APC interim panel compiles errant members’ list, to propose expulsion [Punch]
- Caretaker committee writes two letters on withdrawal of cases to state chapters
- Reconciliation: APC dumps Akande-led panel, opts for fresh committees
There are strong indications that the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/Extra-Ordinary National Convention Planning Committee of the All Progressives Congress has dumped the Chief Bisi Akande-led APC National Reconciliation Committee.
A highly placed source confided in The PUNCH on Sunday that the leadership of the party had opted for smaller committees and allowed the Akande-led panel to “die a natural death.”
It was also learnt that the caretaker committee had started compiling a list of the APC members who refused to withdraw court cases despite the directive of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), at the party’s National Executive Committee meeting on June 25, 2020.
At the NEC meeting, the President directed the APC members with pending court cases to withdraw them and embrace reconciliation.
The PUNCH reliably learnt that the party had already written to the state chapters twice on the need to ensure compliance with the presidential directive.
Findings indicated that the APC might expel members who shunned the Presidential directive that cases members filed against one another and the party should be withdrawn.
Recall that the immediate past National Working Committee of the APC headed by Adams Oshiomhole, had on February 12, 2020, set up the Akande-led panel to resolve crises in its state branches including Zamfara, Edo, Ogun, Bauchi, Imo and Rivers.
Before the COVID-19 lockdown, the committee said it had collected 170 petitions from the aggrieved members of the party.
But its Secretary, Senator John Enoh, in an interview with The PUNCH, on June 22, explained that the lockdown stalled the meetings of the committee.
He also said the committee had made unsuccessful attempts to make use of the information and communication technology to hold its meetings.
But a top member of the party, who confided in one of our correspondents, said the interim leadership opted for smaller committees because it had a short time to complete its assignment.
He said, “You know the Akande-led panel has yet to start its assignment and the new caretaker committee started its six-month tenure in June. Even, if the interim committee gets a tenure extension, the Akande committee cannot complete its reconciliation because it has to go to all parts of the country. We don’t have that luxury of time.”
Since its assumption of office, the Mai Mala Buni-led caretaker committee has set up no fewer than three committees to reconcile aggrieved members in specific states.
Among them is the reconciliation committee headed by a former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, to reconcile aggrieved members in Edo State. The second one is headed by the governor of Niger State, Abubakar Bello, to reconcile aggrieved party members in Ondo State.
Buni also on Friday set up a five-member committee chaired by the Jigawa State Governor, Abubakar Badaru, to reconcile aggrieved members in Ogun and Imo states.
Attempts to get a reaction from the Secretary and spokesman for the Akande-led panel, Senator John Enoh, were futile.
He neither picked nor returned calls to his mobile telephone. A response to a text message sent to him on the subject was still being expected as of the time of filing this report.
However, the APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Yemiki Nabena, in response to inquiries by The PUNCH about the fate of the Akande panel, said, “At this point in the APC, we have a new structure; that is why you can see that even in Edo, we have a reconciliation committee in Ondo. We also have a reconciliation committee headed by the Niger State Governor, Abubakar Bello. They are still working to get people together.”
It was further gathered that the national caretaker committee had warned members who refused to withdraw court cases against the party and other members.
A top-ranking member of the party confided in The PUNCH that “the party does not have the luxury of time. The committee is seriously considering invoking provisions of Article (D) V of our constitution.
“The caretaker committee has already written two letters asking state chapters to ensure compliance, the third may be a call for action.”
“After the first letter dated July 1, 2020, which was sent to states on the issue, the Secretary of the Caretaker Committee, Senator John AkpanUdoedehe, wrote another letter dated August 14 titled, ‘Request for documentary evidence of compliance/non-compliance’, which he personally signed.
“In the letter, the secretary said, ‘Further to our letter dated July 1, 2020, wherein we directed that you coordinate with your state legal advisers and secretaries to encourage all members who have instituted any matter in court against the party to withdraw the same and steps to be taken towards reconciliation.
‘It is however with dismay that several state chapters have not yet sent their reports in line with our earlier request.
‘In view of the above, you are hereby directed to forward to the National Secretariat, within 14 days of the receipt of this letter, the following: List of all litigation between party members in your state chapter.
“Also to be submitted to the party secretariat are the documentary evidence of compliance with the National Executive Committee directive on withdrawal of all pending litigation and names of litigants who have refused to withdraw from the court any matter which may have been filed against the party in your state.”
Police, DSS, IPOB clash, give conflicting casualty figures [Punch]
No fewer than 10 persons were killed on Sunday in Emene, in the Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, when policemen, operatives of the Department of State Services and members of the Indigenous People of Biafra clashed.
The clash threw Emene and its environs into confusion and disrupted church services as worshippers ran helter-skelter to escape being caught in the crossfire.
It was gathered that trouble started around 7am when some DSS operatives and policemen stormed Practicing School Emene, where the members of IPOB were observing their Jewish prayers, and started to arrest them.
Eyewitnesses said attempt by IPOB members to resist the arrest led to the shooting, during which one IPOB members was initially killed and others injured.
It was gathered that seeing one of them in a pool of blood, other IPOB members attacked the security operatives and killed two policemen and two DSS operatives.
