Former head of state, Ibrahim Babangida: Nigeria is complex and difficult to manage

General Ibrahim Babangida, a former military head of state has described Nigeria as complex and a difficult entity to manage.

Babangida spoke from his residence in Minna when the leadership of  Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, minority caucus of the House of Representatives, led by Ndudi Elumelu, paid him a visit.

Consequently, he called on the legislators to perform their responsibilities honourably and diligently to make the country one entity. Babangida, who said he had been following recent developments in the country, noted:

“I am passionate in observing what is going on in the country; I have developed lots of interest in the ongoing across the country and I think the leadership of the House of Representatives, the speaker, the opposition leadership and everyone are all doing well.

“You represent the people and it is what the people wish that you take up. I want to commend you for doing your job honourably and I urge you not to give up. The country is complex and difficult because in Nigeria, there are as many opinions as there are the number of people in the country. Nigeria is a very vibrant society and what is important is the determination to carry on and you have to remain very resilient in everything you do for the benefit of the country.”

Babangida assured the lawmakers of his support where necessary, saying: “We are all together for the progress of the country and now that you have succeeded in your elections, it is now time for you to settle down to do a lot of good work for your constituency and for the country.’’

Members on the entourage of the minority leader include the Minority Whip, Gibbion Gwari and Deputy Minority Whip, Adekoya Adesegun. Others are Efe Afe,  Kpam Jimin Sokpo, Robert Tyough, Soyinka Anjola,  Femi Bamishele, Benjamin Mzondu and Samuel Onuigbo.

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Buhari’s Aide: “DSS Only Saved Him From Setting Self Ablaze”

Lauretta Onochie, the social media aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, has said that the Department of State Security (DSS) saved Omoyele Sowore from setting himself ablaze.

Mrs. Onochie said this on Saturday as her reaction following the arrest of Mr. Sowore, a former presidential candidate.

Sowore was arrested at his apartment early Saturday and his phone seized when he tried to raise alarm over the invasion.

The arrest is believed to be connected to the #RevolutionNow protests which are set to commence nationwide on August 5.

Onochie, who has been severally involved in false claims, alleged that Sowore had threatened to set himself on fire in protest to President Buhari’s administration.

While responding to a tweet, she wrote:

“This Is What DSS Saved Sowore from. (See image) With talks about setting himself ablaze, it’s in order for the security operatives, whose role it is to safeguard both lives and properties, to take him into custody to prevent him from harming himself and get him the help he needs,”

Former education minister, Oby Ezekwesili and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate in the February 23 election, Atiku Abubakar has however joined several others in calling for the release of Sowore.

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CoS Abba Kyari: Atiku wasn’t born a Nigerian

President Buhari's Chief of Staff (CoS) Abba Kyari in his testimony at the Presidential tribunal on Tuesday July 30, alleged that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar wasn't born a Nigerian. 

Abba Kyari was one of the three witnesses called in by President Buhari's legal team led by Wole Olanipekun (SAN) after they tendered 26 sets of documents. Giving his testimony after the PDP and Atiku closed their case on July 19 after calling in 62 witnesses, the CoS said Jada area of Adamawa State was still part of Northern Cameroon and referred to as French Cameroons as at November 25, 1946 when Atiku claimed that he was born. 

CoS Abba Kyari maintained that Atiku’s parents also qualified to be Cameroonians and further added that every child born in Jada and to Jada parents were automatically citizens of Cameroon by the French policy of assimilation and before the 1961 plebiscite was conducted.

However under cross-examination by Atiku's lead counsel Livy Uzoukwu (SAN), Kyari confirmed that Atiku was vice president for eight years and also contested to be the presidential candidate of the APC in 2014. The CoS who said he is from Borno but not a Cameroonian also admitted not knowing Atiku’s grandfather and father even though he is 67 years old. 

The hearing was adjourned till today July 31, at the conclusion of Kyari's testimony. 

