Maverick Entertainer and activist, Charly Boy has slammed the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for forcefully entering the Abuja residence of the former Imo State Governor, Senator Rochas Okorocha.
Naija News earlier reported that EFCC operatives on Tuesday laid siege on the private residence of Okorocha who is a presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.
In the viral video, officials of the EFCC could be seen forcefully breaking through the ceiling of the two-time governor whose house is located at No 3, Nyasa Close, Off Ontario Street, Abuja.
Reacting to the development, Charly Boy condemned the breaking into the home of the former governor by officials of the anti-graph agency.
According to the controversial media personality, the EFCC is wrong to forcefully gain entrance into the home of Okorocha in the way they did.
He added that even though there is no love between the politician and himself, Okorocha can’t be compared with other Nigerian politicians.
In his own words; “There is no love lost between me and Rochas Okorocha, I cant stand him along with most Nigerian Politicians. But dis is wrong, dis is jungle. No be the same Efcc we know.😏
What’s all dis kinda over-gallantry. Only in Nigerian.”
Senator Dino Melaye has finally lost out in the race to clinch the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket for the 2023 Kogi West Senatorial election.
This comes as Hon. Tajudeen Yusuf, a three-time House of Representatives member, has been declared winner of Tuesday’s primary rerun conducted to elect PDP’s candidate for the Kogi West senatorial poll in 2023.
Both aspirants had earlier scored 88 votes each during the party’s primary election that was held at the weekend, prompting the conduct of the rerun.
But Yusuf stopped Melaye’s bid to return to the Senate by scoring a total of 163 votes against the latter’s 99 votes.
Yusuf is said to be supported by Rivers State Governor and 2023 PDP presidential aspirant, Nyesom Wike, while Melaye has the backing of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who is also running for president on the platform of the party.
Reacting to the outcome of the rerun on Tuesday evening, Melaye alleged ‘unimaginable gang up’ against him at the poll.
“The Primary has been fought and won. I congratulate Hon. T.J YUSUF and thank all those who voted in the first and second ballot for me. The Gang up is unimaginable but l give God praise. God bless you all,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has given reasons why its operatives invaded Senator Rochas Okorocha’s Abuja residence on Tuesday.
EFCC Operatives were reported to have stormed the house of the former governor of Imo State on Tuesday.
Explaining the operation, the EFCC said in a statement that it filed a 17-count charges against the senator on January 24th, 2022.
The charges border on diversion of public funds and properties to the tune of N2.9 billion.
The statement further revealed that the case was assigned to Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
EFCC said all attempts to arraign Okorocha were fruitless as he allegedly evaded the service processes.
His allleged refusal to honour the agency’s invitation after jumping the administrative bail earlier granted him was responsible for the invasion of his residence.
According to the agency, Justice Ekwo had on March 28th warned after adjourning the case that it was going to be “the last adjournment I shall grant in this matter.”
The Commission said it had no other option than to arrest Okorocha and bring him to trial.
Meanwhile, Senator Okorocha had in the early hours of today, raised an alarm that EFCC had invaded his home without a warrant of arrest.
The former Acting Register of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Dr Saleh Abubakar is dead.
A family member of the deceased, Alhaji Hassan Mijinyawa, who is also the Special Adviser to Gov Darius Ishaku on Press Affairs, confirmed the news.
He revealed that Abubakar died at a Kaduna hospital at the aged 74 years after a protracted illness.
He added that the deceased hailed from Jalingo in Taraba State and has been a resident of Kaduna state over the years before his death.
The remains of the deceased who is survived by one wife, 12 children and 11 grandchildren have since been buried in Kaduna by Islamic Injunctions.
A 1973 graduate of history from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Abubakar was a member of the Nigerian National Constitutional Conference under Gen. Abacha’s regime from 1994-to 1995.
Before joining JAMB in 1996 as Director of Admissions, he was a lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) for 19 years and was also the Chief Executive Officer of the College of Preliminary Studies (CPS) Yola in the defunct Gongola State and later he headed the College of Education, Jalingo, Taraba.
The emergence of Nigerian singer, Bankole Wellington alias Banky W, as a candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 House of Representatives election has excited his fellow musicians and other entertainers.
Wellington, at the just concluded House of Representatives and State Assembly primaries of the PDP, won the party’s ticket to contest the Eti-Osa Federal Constituency seat.
He clinched 28 of the 31 votes cast by delegates at the primary election.
