Ekiti govt name-shames 66 year-old rapist

The Ekiti State Ministry Of Justice on Friday published the details of another convicted sex offender, a 66-year-old man, Bayo Akintewe who was convicted by a High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti for the rape of a 16-year-old girl (identity withheld).

66 Year-old Akintawe who is of Ondo origin but was formerly a resident of Ado-Ekiti is currently serving a jail term of 5 years at the Nigeria Correctional Centre in Ado-Ekiti and has his name registered in the Ekiti State Ministry of Justice Sex Offenders’ Register.

According to a statement from the office of the Ekiti State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Olawale Fapohunda, “this  publication is in furtherance of the ‘name and shame sex offenders policy’ of the Ekiti State Government.”

The State government recently introduced additional stringent measures to deter sex offenders. In addition to naming and shaming, persons convicted of sex offences will not benefit from the Governor’s powers of the prerogative of mercy and will, therefore, serve the full term of their prison sentence.

Ekiti State is currently reviewing the sex offences provisions in its Criminal Code Law with a view to achieving the effective prosecution of sex offenders. Under the new proposals, the offence of rape will on conviction attract life imprisonment.

Ekiti State Government was the first state in Nigeria to open sex offenders register for the purpose of keeping records of convicted sex offenders in the State and this has however become a national policy in Nigeria

Court jails man for cyber crime in Ibadan

An Ibadan-based internet fraudster, Babatunde Akintomiwa, was on Wednesday sentenced to 14 months in prison by Justice Patricia Ajoku of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, over impersonation and N400,000 fraud.

Ajoku convicted and sentenced Akintomiwa based on the evidence before her and the plea bargain agreement between him and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

She said that the judgment was in line with the provisions of Section 270 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 that spelt out how somebody who pleads guilty to an offence should be sentenced.

“I hope that Akintomiwa is remorseful of his actions and willing to contribute positively to society now.

“However, to serve as a warning to others interested in the crime, Akintomiwa is sentenced to 14 months in prison. The sentence starts from the date he was first arrested.

“All the exhibits found in his possession are forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria,” Ajoku said.

Counsel to the Ibadan Zonal Office of EFCC, Mrs Iyabo Daramola, had told the court that the convict was arraigned on a one-count amended charge bordering on impersonation.

Daramola added that the convict committed the crime on April 19, 2019, in Ibadan.

According to her, Akintomiwa operated a fictitious email address to deceive unsuspecting foreigners.

She further said that deceitful information was retrieved from the said email address.

The EFCC prosecutor said that the proceeds of the crime restituted from Akintomiwa included cash of N400, 000, and Alt 8 Infinix phone and many accessories.

She said that the offence was contrary to and punishable under Section 22A (2B) of the Cyber Crime Prohibition Act, 2015.

Police exhume decomposing bodies of kidnapped victims in Rivers

The  Rivers state police command as again on Thursday 16th of July exhumed three decomposing bodies from Bera community forest in Gokana local government area who were buried alive by two suspects arrested by operatives of the Anti-cultism unit.

The three victims BARIDOMALE  SUNDAY TOR, BARISITON NAWEE,  BARIDON GBARABERA were said to be missing from the community on the 14th of March 2020 due to the information given to security agencies on an illegal oil bunkering taken place in the community.

The information has it that the three victims were buried in one pit with their mouth and hand tired to their back before burying them alive.

The two suspects one PROPHET and  BARIDIDUM DABAMA aka kill and bury, who spoke to journalists at the scene of the crime said they were not directly the killers of the victims but co- workers of the illegal bunkers adding that they have mentioned all those involved.

They said the victims were killed due to the information they gave about the illegal oil bunkering to the security agents.

While the spokesman of the Rivers states police command DSP NNAMDI OMONI said the anti-cultism unit of the command through intelligent report arrested the suspects who led the unit to the forest.

On his path, member representing Gokana constituency in the house of Assembly,  DUMLE MAO expressed sadness over the act of the suspects and promised that all those involved would face the law.

Meanwhile, the families of the deceased explained how their brothers were missing in the community, after informing the security agencies of illegal oil bunkering.

Recall that, on Wednesday 15th of July 2020,  two months after one Dinebari Ereba Gospel was kidnapped at Woji community in Obio/Akpor local government area, his decomposed corpse was found tired at a tree at Alasa forest road in Eleme local government area.

The operative of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Rivers states police command who arrested two out of five gang notorious Kidnappers led the team to the decomposed body of the victim.

Another three decomposed corpses were exhumed by the operative of an anti-cultism unit of the Rivers state police command toady 17th July 2020 at Bera community forest in Gokana local govt area who were buried alive by this two suspects.

