The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has urged Nigerians, particularly residents in the Southeast to ignore the five-day sit-at-home order by a faceless group whose agenda it said is to create insecurity and unnecessary hardships to make people jettison Biafra freedom.

The separatist group also called on Nigerians to exercise their civic responsibility by collecting their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) from their polling and registration centres without any molestation as IPOB has nothing to do with the boycott of elections.

The group, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, maintained that the IPOB leadership did not issue any sit-at-home order for December 9-14, 2022.

“IPOB never issued any sit-at-home order on these days mentioned because we are not miscreants, senseless, or jobless people.

“Every Biafran and residents in Biafra Land should ignore such order from untrained and brainless individuals whose agenda is to make Biafra agitation unattractive to our people . Every Biafran must go to their normal business on those days.

“IPOB who is concerned about our people cannot issue such brainless uncaring 5-day consecutive sit at home order to suffer our people during this critical time of the year when people are trying to make up in their businesses for the year.

“The conception of consecutive five-day sit at home by a Nigeria Agent and his sponsors is to show the level of wickedness and hatred they have against our people. Their agenda is to create insecurity and unnecessary hardships to make our people jettison Biafra freedom. How wicked!

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“Our people should be prepared and ready confront any fool who dares to enforce such wicked sit-at-home. Moreso, ESN operatives and IPOB volunteers will be out on these dates to protect our people and the markets.

“Biafran youths should also be ready to confront anybody who comes to force them to close their businesses on these days.”

He also called on the people to exercise their civic responsibility by collecting their PVCs for the 2023 election.

“Again, everyone has his or her rights to go and collect his or her PVC from their polling and registration centres without molestations. IPOB never boycotts election and has nothing to do with Nigeria shambolic elections,” it added.

Days after rallying many indigenous associations in support of the presidential ambition of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, an Ibadan Chief and philanthropist, Dotun Sanusi, has commissioned a team to begin a door-to-door campaign for the All Progressives Congress(APC) presidential flagbearer for the 2023 elections.

The volunteers, drawn from all the wards in Oyo State, began work on Tuesday, explaining to voters the need to vote for the former Lagos Governor and the APC.

One of the sessions, monitored by journalists within ward 5 area of Ona-Ara local government, saw one of the teams, talking to members of a foundation as well as residents of Eleshin, Amuloko, Arowona, Aba Emu and Idi Iroko.

Sanusi, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Ilaji Hotels and Sports Resorts, in a bid to shore up support for Tinubu, mobilised Ibadan compound and village heads as well as the leadership of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII) for him recently.

Shortly after, he mobilized no fewer than 10,000 members of Odu’a Peoples Congress, OPC, Agbekoya Solidarity Movement of Nigeria and Landlord Volunteer Groups for the same task.

Over the weekend, Islamic clerics, including the chief Imam, Sheikh AbdulGaniyu Agbotomokekere, and leadership of Asalatu groups were at Ilaji Resorts where they prayed and endorsed Tinubu as their preferred presidential candidate for the 2023 election.

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Asked why he commissioned the door-to-door campaigners, the Mogaji of Olugbade compound said it had become imperative to take Tinubu’s campaign to the nooks and corners of the society.

“We cannot just sit down and assume people are for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. We need to take Asiwaju to the common people. We have to let them know the reason why they have to support him.

“Apart from the fact that he is our own, he is the most competent among the top contenders. The Yorubas need him to be president. And things are looking good. The feedbacks are superb. And I can assure that, God willing, Asiwaju will emerge as the next Nigeria President.

”The campaigners are drawn from the various associations we have spoken to. As I speak with you, the Hausa/Fulani just gave me feedback from their localities and they are good news. The Yorubas are doing theirs. The religious groups too as well as militia groups. I believe Asiwaju will win with the support of God,” he added.

Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike has warned the presidential candidate of his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar, to restrain his attack dogs from insulting the group of five Governors (G-5) known as the Integrity Group.

The Governor said the G-5 would fight back if Atiku’s men who he described as miscreants and members of the presidential campaign council, haul insults at the integrity group again.

Wike spoke during the kick-off of Indorama-Agbonchia-Ogale-Ebubu-East/West Link Road in Eleme Local Government Area on Monday.