A reinforcement was said to have been called and over a dozen patrol vans loaded with armed security agents, comprising police, soldiers and DSS, arrived at the scene and faced the Biafran agitators, killing about five of them.
It was gathered that over 30 members of IPOB were subsequently arrested.
When one of our correspondents visited the area, sound of gunshots and teargas fumes filled the air.
One of our correspondents counted five dead bodies with one burnt beyond recognition on the road.
The police and the DSS were said to have taken the bodies of their men to the morgue.
A policeman, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said, “When my team arrived, the IPOB members had taken over the street and making bonfires to prevent security men from coming into the venue of their prayer.”
Four persons died in the confrontation – Police
The state Commissioner of Police, Ahmad Abdurrahman, said the police arrested five IPOB members, while four persons were killed.
The commissioner, who spoke on the telephone said, “It was a DSS operation; it was when it turned bloody and IPOB seized their men that they sought our intervention.
“When my men arrived at Emene, they came under heavy fire from the miscreants. So they have to take cover and replied and when they saw that the problem was too much, they called for reinforcement, then the DSS also called the military.
“So it was an operation to rescue DSS operatives and at the end, I arrested five; then two corpses. They killed two people and they burnt one other alive.
“They killed one other person whose identity was not known. The injured are receiving treatment, including the IPOB members that we arrested.
“Maybe other members of IPOB were with DSS because they also made arrest and military also effected arrest also.”
Police killed 21 members, arrested 47 – IPOB
Meanwhile, the Media and Public Secretary of IPOB, Emma Powerful, on Sunday in a statement in Anambra State said the group would avenge the killing of its members in Enugu.
The group said, “Today (Sunday), the Nigerian security personnel stormed IPOB meeting ground in Enugu and started shooting sporadically which consumed the lives of 21 members and 47 arrested for no just cause or provocation.
“Those responsible for this barbaric killing in Enugu today must pay for their actions against IPOB at the appropriate time. It is laughable for the DSS to be claiming that they lost five personnel in the hands of unarmed and peaceful people. It is clear to all that IPOB doesn’t carry arm.”
The group warned that keeping quiet and following the rule of law should not be misconstrued as weakness on its part.
It added, “We are warning and asking the Nigerian government and its security operatives to stop this atrocity. Why have they refused to confront Fulani terrorist herdsmen, Boko Haram terrorists, Ansaru group, Fulani bandits, ISIS and other groups ravaging the country and busy killing innocent and unarmed citizens of IPOB?”
IPOB members attack DSS patrol team, kill two operatives
The Department of State Services said two of its men died on Sunday when a patrol team was attacked by IPOB members.
The service did not provide details of the attack but said a comprehensive investigation had commenced into the incident.
The DSS Public Relations Officer, Dr Peter Afunanya, disclosed this in a statement titled, ‘Unprovoked violent attack on DSS patrol team in Enugu.’
It stated, “The DSS wishes to inform the public that its patrol team was, today (Sunday), attacked in Emene, Enugu State by members of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra.
“The service lost two personnel in what was clearly an unprovoked violent attack launched by IPOB on the team.”
The secret police condoled with the families of the departed officers and also prayed for the repose of their souls.
It explained that all measures had been put in place to ensure that their killers and everyone involved in the dastardly act were promptly apprehended and brought to justice.
The agency reaffirmed its commitment to work with other security agencies to maintain public safety and order.
It urged law-abiding citizens and residents to go about their normal businesses without fear.
El-Rufai: Ikeja, Kano, PH, other branches shun call to boycott NBA confab [Punch]
Branches of the Nigerian Bar Association in Katsina, Ikeja, Abeokuta, Kano, Port Harcourt and other major towns on Sunday said they would attend the NBA annual general meeting starting on Wednesday.
The groups, in separate interviews with our correspondents, faulted the call by the Kaduna State branch of the Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria for all Muslim lawyers to withdraw from the conference because of the NBA’s withdrawal of the invitation to the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who was initially one of the speakers at the meeting
But the branch of the association in Bauchi insisted on its position that it would not attend the conference if the NBA failed to rescind its decision to withdraw El-Rufai’s invitation.
The NBA had, at its meeting on Thursday, withdrawn El-Rufai’s invitation following a petition against him by some lawyers, who cited his poor handling of killings in Southern Kaduna.
The association’s decision had generated diverse reactions with the governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Mr Muyiwa Adekeye, in a statement on Thursday, saying it was as one-sided.
In the statement titled, ‘Mallam El-Rufai will continue to contribute to the national conversation,’ Adekeye said the NBA took the decision without listening to the other side.
The Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria also faulted the NBA, saying the association’s decision was irresponsible.
But groups, including the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, lauded the NBA for standing on the side of justice.
But on Sunday, branches of the NBA differed on the call by MULAN for the boycott of the conference.
We’re attending, there are other competent persons that can be invited – Katsina NBA
The NBA in Katsina said the branch would attend the association’s annual national conference, adding that there were other people that could be invited.
The association’s Assistant Secretary, Barrister Isah Ibrahim, in an interview with The PUNCH, said, “The NBA Katsina and all its affiliates are attending the congress. We are not part of the boycott. The call for boycott is just by a minute faction of the Kaduna NBA and we here in Katsina are not part of the call for the boycott.
