Headlines
Reps Support Sanusi, Tell North to Stop Relying on Quota
The House of Representatives on Tuesday supported the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi’s warning to the North over the region’s poor attitude to education.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr Benjamin Kalu, who stated this in an interview with one of our correspondents, said the North had not fully taken advantage of the quota system to develop itself.
He said the North should embrace education in order to compete with other regions and stop relying on the quota system.
Kalu stated this just as northern youths, under the aegis of the Coalition of Northern Groups, said the quota system and federal character should be removed from the constitution.
Sanusi, at the 60th birthday of Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, in Kaduna on Monday, said by failing to address its numerous challenges, the North was gradually destroying itself.
He listed problems facing the North as poverty, millions of out-of-school children, malnutrition, drug abuse, Almajiri, and the Boko Haram insurgency.
The emir, who said no “true Northern Nigeria leader” was happy with the problems, said the North should stop relying on the quota system and federal character.
The monarch stated, “We have been saying this for 20 to 30 years. If the North does not change, the North will destroy itself. The country is moving on. The quota system that everybody talks about must have a sunset clause.”
Admonishing young men and women from the North, Sanusi had said, “We need to get northern youths to a point where they don’t need to come from a part of the country to get a job. And believe me, if we don’t listen, there would be a day when there would be a constitutional amendment that addresses these issues of quota system and federal character.
“The rest of the country cannot be investing, educating its children, producing graduates and then they watch us, they can’t get jobs because they come from the wrong state when we have not invested in the future of our own children.
Supporting the emir, Kalu said, “The purpose of the federal character element of the constitution is to ensure the distribution of projects and opportunities in the country. If the implementation is faulty, that is where complaints should come.
“If you benefit from that particular provision of the constitution without being fully prepared for it, you are under-developing yourself. The problem is not with the law, the problem is with those who are accessing the benefits of the law.”
The House of Representatives spokesman said federal character did not mean that those who were not qualified should occupy positions.
Kalu stated, “I agree with him (Sanusi). If you access any opportunity that you are not qualified for, you are under-developing yourself and the country. One, you will not be able to fulfil the demands of that office. Two, you will deny those who are supposed to benefit from that office, what they are entitled to.”
The House spokesman noted that what Sanusi said was in the interest of the North and any other region where the issues he raised were.
He said, “The benefit of what the Emir is suggesting, to be sincere, is for the growth of the geopolitical zones in the North. I fully agree with him that the net gift we can give to any underdeveloped or undeveloped region in this country is education.
“Equip yourself in a way that you will be competent to rub shoulders anywhere in the world because of your qualifications; not just your certificate but that you know what you are talking about. We should not be local champions, depending on all the opportunities available. He is trying to raise great minds that will be able to walk outside, and I agree with him.”
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.
