Headline

Benue: Buhari Queries IG, Demands Full Report of Police Operations

Published

6 years ago

March 14, 2018

Eric

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday summoned the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Buhari seized the opportunity of the encounter to query Idris for flouting his directive that he should relocate to Benue State following the killings recorded in the state.

The meeting was said to have lasted about 30 minutes after which Idris left the Presidential Villa without talking to anybody.

A source in the Presidency told journalists last night, “Police IG, Idris, was the first caller this (Tuesday) morning at the Presidential Villa apparently to explain his flouting of the President’s order to remain in Benue at the height of the clash between farmers and herdsmen.

“President Buhari who is believed to have summoned the IG, received him in a private audience. The IG left about 30 minutes after without speaking to anyone.

“It is believed the President demanded for a full report on police operations till date after which he will make further decisions.

“There is a renewed resolve to make sure that the killings and bad security situation in Benue State abate.”

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed the meeting to our correspondent.

Shehu however refused to disclose details of the meeting.

Meanwhile, the Presidency had earlier on Tuesday said President Buhari would first ask Idris to defend himself against the allegation of disobeying a presidential order before taking any action on the allegation.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, had said this while answering questions during a radio programme, Political Platform, on RayPower FM.

Buhari had during a meeting with stakeholders in Makurdi during his visit to Benue State on Monday said he was not aware that Idris ignored his instruction to relocate to the state when the recent killings started.

“But I did not know that the IG did not stay in the state. I am getting to know this at this meeting. I am quite surprised,” the President had said when he was told that Idris did not spend 24 hours in the state.

Adesina said it would not have been proper for Buhari to act on the matter immediately the allegation was made.

He said being a fair-minded man; the President would give Idris the opportunity to defend himself against the allegation before taking the next step.

He said, “The President should act immediately and not hearing from the other side? That will not be proper. A father does not act like that.

“Even in the home, if there is an allegation from somebody, you listen to the other side before you will do whatever you will do.

“The IG, as of yesterday(Monday) I knew was out of the country. That allegation came from Benue people. Knowing the President as a fair-minded man, he is going to listen to the IG, he is going to ask him to defend himself and then the next step.”

On why it should be the people that would draw the President’s attention to the IG’s attitude when he is supposed to know how his appointees carry out his orders, Adesina said it meant that Buhari was not omniscient.

The presidential spokesman added, “It simply tells you that the President is not omniscient. No human being is omniscient, it is only God that is omniscient: He knows all things.

“The President said last week that he had his channels of getting information apart from security reports he receives as President but it does not mean that he gets every information under the sun.

“Even in the best countries in the world, the superpowers, there are still security breaches.”

Adesina also faulted those saying the IG episode had further exposed the President as not being in control of his government.

He said the fact remained that Buhari was in full charge of the government and he had been running it efficiently.

The Punch

Headline

Breaking: Wike Plans to Attend Thursday’s PDP NEC Meeting

Published

2 days ago

April 17, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The immediate past Governor of Rivers State, and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, may have concluded plans to attend the much advertised National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), billed to hold on Thursday, in Abuja.

Impeccable source, who is in the know, told The Boss that the minister, whose membership of the PDP is yet to be revoked even as he frolicks with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and serving in the President Bola Tinubu government as a minister.

The Source told The Boss that Wike’s impending presence at the NECeeting on Thursday is not unconnected with plans, already hatched with some governors, to weaken the opposition PDP.

“Yes, we have on good authority that FCT minister, Wike is planning to attend the NEC meeting tomorrow all in a bid to weaken the fabrics of the PDP, and pave the way for the continuation of the Tinubu administration come 2027, and by extension, relapse Nigeria to a full blown one party state.

“From every indication, Wike and his co-travellers, are bent on unleashing the same crisis ravaging the third force, Labour Party, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Nigerian National People’s Party (NNPP) on the PDP for the APC to remain the only political party in the country, and ensure that Tinubu has no challenger, come 2027,” the Source said.

It would be recalled that Wike has boasted over and again that there’s no opposition against Tinubu’s re-emergence in 2027, and that they have made sure of that. He has been compensated with the Ministerial job after he withdrew support for his party, and supported the APC and Tinubu to emerge as national government.

The Source further revealed that in the attempt to actualize the intended one party state, a lot of funding is ongoing to ensure that concerned stakeholders are ‘settled’ handsomely.

Wike, prior, during and after the 2023 general elections, has been floating in between the two major political parties; the APC and the PDP. While he claim to still be a member of the PDP, he is functioning as a minister in an APC government, mocking the inability of his party to discipline him.

Political stakeholders have concluded that the outcome of Thursday’s PDP NEC meeting will determine the path Nigeria’s political trajectory will take, and that it may portend the end of multi-party system and political democracy if Wike succeeds in his plan.

Headline

Bribery, Corruption: APC Suspends National Chairman, Ganduje

Published

5 days ago

April 15, 2024

Eric

The All Progressives Congress ward in Ganduje, Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, has suspended the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.

The party ward legal adviser, Halliru Gwanzo, announced the suspension while addressing newsmen in Kano State on Monday.

Gwanzo cited allegations of bribery against Ganduje levelled by the Kano State Government as the reason for the suspension.

“We decided to suspend Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje from the party due to the seriousness of the allegations against him,” Gwanzo said.

Meanwhile, efforts to contact the Chief Press Secretary to the APC National Chairman, Mr Edwin Olufo, failed as his mobile phone was unreachable.

Headline

Akpabio Commits to Collaboration with Tinubu, Governor Umo Eno

Published

1 week ago

April 12, 2024

Admin

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has stated his commitment to working closely with Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Governor Umo Eno to ensure the delivery of democratic benefits to the people of Akwa Ibom State.

Akpabio stated this in his country home, Ukana, Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, while briefing his constituents on the journey so far as their representative in the red chamber.

He assured the people of Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District of his commitment to their welfare in appreciation of their total support for him, President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in last year’s election.

The Highpoint of the constituency briefing was the distribution of over 10,000 bags of rice and other essentials for his constituents from the wards, to the local governments.

A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, quoted Akpabio as saying, “I am here once again, to thank you for standing by me, our President and the party, before, during and even after last year’s elections. I have come to say thank you and also bring Renewed Hope to you all.

“As the President is doing his own, the Senate President is also doing his bit and being complemented by the state governor, Akwa Ibom would be the better for it. We have finished elections and politics, we are now into governance. The governor of the state must touch you, because he is the governor of all the people in the state irrespective of political affiliation.

” As I am touching you now from the political angle, I will also touch the state without any political party affiliation. Most of the projects we are putting in place would be used by people resident in the state. Relax, things are getting better.”

The former Governor of the state, assured his constituents that his current position as the Senate President would be used for the development of the state in collaboration with the President and the Akwa Ibom State Governor.

Hear him: This Senate President is not the one that would be fighting the state government. I will collaborate with , I will collaborate with , to make the state better for us all. We cannot be out of government for a long time. You have to go to a government that carries you along”

Akpabio promised to work for his constituents and Nigeria with all his strength, noting that, “as the President of the Senate, I am for the Southern region and the entire country. I may not come here regularly to tell you what I have been doing for you, but you will be feeling the impact on way or the other. Our unemployed youths would be gainfully employed. I will construct a mini stadium in all the local governments in the district, for our youths to develop their sporting potentials. ”