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Shake up in presidency as Buhari sacks First Lady’s aide

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved reorganisation of the workforce in the Office of the First Lady, leading to the sack of a political appointee, redeployment of three and appointment of a new one.

Buhari appointed renowned journalist and former member of the House of Representatives, Muhammad Sani Zorro, as his new Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs and Strategy deployed in the Office of the First Lady.

A statement on Saturday morning by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, disclosed that three of the aides of the First Lady, Hajia Aisha Buhari, were redeployed, at her request, from her office to that of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).

The statement also said the President has approved the immediate disengagement of his Special Assistant on Domestic and Social Events in the Office of the First Lady, Zainab Kazeem.

The reason for Kazeem’s sack is yet to be ascertained.

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Those redeployed to the OSGF from the Office of the First Lady are: Dr. Mohammed Kamal Abdulrahman, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Health and Development Partners and Personal Physician to the First Lady; Hadi Uba, Special Assistant to the President on Administration; and Wole Aboderin, Special Assistant to the President on Non-Governmental Organisations, NGOs.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Muhammad Sani Zorro, journalist, politician and former lawmaker, as the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs and Strategy, Office of the First Lady.

“At the instance of the First Lady, Mrs Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, the President has also approved the immediate redeployment of three of the political appointees in her office to the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, pending their assignment to some other government departments or agencies.

“Those affected by the redeployment are: Dr. Mohammed Kamal Abdulrahman, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Health and Development Partners and Personal Physician to the First Lady; Hadi Uba, Special Assistant to the President on Administration and Wole Aboderin, Special Assistant to the President on Non-Governmental Organisations, NGOs.

“Also approved with effect from 11th February is the disengagement of Zainab Kazeem, the Special Assistant to the President on Domestic and Social Events, Office of the First Lady.

“Zorro, a famous journalist, brings to the new job decade-long experience in media practice, publishing and unionist leadership.

“He was at various times President, Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, West African Journalists Association (WAJA) and the Federation of African Journalists, FAJ.

“He was in the House of Representatives where he chaired the committee on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Refugees and Initiatives on North East,” the statement reads.

Oluwo Denies Requesting ₦20M From Oyetola For Wedding

The Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi, has distanced himself from the report claiming that he contacted the Governor of Osun State, Adegboyega Oyetola, to solicit support for a proposed wedding in Kano State.
A letter was shared online where the monarch allegedly solicited money for the Kano wedding.

The letter dated February 8, 2022, and addressed to the state Governor was received on behalf of Oyetola by the Special Adviser to the governor on Chieftaincy Affairs.

The letter read in parts, “I have the instruction of the His Imperial Majesty, Oba (Dr.) Abdulrosheed Adewale Akanbi, the Oluwo of Iwo, to notify you of Oluwo’s decision to marry a princess from Kano Emirate, to be precise, Ado Bayero Dynasty.

“I wish to remind your Excellency that this kind of royal wedding within two notable traditional institutions in Nigeria will require huge expenses, which necessitate the support of the state government financially, even logistically.”

The Press Secretary to Oluwo, Alli Ibraheem, when questioned on the development noted that the palace did not forward any letter to the Governor.

He said, “We didn’t author any letter. The letterhead you saw is not the one used by Oluwo. Moreso, if Baba will write government, it will carry his signature.”

Oluwo’s marriage to his Jamaican wife, Ms Chanel Chin, had crashed in December 2019.

Leave Emefiele out of politics, Economists warn propagandists

The North-South Economists’ Forum, NSEF, a focus group of development economists, has warned propagandists and information hawkers feasting on a phoney ‘Emefiele for President’ campaign not to drag the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, governor into the murky water of partisan politics.

Recently, some online news platforms flew a kite purporting that a group of top private sector players and some sitting governors were working on a script to install Mr. Godwin Emefiele as the next Nigerian president in the 2023 presidential election.

The report claimed that Emefiele may likely resign his appointment as CBN governor this month to throw his hat into the Presidential ring.

But the CBN has stoutly rebutted the story as disingenuously false, lacking in substance and therefore a figment of the imagination of its purveyors.

CBN spokesman, Osita Nwasinobi, described the report as a distraction from the CBN’s focus on its mandate of minding monetary policies, financial stability and supporting government programmes.

“I don’t know where that platform got their news from. We discuss monetary policies at the Central Bank and how to support the government, we don’t discuss politics. All these distractions, they should leave us out of them so that we can do our job,” Nwasinobi said.

However, the North-South Economists’ Forum said having done its independent investigation and consultations among highly placed Nigerian entrepreneurs some of whom were said to be among those promoting the Emefiele for President movement, it has discovered that the story was false in its entirety.

The body of Economists in a statement on Wednesday signed by its Chairman, Malam Ahmed Abdulkadir and Secretary, Dr. Chima Eboh, noted that “what was perceived to be a political meeting promoting Emefiele Presidential ambition was actually a meeting of governors, ex-governors, non-political actors, business people with proven economic management background, civil society organisations and the media, whose sole aim was to forge a new pathway for the growth and development of the nation.

