The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has ordered an independent inquiry into the alleged death of Desmond Nunugwo while in custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
His family said that, Nunugwo, a former Chief Protocol Officer to the Minister of State for Defence, died on June 9 after he was arrested by the EFCC for alleged involvement in a N91 million fraud
Paul Edeh, counsel to the deceased family, led relatives of the victim to the Ministry of Justice, where they had a private meeting with the Justice Minister.
Edeh said that the Minister gave a directive that the issue be investigated and promised to get back to the family in a matter of days.
Wife of the deceased, Susanne Nunugwo, complained that she had not been allowed to see her husband’s body since his death more than two months ago.
She asked that her husband’s name be cleared as he was no longer alive to defend himself.
Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon has revealed that at least 130 million people across the globe depend on humanitarian aid to survive.
He made the revelation in his message for the 2016 World Humanitarian Day campaign, which will be held on August 19 with the theme: “World You’d Rather.”
He said: “A record 130 million people are dependent on humanitarian assistance to survive. Grouped together, these people in need would comprise the tenth most populous nation on Earth.
“These figures are truly staggering, yet they tell only a fraction of the story. Hidden behind the statistics are individuals, families and communities whose lives have been devastated.
“People no different to you and me: children, women and men who face impossible choices every day.”
“They are parents who must choose between buying food or medicine for their children; children who must choose between school or working to support their families.
“They are families who must risk bombing at home or a perilous escape by sea,” he said.
“But, there are things we can all do — today, and every day. We can show compassion, we can raise our voices against injustice and we can work for change.”
The UN boss paid tribute to all UN workers and other charity organizations “who brave danger to help others at far greater risk.”
He called on everyone to commit to the “World You’d Rather” campaign in order to meet the target goal which includes among other things, “raising money for the UN Central Emergency Response Fund and enrolling support of individuals everywhere as Messengers of Humanity.”
Ban Ki-Moon insisted that people everywhere must demand that their societies and governments put humanity first.
He said: “To succeed on this collective journey, we need everyone to play their part. Each one of us can make a difference.
“On this World Humanitarian Day, let us unite in the name of humanity and show that we cannot and will not leave anyone behind.
“World Humanitarian Day is an annual reminder of the need to act to alleviate the suffering.
“It is also an occasion to honour the humanitarian workers and volunteers toiling on the front lines of crises.”
Governor of Rivers State and Chairman of the PDP Convention Planning Committee, Nyesom Wike
The Ahmed Makarfi-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has vowed to go ahead with its planned convention scheduled for August 17, despite a court order to the contrary.
Two conflicting court judgments were given on Monday for and against the convention.
A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt had earlier ruled that the convention should go ahead, and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to monitor the event, while the Nigerian Police Force is to provide security at the venue of the convention.
But Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High court in Abuja ruled that the convention be put on hold pending the determination of the case before his court.
Justice Abang awarded the sum of N50,000 against Ben Obi, for instituting the Port-Harcourt law suit when he knew that the same case was pending before a court of coordinate jurisdiction.
He said the move by Obi was a ploy to make a mockery of the country’s justice system.
However, a statement by Onyema Ugochukwu, chairman of the Publicity Sub-Committee of the National Convention Committee, said that the Convention will go ahead as planned on Wednesday, at the Sharks Stadium, Port-Harcourt, capital of Rivers State.
Ugochukwu said “The Chairman of the Convention Planning Committee and the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, welcomed all Party leaders, delegates, members, supporters, invited guests and observers to the National Convention holding on Wednesday, August 17 by10:00am local.”
The committee spokesman disclosed that “Ninety aspirants are contesting for various positions in the forthcoming national convention … out of which five are for the position of National Chairman, four are for first Deputy National Chairman (South) and five are for second Deputy National Chairman (North).”
“For the office of National Secretary, they are five contestants, Deputy National Secretary are two and National Publicity Secretary are six aspirants.”
According to the statement, the screening of aspirants held at the State Party Secretariat, in Port Harcourt while the screening Appeal will begin on Tuesday.
The statement further added that “In compliance with the PDP’s Constitution from inception, all regional interests are usually accommodated in recognition of the Country’s diversity, and as such, the PDP has zoned the 2019 Presidency to the North and the National Chairmanship to the South.
“Other positions have also been zoned between North and South for equitable representation in the Party, respectively,” it said.
The PDP further said it would continue to play its role after the Convention as the main opposition Party by providing alternative governance and remaining a solution-driven political Party to help the Government in power, and reposition itself to regain power in 2019.
The Japanese government has donated $3 million to assist the victims of the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast region of Nigeria.
The donation follows a similar gesture by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, which donated $1 million to the Borno State Government.
Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Sadanabu Kusaoke, said that the money as well as a project launched in Maiduguri were to enable the people begin life again by engaging in either farming or trade as peace gradually returns to their region.
“The Japanese government has decided to support the project for early recovery and social cohesion in the North-East of Nigeria with a 3 million dollars donation,” he said.
