News & Announcements

The ‘Emilokan’ campaign slogan won’t be effective in Edo State during the current election campaign, according to Governor Godwin Obaseki.

The policy is alien to the people of the state, according to Obaseki, who stated as much when hosting the leaders of the Edo South Senatorial District at the Government House.

President Bola Tinubu used the term “Emilokan” during his campaign for the presidency.

“Edo people will not accept ‘Emilokan’ as a strategy in government as they are not known for that,” Obaseki countered. For us, the people will make the decision.

“What has happened in the last few months is strange, and even if you have ambition, this is not the time to express it. The timetable for the election is not out. You can’t be part of a government and also be the one to destabilise the same government.

“I thought we came together and will leave together and let the people say you have done a great job, and they will now make the decision themselves. They are the ones to say that come rain or sunshine, we must continue.

“You are telling the world one thing and yet doing another. You are loyal to your principal and yet you are in Court with your principal. Everybody has the right to be ambitious but do it the right way.”

Obaseki’s statement seemed to be a subtly critical remark regarding Philip Shaibu, his deputy who is vying for the top job in the state.

Following viral recordings showing troops and personnel of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) involved in brawls across the state, the traffic authority has stated that such an occurrence will not happen again.

The General Manager of LASTMA, Mr Bolaji Oreagba, disclosed this on Tuesday during a working visit by officials of the 9 Brigade Command, Nigerian Army, led by Brigadier-General Adegoke Moses Adetuyi, to the LASTMA headquarters.

This is according to a statement by LASTMA’s Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, Adebayo Taofiq.

In response to the incident, Oreagba stated that there is no love lost between the two sister agencies and that LASTMA personnel will continue to rely on the Nigerian Army and other security agencies throughout the state.

Following viral recordings showing troops and personnel of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) involved in brawls across the state, the traffic authority has stated that such an occurrence will not happen again.

The General Manager of LASTMA, Mr Bolaji Oreagba, disclosed this on Tuesday during a working visit by officials of the 9 Brigade Command, Nigerian Army, led by Brigadier-General Adegoke Moses Adetuyi, to the LASTMA headquarters.

This is according to a statement by LASTMA’s Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, Adebayo Taofiq.

In response to the incident, Oreagba stated that there is no love lost between the two sister agencies and that LASTMA personnel will continue to rely on the Nigerian Army and other security agencies throughout the state.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has praised the solidarity of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) on the political impasse in the Republic of Niger.

The President spoke when he received the Special Envoy of President Ali Bongo Ondimba and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Gabon, Mr. Hermann Immongault, at the State House in Abuja on Tuesday.

The President said the special message of support and solidarity from President Bongo, who doubles as the Chairman of ECCAS, expressing the full support of ECOWAS resolutions on the unconstitutional takeover of government in Niger, proved once more that military interference in democratic governance is not acceptable anywhere, and certainly, no longer so on the African continent.

These were contained in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity), Ajuri Ngelale dated August 15, 2023.

“I appreciate the solidarity and support of President Bongo on the situation in Niger. We are working not to compound the problem. We have well-meaning people who have intervened. I understand the fear of our people on any form of military action. We are working to keep the sanctions in place and we are following them to the letter. We are happy to know that ECCAS is with us on this. Interference in democratic governance is not acceptable to ECOWAS.”

President Tinubu, who is also Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, has promised to work with President Bongo and ECCAS to restore constitutional order in Niger.

He reinforced the position of the regional body not to accept any attempt by the military junta in Niger to intimidate and harass President Mohamed Bazoum.

“We will work with ECCAS and keep President Bongo informed on our actions and we will continue to collaborate,” President Tinubu assured.

In his remarks, the Special Envoy commended the leadership of ECOWAS and President Tinubu for the steps taken so far to restore democracy in Niger, adding that President Bongo and ECCAS are fully in support of all ECOWAS resolutions.

“President Bongo has been following your efforts and those of other ECOWAS leaders on the situation in Niger. President Bongo and ECCAS strongly condemn the coup in Niger. He sent me here to tell you that he supports ECOWAS and your leadership in what you are doing to ensure democratic governance is restored in Niger. With Boko Haram attacks in Cameroon, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, and the refugee situation in Chad, whatever happens in West Africa affects Central Africa. My President joins efforts with you and ECOWAS to find a solution to the crisis in ECOWAS,” he said.