“Emefiele was not on the agenda neither was he singled out for discussion at the meeting,” NSEF said.

The Economists urged the CBN governor to stay focused on his economic reengineering of the nation’s monetary policy framework to engender financial stability especially at these times when the nation is facing grave economic challenges.

NSEF charged those calling for Emefiele’s head and accusing him of playing partisan politics on the basis of a fake news to desist from such ill-advised adventure, adding that it ‘was childish and logically infantile to base their conclusion on a faulty premise.

“We have watched how the CBN under Emefiele has constricted the space for economic vampires who take advantage of the nation’s weak primary sector to import all manner of commodities into the country using forex sourced from CBN for local production of goods only to divert same to importation of the same products they originally claimed to manufacture in Nigeria.”

The group linked the renewed attacks on Emefiele to the economic crooks whom he has through the CBN policies of zero-forex for importation of commodities that can be easily grown in Nigeria and dozens of economic interventions by the CBN. It urged Emefiele not to be deterred by the headwinds created by this brood of economic saboteurs who have found easy recruits in some faceless organisations.

“Dragging Emefiele into politics is a show of aberrant mental indolence which does not advertise the propagandists as intelligent or persons given to critical thinking. As a body of Economists with strong bias for development, we consider it an effusion of ingratitude to ever imagine or conjecture that CBN under Emefiele is favouring one political party over another. That is the height of unreason,” the statement said.

SHOCKING! Akwa Ibom Pastor Advices Politicians To Snatch Ballot Boxes, Rig Elections In 2023

Abel Damina, the senior pastor of the Power City International Church in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, has advised politicians who are serious about taking power in 2023 to prepare to snatch ballot boxes and rig elections.

Damina gave the advice in a video currently trending on social media.

“Somebody said they are rigging elections. There’s no government that doesn’t rig elections, including America. That is the way the system works. It is survival,” said the popular Uyo pastor.

“So, if you are thinking of politics, start thinking of contending as survival. So, they are stealing ballot boxes, steal your own. That’s the way the system works. It means all of us are thieves – steal, I steal. The man that steal pass (sic) becomes governor.”

To back his teaching, Damina quoted verses from the eighth chapter of the first book of Samuel in the old testament of the Bible which records the rise of the monarchy in Israel.

But a Facebook user, Ifiok Udoh, disagreed with the preacher, saying “I am sure there are many other scriptures to overturn this assertion. You don’t lift a particular scripture and make a doctrine out of it. Dr. Damina is good at that and I respect his candid opinion but this and as always is not absolute.”

The cleric has similarly stirred controversies with his sermons in the past. One such was when he claimed that “sin can’t take a man to hell.” This, he said, was because Jesus Christ died for sin.

UPDATED: Four dead as robbers attack bullion van in Ibadan

Pandemonium broke out on Thursday afternoon when robbers attacked a bullion van in Idi-Ape area of Ibadan, the Oyo state capital city.

Sources said the masked gunmen carried out the attack on the unsuspecting convoy of two vehicles suspected to be conveying cash from one of the new generation banks located on the Idi-Ape-Agodi Gate axis.

Four persons were confirmed dead after the attack.

The victims, according to eyewitnesses, included two police officers in the bullion van, a yet-to-be identified driver in a private car and a female student said to be on her way home from school.

The gunmen began to shot sporadically few minutes around 1pm.

It was gathered the assailants, apparently on the trail of the two-car convoy, took advantage of the traffic light at the Idi Ape junction which stopped oncoming vehicles from Iwo-Road enroute Agodi and the slow traffic at the Foodco/Maryhill Convent School Junction to unleash mayhem on the bullion van.

Heavy gunshot marks were seen on the bullion van with the back damaged, an indication that the robbers successfully carried out the operation.

No official statement has been released on which bank the bullion van was coming from and amount of money lost during the operation.

The heavy gunshots caused many of the business and office complexes in the axis to immediately shut down while many drivers took cover, abandoning their vehicles.

For more than the 20mins the operation lasted, the entire axis was completely deserted, making escape easy for the robbers.

Security operatives including Police, members of the Oyo State Security Network codenamed Amotekun Corps, officials of the Oyo State Road Transport Management and officials of the State Joint Security Task Force Team codenamed Operation Burst, later took over the scene to enforce law and order.

During an on-the-spot assessment, Oyo Commissioner of Police, Ngozi Onadeko said she could not confirm yet the number of police officers who died during the attack.

Onadeko, who arrived the State from an official assignment shortly before then, however confirmed that no fewer than two officers sustained gunshot wounds.

According to her, the gallant officers also killed one of the robbers but the corpse was taken away by the gunmen.

She promised to make more information available to the public as soon as the police lay hands on it.

The CP said: “You can see the Amotekun, the police men, everyone is here working hand in hand so that we can get the people involved and get the root of what has happened today.

