Mbaka Demands Immediate Release Of Nnamdi Kanu

 Outspoken Catholic priest, Ejike Mbaka, has demanded the immediate release of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Mr Mbaka stated this on Sunday during a service at the Adoration Ministry Ground, Enugu.

A video clip of the cleric speaking during the service has been circulating on Facebook and other social media platforms.

“Please, I ask in the name of God and that by the power of God, our leaders should quickly release Nnamdi Kanu,” he said.

IPOB, in August 2021, introduced a sit-at-home order every Monday across the South-east to put pressure on the Nigerian government to release Mr Kanu, who is standing trial in Abuja for alleged terrorism.

The separatist group later suspended the order, in preference for it (the order) to be implemented only the days Mr Kanu appears in court.

But despite its suspension, residents of the five South-east states – Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia and Anambra- have been observing the Monday sit-at-home order, mostly out of fear.

Some residents and motorists, including commuters, have been attacked by gunmen for stepping out of their homes on Monday and other days declared as sit-at-home.

Mr Mbaka bemoaned the suffering of the South-east residents over the sit-at-home.

He said the Nigerian government by not releasing Mr Kanu had “shown no concern” about the situation.

“Igbos have been suffering. Students wouldn’t go to school on Mondays, civil servants wouldn’t go to work. Every Monday would be a lockdown. Our leaders don’t care,” Mr Mbaka said.

IPOB is leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra, which it wants to be carved out from the South-east and some parts of the South-south.

Mr Kanu was first arrested in 2015 but was granted bail in April 2017. He fled the country after an invasion of his home in Afara-Ukwu, near Umuahia, Abia State, by the Nigerian military in September of that year.

He was re-arrested in Kenya and brought back to Nigeria in June 2021, about four years after he fled the country.

The Court of Appeal, Abuja, in October last year, held that the IPOB leader was extra-ordinarily extradited to Nigeria and that the action was a flagrant violation of the country’s extradition treaty and also a breach of his fundamental human rights.

The court, therefore, struck out the terrorism charges filed against Mr Kanu by the Nigerian government and ordered his release from the custody of the State Security Service.

But the government refused to release the IPOB leader, insisting that he (Kanu) could be unavailable in subsequent court proceedings if released, and that his release would cause insecurity in the South-east.

The government, through the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, appealed the court ruling and obtained a Supreme Court order staying execution of the court judgement.

Mr Mbaka said the refusal by the government to release the IPOB leader after being acquitted by the court was an affront against the judiciary.

“There is a problem. The judiciary is dying. If the court can acquit somebody and somebody else will say no, then the country is gone. It’s a coup d’etat against the judiciary. And as a man of God, I stand up to say, release him (Kanu). Do the needful,” he said.

The Catholic priest said he was speaking out because “calamity could befall” the leaders behind Mr Kanu’s continued detention after his court acquittal.

He said those keeping quiet should speak out because they could be the next victim of the interference of the executive arm of the government against the judiciary.

He added that the IPOB leader should be released because his continued detention can cripple the country.

“Nnamdi Kanu’s case is like a trigger in the gun. You must be careful how you touch the trigger when the gun is loaded,” Mr Mbaka said.

Fashola: Naira Swap Policy Is Causing Pain, CBN Should Readjust It

 The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has advised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to review its naira swap policy to reverse its negative impact on Nigerians. 

Fashola, who made a live appearance on Channels Television’s The 2023 Verdict on Monday, was reacting to the outcry over the widespread scarcity of the N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes since they were unveiled on November 23, 2022.

According to the CBN, the old versions of those denominations will no longer be legal tenders after February 10, 2023 as the apex bank targets hoarders of illicit funds in the buildup to the general elections.

The minister bemoaned the hardship brought on by the directive of the apex bank, saying it was imperative that public officeholders reviewed their policies when they had the opposite effect than desired.

“I empathise with those challenges but some of them are the result of policy and it is the responsibility of public servants, especially those responsible for those policies to look back and say, ‘Did we intend to cause this pain?’ 

“And if the policy is not working, perhaps you have to readjust and to also ask yourself whether you thought this through. As a public officer, before and now, I have had cause to reverse myself, when I saw that my policies were causing unintended results.

“So, I have no responsibility on those two areas and therefore I cannot speak to the details of the facts that are available to the policymakers but the important thing is that those policies are not yet delivering the results and are delivering a lot of inconvenience for [people],

FG Pledges To Increase Minimum Wage Of Workers

 The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, says the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is committed to improving the minimum wage of workers to boost productivity.

Mustapha, who was the special guest of honour at the inauguration of Hassan Sumonu’ Court, said this in Abuja on Monday.

He said that the Buhari-led administration is concerned about improving the welfare of public service and had paid the arrears of retired Airways workers.

On the inauguration, he said that the two-storey building was a delight for the NLC and the entire workers.

”This achievements and legacies are for the Nigerian people.

”I commend the outgoing NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, for delivering the edifice that will yield additional income to the Congress,” NAN quoted him as saying.

