Headlines
Miyetti Allah Faults Northern Governors Meeting, Says They Discussed Self-Aggrandised Motive
The Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Bauchi State branch, has berated the Northern Governors Forum for what it termed “lackadaisical attitude” towards the plight of Fulani across the country.
They wondered why the governors did not, during their recent meeting in Kaduna, discuss and come up with a position on the alleged humiliation that herders were being subjected to on grazing reserves in the Southern parts of the country, especially by “powers that are infringing on their rights to movement and association.”
Chairman of the Association, Muhammad Hussaini, said it was disheartening that Northern governors and emirs, who are representatives of the people, could sit to discuss issues affecting the region without recourse to the plight of the Fulani.
According to him, the Fulani tribe, especially the herders who roam about in search of greener pasture for their animals, were being “humiliated, maimed and even killed” in the southern part of the country.
He added that their movements were being restricted “on their fatherland,” saying it is contrary to the provisions of Nigerian Constitution.
Husaini, who spoke at a meeting of the association in Bauchi on Wednesday, to review the alleged treatment being meted on their kinsmen in the south, wondered how the northern governors and emirs bothered about political issues such as power shift between the country’s regions to the detriment of lives of their people or subjects.
He said: “Instead of the Northern governors to show concern to the forms of treatment of herders by Southern governors, they simply sat and discussed issues of personal vendetta without recourse to the people they govern.
“For this, we condemn in totality the Northern Governors’ Forum meeting, with emirs in attendance.
“They sat to discuss their self-aggrandised motives, leveraging on ways and means to enrich themselves to the impairment of the people.”
He also regretted that the APC-led Federal Government could not help matters on issues affecting the Fulani, specifically the nomadic herders, whose preoccupation is to look for greener pastures for their animals.
These ugly drifts, he noted, were also coupled with the current economic meltdown, lack of palliation on the part of government, and abject poverty bedeviling citizens, with Fulani not an exception.
The Punch
The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (NWC) has suspended the National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade; National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu; Deputy Legal Adviser, Okechukwu Osuoha; and National Organizing Secretary, Umaru Bature for one month.
The suspension comes on the heels of the judgement of the Federal High Court On Friday, which stopped the party’s planned national convention.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Debo Ologunagba, told journalists in Abuja on Saturday, that the decision followed an emergency meeting of the national working committee, which was held in Abuja.
President Donald Trump of the United States on Friday designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), in response to allegations of widespread persecution and genocide against Christians.
Writing on his Truth Social account, Trump stated that Christianity faces a serious threat in Nigeria.
The US leader also added Nigeria to a State Department watch list.
“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter,” Trump wrote.
According to the US president, he was placing Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer and most populous nation, on a “Countries of Particular Concern” list of nations the US deems to have engaged in religious freedom violations.
According to the State Department’s website, the list includes China, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia, and Pakistan, among others.
Trump said he had asked US Representatives Riley Moore and Tom Cole, as well as the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, to look into the matter and report back to him.
A Federal High Court in Abuja has removed Hon. Abubakar Gummi from the House of Representatives after he left the Peoples Democratic Party for the All Progressives Congress.
The lawmaker represented the Gummi/Bukkuyum Federal Constituency in Zamfara State.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu delivered the ruling, holding that Gummi’s defection breached the Constitution.
The court said the seat does not belong to any politician but to the political party that sponsored the election.
According to the judgment, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, is barred from recognising Gummi “as a member representing Gummi/Bukkuyum Federal Constituency.”
The judge also instructed the Independent National Electoral Commission to “conduct a fresh election” for the vacant seat within 30 days.
The case was instituted by the PDP and its Zamfara chairman, who insisted that Gummi’s move to the APC had no legal justification. They argued that there was no division in the PDP to support his defection, as required by Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution.
Gummi, through his counsel, claimed he left the PDP due to internal crises which he said made it “impossible” to serve his constituents effectively. The judge, however, dismissed his arguments and granted all the reliefs requested by the plaintiffs.
Justice Egwuatu, in a firm comment, warned politicians against what he described as reckless party hopping.
“Political prostitution must not be rewarded,” he declared, adding that lawmakers must not transfer votes won on one party’s platform to another party.
The court also ordered Gummi to refund all salaries and allowances received from October 30, 2024, until the date of judgment. He is also barred from earning any further benefits as a member of the House.
Additionally, the judge imposed a N500,000 cost against the defendants in favour of the PDP.