“The issue of whom to invite for the NBA conference is the prerogative of the annual general conference committee subject to the approval of the National Executive Council of the NBA.
“Governor El-Rufai was dropped because of issues concerning insecurity in Kaduna, but we believe that there are other qualified and competent personalities who are really performing and who could be invited to deliver lectures.
On his part, the Chairman of the Osogbo branch of the NBA, Abdulraman Okunade, said personally, he was opposed to the decision of the NEC, but he would attend the conference.
Although we are part of the minority, we will attend – Kano branch
Also, the Kano branch of the association said it would attend the conference.The state NBA chairman, Aminu Gadanya, who said this in a telephone interview with The PUNCH in Kano on Sunday, said, “Even though we are part of the minority, we are participating in the conference because it is binding on us.”
The Chairman of NBA, Port Harcourt branch, Prince Nyekwere, while speaking to one of our correspondents on Sunday, also said the branch would attend the meeting.
Reacting to a petition calling for the withdrawal of invitations to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, Nyekwere said the attention of the NBA had not been brought to such a petition
Wike doesn’t need anybody’s permission to attend NBA programmes – Commissioner
On his part, the Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Pastor Paulinus Nsirim, in an interview with The PUNCH, said, “His Excellency, the Governor of Rivers State, Barrister Nyesom Wike, does not need anybody’s permission to attend a programme of the NBA. He is a member of the body of benchers and a seasoned legal practitioner.”
The immediate past Chairman of the Abeokuta branch of NBA, Emmanuel Olualade, supported the body’s decision on El-Rufai.
Olualade, who spoke to one of our correspondents on Sunday, said he attended the NEC meeting where the resolution was made.
He explained that the way the NBA was structured, no branch had the power to challenge the resolution of the NEC ,except if the decision affected it directly.
Tribe doesn’t matter in law profession – Ikeja branch
Also, the Chairman of the Ikeja NBA, Mr Dele Oloke, said the branch had no other option but to abide by the decision of the association’s NEC on El-Rufai.
Oloke said, “For us, when NEC decides, under our constitution, only another NEC of the NBA can change it. Those who want us to re-invite Nasir El-Rufai should forget about it. Naturally, every lawyer should abide by the decision of NEC, if your wig and gown are worth the cloth with which they were sewn. And it doesn’t matter your tribe.”
El-Rufai must be re-invited to speak at conference, Bauchi branch insists
But the NBA branch in Bauchi called on its national leadership to be promoters of the rule of law and not to be driven by parochial sentiments.
In an interview on Sunday, the branch Chairman, Abubakar Abdulhamid, said the position of the group was still the same as the one in the statement it issued on Friday.
The branch in a statement by Abdulhamid, and the branch Secretary, Shansuddeen Magaji, said the NBA should be “seen as promoting the principles of the rule of law and attainment of justice to all manner of people irrespective of cultural, tribal, religious or political inclination.
The association also called on the NEC re-invite El-Rufai and apologise to its members for the “unpopular decision” of withdrawing the invitation to him.
Sokoto branch decides today
But Chairman of the Sokoto branch, Sambo Mohammed, in a chat with The PUNCH said the group would on Monday (today) decide whether it would attend the conference or not.
We Have No Interest In Edo Gov’ship Poll – Presidency [Leadership]
The presidency said yesterday that it has no partisan interest in the forthcoming governorship election Edo State billed for September 19.
According to it, the repeated sentiments displayed by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over a recent video clip is a complete waste of time.
The PDP, in the last few days, had been holding several press briefings over a video clip showing the chief of staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari, chatting with former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, along a walkway in the presidential villa.
In one of its press conferences, PDP’s national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus called on the United Nation (UN), the European Union (EU) and other international bodies to place visa restriction on Gambari, Oshiomhole, and other individuals as punishment for allegedly plotting to truncate democracy and good governance in Nigeria.
But a top presidency source told State House correspondents that the opposition party made a mistake by trying to malign the person of the president’s chief of staff, stressing that all the efforts directed at discrediting Gambari have failed in the face of his solid credibility.
The source who did not want his name in print said the chief of staff was only doing his job of leading the former APC national chairman to meet with the president.
The villa source further added that Oshiomhole had repeated what he said in the video at a press briefing after meeting with the president.
It would be recalled that Oshiomhole, while briefing State House correspondents after meeting with President Buhari, explained that he came to plead with the President to ensure security for the upcoming Edo State governorship election, citing threats of violence by PDP.
The presidency source, however, wondered why the PDP decided to mudsling with “an incomplete information”, saying no one knew how the conversation started or how it ended.
The source added: “What PDP is doing is called ‘playing the devil’s card’, which is all about suggesting ideas into people’s heads, the truth does not matter in such an atmosphere. What I am convinced of is that even the leaders of the PDP know that what they are doing is wicked and unethical, but since it is politics, they believe anything goes.
“How do you know the ‘arrest’ in the conversation is for PDP elements? The target in this mudslinging is the chief of staff to the President, but their mistake is that this is not a man for this sort of politics. He is way above petty politicking. He is a career diplomat and hardly interested in this kind of politics, those who know him, know this much about him”.
NNPC Records $378.42m Crude Oil, Gas Export Receipts in June [Leadership]
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday announced a total crude oil and gas export receipt of $378.42 million in June 2020 as against $133.16 million it posted in May this year.