The three victims BARIDOMALE  SUNDAY TOR, BARISITON NAWEE,  BARIDON GBARABERA  who were tired in the mouth and hand to the back were buried alive for informing security agencies of the illegal oil bunkery act carried out by the suspects and cohorts.

The victims have been missing since 14th of March 2020, four months later there were discovered

NASC retires Clerk to National Assembly, four others

The fate of the embattled Clerk to the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani-Omolori, was sealed on Friday night following the gale of retirement announced by the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC).

Executive Chairman of the NASC, Engineer Ahmed Kadi Amshi, conveyed the decision of his team to retire Sani -Omolori and four others in a statement.

Engineer Amshi said the National Assembly Service Commission decision was “Pursuant to its mandate as provided in the National Assembly Service Act 2014 (as Amended). Section 6(b) which states appoint persons to hold or act in the Offices of:

“.1CIerk to the National Assembly

ii. The Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly.

iii. Clerk of the Senate;

iv. Clerk of the House of Representatives;

v. Deputy Clerk of the Senate:

vi. Deputy Clerk of House of Representatives;

vii. Secretaries to Directorates; and

viii. Holders of other offices that shall be created by the Commission on the recommendation of the Clerk to the

National Assembly.”

The statement further revealed that the NASC “has approved the appointments of some senior management staff for the Service.”

Those appointed according to the statement were: Ojo Amos Olatunde, Acting Clerk to the National Assembly, Bala Yabani Mohammed Acting Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly and Dauda Ibrahim El-Ladan Acting Clerk, Senate.

The statement however disclosed that Patrick .A. Giwa Clerk, House of Representatives would remain in office, “pending his retirement in November 2020”

Yusuf Asir Danbatta was however announced as Acting Secretary to the National Assembly Service Commission.

Saturday Tribune checks revealed that the Executive Chairman of the NASC had dropped a hint of the impending move to relive Sani -Omolori of his position during the week. 

Gbajabiamila, Finance Minister assure early completion of NILDS complex

Engineer Amshi in a statement he issued, on Thursday, announced the disengagement from Service of the Clerk to the National Assembly Clerk, Mohammed Ataba Sani-Omolori, and certain senior staff by the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC).

He said the NASC took the decision in line with the National Assembly Service Act 2014 (as amended) which pegged retirement age to 35 years of service or 60 years of age whichever comes first.

“To this effect, he maintained, “the Commission has approved the immediate retirement of staff of the National Assembly Service who have already attained the retirement age of 35 years of service or 60 years of age.

“Retirement letters would be issued to the affected staff accordingly.”

The Chairman of the National Assembly Service Commission was however countered by the Clerk to the National Assembly in a separate statement.

Mohammed Sani-Omolori asked the staff of the National Assembly who might have been affected by the pronouncement of Engineer Amshi and his team to disregard their purported retirement.

He argued that the Commission lacked the statutory power to make the decision it took.

Omolori submitted in his counter statement that the “Revised Conditions of Service duly passed by both Chambers of the 8th National Assembly puts the retirement age of staff at 40 years of service and 65 years of age whichever comes first.”

He insisted that the revised conditions can not be set aside by mere pronouncement except by a proposed amendment by the 9th Assembly.

Further checks revealed that the NASC on Friday issued a query to Sani -Omolori.

Engineer Amshi in a memo dated July 16, 2020, titled, Query and addressed to Sani -Omolori accused him of “insubordination to a Constituted Authority.”

Engineer Amshi noted that as an employee of the NASC, Sani -Omolori “has no authority whatsoever to dictate anything to the Commission.”

The memo directed Sani-Omolori to explain himself within twenty fours hours.

There should be no sacred cow in an investigation of NDDC scam, Group tasks FG, Niger Delta stakeholders

A group has reacted to startling revelation arising from the investigation of the Federal government intervention agency, the Niger Delta Development Commission.

Addressing newsmen on Friday in Abuja, the Civil Society Advocacy Groups for Accountability and Probity advised those whose names have been mentioned in the alleged sleaze not to frustrate government in its efforts of the forensic audit of the agency and the ongoing investigation by the various committees of the National Assembly.

Mr Solomon Adodo and Mr Igwe Ude-umanta, Convener and Co-convener of the group respectively lauded the initiative of the Federal Government to conduct a forensic audit of the NDDC ahead inauguration of its substantive Board.