The Special Envoy noted that he will communicate the firm solidarity between ECCAS and ECOWAS to the military authorities in Niger as they meet in the coming days.

Tuareg former rebels in northern Mali said their forces were attacked Friday by the army and Russian mercenary group Wagner.

The Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) said in a Facebook post that their forces “repulsed a complex attack by the Fama (Malian army) and Wagner” in the town of Ber, in the northern Timbuktu region.

“We call the international community to witness these serious acts,” said CMA spokesperson Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, denouncing the attack as a “violation of all security commitments and arrangements.”

Mali’s army said it had “vigorously retaliated” against an “attempted incursion” into their position on Friday, blaming “terrorists” for the incident.

On Thursday, the Tuareg former rebels announced the departure of all their representatives from Bamako for “security” reasons, further widening the gap with the junta, which has been in power since 2020.

The CMA is an alliance of Tuareg-dominated groups seeking autonomy or independence from the Malian state.

It is one of the parties to a 2015 peace agreement with the Malian government.

Mali’s military government has fallen out with former colonial power France and turned to Russia for political and military support.

Wagner is openly active in Mali and at least three other African countries, typically shoring up fragile regimes in exchange for minerals and other natural wealth.

In Mali, Wagner paramilitaries protect the regime, conduct military operations and training, and advise on the revision of mining laws and even the constitution.

The regime in Bamako says the foreign military instructors in Mali are not from Wagner but from the regular Russian army.

On Tuesday, the Federal Government submitted a request to drop the guns possession allegation brought against Godwin Emefiele, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s suspended governor.

In an oral motion to the federal high court in Ikoyi, Director of Public Prosecutions at the Federal Ministry of Justice Mohammed Bakodo Abubakar stated that the withdrawal was the outcome of additional investigations.

However, Abubakar revealed that 20 new counts of charges have been added to the case against Emefiele at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

After the day’s events, he explained this to reporters in a press conference.

Emefiele was charged with two counts of “illegal possession of firearms” on July 25 in a federal high court in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Two teachers were slain when bandits stormed a secondary school in the Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State.

According to information obtained, the fatalities were a young married couple who worked as teachers at the BECO Comprehensive Secondary school in the municipal district’s Kwi hamlet.

The event, according to eyewitnesses, occurred on Monday after school at a meeting to compile student results for distribution on Friday, August 18, during their “Speech and Prize Giving Day,” in accordance with the school’s calendar.

Moses Gwott, a local youth leader, told The PUNCH in Jos, Nigeria, on Tuesday that the bandits also injured several teachers, including the vice principal of the institution.

Gwott said, “It was on Monday around 3:00 pm that the bandits came into the school Compound with their cattles, and interrupted the Staff meeting.The staff had asked the bandits who were obviously  Fulani to get their cows out of the school environment. But instead of complying, they brought out their arms and   opened gunfire at the teachers killing two teachers.”

In a statement on Tuesday, Rwang Tengwong, the national publicity secretary of the Berom Youths Moulders Association, also acknowledged the attack and urged the government to enact a ban on open grazing in the localities to prevent such incidents.

“The Berom Youths Moulder-Association-BYM is, again, saddened over the invasion of BECO Comprehensive School Kwi, where two staff, Mr and Mrs Rwang Danladi are reportedly shot dead and  one Mr Dalyop Emmanuel Ibrahim, the Vice Principal of the School seriously injured by some known fulani  armed men  alongside suspected Bandits elements at about 3:00pm of Monday, 14th August, 2023.

“This resulted to the death of recently wedded couples, Rwang Danladi and wife, Mrs Sandra Rwang Danladi, who are the staff of the school while Mr Dalyop Emmanuel Ibrahim who is the Vice Principal of the institution sustained serious injury and is receiving medical treatment at the Jos University Teaching Hospital-JUTH.

“The Berom Youth Moulder-Association, BYM under the leadership of Solomon Dalyop Mwantiri, Esq notes with concern how these Terrorists from Fass and Mahanga now move freely with arms and graze on farmlands, intimidating locals at nearby Communities.

Fass and Mahanga as well as Guava have become enclaves of terrorists, who carry out all sorts of coordinated attacks on villages and Communities in Barkin Ladi, Riyom, Bokkos, Mangu, Jos South and even beyond the state.

“We therefore call on government to ban open grazing in Plateau state since grazing has become a ploy to continue unleashing havock on human lives and property.

