Kanu also told those weeping for the bloodletting in Northern Nigeria that he speaks as a human being who is possessed of a compatriot spirit of suffering humans everywhere, and not discriminating against anyone.
M
“First, I speak as a human being who is possessed of a compatriot spirit with suffering humans everywhere.
“Second I speak as a witness to the sufferings of Biafrans at the hands of their Nigerian compatriots, all to the point that instead of waning, our resolve for a separate state has been strengthened and cast in stone.
“Every ethnic group across Biafraland is well represented in this formation. Therefore, I am confident that every city, town and village will be protected from the ravages of killer herdsmen and other terrorist activities in whatever guise it manifests itself.”
“Today, I present to the world our first and the last line of defence against a particular ethnic group inspired anarchy and mayhem across the entire Middle Belt and South.
“The Eastern Security Network is here to bring to an end, years of Miyetti Allah terrorism in our land. This security outfit, modelled along the lines of Amotekun in the West and Miyetti Allah vigilante group in the North, will provide the entire East, South-South and South-East with the necessary assurance that crimes such as kidnapping, armed robbery, illegal occupation of our forests and river banks by marauding killers from the Sahel are brought to an end with immediate effect.
The Federal Government of Nigeria has directed all network operators to disconnect every SIM card not synchronized with the valid National Identity Number by December 30, 2020.
The order was issued after an urgent meeting of key stakeholders in the communications industry convened by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, on Monday.
The meeting in its resolution insisted that all telecom operators must require all their subscribers to provide valid NIN to update SIM registration records as from December 16.
This development comes on the heels of an earlier directive suspending new SIM registration by network operators across the country.
Eight people are feared dead in a stampede for free Christmas food items.
The stampede occurred at about 7:30am on Tuesday, December 15, around Rumudara Town, Obio/Akpor LGA, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
According to Vanguard, the incident happened at an office allegedly owned by Pinkcoin, an online blockchain digital assets designed for giving charity.
Victim of the stampede.
Pinkcoin was said to have invited everyone who registered with them in Obio/Akpor LGA to come and redeem their Christmas palliatives, on Tuesday.
A huge crowd turned up and could not be controlled as they struggled to get access into the premises of the firm.
The 774, 000 Special Public Works (SPW) jobs will now commence on January 5, the Federal Government said on Sunday.
Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, revealed on Sunday in Abuja.
The programme, designed for artisans to do public works for three months for N20,000 per month, suffered setbacks in commencement date because of internal wrangling between the minister and a former Director – General of the National Directorate of Employment, Nasir Ladan, who was sacked last week by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The minister said the programme ran into some “hiccups” hence the delay in the commencement date earlier announced. The “hiccups” may be connected with the struggle for the control of the programme by the sacked Director – General who was at loggerhead with Keyamo over the implementation of the programme.
The sacked Ladan, it was gathered, worked with the National Assembly to undermine Keyamo who is the supervising minister following the fallout between the minister and the lawmakers.
Government officials
Both the government officials couldn’t bring themselves to work together on the programme as Ladan continuously flouted the directives of the minister while cozying up to the National Assembly members.
Twice, the Federal Government announced a new date for the kick-off of the programme designed to employ 774, 000 Nigerians in the 774 local government areas.
On Sunday, Keyamo told our reporter that the work would officially commence in January, 2021 and that an official announcement will be made on Wednesday after the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
The minister added that he expects the programme to go on smoothly with the removal of Ladan.
He said: “We have taken a firm decision to begin on January 5, 2021 but I am going to make an official announcement after FEC on Wednesday. We had a few hiccups in December but we have taken a decision to begin January 5 which is a Tuesday.
“The programme will run from January to March 2021 which is pure dry season. So, we are ready. All the obstacles have been removed.”
The minister also said only banks approved by the president would be used for the payment of the participants’ stipends.
Keyamo said the six banks – Zenith, Access, Fidelity, FCMB, UBA, and Heritage bank enlisted for the programme have successfully opened a special accounts and captured the biometrics of successful applicants for the job.
The applicants, the minister said will be paid through their bank accounts using their Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) to avoid fraud and double payment.
Keyamo said: “As we go into the field, we need to make a few clarification. The reason this programme was delayed in the last few weeks was because as minister, who is in charge of the implementation and supervision of this programme, we got reports from all over the country that certain unscrupulous persons were generating alternative lists, different from the ones that I approved as minister and which I directed the implementation in strict compliance with Mr president’s directives.
