News

Arewa, Ohanaeze Youths, Others Meet, Say Buhari Has Failed

Published

7 years ago

March 27, 2018

Eric

The leadership of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, the youth wing of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, the Yoruba Youth Council and 54 other groups met in Abuja on Monday.

The groups, in a communiqué issued at the end of their meeting, said the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government had failed the nation.

They said the government had failed in securing the nation from the herdsmen killing people in the North and other parts of the country.

“The present government under President Muhammadu Buhari has failed in all ramifications and Nigerians, particularly the youths, must begin to examine other options and review the leadership selection process,” they said.

They vowed to mobilise Nigerian youths across all ethnic divides to work for a more stable and guaranteed future for the populace.

This is just as they called on all Nigerian youths to rise up and be part of the selection process that would guarantee their future.

The meeting was convened by the National President, National Ethnic Nationalities Leaders, Alhaji Shettima Yerima, who is also the leader of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum.

At the meeting, they examined the security situation in the country and the uncertainties in the political and economic environment.

Signatories to the communiqué included; Yerima, B. Oweilaemi (President, Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide and Ethnic Nationalities Forum of Niger Delta); Okechukwu Isiguzoro (Deputy Chairman, Ethnic Nationalities Youth Leaders) and National President, (Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide); and Eric Oluwole(National Secretary Ethnic Nationalities Youth Leaders and National President, Yoruba Youth Council.

They expressed concern that in the past three years of the Buhari presidency, Nigerians, especially youths, were being killed and maimed, under various guises while the country’s elite and politicians “only quarrel and raise further tensions.”

The groups said the meeting was necessitated by “our concern over the deepening poverty and restiveness among the nation’s youths due to long neglect by the authorities.”

They said, “Worried by the recent uncertain twists in the country which are punctuated by crises and conflicting perceptions, the leaders of Nigeria’s ethnic nationality youth groups met in Abuja to review the state of the nation.

“It’s close to three years since the present government was sworn in with Muhammadu Buhari as president and Nigerians, especially the youths, are yet to feel any meaningful change.

“It’s been one challenge after the other, from stinging poverty, to mass joblessness, to pervading insecurity, to painful fuel scarcity, to poor power supply and to a persistent instability in the value of the naira.”

They added that while the government of President Buhari had an upper hand over the Boko Haram insurgents, the sect appeared to be more emboldened with the recent abductions and intensified attacks and killings.

As a way forward, the groups called on Nigerian youths to resist the temptations of being used as tools for the dirty jobs of unscrupulous politicians, religious and ethnic jingoists and merchants of hate and division.

The communiqué added, “We insist that the government must take visibly serious steps towards an extensive restructuring of the country as the only remaining available solution to the current economic and political woes.”

“We resolve to mobilise youths across all ethnic divides to work for a more stable and guaranteed future devoid of undue manipulation by the present crop of bankrupt elite.

“We therefore call on the youths everywhere to wake up and participate actively in the leadership selection processes in their local governments, states and the federation.”

The Punch

News

Ex-Polaris Bank Chief Remanded in Prison Custody for Alleged Fraud

Published

3 days ago

November 19, 2024

Eric

The Special Offences Court sitting in the Ikeja area of Lagos State, on Monday, remanded a former branch manager of Polaris Bank, Abiodun Sanni, at the Ikoyi Custodial Centre for alleged multi-million naira fraud.

Sanni was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 16-count charge bordering on obtaining credit by false pretences, forgery, use of false documents, and stealing.

The EFCC counsel, Orhieoghene Adewunmi, told the court that Sanni committed the offences at the Iju branch of the bank in Lagos on February 24, 2020.

The lawyer stated that the defendant, as the branch manager of Polaris Bank, obtained from the bank a credit sum of N17 million in form of a loan.

He said Sanni collected the loan on the pretext that the loan had collateral in the form of a fixed deposit worth N111.1 million, which belonged to one Yinkus Multi-biz Ventures.

The EFCC lawyer also alleged that the former bank manager dishonestly converted a Polaris Bank fixed deposit account worth N15.1 million, belonging to one Joshua Atolagbe, to his personal use.

