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Independence: #RevolutionNow marches against bad governance In Calabar

Editorial
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Independence: #RevolutionNow marches against bad governance In Calabar

NIGERIANS took the streets of Calabar, the Cross River State capital on Thursday, braving initial dares from law enforcement officials to protest against what anti-people policies of government as the country celebrated 60th independence anniversary.

Marching under the auspices of the #RevolutionNow movement convened by SaharaReporters founder, Omoyele Sowore, they took turns in sensitizing the public on the need to ask public office holders more questions to ensure accountability.

Bearing placards with different inscriptions such as “Reverse The Hike,” “End The Killings,” “End Corruption” amongst others, they marched through large residential areas from the Ikot Ishie market via the Murtala Muhammed highway to Essien town, terminating near the state command of the Nigerian Police.

#RevolutionNow protesters

They chanted songs calling for an end to what they said was a reign of impunity and insensitivity especially with the recent hike in electricity tariff and pump price of premium motor spirit, popularly referred to as fuel.

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At the Ikot Ishie market, officials of the Nigerian Police and the Nigerian Security Defense Corps were seen threatening to halt the protest as a permit was not issued.

However, after a few minutes of disagreement with the protesters educating them of the dire consequences of halting a peaceful assembly, they were allowed to go on.

Buhari violates PenCom Act in nominating DG from different geopolitical zone, says Senator Abaribe

Lukman ABOLADE
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Buhari violates PenCom Act in nominating DG from different geopolitical zone, says Senator Abaribe

NIGERIAN President, Muhammadu Buhari has violated the establishment Act of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) by nominating a Director-General of the Commission from a different geopolitical zone.

On Wednesday, during the Senate plenary, a letter from the President was read seeking the National Assembly’s approval for the appointment of Aisha Umar as the DG of the Commission.

The President’s letter to the Senate created a raucous situation in the Assembly as some senators kicked against it.

Enyinnaya Abaribe, the Senate Minority Leader, kicked against the president’s nomination arguing that Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, the former Director-General is from the South-East while Aisha Umar who is being nominated for the position is from the North East.

Part five of the Pencom establishment Act confirms the Abaribe’s argument that section 21 (2) of the National Pension Commission Act 2014 was violated by the President in the nomination.

The former Director-General of the commission,

The Act reads that “In the event of a vacancy, the President shall appoint a replacement from the geopolitical zone of the immediate past member that vacated office to complete the remaining tenure.”

According to Abaribe, the succeeding DG of the Commission should come from South-East

“It is against the law setting up the National Pension Commission and the Federal Character Commission,” he noted noted

However,  Ahmad Lawan, the Senate President, rejected Abaribe’s Point of Order and observation saying “That is for me to interpret because I interpret the laws here. If there is any petition to that effect it should be sent to the committee.”

Fact-checking attacks on Zulum and the misleading video in circulation

Samad UTHMAN
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Fact-checking attacks on Zulum and the misleading video in circulation

A TWITTER user @von_Bismack uploaded a video clip of a tense atmosphere, showing a face-off between two parties where some men are seen running out of the scene while cars move violently. Three of the men were seen with cameras while gunfire sound and wisp of smoke which rented the air are seen in the 23-seconds video clip. 

However,  the poster claimed with the video clip that Babagana Zulum, Borno State governor, was under attack by Boko Haram insurgents. He stated that the governor is being ambushed for the third time.

The clip, which has been viewed by 9,171 Twitter users was liked by 133 users and retweeted 122 times before it was deleted.

He wrote “Breaking: Zulum, governor of Borno comes under attack again by Boko Haram. 3rd time now. Some people want Zulum dead”

In less than 2 hours, another Twitter user with over 9,000 followers, @UMHmanga___, quoted and rebutted the claim on the ground that the incident in the video was not in Maiduguri and “this is not even Nigeria”

Then we chose to fact-check.

CLAIMS

1- That Babgana Zulum has been attacked three times by the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents

2- That the attached video is not about Maiduguri  

Findings on claim 1

On July 29, Boko Haram operatives launched the first attack on Zulum together with his convoy while on his way to distribute food relief to IDPs in Baga. Though the attack was repelled by security operatives in the governor’s convoy, there were casualties on the side of his entourage.

Baga town was displaced by the Boko Haram insurgents 21 months ago, with most of the residents taking refuge in Monguno and Maiduguri.

On Friday the 25th of September, the governor’s convoy was again attacked between Monguno and Baga areas of the state which left about 30 persons dead. 

