The Sokoto State government on Thursday confirmed the discharge of 30 students of the Government Girls College (GGC) struck by a strange illness from a hospital in the state.
The state’s Director of Public Health, Dr. Abdurrahaman Dantsoho, told journalists the students who were admitted at the State Specialist Hospital on Tuesday have been treated and discharged.
He said the state’s Ministry of Health had tested water, and food samples collected from the school.
He, however, said no death has been reported at the college.
The state’s Commissioner for Science and Technology, Dr. Kulu Haruna, also confirmed the development.
She said the state government had deployed about 10 medical doctors to the school.
“The situation was brought under control due to the quick intervention of the state government. All the infected students have been isolated to curtail the spread of the disease,” the commissioner said.
Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri in a Twitter post has urged Pentecostals to desist from criticising their spiritual leaders due to their mistakes or sins.
The social media commentator and presidential aide to ex-president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan admonished Pentecostals to learn from Catholics.
In his post, Reno lauded the ability of Catholics to stand by their priests when caught in sins.
He maintained that why there is love among Catholics is due to the fact that they see a priest who is caught in sin as a wounded soldier; who needs backup and protections, rather than an average Pentecostalist, who will pour out a bowl of criticism on the face of his pastor when he is caught in the web of iniquity.
Read what he published on his Twitter page; “One thing I admire in Catholics is that if a priest is caught in sin, they see him as a wounded soldier who needs protection. But Pentecostals will tear down pastors caught in sin.
A pastor is like a striker. Strikers are marked by the enemy more than other players”
The Federal Government on Thursday tendered as exhibit, a cash sum of $1.3 million recovered from the Abuja mansion of a retired Air Commodore, Umar Mohammed, before the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
The foreign currency was counted in the open courtroom with the aid of an electronic counting machine, and admitted as an exhibit during the continuation of the trial of Commodore Mohammed, over alleged fraud and money laundering charges brought against him by the government.
As the trial resumed, the prosecution counsel, Labaran Magaji, tendered the exhibit with other currencies, saying they were recovered from the defendant’s possession.
In the same vein, the defence counsel, Dr Hassan Liman (SAN), examined the prosecution witness, Stephen Olatubosun, through whom the exhibit was tendered and informed the court that his client intends to file a no case submission on the ground that prima facie case had not been established against him.
However, the trial judge, Justice Inyang Eden Ekwo, after listening to the parties, ordered the Chief Registrar of the Federal High Court to deposit the foreign currency with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), pending the conclusion of the trial.
The case was subsequently adjourned to May 27, for adoption of final addresses, by the parties in the no-case submission motion.
The former air chief is facing a three-count charge of alleged money laundering, illegal possession of firearms and classified documents without authority.
He was accused of receiving $1.3 million in cash from Worldwide Consortium PTY Ltd in 2016, through his company Easyjet Airlines in violation of the Money Laundering Act 2011.
The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, said on Thursday the state would stop relying on federal allocations by 2025.
El-Rufai disclosed this to journalists shortly after declaring open the 147th meeting of the state’s Joint Tax Board.
He said the state has been boosting its tax collections and channeling the funds to infrastructure, education, and health care.
The governor said the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) reached N50.9 billion in 2020.
El-Rufai said: “In our last budget, 60 percent of our budget came from the federal account and 40 percent from IGR.
“But the way we are going, with a very hard-working internal revenue service team, in the next four to five years we will get to a point where we will only go to the federation account only out of courtesy not because we need the money.
“We are focused on running the government and doing development projects entirely from tax collection. We don’t want to depend on the federation account, that’s our goal.”
The governor said his administration is determined to show the people that the payment of tax is not a burden but a contribution to the development of the state.
“And when you contribute, you will see the development, you will see the result.
“This result you will see through free education, 12 years of free education not nine years like other states.
“In Kaduna, it is not just basic education, but free education for junior secondary school and senior secondary and primary which is all financed from taxes.
We provide primary health care free to children under the age of five and to all pregnant women. All senior citizens above the age of 70 get free health care, all from taxation,” he added.
Renowned Islamic Scholar, Sheik Ahmad Gumi, has said the shoot-on-sight order of President Muhammdu Buhari is hindering the efforts to negotiate the release of the kidnapped students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Kaduna.
Earlier in the month, Buhari had asked security operatives to gun down those carrying arms illegally in the forests.
Speaking with Daily Trust on Thursday, the cleric said some of the bandits he met in the forest during his peace meetings have assisted in identifying the leader of the gang responsible for the abduction of the students.
