The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday ended the sale and submission of its nomination and expression of interest forms for all elective positions ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The main opposition party at the end of the submission of forms had 17 presidential aspirants fighting for the presidential ticket of the party.
As at yesterday, PDP had generated ₦646m from the sale of the forms.
The presidential aspirants of the main opposition party include; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal; former president of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; and a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim.
Others are Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed; Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike; Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel; former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, former Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose; a United States-based medical practitioner, Nwachukwu Anakwenze and media mogul, Dele Momodu.
The likes of former banker and economist, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen; a pharmacist, Sam Ohuabunwa, former Speaker of Abia House of Assembly, Cosmos Ndukwe, Charles Ugwu, Rt Hon Chikwendu Kalu are also interested in the ticket of the party.
The only female aspirant in the race, Oliver Tareila Diana only paid for the expression of interest form which is N6m.
The primaries of the party have been fixed for May 28-29.
A yet-to-be-identified driver has crushed an official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Jamiu Issa, to death in the Lekki-Ajah areaof the state.
A statement by the spokesperson for the agency, Olumide Filade, confirmed the development to our correspondent on Wednesday.
Filade said the driver was driving against traffic when he rammed into Issa, who wanted to apprehend him for the traffic offense.
He added that Isa was rushed to the hospital where he was confirmed dead.
The statement read, “The driver of a green Toyota Sienna vehicle, with number plate, FST 901 AR, knocked down and run over a LASTMA official, Jamiu Issa, who was later confirmed dead, on April 19, 2022.
“The late Issa was said to have approached and accosted the Sienna vehicle driver who was driving against the direction of flow of traffic, facing oncoming vehicles from Chevron towards the Conservation Toll Plaza.
“It was reported that Issa was knocked down and run over by the traffic law offender. Issa’s colleague at the scene of the event quickly put a call through to the zonal head while some good Samaritans/eyewitnesses pursued the escaping Sienna driver to the Chevron Waterfront area where he was eventually apprehended and taken first to Ilasan police station, and eventually to Ajiwe police station, under which jurisdiction the event happened for proper investigation.
“Also, according to other eyewitnesses’ accounts, the Sienna driver also knocked down another person while trying to escape from the scene before the driver was apprehended.
“At the same time that the above scenario was going on, the fatally injured Issa was rushed to the Lagos Island General Hospital where it was confirmed that he was brought in dead. His remains have been deposited at the morgue of same hospital.”
Filade said the General Manager, LASTMA, Bolaji Oreagba, commiserated with the family of the deceased officer, adding that those who refused all entreaties to desist from assaulting and injuring government officials, would be made to face the full wrath of the law.
The Kuda Microfinance Bank has blamed one of its customers for the way he was manhandled by security officers on the bank’s premises in the Yaba area of Lagos, Nigeria.
A video had surfaced online showing law enforcement officers rough handling the yet-to-be-identified customer of Kuda Bank.
The video was shared by the brother of the customer who lamented the inhumane treatment meted out to his brother, saying that the officers went as far as releasing tear gas on his brother’s face.
Reacting in a statement released on its Twitter page, the bank defended the harsh treatment, saying that as a financial institution licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, they are obligated to comply with the mandate of all applicable government and law enforcement agencies.
While failing to mention the customer’s exact offence, the bank added that it was the customer’s failure to cooperate with the officers that led to them manhandling him.
“It has come to our attention that a couple of videos are being circulated online regarding the experience of one of our customers yesterday. The videos show the customer being forcefully escorted off our premises by members of the Nigerian Police Force.
“As a financial institution licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, we have an obligation to comply with the mandates of all applicable government and law enforcement agencies, supported by the appropriate documentation. While complying with such mandates, we liaise with the affected customers so that any pending matters between the customers and the agencies are resolved.”
“It is also expected that such affected customers will cooperate fully with the law enforcement agencies involved in order to reach a resolution on each matter. It is truly unfortunate that the customer’s failure to cooperate with the law enforcement officers unfolded in the manner that it did, particularly as the customer was being apprehended by the members of the Nigerian Police Force further in their investigation into alleged criminal activity on the customer’s account,” the bank said.
Kuda bank also attempted to absolve itself of any blame, saying that no staff of the bank was involved in the incident which played out in the video.
“We wish to reiterate that no staff of the Kuda MFB was involved in the unfortunate incident that was captured in the video,” the statement said.
