Asari Dokubo, a former Niger Delta militant, on Tuesday said the Obidient movement of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), is a futile one ¡°because it is going nowhere¡±.
Speaking in a Facebook Live monitored by POLITICS NIGERIA, Dokubo said Obi does not have the pedigree to match co-contenders, Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu.
He tackled the former Anambra State governor on the recent release of some documents that showed he rejected plots of land offered to him by the Anambra State Housing Development Corporation (ASHDC) during his tenure as governor.
According to Dokubo, Obi is lying to the public.
¡°How would you compare Obi with Tinubu or Atiku? What is his antecedent? Lies. You are showing documents. Who showed that you rejected the lands? All these small small [sic] scams, who dem wan do naw [sic]?¡± Dokubo said.
Meanwhile, the Peter Obi Support Network has called for the immediate discontinuation of the negotiations and alliance between the LP and the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP).
The group said the NNPP’s presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwanso,¡¯s continuous association with the Obi candidacy will be a liability rather than an asset.
A former Chief of Army Staff and Nigeria’s Ambassador to Benin Republic, Tukur Buratai has denied links to monies and properties recently seized in Abuja by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Recall that the ICPC had raided a property in the Wuse 2 area of the federal capital territory (FCT) where it recovered money and other items from the property including N175,706,500, $220,965, a G-Wagon, 2022 editions of BMW and Mercedes-Benz cars and customised mobile phones.
It also recovered several designer wristwatches, including three Rolexes, and some property documents.
Following the raids, reports had emerged claiming Buratai is the owner on the property and the seized items but the agency in a statement stated that the property is owned by the owner of K Salam Construction Company, a military contractor called Kabiru Sallau.
Speaking to newsmen on Monday, Buratai’s legal adviser, Ugochukwu Osuagwu, said reports linking the former army chief to the properties are filled with mischief, baseless and concocted.
He said: “Lieutenant General T.Y. Buratai has no relationship with the said properties nor does he have any relationship with the said K Salam Construction Company Nigeria Limited. These are fabricated lies to criminally defame the image of Lieutenant General T.Y. Buratai.
“First, ICPC, in a press release on June 24, 2022, denied any involvement of Lieutenant General T.Y. Buratai with their investigation of the Wuse 2 property.
“Secondly, Corporate Affairs Commission, in a letter dated Monday, 27 June 2022 and signed by A.G. Abubakar clearly exonerated Lieutenant General T.Y. Buratai with any relationship with the said K Salam Construction Company Nigeria Limited. Messrs. Muhammed Ahmed Sallau and Sallau Kabiru are the owners of the said company.
“Thirdly, a check on the FRSC website on the number plate: ABJ98BH attached to the Mercedes-Benz is false; checks show that the said plate number belongs to a Toyota Corolla custom colour.
“We, therefore, use this medium to urge restraint on those who are trying to politicise what is purely a matter being investigated.
“With ICPC having cleared the air on this subject matter, it will be preposterous to now try to politicise the matter.”
The Lagos State Ministry of Education on Monday evening said it has shut the Redeemers Nursery and Primary School, Ogba.
The government said the school will remain closed, pending an administrative investigation of its operations and procedures as well as the conduct of its officials ¨C in line with schools¡¯ safety standards and guidelines.
This was contained in a statement signed by Mrs Folasade Adefisayo, the Commissioner for Education in the state.
The investigation is sequel to the recent death of Chidera Eze, a five-year-old pupil, who is suspected to have drowned during a swimming lesson while in the custody of the school. The police are investigating the matter.
¡°A preliminary probe by the Office of Education Quality Assurance of the Ministry has shown that the Redeemers Nursery and Primary School, Ogba, is yet to conclude its registration and is, therefore, not yet an approved school.
¡°The Ministry is concerned about the safety of the pupils, hence the need for intervention. The school will remain closed until all the required approval processes are concluded. Parents are advised to note the closure and wait for the conclusion of the administrative investigation,¡± the Lagos government said.
The Federal Government has revoked the training contract awarded to Express Concern International (ECN) to train former Niger Delta militants.
The Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Col.Milland Dikio (retd), made this known in a statement on Sunday signed by his spokesman, Neotabase Egbe.
Dikio stated the federal government decided to revoke the training contract for former Niger Delta agitators over breach of the agreement.
He said the termination followed an allegation by a group, Concerned Indigenes of Oil Mineral Producing States Forum (CIOMPSF), that the company diverted funds it received from the Presidential Amnesty Programme.
Dikio asserted that contracts are not awarded to just anybody who submits a proposal, but to serious contractors, who have the capacity to deliver their contractual obligations.