Fellow singer, Davido, while congratulating Banky W in a tweet, said: “Congrats @BankyW! You have my support! Don’t sit at home and complain, get up and make a change.”
Obi Cubana, DJ Neptune, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, and MI Abaga, amongst others, also congratulated the singer for his victory on social media.
Ebuka Obi-Uchendu wrote: “One building block at a time. Congrats @BankyW! Time to prepare even harder bro.”
“Congratulations @BankyW on securing PDP Primaries ticket for House Of Representatives,” businessman, Obi Cubana, tweeted.
The clock is ticking fast towards the much-anticipated presidential primary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the gladiators are not leaving any stone unturned to ensure their interests see the light of the day. But the most significant interest in the equation is the teeming masses of Nigeria who are itching for hope, progress, and stability in their beloved country.
Expectedly, the ruling APC has a long list of both contenders and pretenders for the party’s ticket to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, who will serve out his constitutional two terms of eight years by 2023. With the long collection, it is pretty easy to take for granted the concepts of proficiency, vision, intelligence, tenacity, passion, diligence, teamwork, among other leadership traits.
But these attributes, and more, conceptualise what true leadership is all about in any formal system, especially for a country like Nigeria which is on a tenterhook. As such, whoever will take over from 2023 as president must be wired with these qualities for any appreciable progress to be seen and felt in the country.
The probing question will now be how do we identify such a leader? The simple answer is that the measure by which such a leader can be identified is largely through their antecedents, both in private and public responsibilities.
This is where the immediate past Minister of Transport, Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, comes to focus as a perfect fit for the template of both the APC and the Nigerian masses.
Amaechi has been zeroed on by political pundits as the most sellable and prepared aspirant within the ranks of the APC. Besides meeting the benchmark of outstanding service as a minister, many also averred that he stands as a fitting bridge between the old and younger generation and that at 56 years, he can birth the much-talked generational shift in the political leadership of Nigeria.
Regarded as a home-grown leader who has a breathtaking background as an astute politician and an achiever in public service, Amaechi, a pan-Nigerian administrator, has convincing records showing his capacities and past achievements in fixing spiraling youth unemployment, lethargic educational system, insecurity, economy, uniting ethnics and regions, crises in the power and energy sectors, among others.
Since pitching tent with partisan politics, Amaechi has held many positions, both at the state and national levels. He was Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly for two terms, governor for two terms and he just served his second term as minister, having just resigned last Monday to concentrate on his presidential bid. With his experience and exposure in holding key offices in government for the last 23 years, his supporters believe it is time for him to run for the highest office in Nigeria – the presidency.
Earlier in the year, the conferment of Amaechi with the prestigious Dan Amanar Daura (the trusted son of Daura) by President Buhari’s kinsmen in Katsina, amplified the impression that the former Minister of Transportation is the chosen one by the president and the APC.
For those in the know, the honour was one well deserved given the level of development the minister had attracted to the state as well as the North, and by extension for the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. Some of the infrastructural development that influenced the honour was the monumental railway project that connects the North and most recently, the University of Transport sited at Daura.
As a core party man, Amaechi has put his heart and passion into the affairs of the APC. He served twice as the Director-General of the Buhari-Osinbajo Presidential Campaign Committee for both 2015 and 2019 presidential elections.
After Buhari emerged in 2014, the permutations appear to be in favour of Amaechi as the running mate to Buhari, but a then little known Prof. Yemi Osinbajo was eventually picked. However, Amaechi was not daunted by this as he dutifully conducted his task as the campaign director-general, mobilising funds and support for Buhari, especially in the South-South region, which is a PDP stronghold
Staying loyal to the president and the party, Buhari rewarded the former governor with a juicy appointment – Minister of Transportation. As Minister, Amaechi implemented the president’s policy of reviving the rail sector. He did this by encouraging the president to obtain controversial but low-interest loans from China worth about $3bn. Several rail projects were launched in different parts of the country, while those started by Jonathan’s administration were completed. He also supervised the construction of a railway from Nigeria into the Niger Republic, a move which the president has commended on several occasions.
When he took over as the Minister of Transportation, his first approach, as is usual of him, was to carry out “human capacity audit” to ascertain the strength and weakness of each staff, especially within the senior and managerial workforce. Secondly, he determined the policy framework and target goals of the Ministry, as envisioned in the Mandate and Agenda of Mr. President. Immediately, the Ministry established its own Strategy for achieving the target goals and then setup a Roadmap for implementing the Strategy. Automatically, everyone knew his role and those who could not fit into the roadmap and speed of the Ministry found their way out, without necessarily causing a feud with either the Minister or the Permanent Secretary, as appeared the case in some other ministries. His third step was the liberalization of communication channels; Directors and Deputy Directors could access the Honourable Minister, including other staff, but in a manner that did not undermine established official reporting lines. The sole aim was to fast track and ease communication within the Ministry and amongst the comprising parastatals.