Air Force Jet Crash-Lands At Lagos Airport

 A Nigerian Air Force maritime patrol aircraft, yesterday, made an emergency landing at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the aircraft, a Cessna Citation CJ3 which was on a routine flight to Ilorin lost its tyres. The incident, however, forced the aircraft to land on its underside without the aid of a landing gear.

According to reports, the aircraft crash-landed on Runway 18R with six passengers onboard. Fortunately, there were no casualties.

It was gathered that there were six people on board and that there were no casualties. It happened at an area called “18 right” right at the Lagos airport.”

“It had a landing gear problem, meaning the tires refused to come out for landing. The pilot landed the aircraft on the bush, a smart move,” an official said.

Confirming the incident in a press statement made available to journalists, the spokesman Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore, Wap Maigida, said the aircraft carried out a ‘controlled belly land’, with no causality recorded.

Maigida said, “A Nigerian Air Force maritime patrol aircraft, a Cessna Citation CJ3 on a routine flight today, 6 February 2023 lost its tyres on touch and go flight in Ilorin and had to carry out a controlled belly land at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. Fortunately, there were no fatalities or injuries to any crew member or persons on the ground. ” He noted that the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, had set up a committee to investigate the incident.

Maigida said, “The Chief of Air Staff has directed the immediate constitution of a Board of Inquiry to determine the cause(s) of the accident. The NAF continues to solicit the understanding and support of the general public as it daily strives to ensure the security of Nigeria and Nigerians.”

Bankers Seen Jumping The Fence In Delta To Avoid Attack

 

The situation in the country, occasioned by scarcity of new Naira notes, has turned Nigerians to angry mob.

Customers of one of the Banks in Delta state, were apparently angry and sensing the possibility of invasion, the bank workers with the aid of ladder, scaled up the fence of their bank and ran away.

Cases of banks hoarding the new Naira notes and selling them to highest bidders has been uncovered leading to EFCC and ICPC arresting lots of Bank managers

Lawan’s Supreme Court Victory, Daylight Robbery – Machina Camp

 Nura Audu, a Deputy Campaign Coordinator and Yobe North Zonal Social Media for Bashir Machina campaign team has described the Supreme Court judgement which recognised the president of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan as the authentic senatorial candidate for the zone as devastating to anyone committed to justice and fairness.

Audu, a staunch supporter of Machina tagged the judgment as unprecedented and unfortunate in the political history of Nigeria.

Speaking exclusively with The PUNCH over the phone, he said, “The Supreme Court judgement was a daylight robbery, and very unfortunate in the political history of Nigeria.”

“Tension is high now,” he said, explaining further, he continued, “Ahmed Lawan neither obtained and filled the Senatorial aspiration form nor contested in the primaries.”

Asked about what the next line of action will be, he stated, “As Muslims, we believe in destiny; we will wait for what our leader would say before knowing what to do.”

Audu, who said he was in the court when the judgment was delivered, said in spite the court judgment, Machina’s supporters will not forsake him.
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan hailed the judgment of the apex court, and described the verdict as a victory for democracy ahead of the February 25 polls.

Lawan, while speaking to journalists at the Senate Guest House in Maitama, praised the APC leadership for taking it upon itself to approach the Supreme Court following the Court of Appeal’s decision, recognising Bashir Machina, as the party’s senatorial candidate.

He partly said, “Let me begin by thanking God for his blessing and, of course, for what happened today at the Supreme Court on the judgment on Yobe North. This is a significant victory for the APC in Yobe and the APC in general across the country.”
Lawan, in his appreciation post, also thanked his political party for fighting tooth and nail for his victory.

Delivering the judgment, three out of a five-member panel agreed with the APC that the suit at the trial court ought not to have commenced via an originating summons since it contained allegations of fraud.

In the lead judgement, Justice Centus Nweze faulted Machina’s approach, commencing the suit by way of originating summons, without adducing any oral evidence to prove allegations of fraud raised.

Nweze noted, “That the first respondent accused the APC of fraudulently substituting his name with that of Lawan. Where there is an allegation of fraud it should not be commenced by an originating summons. There was a need to call witnesses to prove allegations of fraud.”


In its majority decision, the apex court also set aside the decision of the Appeal Court, Gombe Division, which affirmed the decision of the trial court that declared Machina the senatorial candidate for Yobe North.

But in a dissenting decision by Justices Emmanuel Agim and Adamu Jauro, the apex court said Lawan never participated in the APC primary, as he withdrew voluntarily to participate in the presidential primary held on June 8, 2022.

To Vote APC In 2023, You Must First Hate Yourself - Sonala Olumhense

 With less than one month to Nigeria’s general election, one political party ought not to be on the ballot at all. That is the ruling All Progressives Congress.

If dignity was of any concern to APC or if it had any sense of character or shame whatsoever, it would have called or written to the electoral commission sometime in the past two years as Nigerians began to turn their political attention toward 2023 and requested to be taken out of participation.

Because it makes no sense for APC to consider itself worthy of leadership in 2023 just as in 2015 it made the case that the Peoples Democratic Party was unworthy of leadership.

