Digital Leonard Blog

 He should resign – Senators Why we dumped APC - Kwara gov   Senate President Bukola Saraki yesterday put to rest weeks of intrigues about his anticipated defection by formally dumping the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Saraki defected along with Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, members of the Kwara State Executive Council and a section of the APC structure in the state. Announcing his decision to quit the APC during a stakeholders meeting in his Ilorin residence, Saraki said his action was based on the insistence of his supporters and the guidance he received from God. Governor Ahmed, all members of the National Assembly from Kwara State, 23 members of the state House of Assembly and local government chairmen as well as members of the state executive council were present at the meeting. “We discussed this issue [defection] last week when I came home. You told me that you were tired of APC, but I asked you to exercise patie...

President Muhammadu Buhari is the new chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Buhari on Tuesday replaced the Togolese president, Faire Gnassigbe. He was named as the chairman at the end of the commission's meeting in Togo today. In a telephone interview, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu confirmed the emergence of the President, saying "He did not ask for it, they just gave it to him.”   Details later...

The Speaker of Kano State House of Assembly, Alhaji Yusuf Abdullahi Ata, was impeached yesterday because of alleged incompetence and other sundry offences.  There was an attempt to remove him two months ago but he escaped the noose. Ata who is in the good books of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, was replaced by Alhaji Kabiru Alhassan Rurum who resigned as speaker over a year ago over corruption allegations. It was difficult to establish a relationship between what transpired at the Kano Assembly yesterday and the last week’s defection of a former governor of the State, Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso, who dumped the APC for the PDP. Twenty-seven of the 40 lawmakers of the house endorsed Ata’s impeachment at yesterday’s plenary. Kwankwaso had about six loyal lawmakers in the assembly but they were yet to defect from the APC. Engineer Hamisu Ibrahim Chidari was elected as deputy speaker and Alhaji Baffa Babba Danagundi as majority leader. Other elected principal officers were Alhaji Kabiru Hassan D...

By Muideen Olaniyi (Abuja) & Romoke W. Ahmad (Ilorin)  A caretaker committee led by Bashir Bolarinwa has been appointed to head the Kwara State Executive Committee of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). This followed the dissolution of the state party executive led by Alhaji Isola Balogun Fulani, an associate of Senate President Bukola Saraki, by the APC National Working Committee (NWC) at a meeting held yesterday in Abuja. In a resolution signed by the party’s National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and the National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni, the NWC also constituted caretaker committees in the wards and local government areas of Kwara State. According to the resolution, “The NWC at its meeting of 30th, July, 2018, examined the unfolding developments within the party in Kwara State, specifically the irregularities that characterized the conduct and outcome of the congresses that produced the leadership of the party at all levels. “The Committee also reviewed actions...

8 lawmakers move against gov ‘He’s targeted for quitting APC’ The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday said over N20bn Benue State funds have been laundered under the watch of Governor Samuel Ortom.  Top EFCC investigators who spoke to Daily Trust said the discoveries were made following intelligence reports about the suspicious transactions. Investigators said they discovered about N20bn were withdrawn from four bank accounts operated by the Benue State government from June 2015 to March 2018. The EFCC said the funds were laundered through several N10m withdrawals within two days after the accounts received money from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC). Investigators said two of the bank accounts being investigated were opened as ‘Benue State Government House Account’ respectively. The accounts were said to have received over N1.9bn between June 2015 and March 2018. The EFCC said records show that three Benue State government officials - Emman...

  Three members of staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have been remanded in prison custody for alleged money laundering. They were remanded by the Federal High Court in Lagos presided over by Justice Justice Muslim Hassan. The INEC officials are Yemi Akinwonmi, Dickson Atiba, and Ogunmodede Oladayo, who were brought before the judge on Monday. The INEC officials in Ogun State were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly laundering the sum of N179.8 million. EFCC alleged that the suspects in March 2015 within the jurisdiction of the court conspired to take the sum which they ought to have reasonably known were part of proceeds of fraud, without going through any financial institution, thereby committing an offence contrary to section 18a of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act of 2011 as amended. The EFCC noted that the crime was punishable under section 15 (3) and (4) of the same Act. The three persons, however, pl...

Niger Delta communities, under the aegis of host communities of Nigerian producing oil and gas, have called on the federal government to set aside 10 percent of the federation account for their development.  They want oil companies operating in the region to concede 10 percent equity participation share to host communities. The chairman of the body, Style Benjamin  stated this weekend at Warri, Delta State, during the inauguration of its executive body. He said: “Host communities should be directly involved in the management of their resources to give them sense of  belonging. Oil is regarded as national asset as a result of the land use act. Therefore, incomes derived from it are shared by all tiers of government.  The same cannot be said of gas flare fines. The 1985 Associated Gas re injection act which introduced payment of fines should be amended by this act so that gas flare  fines are paid directly to the host communities as injuries and damages.”

Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has said that he was confident that President Muhammadu Buhari would win the 2019 presidential election for a second term in the office. Akeredolu told the Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Atlanta, U.S. that Buhari had done well and deserved to be re-elected, in spite of obvious challenges. “I followed the achievements he (Buhari) has had within this four short years but he’s not someone that is given to making noise. “A lot has changed in our country and there’s need for continuity; no doubt, we have had our challenges. “No doubt, at the tail end, a number of challenges came about on security. “But that notwithstanding, to get us out of recession within a short time is not a mean feat; people don’t just appreciate it. “To now talk about a number of other things; when you talk about light, where you have light, is anybody talking about it? “To talk about what we have been able to save in terms of cutting corruption, so many li...

Nasarawa State Governor Umaru Al-Makura yesterday relieved nine commissioners and two Special Advisers of their appointments in a cabinet shuffle. Secretary to the State Government, Mr Mohammed Abdullahi, disclosed this in a statement in Lafia. Abdullahi said the cabinet reshuffle was to enable the affected persons to focus on their political aspirations in the 2019 general elections and for others to pursue their goals. The statement listed affected commissioners as Abdulhamid Kwarra of Ministry of Environment and Solid Minerals; Gabriel Aka’Ka, Ministry of Water Resources and Rural Development and Mrs Mary Enwongulu of Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development. Also affected were Bamaiyi Anagba, Youth and Sports Development; Dr Daniel Iya, Health; Yusuf Shehu Usman, Information, Culture and Tourism and Sonny Agassi, Lands and Physical Planning. Others were Mr Mohammed Yahaya, Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport and Tanko Zubair, Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Cooperat...

Some members of the House of Representatives, under the auspices of Parliamentary Democrats Group (PDG) have cautioned the All Progressives Congress (APC) to avoid intimidating Speaker Yakubu Dogara over his plans to dump the party. Spokesman of the group, Timothy Golu (PDP, Plateau) who presented the lawmakers’ position after a meeting in Abuja yesterday, described “APC’s desperate attempt to keep Dogara in the party” as “sheer waste of time.” The group said, Dogara reserves the right to defect to any political party of his choice without fear of impeachment as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, saying APC has no right to sack him from the position. “It is laughable that the APC is begging the Speaker to remain in a party that has failed. Whereas the APC worked against his emergence, other members who saw his nationalistic spirit voted for him. “He is the speaker of the House of Representatives, not of the APC,” Golu said.  The group wondered why APC wants to retain the ...

Mace The just sacked speaker of Kano state House of Assembly, Alhaji Yusuf Abdullahi Ata was sacked over allegation of corruption, we learnt. Other allegation leveled against the former speaker was late coming. He is also accused of npt carrying other principal officers in running the affairs of the house. Details later...

Senator Dino Melaye has explained how he escaped an alleged assassination attempt by suspected policemen around Gwagwalada, FCT, Abuja on his way to attend a court case in Lokoja last Thursday. Melaye (PDP, Kogi) told reporters in Abuja yesterday that he had to run into the bush for his dear life and climbed a tree on which he spent hours. He said he left Abuja early in the morning on Thursday for Lokoja but realized that a Siena car was trailing him only for the occupants to overtake, block and started shooting at his vehicle. Melaye, who joined the PDP last Tuesday, said when the suspected assassins realized that his vehicle was bulletproof, they halted his movement and attempted to burn it. “When I realized that they wanted to burn my vehicle, I quickly opened the car and ran into the bush. I had to run for my life. It was the grace of God that made me to escape. “When I got into the bush, I climbed a tree and stayed there. While on the tree, I saw two of the policemen coming to loo...

Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State said his administration would surpass the achievements of his predecessor, Olusegun Mimiko in the area of quality, accessible and affordable health care in the state. Akeredolu said in a phone interview with the Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Atlanta, U.S. that his administration was doing a lot, continuing from where Mimiko left. The governor, however, commended his predecessor for his feat in the provision of health care for the people, a feat that won the state international recognition. He said: “we are doing a lot; we have five cardinal points. “We had like a contract with the people of Ondo State. “One of them is for us to make health affordable and accessible and this is what we are trying to do. “I never run away from the fact that I met on the ground, a commendable health facility; but a few of them have run down, even before we got there. “So, we needed to up it a bit and make sure that they meet with modern trends or ...

Mace Kano Speaker, Alhaji Abdullahi Yusuf Ata has been removed from office this morning. Twenty seven out of the 44 lawmakers endorsed his impeachment this morning during the prelinery. The house subsequently elected Kabiru Alhassan Rurum as new speaker. Details later...

A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)'s presidential aspirant, Dr Datti Baba-Ahmed has said that the method and approach adopted by President Muhammadu Buhari in fighting corruption are inappropriate and cannot yield positive results. Speaking to newsmen in Kano, Baba-Ahmed said Buhari should have start the crusade with people serving under his administration before extending investigation to those that served under previous governments. Dr Baba-Ahmed said logically, the president should have investigate all the corrupt people in his cabinet before investigating those that served under previous governments. He alleged that, "Buhari-led government is also corrupt because the APC was sponsored with looted money to form government in 2015. Two serving ministers in Buhari's government, Fashola and Amechi have been rewarded with juicy ministries as a result of their financial contributions to Buhari and APC during 2015 elections. "One of the effective ways of fighting corruptio...