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Ganduje appoints Aminu Ado Bayero as 15th Emir of Kano

Nneoma BENSON
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Ganduje appoints Aminu Ado Bayero as 15th Emir of Kano

KANO State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje has approved the appointment of Aminu Ado Bayero as the 15th Emir of Kano few hours after Muhammad Sanusi was dethroned.

The Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Usman Alhaji disclosed this on Monday saying that his appointment was in line with the provision of Kano State Emirate Council Law 2019.

He explained that Section 11 (1) of the Law  empowers the governor to appointment Aminu Ado Bayero son of late Emir Abdullahi Ado Bayero as the new Emir of Kano.”

Prior to his appointment, three prospective candidates were  nominated for the position of which Bayero emerged as top on the list.

It will be recalled that Sanusi who was until Monday morning was the 14th Emir of Kano before he was dethroned by Ganduje over disrespect to the office of the governor and other government agencies.

The SSG noted that Sanusi was in total disrespect to lawful instructions from the Office of the State Governor and other lawful authorities, including his persistent refusal to attend official meetings and programmes organized by the government without any lawful justification which amount to total insubordination.

Until his elevation as Emir of Kano, Bayero was the Emir of Bichi, one of the four newly created emirates, and a Mass Communication degree holder from Bayero University, Kano.

He was also a former Danmajen Kano, Dan Buran, Sarkin Dawakin Tsakar Gida and Wamban Kano, and was later appointed emir of Bichi after the creation of Karaye, Gaya, Rano and Bichi Emirates by the present administration.

Amid tight security, dethroned Sanusi allegedly arrested, exiled to Nasarawa

Abeeb ALAWIYE
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Amid tight security, dethroned Sanusi allegedly arrested, exiled to Nasarawa

FOLLOWING his dethronement as the Emir of Kano , Muhammadu Sanusi II has been reportedly whisked  away from the commercial city of Kano amid tight security.

According to The Nation report,  the security operatives who allegedly took him away from the palace were heading to Nasarawa State where Sanusi will spend the rest of his life in asylum.

It will be recalled that Sanusi was earlier removed today after a special sitting of the Kano Executive Council chaired by Abdullahi Ganduje, Governor of the state, over disrespect to the office of the governor and other government agencies.

Reports had it that before he was taken away, the deposed Emir was said to have been put under house arrest by  heavy security personnel of DSS, police and military.

Governor  Ganduje, who  presided over an emergency Executive Council Meeting, has announced son of late Emir Ado Bayero, Aminu Ado Bayero as the 15th Emir of Kano after nomination of three prospective candidates for the throne by the Kano Emirate Kingmakers.

Meanwhile,  former senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly,  Shehu Sani, while reacting to the dethronement of Sanusi saying, people behind his removal were being intoxicated by power.

Sani said the Northern Elders Forum had waded into the misunderstanding between the deposed Emir and the Kano State Governor but failed to make the two parties reach a truce.

“The removal of Emir Sanusi represents the incompatibility of the crown and conscience, the consequences of dissent against established norms and the heavy price of holding principles in our north. It also revealed the intolerance and toxicity of the liquor of power,” he tweeted.

 

Ganduje dethrones Sanusi as Emir of Kano over insubordination

Abeeb ALAWIYE
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Ganduje dethrones Sanusi as Emir of Kano over insubordination

THE Kano State Government has announced the sacking of the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, who it said was dethroned over disrespect to the office of the governor and other government agencies.

The decision was announced by the Secretary to the State government Usman Alhaji, at a special sitting of the Kano Executive Council chaired by Abdullahi Ganduje, Governor of the state.

Alhaji said Sanusi’s removal was with immediate effect, even as he said that a new emir will be announced in due course.

The Director-General, Media and Communications, Kano State Government, Salihu Yakasai, also confirmed the report on his official twitter page.

The SSG at the meeting said the Emir has consistently refused to abide by instructions given to him by the state government.

Alhaji said the Emir of Kano is in total disrespect to lawful instructions from the Office of the State Governor and other lawful authorities, including his persistent refusal to attend official meetings and programmes organized by the government without any lawful justification which amount to total insubordination.

