Category: Featured

President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived to perform the official tape-cutting of the multi-billion dollars Dangote Fertiliser Plant at Ibeju Lekki, Lagos.

The plant, built at a cost of $2.5 billion, has the capacity to produce three million metric tonnes (mt) of urea yearly.

According to dangote.com, the plant is Africa’s largest Granulated Urea Fertiliser complex and occupies 500 hectares of land in the Lekki Free Trade Zone.

The plant is also expected to add well over $400 million in foreign exchange to the Nigerian economy from exportation of the products to other Africa countries.

Read Also: Buhari approves more security operatives, arms for Imo

The Dangote plant is expected to complement the production capacity of other existing plants like Indorama Chemicals facilities, located in Rivers State, which produce urea, ammonia and other industrial raw materials.

The President will also use the opportunity of his visit to Lagos to tour the Lekki Deep Seaport and the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical plant, located within the free trade zone.

Details Shortly…

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) remains divided along the North/South lines over its presidential ticket zoning.

Yesterday, the Southsouth leadership of the party made up of governors, federal lawmakers, former governors and other stakeholders demanded that the zone should be handed the ticket “in the spirit of fairness, equity and justice.”

But the party, through its Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, declared that it would not stop presidential aspirants from the North who have indicated an interest in the ticket.

At yesterday’s summit in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, the Southsouth leaders warned that the party might lose the opportunity to retake power if it failed to allow its stronghold to produce the candidate.

The communique of the summit with the theme: “Engendering a Southsouth agenda for 2023 and beyond,” read by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu, said: “The zone is fully in support of the position of the Southern Governor’s forum that the next President of Nigeria must come from the Southern part of Nigeria.”

Addressing the meeting earlier, Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike asked the PDP to treat the Southsouth geo-political zone with fairness, justice and equity.

The governor said having consistently voted for the PDP since 1999, the party should not ignore the Southsouth’s contributions to its success.

Wike added: “The Southsouth is the pillar of the PDP. If the Southsouth is the pillar of the PDP, they must be treated with fairness, justice and equity.

“It is not only when it comes to work, it is not only when it comes to giving votes that we will all remember that the Southsouth is the pillar. When it also comes in terms of sharing, they should remember that this is the pillar of the party.”

Wike charged his colleagues, National Assembly members and other stakeholders from the zone to set aside their differences in the overall interest of the PDP.

“We have all said that Nigerians are waiting for PDP to take over in 2023. That is true. But we cannot take over if we are not united. We cannot take over if don’t work together.

“It is for us to put our house together and make Nigerians proud because if we don’t take over in 2023, Nigerians will never forgive PDP. We must take this opportunity and make Nigerians happy,” he said.

The governor said PDP had realised its past mistakes, and would not take Nigerians for granted when given another opportunity.

Wike said the Federal Government’s declaration that it had deleted Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act smacked of corruption.

However, no aspirant in the Southsouth zone, apart from Dele Momodu, has indicated interest to vie.

At the meeting were Governors Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom); Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta) and Douye Diri (Bayelsa).

Other dignitaries in attendance included PDP National Vice Chairman (Southsouth), Chief Dan Orbih; Senator George Sekibo; former Deputy House of Reps Speaker, Austin Opara; former governors Liyel Imoke (Cross River) and Celestine Omehia (Rivers).

Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki was the only Southsouth PDP governor absent at the meeting. He has been having a running battle with Wike.

Yesterday, former Senate President Bukola Saraki obtained the Presidential nomination form in Abuja.

On Sunday, Saraki at a meeting with Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal and Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed in Bauchi said the three of them had decided to produce a consensus candidate from the North.

Read Also: Over 200 groups endorse Tinubu for President

He added that they would contact former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the first aspirant to pick the party’s nomination form.

PDP spokesman Ologunagba, who spoke with our correspondent on the telephone, said chieftains seeking to fly the flag of the party have not broken any rule.

According to him, Atiku and Saraki were exercising their fundamental human rights, which guarantee their aspiration to leadership positions in the country.

Ologunagba said: “They did not jump the gun as you inferred. The constitution of the PDP, and indeed the Nigerian constitution, did not empower the party leadership to abridge the rights of any party member or any Nigerian for that matter.

“Let me make it clear that Atiku, Saraki, or any other aspirant collecting the nomination form at this point, cannot stop the 37-man committee from doing its job.

“To make it clearer; even if the committee eventually zones the presidential ticket to a particular part of the country, it does not take away the right of other qualified and interested individuals to contest.