“As the group that keeps watching on Society, the media is aware that since President Muhammadu Buhari vowed to sanitize the Niger-Delta Development Committee (NDDC) last year, it has received support by concerned Nigerians, but has also been under heavy politicization by those who know that their hands are soiled. They have taken to the media (social and traditional), organized protests, sponsored riots all to no avail. They tried to discredit the wisdom and discretion of Mr President in taking some administrative decisions such as the setting up of an Interim Management Committee to carry out a thorough forensic audit. As we speak today, the probe into the activities of the various previous managements of the NDDC is ongoing and being thoroughly carried out by the Interim Management Committee.

“The will of the Federal Government to confront the ills in the NDDC is unshaken. So, politics has increased in order to divert attention. But of particular worry is the reason why the former Acting Managing Director of NDDC, Dr Joi Nunieh has refused to answer her summons to appear before the Investigative Committee of the House of Representatives on the NDDC. She has also refused to yield to the Nigeria Police for questioning. What else could be the reason except for evasion of justice?

“And it becomes more worrisome when Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, shields her from arrest, claiming that she was being abducted and that he was protecting a citizen of Rivers State. Gov. Wike has always found reasons to obstruct investigations. We are sad that Wike who claims to be the defender of Rivers people only extends that defence to those who have been accused of feeding fat on the country or other crimes. He should desist forthwith. And he should release Dr Joy Nunieh to the Nigeria Police for investigation.”

The group further asked the former Managing Director of the NDDC, Dr Joy Nunieh to explain her stewardship and come clean on all allegations levelled against her.

It further urged President Mohammadu Buhari to remain resolute in his commitment to sanitise the NDDC for the benefit all of Niger Deltans and assured him of total support to actualize his vision.

Akpabio hijacked NDDC forensic audit ordered by Buhari – Ex-MD, Nunieh

Blames interim management, staff, others for rot in commission

The embattled former acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Mrs Joy Nunieh, on Friday, accused the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, of hijacking the forensic audit of the NDDC ordered by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

Speaking when she appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on NDDC over allegations of illegal expenditure and mismanagement by the commission, Nunieh, at the investigative hearing, alleged that the minister breached various laws in a bid to hijack the forensic audit.

On Thursday, the investigation of the NDDC took a dramatic turn when the police, said to have been sent from Abuja, invaded Nunieh’s residence in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, who intervened and prevented the police from taking Nunieh away, had asked the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to probe the invasion of the home of the former NDDC boss.

It was alleged that the invasion, during which the policemen were seen in a viral video breaking the woman’s rear door to gain entry forcibly, was to prevent Nunieh from moving from Port Harcourt to Abuja to testify before the panel.

On the same day, NDDC’s Interim Management Committee members, led by the acting Managing Director, Prof Kemebradikumo Pondei, appeared before the House committee but later walked out of the sitting after insisting that the panel chairman, Mr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, must step down. The House committee then issued a warrant for the arrest of the IMC members.

But on Friday, Nunieh, who attended the hearing and made her presentation via online meeting platform, Zoom, apologised for not showing up at the hearing on Thursday, “because what would have happened would have been that nobody would have known who took me away and only God knows what would have happened.”

She added, “This has been the modus operandi for enemies of the minister and ex-governor of Akwa Ibom State. You saw what happened yesterday, it was all about documents.”

When the panel chairman asked about the forensic audit ordered by Buhari, for which the IMC was constituted, Nunieh said, “What I met was not exactly what is going on. Akpabio insisted that he would supervise the forensic audit. I reminded him and showed him the letter that the President had written, that there is no way we could spend the money that was in our budget.

“In his memo to the President, he requested that the money for the funding of the forensic audit be got from the Service Wide Vote. Mr President, in his wisdom, refused that request and in writing said it should be from NDDC’s appropriation, making NDDC the producing entity.”

Nunieh also alleged that auditors had not been appointed to conduct the audit as being claimed by Akpabio.

She said, “When I was there, I was the one who prepared all the documents for the forensic audit and sent in the applications. The first thing was for us to go through the procurement of the lead consultant. Many people have clearly misunderstood the procurement of the lead consultant. Because I did not want any illegality and the forensic audit to be discredited, I ensured – with the help of big consultants – we came up with the terms of reference for these auditors.

“The lead consultant that everyone is talking about is not the forensic auditor. He does not have a lot. The role of the lead consultant is to gather. When all the forensic auditors have got all the data and reports from the field, they will put them together and give to the lead consultant who will put them together in a report. That is just his role. He is not the one to carry out any forensic audit.

“This (Messrs Olumuyiwa) Basiru and Co, I do not know if they have ever carried out a forensic audit. So, I will be asked to tell them to give you evidence that they have ever carried out a forensic audit before, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, which requires that for any consultant or contractor, must show evidence that for the past three years or thereabouts, they have carried out that.”

