The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan has debunked insinuation in some News platforms that he is in the race to retain his position as President of the Senate in the 10th National Assembly.
In a statement signed by him, Lawan described the Information as untrue, adding that he has never told anyone or held a meeting with any individual that he is running for the Presidency of the 10th Senate.
Lawan stated that he remains part of the leadership of the Ruling APC, and the party at the moment is
seeking to find solutions to the numerous issues arising from the contests for the leadership of the 10th National Assembly and will continue to remain focused on that.
After failing to stop him from emerging as APC’s flag bearer in 2022 and mounting steep hurdles for him in the 2023 election, Muhammadu Buhari increasingly comes across as intentionally charting courses of action designed to provoke pre-inauguration confrontation with Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Or am I missing something?
Take, for example, Buhari’s request to the National Assembly, just days to the end of his term, to approve an $800 million loan for the purpose of distributing “N5,000 per month to 10.2 million, poor and low-income households for a period of six months with a multiplier effect on about 60 million individuals.” This would have been comedic if it weren’t for the tragic, broad daylight official theft that it is.
Even Senate President Ahmed Lawan whose notoriety for pliancy to the presidency is unmatched in Nigeria’s democratic history couldn’t suppress a hearty burst of laughter when he read Buhari’s request in the Senate. Lawan was particularly tickled by Buhari’s assurance that the dispensation of the money to the poor and the vulnerable in the country would be above board.
“In order to guarantee the credibility of the process, digital transfers will be made directly to beneficiaries’ account [sic] and mobile wallets,” Lawan quoted Buhari to have said in the letter, which inspired bouts of scornful laughter not just from Lawan but also from other senators. The disdainful giggles suggest that senators knew this was an audacious, unsophisticated, tragicomic attempt at last-minute pillaging of the public till.
Most Nigerians who are so poor that a monthly N5,000 welfare gift will make a difference in their lives have no bank accounts or digital wallets. That was precisely why Buhari’s politically motivated and ill-conceived naira recoloring policy was harder on the desperately poor, particularly in rural areas, than it was on the middle and upper classes. They couldn’t partake in electronic transfers of funds because they had no bank accounts.
According to the Guardian of January 28, 2022, “Nigeria is one of the top three unbanked countries in the world, with 40 per cent of its population without a bank account and out of the 59 million unbanked adults, 73 per cent do not have the requisite documents to open a tier-three bank account.”
This realization must have been why Lawan and his colleagues snickered at Buhari’s assurance that “digital transfers will be made directly to beneficiaries’ account [sic] and mobile wallets.” They know the game because they play it, too. They know where the money will end up and wonder why Buhari is gratuitously transparent about his own fraud.
This is unlikely to be funny to Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima, though. If I were them, I would see this as a two-way ambush. The loan compels them to honor a six-month commitment to remit funds to dubious bank accounts and digital wallets, which could stymie their take off. But resistance to it risks touching off a confrontation at a time when they can’t afford to add an extra enemy to an already long list of fierce opponents.
While he is using the instrument of his lame-duck incumbency to legally steal public funds under the pretext of caring for the poor, Buhari is, as usual, shifting the burden of governance and tough decisions to the incoming government. He is throwing a rash of policy booby traps for his successors.
For instance, although he has said he would remove so-called fuel subsidies (which he once said didn’t exist), he never did in the eight years he has been in power. Now that his tenure is ending, he said he had resolved to dispense with fuel subsidies by June 2023, a month after he would have left office. In the aftermath of the confusion and outrage that the decision generated, Yemi Osinbajo stepped in to save face and said the implementation of subsidy removal had been suspended entirely and left to the next government. Duh!
But that wasn’t the end of the matter. Buhari’s finance minister countered Osinbajo a day later and said there was “no change in the overall policy direction regarding the petrol subsidy envisaged by June 2023.” In a press statement, her media aide said the Buhari regime “has not suspended the removal of fuel subsidy, but has rather expanded the subsidy removal committee to include teams from the incoming administration and the state governors.”
I am sincerely curious to see the magic by which Buhari and his team will implement fuel subsidy removal a month after they are out of government—or force their successors to do it on their behalf.
