The Biafra De Facto Customary Government,after months of electoral process, has elected the second session of Chancellery/Chancery and the Parliament. The first session was led by Alhaji Asari Dokunbo whose tenure ended last July.
A statement signed by Uche Okafor-Mefor, on behalf of the Biafra De Facto Customary Government, disclosed this development on Sunday.
In the statement, the Government of Biafra thanked the Electoral and Transition Committee (ETC), led by Hon Engr. Ike Nwanonenyi,a US -based war Veteran.
“The Government of Biafra wishes all Biafrans well and urges all to remain law-abiding and eschew criminality and lawlessness.
“The Government of Biafra reasserts her commitment to adherence to democratic ethos, the rule of law and justice; and ultimately distinguishes her immense contribution to fundamental human rights and present-day restoration struggle from any action of unnecessary recklessness and abetting of crimes by internal or external individuals, state agencies or groups.
“Long live the People of Biafra! Long live the Government of Biafra!!” the statement concluded
The South East Governors have commented to the case of Nnamdi Kanu as it concerns the recent court rulings.
JOURNALIST101 recalls that that Appeal Court had discharged the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and dismissed the 6 count charges preferred on him by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, the Federal Government approached the Court for a stay of execution while they appealed the ruling of the appellate court.
South East Governors after their meeting on Sunday in Enugu, said they’re monitoring the situation.
“South East Governors are watching with keen interest, the developments with respect to the case of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu viz-a-viz the Court rulings. However, we believe that a political solution is still possible in this circumstance.”
In the communique issued at the end of the meeting held at Government House, Enugu, the Governors also dismissed media reports that they’re responsible for the creation of ESN, stressing that they only created Ebubeagu and Forest Guards.
Ebonyi State Governor/Chairman of Southeast Governors’ Forum, Engr. David Umahi who read the communique “decried the state of insecurity in the region. Our economic activities have come to a halt while kidnapping and wanton killing have become the order of the day.
“South East Governors call on the Federal Government to come to our aid in providing security in the Zone bearing in mind that elections are around the corner.
“Meanwhile, South East Governors have agreed to set up a 24-hour Joint Patrol in all major highways within the South East, especially during the Christmas season.”
On the issue of flooding ravaging the country, including many states in the region, the Governors commended the States and the Federal Government on “efforts to alleviate the sufferings of the victims of the recent flood menace in the Country. We hope, however, that long term solution is desirable.”
Umahi disclosed that the “South East Governors have decided to put funds together to further assist the victims of flooding in our five States in the South East. We, also plead with the Federal Government to please initiate action in the dredging of rivers in the South East, to ameliorate the destruction of houses, farmlands and properties. We request the Federal Government to come to the aid of the victims in terms of rehabilitation of the internally displaced persons.”
The forum also “congratulated and welcomed His Excellency, the Governor of Anambra State, His Excellency, Prof. Charles Soludo, who was represented by His Deputy, His Excellency, Dr. Onyekachukwu G. Ibezim.
The governors were however, silent on the 2023 presidential election especially, the issue of Peter Obi who’s one of the leading presidential candidates.
Also present at the meeting were; Enugu State Governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State and Imo state, Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma who was by his deputy; Prof. Placid Njoku.
The youths of Agunese, Affam-Mmaku Autonomous Community in Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State have beaten a woman to pulp and stripped her naked for picking snails around a ‘sacred shrine’ in the community.
According to the youths, what the woman did was an abomination in the community and as such, she doesn’t deserve to be in their midst.
The misguided youths there actions can best be described as barbaric sent the middle-aged woman out of the community with palm fronds tied around her body.
Reacting to the disgusting development, about 10 pro-women organisations and leaders in Enugu State condemned the act and called on security agents to arrest the perpetrators of the crime.
The group in a statement, said the people involved should be made to apologise to the woman and the women fold in general.
The statement reads:
“In a society bedevilled with life hurting circumstances, it’s becomes even more nauseating and nostalgic to not just perceive perverts that call themselves village abiding but to strip a woman of her pride which is her covering for a mere piece of Snails, naturals snails, God-given snails, it hurts further to know that these snails are not lab-manufactured or already offered to the God’s But termed sacred on the basis of archaic laws, Oh my!! A 21st century amazement!! A living day light unbelievable!!.
We raise our voices in the loudest to condemn this impunity, this shame called protecting a supposed sacred site. We outrightly lend our voices and actions to declare to the world that this is totally unacceptable. This act is wild and desperately annoying. How do we preserve this woman’s nudity after parading her nakedness to the world. The swiftness and virality of the social media is not one to be joked with as we can shamefully agree that half of the world must have seen this by now .
