News & Announcements

Major General Christopher Musa’s nomination as the new Chief of Defence Staff has received praise from Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani.

President Tinubu nominated the new service chiefs to succeed the outgoing ones on Monday and promoted Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who had previously been named Security Adviser, to the position of National Security Adviser.

General Lucky Irabor has been replaced as the Chief of Defence Staff by Major General Christopher Musa, a former Theatre Commander for Operation Hadin Kai.

The Chief of Army Staff is now Major General Taoreed Lagbaja. Lieutenant General Farouk Yahaya was replaced by him.

In place of Air Marshal Oludayo Amao, Air Vice Marshal H.B. Abubakar has been named the Chief of Air Staff, while Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo will be replaced as the Chief of Naval Staff by Rear Admiral E. A. Ogalla.

The governor claimed that the honorable son of the state had earned the appointment and that it was highly merited.

“I wish to congratulate our dear brother and citizen, on his well-deserved appointment as the Chief of Defence (CDS),” the Governor said.

The Governor praised the incoming Chief of Defence Staff as a deserving representative of Kaduna State who has held numerous critical roles over a remarkable military career, including Theatre Commander for Operation Hadin Kai.

He added; “In his years of military service, he has been exemplary in his professional conduct. His diligence, dedication and loyalty has been rewarded with this elevation to the position of CDS.

“I wish to therefore express our profound gratitude to our dear leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR for finding our son worthy of this important national assignment. Mr. President has always identified with Kaduna State and its people. We shall give Mr. President all the support he needs to take our nation to higher heights.”

Since beginning demolition efforts in various areas of the state, the Kano State Government has regained land worth trillions of naira.

Dr. Baffa Bichi, the secretary to the state government, revealed this in an interview with Politics Today on Channels TV.

Note that under the direction of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, the state administration has destroyed buildings at the Daula Hotel site, the Kano Eid Ground, the Kwari and Wambai marketplaces, among other places.

The previous administration was accused of stealing land, however Abdullahi Umar Gnaduje, the former governor, later called the accusation unfounded.

Bichi said, “Somebody was claiming that N129 billion worth of structures were demolished.

“We recovered property (land) worth trillions of naira belonging to Kano State that the previous administration misappropriated to themselves and their families. The Eid ground alone is worth trillions of naira. It’s priceless.”

Chinedu Eze, a 43-year-old preacher with Mountain of Fire and Miracles (Worldwide), has described how he spent 14 years in prison after allegedly refusing to help the authorities with a case he claimed to be unaware of.

However, he said that via the efforts of Christ Embassy Church, out of the 996 prisoners, he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Peace and Conflict Resolution from the National Open University of Nigeria while still incarcerated after enrolling for the Senior School Certificate Examination.

Eze said that he created seven books and around 157 songs while imprisoned.

Eze, an Enugu State native, reported being released on May 2, 2019.

He continued by saying that some police officers had approached him sometime in 2005 to testify as a prosecution witness in a case he was unaware of, and that they had then arrested him and transported him to the Kuje Correctional Services.

He addressed the media at the Silver Lining for The Needy Initiative’s 14th anniversary gala, a non-governmental organization that works with needy populations in Nigeria.

Hauwa Abass, the organization’s founder, promised that SLNI would keep assisting the underprivileged and battling injustice in Nigeria.

Eze claimed that he was requested to testify against a police officer who had problems with his superiors. He expressed gratitude to the SNLI for assisting him in regaining his freedom, claiming that he had already given up until the group came to his aid.

He said, “I was sent to prison because of an issue involving a policeman who had issues with his superiors, and they wanted to punish him. Some policemen approached me and wanted to use me as a prosecution witness against him. But I told them that I couldn’t testify against him because I didn’t know anything about the scenario.

“One of the policemen, known as Emmanuel Abazie, told me that I had to cooperate with them unless I would regret it. At first, I thought it was just a mere threat. I never knew it would result in me going to prison. When I got to the prison, they hid my file. I stayed there for four years—no court, no files. It was a long, torturous journey that I had to stay 14 years under awaiting trial.”

Eze claimed that while being imprisoned, he did not let his situation stop him from continuing his study.

He claimed to have taken the West Africa Examinations Council’s SSCE before earning a bachelor’s degree from NOUN in peace and conflict resolution.

Eze said, “I got seven credits without English. I sat for the exam again the following year, and I got nine distinctions, including English and Mathematics.

“When I was writing WAEC, I had no intention of furthering education in the prison because there was no university, but I saw it as a providence arrangement because after two years that I wrote WAEC, the National Open University and Christ Embassy came to the prison and said that they were looking for those who were qualified and those who had what it takes to be enrolled in the university. I happened to be one of 31 persons. We were about 996 inmates in Kuje prison.

