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APC PCC slams Dogara, says “You, APC Christian leaders” are impostors

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Yakubu Dogara, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, has come under heavy attack of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) over his continuous moves to cause disaffection for the party’s presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his running mate, Senator Kassim Shetimma with religion.

The council also hit the former Speaker for not being a good sportsman having lost out on being on the party’s presidential ticket by resorting to whipping up emotions.

Reacting to the outcome of a purported meeting of Northern Christian Leaders in APC, the Director, Media & Publicity of the Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga in a statement in Abuja on Monday described the meeting as “fraudulent” as well as the convener and attendees as “impostors”.

The council noted the former Speaker had spearheaded a campaign of vitriol and hate against the party, using religion as camouflage, after he lost the vice-presidential candidacy to Shettima.

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The statement further reads: “The Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council is therefore not surprised by media reports about a meeting of some so-called Northern Christian leaders, who claimed to be members of our All Progressives Congress that were championed by Dogara and his ilks.

“Yakubu Dogara, the peripatetic and politically unstable politician who organised the meeting left our party officially and unceremoniously weeks ago. And those who attended the meeting were representing themselves, their selfish agenda, not Northern Christians.

“A careful reading of the people who attended the unholy meeting he called also showed that they were all PDP members, masquerading as APC members.

“Among the politicians at the unholy consultative meeting were Mukhar Shagari, Boni Haruna, Abdulfattah Ahmed; Damishi Sango; Senator Idris Ahmed Umar; and two former deputy governors of Kogi State, Yomi Awoniyi and Simon Achuba. They are all PDP members working for the presidential ambition of Atiku Abubakar.”

Onanuga further said the council was not surprised by the resolutions adopted at the meeting but expressed concern that the media failed to read through their smokescreen.

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“The APC PCC wondered how the assembly of strange bedfellows hoped to foster unity and cohesion in our country, when their candidate represents the antithesis of the goal, having emerged the greatest divider of our polity, between the north and south.

“All Nigerians are aware that Atiku’s emergence as the PDP presidential candidate grossly violated a power rotation code between the north and the south. His insistence on snatching and retaining what righly belongs to another political region has triggered a crisis within his party, making him run from Port Harcourt to London to mend fences.

“We want to assure Dogara and his co-travellers fanning hate campaign against our Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his running mate, that they will fail spectacularly at the polls.”

He further said: “From the engagements our leaders have had with men of all faiths, bigotry will not win next February election. What will prevail are the track records of our candidates and the solution-driven and all-inclusive progressive programmes the candidates offer Nigerians.

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“Asiwaju Tinubu and Senator Shettima are going into this campaign with clear objectives to engage Nigerians across the socio-economic brackets on policy actions that will make their lives better. Our candidates will not exploit our country’s fault lines to win the election and sell religion as Kool-Aid.”

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Reps order CBN to suspend cybersecurity levy

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The House of Representatives Thursday asked the Central Bank of Nigeria to withdraw the circular directing all banks to commence charging a 0.5 per cent cybersecurity levy on all electronic transactions within the country, The Nation reports.

The motion on the urgent need to halt and modify the implementation of the cybersecurity levy was moved by the member representing the Obio/Akpor Constituency, Kingsley Chinda.

The circular, which was directed to all commercial, merchant, non-interest, and payment service banks, among others; noted that the implementation of the levy starts two weeks from Monday, May 6, 2024.

 

“The levy shall be applied at the point of electronic transfer origination, then deducted and remitted by the financial institution. The deducted amount shall be reflected in the customer’s account with the narration, ‘Cybersecurity Levy,’” the circular partly read.

In the motion, Chinda said, “The House notes that businesses which the said Section 44(2)(a) refers to are listed in the Second Schedule to the Cybercrimes Act to be GSM Service Providers and all telecommunication companies; Internet Service Providers; Banks and Other Financial Institutions; Insurance Companies and the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

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“The CBN circular mandates all banks, other financial institutions and payments service providers to implement the Cybercrimes Act by applying the levy at the point of electronic transfer origination as “Cybersecurity Levy,” and remitting same.

“The wordings of the CBN circular leaves the directive to multiple interpretations including that the levy be paid by bank customers, that is, Nigerians, against the letters and spirit of Section 44(2)(a) and the Second Schedule to the Cybercrimes Act, which specifies the businesses that should be levied accordingly,” the lawmaker noted.

 

The development according to the lawmaker “has led to apprehension as civil society organisations and citizens have taken to conventional and social media to call out the Federal Government to give ultimatums for a reversal of the ‘imposed levy on Nigerians’ among other things.”

 

He argued that unless immediate pragmatic steps are taken to stop the proposed action of the CBN, “The Cybercrime Act shall be implemented in error at a time when Nigerians are experiencing the aftermath of multiple removal of subsidies from petroleum, electricity and so on and the rising inflation.”

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Bill to increase salaries, allowances of judges passes second reading at senate

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A bill seeking to increase the salaries and allowances of judges at all levels has passed second reading in the senate.

 

The bill was considered after Lola Ashiru, deputy majority leader, led the debate during plenary on Thursday.

 

Ashiru said the bill, which was sent by the executive, will enhance the integrity of the judicial arm of government.

 

Contributing to the debate, Tahir Monguno, senator representing Borno north, said improving the welfare of judges will insulate them from corruption.

 

“There is a need to bring up the remuneration of judicial officers that have stagnated over the years,” Monguno said.

 

“This will insulate judicial officers from corruption and give them courage to deliver judgments that are just and fair.”

On his part, Orji Uzor Kalu, senator representing Abia north, said increasing the salaries of the judges is the right thing to do.

“No right thinking Nigerian will not think that it is right to keep the judiciary comfortable. I want to thank the executive for deeming it fit to increase salaries of judges at all levels,” Kalu said.

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“We should not stop at the judiciary but look at other sectors of the economy.”

Emmanuel Udende, senator representing Benue north-east, said judges have had their morale dampened over the years because of poor remuneration.

“For the past 15 years, judicial officers have remained on meagre salaries,” he said.

 

“When you interact with them as a lawyer, you see their morale is dampened, and when the morale is dampened the work will be.”

The bill passed second reading after it was put to a voice vote by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

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UPDATED: Ex-aviation minister, Sirika, daughter arraigned over ‘N2.7bn contract fraud, gets N100m bail

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A former Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika has pleaded not guilty to the alleged corrupt practices involving about N2.7 billion brought against him by the Federal Government.

 

Sirika was arraigned before Justice Sylvanus Oriji at the Federal High Court in Abuja along with his daughter, Fatima, his son-in-law, Jalal Sule Hamma, and a firm – Al Buraq Global Investment Limited.

The daughter and son-in-law also pleaded not guilty to the six-count charges when read to them.

Following their denial of the fraud charges, their respective lawyers moved applications for their bail which was granted by the judge.

 

Justice Oriji admitted the three defendants on bail for ₦100m and two sureties each in the like sum.

The sureties must be responsible citizens with verifiable home addresses while one of them must have landed property with a certificate of occupancy signed by the FCT Minister.

The judge ordered that the defendants must not travel out of the country without express permission of the court.

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If unable to perfect the bail conditions, Justice Orijin ordered that they should be remanded in prison custody till the time of perfection of bail conditions.

 

The court fixed June June 10th for the commencement of the trial.

 

Sirika served under the administration of former president Muhammadu Buhari.

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