He said the amnesty office had also activated its internal mechanism to retrieve the money it paid to the firm through a performance bond provided by the company.
Dikio said each job awarded was secured by a performance bond provided by the benefitting firm that enabled the amnesty office to recover its money in an event of default by a contractor.
He said, “The attention of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) has been drawn to reports that a contractor, Express Concerns International Limited, has diverted money paid to them to train 90 ex-agitators in the agriculture value chain.
“Indeed, the PAP had contracted Express Concerns International Limited to train its beneficiaries. But the contract was terminated via a letter dated June 14th, 2022 because the contractor breached the terms of the agreement.
“Contracts are not awarded to just anybody who submits a proposal, but to serious contractors, who have the capacity to deliver their contractual obligations.
“However, each job awarded by PAP has an insurance bond that ensures the scheme recovers its money in the event of default by contractors. Consequently, the PAP wrote to the guaranteeing firm/insurance company for the recovery of the mobilization fee paid to the company.
“While the management of the PAP acknowledges the interests shown by various stakeholders in the affairs of PAP, let it be known that deliberate measures were put in place to reform contractual processes and block all loopholes that could be capitalized upon to dupe the programme.
“We want to further assure all stakeholders that PAP’s contracts are designed for the benefits of the programme’s beneficiaries and not for the enrichment of any contractor.”
Arsenal have signed Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus for £45m, the club confirmed on Monday.
The Brazilian will wear the No. 9 shirt which was worn by Alexandre Lacazette who return to Lyon.
Jesus is now Arsenal’s fourth signing of the summer transfer window after Marquinhos (Marcos Aoás Corrêa), Matt Turner and Fabio Vieira.
Mikel Arteta, Arsenal’s coach had worked with Jesus when he was assistant coach to Pep Guardiola at City from 2016 to 2019.
City are hoping to sign Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund.
Arteta said, “The club has done a tremendous job to recruit a player of this stature. I know Gabriel personally very well, and we all know him well from his time in the Premier League and being really successful here.
“This is a position that’s been on our radar for a long time now and we have managed to get a player that we all wanted, so I’m really happy.”
Jesus said in an interview with Arsenal that, “I am so happy to be here to help. I come to help, to learn as well, and to try to do my best.
“We (Arterta) spoke a couple of times about the club, the players, the project and the future. I believe 100 per cent in Mikel. I had a very good time with him before, he’s a very good guy and a very good coach as well.
“He helped me a lot [at Manchester City]. We would always stick together after the training sessions and do some finishing or something. He’s a very intelligent guy and was an amazing player, so if he knows something he can teach me or the young players.”
A yet-to-be-identified vandal was electrocuted in the early hours of Sunday for allegedly vandalising Umuezerimpi 500KVA Distribution Substation.
The property belongs to the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC), located at Umuatuegwu Okija, Anambra State, THE WHISTLER gathered.
Mr. Emeka Ezeh, head, Corporate Communications, EEDC, Enugu, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.
Ezeh said the deceased was not operating alone, as other members of his gang took to their heels immediately after he was electrocuted, leaving behind his lifeless body and their tools at the scene of the incident.
Ezeh said the report was lodged at the Okija Police Division.
“The tools used by the electrocuted vandal and his fleeing colleagues were also recovered and his corpse deposited at the Okija General Hospital Mortuary,” he said.
He said, “Just imagine how this young man has cut his life short over nothing.
“It is hoped that this will serve as a deterrent to others engaging in this dastardly act.”
Eze called on members of the public to be vigilant in protecting EEDC facilities in their domains.
He said, “Let’s all join hands and ensure these very few people in our society that are bent on making life miserable for all of us are stopped.”
The federal government of Nigeria under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari has replaced Mr. Chukwuyere N. Anamekwe as the acting Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF).
It was gathered that Anamekwe was replaced about two weeks ago over allegations of corruption and investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (INEC) hanging around his neck.
It was further gathered according to reports monitored on The Nation that he was replaced with a former TSA (Treasury Single Account) Director, Mr. Okolieaboh Ezeoke Sylvis.
It will be recalled that Anamekwe was appointed in an acting capacity after Ahmed Idris was suspended after his embroilment in an N80 billion fraud case leading to his subsequent arrest by the EFCC on allegations of money laundering through real estate investments in Kano and Abuja.
His replacement, Anamekwe who was appointed in May 2022, however, is also reportedly under EFCC investigation for fraud and also some other reports have that his unauthorized revelation that the government was borrowing to pay salaries landed him in more trouble.
