Author: Farouk Abbas

THE Defence Headquarters, on Wednesday, urged the Katsina State Governor, Umar Dikko Radda, to come forward and substantiate his allegations against the military. According to the military high command, Radda, while featuring on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television on April 5, 2024, accused the military of aiding and profiting from terrorism in his state. Reacting in a statement on Wednesday, the Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Buba Edward, said the military would not trade words with the governor but would encourage him to approach the military high command to substantiate his allegations. Edward said, “The attention of…

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed all existing Bureau De Change Operators to re-apply for licences. The apex bank gave the directive in a circular issued by its Director of Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Haruna Mustafa, on Wednesday. The BDCs were also required to meet the capital requirements for their licence category within six months. “All existing BDCs and promoters of proposed BDCs are to note the following: Re-apply for a new license according to any of the Tiers or license category of their choice as provided in the Guidelines,” CBN said. The bank also made some…

THE House of Representatives Tuesday passed for a second reading, a bill seeking to amend the Code of Conduct and Tribunal Act to remove spouses of public officers from the list of persons required to declare their assets. Sponsor of the bill, Olawale Raji, while leading the debate stated that the bill seeks to amend Sections 15(1c) and 23(7) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act. This, he said, is to ensure proper accountability of assets and liabilities of the officer, his/her spouse as well as unmarried children under the age of 21.  Rep Raji stated that the…

A TWO-YEAR-OLD child was among the 12 persons rescued from kidnappers’ den by the combined team of security men in Kwara State on Monday. Eleven market women, who went to trade at Oke-Ode Market in the Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State last Wednesday, were waylaid and abducted around Oyi Bridge in Yaaru-Olayinka village by some kidnappers. The traders, according to sources, were from Offa, Yaaru in Kwara State and Ikirun in Osun State. A spokesperson for the Kwara State Police Command, Ejire-Adeyemi Toun, on Tuesday, said that 12 persons including a two-year-old child were rescued by the security…

THE Nigerian Army has broken its silence on the shutting down of Banex Plaza in Abuja. The plaza has been under lock and key since hoodlums attacked some soldiers un uniform on Saturday. The soldiers who accompanied a complainant to the plaza were assaulted by a mob which broke into groups. Although the police waded in to restore normalcy, soldiers later stormed the venue in vans and laid siege to the place. In a statement on Tuesday, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, Army spokesman, said the plaza was temporarily shut so as to take time to fish out the hoodlums behind…

THE National Union of Electricity Employees, and the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies, on Monday, stopped business activities at the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Power in Abuja. Members of NUEE and SSAEAC also locked out the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, and other workers of the ministry, stopping accessing the Power House building in the Maitama District of Abuja. This was as the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress, on Monday, gave the Federal Government a deadline of May 31, 2024 to reverse the hike in electricity tariff. The unions took the decision at…

THE organised labour comprising of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress, on Monday, ordered state chapters to issue two weeks ultimatum to states that have failed to implement the old N30,000 minimum wage. The NLC and TUC took this decision during a jointly held National Executive Council meeting which took place on Monday. “NEC-in-session further directed all state councils whose state governments are yet to fully implement the N30,00 national minimum wage and its consequential adjustments to issue immediately a joint two-week ultimatum to the culpable state governments to avert industrial action,” NLC’s National President, Joe Ajaero; and…

Slams Opposition For Alleged Desperation KOGI indigenes and concerned Nigerians gathered under the banner of the “Alliance For Emancipation and True Change” to stage a peaceful protest in the United Kingdom, calling on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and ensure the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) remains impartial and free from political interference. They raised concerns that the Commission, with the handling of the corruption allegations against the former Governor of Kogi State, had given the impression of political persecution to Nigerians and the international community. During the protest, held in London on May 20, 2024, the demonstrators stressed…

THE Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has bemoaned the neglect in the remuneration of judicial officers for close to 17 years, a situation he asserted as antithetical to any meaningful judicial reform. He stated this on Monday during a one-day public hearing bordering on the advancement of the welfare of the judiciary and the need to salvage an impoverished judiciary. Fagbemi and the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, had appeared before the Senate committee on Judiciary, human rights and legal matters for the commencement of hearing on a bill for an Act, to prescribe…

FORMER president Goodluck Jonathan has called for a truce in the Rivers State political crisis, asking Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor Nyesom Wike to work together. Jonathan made the call on Monday during the flag-off of the Trans-Kalabari Road in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, describing the political tension in Rivers State as worrisome. “Outgoing governors and incoming governors must know that they work together for the collective interest of the citizens of the state and that is critical,” he said. “In the case of Rivers, Honourable Minister Nyesom Wike and Governor Sim Fubara must work together to develop the…

