NIGERIAN NOTCH

In a model of what the state police working side by side with the Nigeria Police Force should be, the government in Kano back in 2003 passed a law creating the Hisbah Board, to enforce the penal code, though the actual powers of the board are limited. Last week, a Sharia court judge ordered a TikTok social influencer, Murja Kunya, to undergo mental evaluation after she was charged to court by the Hisbah Board for public disturbance. Hisbah is an Arabic word that means accountability, and is an Islamic concept that calls for enjoining good and forbidding evil. The Hisbah Board is made up of government officials, regular police officers, religious leaders and it is highly decentralized with local units supervised by committees composed of officials and citizens in communities where they operate. The Hisbah Board was established by laws based on the constitutional provision that empowers the State House of Assembly to make such laws as contained in Section 4(6) of the Constitu...

Why constitution limits governors’ powers - Falana, Ozekhome Nigeria’s unique form of a federation is about to get more complicated with the passage of a bill in the House of Representatives for the creation of state police, which in theory, would constitutionally empower governors to be the chief security and law enforcement officers of their states. By definition, the states should enjoy some level of constitutional independence from the central government in governance and internal affairs in a federation. Its however discovered that not a single state in Nigeria has its own constitution, which would normally give a state the independence and a governor, the legal authority to be the chief law enforcement officer. And should state police become a reality, criminal laws will become just as important as the political authority and the will to implement the laws by state governors. In many aspects, states are also still reliant on laws written in the colonial era. Some lawy...

South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) has launched its manifesto for the May elections, in which some polls suggest, its share of the vote could fall below 50% for the first time in a long while.  President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed thousands of supporters at a rally in KwaZulu-Natal province. The area will be a key battleground. Dissatisfaction with the state of the economy, public services and corruption has eaten away at the support of the ANC lately.  The party of Nelson Mandela, who led the struggle against the racist apartheid system and oversaw the transition to democracy in 1994, has been the dominant force for the last 30 years. But stubbornly, high unemployment, which now stands at more than 32%, frequent power cuts and high crime levels, among other issues, have led some to turn away from the ANC. There are challenges coming from the right, in the form of the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), and the more radical left with the ...

President Bola Tinubu has given reasons behind the delay of the free distribution of 42,000 metric tonnes of grains to Nigerians to tackle the current food insecurity. Recall that the Minister of Agriculture on February 8, promised that the federal government would distribute millet, maize and other food commodities to vulnerable Nigerians to ameliorate hardship. But for almost three weeks, no grains or food commodities have been given to Nigerians as the economy bites hard with the high cost of food. Explaining the delay, Special Adviser to the President Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga said the bagging of grains is ongoing in seven strategic places in the country. Onanuga also said the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has been in charge of bagging the grains that would soon be delivered to indigent Nigerians. He said this in a statement issued on Friday, reiterating the assurance that Nigerians will soon receive free gains. The presidential aide...

 The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has linked the current increase in oil production in the oil producing region of the country, to the tireless efforts of the Nigerian Navy in curbing Crude Oil theft, just as he assured them of the support of the Senate for their continued success.  He noted that "the numerous arrests of ships and individuals involved in illegal bunkering, destruction of illegal refining sites, smuggled goods and narcotics as well as the increase in oil production in Nigeria, attest to the tireless efforts of the Navy in combatting the nefarious activities undermining Nigeria's economy."  Akpabio stated this on Friday, in his address at the Dinner Night in honour of officers of Flag Rank retired in 2023, held at the Armed Forces Officers' Mess, Asokoro, Abuja. According to Akpabio, "nevertheless, I still challenge the Nigerian Navy to persevere and double her efforts in safeguarding the Nigerian Maritime environment. The...

"We are not surprised; Soludo already has a well-established record of insulting the clergy, the traditional institution, and critical stakeholders in the state." Hon. Kamen Chuks Ogbonna, Head, Media and Strategic Communications to Senator Dr Ifeanyi Ubah, CON, made this release available to the press this morning, in replying to what Chinedu Obigwe, the self acclaimed mouthpiece of Governor Charles Soludo spewed recently.  "The recent publication of the Sun newspaper captioned; “APGA Bombs Primate Ayodele, calling him a cash and carry prophet” is synonymous with Gov. Soludo's established record of throwing caution to the wind while exhibiting careless and obviously fear-induced acts of braggadocio and cluelessness." "Just as was recounted in the biblical story of King Saul when he disobeyed the Lord and the glory departed from him and rested on King David, Gov Soludo has not relented one bit in throwing subtle punches since he got overwhelmed ...

