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Twitter Ban: Malami orders prosecution of alleged violators

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Malami

 

 

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on Saturday, issued an order for the enforcement of the government’s ban on Twitter operations in the country, in spite of the widespread condemnation of the order.

The minister, in a statement by his spokesperson, Umar Gwandu, ordered the prosecution of “violators” of the suspension of the operations of Twitter in Nigeria.

This follows the determination of some Nigerians to bypass the order in accessing microblogging site.

Meanwhile, the ban has attracted global and local condemnations, comparing it to an attack on Nigerians’ civic rights, including rights to freedom of expression.

 

The government, through the information minister, Lai Mohammed, announced an “indefinite suspension” of Twitter operation in Nigeria on Friday.

This came two days after Twitter took down a controversial tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari which the microblogging site said violated its rules and many Nigerian viewed as a veiled threat of violence against the Igbo ethnic group.

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But since the ban on Twitter, many Nigerians have been using various Virtual Private Network (VPN) applications to remain active on the microblogging site.

Reacting to the development in a statement by his spokesperson, Umar Gwandu, on Saturday, Mr Malami ordered the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), Umar Muhammed, to begin the prosecution of those bypassing the ban.

He directed the DPPF to liaise with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, National Communication Commission (NCC) and other relevant government agencies to ensure the speedy prosecution of the “offenders without any further delay”.

The statement reads, “Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN has directed for immediate prosecution of offenders of the Federal Government ban on Twitter operations in Nigeria.

“Malami directed the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) at the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, to swing into action and commence in earnest the process of prosecution of violators of the Federal Government De-activation of operations of Twitter in Nigeria.

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“Malami directed the DPPF to liase with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, National Communication Communication (NCC) and other relevant government agencies to ensure the speedy prosecution of offenders without any further delay.”

Before now, the Nigerian government has been struggling to impose regime of regulations of the social media space which has proved to be an effective platform for Nigerians to hold their leaders accountable.

 

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UPDATED: Ikeja DisCo reduces Band A electricity tariff to N206.80/kwh

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The Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company says it has reduced the tariff for customers under Band A classification to N206.80 per kilowatt-hour (kwh).

 

On April 3, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved an increase in electricity tariff for customers under the Band A category to N225 per kwh — from N66. 

 

The commission said customers under the classification are those who receive 20 hours of electricity supply daily. 

 

Announcing the slash in a circular on Monday, Ikeja Electric said the new tariff regime will take effect from May 6, 2024.

 

“Please be informed of the downward tariff review of our Band A feeders from N225/kwh to N206.80/kwh effective 6th May 2024 with guaranteed availability of 20-24hrs supply daily,” the circular reads.

 

However, the DisCo said the tariff for bands B,C,D and E are unchanged.

 

On April 4, NERC said the approved tariff increase is expected to reduce subsidy for the 2024 fiscal year by about N1.14 trillion.

“With the newly approved tariffs, subsidies for the 2024 fiscal year are expected to reduce by about NGN1.14 trillion in furtherance of the federal government’s realignment of the subsidy regime,” NERC said.

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Musliu Oseni, vice-chairman of the commission, said the new tariff will bolster the nation’s economy.

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JUST IN: Ikeja DisCo reduces Band A electricity tariff to N206.80/kwh

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The Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company says it has reduced the tariff for customers under Band A classification to N206.80 per kilowatt-hour (kwh).

 

On April 3, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved an increase in electricity tariff for customers under the Band A category to N225 per kwh — from N66. 

 

The commission said customers under the classification are those who receive 20 hours of electricity supply daily. 

 

Announcing the cut in a circular on Monday, Ikeja Electric said the new tariff rate will be effective from May 6, 2024.

 

Details later…

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80% of buildings in Lekki have no government approval, says commissioner

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The commissioner for physical planning and urban development in Lagos, Oluyinka Olumide, says 80 percent of buildings in the Ibeju Lekki-Epe corridor have no government approval.

The Lagos government has been facing backlash for the demolition of buildings and shanties across the state.

Tokunbo Wahab, commissioner for environment in Lagos, has repeatedly said the demolished structures were erected in contravention of the city’s masterplan, were never approved by the relevant agencies, and occluded drainage channels.

In an interview with journalists, Olumide said despite the rigorous procedures involved in securing government approval, property developers and owners are still circumventing due process.

 

“Just last Thursday and Friday, my team and I were in the Ibeju Lekki and Epe axis and you would agree that anybody passing through that corridor would see a lot of estates marked,” he said.

“We went there, and I can tell you that from what we saw, over 80 percent of them do not have approval.

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“The procedure to get approval is first to get the planning information, as to what those areas have been zoned for. In this case, what we have is agricultural land, and people now go to their families to buy agricultural land.

 

“Of course, those lands would be sold because those families do not know the use such land would be put to.

“The next thing to do is the fence permit. If you missed the earlier information on not knowing the area zoning, at the point of getting the fence permit, you would be able to detect what the area is zoned for. After that, the layout permits a large expanse of land.

“So, you can see all these layers. But people still go ahead to start advertising. Some have even gone to the extent of displaying the sizes they want to sell. Imagine someone in the diaspora who wants to send money without any knowledge.

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“Then, no approval is eventually gotten. Even if they pass the assignment and the survey to them, we would not grant the individual permit, because that area is not zoned for that purpose.”

 

On Sunday, Wahab said owners of recently demolished property in Maryland had been served notices since 2021.

 

“We are not just doing demolitions. The law allows us to remove encumbrances on the right of way of the drainage channels,” Wahab said.

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