“So I was among the 31 people that met the requirements to be given a scholarship, so that’s how I was admitted to study Peace and Conflict Resolution.”

While stressing the need for Nigerians to disabuse their minds from the notion that everyone in prison was guilty of an offence, he said that many people who were in prison should not have been sent there in the first place.

Eze said, “My incident happened between 2005 and 2019. The SLNI came in 2017, and by that time I had given up. When they came, I had interaction with the founder, Hauwa Abass, and then she spoke with someone in her legal department, one Barrister Muhammad, who went to the court, located my file, and that was how my file was discovered. Muhammad later came to the prison and told me that this is the stage of my case, and then we picked it up from there. After about two years of my encounter with them, I was released on May 2, 2019.

“When you visit the prison, you will see something like 70 convicted inmates but 900 awaiting trials. A policeman who was indicted (while I was there) was released just about a month ago when the Chief Judge visited the prison. That policeman was simply set up by his superiors because of the issues he had with them and he spent about 18 years awaiting trial.”

“One of the books is about my experience, titled “14 years in prison”, I have the belief that I will meet people who will help me publish it. Also, my first album was launched in December last year. I wrote about 157 songs in detention, but I now have 160 songs.”

Samuel Ortom, a former governor of the state of Benue, has been freed by the anti-graft organization after spending more than 10 hours in the EFCC office in Makurdi.

Following an invitation from the office, the Governor arrived in the Zonal Office of the Commission on Tuesday morning about 10am.

According to what was learned, the committee invited the former governor to appear and respond to charges connected to his eight years of leadership as the state’s governor.

The former governor spent the entire day at the EFCC, and at around 7:55 p.m., he was observed being driven out of the office in an SUV with several friends and acquaintances who had been waiting for him patiently at a nearby hotel.

The former governor could not be reached for comment, but according to a statement issued by his media assistant, Mr. Terver Akase, just before his release on Tuesday evening, he was not detained by the anti-graft agency.

Contrary to allegations made in some media outlets, Samuel Ortom, the recently-resigned governor of Benue State, visited the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, today at the commission’s invitation, according to Akase’s statement.

“Chief Ortom was neither arrested nor detained at the EFCC Zonal Headquarters in Makurdi.

“The former Governor has repeatedly said that he is available to respond to inquiries by anti-graft agencies as he has nothing to hide regarding his stewardship of Benue State.”

The Federal Capital Territory’s High Court set July 13 as the date for its decision over the enforcement of a fundamental rights lawsuit brought by Godwin Emefiele, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s suspended governor.

After hearing the arguments provided by the parties in the case, Justice Hamza Muazu set the date.

The Attorney General of the Federation, the Director General of the State Security Service, and the State Security Service are listed as the first through third respondents in the lawsuit.

In the course of the proceedings, the AGF’s attorney, Tijjani Ghazali SAN, informed the court that the first respondent is contesting the court’s authority to hear the applicant’s case.

He claimed that the DSS’s decision to arrest and detain Emefiele was made administratively and that the applicant’s request for relief would define the DSS’s jurisdiction.

Additionally, he argued that the CBN chairman is being detained per the directive of an FCT Chief Magistrate Court, refuting the claim of wrongful detention.

As a result, he requested that the application be denied by the court.

The second and third respondents, who were represented by attorney I. Awo, argued that the application should be denied with costs because there was already a valid order of detention for the applicant.

However, Joseph Daudu, SAN, the attorney representing Emefiele, contended that the charges brought against Emefiele were state offenses that the FCT High Court could hear.

He argued that the court had the authority to hear the case, in contrast to the preliminary objection made by the respondents against the originating summons on notice.

On June 16, the court ordered Yusuf Bichi, the director general of the Department of State Services, to allow Godwin Emefiele, the suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, access to his attorneys and family.

After being suspended by President Bola Tinubu on Saturday, Emefiele was taken into custody by the DSS.

The order was made on Friday by Justice Hamza Muazu of the FCT High Court, who further emphasized that Emefiele’s access to the area constituted a constitutional right.

The enrolled order, dated June 16, 2023, said that “The applicant’s attorneys shall have immediate access to the applicant. And frequently while reasonably awaiting the outcome of the application.

Following an application submitted by Emefiele’s attorney, J.B. Saudi, SAN, who informed the court that the DSS had not responded to earlier letters asking access to his client, the court issued the order.

The attorneys for the DSS and the Federal Government’s attorney general’s office both asked for an extension of time to file their reply to the original motion.