“In the past, political manifestos in Nigeria were hardly different from mere platitudes and general statements to which parties could not be held accountable,” the party said at that time. “The APC Manifesto is different. We have clearly stated what we will deliver to Nigeria when elected into office. Our focus is on six priority areas: National Security, Good Governance and Human Capital Development.”




The other areas: Relief:.“We believe the Nigerian people need immediate relief from the unnecessary hardship 16 years of rule by the incumbent government has imposed.”

Recovery: “We believe our competent management and leadership will ensure that Nigeria can begin to repair its diminished institutions and the processes of democratic governance.”

Reform: “We believe that the APC’s Vision for the nation will restructure governance in a way that kick-starts our political economy so that we can begin to walk the path of our better future.”


The party then offered what it called “An Honest Contract with Nigeria,” affirming the need for Nigeria to look forward rather than to the failed policies and practices of the PDP

Among others, remember, APC promised three million new jobs a year; healthcare for all; and guaranteed free education.

It would “Triple education spending over next 10 years, from the current .5% to 24.5%.” Triple? Five years later, education spending in the current budget is an abysmal 6.7%!

APC said it would: “Immediately increase the proportion of Federal spending on healthcare from 5.5% to 10%, with the aim of bringing it to 15% by 2020.” That was a blatant lie by several miles: the health sector received 4.14% in 2020, 4.7 in 2022, and 5.7 in 2023!

On corruption, APC said it would: “Create a functionally independent anti-corruption agency, with adequate and predictable funding and full prosecutorial powers and free from political interference.”

The party claimed it would: “End immunity from prosecution for sitting politicians.”

Welcoming the APC earlier, following its formation in February 2013, I had urged the party to understand that it would be held to a higher standard than the PDP because it had clearly and circumstantially proclaimed itself to be the superior.


To be seen to be programmed to serve, rather than to serve its members, I said it needed to establish and to announce clear public standards, and demonstrate that those standards were higher than partisan politics and the APC itself.


“I challenge the APC to set such standards into a code of conduct and of obligations, and publish it. This will demonstrate that the party understands the quality of the challenge that is before our nation, and that it intends to subordinate itself to it.”

Not simply did the party fail to honour any of these commitments, evidence abounds that it has taken Nigerians into deeper deterioration than the PDP ever did.

That corruption has soared is amply illustrated in every facet of official life in Nigeria today, culminating in the party primaries in 2022 that was an open advertisement for transactional politics and the emergence of Bola Tinubu as its candidate.

Mr Tinubu is now known worldwide, principally for the opaqueness of his track record, and sometimes for issues of personal character. Those include his template for perpetual looting of states by outgoing governors, his conviction for drug offences in the United States, an entire library of allegations as detailed in this scandalous research project, or this one. In 2018 in Vanguard newspaper, the now-deceased Yinka Odumakin described in an unforgettable four-part profile the Tinubu that Nigerians ought to avoid.

But remember: during his 2015 campaign Buhari requested Nigerians, “Allow me to prove to you that in our lifetime you and your country can be proud of this country.”

Eight years later, where is that country? Is it not stunning that a man who is at best a question mark in any discussion of leadership potential of any kind is APC’s proud presidential candidate and prospective Buhari successor?


In almost every measure, APC has made being Nigerian a source of shame and embarrassment. For every mile of infrastructure built, such as the Lagos light rail which Buhari commissioned last week, there is an Abuja light rail which he commissioned just four years ago which no longer works. For every high school teacher or government clerk prosecuted for corruption by the EFCC, there are 30 APC current and former governors and 20 ministers it will not touch.For every new eye-service airport terminal built, such as in Lagos, several older ones are rotting in real time. For every year APC has been in control since 2015, jobs and companies have fled by the hundreds of thousands and insecurity has crisscrossed the country dozens of times over. For every airline APC promised, it shamelessly rides 10 presidential jets around the world.

This explains the turmoil that Nigeria is in. The presidency snatches off the streets the chairman of the EFCC, bundles him out of office, but never publishes the report of its kangaroo court. The APC government decides to sell off the assets it has allegedly recovered, without disclosing what they are, only to claim that they have been sold, or perhaps quietly returned to their original owners.

It is no surprise that APC wants to remain in power; it has far more to hide than the PDP did in 2015. At that time, and for that reason, it was easy for APC to hawk the propaganda of CHANGE, and for Nigerians to buy it.

It is for this same reason that Nigerians must now reject APC at the centre and around the country. Unless you truly hate yourself or you are a masochist, it is obvious that the same treatment that was applied to PDP in 2015 must now apply to APC.

By this advocacy, I do not mean that PDP should replace APC. In previous columns I have argued that they are sides of the same coin, a coin I call ‘APDPC.’ They are cynical, conniving, cynical political parties that lack honour, patriotism, or value. Anyone who seeks the advancement of Nigeria and the Nigerian ought to reject lest he catch the diseases by which they have travelled for the past 24 years.

Clearly, who you vote for is your business. But unless you wish yourself at least another generation of swimming in sewage, neither APC nor PDP can be your option in 2023. Instead, use them as a cudgel or a curse. Save yourself.