Lobbying For APC National Chairman Position Intensifies [LEADERSHIP]
Lobbying for the position of the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) gained momentum yesterday as the opponents and supporters of the incumbent chairman criss-crossed the country to curry the favour of past and present leaders of the ruling party.
Even governors elected on the APC platform were not left out as they held open and secret meetings to push their case for and against Oshiomhole to a logical conclusion.
LEADERSHIP learnt that some pro-Oshiomhole governors resolved to meet with President Muhmmadu Buhari to resolve the imbroglio. They also reportedly agreed to confer with APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is alleged to have reached out to some leaders to persuade him to intensify his peace overtures.
But Oshiomhole’s opponents, who are working towards the APC National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting slated for March 17, 2020, are not resting on their oars.
Sources in their fold said that the NEC meeting would be used to test the might of the majority leaders of the APC against the “desperation of a few persons” in the “outlived” Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.
S’South zonal leadership passes vote of confidence on Oshiomhole
Meanwhile, the South-South zonal leadership of the APC has passed a vote of confidence on Oshiomhole and declared that the increasing actions of vested 2023 interests were out to destabilise both the party and its leadership.
No Going Back On NEC Meeting – Giadom
Also yesterday, the deputy national secretary of the APC, Chief Victor Giadom, has defended the notice he sent out on Friday night, convening an emergency NEC meeting for March 17, 2020. Giadom insisted last night that Oshiomhole remained suspended.
In a statement he issued last night, Giadom who signed it as the “acting national secretary” of the party faulted some of his colleagues on the NWC for approving the nomination of Waziri Bulama as acting national secretary.
28 Years After, Senate Begins Amendment Of Company Law [LEADERSHIP]
After 28 years, the Senate will tomorrow commence the amendment of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) to boost Nigeria’s business sector and the economy as a whole.
The amendment is informed by a bill, sponsored by the Senate leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North), which proposes to review the law to reflect current realities.
CAM, which has not been significantly amended in the last 28 years, was enacted as a decree by the military regime in 1990.
According to a summary on the bill, when passed into law by the National Assembly, the business landscape in Nigeria will be reorganised and freed from the constraints of several provisions in the Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990, which obstruct modern business practices in the light of national and global business reforms.
The bill also seeks to provide an efficient means of regulating businesses, minimise the compliance burden of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), enhance transparency and shareholder engagement, and promote a friendly business climate in the country.
The proposed legislation now before the National Assembly will also address the seeming stagnancy and primitive methods of doing business in Nigeria, essentially to meet with the present international best practice as well as promote ease of doing business.
The introduction of model netting provisions in the bill as a means of mitigating credit risks, according to Abdullahi, would promote financial stability and investor confidence in the Nigerian financial sector and the economy.
Similarly, the economic impact of the provisions of the bill would ensure more business-friendly regulation for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
The amendment to CAMA is also expected to have the potential to increase activities of MSMEs, with the overall effect of growing the nation’s economy in the process, providing more jobs and guaranteeing economic stability.
Reacting to the introduction of the bill by the Ninth Assembly, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said its passage and assent into law would rank Nigeria in the first 100 countries on ease of doing business.
He assured that the Senate would expeditiously consider and pass the bill into law given its significance towards strengthening the economy.
Review Of S’Court Verdicts Unconstitutional – Bulkachuwa [LEADERSHIP]
The immediate past president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Adamu Bulkachuwa, has described recent moves by some senior lawyers to get the Supreme Court to review its judgements as unconstitutional.
Justice Bulkachuwa, who described the development as unfortunate, insisted that “it is a threat to the judiciary as a whole.”
The eminent jurist, who retired from the bench on March 6, 2020, told journalists in Lagos that asking the “Supreme Court to review its judgements is unconstitutional. It’s not the law.”
She challenged those that disagree with her on the issue to point to the section of any law that back up their action.
Bulkachuwa also described the application filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) asking her to recuse herself from the panel that heard the petition against the conduct of the 2019 presidential election as misplaced.
