Author: The Nation

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday tendered to the Kano State Governorship Election Tribunal 21 Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) machines.

The machines were used in 21 polling stations in 10 Local Government Areas (LGAs), Tudun-Wada, Gaya, Gezawa, Bunkure, Bebeji, Ungogo, Ajingi, Warawa, Karaye and Garko.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the petitioner, the All Progressives Congress (APC), on April 9 filed a petition challenging INEC for declaring Abba Kabir-Yusuf of the NNPP the winner of the March 18, 2023 gubernatorial election.

The respondents are INEC, Abba Kabir-Yusuf and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

NAN recalls that the tribunal on June 6 granted leave to the petitioner to access and inspect the BVAS machines used by INEC in the governorship election.

At the resumed sitting, Counsel to INEC, E.A.  Oshayomi  led Mr Ocheka, an INEC employee, to present the machines to the court.

Ocheka told the court that the BVAS machines required protection because when their batteries run down codes would have to be sent from China before they could be reactivated.

Read Also: INEC deleted results on all BVAS we inspected, Atiku’s witness alleges

“Owing to safety reasons, let me go back with the BVAS to INEC office and whenever the court needs them I will bring them back,” Ocheka said.

Counsel to the petitioner, Nureini Jimoh (SAN), tendered the 21 BVAS to the tribunal to support their petition and objected to the machines being returned to INEC.

Counsel to Kabir-Yusuf, Mr R A Lawal, and Counsel to NNPP, Mr John Baylesha, did not object to the admissibility of the BVAS machines in evidence.

“Once the petitioner tendered the machines, it is now left for the tribunal to decide where to keep them for safety reasons,” he said.

NAN reports that the petitioner has so far presented 18 witnesses to testify before the court to prove its case.

The three-man panel led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan-Osadebay adjourned the matter until July 12 for the continuation of hearing.

(NAN)

President Bola Tinubu at the weekend emerged as Chairman of the Authority of the Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Tinubu, who attended the forum of West African leaders for the first time at the 63rd Ordinary Session, was announced as Chairman in Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau.

Tinubu took over the chairmanship of the regional organisation from the outgoing leader of the sub-regional political and economic body, President Umaro Sissoco Embaló of Guinea-Bissau.

As the Chairman, he will play a crucial role in leading the ECOWAS member States toward economic development, political stability, and cooperation.

Below is a list of ECOWAS Chairmen from 1999 till date:

*Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso (1990 -1991)

*Dawda Jawara of Gambia (1991 – 1992)

*Abdou Diouf of Senegal (1992 – 1993)

*Nicéphore Soglo of Benin Republic (1993 – 1994)

*Jerry Rawlings of Ghana (1994 – 27, July 1996)

*Sani Abacha of Nigeria (27 July 1996 – 8 June 1998)

*Abdulsalami Abubakar of Nigeria (9 June 1998 – 1999)

*Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo (1999)

Read Also: NIDCOM lauds Tinubu as ECOWAS Chairman

*Alpha Oumar Konare of Mali (1999 – 2001)

*Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal (21 December 2001 – 31 January 2003)

*John Kufour of Ghana (31 January 2003 – 19 January 2005)

*Mamadu Tandja of Niger (19 January 2005 – 19 January 2007)

*Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso (19 January 2007 – 19 December 2008)

*Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of Nigeria (19 December 2008 – 18 February 2010)

*Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria (18 February 2010 – 17 February 2012)

*Alassare Ouattara of Ivory Coast (17 February 2012 – 17 February 2013)

*John Mahama of Ghana (19 May 2013 – 4 June 2015)

*Macky Sall of Senegal (4 June 2015 – 31 July 2016)

*Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia (4 June 2016 – 4 June 2017)

*Faure Gnassingbe of Togo (4 June 2017 – 31 July 2018)

*Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria (31 July 2018 – 29 June 2019)

*Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger (29 June 2019 – 2 June 2020)

*Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana (2 June 2020 – 3 July 2022)

*Umaro Sissoco Embalo of Guinea Bissau (3 July 2022 – 9 July 2023)

* Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria (9 July 2023 – )

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Ogun 1 Area Command, says it intercepted 37 trailers loaded with foreign parboiled rice in different locations in the state between January and June, this year.