Gumi said despite identifying the leader of the gang, he has been unable to reach out to him because of the shoot-on-sight order of the president.
The cleric added that during his previous tours to the bandits’ dens, he met with more than 80 percent of their leaders, saying if not for lack of encouragement from some government officials, he would have met all the leaders to persuade them to lay their arms for peace to reign.
“If we had encouragement, we would have met all the leaders. All those we met usually offered to support us to negotiate on our behalf, just like what happened in Niger State.
“Presently, our ability has reached the extent that we can identify who is involved in any criminal act. We have identified the leader of those who took the students but he has never attended any peace meeting with us.
“Those groups we met identified him but we could not reach out to him because of the security implication since the government gave shoot-on-sight order and then the government said no negotiation. So, I don’t want us to go into the bush and the government will think we are encouraging them.”
Asked what needs to be done to get the victims released, Gumi said, “What I think is for the government to just relax and allow us to follow these people to teach them how to behave, admonish them and then negotiate so that they stop this thing. We are doing this for ourselves not for the government or any political party.
“We don’t want politicians to mess up our land because they will come and go while we remain here, God willing. So we are not doing it for political reasons, we are doing it for ourselves so that we stop killing each other.”
On the stand of Governor Nasir El-Rufai against negotiating with bandits, Gumi said, “I cannot change the state government stand on negotiation and ransom payment. All I want from them is to allow us to continue discussion with the bandits.”
Effort to get Kaduna State Government reaction through the Commissioner Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, proved abortive as calls to his phone were unanswered.
“NSCDC arrests 9 cows for alleged destruction of farms in Ekiti.”
The State Commandant, Mr Solomon Iyamu, disclosed this in a statement by the command’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Tolu Afolabi, in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday.
Iyamu, according to the statement, said the command got a distress call from farmers around Datunchi, in Ikere-Ekiti, calling for assistance as herders were destroying their farms.
The commandant said that men of the Agro Rangers were deployed immediately to arrest and forestall breakdown of laws and order in the area.
NSCDC arrests 9 cows for alleged destruction of farms in Ekiti.
The State Commandant, Mr Solomon Iyamu, disclosed this in a statement by the command’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Tolu Afolabi, in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday.
Iyamu, according to the statement, said the command got a distress call from farmers around Datunchi, in Ikere-Ekiti, calling for assistance as herders were destroying their farms.
The commandant said that men of the Agro Rangers were deployed immediately to arrest and forestall breakdown of laws and order in the area.
A former Senator who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial district in the National Assembly, Shehu Sani, has called on Nigerians and the government to listen to the agitations from the progenitors of Biafra, Oduduwa Republic, and other secessionist groups from different parts of the country and address their grievances.
Sani, who took to his Twitter handle on Wednesday to give this admonition, said though he was against the activities of the groups springing up from different parts of Nigeria, as their conducts were infantile misadventures, he feels there is a need for the government to pay attention to their agitations.
Sani, who was a member of the 8th Assembly, reminded the secessionists that disintegrating a country is by far easier said than done.
The secessionists threats and their wild conducts are condemnable, unconscionable, hollow and nothing but infantile misadventures.
“Breaking a country is not as seamless as cutting a cake. However, their grievances should be listened to and addressed, and they shouldn’t be persecuted.”
A Kogi high court in Idaho on Wednesday, sentenced one Ocholi Edicha to 12 years and six months in prison for his involvement in the killing of the state Peoples Democratic Party women leader, Salome Abuh.
The deceased was shot in her residence, and both set ablaze in Ochadamu in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State during the state’s gubernatorial election in 2019.
The suspect was convicted of criminal conspiracy, armed robbery and culpable homicide.
After the incident, the state Commissioner of Police, Akeem Busari arrested and paraded six suspects, including Mr Edicha in November 22, 2019 in a joint effort with the local vigilantes.
He named the suspects as Ocholi Edicha, Adamu Haruna, Onu Egbunu, Musa Alidu, Attai Haruna Egwu and Attah Ejeh.
Mr Busari identified Ocholi Edicha as the ring leader of the mob that set Mrs Abuh’s residence ablaze.
New York lawmakers have reportedly reached an agreement to legalize recreational marijuana in the state.
According to Bloomberg, the state is prepared to legalize recreational marijuana use for people aged 21 and older.
The deal would reportedly include a 13 percent tax on sales and would provide licenses to dispensaries.
