Author: Farouk Abbas

THE Director of Communications and Liaison Department, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Abuja, Dr. Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad has affirmed that since the assumption of the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Zacch Adedeji, Ph.D, to office, has followed keenly his enunciation of his principles of taxation, which, to my mind, can translate to a pathway to Nigeria’s economic growth. He said Adedeji’s principles of taxation embody some of the normative principles of taxation which are certainty, flexibility, equity, simplicity, and utmost good faith. “At every given forum, Adedeji does not fail to reify his wholesome principles of…

THE Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, on Monday, affirmed Usman Ododo as the Governor of Kogi State. In upholding the election of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the tribunal dismissed the petition of Muritala Ajaka of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The three-member tribunal led by Justice Ado Birnin-Kudu held that the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its governorship candidate, Murtala Ajaka failed to prove their allegations against the respondents. Birnin-Kudu said the election was conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act . The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had announced Ododo, the candidate of…

JuSTICE Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja, has fixed May 29 for the trial of the detained leader of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Bello Bodejo. The court fixed the date after dismissing the application for bail of the accused person. At the last adjourned date, the case was fixed for ruling and commencement of trial of Bodejo but his absence in court stalled the trial from going ahead. Shortly after the court fixed the date for trial, his counsel, Ahmed Raji, said his client is ready for trial. He said since the court has ordered expeditious…

THE National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, has threatened to file a defamation suit against the deputy governor of Kano State, Aminu Gwarzo. The Deputy Governor had alleged that the NSA facilitated the return of the dethroned Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, by providing him with two private jets. Although Ribadu has since denied the allegation, he is threatening to sue the deputy governor if he fails to retract the claim. In a letter to the Deputy Governor from Aliyu & Musa Chambers, counsel to Ribadu, the NSA demanded an apology from the deputy governor which must be tendered within…

HUNDREDS of activists, on Saturday, stormed the streets of Lagos to protest alleged underground moves by some desperate opposition figures in Kogi State as well as other perceived political enemies to unleash terror on the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, using the platform of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The activists, who addressed a press conference and also staged a huge rally, condemned calls by a group called Zero Corruption Agenda in collaboration with another group, Kogites United Against Corruption, for the EFCC to ignore court orders guaranteing Bello’s fundamental human rights and effect an arrest…

TOP security Chiefs in Kano are currently meeting with Governor Abba Yusuf and Emir Muhammadu Sanusi. The meeting comes amid the royal tussle which has sparked tension across the state. The New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) controlled House of Assembly had repealed Kano Emirates Council law which ex-Governor Abdullahi Ganduje used to dethrone Sanusi. Yusuf had assented to the law on Thursday and ordered the Emirs affected by it to vacate palaces within 48 hours. While four of the Emirs complied, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero returned to Kano and moved into the palace at Nassarawa. Irked by the development, Yusuf…

AGAIN, scores of Anti-Corruption Civil Society Organisations have kicked against what they described as the perceived use of the platform of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission by politicians to fight their political battles. They said this during an emergency Press conference on Friday, in reaction to a joint press conference by “a civil society organisation and a group, which called itself Kogites United Against Corruption Coalition.” The frontline CSOs, led by the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, wondered why a few Nigerians were not seeing the persecution in the current case against the former Governor of Kogi…

THE Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered an interim forfeiture of the sums of $4,719,054, N830,875,611, and several properties linked to a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele. Justice Yellim Bogoro gave the order on Thursday, May 23, 2024, following an ex-parte application by counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Bilkisu Buhari. After listening to the EFCC Counsel, Justice Bogoro in her ruling said: “I have listened to the submission of the applicant’s counsel and also perused the motion just moved, together with the affidavit in support. “I find…

A FEDERAL High Court in Kano on Thursday issued an ex-parte order preventing Governor Abba Yusuf from reinstating Khalifa Muhammadu Sanusi II as Emir of Kano. In a suit brought before the Presiding Judge, Justice A.M Liman by Alhaji Aminu Bappa Dan Agundi ( Sarkin Dawaki Babba), on Thursday the Court averred that the implementation and the operation of the Kano State Emirate Council (Repeal) Law, 2024 (1445 A.H) be suspended. Justice Liman ordered that “ An order of Interim Injunction of this honourable Court suspending not giving effect to, not implementing the Operation of the Kano State Emirate Council…

A FORMER Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika; his brother, Ahmad Sirika; and a firm, Enginos Nigeria Limited, have been arraigned on a fresh ten-count charge before Justice Suleman Belgore of the the FCT High Court sitting in Garki, Abuja In the new charge, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission accused Sirika, his brother, and Enginos of a N19.4 billion airport contract fraud. At the reading of the charge to the defendants, they all pleaded not guilty. The fresh 10-count charges read: COUNT 1 That you HADI ABUBAKAR SIRIKA, while being the Minister of Aviation, on or about 18 August, 2022,…

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…