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Afenifere congratulates Tinubu, says he must hit the ground running

Published

1 year ago

March 4, 2023

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Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-political group, has urged Bola Tinubu, president-elect, to hit the ground running and live up to his words.

In a congratulatory message signed by Jare Ajayi, the publicity secretary, Afenifere said a lot is expected from the incoming administration.

“The incoming administration must hit the ground running with sustainable welfarist programmes, ousting terrorism and banditry, and putting an end to nepotism with round pegs in round holes,” Afenifere said in the statement issued on Friday.

“The administration must bring down the hyper-inflation in the country, make sure fuels are available at very cheap prices and artificial bottlenecks in the financial sector resulting in cash crunch is removed.

“It must create an atmosphere for all Nigerians to be able to realize their potentials wherever they are and without infringing on the rights of fellow Nigerians, especially natives of a given area as is happening in some parts of the country presently.

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“It is hoped that the Bola Tinubu government will not disappoint Nigerians. It will govern in a manner that will make citizens speak with pride at being a Nigerian as he promised in his acceptance speech.

“We are confident that Tinubu has the capacity to accomplish these as he promised.

“We are hopeful that he will be able to harness the requisite political and sundry other wills to give us a true federal Nigeria where people are truly in control of their affairs.”

Afenifere described Tinubu’s victory as one that should further unify the country.

“Garnering substantial votes from five of the six geo-political zones demonstrates that the mandate given to Tinubu and his vice, Sen. Kashim Shettima can re-invent Nigeria as a truly federal yet united country,” the group said.

“A country in which every section and every citizen would have a sense of belonging without regard to any other consideration such as religion, language spoken or where the person comes from etc.”

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The group asked Tinubu to embark on policies that will heal “the deep wounds in the country” as soon as he is sworn in.

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Abuse of office: Emefiele challenges jurisdiction of Lagos court to try him

Published

15 mins ago

April 29, 2024

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The Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja has deferred till the end of trial, its ruling on the application filed by the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, challenging the jurisdiction of the court to try him on the charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Through his lawyer, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Olalekan Ojo, Emefiele submitted that he cannot be tried in the high court of any state in Nigeria for alleged acts of abuse of his office as this raises issues of constitutionality and legality.

The former CBN governor also noted that counts 1-4 of the 26 counts charge filed by the EFCC against him are unconstitutional as they are not contained in any law in Nigeria.

His counsel asked the court to make an order striking out counts one to four of the charge on the grounds that:

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. the Honourable Court has no jurisdiction to try the offence of abuse of office in relation to the office of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria which the 1st Defendant occupied at all times material to the commission of the offences and

ii. the 1st Defendant’s/Applicant’s acts said to constitute arbitrary acts resulting in abuse of office are not offences known to law as mandatorily required by section 36(12) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.

The EFCC through its counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Rotimi Oyedepo, however, countered these arguments.

Citing decided cases of the Supreme Court, he asked the trial judge, Justice Rahman Oshodi, not to defer or prevent the trial of the case on the basis of objections challenging the particulars of the counts of the information.

“That approach is intended to take us back to where we are coming from as this were the basis for Section 1 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA and the purpose for which Administration of Criminal Justice Law, ACJL was intended. The intention of our collective resolution as a nation was to to prevent undue delay in our criminal cases.

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“I urge my lord to refuse this invitation, trial has commenced, this application to prevent the trial today is unlawful, illegal and unconstitutional and I urge the court not to depart from the decision of the apex court as to do so would amount to judicial rascality,” Oyedepo stated.

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JUST IN: Obaseki increases minimum wage to N70k in Edo

Published

28 mins ago

April 29, 2024

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Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo, has approved a new minimum wage of N70,000 for civil servants in the state.

The governor made the declaration on Monday while inaugurating the Labour House.

Obaseki named the Labour House after Adams Oshiomhole, senator representing Edo north and immediate-past governor of Edo.

Details later…

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‘Breach of law’ — Oshiomhole condemns Ododo for ‘rescuing’ Yahaya Bello during EFCC siege

Published

2 hours ago

April 29, 2024

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Adams Oshiomhole, senator representing Edo north, has faulted Usman Ododo, governor of Kogi, for his interference in the saga involving Yahaya Bello and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The EFCC is accusing Bello, immediate-past governor of Kogi, of money laundering and corruption to the tune of N80.2 billion.

BACKGROUND

On April 17, EFCC operatives laid siege to Bello’s Abuja residence in a bid to arrest him for grilling.

While the operatives were at Bello’s residence, Ododo arrived at the scene.

Shortly after Ododo left the residence, the EFCC operatives ended their siege. There were reports that Ododo had surreptitiously whisked Bello away in one of the cars in his convoy.

Amid the drama, the Kogi high court delivered judgment in a fundamental rights enforcement suit, restraining the commission from “harassing, threatening to arrest or detaining” the former governor.

On the same day, the EFCC obtained a warrant of arrest against Bello from a federal high court in Abuja.

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Subsequently, the anti-graft agency declthe former governor wanted, while the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) placed Bello on a watchlist.

Bello was also absent for an arraignment that was initially scheduled for April 18, citing fear of arrest.

‘WRONG USE OF IMMUNITY’

Speaking on Saturday at the national integration conference, Oshiomhole said Ododo’s “rescue” of Bello and the former governor’s refusal to show up in court constitutes a breach of the law.

The conference which had ‘Revisiting the national question: Nigeria’s elusive search for national integration’ as its theme, was organised by the Kukah Centre.

The senator also urged citizens to speak up against breaches of the law — irrespective of who is involved.

“If you are afraid, given the fact that you are very vocal, you are independent, you cannot be dismissed, you cannot be promoted or demoted… if you are afraid to mention the name of a former governor who breached the law and a sitting governor who used his immunity to cover a governor that lost immunity, where will the courage come from?” Oshiomhole said.

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“This sophistry of saying we can name the child of a poor man who steal(s) a goat but we are afraid to mention the name of a big man who breached the law, that for me is at the root of our problems.”

‘ALL CHILDREN MUST HAVE ACCESS TO EDUCATION’

Bello had also allegedly paid $760,910 in advance fees to the American International School Abuja (AISA), for five of his children from the coffers of the Kogi state government.

The children are in grade levels 2 to 8 at the school.

Oshiomhole said during his spell as Edo governor, his colleagues denied children of the poor access to education.

“As a former governor, I was a member of the national economic council (NEC) where some state governors argued that they did not have the resources to pay 50 percent subsidy in order to ensure that the children of the poor go to school even when those governors are sending their own children abroad,” Oshiomhole added.

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The former Edo governor said leaders must possess the political will to implement laws they enact.

“What I consider to be the most important investment, namely, that never should a child be born in this country and be denied access to go to school,” he said.

Kogi ranked 27th across states in Nigeria with the highest number of out-of-school children (ages 6–15).