The corporation said that this signalled a marked improvement in revenue earnings, apparently following the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic global lockdown and the subsequent increased demand and firmer prices for crude oil in the international market.
In a release by its group general manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr Kennie Obateru, the NNPC stated that petroleum receipts for the month reflected crude oil earnings of $230.65 million, with gas and miscellaneous proceeds standing at $75.97 million and $71.80 million respectively.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has disclosed that the nation’s total crude oil and gas export receipts for the one year period June 2019 to June 2020 was $4.60 billion.
Similarly, the Corporation revealed that earnings from both products for the month of June 2020 stood at $378.42 million as against $133.16 million it posted in May 2020.
A breakdown of the receipt for the month show crude oil earnings of $230.65 million, with gas and miscellaneous proceeds standing at $75.97 million and $71.80 million, respectively.
The release further explained that details of the earnings were contained in the June 2020 Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR) of NNPC, the NNPC monthly report which is the 59th edition in the series.
The report put the total crude oil and gas export receipts for the period June 2019 to June 2020 at $4.60 billion.
The report also revealed that the in order to ensure continuous supply and effective distribution of petroleum products across the country in June, 2020, 1.34 billion litres of white products were distributed and sold by NNPC’s Downstream subsidiary, the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC). It explained that the figure was significantly higher than the 950.67 million litres of white products sold and distributed in May 2020, again an apparent reflection of the gradual ease of the lockdown in the Country and the picking up of business activities.
According to the report, the June 2020 figures indicated that over 1.3 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), 5.10 million litres of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) and 1.65 million litres of Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) were sold and distributed during the period.
White products sale for the period June 2019 to June 2020, the report disclosed, stood at over 19.104 billion litres, with PMS accounting for over 18.9 billion litres or 99.36 per cent.
In monetary value terms, the above volumes translated to a total sale of ₦134.22 billion of white products by PPMC in June 2020, compared to ₦92.58 billion sales in May, 2020.
Total revenues recorded from the sales of white products for the period June 2019 to June 2020 stood at over ₦2.267 trillion, where PMS contributed about 99.12 per cent of the total sales with a value of over ₦2.247 trillion.
During the month under review, 33 pipeline points were vandalized representing about 11 per cent decrease from the 37 points recorded in May 2020.
Mosimi-Ibadan accounted for 33 per cent, while Atlas Cove-Mosimi and Warri-River Niger recorded 27 per cent of the breaks each; other locations made up for the remaining 13 per cent.
The NNPC monthly Financial and Operations Report for June, 2020 explained that in collaboration with the local communities and other stakeholders, the corporation would continuously strive to rein in on the incidences of pipeline breaches across the Country.
In the Gas sector, out of the 232.03billion Cubic Feet of gas (BCF) supplied in June 2020, 148.66BCF of gas was commercialized; consisting of 34.64BCF and 114.01BCF for the domestic and export market, respectively.
This, the report explains, translates to a total supply of 1,154.78million Standard Cubic Feet of gas per day (mmscfd) to the domestic market and 3,800.45mmscfd of gas supplied to the export market for the month, implying 64.07 per cent of the average daily gas produced was commercialized, while the balance of 35.93 per cent was re-injected, used as Upstream fuel gas or flared.
The NNPC report stated that gas flare rate for June 2020 stood at 6.11 per cent, that is: 472.94mmscfd, compared with average Gas flare rate of 7.84 per cent, equivalent of 611.73mmscfd for the period June 2019 to June 2020.
Students Groan As Strike Threatens Reopening Of Tertiary Institutions [Leadership]
Industrial actions embarked by both academic and non-academic staff of most public tertiary institutions in the country have dashed hopes of students who are eager to return to classes after the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
Tertiary institutions in the country have been shut since March after the government ordered their closure to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
But the National Universities Commission (NUC) revealed recently that preparations were ongoing to reopen universities in the country.
Confirming this, the federal announced yesterday that tertiary institutions in the country will reopen “very soon”.
Speaking during a programme aired on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), the minister of state for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, said the federal government was also working to end the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) before schools reopen.
Nwajiuba said, while private universities have requested to be allowed to reopen, vice-chancellors want those in exit classes to resume in earnest.
He stated: “Tertiary institutions across the country will open very soon. Private universities have written us, requesting that they are allowed to reopen ahead of public institutions. Vice-chancellors have also requested that we allow them to reopen for their students in exit classes.
“We have also a lot of calls from bodies who want us to resolve the industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities before reopening because some public schools which are not ASUU-prone want to take the advantage of the strike to move ahead, but that would destroy our public schools. So, we are working on all these calls.”
The minister said the National Universities Commission (NUC) would have to do an appraisal of the state of tertiary institutions ahead of the reopening.
“We are waiting for the same from other tertiary institution bodies so I can situate them and present the PTF on COVID-19. I can’t give the NUC a deadline on this because our job at the ministry is to wait for their inputs. This is not a political decision alone. If you open the university system, you have opened the country,” he noted.
Nwajiuba urged ASUU to call off their strike because their grievances “have more or less been resolved.
“The body is making efforts to situate the visitation panel, though that has to be gazetted and we are on it,” he said.