The ex-NDDC boss challenged the minister and IMC to provide proof that the fund being spent on auditors was appropriated by the National Assembly. According to her, the commission had obtained Certificate of No Objection from the Bureau of Public Procurement even when the 2020 budget of the NDDC had not been passed.

She added, “It is a criminal offence to procure any consultant without the appropriation made by the National Assembly because it will be anticipatory budgeting. In this case, has the National Assembly appropriated funds?”

She accused Akpabio of misleading the Federal Executive Council to approve the procurement of auditors even when the audit was to be funded with the 2020 budget of the NDDC.

Nunieh also stated that she spent a total of N8bn during her stay as acting MD between October 2019 and February 2020.

The NDDC is, however, said to have spent not less than N81.5bn in 2020 alone.

Nunieh alleged that Akpabio gave her a list of NDDC officials to be redeployed or sacked, including the only northerner in the management.

She recalled that October 28, 2019, on her way to the inauguration of the IMC at the boardroom of the Federal Ministry of Niger Delta, the minister threatened to see to her exit from office if she failed to do his bidding.

Nunieh alleged that Akpabio asked her to appoint 10 of her aides, as he did with Bernard Okumagba as MD of NDDC.

She also stated that two days after the inauguration, at the Le Meridien Hotel, at Akpabio’s first meeting with the IMC, the minister told her he wanted her to send some workers away.

She stated, “He said the first thing I would do is to write a letter to him – he gave me the draft, that I should put it on my letterhead. In that letter, I was supposed to write about most of the companies; Senator (Peter) Nwaboshi owned the 98 companies.

“I never ever told the world that Senator Nwaboshi was the senator that was collecting the N1bn. The issue of the N1bn was different. I said ‘how can an individual be collecting N1bn every month?’ The case of Senator Nwaboshi is the case of the 98 files which I was supposed to write about.”

Speaking on the issue of employment, she stated that the minister had collected curricula vitae from “godfathers” and she made it known that the issue of employment was already an issue before she came as the Federal Character Commission that used to give NDDC the approval for employment stopped it because of the scandal.

She added, “I want to tell the world that I never did any employment. I never gave out a single contract from NDDC.

“I am not corrupt. No contractor can sit anywhere and say they gave me N10. And I can say before the world that I’m the most unpopular MD ever that came to NDDC. The money of the people of Niger Delta is blood money, I refused to touch it. Even when my friends were contractors, even when they claimed that they were owed monies, my instruction was that everybody should finish their jobs. Everybody saw contractors going back to the site when I was the MD.

“I was privileged to see all the videos. For one job, five people would send me videos of completion – the same job, the same video – and I would just laugh.”

…blames interim management cattle, staff, others for rot in commission

Nunieh also blamed the IMC, NDDC workers and people of the Niger Delta for the rot in the commission.

She said, “The problems that you are investigating today have three major groups that are responsible for the things that have gone wrong in the NDDC. One group is the management, which is the IMC, and everybody is against the IMC. The second group is the staff of NDDC. And the third group, which I will start with, is the people of the Niger Delta.

“This story that we are all calling embarrassing cannot be complete without saying that the people of the Niger Delta region are responsible for what has happened – the frauds and corruption that have taken place in the NDDC.

“I’m speaking from personal experience. As soon as the MD is appointed, people begin to rejoice and celebrate, not because they want you to do the right thing; not because they are interested in the development of the Niger Delta, they believe it is now their turn to eat out of the national cake.

“They are not interested in anything; all they wanted were like palliatives. That is why for those who did not harden their heart like me, they fell for this palliative matter and they started giving out. But because I was strong; because I always remember the case of Gani Fawehinmi; Fawehinmi fought for the masses of this country. When he said he wanted to contest an election, they were not there. I remember that I needed to stand properly.

“The second class is on the staff. The staff members of NDDC are from the Niger Delta region. The contracts that have been awarded are from their communities. When I was appointed, I went from office to office; I sat in their offices and I told them, ‘You people are responsible for what has gone wrong in the zone.’ All the staff members have in their wards or local government areas projects. If every staff of NDDC takes up a project in their local government area and ensure that they are well delivered, we will not have these issues.

“Thirdly, the IMC; for the first time in the history of NDDC, no palliatives were given. I did not give out Christmas palliative. I was under pressure to bring N10bn – N1bn per state – but I refused. The youth were complaining that things were difficult and I said ‘the day I give you this money, you know I have started collecting your money.’ I never gave any Christmas bonus or palliative during my time. For the first time in the history of NDDC, NDDC worked throughout December. There was no break except on public holidays.”