Similarly, Buhari, who never had a real economic adviser, much less an economic blueprint, throughout his presidency, suddenly signed a national development plan on May 3, which he called “the Nigeria Agenda 2050 (NA 2050).” His media aide quoted him as saying that the plan “aims to ensure that the country attains a Per Capita GDP of $33,328 per annum, placing her [sic] among the top middle-income economies in the world by 2050.”
Again, this comes across as a stealthy ground-emplaced mine for his successor to step on and burn. Even previously Buhari-loving Daily Trust columnist Jibrin “Jibo” Ibrahim who once called me a “PDP intellectual” (which I am not and have never been) for consistently calling out Buhari’s incompetence isn’t amused by Buhari’s chutzpah in crafting an economic blueprint for the incoming government, which he himself never had.
“I wonder how deeply insulted the incoming president will feel, that a man who could not implement a plan for himself, offers one to somebody who actually listens to experts and advisers,” Ibrahim wrote in his May 5, 2023, column. “I am more concerned about the reality of someone who has been both a military and civilian president and has no notion of a mandate being tied to the period served in office, and not beyond this.”
It’s truly befuddling why Buhari is engaging in this sort of shameless last-minute looting spree and planting policy landmines for his successor. For one, it’s obvious that if Tinubu and Shettima hope to succeed, they would have no option but to reverse several of the provocations that Buhari has initiated. This would necessarily inaugurate a frosty relationship between the two administrations, and Buhari would be the loser.
For another, Buhari appears gripped by a paralyzing fear of being investigated for the unprecedentedly stratospheric corruption his regime has perpetrated and is perpetrating. He obliquely betrayed this fear during his last interview with Channels TV—as he has done many times before and after the interview.
“Nobody should ask me to come and give any evidence in any court,” he said. “Otherwise, whoever it is, he will be in trouble because all important things are on record.” Buhari obviously fears being asked to come back to defend the corruption he is supervising. Pissing off your successor is hardly a smart way to avoid this.
Well, in states, governors-elect are openly fighting lame-duck governors who are getting fresh loans from banks and engaging in last-minute looting of resources. Buhari is doing precisely what several departing state governors are doing. Is he intentionally courting Tinubu’s anger? Or is he merely being manipulated by his much smarter cabal?
Of course, Tinubu and Shettima are wise enough not to take the bait. But it would be interesting to see how Tinubu and Shettima will respond after their inauguration about a week from today.
President Buhari on Monday May 22, stepped out in a ceremonial naval attire.
The President rocked the outfit to the Presidential Fleet Review held at the Naval Dockyard Limited in Victoria Island, Lagos.
Watch the video below.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has again passed a vote of confidence on Julius Abure, maintaining he is the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP).
While the LP has been recently embroiled in a leadership crisis, the President of the NLC Joe Ajaero insists that Abure is the party’s chairman.
The NLC Chief was speaking while featuring on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“Well, Julius Abure remains the national chairman of the Labour Party. Nobody has conducted any convention,” he said Tuesday.
“There is no meeting nor NEC meeting called which NLC as trustees has attended where any officer has been removed.”
According to him, a convention will soon be held to elect new leaders.
“So, any distraction for people to perpetuate themselves in office is not acceptable to us. That is where we are and it is the position as of today,” he said.
“You can’t just wake up and say you have removed leaders. It is not acceptable to us! We should know but it does not mean leaders cannot be removed. Leaders can be removed any moment.”
An LP chieftain Lamidi Apapa had declared himself as the chairman of the party but the NLC says it does not recognise him.
He noted that even if Abure is removed, a NEC meeting must hold for another to take his place which was not the case with Apapa.
I Pity Incoming Govt
Away from the Labour Party leadership tussle, Ajaero also spoke about labour crises in the country.
The NLC boss faulted President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for its inability to address workers’ demands which he believes will give the incoming government much trouble.
“The Buhari administration, I think they tried their best in ensuring there is industrial harmony to the best of their capacity,” Ajaero added.
“But that capability was not enough. Most of the industrial disputes they treated were unfinished. ”
He said agreements signed with several unions are yet to be implemented.
“There is hardly any agreement that was conclusively decided. That is why I pity the incoming government because a lot of industrial crises seem to be looming,” he said.