“The clear directive of Mr. President to me was that to ensure a fraud-free process, we should ensure that there is a clear audit trail of all payments made to all beneficiaries and as such we needed to engage selected banks who can share data with us and we needed to open special accountants for all participants in such a way that there will be an audit trail of all payments made through these selected banks.”
The minister also said there is no implementation committees anywhere contrary to reports.
He urged Nigerians to disregard such committees, saying the only committees for the programme, are the state selection committees which he inaugurated to pick applicants.
Keyamo said: “However, what happened was that people began to generate separate lists across the country, using NDE officials at different levels and in clear disobedience of my directives, and in clear case of insubordination. So we had a problem of potential clash if we had started this programme few weeks ago. There would have been chaos because different people would have come up from different places claiming to be on the lists of the Special Public Works.
“We needed to streamline this process; we needed to have a clear authority in respect of the selection process and as such, we have done so now. I want to make it clear that as we go to the field, it is only those persons registered by the banks we selected and whose names were submitted by the state selection committees that will participate in the programme and those are the only people to be paid.
“Those who feel they have certain complaints should reach out to us in the ministry and my office. We will take care of them but we don’t want different authorities issuing different directives in respect of this programme.
“Now that we are set to start, I want to state clearly that it is only the state selection committees that I authorised as minister. Under the NDE Act; it is only the minister that can establish committees. No other person can establish committees. Therefore, the existence of certain implementation committees are null and void and they will have nothing to do with this programme because I have not approved such implementation committees. No name was brought to me and I didn’t inaugurate such committees.
“The only committees I inaugurated was the state selection committees and those are the committees that are still in existence today and who will supervise this programme. This is the only way forward. That is why we have streamlined this programme so that we can move forward.
“This directive I have issued in line with Mr President’s directives, any official found flouting it will face strict disciplinary measures. It is a note of warning we are sounding to everybody who is charged with duty of implementing this programme. Both at the state and local government levels.”
A top source disclosed on Tuesday that the First Lady has now relocated quietly to the UAE for over three months. No one knows when she would return to the country.
Nigeria’s First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has been in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, since September after the wedding of her daughter, Hanan, and has therefore not been involved in any government activity, SaharaReporters has gathered.
We gathered that the First Lady is not in a hurry to return, despite spending over three months, as she reportedly stated that the Aso Rock Villa was not secure for her family.
This concern was triggered by a shooting incident which occurred in June and caused some panic among occupants of the Aso Villa.
It was reported that there was a crisis in Aso Villa after security details of the President’s wife removed Buhari’s Personal Assistant, Sabiu ‘Tunde’ Yusuf, from the place after he refused to embark on a 14-day isolation period upon returning from a trip to Lagos.
Shortly afterwards, the First Lady’s ADC, Usman Shugaba, in an attempt to apprehend Yusuf, reportedly fired gunshots but the President’s aide escaped to the residence of Mamman Daura where he spent the night.
Yusuf soon ordered the arrest of Aisha’s ADC and other security details in connivance with Buhari’s chief security officer. Buhari had ordered a probe into the alleged security breach inside the Presidential Villa.
Inside sources say the latest step by @NGRPresident could further stir bad blood among different power blocs in Aso Villa, especially with the First Lady.
It will be recalled that on September 4, Aisha Buhari held a flamboyant wedding for President Muhammadu Buhari’s daughter, Hanan, and Mohammed Turad.
Apart from the opulence on display, event planners for the wedding were flown in from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to add colour and spice to the ceremony.
Earlier in August, the First Lady had also flown to Dubai in a private jet owned by billionaire Mohammed Indimi under the guise of a medical emergency to shop for luxury items ahead of the wedding.
Most of the items, including souvenirs used for the wedding occasion, were brought in from the Arabian country.
A top source disclosed on Tuesday that the First Lady has now relocated quietly to the UAE for over three months. No one knows when she would return to the country.
The Presidency source said, “Aisha Buhari has relocated quietly to Dubai. She has been going to the UAE even before the daughter’s wedding.
“Before the wedding, she also stayed there for months during lockdown, shopping and relaxing. But since the end of the wedding, she has been away owing to security concerns in the villa.”