Lawmakers summon Akpabio, acting MD

Meanwhile, after Nunieh’s presentation, the committee summoned Akpabio, asking him to appear before it on Monday.

The lawmakers also summoned the acting MD of NDDC to reappear before them on Monday.

Rivers CP asks gov to hand over Nunieh

The Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mukan, has asked the state government to hand over Nunieh to him, saying Nunieh was under investigation.

Wike, who fumed that the policemen who invaded Nunieh’s house to arrest her had no warrant of arrest, took Nunieh to the Government House.

Briefing journalists in his office on Friday, the CP said the policemen from the Inspector-General of Police Monitoring Unit had the permission of the state police command before they proceeded to Nunieh’s residence. He stressed that the policemen were on a legitimate assignment.

The CP said, “It is really unfortunate because under normal circumstances if His Excellency (Wike) is saying he went to rescue her, he is supposed to turn her over to me because I am the Commissioner of Police on the ground and I will be in a better position to take her than for him (Wike) to take her to the Government House.

“So if you rescue your citizen, we expect you to turn her over to the police who are in a better position to protect her. I still believe he is going to turn her over because the exercise was legitimate. It was within the confines of the law.”

Rivers court stops police, others from arresting Nunieh

Meanwhile, the state High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has restrained the police and other law enforcement agencies from arresting Nunieh.

Nunieh through her lawyer, Sylvester Adaka, on Friday filed for an ex parte order praying the court to bar the police from making a further attempt to arrest her.

Justice E. Thompson granted the application brought to the court by her lawyer.

The court restrained the NDDC or any other body from arresting Nunieh pending the hearing and determination of the matter before it.

When contacted, Nunieh confirmed that she got an injunction from the Rivers High Court.

Akpabio threatens to sue Nunieh

Meanwhile, Akpabio has threatened to take legal action against  Nunieh for allegedly defaming his character.

This threat was contained in a statement titled, “Akpabio to sue Joy Nunieh for defamation, denies ‘false allegations’,” signed by his special assistant, Anietie Ekong, in Abuja, on Friday.

Ekong said the minister had already instructed his lawyers to seek legal redress.

He described Nunieh’s allegations against his principal as tissues of lies noting that at no time did the minister make advances towards her.

The statement read in part, “The honourable minister’s initial attitude was to allow his lawyers and the judicial system vindicate him of the false allegations against him, but he is compelled to react to some of the wayward allegations levied against his person by Nunieh, especially the one bothering on sexual harassment.

“To start with, let it be known that there is no scintilla of truth in all the allegations peddled around by Nunieh. They are simply false.

“The Honourable Minister did not at any time, place or circumstance make any form of sexual advances to Ms Nunieh, not even to put himself in a position or posture suggestive of sexual advances towards Ms Nunieh, or any female staff of his Ministry or the NDDC.

“For the records, the Honourable Minister, Senator Godswill Akpabio, CON, is happily married and contented with his wife. Together they are blessed with children, four of whom are young women.

“The honourable minister is an avid believer of the affirmative action and that was visible in the appointments he made as a two-term executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State between 2007 and 2015.

“Under his watch, he appointed several women into various high-level positions as chairpersons of Local Government Councils, magistrates, judges, heads of parastatals, directors, Permanent Secretaries, and commissioners.”

NAF opens investigation into Arotile’s death, two suspects held

The Nigerian Air Force on Friday stated that it was investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of its Flying Officer, Tolulope Arotile, in a road accident, adding that two persons were being held.

The NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, stated these in an interview with our correspondent, saying at the end of the investigation, “whatever information needs to go out will go out.”

The NAF spokesman later in a release on Friday noted that Arotile would be buried Thursday, July 23, at the National Military Cemetery, Abuja, with full military honours.

The NAF noted that it would continue to support female pilots’ training as 11 were currently undergoing training within and outside Nigeria.

The country was thrown into mourning on Tuesday when the NAF first announced that Arotile, Nigeria’s first female combat helicopter pilot, died at the NAF base in Kaduna State from a road traffic accident.

The air force said the female officer sustained head injuries from the accident when she was “inadvertently hit by the reversing vehicle of an excited former Air Force secondary school classmate while trying to greet her.”

Arotile, a member of the Nigerian Defence Academy Regular Course 64, hailed from Iffe in the Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State, and contributed to the efforts to rid the North-Central states of bandits and other criminal elements by flying combat missions.

She was particularly a squadron leader in Operation Gama Aiki in Minna Niger State.

Notable Nigerians, including the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), had since Wednesday expressed shock over her death.

A Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, however, on Thursday raised suspicion over the death of the female officer, rejecting the road accident explanation and calling for a Coroner’s Inquest into her death.

Speaking in an interview on Friday, NAF spokesman, Daramola, said, “First of all, in my first statement, I said she died from a road traffic accident. I further clarified the nature of the road traffic accident where one of her excited classmates who saw her reversed his car which led to him hitting her and knocking her down. This led to head injuries and a lot of haemorrhaging which ultimately resulted in her death.

“The two boys are in custody and the NAF will do a thorough investigation into the matter. It is a routine process – our own processes that are ongoing because it happened inside a NAF base. At the appropriate time, whatever information needs to go out will go out. But we cannot pre-empt that investigation process.

“Whatever needs to be known will be known; it is standard practice. So, we are investigating the circumstances leading to her death by a road traffic accident. It is an investigation because it may go beyond NAF.”

In a release titled, ‘Late Flying Officer Arotile to be buried in Abuja with full military honours on July 23,’ the NAF spokesman added, “The remains of late Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile who died on July 14 will be laid to rest with full military honours at the National Military Cemetery in Abuja on July 23.

“Meanwhile, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has received some members of the Federal Executive Council as well as members of the National Assembly who visited him at Headquarters NAF at various times on Thursday.”

Meanwhile, some Nigerians on Twitter have said the Chief of the Air Staff, Abubakar, must provide more explanations into the cause of Arotile’s death, adding that the “accident theory” was untenable.

Nigerians sent various messages to the CAS via his Twitter handle betweeen Wednesday and Friday evening, after the air chief put out a condolence message on Arotile.

Abubakar had said on Twitter, “I was heartbroken when I received the sad news of the death of Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile in Kaduna. Tolulope, who was winged in October 2019, was one of our shining stars.

“She was a very intelligent, disciplined confident and courageous young officer. As a squadron pilot in Operation Gama Aiki in Minna, Niger State, she flew her quota of anti-banditry combat missions to ensure a safer Nigeria. I condole with the family over this irreparable loss and pray that God grant her soul eternal rest.”

A Nigerian, Mr Adehola Adeola, replied the air chief, “Thank you, Sadique. Honestly, this statement is unacceptable. Now, get honour by setting up a fact-finding panel to inquire about the death of Tolulope. The death of Tolu is suspicious under a government that sends soldiers to a war front but keeps releasing terrorists they subdue and arrest.”

Another commentator, Jacobson Bright, said, “Very suspicious and shady; I am beginning to see reasons why Nigerian soldiers are voluntarily resigning their appointments. How could that promising, untapped talented young lady just die like that? Somebody must come with better explanations. Something is fishy about her death.”

Another person, Mazo Ezinwa, replied to the air chief, “Sir, someone needs to be held accountable. We refuse to believe this national asset died by accident. Investigate her death; that’s what we’re demanding for – justice for Arotile.”

Yet another Nigerian, Emmy Bac, said, “I honestly think there should be an inquiry into the sad loss of the celebrated young lady. Accidents do happen, but this should not just be accepted as a usual accident. We can be less flippant with the sad loss of a national asset of this nature.”

PDP yet to zone 2023 presidency –Abaribe, Senate minority leader

Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, in this exclusive interview, speaks on zoning in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war, insecurity and the looming famine, rotational and Igbo presidency, among others.

The 9th Senate has often been described as an appendage to the Executive. Considering what has happened in the last one year, would it be okay to conclude that the assumption is true?

The President of the Senate has dealt with this matter with regards to our one year anniversary and what the successes and failures have been. But I’m a member of the opposition, the minority. Therefore, I don’t believe that Nigerians can say that we are a rubber stamp Assembly. We have vigorously opposed whatever we think isn’t going right within the polity. I’ve even stood up on the floor of the Senate to call for the resignation of the President because we felt that he came in on a banner, proclaiming three things he will do. He has failed abysmally in the three. Having done what we are supposed to do as the minority side, I think we have done well. One thing the public needs to know is that, in a democracy, there will always be a voting and the carrying of the majority. If the majority decides on where they want to go, it doesn’t mean that the minority has not had its say. Lumping all of us together and saying that we are a rubber stamp is wrong. I don’t think we are.

