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Corruption: AGF Recommends More Judges For Investigation

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Corruption: AGF Recommends More Judges For Investigation

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The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has submitted the names of more judges to the Department of State Services, DSS, for investigation.

They included two Chief Judges of High Courts, three judges of different divisions of the Federal High Court, and a Justice of the Court of Appeal.

Reports say there had been several allegations against the judges and petitions had been written against them to the National Judicial Council, NJC between 2014 and 2016.

One of the petitions by Chairman of Civil Society Network Against Corruption, CSNAC, Olanrewaju Suraju, against a Federal High Court judge was dated May 12, 2016.

Another petition, dated February 26, 2016, and signed by Suraju, was titled ‘‘Request for investigation of contravention of the Code of Conduct by Judicial Officers.’’

Also in another petition, dated April 20, 2016, sent to the NJC against a Justice of the Court of Appeal and others, who served on an election petitions appeal panel this year, accused the panel of receiving N8m from a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

According to a report by DAILY TRUST newspaper, sources say there was no excuse for the NJC not to have investigated the myriads of petitions so far written against the judges, since it was the only body constitutionally empowered to probe judges in Nigeria.

“Undoubtedly, if this type of deliberate inattentiveness; lethargy and benign neglect and dereliction of responsibility by the NJC is allowed to persist in an administration that came to power under the mantle of change, it will surely lead to the death knell of the judicial branch of government, which centrality the maintenance of law, order, rule of law and social harmony cannot be overemphasized.

“It is unfortunate that despite the preachment of the administration on the need for the judicial officers to be above board, we still have some of them that have stubbornly refused to change from their old ways,” the source was quoted as saying.

The DSS had arrested seven judges last weekend, adding that 8 others are still under investigation, bringing the total number to 15.

Large sums of money in local and foreign currencies were reportedly recovered from three of the arrested judges during the operations that lasted between Friday night and the early hours of Saturday.

Reacting to the arrests that has generated so much controversy, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, warned that “nobody, no matter highly placed would be spared in the current administration’s fight against corruption in the country.”

According to him, nobody is exempted from being investigated, not even the President, Vice President, Governors and their deputies who are covered by the immunity clause under section 308 of the 1999 constitution.

“The bottom line is that we have a responsibility to fight corruption. Corruption is a crime and nobody regardless of how highly placed is exempted as far as issues that border on crimes and criminalities are concerned.

Malami argued that even the constitution does not take away the right to be investigated.

“Once crimes and criminality are concerned, nobody is an exception. I think the undertone should be exclusively the consideration of existence of a prima facie case, existence of reasonable grounds for suspicion of commission of a crime.

“And if there are, no legislature, no judiciary and no executive can definitely be exempted from investigation. I think where we are now is the point of investigation and that is what is taking place”.

He reiterated the commitment of the President Buhari administration to the fight against corruption and urged the committee not to betray the confidence repose in them.

FG To Concession Eight Dams To Boost Power Supply

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FG To Concession Eight Dams To Boost Power Supply

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The Federal Government on Wednesday said it has concluded plans to concession eight of the Nation’s hydropower dams in order to improve power generation.

The hydropower dams, the government said, will be handed over to the unnamed firms soon.

This was made known by Abubakar Aliyu, assistant Director, Hydropower in the office of Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing during a familiarization tour to Bakolori Irrigation Scheme in Talata Mafara, Zamfara state.

Aliyu said the ministry was partnering with the federal ministry of water resources to increase power generation in the country.

“Eight hydropower dams have been earmarked to be concessioned on power generation. It will take effect soon,” he said.

The Project Coordinator, Transforming Irrigation Management in Nigeria, TRIMING, Peter Manjuk, said that six states will benefit from the irrigation project, including Zamfara, Sokoto, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa and Gombe.

He explained that the aim of the project is to rehabilitate all existing dams so as to meet the irrigation and hydropower needs of the country, adding that the World Bank-sponsored project to rehabilitate the Bakolori irrigation scheme would be completed within three years.

The Project Manager, Lawal Maidoki, pointed out that the dam had been providing domestic water supply to Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states since it was established in 1983.

He said there was need for investors to come in to rehabilitate the dam towards improving food production, flood control and power generation.

Maidoki added that with the TRIMING project, farmers would put in their best to increase food production.