She said: “I have been a judicial officer for 40 years and I know I have a responsibility to God. I am going to be accountable to Him one day. That’s why I try to be upright as much as possible in my judicial conduct and this is what guides me in handling any case that comes before me.
“When that issue of the presidential election petitions panel came up, I have even forgotten that my husband is a politician. I only felt that as the president of the Court of Appeal and number one in that court, I would have been the best person to handle the case and I had no doubt that I would have done justice to the case.
“But, once I was asked to recuse myself, a doubt was raised in my mind. A doubt in the sense that no matter what I do or say, I will not be seen as being impartial, so, I decided to recuse myself from the panel,” she stated.
Pro-Oshiomhole Govs Plan Meeting With Buhari To Stop Chair’s Removal [PUNCH]
- APC camps flex muscle over contentious NEC meeting
- We must abide by party constitution, says Gombe gov
John Alechenu, Chima Azubuike, Olaide Oyelude, Gbenga Odogun, Bola Bamigbola, Wale Oyewale and Daud Olatunji
There were indications on Sunday that governors and other chieftains of the All Progressives Congress supporting the embattled National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, had stepped up moves to prevent his removal.
The PUNCH gathered that pro-Oshiomhole forces and those opposed to him were locked in a bitter supremacy battle for the control of the party.
It was learnt that the first test of supremacy by the two sides would be the National Executive Council meeting, which the anti-Oshiomhole forces in the National Working Committee had scheduled for Tuesday next week.
The PUNCH learnt that as part of moves to stop Oshiomhole’s removal, governors who were sympathetic to him would this week meet with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to prevent next week’s NEC meeting.
But the APC National Vice-Chairman (North East), Mustapha Salihu, insisted that the NEC meeting would hold as scheduled.
Buhari Govt, Most Wicked In Nigeria’s History — Oyedepo [PUNCH]
The Presiding Bishop of Living Faith Church Worldwide also known as Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo, has described the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), as the worst in the history of Nigeria.
Oyedepo said this on Sunday while delivering a sermon during the second service of the church at the Faith Tabernacle, Ota, Ogun State.
He said the hate speech bill being sponsored by Senator Sabi Abdullahi was the most ridiculous bill anyone could think of.
The cleric said while the government was seeking to criminalise hate speech, those who kill others at will were left to walk free.
Oyedepo said, “The government in this country is making a draconian law – hate speech. They said if you speak hatefully, you have committed murder. Out of someone who says I will kill you and the one who kills, who has committed a crime? I don’t understand which kind of animal farm we live in.
“I said stop stepping on my toes and you said that is hate speech but somebody kills and he is walking free on the streets. This is the most stupid and nonsensical ideal anybody can think of.
I said you are bad and you said that is a crime. Must I say you are good when you are bad?
“In my view you are bad and you shouldn’t be a leader. I have the right to say so. As far as I am concerned, I am a true born and thoroughly-bred Nigerian, an intelligent one. In my view this is the worst thing that has happened to Nigeria — this government. It is the worst and in fact it is like a curse.
“I have been here for some time and I led the first prayer and fasting for Nigeria in 1979. I am not a baby in the affairs of Nigeria. This is the worst government, a government with no direction. Their days are numbered. I can tell you as a prophet that their days are numbered.”
Lawmaker Knocks Commissioner Asking Matawalle To Join APC [PUNCH]
A member representing the Maru-Kanoma Constituency in Zamfara State, Yusuf Kanoma, has berated a serving commissioner in the state for calling on Governor Bello Matawalle to defect to the All Progressives Congress.
Recalled that a commissioner in the state, Alhaji Abubakar Tsafe, who belonged to the APC had asked Matawalle to leave the Peoples Democratic Party and join the APC.
But Kanoma described the action of the commissioner as a double standard for a serving commissioner to invite his governor to join his party.