“It is on record and in so many instances Malam Muhammad Saunsi II has been found breaching part 3 section 13 (a-e) of the Kano State Emirate Law 2019 and which it left unchecked will destroy the good and established image of the Kano Emirate,” the SSG said.

“This removal is made after due consultation with the relevant stakeholders and in compliance with part 3 section 13 of the Kano State Emirate Law 2019 and other reasons stated above.”

He said the removal was reached in order to safeguard the sanctity, culture, tradition, religion and prestige of the Kano Emirate built over a thousand years.

Sanusi ascended the throne in 2014, after the death of his grand-uncle, Abdullahi Ado Bayero who was the last emir of Kano. His grandfather Muhammadu Sanusi I reigned from 1953 to 1963, when he was deposed by Premier Ahmadu Bello. His father Aminu Sanusi was Ciroma of Kano.

Prior to his accession, Sanusi was an economist and banker. He served as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria from 2009 to 2014, when he was suspended by former president Goodluck Jonathan after raising the alarm on the $20billion alleged to be missing.

Crude oil price plunges 47 percent below Nigeria’s $57 per barrel benchmark

Paul Owolabi
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International crude oil price on Monday plunged to $30,  a 47 per cent decline against the $57 benchmark for the  2020 budget. Reuters reported that Brent, against which Nigeria’s crude is priced, fell by $11.62 to $33.45 Monday morning.

The budget signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari in December 2019 was based on oil production of 2.18 million barrels per day with an oil price benchmark of $57 per barrel.

Demand has been at its lowest as the coronavirus outbreak hit fuel demand in China.

A continuous fall in the international oil price has a negative effect on the external reserves of a country.

The federal government revealed on the March 4 that it plans to review the 2020 budget due to the effects of the coronavirus outbreak.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Thursday revealed a plan under which it would cut its production by one million barrels per day for the rest of the year.

Saudi Arabia reported that it slashed its official selling prices and made plans to ramp up crude output in April.

“The prognosis for the oil market is even direr than in November 2014, when such a price war last started, as it comes to a head with the significant collapse in oil demand due to the coronavirus,” Goldman Sachs said.

According to Bloomberg, oil prices have suffered massive drops each time that Saudi Arabia launched a price war to drive competitors out of the market.

It earlier dropped to $31.02, it’s lowest since February 12, 2016.

Over 100 countries have reported laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19—WHO

Ihuoma ILO
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Over 100 countries have reported laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19—WHO

THE World Health Organisation (WHO) says 100countries have now reported laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the outbreak of the disease in Wuhan Province of China in January.

In its situation report on COVID-19 issued on Sunday, the WHO said eight new countries/territories/areas including Bulgaria, Costa Rica,Faroe Islands, French Guiana, Maldives, Malta, Martinique, and Republic of Moldova have reported cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

Globally, it said a total of 105 586 cases have been confirmed, 3656 of the cases were new while China with 80 859confirmed remains the epicentre of the disease, 46 were new cases. China also has recorded 3100deaths with 27 of them report as new cases.

The WHO has issued a consolidated package of existing preparedness and response guidance for countries to enable them to slow and stop COVID-19 transmission and save lives.

WHO is urging all countries to prepare for the potential arrival of COVID-19 by readying emergency response systems; increasing capacity to detect and care for patients; ensuring hospitals have the space, supplies and necessary personnel; and developing life-saving medical interventions.

Nigeria confirms second case of Covid-19

Abeeb ALAWIYE
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Nigeria confirms second case of Covid-19
BARELY two weeks after confirming its first case of Covid-19 also known as corona virus, the Federal Government of Nigeria has confirmed the second outbreak of the virus in the country.
The Federal Ministry of Health early hours of Monday announced on its official Twitter page that Nigeria has confirmed its second case of COVID-19. The announcement was supported by a series of tweet by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
 
The NCDC said the second case is a contact of the index case in Ogun State.
The new case has been in isolation and was tested as part of our strategy to test all contacts of the index case, the NCDC said.
Meanwhile in a press briefing on Monday, Minister of Health, Osagie  Ehanire confirmed the second case of the virus noting that it was not a new importation.
“I repeat that the newly confirmed case in Nigeria is not a new importation, but a contact of the Index case, who has since been in isolation and was under clinical follow up,” Ehanire said.
“He presently does not have any clinical symptoms, is comfortable and in care at Infectious Disease Hospital, Lagos.”