The request was granted, and the case was further postponed to Tuesday, June 20, 2023, for a hearing.

At the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Tuesday, Vice President Kashim Shettima appointed Mr. Kayode Egbetokun as the Acting Inspector-General of Police.

“I have the feeling of a lion, ready to eat all of Nigeria’s adversaries from within. After a brief ceremony in the Vice President’s Conference Room, Egbetokun informed State House Correspondents, “That’s how I feel right now.

The decoration was carried out by the VP and Mrs. Elizabeth Egbetokun, the wife of the new Police chief, just 24 hours after a significant change in the country’s security hierarchy.

President Bola Tinubu approved the immediate retirement on Monday night of the Chief of Defence Staff, all of the nation’s service leaders, Usman Alkali, the Inspector-General of Police, and Col. Hameed Ali, the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service.

Tinubu subsequently named Rear Admiral E. A Ogalla as the Chief of Naval Staff, Major General C. G. Musa as the Chief of Army Staff, Major General T. A. Lagbaja as the Chief of Army Staff, AVM H. B. Abubakar as the Chief of Air Staff, DIG Kayode Egbetokun as the Acting Inspector-General of Police, and Major General EPA Undiandeye as the Chief of Defence Intelligence.

After the event, Egbetokun spoke to reporters at the Villa and emphasized his desire to go back to work on Wednesday, saying he felt like a tiger ready to drive away all of the nation’s internal enemies.

Tinubu subsequently named Rear Admiral E. A Ogalla as the Chief of Naval Staff, Major General C. G. Musa as the Chief of Army Staff, Major General T. A. Lagbaja as the Chief of Army Staff, AVM H. B. Abubakar as the Chief of Air Staff, DIG Kayode Egbetokun as the Acting Inspector-General of Police, and Major General EPA Undiandeye as the Chief of Defence Intelligence.

After the event, Egbetokun spoke to reporters at the Villa and emphasized his desire to go back to work on Wednesday, saying he felt like a tiger ready to drive away all of the nation’s internal enemies.

Asked how he felt about the weight of his new responsibility, Egbetokun said, “Now I have just been decorated and I’m looking forward to taking over tomorrow morning by 11:00 am.

“I really can’t describe how I feel currently, but if I have to tell you anything, I will tell you that right now, I feel like a tiger inside of me, ready to chase away all the criminals in Nigeria.

“And some other times, I feel like a lion in me, ready to devour all the internal enemies of Nigeria. That’s my feeling right now.”

On his part, the former Inspector-General of Police, Alkali Baba, described his successor as an old, experienced hand who would build on what he is leaving behind.

“It’s a stage; you come, you work and you go. I’m happy I’m handing over to somebody I know that will carry the mantle of leadership from where I have stopped.

“We grew up on the job. I was his boss at a time, not even when I was IG. He worked under me twice, we’ve been working together and I know how he will go ahead to champion the course of the police from where I have stopped,” Baba said.

Until the 22nd substantive IGP is confirmed by the 10th Senate, Egbetokun continues to serve in an acting capacity.

The National Security Advisor, Nuhu Ribadu, the Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, Hope Uzodinma, the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, and the recently retired IGP, Usman Alkali, among others, all attended the ceremony.

Hezekiah Abiona, an assistant superintendent of police, was fatally stabbed by two naval ratings in the Satellite Town neighborhood of Lagos State, and his family claims that Nigerian Navy officials deserted him.

The ratings, which included Onyekachi Egwin and Nnamani Anointing, were reportedly riding a motorcycle while wearing muftis when Abiona and his colleagues flagged them down on Oluti Street in Satellite Town.

According to reports, the ratings became enraged by the policemen’s behavior, and a fight broke out between them.

On December 3, 2022, the disagreement turned physical, and during the melee, the ratings are accused of stabbing Abiona.

The attacker’s injuries caused the policeman to pass away, but the suspects were captured by members of the Lagos State Police Command.

Benjamin, Abiona’s son and a final-year student at Tai Solarin University of Education, told Newsmen that the Nigerian Navy’s officials pretended not to know about the traumatic ordeal the late officer’s family was going through.

After the two ratings attacked and killed their family’s breadwinner, he claimed that they had been abandoned and that the Nigerian Navy had yet to offer them support or a condolence visit.

“To date, my mum cries that naval officers are yet to show concern or even send a delegation to the family; they didn’t even bother. It was like they killed a fowl.

“The trauma is still very much for us. Nobody has shown up for us. My siblings and I are all still in school, nobody has asked for us,” Benjamin said.

