Headlines
State Governors Lose Yet Another Bid to Control LGA Funds
The Federal High Court on Monday declined to restrain the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) from implementing its recent guidelines on local government funds.
The judgment by John Tsoho of the Abuja Division marked yet another setback to the nation’s 36 governors in their effort to keep control of local government finances in their respective states.
In a guideline that took effect on June 1, the NFIU directed banks not to honour transactions in the joint accounts of state and local governments. It said such accounts should only be used to distribute allocations to accounts of local governments directly.
The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) recently sued the NFIU, saying the directive was illegal because it contradicted the Constitution.
The Constitution prescribed joint ownership of account between a state and all local government areas under it, but there have been claims that the governors have been mismanaging the funds by bullying local authorities into silence.
At the resumed hearing on the matter on Monday, Mr Tsoho declined to allow the governors continue to draw funds from local government accounts until the matter had been concluded by the court, which could take several months or even years.
Further hearing on the matter could not continue on Tuesday, after the lead lawyer for the governors, Lateef Fagbemi, failed to appear in court on excuses that he was handling another matter at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal.
Although there was an initial agreement by all parties to wait for Mr Fagbemi, who had promised to appear in court before noon, the court eventually adjourned the matter when he did not show up.
A further hearing had been adjourned till October 23 for all applications, including one challenging the court’s jurisdiction, to be heard.
The NFIU had on May 6 issued ‘Guidelines to Reduce Vulnerabilities Created by Cash Withdrawals from Local Government Funds throughout Nigeria,’ which sought to stop governors from tampering with funds meant for local government areas forthwith.
Despite the stiff opposition by the governors, including several meetings with President Muhammadu Buhari, the guidelines took effect from June.
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The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