The Minister disclosed that contact tracing and monitoring in respect of the coronavirus index case presently receiving treatment in Lagos, has been diligently and conscientiously pursued since 27 February when the case was first diagnosed.

“As you know, 40 persons in Ogun and 20 in Lagos are under isolation and have remained free of any symptoms since,” he said.

“Nevertheless, the Federal Ministry of Health, following best practice, decided to test these persons for possible presence of coronavirus in their systems. On 8th March 2020, scientists confirmed the presence of coronavirus in one of the contacts.”

“It is my duty therefore to announce a new case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria The newly confirmed case is an Ogun State contact of the index case, but he has no significant clinical symptoms. This brings the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Nigeria today to two.”

He explained that since beginning of the outbreak in China and subsequent spread to other countries, one of the important response strategies at the containment stage, has been to identify all contacts, ensure their strict isolation and to follow up daily with checks for any symptoms of the disease.

“Following recent experience from other countries and evidence from newly published studies on non-symptomatic infections, the Nigeria Center for Disease Control NCDC, advised that samples should be taken from all contacts of the Index case for testing,” the Minister said.

“It is in this process that this new case was detected.”

Ehanire further stated that all other contacts of the index case in Ogun and Lagos will remain in isolation while testing will be carried out on those not yet tested, including some in other states.

Speaking on the case reported in the US of Nigerian origin, he said:  “We are in touch with colleagues at the US Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and here in Abuja.”

“The case visited Lagos in February 2020. However, given the timelines between the time he was in Nigeria briefly and when he became ill, the likelihood that he was infected in Lagos is very low.”

He reiterated that the Federal Ministry of Health, and Lagos and Ogun States Health ministries have assured citizens of government’s commitment to do all needed to control spread of the outbreak.

According to him, the National Emergency Operations Centres (EOC) in Abuja has continued to work closely with Lagos and Ogun State EOCs to coordinate response activities since the first case was confirmed in Nigeria on 27th of February 2020.

Amotekun recruitment will be state-based as South West govs unveil plan to set up committees for recruitment, training

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
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Amotekun recruitment will be state-based as South West govs unveil plan to set up committees for recruitment, training

AS State Governors prepare to append their signatures on the legal and operational frameworks of the Western Nigeria Security Network, otherwise known as Amotekun Corps, there are clear indications that recruitments would be state-based rather than as a regional unit.

Also, the participating state governors have commenced the process to inaugurate committees in each of the states that would be responsible for recruitment and trainings.

“The law has been passed and governors will sign. After this there will be implementation committees across the states of the region. The implementation committees will determine when to start recruitments and the modalities for the recruitment,” State Assembly lawmaker, told Punch with optimism on the governor’s assent.

It could be recalled that the formation of Amotekun Corps was as a result of lingering insecurity in the country, particularly in the South West region.

It is an initiative developed by governors from the South West States meant to secure the region, and as well compliment efforts of the Nigerian Police.

Though, initially rejected by Abubakar Malami, Attorney-General of the Federation, the security outfit was subsequently approved after the concerned governors met with Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the Vice President.

Meanwhile, among the six participating states, five state assemblies in the region, such as Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Ekiti and Osun, already have passed the Amotekun bill into law on Tuesday.

The Ekiti State House of Assembly had on February 14 passed its bill into law.

“For the umpteenth time, the Amotekun Corps is not an independent regional outfit but a complementary effort by the governors of the South-West to engender unity, peace and security,” Mr Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), the Ondo state governor said after signing the bill.

However, Lagos State Government pledged to also pass the law as soon as the returned bill is well assessed by the governor, Babajide Sanwoolu.

Gbenga Omotosho, Lagos State Commissioner for Information also gave assurance on the bills passage soonest.

“It (the bill) has not been signed into law. It is like an executive bill that went to the Assembly and it has come back, so the governor will have to look at it to see if anything was changed or added before he will sign. I do not know whether the recruitment forms are going to be printed or when that will be done, all I know is that with the speed it is going now it may not be too far.”