Some Nigerians have noticed her disappearance from the public space for the past three months. Checks on her Twitter page shows she last tweeted in October.
It was gathered that occasionally, she issued statements announcing the distribution of palliatives but has never been seen at any official functions.
The September wedding, which had security personnel prohibiting guests from taking photographs, saw the event planners and other vendors flown in from Dubai pocketing huge amounts in United States dollars for their services.
President Muhammadu Buhari, contrary to claims by his Spokesman, Garba Shehu, was immediately briefed on Friday evening when attackers abducted over 300 schoolboys from Kankara town in Katsina State, a top presidency source has revealed.
The source added that the President’s dementia affected him once again, and made him visit his livestock farm on Saturday morning instead of visiting the grieving school.
Dementia is a general term for loss of memory, language and thinking abilities – a condition which may be caused by the President’s old age and frequent treatment over an undisclosed medical condition.
“The moment it happened on Friday night, President Buhari was told. But due to dementia, he had forgotten,” .
It was also gathered that it was the level of dementia and incoherence that made his handlers prevent him from visiting the National Assembly last week after he had promised to do so.
It will be recalled that the House of Representatives led by the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, had invited Buhari over growing concerns on insecurity and the killing of over 43 rice farmers by Boko Haram terrorists in Borno State.
An aide to the President, Lauretta Onochie, had revealed that Buhari would appear before a joint session of the National Assembly on Thursday. However, reports began to filter in on Tuesday that the President had decided not to attend the meeting any longer.
Defending the President’s decision not to address the lawmakers, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), said the National Assembly lacked the power to invite the President to speak on security matters.
When the video of the President visiting his farm surfaced on Monday, the President’s spokesperson, Shehu, had argued vehemently that the President was not aware as of Saturday morning when he went to his farm.
“We arrived on Friday evening in Daura. The President went to his farm at 6 am or thereabouts when the report had not broken out. So, for anyone to now say he has chosen to visit his cows, instead of the parents of the students, is mischief.
“Let me tell you; we are careful about one thing. We don’t want politics to divert attention from rescuing these boys. So all this ‘touts’, we will ignore them because the focus is on rescuing these boys. By God’s grace, they will be freed, and when they are back with their families, we will engage in politics,” Shehu had argued.
He did not, however, disclose whether Buhari had plans to visit Kankara or not.
On Sunday, he also claimed that only ten students were with the bandits.
While speaking with the BBC Hausa Service, he had claimed that only ten children were in the captivity of the gunmen, according to their colleagues who escaped from the gunmen.
The number is below figures released by the school authority at the beginning.
Shehu had said his figure was based on the information he got from the school children who escaped from their abductors.
President Buhari checked up on his cows in his home Katsina State on Monday, despite showing defiance amidst calls for him to visit the school where 600 students were kidnapped over the weekend.
A video obtained by Sahara Reporters showed the president visiting his cows and in Daura on Monday afternoon.
The president had rejected calls to visit Kankara, home to the high school that was raided by bandits, instead choosing to send a federal government delegation from Abuja, the nation’s capital. Kankara is about 190km (a two and half hours drive) by road from Daura while Abuja is some 384km away.
The president has faced criticism for his failure to show empathy repeatedly during a time of grief for Nigerians.
Two weeks ago, the president rejected similar calls to visit Zabarmari, the community that witnessed the massacre of rice farmers by members of jihadist Boko Haram sect.
A spokesman for the president did not return a request seeking comments about his defiance to visit Kankara and sympathise with families of kidnapped school boys.
The Lebanese national, Hassan Mill, kidnapped at the entrance of Panarama farm Mekun, Oke Alaro in Oyo state on Saturday, December 12, has regained his freedom.
According to the spokesperson of the state police command, Olugbenga Fadeyi, Hassan has been rescued from his captors and reunited with his family. He also stated that the victim was taken to the hospital for medical attention.
He dismissed claims that police officers who were involved in the rescue operation have been kidnapped.
A soldier and a civilian were killed during the rescue operation.
Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the abduction of over 300 students from the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara, Katsina State, last Friday December 11.
HumAngle reports that in a 4 minutes 28 seconds audio released on Monday night December 14, the leader of the deadly terror group, Abubakar Shekau, said contrary to claims made in some quarters, it is yet to make any demands.