Nine percent of the 13 percent pot tax would go to the state, Bloomberg notes, while the remaining 4 percent would go to local governments. The New York governor’s office estimates that a legal cannabis program in the state could bring in around $350 million annually, it added. “It is my understanding that the three-way agreement has been reached and that bill drafting is in the process of finishing a bill that we all have said we support,” state Senate Finance Committee Chairwoman Liz Krueger (D) told the news outlet.
Krueger added that she expects lawmakers to vote on the measure as early as next week.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said early Wednesday that a deal on marijuana legalization was close to being made, Bloomberg notes, adding that it is one of his budget priorities.
In February, Virginia lawmakers passed a bill to legalize recreational marijuana, though the legalization would not go into effect until 2024. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) has yet to sign the bill, with state lawmakers hoping he will send it back with amendments that would speed up the bill’s implementation.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has rejected the assessment of the Buhari administration by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC).
Reacting to the current rating by CISLAC on Wednesday, March 24, Mohammed described it as unfair and unacceptable.
CISLAC, a non-governmental organisation, had on March 23, held a press briefing in Abuja where it allegedly accused the Buhari-led administration of lack of transparency in the recovery of stolen assets.
However, fielding questions from State House correspondents in Abuja on Wednesday, the minister dismissed CISLAC’s accusation, saying the assessment is not truly a reflection of the realities on ground.
He said: “I think that I’m aware of that particular rating which was not quite flattering to Nigeria, but our position, which I’ve declared before is that that rating does not truly reflect the great strides that the administration has made in the area of fighting corruption.
The government has put in place various reforms in fighting corruption, but some of these reforms will take time to yield the desired results because the matrix used by TI is not just about grafts alone.
It includes how transparent or how opaque the services are and you’ll find out that when we scored in the 2018, 2019 transparency reports, we realised that we scored very low in the area of ease of doing business in particular.’’
The minister stated that the Federal Government had embarked on various reforms aimed at tackling cases of corrupt practices in both private and public sectors of the economy to improve the country’s rating by the Transparency International (TI).
“That is why the federal government embarked on reforms, especially at the seaports, because that is one area where we scored very low”.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) has announced the commencement of registration for the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry (DE), noting that the National Identity Number (NIN) was a mandatory requirement for registration.
The Board disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday, by its Head, Public Affairs and Protocols, Dr Fabian Benjamin, saying all potential candidates must provide their National Identity Number (NIN) at the point of registration.
According to the statement, the Board also accredited about 700 centres across the country, where registration would take place.
“The approved schedule for registration and examination are that registration exercise will start on Thursday, April 8 and end on Saturday, May 15, 2021.
Candidates are also to note that the registration for Direct Entry applicants will run concurrently with UTME candidates. There will be no extension of time for the sale of the UTME or DE application documents.
“Mock examination will be held on Friday, April 30 for those who indicate interest and are registered before April 24. UTME will hold from Saturday, June 5 to Saturday, June 19, 2021,’’ the statement read.
The statement noted that the registration fee for 2021 application documents remained N3, 500 and N500 for the recommended Reading Text, adding that the venues of the examination would be at any of the centres in the candidate’s chosen examination town.
Meanwhile, the Board said further information regarding the registration processes and requirements would be made available on its official website from April 5.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday resolved to undertake an investigative hearing as well as comprehensive audit of funds spent on rehabilitation, repairs and maintenance of Nigeria’s refineries.
This followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved by Onfoik Luke at the plenary.
Luke, who led the debate on the motion, said there was the need to ensure transparency and accountability in the rehabilitation of the refineries.
He said the motion followed the recent approval of $1.5 billion (N575 billion) for the rehabilitation of the 32-year-old Port Harcourt refinery.
According to the lawmaker, the rehabilitation will be completed in 44 months with a three components funding from Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), budgetary allocations provisions and Afreximbank.
Luke expressed concern that NNPC had allegedly spent about $25 billion in turnaround maintenance of the refineries in the past 25 years.
He said: “Previous rehabilitation notwithstanding, the NNPC audit report last year revealed that three of the nation’s four refineries recorded N1.64 trillion cumulative losses in their 2014 to 2018 details.
Despite not processing any crude oil in June last year, the three refineries still cost the country N10.23 billion in expenses.”
The House therefore mandated its Committee on Petroleum Resources Downstream to carry out an investigative hearing and conduct comprehensive audit of the nation’s refineries.