11 Die In Youths/Shiites Clashes In The North

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11 Die In Youths/Shiites Clashes In The North

 

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Eleven people have reportedly died when angry youths clashed with members of the Shiites during the later’s procession in Kaduna, Katsina and Sokoto states.

Five persons were said to have died in Katsina State, four in Kaduna and 2 in Sokoto State, while several vehicles were burnt during the incident.

Eye witnesses said angry youths attacked and killed four suspected members of the Shi’a group in the Tudun Wada community, Kaduna South Local Government Area.

The mob also burnt down the house of the sect leader and demolished the Shiite’s Islamic school in the area.

This comes a day after security forces surrounded the Shiite ground in Kaduna, preventing the group from embarking on their planned annual procession.

One of the leaders of the sect said: “It’s the police that ordered the youths to attack us and to destroy our buildings.

“We shall address a press conference to give account of our encounter later.”

It was however reported that the group tried to address a press conference at the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, in Kaduna, but it couldn’t hold as all of the journalists went underground.

Mallam Bala said members of the Shiite group were not allowed into the community after they were dispersed by security agencies.

He said: “They were not in their traditional black dress, while being dispersed with police tear gas, but were being identified by vigilant youths who engaged them in a fight.

“Those who resisted were killed; the house of their leader Mukhtar was burnt down and their Markas (school) is currently being demolished by youths.”

He said fire service helped put out fire at Mukhtar’s house.

Another resident of the area, Bashir Sani, said the youth broke into the Shiite leader’s house, carted away valuables before setting the house ablaze.

“The Shiite members died of injuries sustained while being lynched with sticks and machetes,” he said.

Police spokesperson, Aliyu Muhammad, did not respond to calls and text messages.

Recall that there was a standoff between soldiers and members of the outlawed group, on Tuesday.

According to the UK-based Islamic Human Rights Commission, members of the sect had gathered to commemorate historical events associated with the Islamic month of Muharram that are particularly significant in the Shia calendar, before the gathering was encircled by armed troops.

The standoff ended later in the night after the troops withdrew.

Another resident said the presence of the Shiite group in the area posed a security risk for people living there.

“For me I will never support violence but Sahabi’s house here is risky for us.

“Every evening they gather at his house singing hate songs against the governor and Buhari and even none Shiite people,” he said.

In Katsina five people were reported dead in a clash between Shi’ites group and security agents in Funtua town.

Reports say the clash started when the members of the group embarked on their Ashura procession marked by Shi’ites worldwide.

The Katsina state police command, which had previously warned against unlawful processions in the state, attempted to stop them and violence broke out.

Recall that in December2015 the Shiite group clashed with military personnel attached to the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, after they blocked a major road along which the Army chief was travelling and refused to leave the road.

The clash led to the death of hundreds of the Shiites and the subsequent arrest of its leader, Ibrahim Zakzaky, who is still in custody till date.

Pope Begs Russia To Ceasefire In Syria

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Pope Begs Russia To Ceasefire In Syria
Pope Francis
Pope Francis

Pope Francis has appealed for an immediate ceasefire in Syria’s city of Aleppo following intense bombardment of the area by the Syrian and Russian Armies.

The Catholic Pontiff called a truce enabling civilians, especially children, to be evacuated, after Aleppo came under fierce air assault.

“I want to underline and reiterate my closeness to all the victims of the inhumane conflict in Syria,” he said at his weekly audience in Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

“It is with a sense of urgency that I renew my appeal, begging those responsible, with all my strength, for an immediate ceasefire to be imposed and respected at least long enough to consent the evacuation of civilians, especially children, who are still trapped under the ferocious bombardments,” he said.
On Tuesday, regime ally Russia carried out its heaviest air strikes in days on Aleppo, killing 25 civilians including four children according to a monitor, and causing massive damage in several residential areas of the city’s rebel-held east.

Syria’s army announced a bid last month to retake the city, which has been divided since mid-2012.

The assault began after the collapse of a short-lived truce negotiated by Washington and Moscow, and has seen the besieged east of Aleppo come under fierce aerial assault.

Syrian army said last Wednesday it would reduce its bombardment, after days of attacks that killed hundreds of people and destroyed the largest remaining hospital in the east, but heavy bombing began again on Tuesday.