“What happened in Katsina was done to promote Islam and discourage un-Islamic practices as Western education is not the type of education permitted by Allah and his Holy Prophet.
They are also not teaching what Allah and his Holy Prophet commanded. They are rather destroying Islam. It may be subtle, but Allah the Lord of the skies and earths knows whatever is hidden. May Allah promote Islam. May we die as Muslims.”
In a nutshell, we are behind what happened in Katsina,” HumAngle quotes him as saying
A top commander of the sect also dismissed claims it has made any demands.
According to commander;
“The only time we spoke with the parents was to warn them to tell the military to desist from making any attempts to forcefully rescue the boys,”
The suspected kidnappers of the 333 boys of the Government Science Secondary school in Kankara, Katsina state, have reportedly reached out to one of the parents of the abducted students and have asked them to prepare a ransdom for their ward’s release.
Media personality, Kadaira Ahmed, quoted Abdu Labaran, the Senior Special Assistant to the state governor on Media and Publicity, as saying this when he appeared on Radionow 95.3fm on Monday night, December 14.
”#AbdulLabaran DG Media for the #Katsina govt just told
@RadioNow953FM gunmen who abducted #KankaraStudents have phoned a parent &told him to begin gathering ransom money + asked him to tell the military to desist from air surveillance of their hiding place or else”
He said the recent “abduction once again of the nation’s children” in “Buhari’s terrain” is “a slap across the face of the Commander-in-Chief”.
Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, has lamented the spate of insecurity in the country, noting that President Muhammadu Buhari was not in charge of the government.
He said the recent “abduction once again of the nation’s children” in “Buhari’s terrain” is “a slap across the face of the Commander-in-Chief”.
He spoke on the backdrop of late Friday’s abduction of pupils in an all-boys Government Secondary in Katsina State; hometown of Buhari.
Soyinka condemned the security challenges confronting in the country in a statement on Tuesday titled “INFRADIG–A presidential comeuppance.”
He added that when the National Assembly summoned the President to appear before it amid the rising insecurity in the country, he (Buhari) didn’t initially consider the summon as below the standard of behaviour.
He stated that the President considered the invitation as a polite invitation to preserve the “tattered remains of his ‘Born-Again’ democratic camouflage.”
“That, to come to the present, constituted General Buhari’s response to the National Assembly’s invitation to drop in for a chat. He did not consider it infradig at the beginning. He responded to the polite invitation to rub minds urgently over a people’s security anxieties as one who still struggled to preserve the tattered remains of his ‘Born-Again’ democratic camouflage.
“However, his reversal of consent raised yet again the frightening situation report I have fervently posed: Buhari is not in charge. Whoever is, that segment of the cabalistic control cornered him on the way to the lawmakers’ chambers and urged: Don’t! Their invitation is infradig! He succumbed.
“Beneath the dignity of a Commander-in-Chief! Well. The opportunistic homicidal respondents -Bandits/Boko Haram or whoever – thereupon picked up the gauntlet and provided a response in their language: abduction once again of the nation’s children. They handed him a slap across the face, on his home terrain, taunting: See if that is more suited to your dignity, ” he stated.
He noted that he joined other people in using the word “Infra dignitatem” to any situation indicating assailing his dignity or statement unworthy of response.
He said, “Once, the word featured prominently in the repertory of Nigerian shorthand diction. Indeed, I grew up thinking that it was only one word, not two, and also assumed that it was English, not Latin: infra dignitatem!
“I joined others in applying the shorthand to any situation where I felt that my dignity was assailed, that a chore was beneath my status, an individual beneath notice or a statement unworthy of response. Sometimes, of course, it came useful when one could not think of an adequate response. Then, carrying myself as I had seen others do, I hissed, shook my head in disdain, and walked away as I spat out the ultimate sanction: Infradig!”
According to the playwright, the nation is at war considering the latest abduction of pupils reminiscent of the kidnap of Chibok schoolgirls in Born State on April 14, 2014.
Soyinka said, “If only this latest outrage were a personal contest of slights between insurgency and power – alas, its resonance is felt far beyond! It is merely the latest in the serial stinging slaps across the face of the nation, and it draws blood from every sensing citizen. Over five years since Chibok, we have yet to anticipate and to guard against a repeat. We continue to hand over innocent wards cheaply, en masse, to the agents of darkness and despair.