A source privy to government operations on the matter has now disclosed that a search for a substantive Accountant General has commenced in earnest.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoCSF), Mrs. Folasade Yemi-Esan has issued a circular to that effect.
The circular reads: “Commencement of the process of appointment of a substantive Accountant-General of the Federation”, the HoCSF directed permanent secretaries to forward details of eligible directors on Grade 17 to her on or before 4:00 pm on Wednesday July 6, 2022.
It added that those eligible to apply must have attained the Substantive Director (Grade 17) on or before January 1, 2020 and are not retiring from the service earlier than December 31, 2024.
Such persons must also be free of disciplinary proceedings.
There are “Those who have attained the position of Substantive Director (Grade 17) on or before January 1, 2020 and are not retiring from the service earlier than December 31, 2024 are eligible to participate in the selection process while officers undergoing disciplinary proceedings are excluded,” it added.
The decision of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to pick for Borno State Governor, Senator Kashim Shettima, has not gone down well with governors elected on the party’s platform.
Indications have emerged disclosing that APC governors want one of their colleagues to be picked as a running mate to Tinubu as compensation for their support during the party’s presidential primary, where they moved to stop the imposition of Senate President Ahmad Lawan by the National Chairman of the APC, Adamu Abdullahi.
While pushing for the running mate ticket to go to the North-East, particularly from Borno State, APC governors are against any one of Katsina getting it if it eventually goes to the North-West. This is because the state had produced late President Umaru Yar’Adua and incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.
A source told Vanguard that stakeholders want the North-East, especially Borno State, to produce the vice president in 2023.
The source said: “The APC governors are pushing that the presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, should pick his vice presidential candidate from among them because of the role they played to stop the action of the APC National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, who had already settled for the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, as the presidential candidate of the ruling party.
“There are strong feelings that though the governors want one of them, Tinubu wants Senator Kassim Shettima as his vice-presidential candidate.”
With Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna and Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano out of the race despite their support for Tinubu, governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, and his predecessor, Kashim Shettima are the individuals presently being considered.
While the governors prefer a sitting governor in the person of Babagana Zulum of Borno State, a source said Tinubu has zeroed his search on Shettima.
The source revealed that the former Lagos State Governor wants the former Borno Governor because he is a formidable force and well-accepted in the North-East.
He also wants to split the votes from the zone with the former Vice President and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.
It was, however, gathered that former speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, from Bauchi, North-East zone, or Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, North-Central, who are Christians, are also in the mix should a Muslim-Muslim ticket fail to materialize.
The convoy of the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, on Sunday was involved in a road accident in Abuja.
The development was confirmed in a statement released by the media aide to the Governor, Terver Akase.
According to Akase, no life was lost in the incident that happened in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He further stated that the convoy was involved in the accident while accompanying Ortom to the airport.
Akase said a golf car collided with one of the security vehicles near Karu Flyover in Nyanya.
The statement released by Akase read, “We have received numerous calls from concerned Nigerians regarding the accident which occurred today near Karu Flyover in Nyanya area of the Federal Capital Territory.
“The Governor’s convoy was on the way from Abuja to Makurdi after accompanying him to the airport for his trip to the United Kingdom when a golf car collided with one of the security vehicles.
“We thank God that no life was lost in the incident.
“Governor Ortom who has already arrived safely in the UK deeply appreciates all the calls and concerns from Benue people and other Nigerians.”
Eleven persons were burnt beyond recognition in an accident that occured at Ogere end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in the Ogere Remo-North Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The Public Relations Officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps ,Ogun State Sector, Florence Okpe, who confirmed the incident on Sunday said the accident happened late Saturday night.
Okpe said three vehicles were involved in the crash which led to huge loss of lives on the busy road.
Okpe stated that two Mazda buses and one unknown vehicle had collided and caught fire near the Isara bridge and they went up in flames.
The FRSC spokesperson said, “A total of 18 persons were involved but only seven were rescued while 11 unidentified people were burnt beyond recognition.
“A total of seven persons were rescued with injuries, comprising five male adults, one female adult and one male child.”
“The injured victims were taken to Victory Hospital, Ogere for medical attention. One of the victims was rejected, but finally taken to Babcock University Teaching Hospital, Ilisan.
“The fire service in Sagamu was contacted and the impact of the crash is obstructing the Ibadan-Lagos bound of the expressway.
“Traffic has been diverted to the Lagos-Ibadan route and the crashed vehicles are still burning.
“Motorists are advised to drive cautiously, obey traffic rules and regulations and also cooperate with traffic managers managing the situation.”
