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CSOs Move for Buhari’s Resignation As Insecurity Festers
A coalition of 127 CSOs under the Joint Action Civil Society Coalition/Nigeria Mourns Secretariat, yesterday, petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari to, as a matter of urgency, stop the escalating insecurity in the country. They further raised the alarm that the first quarter of 2021 has witnessed all-time high fatalities and atrocious incidences across the country.
The petition titled ‘State of the Nation: Stop the bleeding, end carnage now, called for the resignation of the President while urging all Nigerians to register their displeasure with the state of affairs across the country by participating in a series of mass actions from May 26, to commemorate the 4th National Day of Mourning and Remembrance of Victims of Mass Atrocities on May 28 and further boycott all Democracy Day activities on May 29, in protest of the deplorable state of insecurity in the country.
The statement reads in part: “Following a sharp increase of 43 per cent in mass atrocities, Nigeria has continued to experience a decline in security across the nation. In the first quarter of 2021 (January to March), we recorded an all-time quarterly high of almost 2,000 fatalities from mass atrocities incidents across the country. Last week, across the six geopolitical zones, there were escalated combustions of violence resulting in even more deaths.
“In our last joint statement issued in February 2021, we had catalogued the assortment of mass atrocities plaguing the country. We had also demanded that where the President fails to fulfil his constitutional duties, that he steps aside, or, that the National Assembly initiates impeachment proceedings against him on grounds of gross misconduct as provided for in Section 143 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We are appalled to note that despite our strongly-worded statement, President Buhari’s government has failed to heed our call to fulfil his role as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and Nigeria’s democratically elected President. We are therefore left with no other option than to take action to drive home our call to the government and pull the nation back from the path of destruction.”
The group listed among many others failure of the government to include: “Gross injustices by President Buhari’s government against the Nigerian people such that peaceful protesters are threatened and attacked by the government’s security agents while terrorists carrying out mass murder, rape, maiming and kidnapping of Nigerians are feted and granted ‘amnesty, which is tantamount to funding and supporting terrorists, encouraging murder and decimation of gallant troops; terrorist herder attacks on unarmed farming communities and reprisal attacks in the face of government inaction to bring the terrorist herdsmen to justice; large-scale terrorist attacks in the North West irresponsibly tagged by the government as ‘banditry’ in a bid to downplay their criminality; industrial-scale kidnappings across the country; inter-ethnic violence and menace of ethnic militia; and not ending impunity for abuse of power and sectionalism through appointments by balancing the need for competence with the federal character principle.”
Some of the CSOs under the network include: #DoNigeriaRight, Action Aid, Baobab for Women’s Human Rights, Bimbo Odukoya Foundation (BOF), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), West Africa, Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED), Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Connected Development (CODE), Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Enough is Enough (EiE) Nigeria, Justice for Peace and Development Initiative (JPDI), Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP) and Nigerian Feminist Forum.
Others are Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED), Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), SBM Intelligence, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center (WARDC), World Impact Development Foundation (WIDEF) and Yiaga Africa.
This is coming after some hoodlums yesterday attacked the Ubani Market Police Station named after the former IGP, Mike Okiro, on the outskirts of Umuahia, Abia State capital and setting it ablaze around 9:00 a.m. The police station was established by the immediate past governor, Theodore Orji, to provide security for traders at the Ubani Ibeku market and other suburbs.
According to sources, no life was lost, though a police officer was injured while repelling the hoodlums. The incident left many users of Umuahia-Uzuakoli-Ohafia road stranded as the exchange of firepower between the gunmen and police lasted.
It was gathered that the hoodlums razed exhibit cars parked in the premises of the police station. Attempts to release suspects in police custody failed as operatives were said to have quickly evacuated suspects to other police stations within the capital city. They were only left with the car exhibits, some of which can’t be towed from the police facility.
The Guardian
The Senate has granted approval to the ₦1.77 trillion ($2.2b) loan request of President Bola Tinubu after a voice vote in favor of the request.
The Senate presided by Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, approved the loan after the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts chaired by Senator Wammako Magatarkada (APC, Sokoto North) presented the report of the committee.
The request which was submitted by the President on Tuesday is part of a fresh external borrowing plan to partially finance the N9.7 trillion budget deficit for the 2024 fiscal year.
Tinubu had on Tuesday written to the National Assembly, seeking approval of a fresh N1.767 trillion, the equivalent of $2.209 billion as a new external borrowing plan in the 2024 Appropriation Act.
The fresh loan is expected to stretch the amount spent on debt servicing by the Federal Government. The Central Bank of Nigeria recently said that it cost the Federal Government $3.58 billion to service foreign debt in the first nine months of 2024.