A government refuses to accept that, as indicated several times over, the nation is at war. At war within itself, and that it requires drastic measures, away from spasmodic responses after the dread deed, if there is any will left over to salvage what is left of nationhood. The appropriate expression here is “thinking outside the box.”
He also condemned what he termed banal responses to genuine calls on government for action against insecurity.
ThePunch quoted him to have said, “When others do, they deserve better than to be rewarded with banalities such as The government will not be stampeded. The presidency will not be blackmailed. Stop politicizing the issue. The President is committed to preserving the integrity of the nation. We will not be bullied into abandoning our commitment to national unity. The sovereignty of the nation is non-negotiable…. and so on and on, ad nauseam.
“Has anyone been detected marching to a contrary tune? Sure, we are assailed with such minority rhetoric from time to time but, is “unity” what is profoundly at stake? Does such predictable rhetoric remotely touch upon the existential anxiety of millions of humanity? Or are we confronted, at its most primary level, with a growing question of the ability of the nation to even feed herself?
“When defenceless farmers are set upon – what does it matter if it is fifty or a hundred? – are butchered in one fell swoop, harvesting their crop, does the sheer suggestion that they met their deaths because they did not seek military cover not speak to the parlous state of a nation, and her need to urgently “think outside the box”? What is tragically demonstrated daily in all departments of citizen survival is the need to overhaul the nation’s structural existence – beginning, obviously, with the imperative of guaranteeing that very existence. The rest is waffle. Vaseline massage on the malignant tumour. National Infradig! Again, the nation laments – and waits.”
The prime minister of Eswatini, Ambrose Dlamini, has died four weeks after testing positive for coronavirus, a government statement confirmed. The 52-year-old leader of the tiny absolute monarchy had been undergoing treatment in neighbouring South Africa since 1 December and passed away late on Sunday.
“Their Majesties have commanded that I inform the nation of the sad and untimely passing away of His Excellency the Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini. His Excellency passed on this afternoon while under medical care in a hospital in South Africa”, Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku said in a statement.
Although the official statement does not mention the exact cause of his death, he tested positive for coronavirus on 16 November and was initially asymptomatic. It was later announced that he would be moved to South Africa to “guide and fast track his recovery.” At that time, it was said that he was stable and was responding well to treatment.
While several world leaders have been infected with coronavirus, including US president Donald Trump, the UK prime minister Boris Johnson, and Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, this is the first time a world leader has died after contracting the virus.
The Lagos state Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi has given an update on the current state of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu who tested positive for Coronavirus few days ago.
Abayomi in tweets shared on his official Twitter account, said the Lagos state Governor is responding well to home-based care and treatment for COVID-19.
He added that Sanwo-Olu is in high spirit and very appreciative of the prayers and well wishes he has received from the people of the state and the country in general. His tweet read;
“The #COVID19Lagos incident Commander and Governor of Lagos @jidesanwoolu is responding well to #COVID19 home based care and treatment.
“He is in high spirit and very appreciative of all your prayers and well wishes.”
Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), is in self-isolation as some members of his household have been confirmed positive for the coronavirus.
The SGF announced the development in a statement issued on Sunday.
According to the statement, Mustapha and his wife tested negative for the virus.
The SGF, who is also the chairman of the presidential task force (PTF) on COVID-19, added that the persons who tested positive are asymptomatic, but have been moved to a treatment centre.
“I would like to inform the general public that some members of my household tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday evening,” he said.
“Although they are currently asymptomatic, they have been isolated and are receiving care in one of the government treatment centres.
“My wife and I tested negative, but will remain in self-isolation and work from home according to protocols by the health authorities.
“I would like to remind all Nigerians that COVID-19 is real. As the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced last week, we are recording an increase in cases across several states.
“Please stay safe and protect yourself. Adhere to all public health and safety measures so that we do not lose the gains we have made in the fight against COVID-19.
“As a family, we covet your prayers. Please take responsibility for yourself and to protect our country!”
The development comes amid concerns of a second wave of infections, as the number of new cases has recorded a recent increase.
As of December 13, Nigeria had confirmed over 70,000 COVID-19 infections, but more than 65,000 patients have recovered.
