FG Keeps Mum Over Uzodinma’s Travel Ban, N4.3bn Fraud Case [PUNCH]
- We can’t touch him, he now enjoys immunity – EFCC spokesman
- Imo gov sacks chairmen of boards, parastatals
The Federal Government has failed to make any comment on the alleged $12m (N4.3bn) fraud case of newly inaugurated Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma, as well as the travel ban imposed on the governor.
When contacted for update on the alleged fraud case of Uzodinma, the Spokesman for the Attorney-General of the Federation, Dr Umar Gwandu, promised to give an update.
When Sunday PUNCH called six hours later, Gwandu said he had forwarded the inquiry to the appropriate quarters but there had been no response.
“I have not been able to get a response for now. When there is information, I will forward it to you,” he said.
Gwandu, however, could not say when the response would come.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which is also investigating Uzodinma for allegedly issuing a N200m dud cheque, however, said the new governor could not be touched because of his immunity.
Adebanjo, Okunronmu, YCE Tackle Tinubu Over Silence On Operation Amotekun [PUNCH]
- Tinubu will speak at appropriate time – Spokesman
Afenifere chieftains Pa Ayo Adebanjo and Senator Femi Okurounmu, on Saturday, lambasted the All Progressives Congress leader, Bola Tinubu, for his refusal to speak up on the Western Nigerian Security Network code-named ‘Operation Amotekun’.
Tinubu’s Spokesman, Tunde Rahman, however, said the APC chieftain would speak at the appropriate time.
Tinubu, who is a former Lagos State governor and leading politicians in the South-West, is yet to speak on Amotekun security initiative launched by the six South-West governors 10 days ago.
The initiative ignited a controversy almost as soon as it was launched with the Federal Government and some leaders and interest groups in the North voicing opposition to the scheme while leaders of thought and the populace of the South West have shown overwhelming support for the initiative.
Tinubu’s continued silence on the matter has raised a few eyebrows given the strong support expressed for the initiative by the majority of Yoruba leaders across political divides.
Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, however, 91-year-old Adebanjo said Tinubu shouldn’t have formed an alliance with the North in the first place.
He said, “It was the likes of Tinubu that told us that the South-West would enjoy many privileges but what has the South-West benefitted from the alliance? He shouldn’t have forged an alliance with them in the first place.
My Son’s Crashed Marriage To Adebutu’s Daughter Has Nothing To Do With Us – Obasanjo [PUNCH]
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says the crashed marriage between his son, Olujuwon and the daughter of his friend, a prominent philanthropist, Chief Kesington Adebutu, has nothing to do with their friendship.
Obasanjo broke his silence on Saturday in Abeokuta, two years after the marriage crumbled during the conferment of first honorary member on Adebutu at the 45th President’s party of Abeokuta Sports Club.
The children of the two prominent Nigerians got married in May 2017 but later broke up nearly one year later.
Obasanjo, who handled the conferment on Adebutu on behalf of the club, said their children got married of their own volition hence, he and his friend should not be made to pay for the consequence of the crashed marriage.
He said, “The honoree of today has rendered marvelous services to Egbaland. The Park Inn, which is the old Gateway Hotel, would have still remained in derelict if not for the services, commitment of the honoree.
“One thing you never said about him and I wonder why the citation left that out, you know not too long ago my son and your daughter on their own decided to get married but what happened to their marriage is between them, not between us.
“But Odole (his chieftaincy title) is our in-law and not just ordinary in-law but in-law from a distinguished family. Mama Ibeji on his right is from Ake, daughter of Toye Coker. On behalf of the grand patron, patron, vice patrons, President and all the officials and members of Abeokuta Club, and by the power conferred on me for this special occasion, I do confer honorary membership of Abeokuta Club on Odole Oodua, Sir Kesington Adebutu.”
S’Court Guber Judgment: Anxiety In Kano, Sokoto, Benue [SUN]
…PDP, APC faithful hopeful of victory tomorrow
There is uneasy calm in the ancient city of Kano ahead of tomorrow’s Supreme Court judgment on the 2019 governorship elections in the state, which the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdulahi Umar Ganduje, was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after the poll in March.
Members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, who had lost both at the tribunal and at the Appeal Court, appeared to be very optimistic of a favourable judgment tomorrow.
Bature Sanusi, the spokesman of the governorship candidate of the party, Alhaji Abba Yusuf Kyari, told Sunday Sun by phone that they are very optimistic and very confident of victory in the apex court.
Interest in Monday’s judgment increased following the judgment of the Supreme Court which handed over the mandate in Imo State to the All Progressive Congress candidate, Chief Hope Uzodinma, thereby throwing out Emeka Ihedioha after eight months as governor.
Although there is general peace in Kano, some politicians are of the view that the Supreme Court would take a similar path in the case of Kano State.
Amotekun: There’s No Going Back On Operation –Prof Akintoye, Yoruba Leader [SUN]
…Urges FG, police to stop being nervous
The Federal Government opposition to Operation Amotekun, the Southwest security outfit launched recently, is expectedly building up tension in the region.