“We condemn every part of this and say that the culprits must be brought to book. They must apologize to women folk nationwide and pay a huge sum to this woman after packing bags of snails to plead with her.
“As we write this, we wish it never took place, how much longer will the women continue to be a societal ridicule and thrash. This is totally unacceptable and both devastating at the same time . We condemn every spot of chauvinistic decision taken on this woman. Would they have done this to a man ? Yes!! Maybe if he was caught as a high-way thief or a killer absolutely not for picking snails.
God have mercy on the future of women in our society . No single man said hold on, not even one. It’s totally regrettable and no amount of plea can cover our minds eye from remembering her nakedness.
“We condemn this with all of our hearts as women , human rights activist, organizations for women and all humans
Signed by
1. Amb. Onyii mamah
Executive Director/President
Heroine women foundation and president women support women
2.Amb. Mrs Amaka Nweke JPCountry Director/Executive Director
Global Society for Anti-Corruption and Amaka Nweke Foundation3. Mrs Ndidiamaka Ikeobi
Coordinator
Anambra Women General Assembly Enugu State Chapter
4. Hon Peace Patrick-Nnaji
5. Obiegue margaret ify
Enugu coordinator: sexual and Gender based violence justice Network (SJN).
6. Comrade Ngozi Ngene, Chairperson, Nigeria Association of Women Journalists NAWOJ, Enugu state.
7. Agunechibe Promise Ogechukwu.
CEO, The Total LIFE Mining Consult
Founder , QUINTESSYP Global foundation for female Prisoners.
8. Comrade Anita Adaeze Isamade
Executive Director Ada Oji Initiative and Deputy Chairperson National Youth Council of Nigeria Enugu State (NYCN)
9. Cecilia Ngozi Onyia: Chairperson, International Federation of Women Lawyers(FIDA) NIGERIA, Enugu State Branch.
10. Ngozi Ajogwu J.
Secretary International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Nigeria, Enugu Branch.
Nigeria loses at least 700,000 barrels of crude oil to thieves daily, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said in Effurun, Delta State on Saturday.
He made the assertion at the 2022 graduation of students of the Petroleum Training Institute.
The minister who was represented by Ambassador Gabriel Aduda, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, said the Federal Government was making concerted efforts to curtail the menace.
He said crude oil theft had impacted negatively on the nation’s foreign exchange inflow.
“Oil theft has denied the country of an estimated 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The adverse effect of this is the drop in the production of crude oil and decline in the national income,’’ he said.
He said the petroleum ministry would synergise with the National Assembly to ensure that adequate attention was given to the amendment of the PTI Act.
Sylva said that the institute could achieve more if the PTI Act was amended to enable the institute to have access to more funding.
He said the ministry had given PTI mandates in different areas of research into the use of local materials in crude oil production, stoppage of gas flaring and the commercialisation of gas, among others.
The minister advised the institute to embrace contemporary ways and methods to deliver on its mandates following global rapid changes in technology.
Sylva also advised the institute to liaise with relevant parastatal agencies of government and local and international oil companies for the continued upgrade of relevant training curricula.
Sylva congratulated the graduates and assured them that there were opportunities in the oil and gas industry.
“The skills you acquired will be pivotal in actualising the ever-evolving goals in the oil and gas industry.
“I am saying this confidently because the world still relies largely on hydrocarbons,’’ he said.
Earlier, Dr Henry Adimula, the Principal and Chief Executive Officer of PTI said 1,156 graduates would receive diplomas and certificates for the 2022/2021 academic session.
Out of this figure, 659 will be awarded National Diploma and 501 will be awarded Higher National Diploma, while six graduates will receive the PTI General Welding Certificates.
“I am delighted to inform you that out of these number, 112 students graduated with distinction while 380 graduated with upper credits,’’ he said.
Adimula said PTI’s vision and mission, anchored on competence and capacity, had distinguished it as a Centre of Excellence for human capacity development in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria and beyond.
He appealed to the National Assembly and major stakeholders in the oil and gas sector to support the amendment of the PTI Act.
According to him, the amendment will enable the oil and gas institute to perform its duties effectively in line with a global trend.
The principal said a major challenge confronting the institute was the cost of funding the training of its personnel locally and internationally.
“The infrastructure of the institute is presently overstretched and needs refurbishment, innovation and complete replacement of others,’’ he stressed.
Adimula congratulated the graduates and assured them that their training had prepared them for available opportunities in the oil and gas and allied industries and also in renewable new and cleaner sources of energy.