The Area Controller of NCS, Bamidele Makinde, made the disclosure at news conference on Tuesday in Idiroko, Ogun.

Makinde commended the activities of the command within the last six months, as they were able to arrest seven suspected smugglers at the headquarters in Idiroko, Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State.

The customs boss said that the command also seized 173,975 litres of petrol, which is equivalent to five tankers, during the period under review.

He said that five exotic luxury buses that were allegedly smuggled into Nigeria through the Ohumbe land border were also impounded by operatives of the command.

Makinde said that the command generated N93.301 million from import duties, auction sales of petrol, and scrap vehicles.

He added that the revenue generated was an increase of 310 per cent compared to last year’s N29,940 million revenue made within the same period in 2022.

The customs Chief said 392 that the seizures were made with the cumulative Duty Payable Value (DPV) of N1,313,628,488.

He said that some of the seizures are 5,048 pieces of used tyres, 390 bales of used clothing, 61 units of vehicles, including 5 luxury buses, and 173,975 litres of petrol.

Other seizures are 107 sacks and 1,595 wraps of cannabis sativa, 194 cartons of codeine syrup and 22,526 bags of foreign parboiled rice of 50 kg each (an equivalent of 37 trailer loads).

“Customs remains resolute in our fight against smuggling of rice and other illegal items to encourage local production in line with the Federal Government’s policy to promote local production,” he said.

Makinde noted that the command was able to achieve this remarkable result due to its continuous stakeholders’ engagement, deployment of intelligence in the operation and improved discipline and total dedication to duty by its officers.

(NAN)

Read more Customs related stories:

• We won’t allow saboteurs take over our economy – Customs
• Customs arrests suspected smuggler, 59 other suspects

Former Minister of Aviation, Mrs Stella Oduah says she is not aware of any fresh criminal charge against her by the Police in the name of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Oduah made the assertion on Tuesday in Abuja through her lawyer, Mr James Onoja, SAN while addressing newsmen.

The former minister said that apart from not being served with the charge, she had never been subjected to any kind of investigation by the Nigeria Police Force.

According to her lawyer, my client has not been invited to make any statement by any agency of government before the spurious charges were made by one Ochogwu Ogbe and Ibrahim Mohammed, who claim to be lawyers with the police.

The senior lawyer said that the charge had no proof of evidence bearing Oduah’s statement as required by law and no single witness from the National Youth Service Corps, (NYSC) was listed.

Onoja also claimed that the two police lawyers responsible for filing of the charges did so without affixing their seal of practice.

He added that the address where the purported charge emanated from indicated EFCC’s office at No. 1, Court Road, Benin City in Edo.

The senior lawyer claimed that it could not yet be ascertained whether the police or the EFCC was behind the charge.

He said that his team visited the EFCC headquarters to investigate the faceless charge and the EFCC denied knowledge of the charge.

“The spurious allegations against our client of not participating in NYSC has been dismissed by the Supreme Court in her favour.

“The fresh charge against my client is a violation of the Code of Conduct for prosecutors as issued by the Federal Ministry of Justice and punishable under Article 7, part B of the Code,” he said.

He thanked Justice James Omotosho for questioning the lawyer that issued the charge and to appear for prosecution.

He said that the action of the judge was a confirmation that the court was not comfortable with all anomalies contained on the face of the charge.

He said that he would petition the Inspector-General of Police for investigation and to call to order those bringing the image of the police to disrepute.

Read Also: EFCC to arraign Stella Oduah for alleged perjury, documents falsification

“We will also petition the EFCC to investigate impersonation and abuse of its prosecutorial powers.

“This is a new political dispensation which has promised adherence to rule of law and accountability, we need a breath of fresh air,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) reports that a mild drama ensued at the Federal High Court, Abuja on Tuesday where a judge of the court, Justice James Omotosho handed a police lawyer, Mr Ibrahim Mohammed to EFCC with regards to the case.