For analysts, the secret of Amaechi’s success as Minister, perhaps, was the fact that he had been a Governor, who not only did exceptionally well in terms of infrastructural development but also knew how to drive growth and development. Between 2008 to 2015, the period when Amaechi held forth in Rivers State, the State was described by both national and international observers as “huge construction site”, with the construction of over 200 Health Centres, 500 Primary Schools, 9 Secondary Schools etc, all state of the art, and went on at the same time. These were outside the Roads (including a dualised network 1500km of roads, 23 bridges, 2 major flyovers, 2 interchanges, etc), Agriculture (including rehabilitation of the over 30,000 hectares of Rivers State Oil Palm plantation -moribund RISONPALM, the Songhai Farm, over 2,000 hectares of Banana Farm at Tai; commercial-scale Fish Farm at Buguma, etc), Waste Management, Entertainment infrastructures all of which went on simultaneously.
Amaechi’s Security Architecture for the State was also second to none, as the State became a Security Model in the country: kidnapping, armed robbery, and cult-related activities all reduced to less than one percent. Under his watch, Rivers State established and set up an integrated Security Network, with a central Command, Control, Communication, Computer and Intelligent (C4I), a 24hours Camera System that watched over Port Harcourt City. And to close the final loop, the Rivers State Government had ordered for the delivery of two Civilian Security Bell Helicopters before he exited Office in May 2015. The slogan in his time was Rivers State where “you sleep with your two eyes closed”.
According to Wikipedia, Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi was born on May 27, 1965. He previously served in Rivers State as Governor of Rivers State from 2007 to 2015 and Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly from 1999 to 2007.
Amaechi, who holds the national honour of the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), belongs to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He had his early education at St Theresa’s Primary School from 1970 to 1976 and earned his West African Senior School Certificate in 1982 after attending Government Secondary School Okolobiri.
Amaechi received a Bachelor of Arts degree (Honours) in English Studies and Literature from the University of Port Harcourt in 1987, where he was the President of the National Union of Rivers State Students (NURSS).
He ompleted the mandatory National Youth Service Corps in 1988, and thereafter joined Pamo Clinics and Hospitals Limited owned by Peter Odili, where he worked until 1992. He also a director of several companies, including West Africa Glass Industry Limited and Risonpalm Nigeria Limited.
His incursion into politics began during the transition to the Third Nigerian Republic as he was Secretary of the National Republican Convention in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Between 1992 and 1994, he was Special Assistant to the Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili – his boss believed in Amaechi as a young man with potential in politics, and brought him under his wing.
In 1996, he was the Rivers State’s Secretary of the Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN) caretaker committee during the transition programme of General Sani Abacha. In 1999, he contested and won a seat to become a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly to represent his constituency.
He is married to Judith Amaechi, and they are blessed with three boys.
Clearly, Rotimi Amaechi is literally a colossus in the race to succeed President Buhari. He has the pedigree, network, resilience, and capacity to win against the opposition and also reinvent the fortunes of Nigeria. If anyone can lift the needle for APC in the 2023 general elections, then it is the former Minister of Transportation.
Comrade Odeyemi Odeyemi, a youth activist, security analyst and counter terrorism expert, is also an aspirant for House of Representatives on the APC platform in Oyo State.
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has dissolved the State Executive Council with effect from Tuesday, May 24, 2022
According to a statement by Kevin Ebiri, his special assistant on media, the Chief of Staff to the governor and the Senior Special Assistant (Protocol), have also been relieved of their jobs.
“His Excellency, Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, commends the members of the Rivers State Executive Council for their service and contribution to the development of the State. He has also wished them the best in all their future endeavours.
“Governor Wike, has therefore instructed all the former members of the State Executive Council to hand over to the most senior officers in their respective Ministries” .
The Federal Government has reopened the Kaduna International Airport two months after it was closed over attack by bandits.
Acting General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Faithful Hope-Ivbaze, made the disclosure on Monday.
Naija News recalls that bandit terrorists attacked the airport and killed a security guard. The gunmen were, however, repelled by the Nigerian military deployed to the airport.
Following the attack, Azman Air and Air Peace halted flight operations at the airport.
