Headlines
Army Chief Reiterates Commitment to Personnel Training
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Faruk Yahaya, has restated the commitment of the Nigerian Army towards the training of its personnel in maintaining peace and tranquility in the country.
The Army Chief, while speaking at the commencement of the 2022 Nigerian Army’s Second Commanding Officer’s workshop at the Gingiya Barracks in Sokoto, said training and retraining personnel was very critical to achieving success.
Yahaya further noted that doing so would help in equipping officers with global best practices. He assured that the Nigerian Army was working round the clock to ensure the Nigerian space was safe for citizens.
“All aspects of training activities must be in line with acceptable best practices. It will receive priority to attain the desired professional requirements to bring to an end the plethora of security challenges confronting the country at the moment.
“It is therefore my hope that the workshop will go a long way to redirect the perspective of our personnel to the best way to provide practical solutions to the contemporary security challenges facing our country.”
The second 2022 workshop had its theme as “Equipment Maintenance and Operational Efficiency: The Role of Operational and Tactical Level Commanders in the Nigerian Army as well as Sister Services Through Interagency Corporation”
Speaking earlier in his welcome address at the five days workshop, the General Officer Commander, 8 Division, Major Uwem Bassey, urged participants to bring their wealth of experience to bear towards finding a permanent solution to insecurity in the country.
Also speaking in his goodwill message, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, commend the Nigerian Army for their selfless service to the nation.
Sultan, who is also a retired senior army officer, said “once a General is always a General, I am always happy to be in the midst of my colleagues. They are doing their best and we will continue to pray for them.”
The Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, in his address assured that the state would continue to have a good relationship not only the Nigerian Army but all the security agencies in the state.
He called on the President, Major General Muhammad Buhari (retd.), to give priority to the challenges faced by the Army by providing more equipment to help them in the discharge of their constitutional duties.
He, however, urged them to take the maintenance of the ones at hand seriously, which he said would help in achieving strategic results against element of insecurities in the country.
According to Tambuwal, enabling the army will not only boost soldiers’ morale for effective service delivery, but also enhance inter-agency relationship, which is fundamental in their quest and drive towards establishment of peace in the country.
Tambuwal added that the Nigerian Army needed more equipment, training and retraining on how to maintain it, stating that maintenance was key in every human endeavour especially when it came to equipment, as complex and important as the one the soldiers and security operatives were using.
The Punch
The Presidency has dismissed claims that Vice President Kashim Shettima’s recent comments were directed at the political situation in Rivers State or President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s constitutional decisions on the matter.
In a statement on Friday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha, the Presidency described the reports as a “gross misrepresentation.”
The statement clarified that Vice President Shettima’s remarks at the public presentation of a book by former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), were misconstrued by some online platforms and individuals.
“These reports have distorted the Vice President’s comments in pursuit of a mischievous agenda,” it stated.
“They twisted his account of how the administration of former President Jonathan considered removing him as Borno Governor during the insurgency to falsely link it with current events in Rivers State.”
The Vice President, who spoke at the launch of OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block in Abuja on Thursday, was said to have referenced the past solely to commend Adoke’s professionalism while in office, and to reflect on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution regarding federal and state relations.
“For the avoidance of doubt, President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara from office. The constitutional measure implemented was a suspension, not an outright removal.
“This action was taken in response to the grave political crisis in Rivers State at the time, with the governor facing a looming impeachment and the State Assembly complex under demolition,” Nkwocha clarified.
The Presidency insisted that the action taken by President Tinubu in declaring a state of emergency and suspending the Governor was fully in line with Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which authorises such measures when there is a breakdown of public order requiring extraordinary intervention.
According to the statement, the President’s proclamation invoking Section 305(2) was subsequently ratified by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the National Assembly, confirming the legitimacy and constitutional propriety of the decision.
“The action of President Tinubu in suspending Mr. Fubara and others from exercising the functions of office averted the governor’s outright removal. To conflate suspension with removal is misleading,” the statement further noted.
Nkwocha also stressed that Vice President Shettima’s comments were delivered extemporaneously and intended to underline the importance of public accountability and historical documentation.
He referenced the Vice President’s mention of past public servants, including Adoke and former Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, to illustrate principled leadership.
“His remarks were not in any way a criticism of President Tinubu’s actions, which the Vice President and the entire administration fully support and stand by without reservation,” the spokesman stated.
The Vice President, the statement added, remains in “loyal concert” with President Tinubu and is committed to implementing all constitutional measures necessary to safeguard democracy and uphold order across the country.
Concluding, the Presidency called on media organisations and political actors to desist from misrepresenting public remarks for sensational or partisan purposes.
“We urge media organisations and political actors to desist from the destructive practice of wrenching statements from context in order to fabricate nonexistent conflicts,” Nkwocha said.
Headlines
Akpabio Relieves Natasha of Committee Chairmanship Position, Appoints Akwa Ibom Senator As Replacement
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has replaced suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as the Chairman, Senate Committee on Diaspora/Non-Governmental Organisations.
In her place, Akpabio named Senator Bassey Aniekun Etim (Akwa Ibom -East).
The Senate President, who made the announcement on the floor in Abuja on Thursday, did not give any reasons.
The committee position had remained vacant since March when the Senate suspended the Kogi-Central Senatorial District lawmaker for six months for flouting the Senate’s rule on the seating arrangement and seat allocation.
The suspended lawmaker, at a point, chaired the Senate Committee on Local Content before Akpabio reassigned her to the Committee on Diaspora/NGO, shortly before she ran into trouble with the Senate over her conduct on seat allocation.
The Supreme Court has affirmed the 2024 governorship election victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, the apex court ruled that the appeal lacked merit. It upheld the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had both declared Okpebholo the validly elected governor.