The Governor was in Baga between Friday and Sunday to supervise preparations for safe resettlements of Internally Displaced Persons at the commercial town which used to be strategic to Boko Haram’s commercial operations.

Zulum said the resettlement became necessary since feeding the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have become financially unsustainable.

However, for the third time, on Sunday morning, 27th of September, while returning to Maiduguri, Governor Zulum’s convoy was again attacked.  

According to media reports, no one in the convoy was injured as security operatives deftly repelled the attack. Governor Zulum plied the Maiduguri-Baga route along with other government officials in charge of the resettlement of internally displaced persons.

Verdict: 

The above findings adjudge the claim. It is TRUE that Babagana Zulum has been ambushed 3 times.  

2- Findings on claim 2

If the attached video is not about Maiduguri. So where does it come from?

The ICIR conducted a deep search and realised that multiple Twitter accounts posted the same video on Twitter with captions about the attack on Governor Zulum. One of it is the popular GIDITraffic @Gidi_Traffic, an information hub with over 1.7 million followers on twitter. 

The video posted by GIDITraffic, as at 12:29 am on Tuesday, September 29th has been viewed by over twenty thousand users, gathering 356 retweets 

The ICIR, again, subjected video keyframes from the attached viral video to multiple reverse image search engines. 

Google reverse image provided 4 results within 0.77 seconds. One of these results led to a Facebook post by King Fazul, a political page in Kenya, where the same video was posted on 18th January 2020 with a caption detailing an attack on Kenyans by state armed forces

“Is this what we pay our forces to do?? Instead of fighting terror attacks in Garissa County, they are wasting their time fighting with innocent Kenyan people, Shame on you Mr above,”  the caption reads.

Further checks led The ICIR to a Youtube video uploaded by one Othaya GlobalNews to explain how leaders were tear-gassed in Mumias.

Mumias is a town in Kakamega County of Kenya. The town has an urban population of 116,358. Mumias was the centre of the Mumias District. The town is linked by road to Kakamega, Busia, Bungoma, Butere. 

On that same day, KTN News, a media platform under The Standard group, publisher of The Standard Newspaper, one of Kenya’s largest newspapers and the oldest newspaper in the country, posted the same video on its youtube channel in a report that lasted for three minutes and forty seconds.

The report detailed how security operatives dispersed the crowd that gathered for the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) meeting in Mumias town at Bukhungu stadium, Kagamenga county.

BBI is an initiative conceived by President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader, Raila Odinga, in March 2018, to mark an end to months of post-election violence in the country.

A critical look at the number plate of one of the cars, as seen in the video, does not also conform in any way with Nigerian’s vehicle number plate. It is of a black inscribed text on a white plate/background while Nigerian is known for a white background with the Nigerian map in green and letters and numbers in blue. 

Verdict: 

While it is TRUE that Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno state, has been ambushed three times by the Boko Haram insurgents, intensive checks by The ICIR shows that the video attached to the post is from Mumias, Kenya.

The report was produced during the 2020 Dubawa Fellowship attended by the reporter. 

PWDS, poor Nigerians most affected by corruption in Nigeria – Albino foundation

Editorial
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PWDS, poor Nigerians most affected by corruption in Nigeria – Albino foundation

JAKE Ekpelle, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Albino Foundation, has revealed that People With Disabilities (PWDs) and poor Nigerians are the worst affected by corruption in government ministries, departments and agencies 

Ekpelle made the statement while reacting to a report that indicted the Ministry of  Women Affairs and Social Development  for spending a whooping N275 million on non-existing Rehabilitation Institute for Persons With Disabilities during a radio program, PUBLIC CONSCIENCE produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development (PRIMORG).

According to him, there are many people in government who are completely taking advantage of the poor and making them poorer on a daily basis.

“Most downtrodden suffer the impact of corruption orchestrated by public office holders, these individuals corner these resources, put it in the foreign bank account or at home and in most cases, they bury it or give it to their children who lavish it.”

He frowned at the corruption allegations against the Women Affairs and Social Development Ministry and other government agencies whose corrupt acts are affecting the wellbeing of PWDs, urging the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) to ensure the current report gets to President Muhammadu Buhari’s table.

While highlighting the challenges faced by PWDs in Nigeria, Ekpelle said their challenges are multifaceted, adding that the challenges are both spiritual and political.

“Some churches and mosques discriminate when it comes to PWDs. Few years ago, the Jehovah Witness wrote that persons with albinism were a mistake from God and I wrote to them but there was no response. There are social and political implications for persons with physical disabilities but our campaign is focused on all issues.

