THEChief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Godwin Irabor has disclosed that over 83,000 insurgents have surrendered to the Nigerian Army through the Operation Safe Corridor program.
Irabor explained that through consistent and effective air interdictions along with well coordinated clearance operations on identified strongholds of the insurgents, troops have continued to inflict heavy casualties on the terrorists and their leaders.
The army chief made the disclosure during the fifth Stakeholders’ Meeting of Operation Safe Corridor (OPSC), on Thursday in Abuja.
He was represented at the meeting by the Chief of Defence Training and Operation, Maj. Gen. Adeyemi Yekini.
The OPSC was established by President Muhuammadu Buhari in September 2015, as a window for willing and repentant terrorists to lay down their arms and undergo a structured Deradicalization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DRR) programme.
Irabor said, the Nigerian Army had significantly degraded the insurgents and restricted them to a small portion of Sambisa Forest and isolated Islands on the Lake Chad.
“These sustained operations continue to put pressure and confusion within the ranks of the adversary causing many to surrender to the armed forces.
“As at today, over 83,000 insurgents and their family members have surrendered, while those captured have been tried and convicted to various jail terms by the law courts,” he said.
The CDS disclosed that the military has been adopting kinetic and non-kinetic methods to win the war against insurgency.
He also disclosed that low risk repentant terrorists will be transferred to their various state governments for reintegration into the society.
Irabor advised that the receiving state governments should provide necessary support to enable the repentant terrorists wade through the transitional and most challenging phase of their lives.
“We are optimistic that working closely with local and traditional authorities, the states can deploy security apparatus at their disposal to effectively track and evaluate the reintegrated ex combatants,” he added.
Borno State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Zuwaira Gambo, said the state had received the largest chunk of the repentant terrorists since the programme started.
JOS, NIGERIA— Built by the administration of the first Military Governor of the old Benue-Plateau State, the late Joseph Gomwalk, Jos Main Market, popularly known as Terminus Market prided itself as the largest indoor market in West Africa.
Located in the heart of Jos, the state capital, it was a huge economic loss when in 2002, the market was razed by fire whose cause could not be ascertained to date.
On May 20, 2014, a twin bomb blast rocked the market vicinity, killing hundreds of people, while parts of the market were also razed in November 2016.
On July 21, 2018, a midnight fire again razed over 200 shops erected on the rubbles of the earlier burnt market.
Since the various fire disasters, successive administrations have not been able to rebuild the market while victims have been counting their losses and calling on the government at all levels to come to their aid and restore back their source of livelihood.
Twenty years after, the market is yet to be rebuilt despite over ₦1.13 billion budgetary allocation by the Plateau state government.
Muhammed Aliyu lost over ₦3 million to the fire outbreak that occurred at the Jos Main Market in 2002.
Lamenting the unfortunate incident, Aliyu said: “Till now, we do not know the cause of the fire outbreak. All of us that had stores could not recover any of our goods. Some of my friends relocated to other states while some who could not get funds to restart their businesses had to stop, and others started to hawk on a small scale.”
Aliyu, who took a loan to restart his business, currently runs a fabric store at “Abuja Market”, a small market located a few meters away from the burnt market, which has become a den of drug addicts and perpetrators of various social vices.
“Once it is past 6 pm and you pass around the market, you will likely be robbed,” a hawker who declined to mention her name said.
Inside the demolished Jos main market facility where several social vices are carried out.
In 2019 the incumbent governor of the state, Simon Lalong, budgeted ₦1.1 billion for the “Demolition/Evacuation/Consultancy/Commencement of the building of the Jos Main Market”. An additional sum of ₦30 million was captured in the Plateau State 2020 appropriation bill for the same purpose, making a total of ₦1.31 billion.
Sub-Contractor Paid ₦162million Out Of ₦1.13billion
In 2019, a South African company, Mamco Wreckers Consortium was contracted to demolish the market, which was executed by the contractor, Kyle Perkin, the Explosives Engineer, Demolition Division at Wreckers Dismantling, Cape Town- a demolition company that specialises in implosions and also a sub-contractor to Mamco Wreckers Consortium (the principal contractor).