“We also call on security operatives to, as a matter of urgency, raid the aforementioned settlement formed by way of forceful occupation after uprooting the aboriginals therefrom.  This is necessary in order to get rid of both the terrorist and criminal elements that have firmly defied law and order.

“BYM calls on Government to declare Fulani Militias as terrorists so as to be treated as such.”

When our correspondent called Alfred Alabo, the state’s police public relations officer, to request a statement about the incident, calls over to his phone line indicated that it was off.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has finally responded to the widespread worry about a potential increase in the price of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as gasoline, at the pump.

The national oil corporation, a significant importer of gasoline into Nigeria, stated in a post on its official X (previously Twitter) account around 11:48 p.m. on Monday that it has no intention of raising the price of gasoline at the pump.

“Dear esteemed customers, we at NNPCL Retail value your patronage, and we do not have the intention to increase our PMS pump prices as widely speculated.

“Please buy the best quality products at the most affordable prices at our NNPCL Retail stations nationwide,” the company stated.

The downstream NNPCL subsidiary, NNPCL Retail, retails refined petroleum products for the organization.

If the dollar stays between N910 and N950 on the parallel market, as oil marketers predicted on Sunday, the price of gasoline will rise to between N680 and N720 per liter in the upcoming weeks.

Additionally, they made hints that the lack of foreign currency needed to purchase PMS was forcing dealers who wanted to do so to postpone their plans.

The naira was trading at over 945 to the dollar on Friday on the parallel market, less than a week after the local currency broke over the N900/dollar ceiling.

Additionally, the oil traders claimed that the official foreign exchange window of the CBN Importers and Exporters, which boasts a lower exchange rate of roughly $740/litre, had remained unliquid and was unable to supply the $25–$30 million needed for the importation of PMS by traders.

In response to a question from our correspondent on Monday, NNPCL spokesperson Garba-Deen Muhammad said he will research the matter and get back to them.

He didn’t respond, though; instead, the business responded on X (previously Twitter) on Monday night.

Additionally, the Nigeria Labour Congress had warned on Monday that if marketers hiked the price of gasoline at the pump without ending the existing negotiations, its members will embark on a statewide strike without giving any prior warning.

Joe Ajaero, the president of the NLC, urged the federal government to stop the depreciation of the naira.

Following the termination of the fuel subsidy in May, organized labor sought to strike in protest of the soaring cost of goods and services, but the Federal Government was able to obtain a National Industrial Court injunction preventing them from doing so.

Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos State, has provided an explanation for his unexpected visits to Lagos Island Hospital and Island Maternity Hospital.

This information was released by the governor on Monday through a statement from his chief press secretary, Mr. Gboyega Akosile.

Sanwo-Olu claims that the reason for his visit to the hospitals was his desire to personally see the conditions and assure staff adherence to the health treatment program, which pays for natural deliveries, Caesarean sections, and prenatal care performed in state-owned hospitals.

The health program is a component of the relief measures implemented by the state government to ease the suffering that citizens are experiencing as a result of the policy to eliminate gasoline subsidies.

He said, “I need to come and see things for myself to know where our intervention is specifically and generally needed,” the governor said.

According to the statement, Sanwo-Olu walked into the hospital unannounced at exactly 6:35 pm.

The statement reads, “At 6:35 pm, the governor walked quietly into the hospital’s maternity ward where two expectant mothers were being examined.

“One of them, Odeyemi Omowunmi, is heavily pregnant but she is not yet due for delivery. The 37-year-old expectant mother was compelled to take admission weeks ahead of her scheduled delivery.

“Odeyemi’s forced hospitalisation was as a result of her unstable blood pressure — the condition that led to two previous miscarriages. In order not to lose the pregnancy, doctors advised Odeyemi be placed under constant observation until she is due for childbirth.

“The care is free of charge. The medical expenses are completely covered under the health palliative scheme declared by Governor Sanwo-Olu across the Lagos State-owned General Hospitals.

“The health palliative covers the cost of normal pregnancy delivery, Caesarean section and antenatal care done in the state-owned hospitals.

In a chat with the governor, Odeyemi said: “My husband and I live in Abule Egba, where I started antenatal care at a private clinic. I was seven and half months into my pregnancy when they discovered that my blood pressure was too high. My husband feared that I might lose the pregnancy again, having had two successive miscarriages.