“This is to help people who engage in gainful activities like farming and trading to contribute to the social stabilisation and recovery of the affected communities in the three states.”
The ambassador added that the project would specifically target women, youths and other vulnerable groups in the communities.
“Priority is on women, youth and other vulnerable people. The project is expected to create safe environment for the returning Internally Displaced Persons as well as reduce pressure on migration to neighboring countries.”
“We have also decided to fund the UNDP project on de-radicalisation and also to increase the capacity of security agents in investigations and prosecution as well as preventing and controlling migration,” he said.
Kusaoke commended the Borno state government for its approach in tackling the challenges posed by terrorism in the state, as well as the federal government for its support to the military in the counter terrorism operations.
Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, thanked the Japanese government for the gesture and urged other donors to emulate the gesture by providing similar assistance to victims of insurgency.
Troops on clearance operations in the Northeast have rescued 88 people in Bama Local Government Area of Borno and killed three Boko Haram insurgents during an encounter.
Sani Usman, Acting Director of Army Public Relations, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja late Tuesday.
The statement said that 28 people who claimed to have escaped from Bula Musa village and “have been taken to Bama town for screening, profiling and possible handover to emergency management and humanitarian agencies.”
Usman said that another 23 people were intercepted by troops deployed at Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, camp in Bama, after they escaped from terrorists in Bula Musa general area on Sunday.
The statement added: “In Dikwa, the troops also recorded influx of 37 IDPs, comprising two men, 12 women, 12 boys and 11 girls from Gulumba Gana village which is about 45km astride Gulumba-Kumshe Road axis, Bama Local Government Area.
In a related development, troops at Nigeria-Cameroon border in conjunction with Civilian JTF also arrested two escaping Boko Haram terrorists named Mohammed Mundilga and Ahmed Ali.
“The terrorists, who hail from Gamboru Ngala Local Government Area on preliminary investigation, confessed that they were Boko Haram fighters, and added that they sneaked into Gamboru from Abbaganaram village, Marte Local Government Area after being tired of staying in the bush.
“They attempted to disguise and pass on as IDPs but ran out of luck as they were found out. Both of them have been handed over to the Joint Investigation Centre for further interrogation,’’ Usman said.
The army spokesman said troops also carried out clearance operation and fighting patrol at Wadama, Izakah, Gelemari and Kalizaram villages.
He said following information that terrorists were extorting residents of Zankari village, troops stationed in Monguno, responded and killed two of them, while one sustained gunshot wounds. One AK-45 rifle and three rounds of 7.62mm ammunition were recovered.
Usman added that the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) team led by Adam Karamma had visited Bama IDPs camp.
He said the team registered internally displaced persons below 17 of age for distribution of non-food items, adding that they would be trained on skills acquisition and construction of temporary shelter.
Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja has stopped the Ahmed Makarfi-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from going ahead with it planned National Convention.
Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led faction of the party had scheduled its convention for August 17, 2016, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Justice Abang in a ruling on Monday approved the interim order sought by the factional chairman of the party, Ali Modu Sheriff, and ordered that the order would subsist till the motion filed by the Sheriff seeking an interlocutory injunction against the convention is heard and determined.
The judge thereafter fixed Tuesday for the hearing of the motion.
Justice Abang said he was annoyed by an application by Ben Obi to be joined in the suit as a respondent after he got an order from Justice Ibrahim Watila of the Port Harcourt division of the Federal High Court for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and security agents to be present at the convention.
Ruling in the suit filed by Obi for himself and other members of the National Convention Planning Committee of the party on Monday, Justice Watila also granted that the Inspector General of Police , Commissioner of Police, Rivers state, Director of State Service should provide security for the convention.
However, in his ruling Monday, Abang said the court was disposed to adjourning the matter to the next day to give Obi’s counsel time to prepare for an intending application from Sheriff’s group but declared that going by Obi’s actions, which he described as a “slap on the court”, he said he had no choice but to adjourn the matter to August 16 at 12pm.
“Obi cannot undermine the authority of this court. Senator Ben Obi cannot treat the court with disdain and levity,
“Where a party has taken law into its hands, and to maintain the dignity and integrity of the court and in the overall interest of justice, taking into consideration the competing claims of the parties, an order is hereby made in the interim suspending the PDP convention slated for August 17, 2016, pending when the plaintiff motion on notice dated July 20 is served.”
President Buhari met with US President, Barrack Obama during his visit to the US
The U.S. Government has promised to send personnel of its Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, and other security experts to assist Nigeria in its counter terrorism operations.
The promise was made in Abuja on Monday by Alan Tousignant, Acting Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, who led a team of security experts on a courtesy visit to the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau.
The envoy said the team, made up of a team of the U.S Security Governance Initiative, SGI, was in the country at the request of the Nigerian government to provide a holistic security technical assistance and not to donate any equipment.
The SGI is an initiative of the U.S. Government that offers enhanced security technical assistance to six African countries, including Nigeria.
Tousignant said the SGI delegation and the Nigerian security agencies would work to provide a roadmap for better efficiency, transparency and justice in Nigeria’s security system.
