Revenue).
Also, the sum of N15.78bn from EMTL was shared and the FG received N2.27bn, States got N7.57bn, LGCs received N5.30bn, while N0.63bn was allocated for Cost of Collection.
The statement also disclosed that from the sum of N657.44bn from Exchange Difference, the FG received N278.46bn, States got N141.24bn, while the sum of N108.89bn was allocated to Local Government Councils, N78.85bn was given for Derivation (13 per cent of Mineral Revenue) and the total of N50bn was saved.
It also revealed that Petroleum Profit Tax Value Added Tax, Import Duty, Excise Duty and Customs External Tariff levies increased significantly, while Oil and Gas Royalties increased marginally. Electronic Money Transfer Levy and Companies Income Tax recorded considerable decreases.
In his opening remarks at the meeting, Edu said, “On the fiscal side, there is a move to raise the forex trading.”
He informed the gathering that the President Bola Tinubu-led administration, in its determination to achieve and ensure rapid and sustained economic growth in the country, has commenced the intervention programme which is a direct payment to about 15 – to 17m poorest and vulnerable Nigerians, after carefully making sure that the system is fraud-free, using the Biometric Registration and Digital Registering.
He explained that “there is an increase in revenue, and we are commending the revenue-generating agencies for their hard work.”