One of the graduates, Miss Hope Oseh thanked God for the successful completion of her National Diploma programme.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the ceremony was part of activities lined up to mark the 50th anniversary of the PTI.
A highlight of the event was the presentation of awards to distinguished individuals including the Ovie of Uvwie Kingdom, Dr Emmanuel Sideso Abe.
Former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu may remain in prison till May 2023 as court as adjourned its case till next year.
Senator Ekweremadu and his wife were arrested in the United Kingdom for alleged organ harvesting.
The couple were arrested at Heathrow Airport on June 21 after arriving on a flight from Turkey.
Ike Ekweremadu and Obinna Obeta, from Southwark, south London, are charged with conspiring to arrange or facilitate the travel of a man with a view to him being exploited.
Mrs Ekweremadu and Obeta are charged with arranging the travel of the man with a view to him being exploited.
Prosecutor Tim Probert-Wood said previously that the case involved “exploitation and the harvesting of an organ.”
He said: “The case began on 5 May 2022 when the complainant presented himself at Staines Police Station and claimed he had been transported to this country for the purpose of his kidney being removed.
“He arrived on 20th February 2022 and was taken to Royal Free Hospital where tests were conducted.
For the purpose he was there he did not consent to the taking of his kidney.
“He returned to the house he was staying and his treatment changed dramatically.
“He described being treated effectively as a slave.”
Martin Hicks, QC, defending Ike, has said: ‘We deny that there was any exploitation or any intent to do so.
A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Kingsley Moghalu says he supports the the apex bank’s proposed redesigning of the Naira.
He also said that it is troubling for 80 percent of bank notes to be outside the bank.
ASHENEWS reports that the Political Economist who threw his support behind the CBN in a statement on Saturday in Lagos, however recommended a 90-day window for implementation.
I fully support the Central Bank of Nigeria in redesigning of the Naira. If 80 per cent of bank notes in circulation are outside the banks, that is troubling.
“The CBN obviously wants to force all those notes back into the banking system. Those with the notes must surrender them to get new ones or else it becomes illegal tender after January 31 2023.
“This is also a way to withdraw currency from circulation, an unorthodox way of tightening the money supply since the country is battling high inflation.
“The flip side is that people who are holding huge amounts of cash outside the banking system for nefarious reasons will go to the parallel forex market to buy hard currency, putting further downward pressure on the value of the Naira as too much Naira will be chasing too few dollars,” the statement reads.
Moghalu also expressed doubt that the step would solve inflation, “because there also are other major reasons for inflation such as the forex crisis, which this new move can exacerbate, as well as the impact of the security crisis on food price inflation.”
According to him, the step, however, has become necessary for national security but the window for implementation is too short.
“This will put a lot of operational pressure on commercial banks and the financial system in general.
A 90-day window will have been better, but one can understand the need to avoid interfering with the elections,” he said.
The CBN on Wednesday, announced the new monetary policy to redesign N200, N500 and N1000 naira notes with effect from December 15.
The Governor of the CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele had said that the proposed redesigning of the naira could impact positively on its value.
Emefiele had said that significant hoarding of banknotes by members of the public, worsening shortage of clean and fit banknotes and increasing cases and risk of counterfeiting informed the decision.
According to him, statistics show that more than 85 per cent of currency in circulation are outside the vaults of commercial banks.
Emefiele said the new currencies and the existing ones would remain legal tender and circulate together until January 31, 2023.
Some presidential aspirants on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, who lost the ticket to fly the party’s flag in the February 25, 2023, presidential poll to Atiku Abubakar, have commenced moves to end the rift between the Abubakar and the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, and his allies.
Some National Executive Committee members of the PDP have also thrown their weight behind the renewed bid by the presidential aspirants to end the ongoing dispute.
Wike, alongside his Oyo, Enugu, Benue, and Abia states counterparts, Seyi Makinde, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Samuel Ortom, and Okezie Ikpeazu, respectively, has in the past two months threatened not to support the PDP ahead of the election if the National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, refused to quit his position for a southerner to replace him.
According to them, Ayu agreed to relinquish his position if a northerner emerged as the party’s presidential candidate.
Atiku’s emergence as the PDP standard bearer meant that both the candidate and the party chairman were from the North.
The aggrieved governors pulled out of the party’s presidential campaign council, a development that prompted the Board of Trustees to set up an ad hoc committee to broker peace between both parties. One of the recommendations of the committee was that the chairman should commit to vacate his seat after the elections. Wike and his group, however, rejected the report and insisted that Ayu must resign as the chairman before the polls.