Perkin told this reporter that, “after the successful implosion of the former market, we returned back to South Africa, as our scope of work had been completed. We were not involved in the clearance or the intended rebuilding. Our role was purely to implode the structure, leaving the clearance of the debris for the principal contractor.”
He also disclosed that “as for the money disbursed to the principal contractor, we have no insight on this. However, our contract value was $450,000 (₦162 million) at the time (the exchange rate in 2019 was ₦360), for the execution of the controlled implosion. We have been unable to reach Mamco Wreckers Consortium for further comments on the overall value of the contract”.
When concerns were raised regarding the high cost of the demolition, governor Lalong told State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja in 2019 that the budgeted “₦1.1 billion was not (only) for demolition but for other aspects of the contract including technical, consultancy and the commencement of the rebuilding of that market.”
Jaiz Bank and Jos Main Market Controversy
Three years later, the rebuilding process is yet to commence at the time of filing this report and the government has disclosed that it intends to sign a ₦9.4 billion agreement with Jaiz Bank to rebuild the market.
“They (referring to the state government) demolished the market in 2019, they also put a temporal fence around it, and we thought they were going to start the rebuilding process immediately but they did not. The fence has been removed and criminals have been using the abandoned building to perpetrate all sorts of crimes,” Aliyu said.
He also alleged that building materials within the market complex were sold by government officials but the government had since denied this allegation.
Despite several calls and WhatsApp messages, Idris Gambo, the state’s Commissioner for Commerce and Industry has declined to comment on the actual contract value that was disbursed as well as what the value captured.
“Who told you that the budget covered rebuilding? Provide the evidence,” Gambo charged at this reporter via phone call. When the evidence of the state governor’s interview was provided to him via WhatsApp as requested, the commissioner did not respond to any other follow-up from this reporter.
According to Sabo Adamu, the general secretary of the Plateau state traders and marketers association, “we (the traders) had previously engaged the state government on rebuilding the market ourselves but they were unenthusiastic towards the idea, until some weeks ago when they called to inform us that they were partnering with Jaiz Bank to rebuild the market.”
Adamu claimed that the association if allowed, was willing to rebuild the market in such a way that ethnic and religious disagreements will not arise. “Traders built the ‘’Abuja Market’’ (another market located in the same area as the Jos Main Market), and it is running up till today,” he added.
Displaced traders displaying their products beside the Jos Main Market.
Recently, a leaked document revealed that the Plateau state government intends to sign an MoU with Jaiz Bank for a joint venture partnership to build 4,231 shops at the Jos Main Market.
According to the document, the state government will provide the 7.4 hectares of land where the market is located as its equity contribution, while Jaiz Bank will provide financing for the construction of shops worth over ₦9.4 billion to be constructed by BUNYAN Construction Company Limited. The market will be leased to the bank for a period of 40 years to recover its cost and profit.
Since the document became public, indigenous and religious groups in the state have kicked against the partnership due to the history of religious tension in the state.
THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has unveiled its national situation room and collation centre for the 2023 presidential election.
This was contained in a statement released on Thursday, January 5 and signed by the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye.
According to the statement, the collation of presidential election results would again take place at the International Conference Centre (ICC) in Abuja.
The Commission also established a committee for the collation secretariat where presidential election results from the states will be collated and presided by the Chairman of the Commission, Mahmood Yakubu.
“The second is the Situation Room and Collation Centre Committee, which shall be responsible for the preparation of the venue, seating arrangement, utilities and services, security, the accreditation of party agents, and the national and international observers, media,” the statement added.
The committee members are May Agbamuche-Mbu (Chairperson), Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, Festus Okoye and other 13 persons as inaugurated by the chairman of the commission.
THE Independent National Electoral Commission would begin distribution of permanent voters cards at the registration areas/wards level on Friday.
This was disclosed in a statement on Thursday by the spokesperson of the commission, Festus Okoye.
According to the statement, the development followed the meeting of Administrative Secretaries and Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) from the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory in November.
Part of the statement read, “At the retreat, the Commission finalised the procedure as well as the timetable for collection of PVCs and consequently the collection of PVCs commenced in all the 774 Local Government Offices of the Commission throughout the Federation.