The bank concluded by saying that it had, “commenced internal investigations into this matter would liaise with the customer as well as the relevant law enforcement agencies to ensure that the matter is addressed.”
The brother of the customer first spoke out against the bank on Sunday, 17th April 2022, narrating how the bank locked his brother’s account after he transferred the sum of N577,491 from his Moneypoint POS into the account on the 13th of April.
“For someone that has sent a huge amount of over N10 million at once without you guys locking it, so why did you suddenly lock the account for an amount less than that? You locked his total amount of 1.2 million naira without even feeling remorseful or thinking about how this person would feel after locking his account,” he tweeted.
The customer’s brother, who tweeted via his handle (@I_Am_Jamotech), asked that the bank opened the account because his brother needed the money for his business activities.
“Please kindly open back his account (because) the money is for his business and he needs it to continue his daily activities. You can do whatever investigations but I’m telling you that it is not fraud money and we need you guys to open his account so he can continue with his business, thank you,” he said.
He further tweeted on Tuesday that his brother eventually had to visit Kuda Bank’s customer support office in Yaba, Lagos to rectify the issue when he was accosted by law enforcement officers.
“So my brother went to @kudabankhelp office today at Yaba to know the reason why his account was locked and still not opened after dropping his proof to them that it’s legit money and not fraud money at all.
“So funny how when he got there this morning, they sent their MOPOL to arrest him and started harassing him for no reason. So, every young guy’s money has to be fraudulent? Do they who our father is? He called me on the phone and I was listening in the background while they were harassing him, trying to detain him. Please twitter help us do your thing,” he said.
After this, he posted the video showing the security operatives manhandling his brother who could be seen lying on the floor and pleading for water while an officer held him by the belt.
The ruling All Progressives Congress on Wednesday fixed its presidential nomination and expression of interest forms at ₦100 million.
The national publicity secretary of the party, Felix Morka revealed this after the 11th National Executive Meeting in Abuja.
APC noted that the nomination form would go for ₦70 million while expression of interest forms would go for ₦30 million.
The party’s forms for governorship aspirants cost ₦50 million; Senate, ₦20 million; House of Representatives, ₦10 million and State Houses of Assembly, ₦2 million.
Morka said women are entitled to free nomination forms but will pay for their expression of interest forms.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on its part fixed its presidential form at ₦40 million.
The expression form stands at ₦5 million, while the nomination form was pegged at ₦35 million.
In a related development, APC on Wednesday ruled out consensus mode to choose its presidential candidate, ahead of the 2023 general election.
The party, however, stated that it would choose its presidential candidate through an indirect primary.
National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Abdullahi Adamu, has accused some governors of working at cross purposes with the leadership of the party, stressing that it could affect the party’s chances in the 2023 elections.
Adamu stated this at the opening of the National Executive Committee meeting of the party in Abuja on Wednesday.
The meeting is the first since the new NEC emerged weeks ago to pilot the affairs of the party.
The meeting is being attended by President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Ahmad Lawan, House Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, and other critical stakeholders who are members of the NEC.
All elected NEC members and governors under the platform of the party are also in attendance.
While acknowledging that state governors are leaders of the party in their states, Adamu said the APC constitution does not have provision for dual leadership in the states.
He called for recognition of his position as contained in the party’s constitution and not dualism in leadership.
While also blaming former governors as stoking the embers of disunity which could hurt the party, Adamu said these former governors are also leaders in their own right and so should be respected by serving governors.
A police sergeant got injured and several vehicles were burnt during an attack on Wednesday morning on Ayamelum Divisional Police Station, Anaku, in Anambra by some unknown gunmen.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the police said they repelled the attack.
Anambra State Police Command’s spokesperson, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, who confirmed the incident, said the attackers after being successfully repelled threw a locally made explosive into the compound, but no casualties were recorded.
“The operatives stood firm and engaged the hoodlums which made them flee the scene,” Ikenga said.
Wednesday morning’s attack in Anambra State is the latest violence in the southeast region where separatist violence is on the rise.
Authorities have blamed attacks on either the banned Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement, which is campaigning for a separate state for the ethnic Igbo people, or its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN).
The group has denied responsibility for the violence.
An account with 276 videos of a female pupil at the centre of the Chrisland School sex scandal has vanished from the video-sharing app, Likee, after garnering over 10,000 followers within hours.