The news from the government may sound good to only to private university students, but for public university students, it is not for them following looming strikes in the country.
Academic and non-academic staff had embarked on strike after alleging that the federal government refused to meet the demands of the various unions in the tertiary institutions.
Decrying the situation, president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Comrade Danielson Akpan, told LEADERSHIP Sunday that the utmost demand of the students is for schools to reopen with safety modalities in place.
Akpan said, “We are very much concerned that tertiary institutions are not being considered coupled with strikes. It has been our outmost demand that schools should reopen with modalities in place to help in the reopening process. The entire leadership of NANS wants schools to reopen,” he said.
“The thing is in two phases, one is allowing schools to reopen for academic activities to commence and the second is safe schools where the safety of the students will be guaranteed, where it will not be a spreading ground for coronavirus.
“Now, the first is the expectations and the demands of students and that of their parents for it is the responsibility of the government. Now, as much as students and their parents want schools to reopen, has government shown commitment in handling the safety?”
But president of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, (COEASU), Nuhu Ogirima told this paper that the lecturers will embark on strike if government failed to bring to the fore the prevailing rapid and awful condition of both staff and infrastructure in public Colleges of Education (COEs).
He said, “The paltry fraction of N15bn pledged to us as palliative, out of N486 billion required as at 2017, to cushion the effects of the non-implementation of Needs Assessment, and others has not been fulfilled till date.
“Also, the imposition of IPPIS on the COE system bedeviled the payment of emoluments of staff with anomalies, infractions and deprivations. Third party-deductions are not being effected in most colleges. A number of our members on Sabbatical and Study Leaves have not been included on pay-roll; and worst of all check-off dues have been withheld, unremitted to the Union since February, 2020, ostensibly to stifle the Union of funds and cripple her activities.”
LEADERSHIP Sunday reports that on March 9, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had commenced a warning strike, which eventually led to an indefinite strike on March 23 in protest against government’s refusal to pay their members who defied the order to enroll in the Integrated Personnel and Payroll System (IPPIS).
With the strike still on, the fate of university students returning to classrooms remain uncertain.
The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) at the weekend also issued government a fresh 14-day ultimatum to address their grievances at the expiration of an earlier 21-day ultimatum which government failed to address.
With all the strike actions, students in tertiary intuitions would not go back to classrooms even if government decides to reopen schools.
The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) had also said they would withdraw their services the day universities would be directed to reopen for activities after the COVID-19 lockdown.
The unions are protesting what they described as haphazard implementation of the IPPIS and non-implementation of the 2009 agreement entered into between them and the Federal government.
More than four months since coronavirus outbreak forced educational institutions across the country to shut down, Nigerian government recently began the process of reopening schools by directing exit classes in secondary school to resume.
The major issue this time was the deadlock over the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System (IPPIS).
ASUU recently revealed that the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) which is being developed by the union as an alternative to IPPIS is ready for integrity tests, meaning that when its efficacy is tested and verified, the issues that led to the declaration of the ongoing strike action on March 17, 2020 may be called off, but the union has insisted that salaries owed its members must be paid before paving way for any discussion.
ASUU said, “As we speak, five months salaries of our members at the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) and Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture (MOUAU) were still withheld by the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) on account of non-registration on IPPIS.
“Thousands of other academics across the universities are suffering the same fate. So, while we counsel that the federal and state governments must meet the Taskforce specified guidelines for reopening of educational institutions, we insist that all the arrears of the withheld salaries of our members in federal and state universities must be paid immediately to pave for further discussion on the outstanding issues in the Memorandum of Action of February 7, 2019”.
The ,inister of state for Education, Nwajuiba, recently spoke on ASUU strike and the fate of tertiary institutions, saying the union is right and meant well for Nigeria but getting all the money to meet their demands becomes challenging because of the effect of COVID-19.
“While ASUU may mean well, some of the things we are contracted to do, like the amount of money to be released to the universities every year are not actually available, but we are still seeking their understanding,” he was quoted as saying.
That hope was, however, dashed by ASUU’s recent declaration that public universities would not resume until the union’s demands were met, signifying that resumption might eventually be their weapon to further put pressure on government to meet its demands.
There are growing concerns that tertiary institutions, especially the federal universities, may not reopen even after COVID-19.
This has necessitated students in the country to also call on government and the unions to seek ways out so that students can go back to classes.
Like university students, students of Colleges of Education and Polytechnics across the country are still uncertain even if their schools are reopened.
COEASU, in a letter to the minister of Education, gave government 14 days to address their demands or face nationwide strike.
The letter titled, ‘Re: Neglect Of Colleges Of Education In Nigeria; An Ultimatum,’ copied minister of Labour and Employment, the executive secretary of National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), chairman of Committee of Provosts, Colleges of Education in Nigeria, NCCE and the chairman, Committee of Federal Provosts, NCCE, was to get positive response to forestall a possible industrial action.
The union previously issued a 21-day ultimatum to the federal government to address lingering and emerging issues concern, vide a memo with reference no. COEASU/NS/01/19, dated July 13, 2020.
“We are, however, irked by the fact that your office till date is yet to pay attention in any form to our demands and ultimatum. This further qualifies government insensitivity to issues bordering on the advancement of the nation’s teacher education industry”, it stated.