In this interview, Prof Adebanjo Akintoye, leader of the Yoruba, insisted that there is no going back on the initiative that enjoys overwhelming support of the people of the Southwest.
Different reactions have been trailing the recent launch of Operation Amotekun – the Southwest security outfit; did you expect the response you are getting from the Federal Government?
Naturally! Every Yoruba person who is knowledgeable about the Yoruba nation itself expected that the Yoruba people would be overwhelmingly happy with it. And they are overwhelmingly happy with it. We expected that the Federal Government and its agencies would try to stall it and they tried to thwart it before it was inaugurated and they have not stopped it even up till now. But we are not going to let them be able to cancel it and it is not going to fizzle out. So, we shall see what happens. We expected that peoples of the Southeast, South-south and Middle Belt will emulate it and we are beginning to get information that they are seriously considering emulating it.
MASSOB Founder Reveals How Ihedioha, Uzodinma Rigged Imo Guber Poll [SUN]
Founder of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and leader of Biafra Independent Movement, Chief Ralph Uwazurike, has sensationally revealed how former Governor Emeka Ihedioha and his replacement, Senator Hope Uzodinma, rigged the March gubernatorial poll in Imo State.
Uwazurike who made the revelation in a video recording he sent to Sunday Sun alleged that both the outgone and incumbent governors rigged the election.
“Both Emeka Ihedioha and Hope Uzodinma are our children, any one of them can be there, nobody is better than the other. All of them are riggers; Ihedioha rigged the election, Hope Uzodinma rigged the election. Ihedioha used the INEC to rig the election, he didn’t get up to the 25 per cent requirement, he got all his votes from his local government at Mbaise, all the votes from Ahiazu Mbaise, Abor Mbaise, are they legal votes? Eighty thousand votes, 30-something votes, when other candidates were getting 25 votes, 200 votes, he was making 80,000 votes, is that legal votes? It’s fake results. Hope Uzodinma used the judiciary to rig his own election,” the BIM leader alleged.
He said that the two Igbo sons do not believe in Biafra, but the Nigerian system, which he said has turned to hurt them. “None of them believes in Biafra, I have interacted with them. They want to use the system to become what they want and if the system turns against them they should not cry. I don’t blame Justice Tanko. Two of them are illustrious sons of Imo State, I don’t support any of them, I support all of them.
Lagos Police Recover Corpse Of Abducted Odunukwe, Anambra bizman [SUN]
DETECTIVES attached to Zone 2 Police Command have found the corpse suspected to be that of the late Anambra businessman, Ignatus Odunukwe who was allegedly kidnapped and killed by suspected kidnappers sometime in December 2019.
Sunday Sun learnt that his abductors pretending to be interested in one of his properties in Ajah area of Lagos lured him to a point where they picked him.
In a five minutes video made available to Sunday Sun, unidentified policemen who introduced themselves as acting on the directives of the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2, Ahmed Iliyasu took some suspects allegedly arrested in connection with the case to identify an already decomposed body inside a bag.
The suspects who identified themselves as Arinze, Solomon, Cletus and Daniel Ibeaju took turns to confirm that the body in the bag belongs to the missing businessman whom they killed and dumped his body inside the forest in a remote area close to Ajah.
One of the suspects, identified as Daniel was heard explaining that the dead body was chopped in pieces and squeezed into a big bag and thrown into a carton before they dumped it in the bush.
No Region Has Right To Set Up Own Security Outfit – Police Minister [LEADERSHIP]
The Minister of Police Affairs, Maigari Dingyadi , said yesterday in Sokoto that no region was conditionally permitted to have regional security outfit in Nigeria hence the fears about Amotekum in the south -west was not necessary.
Dingyadi, who noted that the leaders of the region must have conceived the idea as a way of assisting the security agencies, added that the mission must have been twisted along the line.
“What some people are misconstruing to be a kind of regional security outfits, I want to believe that it is one of the usual support. But if it is considered a security outfit, then, I want to say that it is unconstitutional.
“The leaders of the south -west were intercepted at the middle. The reasons behind Amotekum might be a good one based on what we were told from the onset. However, let me state categorically that it is not legally right for any region to have a security outfit.”
The police minister, who stressed that regions and states can voluntarily assist the various security agencies to help secure their places, noted however, that such assistance, be it logistic or otherwise was not compulsory.
“If any region or state is not satisfied with the security, the state government has to support the outfits to perform better. Though, the support is voluntary not compulsory.”
Imo Verdict: PDP Adamant, Asks S’Court To Reverse Self [LEADERSHIP]
The immediate past governor of Imo State, Hon Emeka Ihedioha, declared yesterday that Nigeria’s judiciary and electoral system were on trial following the verdict of the supreme court which removed him from office last Tuesday.
Ihedioha stated this when the national working committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party led by the national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, paid him a solidarity visit in his Abuja residence yesterday.
Ihedioha was on Tuesday removed as governor of Imo State and was replaced by Sen Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ihedioha, who described the day of the judgement as black Tuesday, said the results were very clear as the electoral umpire still has the results, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has stated clearly that the results in question and the figures were not summing up.