He clarified that he had observed the suspects during the investigation at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Panti, Yaba, and said that nothing had been heard of the case after the police turned the suspects over to the Nigerian Navy for further investigation and prosecution.

While bemoaning the situation, the resentful son wanted justice for his deceased father.

The 25-year-old said, “We are demanding justice for the way the naval officers abandoned us. I want justice for my dad. I don’t want them to hide the suspects, with the way it is going now, it looks like they are hiding them.

“It has taken over six months now. This issue happened on December 3, 2022, and we are already in June 2023. We want those ratings charged for the crime.

“My father was one of the cops that was rewarded with commendation letters and N250,000 each by the former governor of the state, Akinwunmi Ambode, for recovering N5m that fell off a bullion van around Alausa, Ikeja.”

Esther, the deceased’s wife, cried uncontrollably and claimed that she had been left in the hands of fate, adding that since their breadwinner was dead, providing for and raising her children had become an impossible chore.

The mother of five said, “Since December, I have been expecting a reaction from the authorities but nothing. I want them and the government to help my children because they are still small. If they can put the children on scholarships, it will help.”

The Federal Government and organized labor yesterday agreed on an eight-week timeframe to resolve all disputed issues and put labor demands’ resolutions into effect.

Recall that organized labor vowed to go on strike on May 29, just after President Bola Tinubu announced the elimination of the fuel subsidy. They claimed that the government had not taken any steps to mitigate the effects of the subsidy removal.

The federal administration swiftly called a meeting with labor to prevent a walkout, where palliative demands were made. The two parties agreed to meet again on June 19 to continue discussions.

The federal government, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, leadership agreed during the meeting yesterday that all of the issues and demands mentioned should be resolved within eight weeks.

A Presidential Steering Committee was also established by the two parties to act as a clearinghouse for the technical subcommittees on the many issues brought up.

Festus Osifo, the president of the TUC, and Joe Ajaero, the equivalent from the NLC, briefed State House reporters after the meeting and announced that the parties will meet again the following Monday to evaluate the framework put out.

He said; “We have concluded our meeting, if you remember very well the last time that we were here that labour, TUC, and NLC met with the government about two weeks ago, we agreed that we are going to reconvene today, that is the 19th of June, we just reconvened, we had a meeting although brief.

“The purpose of the meeting today is actually to put together the framework, what we submitted as our demand, how will they be delivered and so we are looking at that framework, the government came with what they think will work, we also made some input. From this night, we are going to continue the work in order to have that framework together.

“We agreed that anything we are putting together we are going to conclude everything in eight weeks. Everything must be rolled out within that time not something that we are going to leave endlessly. They have submitted the framework to us, we have looked at it, and we have made input to it, this night we will continuously work on it in order for us to come up with the deliverables.

“If you look at the communique that was signed in our last meeting, there are some action items in the communique. So it’s actually how these action items will be delivered. For example, we need to have a Presidential Steering Committee that will have to oversee everything.

‘’We also need to have Technical sub-committees because if we talk about the issue of CNG, we need experts, the issue of CNG you need those people that are willing to invest, the issue of CNG, you need the national oil company, the NNPCL to come up what they need to do and the time with which they are going to deliver.

“There are some technicalities that are required beyond this meeting, so those technical committees will be subsumed into Presidential committees but we must conclude everything maximum in eight weeks.

‘’So those technical committees, some will submit their reports in one week, when they submit in one week, we implement, when they submit in two weeks we will implement but the last should not exceed eight weeks.

“The terms of reference of these committees are going to be agreed on between today and tomorrow. We are looking at five broad technical committees that will be subsumed into Presidential Steering Committee. There must be timelines in these terms of reference but the maximum should not exceed eight weeks. By next week Monday, we will be here again, same time.”

Dele Alake, the Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communication, and Strategies, added his voice to the conversation and stated that the meeting looked at short-, medium-, and long-term solutions to the problem with the administration.

He stated; “We reconvened today, both parties went through this list and we tipped off the viable ones, those things are broken into three categories. The immediate, are those that can be of low-hanging fruit in the short term, the medium term and the long term.

“So those list of demands in terms of implementation and execution fall into those three broad categories of short, medium and long term categories. So that’s what we decided today and other meetings will still be held in order to cross the t’s and dot the i’s.

“One group has been constituted at today’s meeting, there is a steering committee that will be like a clearing house, there are other groups set up comprising both parties, government and labour members and these groups will work together very harmoniously and efficiently to arrive at the final resolution of all these demands and what we call interventions.”