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Abak LGA Chairman Barrister Imoh Williams suspended for assaulting man he was owing

Barrister Imoh Williams, the Chairman of Abak Local Government Area whose aides were spotted in a video assaulting an artisan over a money he (Abak LGA Chairman) owed him, has been suspended by the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly. If you missed the report, read here. 

Rt Hon. Uduak Udo-Udo, member representing Ikot Abasi state constituency brought up the assault incident involving Mr Godwin and the Abak LGA Chairman, during Thursday's plenary session.

The lawmakers condemned the sad act before handing an indefinited suspension to Imoh, pending the outcome of an investigation by the State's House of Assembly's committee on local government matters. It is expected they will report back to the assembly after a month. 

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, had on Wednesday also condemned the incident, describing it as “unacceptable in a civilised society and does not represent our core values”.

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Okorocha reacts to EFCC’s sealing of properties owned by him and his family members in Imo - Humbsblog

Rochas Okorocha has reacted to the sealing of properties owned by him and his family members by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).

Recall we reported yesterday that the anti-graft agency said they sealed the properties owned by the former Imo State Governor and his family members over their failure to appear for questioning. 

Rochas Okorocha in the statement released on his belalf by his Special Adviser on Media, Sam Onwuemeodo, claimed that most of the sealed establishments preceded his emergence as Governor of Imo State. He also debunked claims of EFCC's invitation to Managements of the Colleges and other establishments sealed.  

Read the full statement below; 

PRESS RELEASE

SUBJECT: SEALING OF ROCHAS FOUNDATION COLLEGE OWERRI WITH MORE THAN THREE THOUSAND STUDENTS & OTHER INVESTMENTS, BY AGENTS OF ENUGU OFFICE OF EFCC WITHOUT INVITATION OR INVESTIGATION.

-OBVIOUSLY, THE PDP GOVT. IN IMO INSTIGATED THE ACTION, WITH ALL THE CHIEFTAINS OF THE PARTY WHO FELT POLITICALLY DISPLACED FROM 2011 TO 2019 & GOVERNOR IHEDIOHA LAUNCHING WAR AGAINST SENATOR ROCHAS OKOROCHA, THE FAMILY AND OTHERS, IN THE STATE

1. On Tuesday, July 23, 2019, as at about 6am, Agents of the Economic & Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, from its Office in Enugu with Hilux buses loaded with armed military and mobile Policemen stormed the Rochas Foundation College Owerri, with more than three thousand students, and most of them, orphans, and sealed the College.
2. The Commission also sealed the East High College and Academy, Owerri with Uloma Rochas Nwosu as the proprietor, among other investments belonging to the former governor and family which the Commission Sealed.
3. The action of EFCC with the presence of heavily Armed Military and Police Mobile Personnel frightened the students and most of them began to cry. It was a sympathetic scenario.
4. What is obvious is that the PDP government in the State with Chief Emeka Ihedioha as governor and all the PDP Chieftains who felt politically displaced from 2011 to 2019 by Rochas Okorocha had come together to launch war against Rochas and his family. And APC members. And that was why they needed INEC to declare their Candidate winner even when he didn’t meet the requirement. Unfortunately, they have instigated certain agencies like EFCC into taking some hasty actions following flood of petitions by them.
5. Our concern about the action of the EFCC is the approach. There was no prior invitation to the Managements or Proprietors of the Colleges and other establishments sealed by the Commission as expected before such action. To the best of our knowledge too, these Colleges have not been under the investigation of the Commission. We have had the feeling that the Sealing of the Colleges or any other structure as the case maybe, would have been based on the outcome of their investigation in which the managements or the proprietors would have also been interrogated.
6. Sealing the colleges and other properties because they belong to Rochas Okorocha’s family before investigation is what is difficult for us to comprehend especially when most of these establishments had preceded the governorship of Rochas Okorocha.
7. The Rochas Foundation Colleges have existed in Imo and in several states of the Federation including Plateau, Kano, Sokoto, Kaduna, Oyo, Bauchi and so on, years before Okorocha’s governorship. And the EFCC may also go to those states outside Imo to seal the rest of the Colleges.
8. What is happening in Imo at the moment is not governance. It is a total war against Rochas and his family, APC members, members of other parties and Opponents. They said they want to make the State uncomfortable for Opponents and they are doing it with recklessness.
9. It should also not be forgotten that there is a subsisting Court Order to this effect. And we believe that the Commission’s office in Enugu is aware of the Court Order in question as it concerns the Commission and Okorocha’s investments. The EFCC is a highly responsible Institution and our appeal is that it should not be incited against Okorocha and family and should equally take cognizance of the Court Order in question.
10. Senator Rochas Okorocha and family believe strongly in the State and have relocated most of their businesses to Owerri unlike these PDP bigwigs who do not love the State, with all of them having nothing to show that they have a stake in the State.
11. We want to appeal to the EFCC to unseal the Colleges and other ventures they had sealed pending the outcome of the investigation they said they have begun. And also considering the stand of the Court of Competent Jurisdiction on the issue.
12. The students of the Colleges, most of them without parents, cannot be allowed to suffer because of the action of a wicked government in the State. It is not all about Rochas Okorocha and the family, but about humanity and posterity.