FG Converts Badeh’s N1.1bn Mansion To Office

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FG Converts Badeh’s N1.1bn Mansion To Office
Former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh
Former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh

The Federal Government has converted the N1.1 billion mansion seized from the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, following his corruption trial, into a government office.

The building, located in the highbrow Maitama area of the Federal Capital Territory, is being used as office for the Theophilus Danjuma-headed Presidential Committee on the North-East Intervention.

The report has it that the warning, ‘EFCC, Keep Off!’ which was written in red ink on the fence, had been wiped off. But another uncompleted building seized from Badeh, which is located directly opposite the one converted by the government, still has the EFCC inscription on its fence.

PUNCH reported that workers were seen clearing the grass and sweeping the compound when the newspaper’s correspondent visited the place, while inside the main building, it was noticed that the rooms had been converted into offices and desks set up at strategic positions.

One of the workers at the premises was quoted as saying: “The property was given to us by the government to work. I know that the EFCC seized the property some months ago but it was given to us to work.”

The report added that the decision to convert Badeh’s property may not be unconnected to the plan by government to convert seized properties to government use in order to save cost, as was disclosed by minister of finance, Kemi Adeosun during a meeting with members of the National Steering Committee of the Efficiency Unit in June this year.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC is prosecuting Badeh alongside a firm, Iyalikam Nigeria Limited, on 10 counts of money laundering bordering on alleged fraudulent removal of about N3.97bn from the Nigerian Air Force account.

Buhari Goes To Germany Thursday

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Buhari Goes To Germany Thursday
President Muhammadu Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari will on Thursday, October 13 embark on an official visit to the Federal Republic of Germany.

The President will be accompanied by Governors Kashim Shettima of Borno State and Rochas Okorocha of Imo as well as representatives of the National Assembly.

He is expected to hold talks with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel on issues of security, the humanitarian situation of Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, and rehabilitation of the North-East, as well as trade and economic relations between both countries.

Buhari will also meet with the German President Joachim Gauck.

He is also expected to be part of a Business Forum in Berlin with leading German companies already active in Nigeria and other prospective investors.

The forum is in furtherance of Buhari’s objective to attract more foreign investment and create economic opportunities in the country.

Before returning home, Buhari is expected to hold a meeting with selected members of the Nigerian community in Germany.

Recall that shortly after his inauguration, President Buhari’s first visit to a non-African country was to attend the G7 summit in Germany, on the invitation of Chancellor Merkel; a gesture which was reciprocated when the German President, Gauck, led a delegation of German business community to an official visit to Nigeria in February this year.

Universities Urged To Send Only ‘Eligible’ Candidates For NYSC

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Universities Urged To Send Only ‘Eligible’ Candidates For NYSC

NYSC Should be Scrapped

Following the directive by the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, that tertiary institutions should reduce their mobilization by 60%, the Committee of Vice-Chancellors, CVC, has urged universities to upload the names of all eligible graduates for the 2016 Batch `B’ exercise.

This was contained in a statement signed by Adebiyi Daramola and Michael Faborode, chairman and Secretary-General respectively, after the committee’s meeting with the Director-General of NYSC, Sule Kazaure.

The CVC said that the stakeholders agreed with NYSC that paucity of funds was responsible for the slash in the percentage of mobilisation.

It said that its meeting resolved only the names of authentic graduates should be uploaded by universities for NYSC to mobilise as appropriate.

The statement read: “All universities are expected to comply immediately and ensure that graduates of part-time programmes and over-aged graduates are not included in their list.

“The CVC and the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, AVCNU, plead with the government and the National Assembly to provide resources needed for full mobilisation to stave off impending problem of partial mobilisation.

“We appeal to all graduates and prospective corps members to show understanding and exercise restraint while awaiting further directives from NYSC.’’

The CVC stated that it had earlier met with the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, NUC, on the issue.

All Set For Launch Of Digital Broadcasting In FCT

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All Set For Launch Of Digital Broadcasting In FCT

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Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has promised that the switch over from analogue to digital broadcasting in the Federal Capital Territory will happen by the end of 2016.

The Minister made the promise on Tuesday after a guided facility tour of Pinnacle Communication Limited – the licensed signal distributor of the Digital Switch Over, DSO, in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, and Trefonics, a licensed manufacturer of Set Top Boxes.