NDDC: Heads To Roll Over Alleged N1trn Fraudulent Contracts [LEADERSHIP]
There are indications that those who ran the affairs of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) between 2017 and 2019, may be called to explain the award of 1,921 emergency contracts valued at N1.3 trillion within seven months in 2019.
Mr. Nsima Ekere served as NDDC managing director after taking over from the former acting managing director, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari in November 2016.
Ekere handed over to Professor Nelson Brambaifa, who handed over to Dr. Akwagaga Enyia, who ran the affairs of the agency on acting capacity for few weeks before handing over the present interim management committee headed by Dr. Joi Nunieh in 2019.
Addressing a press conference in Port Harcourt, the acting executive director, Projects, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, said the contract verification committee recently set up by Nunieh, is intended to establish the true position of the emergency regime between 2016 and 2019 in the Commission.
Ojougboh said, “Among other things this verification exercise is intended to establish the true position of the emergency regime between 2016 and 2019 in the Commission.
Partial Border Meant For Nigeria To Reorganize Economy, Security – Buhari [NATION]
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari said on Saturday in London that the partial closure of Nigerian borders is not a punitive plot against its neighbours,but a well thought out decision aimed at strengthening national economy and security
Addressing a select group of the Nigerians at a meeting , the President said the closure period would also be used for reflections on the critical areas of the nation’s life and plan to protect her again economic and security threats.
The President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina,said in a statement that the border closure has already started yielding dividends for the country especially local farmers as smuggling of agricultural produce has gone down drastically.
Smuggling of arms and ammunition has also been reduced,he said.
President Buhari attributed the country’s virtual food security position to the “very good last three rainy seasons,” federal government’s reduction of the price of fertilizers by 50 per cent, and the presidential directive to the Central Bank of Nigeria not to give foreign exchange for food imports thereby saving the nations billions of naira.
Commending Nigerians in the Diaspora for their huge home remittances – more than $25 billion in 2018 – the President also lauded their individual performances in their various fields of expertise.
Why Buhari’s Men, Security Chiefs Oppose Operation Amotekun [NATION]
- Governors await Buhari’s response, reach out to IGP, DG DSS • AGF got clearance from President, says source • FG may ask governors to scale down security network
FEARS that separatist and ethnic groups might take advantage of the introduction of the Western Nigeria Security Network codenamed Operation Amotekun to undermine national security were largely responsible for the declaration of the initiative as illegal by the federal government,The Nation can now confirm.
Some members of the kitchen cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari and security chiefs are also opposed to Operation Amotekun, because of what a source termed regional tone given to it by the SouthWest governors.
Attorney General of the Federal Abubakar Malami (SAN) branded the initiative illegal last week soon after it was launched in Ibadan.
The Minister claimed it runs contrary to the provisions of the Nigerian law.
However,The Nation gathered that some key players in the presidency interpreted the coming of Operation Amotekun as part of the ploy to introduce regional politics through the backdoor.
The President’s strategists rate the operation as a violation of Sections 2, 17 and 45 of the Second Schedule to the 1999 Constitution.
How FCDA Plans To Spend N37bn NASS Renovation Fund [NATION]
DETAILS of how the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) plans to spend the N37 billion for the controversial renovation of the National Assembly are beginning to emerge.
Investigation by The Nation revealed that chief among the renovation expenditure item is the dome, which is said to be “leaking profusely.”
“It requires an extensive repair work,” a source said yesterday.
A source said it would have been wrong of the National Assembly management to wait for the leaking dome to collapse before drawing the attention of the executive to it.
Also earmarked for major refurbishment, according to a source familiar with the project, is the cooling system at the National Assembly.
The source said the cooling system has been faulty for several years now and is due for an overhaul.
There is also the public address system which, according to source, needs to be upgraded.
The present system, one source said, often hinders lawmakers from making contributions from their allotted seats.
Another major part of the planned renovation is what sources called “general chamber restructuring for both chambers,” which embodies the creation of cubicles for language translators.
The National Assembly complex is said to be one of the few legislative chambers in the world without such essential facility.
Similarly, the scanning machines at the entry points of the National Assembly have long broken down, constituting a security risk if not replaced, sources said.
Findings online showed that an original smith baggage scanner ranges between N20million and N25million, while a walk through body scanner costs between N9million and N10million.
If all the entry and exit points of the National Assembly Complex are to be fitted with both baggage and body scanners, no fewer than 30 machines made up of 15 baggage and body scanners each would be required.
Fifteen baggage scanners at the price of N20million would cost N300million while 15 body scanners at N9million each would amount to N135million.
The sources did not say how much would be spent on specific areas of need, but explained that the National Assembly would not be directly involved in the renovation contracts.
The fund is accommodated in the 2020 budget of the FCDA.
Many Nigerians are displeased with the huge budget for the NASS renovation.
Critics wonder how such an amount could be spent on ‘mere renovation’ at a time millions of Nigerians are languishing in hunger and poverty.
They want the project either cancelled or scaled down.
But sources said the planned repairs “are not just renovation but a major restructuring to bring the National Assembly up to modern standard.