The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio has charged security executives to be mindful of intelligence gathering in any operation as this would enhance security of lives across Africa. Senator Akpabio gave the charge when he addressed the faculty members and participants of the Executive Intelligence Management Course 17 of the National Institute for Security Studies who paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja on Thursday, February 22, 2024. Participants for the course are drawn from 30 security related agencies in Nigeria and five African countries of Cote d’Ivoire, Chad, Ghana, The Gambia and Rwanda and would undertake a ten-month course on the theme, “Artificial intelligence, security and emerging economies in Africa: challenges and prospects.” A statement by the Special Assistant on Media/Communication to the Senate President, Mr Anietie Ekong quoted Senator Akpabio as imploring the participants to deploy the knowledge gathered at the course to bri...

Vice President Kashim Shettima will on Monday launch the Light Up South East Initiative to accelerate power supply to industrial clusters in the region. The event billed to hold in Enugu is in continuation of the ongoing efforts to improve energy supply to industrial clusters across the country. According to a statement by the spokesman of the vice president, Stanley Nkwocha, the project, a collaboration between the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC) and its partners, will feature key stakeholders in the nation’s power sector. A key highlight of the vice president’s engagement in Enugu will be the South East Business Roundtable featuring top government officials and business leaders deliberating on delivering reliable and sustainable power to industrial and residential areas in the region. The vice president had on October 12, 2023 flagged off the initiative in the South West at the Agbara Industrial Cluster, with stakeholders committing to the successful imp...

Operatives of the Rivers State Command have traced and exhumed the remains of Gift Okpara, aka, 2Baba, the suspected killer of former Divisional Police Officer (DPO) Ahoada Division, Late Bako Angbashim, a Superintendent of Police. 2Baba and his gang had on September 8, 2023, allegedly killed Angbashim in an ambush in Odiemudie Community, Ahaoda East Local Government Area of the state. The Commissioner of Police in the state, Olatunji Disu, had in earlier briefing, wherein he disclosed that 2baba, the prime suspected in the killing of Angbashim, has been killed during a joint operation in a forest in Ahoada. However, yesterday, the police said it has located and exhumed the corpse of the killed notorious killer and cultist and that they were able to identify him through a large Tattoo on his left shoulder. Disu while displaying the corpse of 2Baba hinted that the tactical operatives in the early hours of Friday, based on credible information, successfully located the shallo...

.....Says, glitch didn’t alter election results, won’t happen in future elections The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC on Friday released its report on the 2023 general election, explaining the technical glitch experienced with its Results Viewing Portal iREV during the presidential election results upload. According to the commission, while the glitch did not affect the fidelity of the presidential election result, it has however taken measures to guard against a re-occurrence in future elections. INEC National Commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun said the comprehensive 526-page document, “showcases the election’s unparalleled diversity in party representation, demonstrating significant democratic progress. The report noted that the challenge of uploading the Polling Units presidential election results on the IReV after the presidential and NASS elections on 25th February 2023 was unique. “As voting ended across th...

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has blamed the International Monetary Fund, IMF, and World Bank for the power sector crisis in Nigeria. This came as workers in the nation’s power sector called for a total review of the power sector privatization, saying the exercise was a huge failure that did not meet the expectations of Nigerians. President of NLC, Joe Ajaero, in a goodwill message, yesterday in Enugu during the 7th Quadrennial/12 Delegates Conference of the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, lamented that Nigeria was still very low in capacity in terms of megawatts, contending that no nation could develop without electricity. Ajaero also fumed that despite billions of Naira pumped into the power sector over the years, Nigeria was still grappling with 4,000 megawatts of electricity, blaming the IMF and World Bank for the power sector crisis in Nigeria, saying they “want Nigeria to remove subsidy on electricity as they ill-advised Nigeria to remove fuel subsi...

Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Dr. Olayemi Cardoso, yesterday, begged Nigerians to be patient, as the management of the apex bank is doing everything possible to ensure that the Naira is strengthened. Cardoso said this at the 2024 public lecture entitled: ‘Recent Developments in a Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market: Issues, Options and Way Forward’, organised by the Nigerian Economic Society, NES, at the CBN Centre of Excellence Hall, University of Ibadan. The CBN governor, who was represented at the event by Dr. Usman Opanachi of the Department of Monetary Policy, CBN said: “Anytime the Naira is on trial, the CBN is also on trial. We are working day and night to address the challenges and we hope things will work out. “The exchange rate features nearly in every sector. The exchange rate and inflation are very high now. The exchange rate is a problem. “Excess demand for forex in Nigeria is a legendary problem. It has just been there and over the years, the bank has...

BY  RAYMOND OZOJI,  Awka The Transition Committee Chairman of Awka-South Local Government Area of Anambra State, Hon. ThankGod Akachukwu Anagor, has declared his unwavering interest to partner the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) to beef up local security in the council area.  Anagor who made the declaration in his office during a courtesy call by a delegation of NHFSS led by the Deputy Commander Destiny Emmanuel Jones, acknowledged the role of hunters in assisting other security agents to secure the bushes and forests within Awka-South local government area.  Anagor said that the men of the NHFSS told him about how they alerted the police about unknown gunmen in Achalla Awka-North Local Government Area and the situation was arrested for the bushes to be free of such daredevil criminal elements.  He said he promised the hunters partnership in order to rid Awka-South off bad elements taking refuge in the bush and equally ensure tha...

Nigeria has asked its telecommunications firms to restrict access to the websites of cryptocurrency firms such as Binance, OctaFX, Coinbase and others, months after its Central Bank issued a guideline to govern digital asset operators’ activities. In December 2023, the Central Bank of Nigeria changed its stance on crypto assets and asked banks to disregard its February 2021 ban on crypto transactions. This new restriction on crypto websites is aimed at slowing currency speculation activities in the country, with Binance stating that its platform is not for currency pricing. The platform said this after users complained about their inability to buy dollars. One user on X, @MikaelCBernard, tweeted, “There’s no more dollars available on Binance oh. It is like Binance traders have gone on strike. You can only sell, but you can’t buy.” While noting its commitment to a market-driven, fraud-free, and manipulation-free platform for its users, Binance said, “Furthermore, as industry...

Special adviser to the president on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to clamp down on the online platforms of Binance and other cryptocurrency companies for alleged manipulation of the foreign exchange market. Binance is a digital asset marketplace that acts as a conduit for peer-to-peer exchanges, enabling users to express interest in buying or selling any cryptocurrency. According to Onanuga, cryptocurrency services like Bybit and Kucoin ought to be prohibited from functioning within the nation’s cyberspace. Onanuga on his verified “X” page on Wednesday, said: “The Naira-Dollar manipulators — I chanced on an X post Tuesday night by one Brother Bernard @Mikael C Bernard who railed against what he called the order of the EFCC, NSA on Finance to set a cap on traders selling USD tokens for Naira equivalent. “He disclosed that token sellers have migrated to Telegram and we...

The Senate has resolved to investigate the sudden hike in the price of cement by its producers in Nigeria. This followed the adoption of a point of order by the Deputy Senate Leader, Sen. Lola Ashiru on the “Need to Urgently Address the Increase in Cement Price and other Building Materials in Nigeria,” at plenary on Wednesday. Presenting the order, Ashiru urged the Senate to mandate its Committee on Industries to conduct an investigation into the activities of cement manufacturing industries operating in Nigeria. This, he said, was with a view to ascertain the reasons behind the price hike. He also urged the Senate to mandate the Committee on Industries to ensure that cement manufacturing companies adhere strictly to fair market practice and desist from anti-competitive practice. Ashiru said that the construction industry was vital to infrastructure development, adding that the building industry heavily depended on cement and other building materials for its sustenance. He ...