“Nigeria is still struggling to present the National Albinism policy report. I have gone round to several ministries begging for people with Albinism to be included in the budget so that the work plan can be carried out and it’s been done two times but reversed,” he lamented.

He stressed that the reason why citizens do not believe in public office holders is due to a lack of accountability.

While lauding the effort of PRIMORG in exposing corruption and corrupt government officials without fear or favour through their radio programs, he, however, lamented that several civil society organisations have been compromised.

Earlier in the program, an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Yekeen Akinwale said officials at the Women Affairs and Social Development Ministry made investigation totally difficult.

According to Akinwale, “It is very worrisome that when this kind of corruption report is out, the government who should take action are playing ignorant. The EFCC, ICPC and the Bureau of Public Procurement who have seen these infractions haven’t taken action yet.”

In recommendation, he said: “one area I think the government should focus on is to discourage the idea of budget splitting which is a violation of procurement act.

“If you look at the case we are talking about, the same project was in the budget between 2013 to 2019. it is seen as a deliberate ploy on the side of those deciding the budget to continue to make it happen as if it is a new project and new name so they keep having the money,” Akinwale said.

The syndicated radio program is produced by PRIMORG with the support from the MACARTHUR FOUNDATION

Governments from 1999 to 2015 presided over the near destruction Nigeria – Buhari

Olayinka SHEHU
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Governments from 1999 to 2015 presided over the near destruction Nigeria – Buhari

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has taken a swipe at his predecessors, saying that no government in the past did what he is doing “with such scarce resources.”

Buhari said this during his nationwide broadcast to commemorate the country’s independence anniversary.

The President in his address specifically called out the previous governments from 1999 – 2015, saying they presided over the near destruction of the country.

The governments mention in charge of the country during the address were those of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, late Umar Yar’Adua and former President Goodluck Jonathan.

“No government in the past did what we are doing with such scarce resources. We have managed to keep things going in spite of the disproportionate spending on security,” Buhari said.

“Those in the previous Governments from 1999 – 2015 who presided over the near destruction of the country have now the impudence to attempt to criticize our efforts.”

“In the circumstances, a responsible government must face realities and take tough decisions.”

Buhari’s statement is coming 18-days after Olusegun Obasanjo, former Nigeria’s former President said he has never seen Nigeria so divided.

Obasanjo had said only self-deluded people would claim that all is well in Nigeria, stating that Nigeria’s problems were due to the recent mismanagement of the country’s diversity.

He also stated that the country was slowly becoming a failed state and economically insecure.

“I do appreciate that you all feel sad and embarrassed as most of us feel as Nigerians with the situation we find ourselves in,” Obasanjo said.

“Today, Nigeria is fast drifting to a failed and badly divided state; economically our country is becoming a basket case and poverty capital of the world, and socially, we are firming up as an unwholesome and insecure country.”

“And these manifestations are the products of recent mismanagement of diversity and socio-economic development of our country. Old fault lines that were disappearing have opened up in greater fissures and with drums of hatred, disintegration, and separation and accompanying choruses being heard loud and clear almost everywhere.”

Buhari admits Nigeria’s economy is in crisis

Olayinka SHEHU
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Buhari admits Nigeria’s economy is in crisis

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has admitted that Nigeria’s economy under his administration is in crisis, but however, stated that the situation is the same with every economy of the world.

The President stated this in his nationwide broadcast to mark the nation’s 60th independence anniversary.

He also admitted that the country is plagued by security challenges.

Nigeria is currently facing a worsening security situation precipitated by criminal activities of group likes Boko Haram, armed herders, bandits, kidnappers, and also the ranging Southern Kaduna crisis.

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“Today, I am aware that our economy along with every single economy in the world is in crisis. We still face security challenges in parts of the country, while our society suffers from a high loss of moral rectitude which is driven by unbridled craving for political control,” the President said.

“An underlying cause of most of the problems we have faced as a nation is our consistent harping on artificially contrived fault-lines that we have harboured and allowed unnecessarily to fester.”

President Buhari further noted that institutions such as civil service, police, the judiciary, the military  had all suffered from a general decline.

He said the country “needs to begin a sincere process of national healing, and noting that ” this anniversary presents a genuine opportunity to eliminate old and outworn perceptions that are always put to test in the lie they always are.”

“The stereotype of thinking of ourselves as coming from one part of the country before seeing ourselves as Nigerians is a key starting point to project us on the road to our deserved nation’s evolution and integration.”

