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THURSDAY MAY 23, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY
NEWS
I8 Persons Killed by Bandits Buried as Buhari Vows to Secure Katsina Re-emphasises his respect for judiciary Francis Sardauna in Katsina Angered by the killings in Kastina State on Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari, has directed the Acting Inspector General of Police, Mohammed
Abubakar Adamu and the Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin to intervene immediately in the state, and bring a feedback, noting that the state must be secured at all cost.
Dogara: House Under My Leadership Gave Buhari’s Government Maximum Support Says 8th assembly most performing in Nigeria’s history The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has disclosed that the House, under his leadership, cooperated with the executive arm of the federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari by giving speedy consideration and passage to legislation and other requests forwarded by the president that would fast-track implementation of the administration’s policies and plans. Dogara further stated that there were times the House passed executive bills within two days or one week, insisting that the 8th House was the most performing in Nigeria’s political history from independence in 1960 to date. He spoke yesterday in Abuja when he received the Euro Knowledge Award in recognition of his exemplary leadership, which was conferred on him last month at the United Kingdom’s Parliament and another one by Nigeria’s federal government for his contribution to passage of Ease of Doing Business Bills in Nigeria.
Receiving the award, Dogara said, “We have done exceptionally well. It is on record that this has been the most productive National Assembly ever, as well as unparalleled House in the history of the House of Representatives. “We hope that those who are coming after us; those who will take over from us will do better and be able to rededicate themselves and to achieve the ideals they set out for themselves. When we started out on the 8th Assembly, it was our desire and thank God we can say today that we have cleaned up virtually all laws we inherited from even 1800. For some of us who read law, we may have knowledge on the Statutes of General Application.” “Before we embarked on this massive exercise, some of our law books were still containing Pounds Sterling, in some laws; some addresses in the United Kingdom were even mentioned. To the credit of the 8th Assembly, all those things are no longer reflected in the body of our laws. “
President Buhari has also re-emphasised his respect for the country’s judiciary and his willingness to abide by their decisions at all times. This is coming as remains of the 18 persons killed by armed bandits in Batsari Local Government Area of the state were buried yesterday. Buhari, who had just returned from Saudi Arabia, specifically, instructed the security chiefs to find out how the operation was carried out by the perpetrators, not minding the Holy month of Ramadhan, and put in place structures to prevent future occurrence. Disclosing this in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, Buhari expressed shock and vowed to fish out the killers. He admonished that all those instigating violence in the North and other parts of the country will be exposed and made to face the wrath of the law.
The president commiserated with the governor and people of Katsina State over the losses. He prayed that Allah will comfort those who have lost loved ones. The president has also re-emphasised his respect for the country’s judiciary and his willingness to abide by their decisions at all times. Speaking yesterday at an Iftar dinner with the representatives of the Third Arm of the government, at his official residence, President Buhari said he believed that the judiciary should be independent and recalled how he submitted himself to the adjudication of the courts three times on his way to becoming president without any fuss because, as he said, “I respect the institution. I have come before you three times before I got here on the fourth run for the office. Your word is the last word on any given issue.” He praised the capabilities of Nigerian judges, saying that “your training and experience has earned you respect.”
In his remarks in appreciation of the Ramadhan fast-breaking, the Acting Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed, leading retired Chief Justices, some Justices of the Supreme Court and heads of courts in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), assured the country that the judiciary will continue to do its best in safeguarding the country’s democracy. He praised President Buhari for not meddling in the affairs of the courts in the country. Meanwhile, the remains of the 18 persons killed by armed bandits in Batsari LGA of the state were buried yesterday. The victims, mostly farmers, were attacked by bandits while cultivating their farmlands at Yar Gamji village of the council. Aggrieved youths had in a protest on Tuesday night ferried the corpses of the victims from Batsari to Katsina, the state capital, where they displayed them before the Emir of Katisna,
Dr. Abdulmumini Kabir Usman and Governor Aminu Bello Masari. Performing the funeral rite, the Chief Imam of Katsina Central Mosque, Mustapha Ahmed, prayed for God to grant the deceased eternal rest, and sued for peace among the warring parties. Addressing journalists shortly after the funeral rite, the District Head of Batsari, Alhaji Mannir Ruma, said bandits had earlier threatened that there would be no farming activities in the area in this rainy season. The paramount ruler affirmed that the bandits had been harassing farmers in the area with sophisticated weapons, adding that the victims were cultivating their farms when the bandits ambushed them. He called on security agencies and the state government to rekindle their efforts to curtail what he described as an act of God to enable farmers to return to farm.