He said the objective of his visit to the facility was to ascertain the level of preparedness to ensure a smooth switch over in Abuja.

Mohammed expressed satisfaction at the pace of work going and the equipment that have been procured.

He said: “We are very much on track but I think it’s important to understand what the Digital Switch Over entails. It entails that all the component actors be ready.

“Here is the signal distributor and we are quite impressed that before the end of November, this facility will be ready to distribute signals to the entire FCT.”

The pilot launch of the DSO was held in Jos, the plateau State capital, earlier in the year and the information minister pointed out that the main launch in Abuja is the most ambitious project so far in the DSO.

Mohammed commended the Chairman of Pinnacle Communication Limited, Lucky Omoluwa, whom, he said, had remained focused on the project despite the initial hiccup that almost derailed it.

At the complex of Trefonics in the Idu Industrial Layout, the Minister also expressed satisfaction with the Set Top Box manufacturing process.

“The first Set Top Boxes were actually imported but there is a proviso in the award letters that consequently, every licenced manufacturer will have to manufacture his products here and we are happy that Trefonics is doing exactly that,” he said.

Mohammed said he was optimistic that with proper marketing strategy and given Nigeria’s population, there will be a huge market for the Set Top Box manufacturers in the country.

He said the DSO has the potential to revolutionise broadcasting in Nigeria, thereby unleashing the creative potentials of youths, and creating one million jobs in three years.

Chairman of Pinnacle Communication Limited, told the minister that all the equipment required for the DSO launch in Abuja is on ground and that test transmission will commence in four weeks.

Also speaking, the Managing Director of Trefonics, Onochie Amasiani, said the company has already manufactured 50,000 Set Top Boxes using only one of its six production lines.

The Minister was accompanied on the tour by the Directors General of NTA and NBC, Yakub Mohammed and Ishaq Kawu respectively, as well as the Chairman of the DigiTeam Nigeria, Edward Amana, among others.

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Bomb Blast In Maiduguri

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Bomb Blast In Maiduguri

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8 people were killed and 15 others injured in a bomb blast in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, which is plagued by the Boko Haram Insurgency.

According to the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, both the dead and injured persons have been evacuated to Specialist and Teaching Hospitals, Maiduguri.

The blast was said to have occurred at the Muna garage in Maiduguri around 8:30 am on Wednesday.

Sources say the suicide bomber was a woman with a child of about two years old. The child survived.

NEMA said officials were already on ground at the scene.

There is a big but unofficial IDPs camp at Muna containing about 14,000 displaced persons living in deplorable conditions.

 

Tambuwal Urges Political Engagement Over Niger Delta Crisis

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Tambuwal Urges Political Engagement Over Niger Delta Crisis
Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal
Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal

Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, has called for  more political engagement rather than military confrontation in tackling the Niger Delta crisis, saying that the ability of the country to rise up to its challenges would ultimately define the true worth of its leaders.

The governor made these remarks on Tuesday in Sokoto while playing host to participants of Course 25 of the National Defence College, who were in the State on a study tour.

He said, “The crisis in the Niger Delta is one that requires more political engagement by all stakeholders.

“Rather than use military might, we should lay much emphasis on engaging all parties in a dialogue. The militants, especially, must seize the initiative to restore peace in the region and ensure socio-economic stability.

“Every country of the world is facing some form of challenges; what is important is the ability of the leadership to rally round, discuss and engage all stakeholders to come to a peaceful resolution of such issues,” he said.

Tambuwal, commended the Nigerian military and other security services for their efforts in ensuring internal security, adding that the successes recorded in the fight against Boko Haram should inspire them to look for solutions to other security challenges facing the country such as kidnapping and armed robbery.

On the theme of the tour, “Enhancing food security for national development: The role of state governments,” Tambuwal said Sokoto had embraced modern farming techniques and had joined other entities in declaring food a major security issue.

“In the recent past, we have embraced many cash crops because of the need to diversify. In Sokoto today, we are leading producers of crops like millet, rice, sorghum, onions, tomatoes, cowpea and variety of vegetables. From the next farming season, we are including sesame among crops to be cultivated because of its economic value,” he added.

In his remarks, the leader of the team, Istifanus Zabade, a professor said the participants, made up of Nigerians and their counterparts from other countries, were required to study cultural, social and political environment of chosen localities to broaden their knowledge base of all sections of the country.

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