In a chat with TheCable on Monday, Hope-Ivbaze said flight operations have begun today, adding that Azman Air has resumed its operations at the airport.
“Flight operations to Kaduna airport have commenced today with Azman Air,” she said.
Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Monday, withdrew the suit he filed against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Attorney-General of the Federation over his presidential ambition.
Emefiele, through his counsel, S.T. Maliki, told Justice Ahmed Mohammed that a notice of discontinuance had been filed and served on the defendants in the matter.
The development occurred shortly after the matter was called.
Maliki, who held the brief of Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, said though the matter was scheduled for mention, they had Emefiele’s instruction to withdraw the suit.
“Pursuant to the instruction of the plaintiff (Emefiele), we filed a notice of discontinuance dated and filed May16, 2022
“And the said notice of discontinuance was served on all the defendants on that said date of May 16, 2022, which proof of service is before your lordship,” Maliki said.
The lawyer said of all the defendants, only the 4th and 5th defendants filed a counter-affidavit in response to the plaintiff’s amended originating summons after the notice of withdrawal had been served on them.
He prayed the court to discontinue the suit and make an order striking it out, issues having not been joined by parties in the suits, citing Order 50 of the rules of this court.
Although the lawyer of the 4th defendant, John Aikpokpo-Martins, opposed Emefiele’s intention to withdraw the suit, he urged the court to dismiss the suit with N1.5 million cost.
However, counsel for the 2nd and 3rd defendants, Chris Nevo and T. J. Adi respectively did not object to the withdrawal notice.
For Nevo, he asked the court to award a N1 million cost against Emefiele.
In his ruling, Justice Mohammed held that Emefiele had the right to file the notice of withdrawal.
He said the notice of discontinuance was valid and accordingly struck out.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) had, on May 9, reported that Emefiele, through his lawyer, Ozekhome, had approached the court.
He had approached the court with an ex-parte motion, seeking the court’s interpretation as to whether he could run for the 2023 presidential primary while he holds as governor of CBN.
He had sought an order of the court, restraining the Federal Government from removing him from office over his presidential ambition, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive matter.
He also prayed the court to stop the INEC from taking any action against him in the bid to contest in the presidential primary by virtue of his office.
The CBN governor made the prayers in an ex-parte motion dated and filed on May 9 by his lawyer, seeking an order of maintenance of status quo ante bellum pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
Emefiele, in the suit, sued the INEC and the AGF as 1st and 2nd defendants respectively.
But Justice Mohammed, on May 12, also joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and two other lawyers, for themselves and on behalf of members of Save Nigeria, Our Fatherland, as 3rd, 4th and 5th defendants respectively.
The Nigerian economy has continued to show resilience in the face of weak global outlook as the country’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 3.11 per cent in the first quarter of 2022.
The National Bureau of Statistics stated this on Monday in its GDP Report. The figure shows the sixth consecutive quarter of positive growth.
According to the report, the first quarter 2022 growth rate further represented gradual economic stability due to strong growth posted by the non-oil sector.
The first quarter 2022 growth rate was higher than the 0.51 per cent growth rate recorded in the first quarter of 2021 by 2.60 percentage points and lower than the 3.98 per cent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2021 by 0.88 percentage points.
The Report reads, “Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 3.11 per cent (year-on-year) in real terms in the first quarter of 2022, showing a sustained positive growth for the sixth consecutive quarter since the recession witnessed in 2020 when negative growth rates were recorded in quarter two and three of 2020.
“The first quarter 2022 growth rate further represents an improvement in economic performance. The observed trend since Q4 2020 is an indication of a gradual economic stability.
“The Q1 2022 growth rate was higher than the 0.51 per cent growth rate recorded in Q1 2021 by 2.60 per cent points and lower than 3.98 per cent recorded in Q4 2021 by 0.88 per cent points.
“Nevertheless, quarter-on-quarter, real GDP grew at -14.66 per cent in Q1 2022 compared to Q4 2021, reflecting a lower economic activity than the preceding quarter.
“In the quarter under review, aggregate GDP stood at N45,317,823.33 million in nominal terms. This performance is higher when compared to the first quarter of 2021 which recorded aggregate GDP of N40,014,482.74 million, indicating a year-on-year nominal growth rate of 13.25 per cent.
“The nominal GDP growth rate in Q1 2022 was higher relative to the 12.25 per cent growth recorded in the first quarter of 2021 and higher compared to the 13.11 per cent growth recorded in the preceding quarter.”