.........Wants DISCOs Licenses Revoked The Federal Government of Nigeria has been told to revoke the licenses of Power Distribution Companies in Nigeria (DISCOs). Human Rights, Liberty Access and Peace Defenders Foundation,(HURIDE) and Campaign for Democracy (CD), South East in a statement in Enugu said that revocation of the DISCOs' licenses has become imperative given the fact that.  they have failed abysmally.  In the statement signed by the Executive Director of HURIDE and Chairman of CD in the South East, Dede Uzor A. Uzor, the rights groups insisted that it is crystal clear that the DISCOs can't provide power to Nigerians anymore. They said that power distribution in the country should be handed over to tested companies with track records of performance in the industry internationally, adding that the companies would have enough resources too. The rights groups condemned the collapse of the national grid, attributing it to " monumental corruption and lack of credible...

 ..... Unveils Master Plan to transform Anambra Senator Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah the Senator representating Anambra South Senatorial District and a frontline contenter for the governorship of Anambra state in 2025, has thrown light on how Anambra state can position itself towards becoming the center piece of industrial revolution if he is elected as the governor of Anambra come 2025.  Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, while interacting with Journalists at his country home in Umuanuka Otolo, Nnewi North LGA over the weekend said that  Anambra State has the digital economy and fiscal responsibility to provide 100,000 jobs per annum, with a firm commitment to anchor  the facilitation of trade with incentives through Private Public Partnership to ensure ease of doing business, which will inturn turn the state to the industrial hub of the South East.  He highlighted his blueprint as one of the best, towards the industrialization and economic diversification of Anambra...

The Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, says it has directed all its members to withdraw their petroleum trucks from product-loading activities from Monday, February 19, 2024. The development follows the association’s request for oil marketers to review freight rates. NARTO had said despite the deregulation of the downstream sector, oil marketers have refused its request to review the rates. Deregulation removes the government’s control over the prices of petroleum products and allows private entities to make decisions in the sector. In a letter dated February 15, 2024, addressed to the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, NARTO said it can no longer continue with operations due to the state of the economy. The association said several efforts made to get the freight rates for their operations reviewed have had no positive results. “We are deeply constrained to seek the support and understanding of your Union and members towards the ...

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, and the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, yesterday, dissected the state of the nation and returned a grim verdict: that hardship is paralysing socioeconomic lives in communities and hunger causing a serious humanitarian crisis. Besides, the Catholic Bishops lamented that Nigeria was in her worst times in terms of insecurity, economy, and corruption, and called for sincere, accountable, and collective effort to halt the current slide and steer her towards a more secure and prosperous future. The Catholic Bishops and CAN spoke as the Federal Government, through Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Senator George Akume, acknowledged the problems and restated its determination to tackle security and economic challenges, with a view to improving the quality of life for all Nigerians. The trio spoke at the opening session of the 2024 First Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria in Abuja...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has expressed concern that rising prices of fuel and other commodities could lead to social unrest in Nigeria. According to the bank, rising cost of living  also lead to social unrest in Ethiopia, Angola and Kenya respectively. The AfDB issued the warning in its macroeconomic performance and outlook for 2024 in which it projected Africa’s economy to grow higher than the 3.2 per cent recorded in 2023. The AfDB projected that growth on the continent will rebound to 3.8% in 2024. However, the bank cautioned that an increase in fuel and commodity prices occasioned by currency depreciation or subsidy removal in Nigeria, Angola, Kenya and Ethiopia could trigger internal conflicts. It stated, “Internal conflicts and violence could also result from rising prices for fuel and other commodities due to weaker domestic currencies and reforms. “For instance, the removal of fuel subsidies in Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria and the resulting soc...

A notorious cult leader and the prime suspect in the brutal murder of the late Divisional Police Officer, SP Bako Angbashim, in the state, Gift Okpara, popularly referred to as 2Baba, has been reportedly killed in a police-led major security raid. The police and other security agencies were said to have conducted land and aerial raids at the identical hideout of the Iceland cult leader and his gang at Idu-Ekpeye in Ahoada East local government area of Rivers on Saturday, February 17. According to  The Nation , the Iceland cult leader was reportedly feared dead after the operation.   Recall that in September 2023, the late DPO was ambushed and captured by the cult group led by 2Baba in the Odiemudie community, Ahoada East LGA.   2Baba and his gang then took the DPO to the forest, where they killed him and dismembered his body. The cultists then filmed him. Another source, Obi, said he saw no less than 15 vehicles and an Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) during th...