President Muhammadu Buhari has honoured his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, by naming a federal government building after him.
The Nigerian leader on Tuesday virtually commissioned three bridges, three secretariats and one road project undertaken by his administration.
The Federal Government built secretariats in Anambra, Bayelsa and Zamfara states to cut expenditures on rent for office spaces.
Buhari said the structures would “reduce the cost of governance by bringing federal civil servants under one roof for efficient service delivery.”
The new buildings are Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Federal Secretariat in Yenagoa, Ebele Okeke Federal Secretariat in Awka, and Malam Yahaya Gusau Federal Secretariat in Gusau.
The President said making infrastructure development a key point of focus in his administration was deliberate “to create wealth and make poverty alleviation easier.
An application seeking to stop the inauguration of the Governor-elect, Peter Mbah, on May 29, 2023 has been dismissed.
The application was dismissed by the Enugu State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on Tuesday.
The Enugu governorship candidate of the African Democratic Party, Nnamdi Omeje, and his party rejected the result of the March 18 governorship election, where the Independent National Electoral Commission declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Peter Mba, the winner.
Omeje and his party alleged that the election was characterised by intimidation, overvoting and non-compliance to Electoral Act 2022 and INEC election guidelines.
Consequently, he filed a petition against the election before the tribunal sitting at the Enugu State High Court Complex.
Among the reliefs sought before the Tribunal was to stop the forthcoming inauguration and/or swearing-in of Peter Mbah as the incoming Executive Governor of Enugu State.
The petitioners, through their motion, urged the tribunal to make an interlocutory order of injunction restraining Mbah from presenting himself, for the purposes of being sworn in or inaugurated as the Executive Governor of Enugu State on May 29, 2023.
But ruling on the motion on Tuesday, the tribunal dismissed the application for lacking merit.
Daily Trust reports that the Chief Magistrates’ Court sitting in Yaba, Lagos, has failed to sit.
The court, on Tuesday failed to sit in the case against Seun Kuti, son of Afrobeat maestro, Fela Kuti.
Our correspondent learnt that Magistrate Adeola Olatubosun who has been hearing the case, is away on a training.
Kuti was brought to the magistrates’ court but upon learning of the absence of the magistrate, he was immediately taken back to the police station at Panti.
The case has been adjourned till Wednesday, May 24.
Daily Trust had reported how Kuti was apprehended on May 15 after he was filmed assaulting a police officer on the Third Mainland Bridge.
The musician was detained at the state criminal investigation Department (SCID) and arraigned before the magistrate’s court on May 16.
The police had sought to get an order to further keep him in custody for 21 days pending the conclusion of its investigation.
But the court directed the police to detain Kuti for additional 48 hours and then release him on bail.
Last Thursday, the magistrate extended the musician’s remand for additional four days to enable the police continue with its investigation.
She also ordered that his file be duplicated and sent to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) and subsequently adjourned the trial till May 22.
The trial was, however, shifted to Tuesday
The President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, has honoured his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan.
He honoured Jonathan by naming a federal government building after him.
The Nigerian leader on Tuesday virtually commissioned three bridges, three secretariats and one road project undertaken by his administration.
The Federal Government built secretariats in Anambra, Bayelsa and Zamfara states to cut expenditures on rent for office spaces.
Buhari said the structures would “reduce the cost of governance by bringing federal civil servants under one roof for efficient service delivery.”
The new buildings are Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Federal Secretariat in Yenagoa, Ebele Okeke Federal Secretariat in Awka, and Malam Yahaya Gusau Federal Secretariat in Gusau.
The President said making infrastructure development a key point of focus in his administration was deliberate “to create wealth and make poverty alleviation easier.”
The Senator representing Borno South Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Ali Ndume, has revealed why he dropped his ambition to become the next Senate President.
According to him, the reason is because he doesn’t have money to share to his colleagues.
Ndume maintained that he opted out of the race for two reasons; the fact that the President told him to consider withdrawing and secondly, the claim that he has no money to share around.
Appearing on Arise TV on Tuesday, the lawmaker, who contested for the Senate President in the ninth assembly and scored 28 votes, said he decided to throw his weight behind Godswill Akpabio this time around for reasons of stability, fairness and equity.
