Digital Leonard Blog

President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected the bill seeking to establish the Nigeria Peace Corps. The president said the functions of the corps as contained in the bill were duplication of existing security agencies. Both chambers of the National Assembly had months ago passed the bill and transmitted it to the President for assent. But in a letter read by Speaker Yakubu Dogara during plenary session yesterday, Buhari cited Section 58(4) of the Constitution as the basis for his refusal to assent the bill. Buhari said in the letter dated January 25, 2018, that “Pursuant to section 58(4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), I hereby convey to the House of Representatives, my decision, on 25th January, 2018 to decline Presidential Assent to the Nigeria Peace Corps (Establishment) Bill, 2017 recently passed by the National Assembly. “Specifically, reasons for the decision to decline assent to this bill include among others: Security concerns regarding the...

The Operation Safe Corridor of the Nigerian Army on Wednesday graduated 95 of the 254 ex-insurgents undergoing four months de-radicalisation training in Gombe State. Brig.-Gen. Bamidele Shafa, Coordinator of the programme, said during the graduation that the clients were subjected to all kinds of training in skills acquisition, mainly cosmetology, barbing and shoe making. “Our clients are enthusiastic and eager to practise what they have learnt after leaving the camp,” he said. The coordinator said they would further the training with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in their various states. Shafa said other trades like furniture making, tailoring and welding would be introduced soon. He said the programme was also planning to introduce fish and poultry farming in the nearest future. Giving the breakdown of the programme in camp, Col. Adetuyi Moses, Camp commander, said 20 of the 95 clients who graduated were minors. He said the clients were subjected to skill acquisition a...

The ongoing Lassa fever epidemic reached record high with 317 cases in the first two months of 2018, surpassing the total cases recorded for the entire 2017. This week alone, laboratory tests confirmed 54 new cases of the disease in eight states, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. Between January 1 and February 25, 1,081 cases suspected to be Lassa have been reported across 18 states and 90 people have died. In the first six weeks of 2018 alone, some 458 cases were supposed to be Lassa: 125 were confirmed by lab tests, and 36 people died across 27 states.. by contrast last year, 138 suspected cases were reported across 10 states and 21 people died. At least 69% of the all the infections this year have been in Edo and Ondo states. The latest confirmed infections also come from Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Plateau, Kogi, Imo and Ekiti—and include 14 health workers. Over the weekend, 42 people were hospitalised at Irrua Specialist Hospital, which runs a reference lab f...

The Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) on Wednesday announced dates for general elections in the country for the next 36 years, starting from 2019 to 2055. Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mamood Yakubu, made the announcement at a consultative meeting with leaders of political parties in Abuja. “In 2019, the dates are Feb. 16 and March 2; in 2023, the dates are Feb. 18 and March 4. “In 2027, the dates are Feb. 20 and March 6; in 2031, it is Feb.15 and March 1. “In 2035, it is Feb. 17 and March 3; in 2039, it is Feb.19 and March 5 and in 2043, it will hold on Feb. 21 and March 7. “In 2047, it is Feb.15 and March 2; in 2051, it is Feb.18 and March 1; in 2055, it is Feb. 20 and March 6,” Yakubu said. He pointed out that in other democracies of the world periods of elections were generally known and were not topics for speculation. Yakubu explained that the aim was to engender certainty in the election calendar and allow for long-term planning by the commission ...

The Senate on Wednesday resolved to investigate allegation of double registration leveled against Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello. The resolution to probe the allegation followed observation by Senator Mohammed Hassan (Yobe South) on the need to establish the truth or otherwise of the allegation. Hassan told his colleagues that when it was reported that Bello did double registration, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) confirmed it at a press conference the electoral umpire held on the matter. He said that it was also reported that the Kogi State Governor could not be prosecuted because of his immunity. Hassan noted that it was further reported that Bello had been issued another voter’s card by the same INEC that confirmed double registration allegation against Bello. He prayed the Senate to look into the matter with a view to establishing the true situation regarding Bello’s registration to vote or be voted for in any election in the country. He note...

Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole has inspected the second Radiotherapy machine for Cancer treatment at the National Hospital Abuja, Wednesday. The Elekta machine for Linear Accelerator (LINAC) is made up of several components which would be coupled and made functional for patients in June, 2018. Speaking during the inspection tour, Prof. Adewole said the Abuja Radiotherapy centre would be running two Linear accelerators at the same time. He further said that “the beauty of having two Machines is that if one pack up, the second one will be in use for the benefit of cancer patients’’. Prof. Adewole lauded the Shell Petroleum Development Company for donating the cancer treatment machine which he said would contribute immensely to the fight against cancer while calling on other Multi National Organisations, Individuals and Groups to undertake such gesture as part of their social reponbility to the citizenry. He further reiterated Federal Gove...

Senator John Owan Enoh the Senator Representing the central Senatorial district of Cross River state exchanges Pleasantries with constituents in all progressive congress APC Secretariat cross river chapter during the Party's Chairman Election

The Executive Secretary of the Gombe State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Danlami Arabs Rukuje alongside two others were arraigned before a state High Court, over alleged diversion of materials meant for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Rukuje alongside store keeper of the agency, Isa Garba and one Mu’azu Sulaiman KT, were arraigned before the court over three-count charge bordering on criminal conspiracy and theft. According to the court document, the trio had between May and August 2017 conspired among themselves and diverted building materials which includes; 5000 bags of Portland cement and 2, 081 drums of 20 litres of paints, which were donated by the Presidential Committee on the North-East Initiatives (PCNI), for onward distribution to the IDPs. The EFCC counsel, Barrister Abdulhamid Mustapha Labaran, said the offenses committee under the jurisdiction of the court, were contrary to Sections 96 and 286, punishable under Sections 97 (1) and 287 of the Penal Code Law o...

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the re-appointment of Mr Olusegun Awolowo as Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC). According to a letter signed by Mr Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the appointment lasts for four years. According to a statement Wednesday by the presidential spokesman Mr Femi Adesina, Awolowo, a lawyer and scion of the Obafemi Awolowo family, was first appointed to the NEPC position in 2013.  

Imo State Deputy Governor, Eze Madumere, has rejected his principal, Governor Rochas Okorocha’s offer to contest for the Imo East Senatorial election in 2019. Governor Okorocha had asked his deputy to contest for Senate instead of the governorship election to pave way for the Chief of Staff and his son in-law, Uche Nwosu, who he has endorsed as his successor. But Madumere who is from Owerri zone which has not produced a governor since the return to democracy in 1999, insisted that he has made up his mind to contest for the office of the governor in 2019.

A Kano State High Court on Tuesday  adjourned  hearing in a suit filed by Aljafariyya Shiite Movement against Kano State Government until April 10. The Shiite group filed a suit seeking the state government to pronounce that the alleged arrest and detention of their members by Nigerian Police sometime in 2016 violated the freedom of religion and free movement. The Presiding Judge, Justice Suleiman Na Malam, adjourned the case until April 10 for hearing. Counsel to the Plaintiff, Mr Muhammad Bakaro, urged the court to order the Kano State Government to pay N500 million compensation to the movement. However, Counsel to the respondents, Mr Sunusi Ma’aji, served the Aljafariyya movement through the counsel, Muhammad Bakaro, with an application on the adjourned suit. Other respondents in the suit are Kano State Commissioner of Police and the state’s Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice .

The Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN ) has commenced the disbursement of smaller naira denomination notes to traders across the country to improve circulation of N5, N10, N20, and N50 notes in the markets. The pilot exercise was held in Abuja yesterday and the acting Director, Currency Operations Department, CBN Mrs Priscilia Eleje said the campaign was targeted at the informal sector, especially traders in markets with the aim of increasing the circulation of the smaller units of the naira to make doing business easier. According to her, the Federal Capital Territory will be used as the pilot stage of the new campaign and if successful, will be replicated nationwide to ensure that traders desist from hiking prices of goods, simply to avoid looking for “change.’’ According to her, new naira notes will be distributed to traders within Wuse and Garki Markets and others through their associations. “The notes we will be disbursing are mints. This money is not meant for you to keep in your hou...