Court freezes 65 accounts for forex manipulation [Nation]
Court freezes 65 accounts for forex manipulation
14 firms’ accounts domicilled in 13
The Chinese connections
A COURT has granted the request by the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) to freeze 65 Bank accounts linked to 12 firms and a man.
They are suspected to be involved in the manipulation of the foreign exchange market.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, gave the order while ruling on a motion ex-parte filed by CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele and argued by former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mike Aondoakaa (SAN).
Justice Mohamed in the ruling granted the CBN 90 days, in the first instance, to investigate the activities of the firms, who the CBN Governor alleged were involved in the importation of goods not eligible for foreign exchange.
The CBN Governor further alleged that the activities of the firms and an individual identified as Adekunle Olusola Alonge, are “the cause of the current volatility and imbalance in the foreign exchange regime in Nigeria with the attendant negative impact on the economy.”
In the ruling, a copy of which The Nation sighted on Friday, Justice Mohammed said: ”An order is made freezing all transactions in the bank accounts of the defendants/respondents listed on the motion paper, for a period of 90 days in the first instance, pending the outcome of the investigation currently being conducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“It is also directed that, if the applicant could not conclude investigation and its inquiry within the 90 days given by the court, it can seek an extension of the order, upon an affidavit filed to show the extent of the investigation and the need for the court to extend the period.
“It is further ordered that any person who is affected by this freezing order may apply to the court to be heard in this matter.”
Justice Mohammed then adjourned till November 25 for a report of the investigation.
Listed in the motion as the owners of the affected accounts are: Adekunle Olusola Alonge, Armadillo Integrated Services, FTM Capital Management Limited, Sonora Asset Management Limited, Sonora Capital & Inv Ltd, Sonora Capital Investment Limited, Sonora Capital & Investment Limited and Sonora Capital and Investment Limited.
Others are Sonora Capital Investment Limited, Sonora Consult, Sonora Energy & Allied Services Limited, Sonora Energy and Allied. Services Limited, VIP Impress Hollywood Limited and Vlisco Nigeria Limited.
Aondoakaa while arguing the motion, said the affected firms belonged to some Chinese nationals, who were able to access foreign exchange with the invention of the highest levels of governments in Nigeria and China with the promise to engage in the production of textile materials in Nigeria.
He stated that after accessing the foreign exchange, the firms allegedly resorted to smuggling textile materials from neighbouring countries into Nigeria.
The ex-AGF said the investigation being conducted by the CBN was in collaboration with authorities of the Benin Republic, which he said, were also conducting similar investigation.
Aondoakaa had prayed the court for 180 days, but 90 days was granted in the first instance by the judge.
A Deputy Manager in the Governor’s Department, CBN, Innocent Okocha, in a supporting affidavit, said: “The investigation being carried out concerns what has been discovered to be serious infractions by the defendants/respondents in connection with some transactions, and non-documentation by the defendants/respondent in violation of the CBN circular TED/FEM/GEN/01/010 on “Inclusion of some imported goods and services on the list of items not valid for foreign exchange in Nigeria’s Foreign Exchange Market” of June 23, 2015.
“More specifically, there is a grave allegation that the defendants//respondents are engaged in accessing/procuring of foreign exchange from the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market in furtherance of the smuggling/importation of goods which fall under goods and services prohibited under the circular referenced in paragraph (b) above.
“The aforesaid transactions undertaken by the defendants/respondents using their bank accounts can cause significant financial loss to members of the public if Ieft unchecked.
“A freezing order of this honourable court in respect of the defendants/respondents’ aforesaid accounts would also enable the CBN to investigate the activities of the defendants/respondents to a logical conclusion.
“The activities of the defendants/respondents being investigated are the cause of the current volatility and imbalance in the foreign exchange regime in Nigeria with the attendant negative impact on the economy.”
The Naira at the weekend, fell to N477 to dollar on the parallel market after the Federal Government said it would reopen airports for international travel in two weeks’ time, a move that could increase dollar demand, traders said.
The naira had been stable for over a week on the black market at 475 per dollar, where it trades at more than 20 per cent weaker to the official over-the-counter spot market.
ECOWAS mediation team meets ousted President, Junta leaders [Nation]
A DELEGATION of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) mediating in the crisis rocking Mali met on Sunday with ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
The team also met with the leader of the military junta Col. Assimi Goita.
It pressed for the release of the 75-year-old Keita.
The high-level delegation is led by Nigeria´s former president, Goodluck Jonathan.
After the brief meetings, few details were given, but Jonathan said Keita was doing well.
“We have seen President IBK and he is very well,” Jonathan said, referring to Keita as many do by using his initials.
The push for his release came amid mounting speculation that the ousted president could be flown out of the country after thousands showed support for the military coup.
The 15-nation regional bloc has demanded Keita’s reinstatement, though with a wave of public support for his ouster, it appeared increasingly unlikely yesterday he would return to power.
ECOWAS had earlier demanded that Keita be reinstated and said it would mobilise a regional standby military force. But a demonstration by thousands of Malians showing support for the coup on the streets of Bamako made it more difficult for the regional leaders to sideline the junta.
Among the destinations where Keita could go is neighboring Senegal, which hosted Amadou Toumani Toure, the last democratically-elected Malian president overthrown in a similar 2012 coup.