In attendance at the meeting are the delegations of the NLC, led by its President Joe Ajaero, the TUC, led by its President Festus Osifo, the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, the Special Adviser for Revenue, Zachaeus Adedeji, the Special Adviser for Energy, Olu Verheijen, and the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Kachallom Daju.

Other executives include Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited NNPCL, Gbenga Komolafe, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, and Farouk Ahmed, CEO of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA.

On Monday, Anambra State Police Command agents raided a hotel and freed nine minors who were being used as sex slaves.

While the brothel owner was being detained, the girls, who are reportedly between the ages of 15 and 23, were removed from the hotel.

In a statement released on Monday, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, the state police spokesman, stated that the police raided the hotel in Awka as a result of reliable information coming from the state ministry of women and social welfare.

Ikenga promised that the girls who were rescued from the brothel will receive rehabilitation before being sent back to their various home states.

He revealed that the owner of the brothel had promised to give the girls additional money so they could send it to their parents in the area after luring them with some money from Ebonyi, Enugu, Akwa Ibom, and Rivers states to Awka.

Ikenga stated, “Following the information received from Anambra State Ministry of Women and Social Welfare on Sunday at 6:00pm, police operatives stormed a hotel in Awka and rescued nine girls within the ages of 15-23years, used for sex slaves and arrested the proprietor of the hotel.

“Meanwhile, further interrogations/confessions of the rescued girls, revealed that the respective persons that brought them to the brothel lured/enticed them on the assurances of giving them jobs to alleviate poverty/needs of their parents and dependents.

“They further confessed to being taken from Ebonyi, Enugu, Akwa-Ibom, and Rivers States. Also, the Police Command is in collaboration with the Anambra State Ministry of Women and Social Welfare to make sure the girls are taken care of and safely returned to their parents/guardians.

“The Command has condemned the act and frowned at such persons who take advantage of vulnerable individuals to make money and describe such places as a den where criminals take refuge.

“We urge the good people of Anambra to continue to provide the police with information about such places as the joint operations to weed such harbour has commenced,” he narrated.

The All Progressives Congress chapter in Delta State claims that Ovie Omo-Agege, a former deputy senate president, was responsible for suspending Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele’s bid for the presidency in order to thwart Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s aspirations.

The claim was disclosed in a letter written to the President on Monday titled, “Attempts by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege to scuttle presidential ambition of President Bola Tinubu through recruitment of Mr Godwin Emefiele, anti-Tinubu campaign stance and anti-party activities.”

State APC Secretary Inana Michael, Delta North Chairman Tom Onah, South Chairman Nelson Ogharama, and Central Chairman Michael Orunefe all signed the letter, which was provided to Newsmen.

The statement partly read: “Your Excellency, you will recall that at a point ahead of the party’s National Convention in June 2022, members, especially those of us from Ika South Local Government Area, got information Omo-Agege had plans to issue party membership card to the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, and we objected to his plans. We told him it was not morally right for Emefiele to contest and that it will affect your chances to secure the Presidential ticket.

“All efforts to make Omo-Agege see reasons fell on deaf ears but he convinced Emefiele and assured him that he would get the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, whom he planted as a spy, to help get Emefiele the ticket.”

The party referenced a story in the May 9, 2022, “which confirmed the story that the APC Ward chairman eventually gave Emefiele the membership card in February, 2021.”

“The name of the ward chairman is Mr Nduka Erikpume and the Ika South APC Local Government Chairman is Hilary FadaIbude.

“These two were the ones who also signed our state leaders’ expulsion letters on the instructions of Omo-Agege. Their offence was that they opposed Omo-Agege’s position to recruit Emefiele to contest the presidential election against you.”

The Delta APC leaders said that Omo-Agege told Delta delegates to cast their ballots against Tinubu on the eve of the APC convention because he believed Tinubu had no chance of defeating their ‘anointed’ candidate.

Almost every delegate was informed of Omo-Agege’s position, they claimed, “but as God would have it, the former Lagos governor won the primary convincingly.”

Additionally, the Delta APC leaders claimed that Omo-Agege backed the opposition Labour Party rather than the APC before the general elections.

“Mr President, we enclose herewith posters and videos of Omo-Agege and Labour Party candidate, Mr Peter Obi, posing ahead of the election to the fact that he and his group never worked for you. We cannot continue this way in Delta. We, therefore, call on you to ask Omo-Agege to free the state APC of his stranglehold so it can breathe freely.”

Morka, the national publicity secretary for the APC, however, called the accusations against Omo-Agege baseless.

 “I am sure you that’s not the real Delta APC. Those guys are Cairo Ojougboh-sponsored organisation,” he said.