“I feel the commissioner should be cautioned. Because the governor has graciously agreed to accommodate them by giving appointments to many of them who do not belong to his party does not mean that he is planning to join the APC.
“We are aware of the improvements recorded by the present PDP administration particularly in terms of security and education, as such we don’t want to be taken back to the former status,” he said.
Mortuary Attendant Sells Human Skull To Herbalist [PUNCH]
- Teenager stabs suspected rapist to death
- Fake naval man nabbed for violating traffic rule
A mortuary attendant, Seun Falana, has been arrested for allegedly exhuming a corpse from where it was buried and severing the skull at the Trinity Cemetery, Ajegunle, in Lagos State, which was sold to a herbalist, Olawale Shodolamu, for N10,000.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the duo of Falana and Shodolamu met their waterloo when one Dauda Tijani, whom the herbalist had sent to pick up the skull from the mortuary attendant, was accosted by policemen, who were on stop and search around the Alakija bus stop on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, said in a statement on Sunday that during interrogation, Tijani confessed that Shodolamu sent him to pick up the skull, adding that when the herbalist was arrested, he revealed the identity of the mortuary attendant, who was also apprehended.
He added that all the suspects would be charged.
Elkana stated, “On Sunday, March 1, 2020, around 1.30pm, a team of policemen from the Area ‘E’ Command, Festac, while on routine stop and search patrol at the Alakija bus stop, along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, intercepted one Dauda Tijani, 42, of No. 23 Omowunmi Street, Orege, Ajegunle, with a black polythene bag containing a human skull.
“He confessed that he was sent by one herbalist, Olawale Shodolamu, 70, to collect the skull from a cemetery attendant. The said herbalist was also arrested. He claimed that he bought the human skull from one Seun Falana, 37, an employee of Trinity Cemetery, Ajegunle, for the sum of N10,000.
“Shodolamu said he usually grinds the human skull with other substances to prepare charms for his customers. The third suspect was equally arrested. He confessed to digging out graves to remove human skulls to sell to herbalists. An investigation is ongoing. The suspects will soon be charged.”
Sowore’s Trial: Prosecution Seeks Nod To Shield Witnesses [THE NATION]
TESTIMONY under cover may be allowed in the trial of activist-turned politician Omoyele Sowore should the court endorse the bid by the prosecution.
The prosecution has applied for the court’s permission to shield some of its witnesses.
Sowore and his associate, Olawale Bakare, are charged with treasonable felony, fraud, cyber stalking, among others in the case being prosecuted by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).
In a motion on notice filed on March 5 by A. K. Alilu, the prosecution prayed the court for three main reliefs.
It wants an order “excluding persons other than parties and their legal representatives, with the exception of the accredited members of the press at the hearing of the above named charge.”
The prosecution also wants the court to grant “an order directing that the court should be vacated whenever the prosecution witnesses are coming to testify in the screen or be masked and that only the trial judge, parties and their legal representatives, with the exception of the accredited members of the press, will see the witnesses when they are testifying.”
It is also praying for “an order directing that the real names and addresses of prosecution witnesses in the proceedings shall not be disclosed.”
It stated, in a supporting affidavit, that its intention to shield its witnesses was informed among others, by the fact that the defendants are being tried for serious offences that could attract life imprisonment on conviction.
The prosecution added that its witnesses are afraid to testify or give evidence in the open, unless they are protected, for fear of being murdered by the defendants, their cohorts or members of the “Revolution Now” protest group across the country.
It also said its witnesses are mainly officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) , who investigated the case.
The prosecution stated that the witnesses are reluctant to come an give evidence for fear of being attacked by the other members of the “Revolution Now” protest group.
The motion is expected to be hear on March 11 when the case was adjourned to.
You’ve Positively Impacted Our Govt, Buhari Tells Osinbajo At 63 [THE NATION]
- Governors, PFN, others greet Vice-President
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday acknowledged the positive impact of his deputy, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), on the general performance of his administration.