“The PDP is a party of laws and regulations. We do things in accordance with our laws and procedures, and in line with the constitution of Nigeria.

“You would recall that during our last national convention, there was a committee set up by NEC on issues of zoning, which made recommendations that were accepted and implemented by NEC.

“But there were some people who were interested in contesting and they still went ahead to contest for positions based on their convictions. So, there is nothing out of place in what is unfolding.”

Ologunagba, however, did not rule out the adoption of a consensus candidate.

He said: “We have a robust conflict resolution mechanism in place, through which we resolve our differences amicably. So, there is no contradiction anywhere.”

 

Governorship aspirants pick form

Mr. Olajide Adediran, Atiku’s protege, Mr Segun Showunmi and a PDP state spokesman, Ibrahim Manga, yesterday picked the forms to contest for governor in Lagos, Ogun and Kebbi states.

The aspirants spoke on their plans after picking their forms.

Adediran said he would improve the lot of Lagosians if elected.

He said: “What Lagos needs right now is that breath of fresh air, and that is what I represent; a breath of fresh air in the sense that I haven’t been appointed before, I haven’t been elected before.

“I have been on the sidelines, watching and studying the situation and whatever you see us doing today, I want to tell you, it’s a result of thorough research on how to play the game.

“That is why we consider ourselves in a very vantage position to win Lagos for PDP.”

Showunmi said he was more prepared for the job than other aspirants, stressing that he had bright ideas.

“As far as I am concerned, democracy imagines that there will be a contestation of ideas and that a political party of PDP’s standing must be a platform that will expect people to come and contest based on ideas.

“I have had a lot of insinuations about money, and all of the reasons that make them, maybe, shiver and shake when they hear this.

“But I tell you that I am a son of a very rich man. My mother is a very rich woman by the grace of God. And I am a very hardworking person.

“I have enough resources on my own to prosecute this race. My expectation is that we are going to use this contest to show to younger people and to inspire them, that democracy is about bringing up ideas that can be interrogated by firstly, colleagues, who will become the delegates.”

Manga deplored what he described as poor governance by the present Kebbi administration, saying that he would deliver good governance for the state.

He said: “I am not joining the race for the fun of it. I have satisfied my conscience. And I have justified my conviction that I am fit, capable and prepared to drive and steer the ship of Kebbi State as it pleases God Almighty.

“My three fundamental areas of attention, if God pleases himself to provide us with this opportunity, is first, agriculture, then, the youths and security.

“These are the critical areas that I have looked at and which are suffering beyond human comprehension in my rural state of Kebbi.”

 

 

Barring any last-minute move, the plan to have a consensus candidate for the All Progressives Congress (APC) national chairman’s position at Saturday’s convention might have collapsed.

Six aspirants, who obtained forms to vie for the position, will face a screening panel today in Abuja.

Those in the race are former Governors Abdullahi Adamu, Tanko Al-Makura and George Akume. Others are Saliu Mustapha, Senator Sani Musa and Abubakar Bwari. All of them are from the Northcentral.

Secretary of the screening committee  Emmanuel Otagburuagu in a statement said: “His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari, the chairman and  Rt.  Hon. Dimeji Bankole, the co-chairman of the APC 2022 National Convention Screening Committee, hereby invites all the aspirants to the screening exercise scheduled as follows:

“Tuesday 22nd  March 2022, screening of national chairman and other National Working Committee aspirants at the Katsina State Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro Abuja.

”Wednesday, 23rd March 2022, screening of aspirants into the Zonal offices, time 10 am at the same venue.

The party had earlier fixed  March 20  for the screening of all aspirants for the NWC and zonal positions.

Rising from its meeting yesterday,  the convention’s media committee expressed joy that the APC  governors and other leaders had put behind them all the bickering witnessed in the recent weeks.

The media committee, according to its secretary and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, quoted the panel’s Chairman, Governor Abdullahi Sule, as saying that the only path to a hitch-free convention was in carrying everyone along.

The statement by Garba reads: “The Leadership of the party under Governor Mai Mala Buni and the members of the caretaker committee are making every effort to take everyone along and I believe it is the only path for a successful Convention and victory at elections. We believe in unity in diversity, and this is the mantra of our convention.”

Shehu added that the Committee had broken into subcommittees that have speedily moved on with their various assignments aimed at delivering a successful convention by Saturday.