Sam Onwuemeodo

Special Adviser (Media) to the former governor, Senator Rochas Okorocha

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Reno Omokri writes Buhari open letter: If you can free repentant Boko Haram members, you can also free El-Zakzaky

Reno Omokri has asked President Buhari to release detained leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, just the way he released repentant Boko Haram members.

In an open letter he posted on his Instagram page, Reno stated that the bloody protests the Shi'ites have carried out in recent times, has shown that El-Zakzaky is very dangerous.  

Dear General Buhari,

You have been killing Shiites, and it has not worked. You have been beating them and they are even more determined. Not everybody is AFRAID of DEATH. If one strategy does not work, then try another. If you can free REPENTANT BOKO HARAM, you can also #FreeZakZaky. The man is more DANGEROUS in prison than he is outside. Learn from the cases of Nnamdi Kanu. When you arrest a leader with a FANATICAL following, you achieve 2 things. You make the followers more ERRATIC. And you make the leader appear more CHARISMATIC. It is better to DIFFUSE a BOMB than to EXPLODE it. That is how they arrested Naira Marley, now our children are dancing that dirty SOAPY

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Just In: APC rejects Onyeama’s ministerial nomination, describes it as a terrible mistake

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Enugu state, has rejected the nomination of former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, as a Minister in President Buhari's cabinet.

Onyeama was amongst the 43 ministerial nominees sent to the Senate for screening yesterday July 23rd.

The party in a statement released by its chairman, Ben Nwoye, said the nomination of Onyeama as a terrible mistake. Nwoke said going by Onyeama’s alleged abysmal performance when he served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the president’s first tenure, such “character ought not to have any business in the next level second-term agenda of the APC led federal executive council''.

According to  Nwoye, Onyeama did more harm than good to APC in Enugu state during his time as a minister, stressing that he never believed in party supremacy. He accused Onyeama of ''wasting taxpayers money in sponsoring crisis and sowing seed of discord'' within the party.

He maintained that reappointing Onyeama into the Federal Executive Council would further destroy the party in Enugu state, because” this is a man who has a penchant for thuggery and pulling down of party structure''.

The party chairman called on the Senate to investigate the allegation of tax evasion by Onyeama levelled against him in the past.

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Humbsblog.com unveils new outfit wear

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PDP tells President Buhari: Declare state of emergency on security

The Peoples Democratic Party has called on President Buhari to declare a state of emergency on security in order to address insecurity situation in the country.  
 

The PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus, made the appeal at a press conference on Tuesday in Abuja while reacting to the open letter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to President Buhari. Secondus said the advice was necessary looking at the increasing rate of cases of killing and kidnapping across the country.  