Independence Day: Buhari says it makes no sense for oil to be cheaper in Nigeria than in Saudi Arabia

Lukman ABOLADE
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Independence Day: Buhari says it makes no sense for oil to be cheaper in Nigeria than in Saudi Arabia

AS Nigeria celebrates her 60th Independence Anniversary, President, Muhammadu Buhari says makes no sense for Premium Motor Spirits (PMS) otherwise known as petrol to be cheaper in Nigeria than in Saudi Arabia.

Buhari said this during his nationwide broadcast to commemorate the country’s independence from the British.

“Petroleum prices in Nigeria are to be adjusted. We sell now at N161 per litre. A comparison with our neighbours will illustrate the point,” the President.

“Chad which is an oil-producing country charges N362 per litre, Niger, also an oil-producing country sells 1 litre at N346, in Ghana, another oil-producing country, the petroleum pump price is N326 per litre.”

“Further afield, Egypt charges N211 per litre. Saudi Arabia charges N168 per litre. It makes no sense for oil to be cheaper in Nigeria than in Saudi Arabia,”  he added.

He noted that sustaining the level of petroleum prices in Nigeria is no longer possible stating that his government, since coming into office has recognized the economic argument for adjusting the price of petroleum.

Buhari stated that the government has also suffered a 60 per cent reduction in revenue occasioned by the drop in oil prices and reduced economic activities due to Coronavirus pandemic.

“In addition to public health challenges of working to contain the spread of the Coronavirus, we have suffered a significant drop in our foreign exchange earnings and internal revenues due to a 40 per cent drop in oil prices and a steep drop in economic activities, leading to a 60 per cent drop in government revenue,” the president stated.

The President reiterated his commitment to protecting lives and properties of citizens and residents of the country urging Nigerians to provide community-level intelligence to the government.

“As a government, we remain committed to our constitutional oath of securing the lives and properties of the citizenry. I, however, call on the citizenry to also support the government by providing the necessary community-level intelligence in addressing these challenges,” he further noted.

Buhari urged Nigerians to work together with the government by focusing on ways to resolve the identified ‘critical challenges’ of the country.

According to the President, the critical challenges include evolving and sustaining a democratic culture that leaves power in the hands of the people, supporting the enthronement of the rule of law, demanding accountability of elected representatives and contributing to good governance, increasing our commitment to peaceful co-existence in a peaceful, secure and united Nigeria.

He also highlighted harnessing and optimizing our tremendous human and natural resources to attain our goal of being in the top twenty economies of the world and in the process, lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years, strengthening institutions to make them stronger in protecting National Interests and imbibing tolerance in diversity as part of the critical challenges.

COVID-19: Abdulrasaq announces date for reopening of Kwara schools

Editorial
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COVID-19: Abdulrasaq announces date for reopening of Kwara schools

By Abiodun JAMIU

THE Kwara State Government has announced October 5 for the reopening of publicf primary and secondary schools in the state.

It furthered directed that tertiary institutions in the state can reopen from October 12 in accordance with the decision of their respective management

Harriet Afolabi-Oshatimehin, Kwara State Commissioner for Information disclosed this in a statement oon Wednesday after a meeting by government representatives with stakeholders in the state’s education sector.

“With various training held for teachers on how to protect themselves and students from the COVID-19 infection, improved manpower in monitoring and case tracings, and appreciable guarantee of some protection for the children, the government hereby directs the reopening of elementary schools from October 5,” Afolabi-Oshatimehin said.

“Similarly, state-owned tertiary institutions are to reopen from October 12 or as may be determined by their respective governance structures.”

The ICIR had earlier reported how staggered preparation by the state government marred the reopening of schools for preparing for their final exams

The Commissioner who cautioned against complacency while dealing with the pandemic urged the school authorities to ensure that safety measures put in place are strictly adhered to by the students.

“COVID-19 is still with us. The government, therefore, urges school authorities to ensure that all safety protocols are adhered to, including physical distance, use of face masks, and constant washing of hands with soap and water, in order to flatten the curve of transmission of the virus.

“The government similarly wishes our students and teacher a safe stay in school while promising to continue to do its best to keep the citizens safe at all times. Schools with scanty regards for safety protocols risk being shut.”

ASUU faults Ngige’s comments on strike, says he is misinforming Nigerians

Vincent Ufuoma
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ASUU faults Ngige’s comments on strike, says he is misinforming Nigerians

THE Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has faulted claims by Chris Ngige, Minister for Labour and Employment, that the Federal Government has scheduled a meeting to resolve the strike the union has embarked on since March.