“I will give more information on this when we finally get the details of what actually happened.

“One of the police men on escort with the bullion van shot dead one of the robbers and they carried the robber that was shot with them.

“First of all I have to say it’s an unfortunate incident, we just finished the retreat and I am coming from the airport directly here.

“It was a coordinated attack but we are still trying to find out what actually happened because they trailed the bullion van from where it took the money and where it went to dispense it, we could see the shot they made, they were indeed prepared.

“”We can’t actually say what went wrong now but all the exits and borders that lead to Oyo state have been blocked so we are trying our possible best to get them to know what actually happened.

“Nobody was killed as of now and in fact, I can’t really say anything now because I am still trying to access the situation and to find out what actually happened but I can tell you sure that two of my men were shot on the leg.

“Let’s just do our investigation and then we will be able to tell you and give you more details.”

JUST IN: Panic as robbers attack bullion van in Ibadan

Pandemonium broke out on Thursday when robbers attacked a bullion van in Idi-Ape area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital city.

Unconfirmed sources said two policemen died with the robbers shooting sporadically while carrying out the operation.

It could not be confirmed if the gunmen successful hijacked the bullion van.

NNPC Boss, Kyari Names Four Firms As Culprits Of Adulterated Fuel

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Company Limited (NNPC), Mele Kyari, has disclosed that four companies were responsible for the importation of adulterated fuel into the country.
Speaking on Wednesday during a media briefing at the NNPC Headquarters in Abuja, Kyari said MRS, Emadeb/Hyde/AY Maikifi/Brittania-U Consortium, Oando and Duke Oil brought the substandard fuel into Nigeria.

He disclosed that the investigation carried out by the company revealed that the presence of Methanol which was above Nigeria’s specification was detected in four petrol cargoes imported by the listed companies

Kyari said the Methanol blended petrol was imported into the country by the four oil suppliers through its Direct-Sales-Direct-Purchase arrangement.

The NNPC GMD, however, said he has since ordered the withdrawal of all the affected products in transit (both truck and marine), disclosing that the adulterated fuel was imported from Antwerp in Belgium.

Kyari disclosed that the NNPC had ordered the quarantine of all un-evacuated volumes of the contaminated fuel that led to the disruption of the petrol distribution value chain, in order to prevent further distribution.

He stressed that the NNPC and other stakeholders were making serious efforts to resolve issues generated by the supply and discharge of methanol blended fuel in some Nigerian depots.

He said: “In order to prevent the distribution of the petrol, we have ordered the quarantine of all un-evacuated volumes and the holding back of all the affected products in transit (both truck & marine).

“All defaulting suppliers have been put on notice for remedial actions and NNPC will work with the authority to take further necessary actions in line with subsisting regulations.

“NNPC wishes to reassure Nigerians that we are currently sourcing additional cargoes to ensure product sufficiency.”

The NNPC boss asserted that petrol brought into Nigeria usually does not include the test for the level of methanol content, adding that cargoes’ quality certificates issued at the loading port in Belgium, by AmSpec Belgium, indicated that the product complied with Nigerian specifications.

However, Kyari disclosed that the NNPC first received a report on January 20, 2022, from its quality inspector of the presence of “emulsion particles” in petrol cargoes shipped to Nigeria from Belgium.

200-level OAU student dead after falling inside hostel soakway (VIDEO)

Society gazette reports that a 200-level OAU student, Heritage has died after falling inside her hostel soak-away which was shabbily covered.

She was picking her clothes when she mistakenly and unfortunately fell into the soak-away, leading to her death.

The video of the soak away has however surfaced online while students of the school condemned the management of obafemi Awolowo University.

WATCH VIDEO BELOW

https://twitter.com/i/status/1491604920692142080

MRS Exposes NNPC, Reveals How Corporation Imported Contaminated Petrol To Nigeria

Society gazette reports that there has been blame game following reports of contaminated petrol product in some filling stations in the country.

This was discovered this week and one of the filling stations at the receiving end has been MRS due to the fact that a video making rounds saw the company’s staff discharging contaminated fuel into a plastic bottle.

Following the backlashes against the company, MRS has been forced to speak out by exposing the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s involvement in the contaminated fuel importation.

MRS In a press release presented in a letter revealed that NNPC is the sole supplier of Petroleum Motor Spirit(PMS) in the country and that the corporation through its trading arm, Duke Oil imported the fuel.

Details of how the corporation delivered the petrol product to MRS was also revealed in the release.

See the letter below

Breaking: Reps Ask Buhari To Declare National Emergency Over Ritual Killings

President Muhammadu Buhari has been asked to declare a national emergency on ritual killings across the country.
Society gazette reports that the House of Representatives made the call during its plenary on Wednesday.

The development was part of the resolutions reached by the lawmakers on a motion of urgent public importance entitled ‘Need to Curb the Rising Trend of Ritual Killings in Nigeria’.

More details…