“We were referred to the Island Maternity Hospital for advanced medical examination when doctors told me I must be admitted for continued observation. My husband did not want me admitted initially because of the cost. But we were told the care is completely free. We didn’t believe it until I started getting treatment without anyone asking us to pay a dime.”

Numerous pregnant ladies have benefited from the free delivery and antenatal care provided by the Lagos-owned hospitals since the free medical services began on August 1st.

Akinsola Dorcas, the Chief Matron in Charge, led Sanwo-Olu around the maternity ward.

The governor next went to the 10-story Doctors’ Quarters at Lagos Island Hospital in Odan, where he personally conducted an audit of the facilities after learning that a house officer there had recently passed away from injuries sustained in an elevator mishap.

Sanwo-Olu evaluated the quarters’ residences, shops, and power supply systems on the scene. Dr. Segun Ogunlana, a member of the House Officers, led him.

The New Nigerian People’s Party’s Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso may have lost out on a spot in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet, according to the ruling All Progressives Congress, because of the ongoing attacks in Kano State on the legacy of the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.

There were rumors that Kwankwaso might be appointed to a position in Tinubu’s cabinet before to the announcement of his ministerial nominees, given the friendship the two had following the presidential election.

However, Nyesom Wike of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party received a spot on Tinubu’s list of ministerial nominees, while Kwankwaso, the former governor of Rivers State, was left off.

In an interview with our correspondent on Sunday, the APC’s director of publicity, Bala Ibrahim, said he thought Governor Abba Yusuf of the NNPP and Kwankwaso’s political godson were to blame for Tinubu’s decision not to nominate Kwankwaso for a ministerial position.

Ibrahim said, “Kwankwaso is a force to reckon with in the politics of Kano. But the way and manner his Kwankwasiyya movement goes about conducting itself has made the support for Kwankwaso to wane gradually. This is because of the brigandage the movement is bringing into the politics of Kano, and by extension, Nigeria.

“The President must have felt the pulse of the public and weighed the relevance and implementation of his policies, particularly his effort to win the hearts of Kano people. There is no way you will dismiss the political maturity, sagacity and experience of Dr Abdullahi Ganduje when it comes to the way he plays politics in Kano.

“If you weigh the two on a good calibrated scale, the political weight of Ganduje is by far higher than that of Kwankwaso. I believe the President must have listened to people who will give him honest and sincere advice, people who read the political temperature of the state very well, not those who are misguided by the hullabaloo of commotion caused by the brigandage of the Kwankwasiyya movement. It is that direction I think the President took the decision not to treat Ganduje lightly.”

However, the Kwankwaso camp criticized the APC for attempting to tarnish its leader.

Major Agbo, the NNPP’s national publicity secretary, told our correspondent that the APC wasn’t deserving of a retort.

Agbo said, “Some of these issues are things the party is not supposed to be reacting to now. He (Kwankwaso) has spoken directly on the issue you talked about. He is the one who opted out. What else do you want?

“If Ganduje is saying what he is saying and wants to continue to be behaving like a garrison commander, it is his business, not ours.”

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) parliament was divided on Saturday over how to address the political deadlock in Niger Republic triggered by the coup.

While some members urged for military intervention in regional administration, others argued dialogue and diplomacy were the best approaches to resolve the situation.

The positions were taken when the 22 parliamentarians held an extraordinary meeting, held virtually, to discuss the Niger Republic impasse.

The members who were against military action put forward the fate that could befall the masses if the country was invaded by forces trying to dislodge the coupists.

Ali Djibo, from Niger Republic, said already no fewer than 9,000 schools have been shut since the crisis, adding that the best solution was dialogue and that military action had never been the best option anywhere in the world.

Djibo said: “War will only compound the economic woes the peoples of the sub-region are already going through.

“As we speak, over a thousand trucks, loaded with goods, are stranded at the border.

“If a coup happened in Nigeria or Cote’d’Iviore tomorrow, where’s the ECOWAS going to mobilize troops to fight the Nigerian or Ivorian military? How many borders are we going to close?

“We must also bear in mind that if we’re applying the ECOWAS treaty, it should be applicable to all.”
For Awaji-Inombek Dagomie Abiante (Rivers), ECOWAS must pay keen attention and treat the root causes of coups in ECOWAS countries.

He said diplomacy must be used to resolve the problem.

‘What has dialogue done in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea?’Members of the ECOWAS Parliament rooting for a military solution to the Niger Republic matter said dialogue and diplomacy had tamed the spread of the coup in West Africa.