Ngige had claimed on Tuesday when he appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today, that the ministries of Finance, Education, Labour and Employment, and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation would meet with ASUU to resolve the disagreement on Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

He noted that ASUU has invited the Federal Government to examine its University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), a software the union has developed in replacement for the government’s IPPIS.

“The issue of ASUU will soon come to an end for two reasons – ASUU has called the Federal Government, to be represented by finance and the office of the accountant-general and the education ministry to come for the test,” Ngige had said.

“We are ready to do that. After the Independence Day celebration, the four ministries and agencies involved will gather together with ASUU. We will look at the UTAS. If there are shortcomings with IPPIS as complained which UTAS has corrected. What’s wrong about it? It is software, we will look at it.

“Secondly, ASUU members have been collecting their money since COVID-19 came and I wrote a memo to Mr President that ASUU members are still Nigerians. Even the members have families that they care for. By upper week, we are going to arrange for this demonstration.”

But Olusiji Sowande,  Lagos Zonal Coordinator of ASUU in a statement seen by The ICIR on Wednesday, said the Minister was misinforming Nigerians on the strike.

He stated that not only that the Minister’s statement was untrue, but the Ministry of Labour and Employment that the Minister supervises also has not acknowledged the letter the union wrote to it on UTAS over a month ago.

“The Minister informed the public that a meeting has been scheduled next week (after independent celebration) for our Union to demonstrate the efficacy of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) software developed by our Union to the stakeholders at the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education and Minister of Labour and Employment to watch as arbiter,” he said.

“The general public should please note that our Union, over a month ago, had written the MoL&E of our readiness to demonstrate the efficacy and superiority of UTAS over IPPIS and that as at the time of this press release no acknowledgement of receipt of our letter or letter of invitation for meeting has been received by our Union.”

Olasuyi who chided the Minister for narrowing down the strike embarked by the union to the IPPIS added that “other issues in contention for which our Union is currently on total, comprehensive and indefinite strike include failure of the government to fully implement the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement and February 2019 Memorandum of Action with timelines for release of funds for the revitalization of dilapidated infrastructure in public Universities, payment of outstanding Earned Academic Allowances, conclusion of the renegotiation of 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement, setting up of Visitation Panels to Federal Universities and proliferation of State Universities.”

Contrary to the claim by the Minister that the Federal Government has been paying members of the union since the strike, Olasuyi said the government has only paid the salaries of some of its members till June while some of their members have not been paid since February.

“Dr. Chris Ngige was also economical with the truth by misinforming the public that government has been paying the salaries of members of our Union to date. The correct position is that government only paid our salaries up to June 2020.

“As of today our members are been owed three (3) months salaries while in some Universities our members have not received salary for six (6) month. In addition, government through the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation have criminally withheld five months (February-June, 2020) Check-Off deducted from our members salaries.

“We are therefore surprised that MoL&E could go on air to present information which he has not verified as truth to the unsuspecting public. The ongoing total, comprehensive and indefinite strike action by our Union will continue if this propaganda and lies against ASUU persists.
The general public and well-meaning Nigerians should prevail on government to do the needful in ending the current strike action.”

ASUU has been on strike over alleged shortcomings of IPPIS and the failure of the federal government to honour its 2019 agreement, among other matters since March this year.

FEC approves proposed N13.08trn budget for 2021

Amos ABBA
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FEC approves proposed N13.08trn budget for 2021

THE Federal Executive Council, FEC on Wednesday approved a proposed budget estimate of N13.08 trillion for the 2021 fiscal year.

The fiscal document was approved at a meeting of the council which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, disclosed this at State House at the end of the meeting, stating the budget proposal was based on N379 per dollar exchange rate, an oil benchmark of $40 barrel per day and oil production volume of 1.86 million per day.

She said that N2.083 trillion was earmarked as capital expenditure, which was about 29 percent of the aggregate budget size, while inflation is expected to be 11.95 percent.

Other indices projected to tune the 2021 Budget include oil production at 1.86 million barrels per day, including 400,000 barrels of condensate.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth target at 3 percent inflation target at 11.95 percent, while there will be a deficit of N4. 48 trillion.

The budget assumes oil production at 1.9 million barrels per day (bpd). Oil prices have recovered from a 20-year low of just under $16 per barrel hit in March.

Zainab was accompanied by Clement Agba, Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba, the Minister for Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed and Ben Akabueze, Director-General of the Budget Office,  Ben Akabueze at the end of the virtual FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chambers, Presidential Villa, Abuja.

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