It was gathered that before the BoT came up with the idea of setting up the committee, the presidential aspirants made an attempt to see Wike, but were not successful until the governor travelled to London in September with members of his camp.
One of the aspirants, Sam Ohuabunwa, said despite the uncompromising stand of Wike and his group, the reconciliation effort would continue as no serious PDP member “will want to give up.”
“Nobody will want to give up on reconciliation, because it is fundamental to our ability to confront the competition ahead. It is an ongoing exercise and we pray that wisdom will prevail and if wisdom prevails, the party will smile and will be able to go into the elections as a united entity,” he said.
On efforts made on the issue by the aspirants, Ohuabunwa said, “We are trying, but the truth of the matter is that all over the world, there are people who stick to certain principles and they are implacable. If you want peace, make sure there is justice.
“Wike is a dogged fighter for what he believes in. If you care to listen to him, you will find out that he is not fighting for the sake of fighting. A lot of people are speaking with him but he is saying, ‘Let justice be done.’ The question is: Is it possible to meet some of his demands to form the basis of reconciliation?
“We have done a lot, but we don’t have to put everything in the media. We are working day and night and we are also praying. A lot of subterranean undercurrents are going on and we are hopeful that this crisis will come to an end soon.”
Another aspirant, Dele Momodu, expressed the willingness of the former contestants for the PDP ticket to meet with Wike to resolve the crisis in the party’s interest.
“I love Wike and I will continue to love him. We (presidential aspirants) will like to meet with him but the roads are blocked given the statements coming from him. So, it is not easy but the intention, willingness, and readiness are there. We will not give up no matter what,” Momodu stated.
A former senate president, Bukola Saraki, who also contested the presidential ticket and was appointed a special envoy to Atiku on September 26, expressed determination to do all that was necessary to make the PDP united ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
Speaking through his media aide, Yusuph Olaniyonu, the former Kwara State governor said, “The disagreement within the party is a family issue. Somebody like Dr Saraki is close to all the individuals involved and he gets on well with all of them. As a loyal party man, he is determined to work with others to ensure the party goes into the 2023 polls as a united party.”
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has rejected a plan by the Central Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to redesign naira, warning the apex bank of its consequences on the country’s troubled economy.
Ahmed expressed her opposition to the policy in response to a question raised by Senator Opeyemi Bamidele during the 2023 budget defence session she had with the Senate Committee on Finance.
The Minister warned CBN of the consequences that may arise from the exercise.
Senator Bamidele had in his question, told the Finance Minister that barely two days after announcement of the policy by CBN , repercussions of it on the value of naira to US dollar was being felt.
Recall that the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele had Wednesday dropped the hint, revealing that the incoming exercise would redesign the Nigerian currency, starting from N200 denomination to N1,000 notes.
Former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has called for support for victims of the devastating flood that has killed hundreds and destroyed several properties in many states across the country.
The former President in a statement released by his office on after he visited Otuoke, his community and other affected areas in Bayelsa State, lamented that this year’s heavy flooding resulted in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in most affected states, adding that the situation required urgent action and collaboration by all stakeholders.
Jonathan noted that many states are now helpless, including Bayelsa, his home state with more than 70 per cent of its land area already submerged.
The former president said: “I sympathise with the victims of this year’s flood across many states of the federation who have lost loved ones and properties worth millions
The worsening humanitarian crisis in the affected states calls for urgent action and collaboration by all stakeholders.
“I am touched by the dire situation in in some of the affected states, especially my home State Bayelsa where almost all the local government areas are submerged in water and the East-West Road section leading to the State has become impassable, creating scarcity of food and essential commodities.
He added: “Today, I visited Otuoke, my community and a few other communities in Bayelsa State to assess the impact of the flood. It is still a depressing situation in many of the affected communities because of the magnitude of the flood and the disruption and destruction it has caused.
“This is a moment of crisis; we need to work in unity to achieve the goal of giving hope and providing succor to all victims. I urged all citizens of goodwill and humanitarian agencies to demonstrate solidarity with these victims and provide support to those affected.”
Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) will remain in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) following the pronouncement by the Appeal Court.
The Appellate Court on Friday upheld the Federal Government’s application for stay of execution of the October 13 judgment which set Nnamdi Kanu free.
Justice Haruna Tsanammi also ordered that the result of the ruling be forwarded to the Supreme Court within seven day for expeditious hearing.
By the ruling, Kanu is expected to remain in the custody of the Department of State Services pending when the Supreme Court hears the case.