African countries and the wider international community have expressed concern over the military putsch, which deposed Keita three years before the termination of his final term.
Mali has been fighting against Islamic extremists with heavy international support for more than seven years. The jihadists previously used power vacuums in Mali to expand their territory.
Hours after Keita was detained Tuesday after his home, the democratically elected president announced his resignation on state broadcaster ORTM saying he did not want any blood to be shed for him to stay in power. By early Wednesday, soldiers took to the airwaves calling themselves the National Committee for the Salvation of the People.
The new military leaders have insisted they intend to hand over power to a civilian transitional government, but West Africa has seen a large number of coup plotters prolong the transitional period for the military to hold on to power. In the case of Mali, it took nearly 18 months after the 2012 coup for democratic elections to resume.
It was Keita himself who won that 2013 vote in a landslide, only to see his popularity plummet after his 2018 reelection as the Malian army faced punishing losses from jihadist attacks.
Then after dozens of legislative elections were disputed this spring, demonstrators began taking to the streets calling for his resignation.
He offered concessions and regional mediators intervened, but his opponents made it clear they would accept nothing short of his departure.
On Friday, Mali’s opposition coalition, the M5-RFP, welcomed the ouster of Keita insisted they remained “deeply attached to democracy.”
Why we won’t call off strike, by ASUU [Nation]
THE Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said it will sustain its current strike if the Federal Government does not address its demands.
Speaking at the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) in Rivers State, ASUU President Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi said the government must first implement the report of the NEEDS assessment it conducted in 2012.
Ogunyemi, who addressed stakeholders on the union’s struggles, said its demands were genuine and in the interest of the nation.
The union leader said students would be the major beneficiaries of the demands and urged them to support the demands.
He said: “Students who are our children and partners in progress should show understanding. What we are asking from the government are in their interest and the interest of the nation: good hostel accommodation, good classroom blocks that can engender effective learning, laboratories where cutting-edge researches can be carried out and offices that can drive the process of quality university education.
“So, what we are asking of the government are not baseless things but things that in 2012, the government conducted during a NEEDS assessment survey and found out that there was widespread rot and decay in the university system. We are asking that the government implement its own report of 2012.”
Ogunyemi regretted that university lecturers were still receiving the same salary scale of 2009 in 2020, adding that if such issues are not addressed, the strike would continue.
He said: “Salary issues are still there. We have not fully addressed that. It appears that some forces in government are bent on inflicting suffering on our members by withholding their salaries. But we believe that once we sort out the issues of Universities Transparency and Accountability Solution, other issues will fall in place.
“The 2009 agreement we had with the government stipulates that that agreement would be reviewed every three years. But since then, we have not been able to review the salary scale. That is why we are saying the negotiation we started with government in 2017 ought to have been completed with the completion of that negotiation process.”
Probe: Magu warns against alleged plans to indict him [Sun]
Suspended acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has warned against purported plans by the presidential panel instituted by President Muhammadu Buhari to indict him, ahead of his appearance to defend himself.
Magu, in a letter addressed to the Justice Ayo Salami-led panel by his lawyer, Wahab Shittu, said media reports suggested that an interim report had been submitted to President Buhari. He said in the media report, Magu was indicted and recommended for dismissal and prosecution.
“We all know that in spite of repeated demands, our client has not been served with copies of allegations against him. The instrument embodying the Terms of Reference was not served on my client until August 8, 2020 (35 days after proceedings has commenced),” he said.
Magu’s lawyer warned that bypassing due process in the ongoing investigation will be considered an abuse of the law. He said it will also be against the principle of fair hearing.
“We wish to confirm that the proceedings are still ongoing and my client is yet to present his defence.
“We are, therefore, shocked at the suggestion that an interim report has been submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari. We all know that this is a democracy anchored on respect for the rule of law. Central to the rule of law is the element of fair hearing,” he said.
Questioning the metamorphosis of the panel into a tribunal, Magu said: “Our client is yet to be granted access to petitions/presentations, case files and exhibits admitted in the proceedings. Please note that we have written to the panel to that effect.
“Our client was accosted on the street and compulsorily requested to appear “immediately” before the panel without opportunity to access documents to adequately prepare his defence.
“Our client was subsequently detained for ten days after appearing before the panel in unpleasant circumstances. This detention is not covered by the Terms of Reference arising from the instrument constituting the judicial commission of inquiry.
“Our client, owing to his suspension from office, is unable to have access to official documents and other information necessary for his defence.
“Cases pending before superior courts of records such as Federal High Court, Court of Appeal and The Supreme Court are being reviewed in the proceedings. We believe that this development is subjudice and unhealthy for our jurisprudence.
“Witnesses appearing before the panel were not sworn on oath before giving evidence as stipulated under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act, 2004 on whose authority the instrument setting up the Judicial Commission of Inquiry is derived.
“It is curious and worrisome that an administrative panel of inquiry headed by His Lordship, Justice Ayo Isa Salami, having sat and taken evidence (both oral and documentary) in the past one month, has suddenly metamorphosed into a Judicial Commission of Inquiry.
14m children out of school in Nigeria, says Obasanjo [Sun]
Former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has lamented that an estimated 14 million Nigerian children of school age were being denied education.