Power should move to Southeast, not Southwest in 2023 – Edwin Clark

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
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Power should move to Southeast, not Southwest in 2023 – Edwin Clark

EDWIN Clark, a former Minister of Information has  asked the people of Southwest geo-political zone to bury the thoughts of ruling the country in 2023, saying that the Southeast deserves the presidency in the next political dispensation.

Clark, who is also a Niger Delta elder statesman questioned antecedents of Bola Tinubu, the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC),and asked him and those fronting for him for the 2023 presidency to forget the idea.

Rather, he called on Nigerians to jettison the discrimination against the Igbo tribe noting that the Southeast people are part of the entity called Nigeria.

He disclosed this in an interview published by Punch on Sunday, stressing that, “The mere fact that we fought a war does not make an Igbo man a second class citizen.”

Describing the late Nnamdi Azikwe as greatest politician in the nation, Clark, who is also the Chairman of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum insisted that Nigeria does not belong to a particular tribe but everyone.

“Power should move to the South-East and not South-West. Those who are talking about South-West, is it because Senator Bola Tinubu wants to become the President of Nigeria? Why? What are his credentials?,he queried.

Meanwhile, Clark cited the instance of France and Germany which were rivals but later became best of friends, after the Second World War.

He said there are notable people in the Southeast, aside from the former governor, Peter Obi who contested with Atiku Abubakar during the 2019 election.

“Can you say Obi cannot rule this country? There are many Obis in the East. Forget about governors and parliamentarians. I am always having meeting with Ohanaeze and Afenifere, and Middle Belt. The President of Ohaeneze today, Dr. John Nwodo, can rule this country. He has the qualities. So I do not know why some people will be discriminating against their fellow Nigerians.

“Who says Nigeria belongs to you alone? I have to congratulate El-Rufai for saying that the next President of Nigeria should come from the South and we the Southerners believe it should go to the Southeast,” he said.

It could be recalled that last month, Nasir El-rufai, Governor of Kaduna State also made a similar argument, when he pushed for the next President to emerge from the southern part of the country but he was not specific on the exact region in the south.

But the Arewa Youth Forum also blamed El-rufai for his utterance stressing that it was for a self-fish reason as the governor was working towards becoming the next Vice President.

Meanwhile, a former governor of Kaduna State, Balarabe Musa, had also canvassed that the next president should be from the Southeast for the sake of justice and equity.

“El-Rufai said the Presidency should go to the South right? I’m also saying the presidency should go to the Southeast for the sake of justice, peace, and equality,” the former Kaduna State governor stated.

 

 

Coronavirus: China quarantine facility collapse kills 10

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
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Coronavirus: China quarantine facility collapse kills 10

AT least ten people when an hotel used as a coronavirus quarantine facility in eastern China collapsed, authorities said Sunday, with 23 others still feared trapped in the rubble.

Rescuers pulled 48 people from the wreckage, of whom 38 are still alive, the Ministry of Emergency Management said on social media.

The building in the coastal city of Quanzhou had been repurposed to house people who recently had contact with patients confirmed with COVID-19, the state-run People’s Daily newspaper reported.

The city has recorded 47 cases of the virus.

Video posted online by the ministry’s firefighting department showed rescuers helping children don surgical masks before pulling them from the remains of the six-storey Xinjia hotel.

A 12-year-old boy told rescuers his mother was still buried in the rubble.

“She was next to me just now,” he said in the video. His mother was rescued alive hours later, according to the ministry.

Another video released by the ministry showed rescuers squirting water from a bottle into the mouth of a trapped man.

Rescuers were also seen spraying disinfectant on each other as part of “strict decontamination” measures between shifts.

 Collapsed in seconds

Footage published by local media appears to show the hotel collapsing in seconds, with the building’s facade crumbling to the ground, exposing the structure’s steel frame.

Besides the 48 people pulled out of the wreckage, nine others escaped on their own, the ministry said.

The first floor had been undergoing renovation since before the Lunar New Year holiday, and construction workers called the hotel’s owner minutes before the collapse to report a deformed pillar, authorities said.

The collapsed building’s first floor had been undergoing renovation since before China’s Lunar New Year holiday

The owner has been summoned by police while investigators work to determine whether the renovation or an original structural issue was at fault, according to the ministry.

Fifty-eight people who had recently been in regions hard hit by COVID-19 were being quarantined in the hotel but all had tested negative for the virus, local newspaper Quanzhou Evening News reported Sunday.