He recalled the killing of the then female international aide worker and the recent killing of Funke Olakunrin daughter of Pa Reuben Fasoranti, leader of the Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere. Secondus said that the worsen security situation between April and now had made concerned patriotic leaders to voice out their concerns.

These leaders, according to him, include Mr Obasanjo; the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan; Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka; and former governor of old Kaduna State, Balarabe Musa, among others.  Secondus described Mr Obasanjo’s letter as truth that could not be run away from, if the insecurity situation must be addressed.

“Former President Obasanjo in a timely tirade to the President on Monday raised all the issues and properly situated the security position in the country. He went further to highlight the implications of the current state of the nation and where we are headed if urgent steps are not taken.  “As National Chairman of the main opposition party I cannot agree less with the former President.

“I cannot agree less with him where he said among other things that Quote. The main issue, if I may dare say, is poor management or mismanagement of diversity which, on the other hand, is one of our greatest and most important assets…”.

Secondus said the PDP whole-heatedly associates itself with the position of the patriotic Nigerians.  “The PDP urges President Buhari to respond appropriately to their timely advisories by declaring state of emergency on security in the country and go further urgently to address the issues raised in Obasanjo’s letter.  

Secondus said the killing of Mrs Olakunrin was the high point of murdering of innocent Nigerians across the land.  “It certainly cannot be well for a nation that creates an ugly situation where a 94-year-old Nationalist would be burying her 58-year-old daughter.  “This certainly is not Nigeria of our dream.”

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Arrest Obasanjo now- Miyetti Allah tells President Buhari

The Fulani socio-cultural organisation in Nigeria, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, has called on President Buhari to as a matter of urgency, arrest former President Olusegun Obasanjo over his recent remarks on insecurity in the country.

The group said the former President in his open letter to President Buhari released today July 15th, accused Fulani herdsmen of being the root cause of insecurity in the country.

The former President in his open letter, said it is quite unfortunate that criminality has now been attached to the Fulani tribe because President Buhari is from the Fulani extraction.

''The unfortunate situation is that the criminality is being perceived as a ‘Fulani’ menace unleashed by Fulani elite in the different parts of the country for a number of reasons but even more, unfortunately, many Nigerians and non-Nigerians who are friends of Nigeria attach vicarious responsibility to you as a Fulani elite and the current captain of the Nigeria ship. Perception may be as potent as reality at times. Whatever may be the grievances of Fulanis, if any, they need to be put out in the open and their grievances, if legitimate, be addressed; and if other ethnic groups have grievances, let them also be brought out in the open and addressed through debate and dialogue''.

Reacting to the content of his letter, the National Secretary of the Miyetti Allah, Alhassan Saleh, in an interview with newsmen, said the Fulani should not be blamed for the rate of insecurity in the country.

“The fact that there is insecurity, I don’t think the Fulani are responsible for it. The narrative that we are responsible for the insecurity is even the problem we have with the Nigerian state.  When any crime happens, even before there is an investigation, people rush to the press and start accusing Fulani herdsmen. Herdsmen are supposed to be carrying herds of cows but if somebody is a criminal or an armed robber, he should be treated as such.

But if Obasanjo, in particular, having ruled this country for so many years and with his network of security contacts, both locally and internationally, has information, I think he can volunteer it'' he said

He went on to call on the Federal government to immediately arrest Obasanjo who he accused of attempting to destabilise the government.

“The earlier they get him (Obasanjo) arrested and dealt with, according to the laws of the land, the better. He doesn’t mean well for the country. We just elected a new government; we have a National Assembly that was just inaugurated. Nobody needs any conference, except they are pushing for something else. The unfortunate thing is that intellectuals like Wole Soyinka are also joining the bandwagon of these discredited politicians. But our worry is that they seem to associate every crime that happens now to the Fulani, simply because the President is a Fulani man. We are just waiting and watching carefully because we are not demanding too much from the Nigerian state. All we are saying is give us space to graze our animals. That is not difficult.” Saleh said

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