 

Read Also: APC convention: Southwest picks Kekemeke, Omisore

 

* Buni  resumes, saves Akpanudoedehe

Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee, Mai Mala Buni,  resumed duty yesterday after his return from a medical vacation in the United Arab Emirates.

He arrived at the secretariat of the party at about 3 pm and went straight into a meeting with the Secretary…John Akpanudoedehe.  They were later joined by the governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma.

The Nation gathered from a source close to the meeting that some members of the caretaker committee threatened not to walk out of the meeting if Akpanudoedehe sat in council with them.

The members were said to have insisted that the committee has since   March 8  passed a vote on no confidence in the Secretary and vowed not to have him at the committee’s routine meetings.

It was gathered that when the members insisted on not having Akpanudoedehe attend the meeting, Buni pleaded and apologised to them before they calmed down.

After the meeting, Uzodimma that the convention was realizable.

He said: The APC convention, I don’t know what kind of sign you want to see before you’ll know that convention will hold on Saturday. As at yesterday, all the subcommittees have started meeting: the Screening Committee, the Accreditation Committee, I’m aware that they are already meeting. The venue is being prepared.

Aregbesola’s men, ex-speaker bicker over Omisore’s ambition as National Secretary

Meanwhile,  loyalists of the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola under the aegis of  The Osun Progressives(TOP) and Osun State Assembly, ex-speaker, Adejare Bello, have differed over the ambition of Senator Iyiola Omisore to become the national secretary of the APC.

The Nation recalls that the party shared out two posts to the Southwest. The zone was said to have nominated Isaac Kekemeke (Ondo State) as its candidate for national vice chairman and Senator Iyiola Omisore (Osun) as secretary. .

 

 

 

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved a fresh range of solutions, including the deployment of more security personnel, arms and ammunition to douse the security situation in Imo State.

Imo Governor Hope Uzodinma, who revealed the outcome of his meeting with Buhari in Abuja, also denied allegations of the culpability of his administration in the reign of terror that had pervaded the state, describing such allegations as illogical.

Buhari invited the Governor over recent security developments within his state, as well as the entirety of the Southeast region.

The President also met with the Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, and his Chief Economic Adviser, Professor Doyin Salami, in two other separate meetings over the crises rocking the power sector and economy in general.

Disclosing some details of the conversation he held with the President, the Governor said Buhari granted all his requests with regards to solving the security crises.

“You must have heard that the President sent for me and I have gone to see him and based on issues, which we have adequately addressed, particularly the resurgence of insecurity in the Southeast and what is required to ensure that it’s properly controlled.

“We discussed all that and he took seriously my recommendations and indeed I can tell you he immediately gave approval to all that, which includes increase in manpower to security agencies and then other logistics supports, ranging from additional arms and ammunition.

“Also, we are making use of our local vigilante and the involvement of community leaders to ensure that through community arrangement, additional security is provided to the people.

“You will recall that few days ago, the home of the President-General of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo was attacked by bandits and the same night, a police station in Umuguma, Owerri West, was also attacked.

READ ALSO: Imo to workers: we will punish those who stay away on Mondays

“For a very long time, if you’ll remember, we’ve never had such a situation and this happened at a time that people are already relaxed and thought that insecurity has become a thing of the past.

“But to the glory of God, security agencies rose to it, the second day they were probably repelled by security agencies, particularly men of the Directorate of State Service. They’ve been very useful, working with other security agencies.

“We didn’t also wait, we initiated a community-oriented program where the vigilante approach has been re-enacted and the community leaders have shown sufficient interest. We’ll get there.”

Reacting to the allegation that his administration might be culpable in the crisis in his state, as it had been accused of sponsoring some of the people behind the trouble, including the ‘unknown gunmen’ phenomenon, Uzodinma described such thinking as abnormal.

“Well, thank God that you called us government and I don’t know how a government, with paraphernalia of office available to it, ranging from the army, the police, the air force, the navy, the DSS, the Civil Defense, will now go for non-state actors to be used for governance.

“As civilized people, you also represent the elites, you should be able to advise such minds to reason well and think well because the only person that officially has power for coercion is government. If anything is to go by, we are a God-fearing government, that is why we have not used force as the only way of controlling the violence in Imo State.”

The Federal High Court in Abuja has sacked two members of the House of Representatives and 18 members of the House of Assembly from Cross River State over their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The PDP had challenged their defection, saying there was no division in the party that warranted such.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Speaker of the House of Representatives, National Assembly, Clerk of the National Assembly, Cross River State House of Assembly, Clerk of the State House of Assembly and the APC were also joined as defendants in the suit.