During a call to the Vice-President on his 63rd birthday, President Buhari noted that Osinbajo had made huge impressions on the administration’s economic and social intervention programmes.
A statement by the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said President Buhari hailed the Vice-President for his loyalty and dedication to the administration.
“President Buhari congratulates most heartily the Vice-President, Prof. Osinbajo (SAN), as he celebrates his 63rd birthday anniversary.
“In a telephone call Sunday afternoon to his deputy, the President commends Prof. Osinbajo’s loyalty and dedication to the administration.
“President Buhari notes that the intellectual capacity of the Vice-President has impacted positively on the overall accomplishments of Federal Government, most notably in the economic and social intervention programmes.
‘The President joins family members, friends and associates of Prof. Osinbajo in wishing him joyous birthday celebrations.
Nigerians Shun PoS Transactions Over Charges [THE NATION]
- Volume drops by 4.83 billion in one month
THE volume of electronic payment transactions through Point of Sale (PoS) terminals dropped by 4.83 billion in one month. It dipped from 46.13 billion deals in December 2019 to 41.3 billion in January, according to the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) report.
The PoS transaction drop in cash value is N60 billion. Merchants- retail outlets in the e-payment value chain- continue to collect N50 Stamp Duty charge per transaction from PoS users. The transaction value for PoS fell from N373 billion to N313 billion in December 2019 and January 2020 respectively.
It was learnt that collection of the illegal charge by merchants – petrol stations, supermarkets and other business owners that deploy PoS machines for payment – has continued against the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) order that payment by customers should be stopped.
Although the CBN directed that the charge should be borne by merchants, not PoS users, there has not been any enforcement of the order.
The NIBSS data also showed that the decline in PoS usage occurred despite increase in the number of registered PoS terminals by the banks from 446,453 to 449,998 in December.
According to the report, the banks deployed 303,162 PoS terminals in December 2019 and 306,409 PoS terminals in January. This showed that, despite the deployment of more terminals to merchants, customers demand for the service is dropping.
The Nation investigation in the country’s commercial capital Lagos, showed that filling station operators in the downstream oil sector, the supermarkets among others, have continued to collect the illegal fee on PoS transaction by customers.
APC Crisis: Governors Take Oshiomhole’s Case To Villa [THE NATION]
- Ganduje, others rally support as Kogi, Gombe, Yobe governors join anti-chairman’s group – NWC to sanction official for calling NEC meeting – Policemen to remain at secretariat
All Progressives Congress (APC) governors have been visiting the Presidential Villa to solicit President Muhammadu Buhari’s support either for or against party’s National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole.
The party on Wednesday sank into leadership crisis after a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court barred Oshiomhole from acting as the national chairman following an application by some party members that the chairman had been suspended by his ward in Etsako, Edo State.
A Federal High Court sitting in Kano the following day granted retention of status quo.
The police subsequently sealed off the national secretariat in Abuja.
While some governors are behind the move to get the party chairman out of office, others are opposed to the move.
Both groups have been visiting the Presidential Villa for support.
While Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has visited the Villa to lobby the President to get the chairman out of office, it was learnt that Kano State Governor Abdulahi Ganduje went to the Villa at the weekend to make a case for Oshiomhole and to seek the way out of the crisis.
A source in the government said: “The President has been all ears to these governors without betraying his emotion.
“We know he is consulting but we do not know what he will do.”
Governors Ganduje (Kano), Babagana Zulum (Borno), Aminu Bello Masari, (Katsina), Hope Uzodinma (Imo), Adegboyega Oyetola (Osun); Dapo Abiodun(Ogun); Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos) and others are rallying around the APC national chairman.
Oshiomhole Splits APC Governors Forum [SUN]
- 13 pro-Oshiomhole govs declare war on Fayemi, Badaru, Bagudu •Oshiomhole tells detractors he won’t quit, remains uncertain of resuming Monday
The travail of the embattled National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, has split the APC Progressive Governors Forum (PGF).