The House urged the committee to report back for further legislative action within six weeks.
The Benin Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday March 24, 2021 arraigned the trio of Afekhai Aliu, Felix Victor and James Blessing Anne before Justice Efe Ikponwonba on a six count charge bordering on obtaining by false pretence.
They are alleged to have defrauded one Ikhaigbode Jimoh Oya by claiming to be Custom Officers in charge of auctioning confiscated vehicle at Idiroko, Ogun State.
One of the counts reads. “James Blessings Anne, Felix Victor and Afekhai Aliu Obaadugbo on or about the 10th of December, 2018 at Benin with the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud obtained the sum of N216,000 (Two Hundred and Sixteen Thousand Naira) as part payment for two vehicles from Ikhaigbode Jimoh Oya who you represented yourselves to as Custom Officers in charge of the auction of confiscated vehicles at Idiroko capable of selling a Lexus 350 and Mercedes ML 350 SUV to him, which representation you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence”.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to them.
In view of their pleas, the prosecution counsel, Moses Arumemi prayed the court to fix a date for trial and to remand the defendants in custody. However, the defence counsel, S. O. Osazuwa prayed the court to grant his clients bail as the alleged offence was bailabĺe.
Justice Ikponwonba granted bail to the defendants in the sum of N500,000 each and a surety in like sum. The surety should be resident within the jurisdiction of the court.
The case was adjourned till May 20, 2021 for hearing.
The Presidency on Wednesday evening formally reacted to the purported rift between President Muhammadu Buhari and former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, saying categorically that there is no rift between the President and his strong political ally.
In a release by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the Presidency described the recent reports of a rift between the two leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as not only false but the handiwork of some media mischief makers.
It stated that it was unfortunate that certain sections of the media feed on birthing controversies, providing a nexus for naysayers who work behind the scenes planting such stories which are absolutely false.
The Presidency stressed that “this administration is aware of pessimists and cynics who willfully spread misinformation to create doubts in the minds of the people about the relationship between its leaders and whether the party will remain intact or not.
“There is no doubt that the President and the party are focused on development, peace and security, restructuring of the economy and war against corruption in the country and will not be diverted to anything else. This desperate attempt to fool the people will not succeed. “To President Buhari, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu remains one of the most respected political leaders in the country who has stuck to his principles in the face of all adversities. He was instrumental to the formation, growth and development of the APC into a formidable political party and the political alliance is waxing even stronger.
President Buhari
“If the Asiwaju is not a frequent face in the Aso Rock Villa, it is on account of the fact that he is not a cabinet member of this government. The fact that he is not every day around the Villa does not make him less of a friend to the President and this administration.
“The President and the Asiwaju have a very strong commitment to the All Progressives Congress, APC, towards bringing CHANGE and this is a commitment they have made to the Nigerian people”, the Presidency added.
President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed former Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Salamatu Suleiman as chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
The appointee, Mrs Suleiman was a minister of women affairs and also minister of state for foreign affairs in the administration of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua.
The appointment which awaits the confirmation of the Senate was read out in a letter from the country’s president by the chamber’s President, Ahmad Lawan, at the start of plenary on Tuesday. Mr Lawan said the appointment is pursuant to Section 2(3) of the National Human Rigthts Commission Act as amended.
The president also appointed 14 other members of the board of the NHRC which include Beatrice Jedy-Agba, Umar Salisu, Dafe Adesida, Joseph Mmamel, and Ahmad Fingilla, Kemi Asiwaju-Okeyonda, Abubakar Muhammed, Femi Okeowo and Sunny Daniel.
Others are Agabaidu Jideani,Nella Andem-Rabana, Azubuike Nwakwenta, Jamila Isah, CDD director, Hassan Idayat and former chairman Anthony Ojukwu as secretary.
The Senate has confirmed the appointment of Mr Haliru Nababa as Controller General (CG), Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS).
The confirmation followed the adoption of the report of the Senate Committee on Interior at plenary on Wednesday, March 24.
Presenting the report, the Chairman, Sen. Shettima Kashim (APC-Borno) said the committee found the nominee suitable to occupy the position of controller general of NCS.
He said there was no petition against him, adding that the nominee also displayed high level of intelligence in the discharge of his responsibilities in his previous positions.
Shettima said the nominee was not affiliated to any political party and has a high level of personal integrity.
He, therefore, urged the Senate to confirm his appointment.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said on Tuesday the Federal Government would ensure transparency in the Highway Development Management Initiative (HDMI) for all participants.