BANEX Plaza, an electronics and telecommunications gadget market in Abuja, is still under lock and key, Daily Trust can report. Our correspondent who visited the market on Monday morning found soldiers across the plaza. Some traders who assembled at a distance from the plaza were seen leaving after waiting for hours. None of them agreed to speak with our correspondents but they were heard lamenting the cost implication of having the plaza shut on a major day like Monday. Trouble started when thugs beat up some soldiers who had a minor disagreement with a trader in the plaza. The trader…

BANDITS in the early hours of Sunday abducted five people from Shagari Quarters, Dei-Dei in the FCT. Vigilante sources in the community told this newspaper yesterday that the attackers arrived in the area around noon and went straight to the compound of a senior customs officer, where they picked his wife, three of his children and a younger brother. “They spent more than two hours before proceeding to neighbouring Dakwa community. “The man used to work in Abuja, he is no longer around following his deployment to Lagos, though his family is still living in the compound,” the source added.…

THE Federal Capital Territory Police Command has deployed intelligence officers to Banex – an electronics and telecommunications gadgets market, in Abuja following a conflict that ensued between soldiers and some traders on Saturday. A viral video seen by our correspondent on X on Saturday showed a multitude of civilians overpowering some soldiers during a free-for-all fight at Banex. The Defence Headquarters, and the spokesperson for the Nigerian Army, Onyema Nwachukwu could not be reached for comments as of press time. Meanwhile, a trader who simply identified himself as Abdul, told our correspondent on Saturday that the conflict ensued over the…

KWARA State Police Command has arrested five health workers over alleged mysterious disappearance of umbilical cord and placenta of a newly born baby in Oke-Ero local government area. It was gathered that the incident happened at the cottage hospital in Iloffa last Sunday. The suspects, this newspaper gathered, who are currently being detained in Ilorin after interrogation on Thursday include one Dr Ajibola, nurses Rukayat Adeloye, Aishat Awolusi, Peace Alabi and Toyin Adewunmi, a ward attendant. Sources said it took efforts from elders of Odo-Owa community to prevent the restive youths from torching the hospital over the incident. Speaking on…

JUSTICE Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court Abuja, has refused to grant bail to an Executive of Binance Holdings Limited, Tigran Gambaryan. Justice Nwite held that Gambaryan is likely to jump bail if bail is granted to him. The company and its executive were arraigned on a five-count charge bordering on money laundering before Emeka Nwite, judge of a federal high court in Abuja. The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge. Moving an application, Counsel to the Defendant, Mark Mordi, argued that the court had the power to grant bail to the defendant and impose conditions to ensure…

WIFE of Kogi State Governor, Hajia Sefinat Usman Ododo has enjoined parents in the state to instil sustainable environmental practices and climate change awareness in their children. The Wife of the Kogi state governor made the call in a message to commemorate the 2024 International Day of Families in the state. Hajia Sefinat who harped on the importance of the family in shaping habits pointed out that the family institution could be empowered to drive the campaign against pollution, indiscriminate waste disposal, and increase tree planting and recycling of waste products. The First Lady decried the huge devastation that has…

IN furtherance to the ongoing rescue operation and to sustain the onslaught against insecurity, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, has announced the rescue of an additional seven abducted students of the Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH), Osara, Kogi State. A statement by the Commissioner of Police, Kogi State Police Command, SP William Aya, on Thursday, said the development brings the total of rescued students to 21. Describing how its team rescued the students from their abductors, he said it deployed the air component of police security apparatus made up of a helicopter crew specially trained for…

SENATOR Magnus Abe on Wednesday said he worked hard to bring former Rivers State Governor and President Bola Tinubu together. In the build-up to the 2023 general elections, Abe dumped the All Progressives Congress (APC) after losing the Rivers State governorship primary to Tonye Cole. He pitched his tent with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) where he later emerged as the party’s flagbearer but eventually lost to the incumbent governor, Siminalayi Fubara of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Having returned to the APC after the 2023 election, Abe credited himself for the good working relationship Wike enjoys with Tinubu. “I…

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Wednesday, arraigned a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele for approving the printing of N684.5m notes at the rate of N18.96bn. Emefiele was arraigned before Justice MaryAnn Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory High court on four counts. He pleaded not guilty to the four counts when it was read to him. Moving his application for bail, his counsel, Mahmud Magaji, asked the court to grant him bail on self recognition and on the same grounds and conditions of bail already granted him by a sister court…

A FEDERAL High Court in Kano has granted an ex-parte order halting the proceedings of the two commissions of enquiry set up by the Kano state government to probe the administration of the state’s immediate past governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. Recall that Kano state governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf last month inaugurated two judicial commissions of inquiry into cases of misappropriation of public property, political violence and missing persons between 2015 and 2023 when Ganduje, now the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), governed the state. The commissions, headed by Justices Zuwaira Yusuf and Faruk Lawan, have since commenced…