More than 800 rescuers and 750 medical staff were deployed for the rescue effort along with 20 ambulances, the ministry said.

China’s National Health Commission said it was sending to Quanzhou 18 medical experts from the nearby cities of Fuzhou and Xiamen.

Building collapses and other deadly construction accidents have typically been blamed on the country’s rapid economic growth, which has led to corner-cutting by builders and the flouting of safety rules.

At least 20 people died in 2016 when a series of crudely-constructed multi-storey buildings packed with migrant workers collapsed in the eastern city of Wenzhou.

Another 10 were killed last year in Shanghai after the collapse of a commercial building during renovations.

AFP

FG demands full lists of Buhari’s cabinet members, ex-governors receiving double pays, pensions from SERAP

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
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FG demands full lists of Buhari’s cabinet members, ex-governors receiving double pays, pensions from SERAP

 

THE Socio-Economic Rights Accountability Project (SERAP), a Non-Governmental Organisation on Sunday says the Federal Government has called for the list of former governors and President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet members receiving double take-home and life pensions.

It stated that the decision was to ‘promptly comply with the judgment’ of Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo which directed the government to question the legality of states’ pensioning laws.

The court also directed that such benefits received from the state’s coffer should be recovered back to the state purse.

Aside from being in the Senate, some of the former governors had spent eight years as state administrators while few others are currently serving as cabinet members in the current administration.

“@NigeriaGov has requested the full list of ex-govs & ministers receiving double pay & life pensions so that it can “promptly comply with the judgment” of Justice Oguntoyinbo directing it to challenge the legality of states’ pension laws & recover public funds collected,” the group tweeted.

It stated further that the organisation already sent the list to the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami, urging the minister to further probe those accused in the list and identify others.

Some of those accused in the controversial list include, “Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano); Kabiru Gaya (Kano); Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom); Theodore Orji (Abia); Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa); Sam Egwu (Ebonyi); Shaaba Lafiagi (Kwara); Joshua Dariye (Plateau), and Jonah Jang (Plateau). Others include Ahmed Sani Yarima (Zamfara); Danjuma Goje (Gombe); Bukar Abba Ibrahim (Yobe); Adamu Aliero (Kebbi); and George Akume (Benue).”

But the NGO identified  Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works and Housing,  Kayode Fayemi, former Minister of Mines and Steel Development, and Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation among former governors who denied ever receiving double payments and benefits from the state.

SERAP emphasised that those former governors have either collected or still receiving double benefits through formulated state laws, an issue it requested the Federal Government to intervene, and possibly put to a halt.

“We’ve sent the list to AGF Malami, and asked him to carry out a further probe to fish out more ex-governors collecting double pay & life pensions.

“We said, Nigerians cannot wait for you to take legal action to scrap states’ pension laws and fully recover the public funds collected.”

It could be recalled that SERAP through suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/19/2020 had earlier approached the court to seek an order of mandamus to direct or compel the 36 state governors to publish names and number of former governors and their officials who received pensions and total amounts received between 1999 and 2019 including those who had served or currently serving in the National Assembly.

In a previous Freedom of Information request sent to the state governors, which later prompted the suit, only Ifeanyi Okowa, the Delta State Governor and Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, former Kwara state governor responded. Okowa had directed the State Head of Service to make the request available but still kept secret, according to SERAP.

“The question that comes to mind is: who should approach the Court where a particular law is not in the best interest of Nigeria as a country or National interest? Who should approach the Court where a particular law is detrimental to the interest of the country? Who should institute actions in court for the purpose of recovering public funds collected?” Justice Oguntoyinbo questioned prior to her ruling on the matter.

“In my humble view, the Attorney General should be interested in the legality or validity of any law in Nigeria and how such laws affect or will affect Nigerians, being the Chief Law Officer of the Federation.”

The ICIR, however, contacted Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity to react on the matter and confirm the list, as few of Buhari’s cabinet members were allegedly indicted, but he simply referred the reporter to the AGF.

“Please read their story. They cited the Attorney General. Ask,” Shehu’s message read.

But, he was further asked on the implication of the controversial list on Buhari’s drive to ending corruption, no response was given at the time of filing this report.

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