He said: “We need peace in this state and we would continue to keep the peace but nobody can take us for a ride. Rivers State cannot be a slave to anybody.

“What I want to tell the presidential candidate of the PDP, we need peace, we want all of us to be together for the party to win the general elections but let me say clearly, if your boys continue to fight the leaders of our party, we would fight back.

“If anybody in the PDP presidential campaign council continues to insult the governors of the integrity group, we would fight back. Enough is enough.

“We want peace and we want equity, fairness and justice. Nobody should take us for granted. I cannot understand people, who just left APC recently are talking about PDP that we stayed and suffered to build the party. Even if anybody should talk about us, it is not these miscreants.”

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The Governor also lambasted a former Speaker of the House of Representatives and All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Yakubu Dogara, for backing Atiku against his earlier stance on Southern Presidency in 2023.

Wike wondered why some leaders would not say something and stick to it saying such people lacked character and integrity.
The Governor said soon, he would reveal the content of the discussion Dogara and Babachir Lawal, the former Secretary to the Federal Government had with him at his residence when they visited.

He said: “At the appropriate time I will talk about how Dogara and Babachir visited me and what we agreed. You know what I don’t like in life is people that don’t have character. I can’t stand it. At the appropriate time, I will challenge them for a debate.”

He recalled how Dogara had evaded an appointment they were to have and surreptitiously left the PDP to join the APC.

He said: “What I don’t like in life is people that don’t have character. I can’t stand it. At the appropriate time, I would challenge them to a debate. Ask Dogara, what made you leave PDP?

“Dogara was to see me; unknown to me, he gave me an excuse and I was watching Dogara on TV being received by President Muhammadu Buhari that he had gone to APC. I say ‘Okay, no problem’.

“The same Dogara said the Presidency should be zoned to southern Nigeria for there to be peace. Now, I hear about the same Dogara (is endorsing Atiku from the north for the presidency). Is that how you do things? Can’t you say something and stand by it?”

The Senate Committee on Appropriations on Monday queried the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, over allegations of padding the 2023 budget proposals of some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

The Minister, who appeared before the panel in Abuja, blamed affected Ministers and heads of agencies for not doing due diligence when the proposals were made available to them for scrutiny before the final submission of the fiscal document to the Federal Executive Council for approval and subsequent presentation to a joint session of the National Assembly on October 7, 2022.

Ahmed said: “All the proposed budgetary sums like the N206billion in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, N8.6billion in the Ministry of Defence budget and N195.4billion in the estimates for the Ministry of Power, etc, were all captured before presentation by Mr President.

“Most of these sums are bilateral or multilateral loans captured in the budget of agencies selected for projects execution for the sole purpose of transparency.

“The totality of such loans captured in the proposed budget of the relevant agencies is N1.771trillion.

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“Had heads of the affected MDAs carried out thorough scrutiny of their budgetary proposals, the issue of insertion or budget padding wouldn’t have arisen at all.

‘’It the realization of this that made the Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi, to apologise after feigning ignorance of the N8.6billion in his Ministry’s budget during interface with Senate Committee on Defence.”

Apparently satisfied by the Minister’s explanation, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Jibrin Barau (APC – Kano North) said the clarifications were well understood by all the committee members and commended her for ensuring transparency by capturing of such loans or grants in the budget.

The North-East Development Commission (NEDC) requires N31.05 trillion to implement its 10-year masterplan for the insurgency-ravaged region, its Managing Director, Mallam Mohammed Alkali, said on Monday.

At a media parley in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, Alkali said the amount would enable the commission to execute its projects for the region in four phases.

The first phase, according to him, is recovery and stabilisation slated for 2020-2022, renewal, which is second, will cover 2022-2024. The third and fourth phases are expansion (2024-2026) and sustainable growth (2026-2030).

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The master plan contains 11 pillars, which are peaceful society, leadership in agriculture, healthy citizens, educated populace, flourishing trade, productive entrepreneurs, purposeful infrastructure, industrialisation, memorable experiences, protected environment and connected region.

NEDC, Alkali said, would build 18 mega schools in the region for N21.6 billion. The schools would comprise primary and secondary schools, with state-of-the-art facilities.

According to him, there will be one mega school in each of the 18 senatorial districts of the six states in the region.
The states are Borno, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Taraba and Yobe.