PDP: Lai Mohammed’s Fabricated Claims Expose APC as Purveyor of Fake News Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that the fabricated claims by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has succeeded in further demarketing the country in the international arena, causing more damage to investors’ confidence in the system and exposing this administration as purveyor of fake news. The party in a statement issued yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, called on the minister to apologise to Nigerians for misleading the country and heating up the polity with unfounded security breach allegations against the PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. According to him, “by his fabricated claims, the Information Minister only succeeded in further demarketing the country in the international arena, causing more damage to investors’ confidence in the system and exposing this administration as purveyor
of fake news.” Ologbondiyan stressed that it was indeed lamentable that in its desperation to secure acceptance from Nigerians and confer legitimacy to the outcome of a rigged election, Buhari’s administration would manufacture and purvey fake news to the public, only for Nigerians to learn from the same minister that his earlier claims against the PDP and its presidential candidate were not based on any concrete evidence. The main opposition party said it feared that Mohammed could have made those wild allegations in a bid to pave the way to frame, harass, arrest and detain some opposition figures on trump-up charges. The PDP spokesman added that the minister’s claims that he relied on certain alarms fell flat as no agency in the country had ever accused the PDP, as a political party, or its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, of “doing everything possible to sabotage the Buhari’s administration, generally overheat the polity and make Nigeria seemingly ungovernable” as alleged by Mohammed.
DEEPENING PARTNERSHIP…
L-R: Federal Commissioner representing Akwa Ibom State in National Population Commission (NPC), Mr. Ben Ukpong; Managing Director, Arise News Channel, Ms. Ijeoma Nwogwugwu; Federal Commissioner representing Kaduna State in NPC, Dr. Abdulmalik Mohammed Durunguwa; and Federal Commissioner representing Rivers State in NPC, Dr. Ipalibo Harry, when officials of NPC paid a courtesy call on Arise’s Lagos Studio…yesterday
UNICEF: 80m Nigerians Have No Access to Good Toilet Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has stated that 80 million Nigerians do not have access to good toilet facilities. This represents 42 per cent of the country going by an estimated population of 198 million people. Speaking in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, yesterday during a workshop to alert journalists on the danger of open defecation in
the country, a UNICEF Specialist, Bioye Ogunjobi, quoting a recent report, said 47 million people openly defecate in the country, while 33 million others use unimproved toilets. Ogunjobi, who spoke to journalists selected across the north to sensitise them on the ongoing campaign by UNICEF and the European Union, tagged: “Clean Nigeria, Use the Toilet Campaign”, lamented that
Nigeria ranks second among countries practicing open defecation globally. He revealed that open defecation has an economic, social and health impact on national development. According to him, Nigeria loses about 1.3 per cent or N455 billion of her GDP annually due to poor sanitation, including open defecation. He said: “You see the Federal
Ministry of Water Resources with support from UNICEF Nigeria and other development partners, and in partnership with inter-ministerial agencies, civil society organisations, the media, the private sector and the people of Nigeria, is currently leading the “Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet” campaign to end open defecation by 2025 and achieve universal access to safely managed sanitation.”
Two Foreign Airlines Run Drug Cartels in Nigeria, FG Alleges Deji Elumoye in Abuja The federal government yesterday accused two foreign airlines of running drug cartels at the country’s four international airports in Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt. Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora
to the President, Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, specifically named Ethiopian and Egypt airlines as running drug cartels at the airports. Dabiri-Erewa, made this accusation when she appeared before the Senate Ad-hoc Committee set up to look into the circumstances leading to the
arrest of Zainab Aliyu in Saudi Arabia in December last year. Dabiri-Erewa declared: “We have other foreign and local airlines operating at our airports, but Egyptian and Ethiopian Airlines have drug cartels operating at our International Airports. They operate alongside local collaborators. It is not Air
Peace, not Arik Air but Egyptian and Ethiopian Airlines”. On his part, Chief of Security of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. ElYakub Usman Lamir, revealed that scanners at the Aminu Kano International Airport were not configured to detect drugs.