“The Commission also resolved to devolve PVC collection to the 8,809 Registration Areas/Wards from Friday 6th to Sunday 15th January 2023.”
“The devolution of PVC collection to the wards commences tomorrow 6th January 2023, and all validly registered voters who are yet to collect their PVCs are encouraged to seize the opportunity of the devolution to the wards to do so.
“After the 15th of January 2023, the exercise will revert to the Local Government Offices of the Commission until 22nd January 2023. All eligible and valid registrants can collect their PVCs from 9.00am to 3.00pm daily, including Saturdays and Sundays.
“All those that applied for replacement of lost, damaged, or defaced PVCs can collect their PVCs at the Registration Area/wards during this period and the same thing applies to those that registered prior to the 2019 general election and are yet to collect their cards.
“The PVCs of those that applied for transfer are available for collection in the Local Governments and Registration Areas where they intend to vote and not in the State or Local Government where they carried out the transfer.
The Commission stated that it’s working to ensure that the process is simple and hitch-free for Nigerian.
THE Edo State government says it has apprehended three persons and impounded their cars for driving against traffic laws in the Benin metropolis.
The Edo State Public Works Volunteers Coordinator, Mukhtar Yusuf-Osagie, made this known on Thursday, January 5 while briefing journalists in Benin city on recent developments in the unit.
According to Yusuf-Osagie, the drivers had been arraigned before a mobile court and would be prosecuted in accordance with the state’s extant laws, noting that the new arrest raised the number of persons apprehended to seven since the kick-off of the exercise in December.
He said, “Officials of PUWOV have apprehended three more motorists in the Benin metropolis for driving against traffic (one-way). The vehicles included a gold-coloured Toyota Camry, and two Mitsubishi buses, cream and ash colour, with registration numbers BEN 12 ZZ and RSH 514 XN respectively.
“The vehicles have been impounded, while the drivers have been arraigned before a mobile court and will be duly prosecuted according to the state’s extant laws.”
According to him, it is strictly prohibited to drive against the flow of traffic, and extremely dangerous as it could lead to serious accidents and deaths.
He assured the public of the government’s commitment to restore sanity and order on roads in the Benin metropolis, stating that the government had put mechanisms in place to ensure that such recalcitrant drivers are apprehended and made to face the full wrath of the law.”
Yusuf-Osagie, therefore, urged the Edo state drivers to pay attention to road signs and signals.
“Members of the public can record motorists disregarding traffic regulations on our roads and send a video of the recording to the WhatsApp number 08132030846. Let’s all work together to make our roads a safer place for everyone,” he added.
ONDO State government has declared a 24-hour curfew in Ikare-Akoko, one of the biggest towns in the state.
The government gave the order at the State Security Council meeting chaired by Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.
A statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Richard Olatunde, on Thursday December 5 warned people of the community to comply with the directive.
According to the statement, the order followed the escalated violent clash in the town since Tuesday, “which has continued unabated, despite the meeting held by government and the Olukare of Ikare, Oba Akadiri Momoh, and Owa Ale of Iyometa, Oba Adeleke Adegbite l, to rein in their subjects.”
The government directed security agencies to ensure strict compliance with the order.
It noted that investigations were on to unravel the cause(s) of the violent clash.
“For emphasis, Ikare Akoko has been closed down to any unauthorised human movement and activity until further notice.”
The ICIR reports that Ikare-Akoko is the headquarters of Akoko North-East Local Government Area of Ondo State and a major commercial hub.
The community has two rival monarchs who claim the town’s kingship.
In 2022, Governor Akeredolu upgraded scores of monarchs across the state to different grades.
The promotion elevated Owa Ale of Iyometa to a first-class monarch, equalling the status of his rival, Oba Akadiri Momoh, in the town.
An impeccable source briefed The ICIR that indigenes loyal to both kings have since mongered war through different means.
On Tuesday, January 3, some youths in the town organised a carnival to celebrate the New Year.
Gunmen suspected to be supporters of either king stormed the venue and shot sporadically, forcing people in the area to scamper for safety.
The source said the ensuing melee led to the destruction of property and vehicles plying the town’s highway.