The Federal Government has set up a 12-member committee to unravel the circumstances surrounding the abduction of 110 students from a girls’ school in Yobe State.  Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State was attacked by insurgents on Monday last week. The committee, which will be inaugurated today, is expected to submit its report by March 15. The committee was convened by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd).  Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said in a statement yesterday that the committee will be headed by a Major General. It will be made up of  one senior Provost each from the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Air Force. Others are representatives of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA); Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA); Nigeria Police Force; Department of State Services (DSS); Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).  Also on the committee are tw...

Farmers’ clash in Akaeze, Ivo local government area of Ebonyi state on Tuesday with herdsmen has left four persons from both sides seriously injured. While three herdsmen where left with serious head injuries one of the farmers received machete cuts on various parts of his body. The farmer who sustained serious matechete cuts wounds, is receiving treatment at the Emergency Ward of Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki(FETHA) while the injured herdsmen are receiving treatment at a hospital in Awgu, Enugu state. Reports say the residents of the community have fled for fear of attack. It was gathered that herdsmen from Mpu, Enugu state invaded farmlands in Akaeze  and destroyed farm crops which angered one of the farmers that was butchered who confronted them, leading to his matechete attack by the rampaging herdsmen. The farmer who has matechete cuts allover his body,  has been unconscious in the hospital. The incident forced the state Governor D...

A former member of Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North, Barr. Aisha Alkali Wakil (a.ka. Mama Boko Haram) on Tuesday asked the Abu Musab Al-Barnawi-led faction of Boko Haram to release the 110 girls abducted from the Government Girls’ Science Technical College, Dapchi. Wakil’s appeal followed fresh lead that the Al-Barnawi faction had been operating along Yobe State axis and might have abducted the girls. Al-Barnawi (named Habib at birth) was said to be the son of the late founder of Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād (now known as Boko Haram), Mohammed Yusuf, who was killed in police custody on July 30, 2009. Following irreconcilable differences on Boko Haram’s modus operandi, Al-Barnawi parted ways with the sect. But Wakil, a North-East human rights activist with strong links with Boko Haram, spoke with PRNigeria in Maiduguri, Borno State, and urged Al-Barnawi to spare the girls. According to PRNigeria, the activist who cried prof...

The pioneer President of Nigeria Labour Congress ( NLC ), Comrade Hassan A. Summonu has said that most of the Advisers and so called technocrats in the Buhari government does not have the capacity to move the nation forward as they were merely playing politics with the life of Nigerians. Summonu who was contributing to the discussion on the future of work at the ongoing 40th anniversary celebration of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said the President’s advisers were working hard to turn Nigerians to starved slaves. He said government’s reactive, rather than proactive measures has contributed largely to drawing the country backward, pointing out that most of the socio economic and security challenges can be attributed to unemployment. He said: “Some of the so called technocrats in the present  government and advisers of Buhari are mere Buharist, they cannot move Nigeria forward. So NLC and other civil society organisations across Nigeria must fight those people who want to d...

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Abuja, said the All Progressives Congress ( APC ) -led Federal Government had stabilised Nigeria in spite of obvious challenges. He stated this at APC National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting. “I am happy to report that slowly and steadily, we have managed to stabilise the country and redirect the ship of state. “We have restored prudence to the management of resources and confidence in Nigeria. “We have stabilised the Naira and increased our foreign reserve from 20 billion dollars to 40 billion dollars. Inflation rate is down. “With considerably less resources available to the country, we have improved all the indices towards a stronger economy,” the president said. He added that credit should be given to governors of APC-controlled states, chairmen of the party in the states for contributing to stabilising the polity. Buhari also commended the Armed Forces, the police and other security agencies for stopping Boko Haram and driving them from ...