“It’s unfortunate that everybody has now known that the Senate Presidency and leadership tussle is now a money thing rather than capacity, capability and other qualifications that are supposed to matter most.
“Truly I’m the one leading the campaign for Akpabio for reasons I’ve stated before. It is based on the need to have stability, equity and justice and fairness in the country considering the heightened tension arising from issues especially the zoning, religion and whatever.
“When the President spoke to me about stepping down and considering that I don’t have the money to go into this battle because money is playing more roles than qualifications, I obliged and decided to work for Akpabio,” he said.
The outspoken senator said the race was being overshadowed by the influence of money rather than merit, experience, and vision for the future of the legislative body.
“People are talking about figures. Nobody has approached me about money but definitely money is going around. Some are talking about 10, 20, 30, 40 and even more than that. Some are even boasting that they’re going to give every Senator up to $200,000. Honestly, that is very unfortunate,” Ndume said.
It has been revealed that Judges presiding over the presidential election petition tribunal were told by security operatives to ban smartphones and other electronic devices during proceedings.
Peoples Gazette reported that this was made public by judges presiding over the presidential election petition tribunal on Tuesday.
The tribunal chairman, Justice Haruna Tsammani, said the decision was to ensure the safety and security of stakeholders, stating that “with the latest technology, a small chip can set everyone here ablaze.”
Although loosely enforced, the lead judge pleaded with the senior lawyers to persuade their juniors to obey the court’s directives.
Nonetheless, according to Mr Tsammani, the court understands and appreciates the concerns of stakeholders, especially the lawyers.
On Monday, the tribunal ruled that it would not allow a live telecast of the tribunal proceedings because there was no basis, whether, in law or judicial procedure, the court could rely on to grant the application.
Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, on Tuesday, paid a visit to the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, at the Defence House in Abuja.
The visit comes six days before Tinubu’s inauguration as successor to outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari.
Tinubu disclosed this in a tweet on his handle.
“I received former British Prime Minister and founder Tony Blair Institute for Good Governance, Mr Tony Blair, at the Defence House, Abuja, earlier today,” the incoming President stated.
“We discussed areas of mutual interests and how Nigeria can continue to benefit from the amazing work of the Institute.”
I received former British Prime Minister and founder Tony Blair Institute for Good Governance, Mr Tony Blair, at the Defence House, Abuja, earlier today. We discussed areas of mutual interests and how Nigeria can continue to benefit from the amazing work of the Institute. pic.twitter.com/UbdVitkRaN
— Bola Ahmed Tinubu (@officialABAT) May 23, 2023
Channels Television reports that those who attended the meeting include the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; and Vice President-elect, Kashim Shettima.
Since Tinubu was declared winner of the February 25 presidential election, he has been receiving calls and congratulatory messages from several world leaders, including the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak.
Last Tuesday, the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, called Tinubu, emphasising his continued commitment to further strengthening the US-Nigeria relationship with the incoming administration.
Spokesperson Matthew Miller who disclosed this in a brief communique, said the Secretary noted that the U.S-Nigeria partnership is built on shared interests and strong people-to-people ties and that those links should continue to strengthen under President-elect Tinubu’s tenure.
A week later, US President, Joe Biden announced a nine-member delegation for Tinubu’s swearing-in on May 29.
The delegation will be led by Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Marcia L. Fudge.
The Federal Government has named the Second Niger Bridge after President Muhammadu Buhari.
Minister of Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola disclosed this while briefing the press after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.
“And because my colleagues in cabinet and the governors of the South-East who have spoken to me have decided that the Second Niger Bridge must have a name, in consultation with them, we have decided we would also declare open the Muhammadu Buhari Second Niger Bridge linking Anambra State and Delta,” he said at the event.
Presidential aide Bashir Ahmad also corroborated Fashola, saying the bridge has been named after the Nigerian leader.
The MUHAMMADU BUHARI BRIDE is officially commissioned today, by President Muhammadu Buhari. #PMBLegacy pic.twitter.com/8eJ3Uzm46p
— Bashir Ahmad (@BashirAhmaad) May 23, 2023
“The Second Niger Bridge is to officially be called/known as Buhari Second Niger Bridge,” he tweeted.