The presidency on Sunday countered the Katsina State Governor, Bello Masari, on the number of students abducted by armed bandits from a government college in the state.o
Masari, who met with a Federal Government’s delegation led by the Minister of Defence, Major Gen. Bashir Magashi (retd), had said at least 333 students are still missing.
However, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in a chat with the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), said only 10 students are with the bandits.
The bandits had on Friday night attacked the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, and took away an unspecified number of students from the college.
The BBC Hausa bulletin read: “The Government of Nigeria has said its security forces have surrounded the location where gunmen have kept schoolchildren abducted from a secondary school in Katsina State.
“Spokesman for the President, Mallam Garba Shehu, told the BBC only 10 students were remaining in the hands of the gunmen according to their colleagues who escaped from the gunmen.
“The number is below figures released by school authorities at the beginning. Garba Shehu said the school children who escaped said 10 of their friends were still with their abductors.”
Some members of the family of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Boss Mustapha, have tested positive for the virus.
He announced this in a statement that he personally issued in Abuja on Sunday night.
The SGF informed that they tested positive on Saturday and are presently asymptomatic.
According to him, both himself and wife, however, tested negative.
He said in the statement: “I would like to inform the general public that some members of my household tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday evening.
Although they are currently asymptomatic, they have been isolated and are receiving care in one of the government treatment centres.
“My wife and I tested negative but will remain in self-isolation and work from home according to protocols by the health authorities.
“I would like to remind all Nigerians that COVID-19 is real. As the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced last week, we are recording an increase in cases across several states.
Please stay safe and protect yourself. Adhere to all public health and safety measures so that we do not lose the gains we have made in the fight against COVID-19.
“As a family, we covet your prayers. Please take responsibility for yourself and protect our country!”
Sources at the government house,disclosed that Ogidi-Gbegbaje had in 2017, barely two years of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s administration, raised a memo for the purchase of wireless microphones for the exco chamber of the new government house to the tune of N52,662,330 million even though the wireless microphones procured in 2014 by the Emmanuel Uduaghan’s administration were still in perfect condition.
Eddy Ogidi-Gbegbaje, permanent secretary, Delta State Government House and Protocol, has for the umpteenth time been enmeshed in another financial scandal of N52.6 million.
Sources at the government house, disclosed that Ogidi-Gbegbaje had in 2017, barely two years of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s administration, raised a memo for the purchase of wireless microphones for the exco chamber of the new government house to the tune of N52,662,330 million even though the wireless microphones procured in 2014 by the Emmanuel Uduaghan’s administration were still in perfect condition.
In a memo with file no GHA.30/T8/28-31 and tracking No 41341255 originated and signed by Ogidi-Gbegbaje, titled, “Procurement and Installation of Dicentis Wireless (Bosch) Conference Discussion and Public Address System in the Exco Chamber of the New Government House,” he quoted the sum of N52,662,330 million for the purchase of wireless microphones for the Exco chamber.
Ogidi-Gbegbaje, in the memo, informed Governor Ifeanyi Okowa that the conference discussion system in the exco chambers of the new government house was terrible, leading to frequent and embarrassing interruption of meetings and the urgent need to get new ones.
The memo reads, “Inquiry into the status of the system currently in place revealed that the technology had been phased out having attained the end of life. Consequently, a detailed assessment and market survey were conducted to obtain the actual cost of purchasing and installing the equipment by direct purchase/ labour. The survey revealed that the sum of N52,662,330 million only would be required to install the state of the art Dicentis wireless (BOSCH) conference system at the exco chamber.”
Ogidi-Gbegbaje had been involved in a case of financial malfeasance of N43 million for the renovation of the Delta State Government VVIP Guest House in Asaba, the state capital and another N10 million for the purchase of 30 hampers for some prominent Deltans for 2019 Christmas.
Speaking on the purchase, a senior government house staff disclosed that the office of the permanent secretary executed the N52.6 million contract for the wireless (Bosch) conference system.
“As at the time the contract was executed, the wireless microphones in the new government house were still in good condition. Let us assume they were no longer in good condition for use; such a huge amount is too much to procure new ones. The government house is known as a centre for kill and divide as contracts are concerned,” the source said.
“As at that time that the contract was executed in 2017, plus and minus, the sum of N10 million can conveniently deliver the job with some leftover for the permanent secretary to play with but here he uses a whopping sum of N52.6 million.