Fashola, who disclosed this at the Ministerial Notice of the commencement of the HDMI in Abuja, said the initiative would be used to manage and develop federal road networks in the country.
He said the goal of the initiative is to attract sustainable investment and funding in the development of road infrastructure in the country.
Fashola said: “The rationale behind the private sector engagement under the HDMI would provide an avenue that would mitigate the paucity of funds, which had hindered roads development in the past.”
According to him, the initiative falls in line with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of the country which has been in implementation for almost four years.
The minister said the federal government was executing over 700 different programmes in the country.
This aggregates to 13,000km of roads and bridges on rehabilitation and construction among the 36 states, including the FCT.
“As a result of the size of project we are taking, there is an increasing demand for funding to finance the project.
“There is the need to finance other complementary services, rest houses, towing vehicles, which seems suited for commercial initiating compliance.
“This is another effort to mobilize carrying capacity, resources, and entrepreneurship into the Nigerian highway sector and hopefully convert the roads from the social assets into assets of commercial opportunities.
The 12 routes aggregate the total of 1963.24km which represents 5.6 percent of the 35,000km of the federal road network,” he added.
The Lagos State government on Tuesday inaugurated the Epe Lagoon and Lekki Coastal Resettlement Committees.
The committees will resettle the individuals and families affected by the Lekki Free Zone Project.
The state’s Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Mrs. Lola Akande, who inaugurated the committee in Ikeja, said they were to serve for two years.
She said the committees are expected to provide the timetable of their activities within the first three months of their inauguration.
She noted that all the provisions in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would be adhered to strictly to prevent the fundamental misapplication of roles and functions of the respective institutions.
Akande said: “It is important to state that this newly reconstituted resettlement committee will work in strict compliance with the provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
“This is to mitigate any maladministration of the resettlement land. Importantly, unauthorised land sales are prohibited and this will attract legal sanction for individuals found complicit in the practice.
“They are to take up roles and obligations that have been set out in their respective Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and elaborated by key executive committee.
These obligations are the planning, designing, monitoring and evaluating the resettlement of individuals and families affected by the Lekki free Zone Project; maintaining peace, law and order in the communities.
“They will serve as the primary point of contact between members of the communities and the state government for all enquiries relating to the project and necessary requests.”
The House of Representatives on Tuesday charged the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services (DSS) to go after a terror group, Fulani Nationality Movement (FUNAM), which claimed responsibility for last Saturday’s attack on the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom.
The lawmakers unanimously adopted a motion jointly moved by members from Benue State who demanded an investigation into the attack as well as arrest and prosecution of the suspects.
The motion titled: “Armed Attack and Assassination Attempt on Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State and the Worsening Spate of Insecurity in Nigeria,” was jointly sponsored by Kpam Jimin Sokpo, Benjamin Mzondu, Mark Gbillah, John Dyegh, Tyough Robert, Herman Hembe, Samson Okwu, Francis Agbo, Richard Gbande, Blessing Onuh and Godday Samuel.
The Benue lawmakers said they were concerned about the worsening spate of violent crimes and insecurity across the country ranging from cultism, armed robbery, armed herdsmen attacks, bandit attacks, armed militia attacks, Boko Haram insurgency and terrorism.
They expressed surprise that the police and DSS are yet to go after the FUNAM members despite the group’s claim on the governor’s attack.
The motion read:
“The House takes cognizance of the response by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Muhammadu Buhari, in condemning the armed attack and assassination attempt on Governor Samuel Ortom, and his subsequent directive for the Police to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the attack.
“The House acknowledges the directives of the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, and immediate deployment of FCID to Benue State for a thorough investigation of the incident.
The House is even more worried that the assassination attempt on Ortom of Benue State is an invitation to anarchy and glaring indication that the nation is drifting into a state of full-scale lawlessness.”
President Muhammadu Buhari will declare open the 20th National Sports Festival (NSF) scheduled in Edo State on April 6.
The National Sports Festival begins on April 2.
This means the President will declare the event open four days after the commencement of sporting activities in the state.
The Head of Media and Communications, Local Organising Committee (LOC), Musa Ebomhiana, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Benin City, added that the April 2 commencement date for the event was sacrosanct.
The presidency has graciously agreed to declare the Games open on April 6, after the Easter holiday,” he said.
Ebomhiana, who is also the Chief Press Secretary to the Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, noted that the state had concluded preparations for the games since March.
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