The CBN report on international payment statistics showed that the amount represents a 39.77 per cent increase from the $2.56bn spent during the same period in 2023.
According to the report, while the highest monthly debt servicing payment in 2024 occurred in May, amounting to $854.37m, the highest monthly expenditure in 2023 was $641.70m, recorded in July.
The trend in foreign debt servicing by the CBN highlights the rising cost of debt obligations by Nigeria.
Further breakdown of international debt figures showed that in January 2024, debt servicing costs surged by 398.89 per cent, rising to $560.52m from $112.35m in January 2023. February, however, saw a slight decline of 1.84 per cent, with payments reducing from $288.54m in 2023 to $283.22m in 2024.
March recorded a 31.04 per cent drop in payments, falling to $276.17m from $400.47m in the same period last year. April saw a significant rise of 131.77 per cent, with $215.20m paid in 2024 compared to $92.85m in 2023.
The highest debt servicing payment occurred in May 2024, when $854.37m was spent, reflecting a 286.52 per cent increase compared to $221.05m in May 2023. June, on the other hand, saw a 6.51 per cent decline, with $50.82m paid in 2024, down from $54.36m in 2023.
July 2024 recorded a 15.48 per cent reduction, with payments dropping to $542.50m from $641.70m in July 2023. In August, there was another decline of 9.69 per cent, as $279.95m was paid compared to $309.96m in 2023. However, September 2024 saw a 17.49 per cent increase, with payments rising to $515.81m from $439.06m in the same month last year.
Given rising exchange rates, the data raises concerns about the growing pressure of Nigeria’s foreign debt obligations.
Channels TV
Self acclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Simon Ekpa, has been arrested by law enforcement in Finland.
The BBC reports that Ekpa was subsequently sent to prison by the district court of Päijät-Häme for “spreading terrorist propaganda on social media”.
Ekpa was said to have committed the crime in 2021 in Lahti municipality.
The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) also arrested four other men over alleged terrorist offences.
A citizen of Finland and Nigeria, Ekpa has described himself as leader of the separatist IPOB group since Nnamdi Kanu’s incarceration.
Finnish police say Ekpa’s activities and social media rhetoric may have fanned the flames of violence in the south-east of Nigeria.
“He carries out these activities from his social media channels, for example,” said Otto Hiltunen, detective chief inspector of the NBI.
In February 2023, Ekpa was arrested by police at his residence in Lahti but was released after hours of questioning.
Using his social media channels, Ekpa had directed Igbos not to participate in Nigeria’s 2023 general election.
In September 2021, the Biafra agitator and secessionist denounced Nigeria and vowed to return the medal he won for the country at the 2003 African Junior Athletics Championships.
The Court of Appeal has sacked Musiliu Akinsanya aka MC Oluomo as the National President of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
In a ruling that upheld the earlier judgment of the National Industrial Court, the appellate court sacked MC Oluomo and reaffirmed Tajudeen Baruwa as the legitimate leader of the union.
Baruwa had assumed office after a properly conducted election held at the union’s headquarters in Abuja.
The three-member panel of the Appeal Court dismissed the appeal filed by MC Oluomo’s faction, declaring it devoid of merit.
In addition, the court imposed a fine of N100,000 on the appellants, further solidifying Baruwa’s leadership position.
Reports quoting court documents said to have been released on Friday detailed the ruling, which effectively countered any attempts to displace Baruwa from his role as the NURTW president.
The judgment read: “This is an appeal against the judgment/decision of the National Industrial Court Sitting in Abuja, in Suit No. NICN/ABJ/263/2023, delivered on the 11th March, 2024, by Justice O. O. Oyewumi.
“Upon reading the Record of Appeal compiled and transmitted before this court, together with the respective briefs of argument, and after hearing the counsels for the appellants and respondents, it is hereby ordered that:
“This Appeal is devoid of merit, and the same is hereby dismissed.”
The ruling reinforces the legitimacy of Baruwa’s presidency, concluding the legal dispute over the union’s leadership.
Meanwhile, MC Oluomo’s son Idowu Akinsanya (King West) had bragged about his feat of emerging the NURTW president, saying: “We are now in charge of Nigeria, not only Lagos,” a comment that attracted public opprobrium.
MC Oluomo, a diehard supporter of President Bola Tinubu and a prominent figure in Lagos politics, was the sole candidate in the election, which took place at the union’s zonal secretariat in Osogbo. His perceived victory was deemed to carry significant implications for the future of the NURTW and the political landscape of Nigeria.