The source said the crisis over kingship in the town had spanned several decades from the warring kings’ forefathers.
The source explained that both kings were classmates at Victory College in the town and were friends.
Besides, they attended European universities before returning home to mount the throne.
The source bemoaned the crisis and described it as unfortunate.
“Ikare used to be a commercial hub. People from different parts of Nigeria usually came to trade at the town’s market. But you don’t have that anymore. As I speak with you, a three-bedroom flat in Ikare is about N60,000, while in the neighbouring town, Akungba, which has a university, a self-contained room goes for N120,000,” narrated the source.
The ICIR reports that the dualisation of the Akungba-Akoko Road by the Ondo State government has boosted the town’s commercial activities.
This newspaper also reports that the curfew will not only affect the town’s residents and its economic activities, but will also negatively impact travellers from the North to the Southwest who use the road as a better alternative to the dilapidated Lokoja-Okenne-Ibillo Road.
Ikare-Akoko is one of the five biggest towns in Ondo State. Others are Ondo, Akure, the state capital; Owo and Okitipupa. Ore and Ile-Oluji are also among the rapidly-developing communities in the state because of sprawling economic activities.
THE Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has banned cash withdrawals from accounts belonging to state and local governments, as well as to ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
The ban also covers state and local governments.
This, according to the NFIU boss, Moddibo Tukur, is to curb the rate at which monies are withdrawn from public accounts in total disregard to the money laundering laws, and to also reduce corruption in public sectors.
Tukur, disclosing this while addressing journalists in Abuja on Thursday, January 5, added that the cashless policy would take effect from March 1, 2023.
According to the NFIU, any government official that withdrew cash from public accounts would be risking investigation from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, and the Nigeria Police Force, in collaboration with the NFIU.
He stressed that the decision was taken to accelerate the full transition of Nigeria into a cashless economy, which the Central Bank of Nigeria has been leading.
Tukur explained that only President Muhammadu Buhari had the power to grant waiver on the policy to any official.
He said, “For government exigencies, only the President has the power to grant any waiver to any government official, considering the importance of the situation, either for national security, health, or other important reasons.”
He added that the NFIU had instructed the banks and government agencies at all levels to move fully online, as all transactions would be made through the banks for the purpose of accountability and transparency.
According to him, the rate of withdrawals above the threshold from public accounts had been alarming, noting that over N701 billion had been withdrawn in cash by the state governments from 2015 till date.
The NFIU boss stressed that within the same period, the Federal government withdrew N225 billion in cash, while the local governments withdrew a total of N156 billion in cash.
“The NFIU had told banks and government agencies at all levels to go fully digital by moving online, as all transactions involving public money must be routed through the banks for the purpose of accountability and transparency.
“This is not reversible as we are only enforcing the law. As far as we are concerned, Nigeria will become a full non-cash economy by March 1, 2023 this year. As a consequence, any government official that withdraws even one naira cash from any public account from March 1 will be investigated and prosecuted in collaboration with relevant agencies like the EFCC, ICPC and NPF,” he added.
MEMBERS of the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP) of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), Abeokuta, have protested the non-payment of their three months’ salaries, among other grievances.
The protest, which took place in the school premises on Thursday, January 5, left other members of the polytechnic community stranded as various entrances to the institution were blocked by the aggrieved protesters.
Armed with different placards, the protesters called on the Ogun State government to come to their rescue.
They demanded a take-over of the institution by the state government, following the failure of the management of the school to meet up with its mandate.
Some of the inscriptions on the placards read, ‘Enough of suffering and smiling’, ‘Implementation of minimum wage’ and ‘Pay our pension deduction.’
Addressing journalists, the chairman of the MAPOLY chapter of SSANIP, Dada Olalekan, lamented the manner the school was being administered, describing it as “mismanagement.”
While also lamenting their unpaid promotion arrears, Olalekan pleaded with the state government to take over the school as it was done in other states so that the workers’ welfare would be adequately taken care of.
He said, “The management of MAPOLY is owing us three months salary from October 2022. All other institutions and government agencies are collecting the minimum wage, but MAPOLY has refused to implement the minimum wage.