The Team leader, Stephen Nolan, said the partnership with the Nigerian security authorities is expected to come up with a document, the Joint Country Action Plan, JCAP, a document that outlined a roadmap for a successful partnership.
He assured that the forthcoming elections in the U.S and the change of government in January 2017 would not affect the project as they had been working hard to ensure its sustenance.
“I want to assure you that we have been working for the continuity and sustainability of this project, even after the Obama administration in January, 2017,’’ he said.
The Interior Minister, Dambazau, commended the delegation for the visit, adding that he believes that the partnership would re-position Nigeria’s security system.
He urged all the security personnel taking part in the exercise to be committed to the task ahead.
The Nigeria Police Force, Army, Air Force, Navy, Immigration, Prisons, Civil Defence and Fire Service were all part of the meeting.
Supporters of President Lungu celebrate on the streets of Lusaka
Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu has been declared winner of the Presidential election in the country with a little over 50% of the total votes cast.
The results which are being challenged by the United Party for National Development, Zambia’s main opposition party, whose Presidential candidate Hakainde Hichilema polled 1,760,347 votes as against Lungu’s 1,860,877.
Lungu, former Zambia’s Justice and Defence Minister, assumed office on January 25, 2015 after narrowly defeating Hichilema in a by-election following the death of former President Michael Sata.
One of his first actions as President was to redude the death sentences of 332 prisoners to life in prison, while also condemning the massive overcrowding at the Mukobeko prison, a situation he described as “an affront to basic human dignity”.
The streets of Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, were crowded with supporters of Lungu’s Patriotic Front, PF, party in celebration of their victory at the polls.
Meanwhile, Some opposition parties, including Lungu’s main rival Hichilema, have described this election as a sham which does not reflect the will of the people.
Hichelma vowed to challenge the results at the appropriate court.
Udoma Udo-Udoma with Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo
The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo-Udoma, has reaffirmed the commitment of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Administration to strengthening the linkage between plans and budgets in order to ensure better implementation of projects and programmes.
The Minister was speaking at a sensitization workshop on “addressing the approach to developing the medium-term sector strategies, MTSS, and plans”, organized by his Ministry for Federal Permanent Secretaries and Head of Ministries Departments and Agencies, MDAs.
The workshop was intended to bring the participants up to speed with the process of developing the MTSS as well as its relevance to the budget preparation process.
He said that the failure to link policies, plans, MTSS and budgets has been identified as a major factor that leads to deficient planning and poor budgeting outcomes in many developing countries.
Udoma pointed out that countries with fragmented planning process which does not align with the annual budgeting process usually experience difficulty in implementing clear and consistent national policies, as has been the case with Nigeria.
The Minister noted that the administration was “also committed to fostering inclusive development which explains the unprecedented allocation of N500 billion Naira (half a trillion Naira) to social investment projects in the 2016 Budget of Change”.
Udoma said the workshop was timely, coming at a time the country was experiencing dwindling revenues occasioned by the declining price of crude oil in the international market and other disruptive developments in the polity.
The current MTSS exercise, he pointed out, will be limited to selected critical sectors to support the preparation of the 2017 Budget.
“It is planned to roll out the MTSS process to all sectors/MDAs from 2017 and beyond. This is aimed at guiding MDAs for more efficient and effective investment of national resources in critical sectors of the economy, in line with the Change Agenda,” he said
Udoma Acknowledged that the MDAs will require technical advice and support to effectively accomplish the exercise, and assured that his Ministry and the Department for International Development, DFID, will provide technical support and sector expertise for building of capacity during the MTSS preparation process.
The Permanent Secretary in the Budget and National Planning Ministry, Nana Mede, said the workshop signaled the flag-off of the MTSS/2017 Budget planning process.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo speaking at the event
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has urged the Ministry of Agriculture, led by Audu Ogbeh, to transform the country’s agricultural sector, as that is the best solution to the economic challenges facing the Nation.
Osinbajo said this during the launch of the Agriculture Policy Document termed “The Green Revolution in Abuja on Monday.
“There is no question”, he said, “If we get agric right, we would get our economy right.”
“Our social investment programmes are designed to align with the agriculture policy. That is why our homegrown school feeding programme is called “homegrown,” he added.
The Vice president in his speech said that the federal government is planning to recruit 10,000 agric extension workers as part of the Teacher-corps recruitment exercise under the N-Power programme.
He lauded the ‘Green Alternative’ initiative but stressed that “the problem has never been with the lack of policy but implementation.”
Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh said his leadership “believes in building on a previous foundation and avoiding policy somersault.”
“We are not throwing old policies overboard but expanding, deepening and adjusting policies where necessary,” he said.
The minister noted that “with the new fertilizer application guidelines, we’ve received reports of rice yields increase from 3 to 7.5 metric tonnes in some areas.”
He added that his ministry “will collate information, harness intelligence and capacity and make the knowledge available to farmers for practical implementation.”
Mnister of Environment, Amina Mohammed was also present at the launch.