The police lawyer is to be investigated for filing an eight-count criminal charge against Oduah in the name of the EFCC without the authority of the anti-graft agency.

The lawyer told the court that he left the EFCC in November 2022 and admitted to some errors in filing the charge with the name of the anti-graft agency.

The court nonetheless ordered that the authenticity of his errors must be established through investigation. 

(NAN)

The Police in Ebonyi killed two gunmen enforcing the sit-at-home order during a gun duel

Two other gunmen were also arrested, the police authorities said. 

 Ebonyi police spokesperson Onome Onovwakpoyeya announced this in a statement on Tuesday.

According to her, the police received information that gunmen suspected to be members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) were shooting in Okposi, Ohaozara local government area of the state to enforce the sit-at-home order.

The statement reads: “On the 10th of July, 2023, at about 13:50 hours, some armed men suspected to be IPOB/ESN members went to Okposi in Ohaozara LGA and started shooting sporadically into the air. On receipt of the information, the operatives of the Command immediately swung into action by giving the hoodlums a hot chase.

Read Also: Sit-at-home: Enugu residents count losses say ‘we can’t cope anymore’

”The hoodlums engaged the policemen in a gun duel, which resulted in one of them being neutralized while the others escaped with varying degrees of bullet wounds.”

“The police recovered several exhibits, including a bullet-riddled blue Highlander jeep, a pump-action gun, live cartridges, handsets (phones), a Sumec Fireman generator, charms, provisions robbed from shops, face masks, expended pump-action gun cartridges, and expended shell of AK 47 rifle ammunition.

”The following day, during a search of the bushes, the police arrested two other fleeing suspects who had bullet wounds. 

“The arrested individuals are Emmanuel Edwin and Chigozie Udeh, while another suspect who was unconscious with bullet injuries later died on the way to the hospital.”

The Senate has urged the Ministry of Works and Housing to urgently intervene and include the repair of Umuahia-Umudike-Ikot-Ekpene, Aba-Ossisioma to Port-Harcourt Roads in the planned nationwide repairs.

It also mandated the Senate Committee on Works (when constituted) to investigate the award of the contracts for the reconstruction/rehabilitation of the roads.

This is to ascertain the level of funds released, utilisation,  level of work completed and factors contributing to the unaccounted delays in the execution of the projects and report to it  within four weeks for further legislative action.

The resolutions were sequel to a motion moved by Sen. Darlington Nwokocha (LP-Abia) at Tuesday’s plenary.

The motion was tagged “Urgent Need to Investigate the Delay in the Completion of Umuahia-Umudike-Ikot-Ekpene, Aba-Ossisioma to Port-Harcourt Roads”.

According to Nwokocha, the roads are critical national assets and Federal Government Category A Interstate roads, traversing and connecting the South-East, South-South, South-West and Northern geopolitical zones of the country.

He said the state of the  roads had remained  deplorable due to unaccountable delays in the completion of the projects.

“They are central to the economic and social nerves of the cities of Aba, Umuahia, Uyo, Ikot-Ekpene, and Port-Harcourt.

Read Also: Full list of Senate Committees, chairmen

“The roads also serve as the arteries of the Nigeria National Petroleum Cooperation Limited (NNPC-Limited) operations, providing the company an alternative channel for the distribution of Petroleum Products, and important agricultural produce nationwide,” he said.

Nwokocha further said that in spite of expending in excess of N15 billion since inception on these critical roads, the Umuahia-Ikot Ekepene Road had only attained six per cent completion as of April 2023.

“While the Aba-Ikot Ekpene and Aba-Port-Harcourt roads continued in its deplorable states, it has led to the economic stagnation of the former boisterous commercial city of Aba with more than 1000 businesses closing down,” he explained.

He said the roads if not expeditiously addressed, would worsen the devastating economic woes, threats to lives and property posed by the failed sections.

(NAN)