“The management is owing us 55 months pension arrears. As I speak, nobody has a pension future here. If anybody retires tomorrow, there’s no future or pension for that person.
“The last promotion that was done in MAPOLY was in 2019; 2020 to 2022 promotions are still in arrears. Appointment promotion has not been done since 2019, while colleagues in other institutions have overtaken us because of promotion and appointment.
“The government should take account of MAPOLY and start to pay us as it is being done in all other states, like Oyo State.”
His counterpart in NASU, Kolawole Sapade, said MAPOLY was being run like a private institution where the only source of revenue are the school fees.
“The salary we are talking about now, if we collect it, there is no assurance that we will collect another salary in three months based on the JAMB and NBTE quota they gave to us.
“If we enroll students now with the limited quota they gave to us, and the limited school fees they are going to pay, there is no means of survival after March or April. That is why we are calling on government to come to our aid,” Sapade said.
The school’s spokesperson, Yemi Ajibola, could not be reached as several calls and text messages to his phone were not answered.
A political economist, Pat Utomi, believes the local currency may soon exchange above N,1000 to a dollar if the Federal government does not take “dramatic” action on Nigeria’s fiscal and economic policies.
Utomi said Federal government’s excessive borrowing from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), against what the law says and violating the Fiscal Responsibility Act, cannot but affect the exchange rate.
“If you continue to generate or create money without creating value, the consequence is inflation and exchange rate will be collapsing, and will just multiply,” he said in a programme monitored on Channels Television on Wednesday, January 4.
Nigeria’s inflation rate at the end of November 2022 was 21.47 per cent. At the official window of the foreign exchange market, one dollar exchanged for N450.03 on Wednesday January 4, 2023, while it went for over N700 at the parallel market.
The ICIR had reported that the wide gap between the official and the parallel market rates had served as a trigger of economic distress for both the public and private sectors.
Utomi said unless some tougher economic decisions are taken, excessive borrowing by the Federal government would spell doom for the economy.
“If we don’t do something dramatic, the effect of this 2023 budget is that the exchange rate will go past N1,000 to a dollar. That is the direct effect of this budget, and you are going to see inflation probably go up to 50 per cent if some new dramatic changes are not made,” the economist said.
Utomi, describing the budget as “weak”, argued it would lead to loss of jobs, inflation, and unimaginable economic hardship.
He described the economic policies of the President Muhamnadu Buhari administration as “not people-friendly” and “not economic growth- oriented.”
He blamed leadership at the centre and “dysfunctional” state governors for Nigeria’s economic woes, and suggested that one of the ways forward would be for the Federal government to “fix” the civil service.
NIGERIA’S petroleum subsidy payments and government’s borrowings to fund budget deficits would see President Muhammadu Buhari leave a huge debt of N77 trillion for the incoming administration in May 2023.
The Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Patience Oniha, gave this information on Wednesday, January 4 during a public presentation on the 2023 budget.
Oniha, on the sidelines of the presentation, told journalists that if the National Assembly (NASS) approved the ‘securitisation’ of the ₦22.7 trillion Ways and Means debt secured from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the cost of servicing the loan would significantly reduce.
She mentioned issuance of promissory notes as another component that had spiked Nigeria’s debt stock.
The Director-General explained the debt had been growing because of new borrowings, although revenue generation, she pointed out, had been receiving significant attention.
“Like DMO always says, you can’t talk about debt without talking about revenue. We need the two to work together,” she said.
Oniha noted that the total debt stock would be made up of ₦44.06 trillion by the third quarter of 2022; ₦22.7 trillion Ways and Means borrowed from the CBN; projected new borrowings of ₦10.57 captured in the 2023 budget; and issuance of promissory notes.
In a similar submission at the budget breakdown yesterday, the Finance minister, Zainab Ahmed, said the Federal government spent N5.24 trillion on debt servicing alone between January and November 2022, out of its N12.87 trillion total spending for the same period.
According to her, domestic debts gulped N2.51 trillion, foreign debts N1.08 trillion, and interest on Ways and Means, N1.64 trillion.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on Tuesday January 3 requested the National Assembly to reconsider its position on his request to pay an outstanding N22.7 trillion to the CBN borrowed through Ways and Means.