“They are deprived of opportunities that will allow them to develop their abilities and become useful to themselves and their communities. It is evident that at this point, to transform our education system in a sustainable way, Nigerian youths must take up leadership positions,” he said.
Obasanjo who spoke at the virtual 2020 fellowship graduation ceremony of the second cohort of “Teach for Nigeria Fellows” in Lagos at the weekend, noted that the outbreak of Coronavirus had exacerbated the problem of education in the country even as it has put the world at its knees as the nations strive to develop a vaccine and successful treatments for the disease.
“So far, the damage in Africa has been moderate, but if we relax, the African continent can become the worst affected from the economic fallout of the crisis” Obasanjo said.
He said the nation’s education system was in crisis before the pandemic.
“The outbreak has exacerbated the ever-widening gulf between the learning opportunities of our most privileged children and our less privileged children. To close the dangerous gap as a nation, we require prompt action from well-meaning Nigerians imbued with courage, patriotism, commitment, foresight and love,” he said.
An NGO, “Teach For Nigeria” which focuses on developing a movement of leaders across Nigeria who are committed to putting an end to educational inequity, graduated 161 fellows who have impacted approximately 9,660 students in 80 schools across Lagos, Ogun, and Kaduna states.
According to the former president, Nigerian youths must champion different innovative solutions at every level of the society and across different sectors.
He advised the fellows to continue to leverage their acquired skills and experiences to advocate for educational excellence in the country.
The former president urged them to be ambassadors for change, driving the movement for freedom and justice in Nigeria.
“Please do not let anybody tell you that you are leaders of tomorrow, you are leaders today.”
Folawe Omikunle, chief executive officer, Teach For Nigeria, said the graduating fellows had spent the past two years improving the academic outcomes of their pupils.
Ghana: Traders say 160 businesses locked, seek FG’s support to end ordeal [Sun]
- PDP senators kick •Group seeks ECOWAS, Buhari’s intervention
Worried by the threat to their businesses, members of the Nigeria Union of Traders in Ghana (NUTAG) have appealed to the Federal Government to take urgent steps to end the ordeal of Nigerian traders in the West African country.
President of NUTAG, Chukwuemeka Nnaji, said the call became imperative because over 160 businesses belonging to Nigerian traders were still locked down by the Ghanaian authorities.
“They have continued to lock up our businesses, including our warehouses, and also harass our business partners. This implies that they really want us to run out of basic supplies like food or other amenities of life. We are appealing to our government to help so that Nigerian traders here will not die of hunger,” Nnaji said.
He reiterated that an Inter-ministerial Task Force on August 10 moved round to identify shops owned by Nigerians and requested that such businesses be registered for the purpose of raising tax.
Also, they requested for resident permit, standard control and Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) registration.
He noted that most Nigerian traders did not have the GIPC registration, which costs as much as $1 million or in equity, adding that they were given 14-day ultimatum to regularise the demands.
The NUTAG president said the closure of the businesses had destroyed their means of livelihood hence the need for the Federal Government to step in.
Meanwhile, senators elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have described action of Ghanaian government as “criminal and very disturbing.”
The lawmakers said it was a wilful denigration of sub-regional brotherhood and in conflict with ECOWAS protocol. They also condemned Ghana’s recent regulations, which stipulate that retail trade is the exclusive preserve of Ghanaians.
Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, in statement on behalf of the senators said Ghana’s action against nationals of other countries, particularly targeted at Nigerians, points to state endorsement of xenophobic attacks.
“The authorities in that country need to prove us wrong by putting a halt to further closure of the shops and attacks on Nigerians in compliance to the Economic Community of West African Countries (ECOWAS) protocol. So, what’s the point having an economic community if at the end of the day each country resolves to make laws and regulations that are in contradiction with the binding protocol. This is quite absurd as it negates the spirit that propelled the formation of ECOWAS in the first place,” Abaribe said in a statement by his media aide, Uchenna Awom.
“It is very unfortunate that Ghana, which hitherto has been enjoying a robust relationship with Nigeria, has in recent times been treating our people with so much contempt and underserved reprehension.”
Also reacting, the Progressive Ambassadors of Nigeria (PAN) urged ECOWAS and the Federal Government to wade-in on the imposition of $1million trade-levy on Nigerian traders in Ghana.
In a statement by Emmanuel Ohiomokhare, its national director of media, in Abuja, yesterday, PAN said the imposition of the levy on Nigerian traders was not only an harassment, but also a contravention of the ECOWAS protocol.
He expressed displeasure over the statement by the Ghana Minister of Foreign Affairs that Ghana implemented the law because Nigeria also violated ECOWAS protocol by closing its border.
Ohiomokhare, however, faulted this stance saying since 2007 when Ghana started closing Nigerian traders’ shops, such actions were not occasioned by recent border closure.
“Did Nigeria violate ECOWAS protocol by taking steps to contain the cross-border insurgency, check to smuggle and address deliberate abuse of the provisions of ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) among others? Mindful of deep and conscious engagements with the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PAN calls for decisive and urgent actions by the federal government to find a permanent solution to this recurring decimal,’’ Ohiomokhare said.
He also appealed to the government to consider evacuating Nigerians who continued to face harassments and xenophobic attacks in Ghana, to avoid loss of lives and the attendant surprises.