I know where the feeling comes from. It comes from the fact that the APC Government between 2015-2019, explained their lethargy and failure on the contentious relationship with the National Assembly. It said the National Assembly sabotaged their effort. There was a concerted effort by the APC Government to get a leadership in the National Assembly that will be more inclined to what they want to do. We felt since they were talking about the interest of the masses, we decided to give them the benefits of the doubt. Now, we have given them the benefits of the doubt for one year and things have unraveled further, which goes to show that the problem didn’t come from the National Assembly ab initio. Now that the National Assembly is cooperating with them, you can see that things have turned worse. We have seen a Government in total disarray. What this means is that, the National Assembly was right from the beginning by pointing out those problems the Government had, but said they won’t correct. They were just blaming Saraki and others. We can see everything now. I don’t think that there are more excuses that can be heard for the incompetence that has been shown by this Government.

The Senate has held two retreats on insecurity. Yet, the architecture has not been restructured. We still have the same service and security chiefs in office. How do you proceed?

There’s a prima that every person who desires to take the mantle of leadership in Nigeria needs to read. It was written by Chinua Achebe and it’s called ‘The Trouble with Nigeria’. It’s pure and simple- leadership. As we can see, the current government isn’t providing leadership. And because it’s not providing that leadership and it doesn’t have the capacity to provide that, what we see is a breakdown of all the things they have said they’ll do, but will never do it.

How do we proceed from here?

No, I don’t expect that they’re going to do anything. There was a very an interesting article I read written by Colonel Stan Labo.  I’ll recommend that Nigerians read it. He gave a prognosis of what to do on insecurity. An American General said that ‘war is too serious to be left in the hands of Generals’. Some people think that because they’ve attended the Defence College, nobody can tell them what to do. It is obvious today that the current crop of leaders of the Nigerian Armed Forces are incapable of doing anything again. In fact, we are hearing from the grapevine that they’ve been begging to go, yet, they’re being told that they must stay there. There is no motivation or anything left for them to do. They have run out of ideas. The people below them have been retired and those they have to work with today are far their juniors. Soldiers are even saying they don’t want to be part of the Army again. Is this not the same Nigerian Army that imposed order in Sierra Lone and Liberia? Same Army that won accolades everywhere? The problem is leadership. In the Army and everywhere, it’s the same thing. We can’t run away from the fact that the leadership has failed.

Let me take you back to the Senate. President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has said that over $28 billion had been approved in the last year by the National Assembly. Your people are wondering why the South East wasn’t captured and what you did to change that

We didn’t let it go. If you remember, we made a spirited effort on that day. Beyond the effort, we went to the House of Representatives and agreed to delay it so we could speak to the presidency. This is why I’m talking about the lack of leadership in the country. We spoke to the people in the Executive. Our leadership, the President of the Senate, Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, had gone back to tell the Executive about our concerns. There would have been a review. But what we see is that, this regime thinks that whatever they do that favours them is okay. What else do we do? We have done the parliamentary work we were supposed to do. We did the voting and that was it. Today, there are litigations and these things could have been avoided if the Government had listened. When you’re holding somebody down, you’re also holding yourself down. When you hold the South East down, you’re also holding yourself down. This is a region that is vibrant and they make their contributions to the country. We have continually said that the feeling you get in the South East, is that, Buhari doesn’t mean well for them. They have continued to reinforce this fact. When they complain that he has not done anything for the region, they’ll tell you about the Second Niger Bridge as if they started it. The work was started long before they came and the Goodluck Jonathan administration had already made some payment through the Sovereign Wealth Fund. No matter the regime in office, it would have been done. We continue to laugh when they bandied these little things. Femi Adesina wrote recently that they built a police station in the South East. So, if a Government wants to do something, it is a police station that it will build for the South East? They’re not building something serious and they want us to be happy about that? He thinks that we are dumb. Enough said about this government.

 Let’s talk about the Igbo presidency. Actors outside the South East believe that leaders of the region need to reach out more to other parts of the country if they intend to get the presidency in 2023. They also claim that the Igbo man doesn’t assimilate well. These claims, are they true sir?

I want to address this very clearly. When someone says that the Igbo man doesn’t assimilate, I think it is the greatest lie anyone can put on us. The Igbo man is the only person that is assimilated in Nigeria. He lives anywhere, builds a house there and develops the community all over the country. Then, someone turns around and tells you that you don’t assimilate well. What else do they want an Igbo man to do? For every other group in Nigeria that ever produced a president, at what point did they go out to meet other groups to support them? When Olusegun Obasanjo became president, no Yoruba person came to the South East to talk to us. Those who felt they owned Nigerians made the presidency of Obasanjo possible. I was there. At what point did Umaru Musa Yar’Adua come to us that he wanted to be president? It was a consensus of the ruling party at that time that power will go to the North. Jonathan became president by happenstance because the incumbent died and he won elections again. Buhari became president. How? When it comes to the turn of the Igbo, hurdles are placed on his way and he’s been told what to do. That’s not true. Political parties, through their internal systems determine these things. Each party will develop their own formula and reach a consensus. That is what will happen in 2023. This demonisation of the Igbo is unnecessary.