A similar case challenging the defection of Governor Ben Ayade is due for judgement on Friday.

The federal lawmakers affected by the court judgement are Michael Etaba, who represents Obubra/Etung Federal Constituency and Legor Idagbor, representing Obudu/Obanliku/Bekwarra.

Cross River Speaker Eteng Williams and his deputy, Joseph Bassey were also among those sacked.

The others are Odey Peter Agbe, Okon E. Ephraim, Regina L. Anyogo, Matthew S. Olory, Ekpo Ekpo Bassey, Ogbor Ogbor Udop, Ekpe Charles Okon, Hillary Ekpang Bisong, Francis B. Asuquo, Elvert Ayambem, Davis Etta, Sunday U. Achunekan, Cynthia Nkasi, Edward Ajang, Chris Nja-Mbu Ogar and Maria Akwaji.

The judge, Justice Taiwo Taiwo, while delivering judgement on a suit instituted by the PDP to challenge the lawmakers’ defection, dismissed all the preliminary objections raised by the sacked lawmakers.

“A day must surely come when elected officials, must ask the people who voted for them before defecting to other political parties,” Justice Taiwo said.

According to the judge: “The lawmakers wined and dined under the umbrella of the PDP,” but jumped ship to the APC even when there was no justification for their action.

Read Also: We are not aware of court judgment sacking us – C’River Speaker

“The defendants court documents were contrived and filed with loopholes. The papers are manifestly defective,” the judge said while granting all the reliefs sought by the PDP.

The lawmakers defected alongside Ayade, last year triggering a lawsuit by the PDP on August 27, 2021.

The PDP’s lawyer, Emmanuel Ukala, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), sought the court’s interpretation of the provisions of Section 109(1)(g) of the constitution, which prohibits a lawmaker from defecting to another political party without justifiable reasons.

Ukala also drew the court’s attention to the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Abegunde versus Ondo State House of Assembly (2015).

He contended that the lawmakers being persons whose election to the parliament was sponsored by the PDP and having become members of another political party, their seats should be declared vacant.

In the court papers filed before the judge, the PDP prayed for “an order of injunction restraining the lawmakers from acting as members of parliament both in Abuja and Calabar, the Cross River State capital.

The plaintiff also sought “an order of injunction restraining INEC, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, clerk of the National Assembly, the House of Assembly for Cross River State and the clerk of the State Assembly from according recognition to the dismissed lawmakers.”

In addition, the party urged the court to make “an order of mandatory injunction compelling INEC to accept from the PDP the list of candidates for the purpose of filling the vacancies created by the exit of the lawmakers from the parliament on account of their defections.”

In its verdict, the court held that despite the fact that the major cause of action arose in Calabar, it has both “territorial and subject matter” jurisdictions to entertain the suit.

The judge agreed with the plaintiff that there was no rancour within the PDP to create the opportunity for the lawmakers to ditch their former party on whose platform they emerged in the 2019 general elections.

“That at the time the lawmakers defected from the PDP to the APC, the PDP did not have division in the party,” the judge said.

The lawyer to the sacked lawmakers, Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said the court’s decision would be challenged at the Court of Appeal.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it had begun disciplinary action against one of its officers for leaking a video of former Anambra Governor, Willie Obiano while in its custody.

It disclosed this in a statement titled “EFCC Subjects Officer Behind Obiano’s Video Leak to Disciplinary Action”.

The statement reads in part: “The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has been drawn to a trending video showing the former Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano in the custody of the Commission.

Read Also: BREAKING: Ex-Anambra Gov Obiano gets EFCC administrative bail

“The Commission wishes to distance itself from the said video which is completely at variance with the established Standard Operating Procedure of the EFCC.

“A discreet investigation ordered upon discovery of the leak has revealed the errant officer behind the odious act and he is currently being subjected to appropriate disciplinary action.”

The EFCC granted Obiano administrative bail on Mobday after he spent four nights in its custody.

The Nation had reported Obiano was arrested last Thursday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on his way to Texas, United States.

The EFCC last November placed the former Governor on its watchlist.

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has sacked 20 members of the Cross River Assembly who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressive Congress (APC) last year.

Read Also: Court strikes Gov Umahi’s bid to stay execution of judgment on sack

Justice Taiwo Taiwo held that the lawmakers should vacate their seats since they had abandoned the party which brought them to power.

The judgement followed a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/975/2021 filed by the PDP.