According to Adewunmi, the alleged offences contravene Sections 36(1), 278(1), 313(1)(a), 361 (1) and 364 (1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

Sanni, however, pleaded not guilty to all the counts preferred against him.

Adewunmi urged the court to remand the defendant.

“My lord the prosecution intends to call 10 witnesses in this case. We urge the court to remand the defendant in custody in view of his not-guilty plea,” the EFCC lawyer said.

The defence counsel, Osho Oludoshu, told the court that he had filed a bail application.

The presiding judge, Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe, thereafter, remanded Sanni at the custodial centre.

Justice Abike-Fadipe adjourned the case to March 6, 2025, for the commencement of trial.

News

INEC Declares APC’s Aiyedatiwa Winner of Ondo Guber Election

Published

5 days ago

November 17, 2024

Eric

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, as the winner of the just concluded Ondo State governorship election, held on Saturday, November 16, 2024.

The Returning Officer for the election Olayemi Akinwumi, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi State declared Aiyedatiwa winner of the election on Sunday, extending the governor’s stay at the Government House in Alagbaka, Akure.

Governor Aiyedatiwa polled 366,781 votes to defeat his closest rival and a former deputy governor of the state Ajayi Agboola who flew the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag. He scored 117,845 votes, more than twice lower than the APC candidate.

“That Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa of the APC having satisfied the requirement of the law is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” the returning officer said at exactly 2:30 pm at the INEC collation centre in Akure.

The declaration came hours after the collation of results for the election began in the early hours of Sunday. Although the collation centre went on breaks, the APC took a commanding lead with over 200,000 votes ahead of the PDP.

The final results showed that the APC won the election in a landslide, clearing all 18 local government areas.

News

PDP Chieftain Sues IGP Egbetokun over Police Invasion of Home

Published

6 days ago

November 16, 2024

Eric

A former National Deputy Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Diran Odeyemi has filed a fundamental rights suit against the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.

Also joined in the suit is the Osun State Commissioner of Police.

The suit dated November 7, 2024, was filed before a Federal High Court in Osogbo, Osun State capital.

In an affidavit in support of originating summons, Odeyemi accused armed agents of the defendants of invading his residence at Ibadan on October 26, without prior notice.

The plaintiff said the invasion of his residence and attempt to unlawfully arrest him was part of plans by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to silence leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State.

Odeyemi alleged that the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje on 20th of October, 2024, declared in Akure, Ondo State capital that the party had a secret strategy to recapture Osun State for APC, adding that what played out at his residence was part of the broader plans of the APC.

The plaintiff asked the court to determine where the attempt and threat by the defendants and their agents to arrest him on wilful investigation of some stalwarts of the APC do not constitute an infringement of his fundamental rights to personal liberty, freedom of movement, expression and association.

The ground of the originating summons includes, “The plaintiff by virtue of sections 35, 39, 40, 41 and 46 under Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and under the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights is entitled to enjoy his rights to personal liberty, freedom of movement, freedom of expression and freedom of association.

‘The Plaintiff, being a citizen of Nigeria, has the right to move freely without any inhibition, express his thoughts, associate freely, and enjoy his dignity without being harassed, intimidated,d, or hindered in any way or manner.

“The Defendants and their officers are rigorously attempting to violate the plaintiff’s fundamental rights to personal liberty, freedom of movement freedom of expression, and freedom of association by threatening and planning to intimidate, harass, molest, and unlawfully arrest and detain him on wilful instigation of some politicians within the All Progressives Congress who are hellbent on framing the Plaintiff in order to silence him, as part of the All Progressives Congress secret strategy to recapture Osun State and wrestle power from the Peoples Democratic Party in the State., come 2026.

“The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress boastfully stated in Akure on the 20th October 2024 that the APC had a secret strategy to recapture Osun State from the Peoples Democratic Party but that he would not reveal the secret and his threatening statement was widely reported in the media.

“In what appears like the commencement of the secret political machinations, the agents of the Defendants, at the instance of some APC politicians and without having ever invited the Plaintiff, invaded the Plaintiff’s home on the 26th day of October 2024 in an attempt to unlawfully arrest, detain, harass and intimidate the Plaintiff but they failed because the Plaintiff was not in the country”