Do you see the South East having a chance in 2023 with the major political parties- APC and the PDP?

Parties are made up of individuals and people. Why won’t a South Easterner be able to become president in 2023? I don’t see why. Whoever wants to be president in 2023 will come out and meet everybody. We have capable people from the South East who can vie for the position.

Are leaders from the region meeting across board to take a position on who to support yet?

That’s where you also get it wrong. At what point did the other people meet across party lines to take a decision?

Arewa Consultative Forum openly supported Buhari in 2015 and 2019. It was a consensus then in the North to support Buhari…

The same Arewa Consultative Forum has come out to say that Buhari has disappointed them and taken the country into ruins. What that tells us is that, you can ask for something or demand for it, it can also ruin you. I have a simple way to address this. The structure of the country isn’t proper. We need to first change some of the things in our constitution. We can’t run this feeding bottle system that drags everybody down. We can’t concentrate power at the centre on the presidency where one man is so powerful. We need to go beyond the main acquisition of power and look at other things. Arewa asked for power and see what has happened. For instance, the kind of insecurity we are seeing now, we have not had that. We may be hit by famine soon since people can no longer go to the farm. It’s time for us to think outside the box. Not just enough to ask for power. It has happened everywhere. What we see is incompetence. It leads to nowhere. It should be a matter for every elder in Nigeria to put their heads down in shame. We have promoted mediocrity above excellence. We are paying for that.

There are claims by a PDP senator that the party has zoned the position of the President to the North. Is that true?

It is not true. The party has not met to discuss anything or taken a position on 2023. If there was such a meeting, I was never invited to it. There is no meeting that will concern such a thing that I’ll not be invited. On the issue, there is no where the party is going, you can bury that thought. Not now.

The other issue is the constitutional backing for rotational presidency in Nigeria. Is it something we should consider?

In 2015, we were told that we had the most competent person who will fight everything and was unstained by corruption. They said he was a General who will fight wars. When you answer that question, you can now see whether rotational presidency can hold water. All the things we were told in 2015, where are we today? There is no substitute for excellence. When people make this argument, I agree that every part of Nigeria has competent people. But who will discover them?

Let me go back to Colonel Stan Labo’s quote. Talking to Buhari, he said: “If you have to choose people from the North only, as you’ve been doing, please, choose competent ones.” It is not a question of competent people, but unbridled nepotism is what has brought us here. The fact is not where you come from. If you choose the wrong person, you’ll get the result you deserve

WASSCE: FG, WAEC agree to shift examination date (see press release)

The Federal Government and West African Examination Council (WAEC) have agreed to shift the date of West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) from the August 4 to September 5, 2020, earlier announced.

Minister of State for Education, Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, who disclosed this on Friday in Abuja, said this was the outcome of a meeting between the Federal Government and officials of WAEC’s Nigeria office on Monday and that both parties have agreed to further consult with four other countries on new examination date.

The minister also said government has given school owners in the country till July 29, 2020 to meet specific guidelines towards the reopening of schools at a date to be announced in due course.

He said the Ministry of Education, having consulted widely, has in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the Education in Emergencies Working Group, developed and circulated guidelines for the reopening of schools.

The Director of Information, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Ben Bem Goong, in a statement quoted the minister as saying that the school owners were to prepare and comply with the guidelines.

Nwajiuba urged the schools to undertake self-assessment and send feedback to state Ministries of Education, not later than July 29, 2020.

“Thereafter, consultations with relevant stakeholders will be held to review the situation and decide on a specific date for reopening or otherwise,” he said.

Nwajiuba further noted that having taken the painful but necessary decision not to reopen schools without necessary preparations to ensure the safety of students and teachers, the Federal Ministry of Education has continued consultations with stakeholders, adding that a mechanism to assess and monitor compliance shall be put in place.

“We have consulted widely with stakeholders in the sector, including Commissioners of Education in all the states of the federation, the Association of Private School Owners of Nigeria,(APSON), National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools,(NAPPS), Provosts of Colleges of Education, Rectors of Polytechnics, Vice-Chancellors of Universities, some State Governors, and development partners.

“On WAEC, we met with WAEC on Monday and have agreed to further consult with four other countries on new examination date.

“We appreciate the concern shown by all stakeholders and note the divergent views expressed on the matter.

“Parents should be rest assured that the safety of our students and teachers is paramount as we work assiduously towards the speedy reopening of our schools for the exit classes to take external examinations,” the minister said.