Ogidi-Gbegbaje declined to comment on the transaction.
President Muhammadu Buhari celebrates the decisive victory of Nigerian-born boxer, Anthony Joshua, over Kubrat Pulev Saturday night.
The President says by retaining his IBF, WBA, and WBO titles, Joshua has given boxing lovers round the world, and particularly in Nigeria, something to cheer.
He recalls his meeting with the heavyweight champion in London earlier in the year, describing Anthony Joshua as a humble, well brought up young man, “who will still go places.”President Buhari wishes Joshua all the best in his dream fight against Tyson Fury, saying he has the prayers and goodwill of Nigerians going with him.
A throng of Trump supporters gathered in Washington, D.C., on Saturday to voice support for President Trump and protest the results of the election after the push to overturn them suffered a major court defeat.
Organizers planned demonstrations in front of the Supreme Court, Capitol and Department of Justice as part of the events Saturday, the second time a major march has been organized to back Trump since Election Day.
Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, whom the president pardoned after Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador, key-noted an event outside the Supreme Court.
“We’re in a spiritual battle for the heart and soul of this country,” Flynn told those gathered. “We will win.”
Trump touted the demonstrations in a tweet, saying “thousands” were gathering in D.C. to march in support of his efforts to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. He also indicated he planned to see supporters.
“Wow! Thousands of people forming in Washington (D.C.) for Stop the Steal. Didn’t know about this, but I’ll be seeing them! #MAGA,” the president tweeted.
Trump’s presidential helicopter, Marine One, flew over the National Mall as Trump departed the White House en route to the Army-Navy football game on Saturday afternoon at West Point.
Supporters gathered a day after the Supreme Court delivered a devastating blow for the president’s ongoing efforts to overturn election results.
The court rejected a lawsuit filed by Texas seeking to overturn election results in four key battleground states – Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia – with justices ruling that the Lone Star State did not have the legal right to litigate over how other states carry out their elections.
Trump has ripped the decision, saying the court “let us down.”
Demonstrators began gathering early Saturday morning in D.C., with vendors setting up stands selling Trump merchandise and flags as supporters filed into Freedom Plaza.
Organizers with Jericho March and Let the Church Roar prayer rallies plan to convene at a stage near the National Mall until 4 p.m. Saturday, local Nexstar affiliate WDVM reported.
According to the group’s webpage, the Jericho March is gathering in support of Trump and “election integrity, transparency, and reform to preserve free and fair elections in America for this generation and generations to come.”
Last month, Trump supporters gathered for the “Million MAGA March” on Freedom Plaza, where the president drove by in his motorcade to greet the thousands who turned out.
That evening, some supporters of the president and counterprotesters clashed in the streets amid the president’s continued refusal to concede the 2020 election.
The Washington Post reported that permits for Saturday estimate crowds up to 15,000 in size, though noted experts think the gathering will be significantly smaller than last month’s pro-Trump rally.
Since major news outlets called the 2020 election in favor of Biden last month, Trump and his allies have promoted unsupported claims of fraudulent activity and filed various lawsuits ultimately rejected in court.
The Electoral College will vote Monday to make Biden’s win official, paving the way for him to take office Jan 20.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday condemned the bandits’ attack on a secondary school in Katsina.
About 54 students are said to have been abducted after gunmen attacked the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara in Katsina State late Friday.
The attack was carried out as Buhari commenced a one-week private visit to his hometown in Daura, Katsina State.
“I strongly condemn the cowardly bandits’ attack on innocent children at the Science School, Kankara,” the President said, as quoted in a statement released by spokesman Garba Shehu.
“Our prayers are with the families of the students, the school authorities and the injured.”
According to Shehu’s statement, the military has located the bandits’ location and are in the process of retrieving the abducted students.
“In the latest briefing received by the President from Governor Aminu Bello Masari, with whom he has been in touch, and the Army Chief of Staff, General Tukur Buratai, the military, supported by air power has located the bandits’ enclave at Zango/Paula forest in Kankara and there have been exchange of fire in an ongoing operation,” the statement said.
“Police said so far, there has not been reported any student casualty.
“The President has directed the reinforcement of security of all schools in line with the safe schools policy of the administration.”
Meanwhile, the Katsina state government has shut down all boarding schools in the state.
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