Detail Shortly…

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday struck out an application by Ebonyi Governor, David Umahi, and his deputy, Kelechi Igwe, seeking to stop the execution of the judgment that removed them from office because of their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, struck out the suit following confirmation that a valid appeal had been entered at the Court of Appeal, Abuja division, challenging the verdict that sacked them.

After arguments by Umahi and Igwe’s lawyer, Chukwuma Machukwu Umeh SAN, as well as the PDP’s lawyer, Chief James Ogwu Onoja SAN, the attention of the court was drawn to the substantive appeal already pending at the Court of Appeal.

Umeh thereafter applied for withdrawal of the application to enable his clients to focus and concentrate on the substantive appeal.

The request was not opposed by the PDP counsel prompting Justice Ekwo in a brief ruling to strike out the suit.

Read Also: Ohanaeze attacks Wike over Obaseki, Umahi

Justice Ekwo ordered Governor Umahi and his Deputy to shift their legal battle against the judgment that sacked them to the appellate court.

A similar decision was invoked in another application for judgment stay by the sacked 16 lawmakers of Ebonyi Assembly

Umahi and his Deputy had two weeks ago asked the Federal High Court for an order staying the execution of its judgment that ordered their removal from office as governor and deputy governor of the state respectively.

In a motion on notice filed by their counsel, the governor and his deputy prayed the court for an order staying the execution of the orders made in the judgment delivered on March 8, 2022, directing the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to immediately receive from PDP the names of its candidates to replace them.

The court was also prayed to stay the execution of its order directing INEC to hold a governorship election in accordance with Section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution.

The motion on notice dated March 9, 2022, equally sought an order staying the execution of the order of the court directing INEC to immediately declare the persons nominated by the PDP as governor and deputy governor of Ebonyi State respectively.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has granted ex-Anambra Governor Willie Obiano administrative bail after spending four nights in custody.

EFCC chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, who disclosed this to journalists on Monday in Abuja, said Obiano was cooperating with the commission to perfect the bail conditions.

Bawa refuted reports claiming Obiano’s arrest and investigation was politically motivated.

“There is nothing political about the investigation. You know what the EFCC stands for,” Bawa said.

“We investigate crimes, we look at people that have committed crimes and we link it up together and then we go to court. That is all we have been doing and that is what we will continue to do.

Read Also: Obiano spent Anambra money well, says Umeh

“We have been accused of media trial. But we will continue to do our investigation professionally.

“He has been granted bail and we are waiting for him to perfect his bail conditions he has been cooperating with us and everything is going on well,” he said.

The Nation had reported Obiano was arrested last Thursday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on his way to Texas, United States.

The EFCC last November placed the former Governor on its watchlist.

Details Shortly…

Kaduna Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has declared a 24-hour curfew in Jema’a and Kaura local government areas.

The declaration followed the reported attack on Southern Kaduna communities by gunmen attack on Sunday night.

No fewer than 15 persons were said to have been killed during the attack in Kaura alone.

A source from Kaura reported the gunmen on Sunday night attacked Agban Kagoro, Kaura local government area of Kaduna state and killed about 15 people.

The source could not however ascertain the number of people injured and houses razed.

The source said: “I was able to count and get about 15 people killed. There is the likelihood that there are those killed in their houses while others could have died in the buses as a result of gun wounds they sustained.”

He added that he could not get the number of those injured and the houses burnt by the attackers, saying that the destruction made was so terrifying.

Read Also: 2023: El-Rufai, Masari direct ambitious appointees to resign

According to him: “The destruction made by the attackers last night (Sunday) is so terrifying as the gunmen suspected to be Fulani militias came in their large numbers and well organised. They came with sophisticated weapons and carried out their acts of destroying both lives, houses and property of the natives.”

El-Rufai, in a statement on Monday through the Commissioner, Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, said the 24-hour curfew was to enable the security agencies stabilise the situation in the affected communities.

According to him: “Following advice from security agencies, the Kaduna State Government has declared a 24-hour curfew in Jema’a and Kaura local government areas with immediate effect.

“This is to assist the security agencies to stabilise the situation in the areas, save lives and property and enable the restoration of law and order.

“The security agencies have full authorization to enforce the curfew. Government appeals to all residents of Jema’a and Kaura local government areas to cooperate with the security agencies in the urgent task of restoring peace and upholding law and order.

“Government condemns the violence and all acts of lawlessness that have occurred in the area. Further updates will be issued as necessary.”