EFCC Arraigns Former Minister, Shekarau in Court

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has re-arraigned a former Minister of Education and one time Governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, before a Federal High Court sitting in Kano

The former minister was arraigned alongside a former Foreign Affairs Minister, Amb. Aminu Wali and a former Commissioner in the state Alhaji Mansur Ahmed on a six count charge of conspiracy and money laundering to the tune of N950,000,000

Mallam Shekarau’s re-arraignment before Justice A. L. Allegoa of the Federal High Court followed the transfer of Justice Zainab Bage Abubakar, who militarily arraigned him in may 2018 to another court.

One of the charge sheets held “that Ibrahim Shekarau, Aminu Wali and Ahmed Mansur on or about the 25th of March 2015, within the Kano Division of the Federal High Court retain, took possession and control of the cash sum of N950 million which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of an unlawful act of Deizani Allison-Madueke to wit: gratification, commits an offense contrary to Section 15 (1) of the Money Laundering Provision Act 2011 (As Amended) and punishable under Section 15 (3) of the same Act.

The three Defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against them following which the prosecution counsel, Johnson Ojogbane, asked the court to fix a date for the trial.

Defense Counsel, JS Okutepa (SAN) appealed to the court to allow the defendants to continue to enjoy the bail earlier granted them by the court which was granted by the court.

The case was therefore adjourned to the 19th, 20th and 21st of November, 2018 for the commencement of trial.

Labour Party not part of PDP Coalition -Mike Omotosho

National Chairman of Labour Party (LP), Mike Omotosho, has said the party is not in any coalition with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and other 30 political parties to challenge the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the next year’s general election.

He said the PDP listed over 30 political parties among those in its planned coalition to challenge APC, adding that some of the political parties had denied consenting to the coalition, with the Labour Party publicly dissociating itself from the merger, which he described as “a clandestine gathering and an unholy alliance of strange bedfellows.”

Omotosho reiterated that Labour Party is guided by strict principles and ideals, which cannot be compromised, saying the LP is not just a political party, but, also, a movement.

He described Labour Party as a people-driven organisation established to fight for the rights and interests of the people, rather than those of the political class.

He alleged that the rumoured coalition was the contraption of the former national chairman of the party, Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, who, he alleged has been masquerading as the party’s chairman, adding that the former chairman was removed from office at a special national convention on October 3, 2017, and should, therefore, not speak for the party.

He said: “We wish to unequivocally state that the Labour Party is not part of any coalition. The leadership of the party has not been consulted, neither has there been any formal meeting or agreement between our party and any other political party in Nigeria.”

He said the coalition, as it were, was a brainchild of the PDP, and as such, could not be trusted to embody the political ideals that Nigerians expect of the party.

He hinged his scepticism from the fact that the merger, which he described as heterogeneous one, would not stand the test of time, when the components groups begin to press for their respective interests, citing as an example, the challenges that engulfed the APC recently.

He urged politicians targeting the Labour Party for their selfish interests, to look elsewhere, adding that Labour Party is an institutional party attached to the Nigerian Labour Congress, the Trade Union Congress, and the civil society, which oversee its activities and monitor its progress.

Security Council Meets in Peaceful Elections

The National Security Council (NSC) meeting held on Thursday on the security situation in the country and the effect on the conduct of the 2019 general elections.

The Minister of Defence, Brig.- Gen. Mansur Dan-Ali (rtd), reported that President Muhammadu Buhari presided over the meeting at the Presidential Villa.

He said meeting recommended the deployment of security agencies to the states, to enable the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conduct the elections peacefully.

Mr Dan-Ali was hopeful that the deployment of security personnel would further douse the tension created by the outcome of the political parties’ primaries and “some desperate persons” to sabotage the electoral process.

According to him, the meeting also addressed an attempt to put pressure on the electoral body by some notable personalities through demonstrations.

He, however, said the situation was brought under control by combined efforts of security agencies to avoid the process being hijacked by hoodlums or armed bandits.

The minister pointed out that another area of security concern discussed at the meeting was post-election violence, to prevent “desperate politicians” from whipping up ethno-religious sentiments to create a security situation in the country.

He said the Council discussed the proliferation and stockpiling of weapons by some disgruntled elements with a desire to take laws into their hands at the slightest opportunity.

The Council also called for the concerted effort of all security agencies to ensure that the 2019 general elections were hitch free.

Similarly, it stressed the need for continuous sensitisation of the public by the National Orientation Agency (NOA).

The Council further called for regular meetings of relevant stakeholders including INEC, as well as international and local election observers and the media ahead of the polls.

Although the Chief of Defence Staff was absent, the Chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as the Inspector General of Police attended the meeting.

Also in attendance are the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Abba Kyari; Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Mr Boss Mustapha; and the National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd)

Abubakar Sanni should account for N500Billion. -PDP’s Candidate UmarNasko

The governorship candidate of the People Democratic Party (PDP) for 2019 election in Niger State, Alhaji Umar Nasko, has accused the All Progressive Congress (APC) led administration in the state of squandering N500 billion in the last three years without anything to show for it.

Alhaji Nasko said the APC government has, between 2015 to date, collected over N500 billion in allocation and other grants from the Federation Account, but cannot point to a single project worth N5 billion in the last three years.

The governorship candidate in his various social media handles, regretted that despite the huge sums of money that has accrued to the state, the present administration has incurred a debt of N100 billion.

“N500 billion received between 2015 to date and no project worth N5 billion can be found anywhere in the state, debt profile is now N100 billion, this cannot happen with Nasko as the governor,” he said.

He pointed out that while hospitals, schools and other infrastructure are begging for attention in the state, the government expended a whole N1.990 billion to build fence around government house, a project he said has no direct bearing on the people.

He also asked the APC administration to account for over N50 billion bailout and Paris refund which he alleged had gone into private pockets.

He said the choice facing the people in 2019 is between moving forward and failed promises, adding that he would take full responsibility for governance and will not become an absentee governor.

Nasko, while lamenting the deplorable condition of roads in the state, wondered why a government that has received this huge amount of money could not fix the 84-kilometer Minna-Bida Road and the 94-kilometer Minna-Suleja Road which have claimed many lives in recent time.

“They said they promised nothing and so Niger people should not expect anything. I’m promising and I’ll keep my promise because leadership requires innovative ideas and not blame game”, he said.

He gave the assurance that if voted into office, he will eliminate the discriminations in the payment of school fees at all levels of education in the state, stressing that “I believe that every child should have equal opportunity to education regardless of tribe and ethnic nationalities.

“I will make Niger State, a state for all where everyone will have equal opportunity irrespective of zone, tribe or ethnic background”.

Nasko stated further that Welfare of civil servants will top his agenda “because they are the backbone of development, massive infrastructure, investment. Poverty reduction will also be my priority”.

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GLO Announces Massive Network Upgrades for Calls and Data Services

Globacom, has announced that it recently concluded a massive and comprehensive upgrade of its architecture across Nigeria to optimize its efficiency and radically improve the experience of subscribers on the network.

In a statement released in Lagos, the company said it had built hundreds of new transmitting sites across Nigeria to complement existing ones and massively improve the telco’s signals. This is intended to give more Nigerians access to relish Globacom’s very reliable 2G, 3G and 4G services.

The statement added that it had swapped obsolete parts with brand new state-of-the-art components, provided new power supply equipment in all transmitting sites, while fiber relocation had been completed resulting in higher fiber route and network availability.

“Transmission capacity has been increased with pure IP (Internet Protocol) backhaul in several states across Nigeria. The data core network interface ports have been upgraded from 40 GB to 100GB thereby doubling the network handling capacity”, the statement declared.

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