A reliable source close to the pro-Oshiomhole governors’ camp told Daily Sun that as a result of the crack, about 13 APC governors have declared support for the former Edo governor.
The source said the pro-Oshiomhole governors have declared war on Governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) and Abubakar Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), vowing to remove them both as helmsman of Nigeria’s Governors Forum and chairman of Progressive Governors Forum respectively.
Oshiomhole has consistently maintained that some governors and a minister were behind his ordeal.
Buhari Approves 65 Radio, Television Licenses [SUN]
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved 65 radio FM and digital television licenses across various sectors in the country.
Top amongst the beneficiaries were the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp who acquired radio FM broadcasting license each, the Nigeria Customs Service (radio and television licences), and Blueprint Newspapers which got approval of a free view digital terrestrial television licence.
The four-page statement also listed other beneficiaries which included Rhola Vision Engineering Limited, Leadership Group, the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), amongst others.
The list of the first batch of the FM Radio and Digital Television Broadcasting Licenses was made available to Daily Sun in Abuja by the Assistant Diretor, Public Affairs, National Broadcasting Commission, Ekanem Antia.
“Consequent upon the approval granted by the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, the National Broadcasting Commission has released the list of 65 successful companies and institutions of higher learning recently granted Radio, Digital Television and University Campus Radio Broadcasting.
“In summary, 43 companies have been granted FM Radio Broadcasting Licenses, eight Campus FM Radio Broadcasting Licenses, one Community FM Radio Broadcasting License and 13 Free-View Digital Terrestrial Television Licenses,” the NBC said.
The Commission said there were no available frequencies for assignment for Lagos and Abuja.
$22.7bn Loan: Senate Under Fire For Excluding South East, Edo [SUN]
The South-East is practically livid over its exclusion from infrastructural development captured in the $22.7 billion loan that the Senate recently approved for the Federal Government.
Meanwhile, more facts have emerged on how some sections of the country were not captured in the borrowing plan.
A document made available to journalists showed how the Federal Government allegedly excluded states in the South-East and Edo State from from the loan.
The document also revealed that, despite the omission, the Senate, with at least 15 senators from the South-East, did not not protest the decision to sideline some sections of the country from benefiting from the $22.7 billion loan.
Last week, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, resisted attempts by senators to debate on details of the loan as he cleared the way for the approval of the document amid protests and uproar.
A breakdown of projects to be funded from the loan indicated that, in the South-West, about $200 million would be invested in the power transmission project for Lagos and Ogun; South-South, East-West Road would gulp $800m and an additional $3.47bn would be spent on the rail system modernisation and coastal railway project for Calabar-Port Harcourt-Onne deep seaport segment.
In the North-East, the projects include the multi-sectoral crises recovery programme that will take $200m, the northeast Nigeria integrated social protection, basic health, education, nutrition services and livelihood restoration project, where $100m would be invested, and the Lake Chad Basin Commission, with an investment of $13m.
In the North-West, the Kano-Lagos railway modernisation project, and Kano-Ibadan double track would take $5.53bn; vocational training in the power sector, $50m; FCT, Lagos, Ogun. Kano, Plateau, Niger, Enugu, Kaduna and Cross River economic transformation programme for results, $35m; National Information and Communication Technology Infrastructural Backbone Project (NICTIB) phase II, $328.1m; Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan, Akure, Maiduguri, Lokoja, Kaduna, Akwanga, Bauchi, Kano, Katsina. Health system project, $110m, Katsina; rural water supply and sanitation ($150m, North-East, and Plateau); Development of the mining industry ($150m, nationwide).
North-Central – Staple crops processing zone support project ($100m, Kogi); Greater Abuja water supply project ($381m; FCT); Abuja mass rail transit project, phase 2 ($1.25bn; FCT); Mambila hydro-electric power project ($4.8bn; Taraba); Integrated programme for development and adaption to climate change in the Niger Basin ($6m; Nigeria and Niger Republic).