Headlines
Border Closure: Osinbajo Begs Nigerians for More Patience
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Friday appealed to Nigerians to bear with the government over the closure of Nigeria’s borders with neighbouring countries.
Mr Osinbajo made the appeal while speaking at the ongoing town hall meeting which coincides with the National Festival of Arts and Culture, NAFEST in Edo State, Punch newspaper reported.
He said the border closure is in the interest of the country and local producers especially farmers.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how the federal government in August shut down its borders with its immediate neighbours, mainly Benin and Niger.
The closure has led to reduced smuggling activities as well as increased revenue for the Nigeria Customs Service. It has, however, led to an increase in the prices of some food items like rice and poultry, most of which were hitherto imported through the neighbouring countries.
Stating the reason for the continuous closure of Nigeria’s border, Mr Osinbajo said: “We want our neighbouring countries to begin to take us very very serious.”
Responding to a question by the vice president of Edo market women, Christiana Omokaro, who bemoaned the high cost of rice and other foodstuffs in the market, Mr Osinbajo said one of the reasons for the border closure was to get the attention of neighbouring countries to take border control more seriously.
“Part of the reasons for shutting the border is the smuggling that has been going on. If we continue to allow the Chinese and others to continue to bring in all those things, we will kill farming completely and most of our people will not be employed,” he said.
He urged people to endure the temporary effects of the border closure to reap attendant benefits.
He also encouraged Nigerians to support local production and farmers by bearing with the border closure and by purchasing local commodities in market.
“If we allow our own people grow these things, our people will prosper. The only way our people can prosper is if we let them use the opportunity that they have such as farming, fishing and others,” he said.
Mr Osinbajo said the government was committed to ending the hardship from the border closure.
“We are going to make sure that commodities are cheaper.
“We must bear in mind that the reason today some commodities are more expensive is because we stopped smuggling. We have to encourage our local farmers so that our local farmers can prosper,” he said.
Recalcitrant Smugglers
Despite the closure of the borders, smugglers have still tried to smuggle goods into the country.
The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) revealed on Thursday how it intercepted 1,879 bags of foreign rice smuggled into the country through petrol tankers in Niger, Kogi and Kwara states, in October.
The Customs Area Controller in-charge of Kogi and Niger states, Yusuf Abba-Kassim, told journalists in Minna that the situation was worrisome.
He said the Customs would ensure all such illegal actions are stopped.
“We are determined to beat all their concealment patterns with our superior intelligence network,” he said.
Premium Times
Headlines
Abiola Cannot Be Recognised As Former President; He Was Never Sworn-in – Gen Ishola Williams
By Eric Elezuo
One of the prime actors of the June 12, 1993 incidents, General Ishola Williams, has said that much as Chief MKO Abiola wrong was created having won the election, and denied victory, he cannot be recognized as a former President of Nigeria.
Gen Williams made his revelation while speaking as a guest on Channels television socio-political programme, Inside Source.
He maintained that only those who were sworn in that recognised as former presidents, and Abiola was never sworn in.
“Abiola cannot be recognised as former president because he was never sworn in.
The General, who said that he resigned from the army as a result of the wholesome reception given to General Sani Abacha, when he overthrew Chief Ernest Shonekan-led Interim National Government, contrary to expectation, also picked flaws in the narratives given by former Military President Ibrahim Babangida, in his recently launched book, A Journey In Service.
Williams rose in the army to become the Commandant of Army Signals, Commander of Training and Doctrine (TRADOC) and Chief of Defence Training and Planning, from where he resigned.
Headlines
Breaking: Supreme Court Recognises Martin Amaewhule As Rivers Assembly Speaker, Orders CBN to Stop Releasing Funds to State
By Eric Elezuo
The Supreme Court of Nigeria has in its ruling on Friday recognised Hon Martins Amaewhule as the authentic speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, mandating him to urgently resume sitting with elected members of the assembly.
The apex court also ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria to stop releasing to the Rivers State government until a proper assembly is constituted.
Details soon…
Tension escalated at the Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday as impeached Speaker Mudashiru Obasa made a dramatic return to reclaim his position.
Accompanied by heavily armed men, Obasa stormed the Assembly complex in a bold move that has thrown the State’s legislature into turmoil.
In a stunning turn of events, security details assigned to the substantive Speaker, Rt. Hon. Mojisola Meranda, were abruptly withdrawn on Thursday morning, clearing the path for Obasa’s controversial comeback.
Sources revealed that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) ordered the withdrawal of all security operatives attached to Meranda, leaving her exposed in the midst of an intensifying power struggle.
The Speaker’s Special Adviser on Information, Mr. Victor Ganzallo, expressed concern over the security vacuum created by the withdrawal of personnel.
“In the early hours of Thursday, we woke up to the startling news that all security details assigned to Madam Speaker, Mojisola Meranda, had been withdrawn.
This includes the police and DSS officers, leaving her exposed to threats amid the ongoing speakership crisis,” Ganzallo stated.
He further called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as the State’s Chief Security Officer, to intervene urgently to prevent a complete breakdown of law and order within the Assembly.
“The withdrawal of security personnel has left the Assembly naked and vulnerable at a critical time. Urgent action is needed to restore order,” he pleaded.
With the speakership battle taking a dramatic new turn, political watchers are keenly observing how the crisis will unfold in the coming days.