The account which had about 4,000 followers as of Tuesday morning, grew to over 10,000 followers and more than 24,000 likes after the minor’s sex videos trended on Twitter.
The female minor and some male pupils were reported to have engaged in the act when a delegation of Chrisland School took its pupils to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, to partake in the World School Games in March.
About 76 of the pupils were said to have been lodged in a hotel during the four-day competition.
The female pupil’s mother had claimed in a video posted on Instagram by talent manager Ubi Franklin that her daughter was drugged and abused sexually by her male colleagues and accused the Chrisland School management of a cover-up.
The school management, however, denied the allegation and stated that “no rape of anyone or the administration of a pregnancy test on any child took place on our watch.”
The Lagos State Government, on Monday, shut down the school and all its branches across the state and ordered investigation into the matter.
A former Governor of Ogun State and Senator representing Ogun Central in the National Assembly, Ibikunle Amosun, is set to join the 2023 presidential race on May 5, 2022.
Naija News learned that the former governor will formally declare his presidential bid on May 5 at an event in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.
It is understood that Amosun will run for the Office of the President of Nigeria on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The governor is reported to have consulted with stakeholders in the ruling APC regarding his 2023 presidential ambition.
“Everything is set. He will formally declare his bid on May 5,” a source told TheCable.
Senator Amosun will battle the party’s presidential ticket with the likes of VicePresident Yemi Osinbajo, APC national leader, Bola Tinubu, Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; Senator Rochas Okorocha, Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, among others.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has formally made public his intention to contest the presidency in the 2023 general election.
Ngige declared his Presidential ambition today before a mammoth crowd at St. Mary’s Catholic Church Alor, Idemili South local government area of Anambra State.
The Minister described himself as an aspirant well equipped with years of administrative experience due to his 40 years of experience in the public service.
Ngige said he has a huge wealth of experience, capacity and energy as well as a large heart to accommodate the differences among Nigerians.
An aircraft belonging to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), has reportedly crashed in Kaduna State on Tuesday.
The trainer aircraft was said to have two pilots on board on a training session when the incident occurred.
Although authorities of the NAF are yet to react to the incident, reports identified Flight Lieutenants Alkali and Karatu as the pilots on board.
The recent development takes the total number of reported aircraft’s crashes to no fewer than five in the last 14 months where at least, 20 officers have reportedly died during these tragic incidents, including senior army personnel.
Notable among the crashes was the one involving the Chief of Army Staff, Ibrahim Attahiru, and 10 others on May 21, 2021.
In February 2021, seven personnel died in a Beechcraft King B350i crash on their way to Minna, Niger State. The aircraft crashed after reporting engine failure, according to the aviation authorities.
In April 2021, a fighter Alpha Jet had disappeared in Borno State where it was used in the war against insurgency in the North East.
The authorities said the fighter jet lost contact with the radar while on an interdiction mission in support of ground troops in the state.
On July 2021, another Alpha Jet was shot down after it came under terrorist attack operating between Kaduna and Zamfara states.
However, the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Abayomi Dairo, had survived but the aircraft was reduced to a wreckage after the incident.
The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba has ordered the review of police personnel and operational assets deployments to schools and colleges around the country.
Naija News reports that this is to ensure the protection of schools and colleges, particularly boarding schools, tertiary institutions, and its campuses in areas prone to security breaches around the country.
This was made known in a statement on Tuesday by Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi.
According to the police spokesperson, the directive was issued at the management meeting of the Force Management Team at the IGP Conference Hall, Force Headquarters, Abuja, on 19th April, 2022, while reviewing the general security in the country including the security of schools and colleges as a result of some isolated incidences reported in some schools.
IGP Alkali Baba equally directed all State Commissioners of Police, Tactical Commanders, as well as their supervising Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (AIGs), to explore all available options and think outside the box to boost security in and around schools, colleges, and student-based communities.
He ordered detectives/operatives of the Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID) and the Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB) to ensure sustained surveillance and intelligence gathering activities within various school environments.
The IGP asked the Police Airwing to extend its aerial patrols to the six geo-political zones of the country.
Baba assured that all hands will be on deck to ensure a safe environment for all pupils and students in the various schools and colleges of learning within the country.
He further reiterated the commitment of his administration to diversifying resources towards sustainable security and safety of all and sundry in Nigeria.