— Bashir Ahmad (@BashirAhmaad) May 23, 2023
Recall that President Buhari had virtually commissioned the bridge and other federal projects on the same day.
The ceremony was done during the FEC meeting and was witnessed live at the Asaba interchange of the bridge by Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State, his Imo State counterpart Hope Uzodimma as well the Minister of Labour and Employment Chris Ngige among others.
According to Ngige, the people are excited over the bridge because it signifies the true handshake across major geographical zones.
At the event, the Obi of Onitsha Igwe Alfred Ugochukwu Achebe points to the enormous benefits of the bridge, especially, the ease of traffic while the Asagba of Asaba Prof. Chike Edozie described it as a parting gift from President Buhari which will positively impact Nigeria’s economy.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Second Niger Bridge took place on the 10th of March, 2014.
By Chris Udochukwu
Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to the President Muhammadu Buhari has received an honourary Doctorate Decree from Learn To Live Business School, United Kingdom.
Adesina who announced the award in a statement released via his Facebook page on Tuesday, said he never thought he would ever have the appellation ‘Dr’ to his name.
According to him, the award was in recognition of his work as Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity,
The statement reads in full:
HONOUR FROM ACROSS THE SEAS
Never thought I would ever have the appellation ‘Dr’ to my name, except if I went to herbal school, as an imminent retiree. But what did I see? A notification from Learn To Live Business School, United Kingdom.
The honorary award, they said, was in recognition of my work as Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, and it is described as Doctor of Strategic Management and Leadership Development.
The investiture was done by Dr Peter Akubo and Dr Nelson Kingsley, on behalf of the institution.
An award of pure joy, if you ask me.
The Labour Party has filed an appeal against the Kano Federal High Court’s judgement nullifying the candidature of Abia State governor-elect, Alex Otti, in the March 18 governorship election.
Recall that Otti’s candidature was nullified following a lawsuit filed by Ibrahim Haruna Ibrahim against the Labour Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission. The judgement was given on grounds of the Labour Party not complying with the requirements stipulated in the 2022 electoral act and also failing to submit its membership register to INEC at least 30 days before their primaries.
Labour Party’s legal counsel, Umeh Kalu, SAN, said they filed an appeal on May 22, for the judgement of the trial court to be set aside.
Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force – National Cybercrime Center (NPF-NCCC) have successfully apprehended one Ogenevowero Emefeke, a 37-year-old resident of Guida Area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for pulling-off an elaborate
fraudulent scheme on an Australian national.
The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, in a statement released on Monday, May 22, 2023, said the arrest is coming on the heels of actionable intelligence made available by the South Australian Police Department (SAPOL).
Adejobi stated that the sum of sixty thousand Australian Dollars (60.000.00 AUD) was recovered from the suspect.
“The suspect, in a written statement during Police interview, freely admitted to having committed the fraud and several others dating back to 2021,” the statement read.
“In unmasking his modus operandi, investigation reveals that the suspect and his cohorts usually adopt pseudo identities of renowned international celebrities, carefully select their victims through different social media platforms, lure them into an attack popularly known as “Romance Scam”, and after gaining their trust, subsequently play on their emotion to swindle them of their resources. Investigation further revealed that the victims are usually vulnerable men and women in desperate search for emotional comfort and fame.
“The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba CFR, while applauding the new wave of anti-cybercrime achievements recorded by NPF-NCCC under the constructive leadership of the Director National Cybercrime Center, DCP Ifeanyi Henry Uche, via collaborations with international anti-cybercrime agencies, charged the Center to sustain the drive.
“In the same vein, the IGP urges members of the Public to exercise restraint in engaging in Businesses and Relationships with individuals whose real identities have not been physically verified.
“While the processes to repatriate the recovered fund to the victim through the Australian Consulate is being perfected, the suspect will be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigations.
“All complaints or information bordering on cybercime can be sent to the NPF NCCC through its e-reporting portal – https://incb.npf.gov.ng/ or @NPF_NCCC across all social media platforms, and via mobile on 09168343711.”
