Headlines
If You Say a Particular Section Cannot Be Trusted with Power, Then We Can’t Live Together – Bakare
The Serving Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has said “no ethnic group has the monopoly to rule Nigeria.”
Bakare, who has declared that he would succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in office come 2023, said he detested it when people said those from a certain section of the country cannot be trusted with power.
He said though zoning was not in the constitution, it had proven useful for Nigeria’s quest for unity.
Bakare said these on Sunday in a chat with journalists shortly after making a national broadcast on the state of the nation during the Sunday service in his church in the Ogba area of Lagos.
Bakare said, “Time has come to sit on a table of brotherhood and that’s why I said a President like President Muhammadu Buhari must rise up above partisanship and above petty ethnic sentiments, like Abraham Lincoln, like George Washington, to say let’s sit down, Nigeria must move forward. It is bigger than any of us and it will be better for us to work together by getting the best of the North and the best of the South to think through the road path for the greatness of this nation.
“I detest the saying that a particular section of this country must not be trusted with power; no! Then, we cannot live together because nobody is going to be servant of anybody.”
Bakare said for Nigeria to move forward, the different ethnic groups must collaborate and do away with mutual suspicion.
He said, “This is not time for mutual suspicion; this is a season for collaboration. All the infighting must stop; it is like father and mother are fighting and the children are confused. The season cannot afford this; let’s mend the fences. Let’s come together and let us begin to pursue a strategic objective that will set Nigeria on the path of predictable progress.”
The cleric prayed that Buhari would not fail and that “his legacies will not be rubbished.”
When asked to mention a few of Buhari’s legacies that he would love to see preserved beyond 2023, Bakare pointed to Buhari’s fight against corruption and insecurity.
He said, “The reason he (Buhari) is tackling corruption left, right and centre and the reason he is ensuring there is security is so that there will be opportunity for our land to develop.
“If you spend eight years and there is nothing tangible recorded against your name, that is not right. Remember, for a considerable part of his first term, he was ill; thank God he made it back. It’s like he is doubling efforts now to ensure that a legacy that cannot be erased is left behind because four years will soon come and go.”
Bakare said he believed Buhari meant well for Nigeria and that he was not opposed to restructuring.
“I don’t think Buhari is against restructuring. If he is, then I wonder what legacy he wants to leave behind.
“He means well for Nigeria; he wants to leave a legacy and he is doing and trying his hardest within the available resources.
“We are trusting that he will be surrounded by capable men and there will not be mutual suspicion and mistrust among those who are closest to him so that he can focus and get the job done,” Bakare said.
The Punch
The Super Eagles of Nigeria defeated Egypt 4-2 on penalties to win the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 third-place playoff on Saturday.
Goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali proved the hero of the night with two crucial saves during the shootout, including one from Egyptian star Mohamed Salah.
Ademola Lookman then calmly converted the decisive penalty to secure the bronze medal —Nigeria’s ninth third-place finish in AFCON history.
With neither side able to break the deadlock in a cagey second half, the game ended 0-0, sending the contest directly to penalties.
Despite Fisayo Dele-Bashiru missing Nigeria’s first kick, Nwabali’s immediate saved from Egypt’s first two attempts shifted the momentum.
The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of the son of a former Jigawa State governor, challenging the decision of the trial court, which convicted him for failing to declare $40,000 at Kano airport.
In a unanimous decision, the apex court panel dismissed the appeal of Aminu Sule Lamido, the son of former governor Sule Lamido, for lack of merit.
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested Aminu on December 11, 2012, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport while preparing to travel to Cairo, Egypt.
The prosecution said Aminu declared $10,000 to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), but was found with an additional $40,000, which was not disclosed on his currency declaration form.
The EFCC charged him before the Federal High Court in Kano on a one-count offence of false declaration of foreign currency, contrary to provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.
On July 12, 2015, the court convicted Aminu and ordered him to forfeit 25 per cent of the undeclared sum to the Federal government.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, Aminu approached the Court of Appeal in Kaduna to overturn the conviction and set aside the forfeiture order.
In a judgment delivered on December 7, 2015, however, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has ordered that the trial of former governor Lamido, his two sons, and others, over alleged N1.35billion fraud, should continue before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
A five-member panel of the apex court issued the directive in two unanimous judgments, in the two appeals filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The Supreme Court upheld the decision of the trial court, which dismissed the no-case submission filed by the Lamidos and held that the defendants had a case to answer.
Both appeals were against the July 25, 2023, judgments of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which upheld the no-case submission made by Lamido and others and struck out the 37-count charge on which they were being prosecuted, on the grounds that the Federal High Court in Abuja lacked the jurisdiction to hear the case.
In the lead judgments of the Supreme Court, Justice Abubakar Umar set aside the July 25, 2023 judgments of the Court of Appeal and affirmed the earlier decision by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which overruled the no-case submissions by Lamido and others and ordered them to enter their defence.
The EFCC, in the 37-count charge, among others, accused Lamido of abusing his position as a governor between 2007 and 2015, allegedly laundering sums of money received as kickbacks from companies that were awarded contracts by the Jigawa State Government under his leadership.
The other defendants charged alongside Lamido are his two sons – Aminu and Mustapha; Aminu Wada Abubakar and their companies – Bamaina Holdings Ltd and Speeds International Ltd.
