Headlines
Thank You for Your Concern, We Don’t Need Your Vigilante – South East Group Tells Miyetti Allah
The Coalition of South-East Youth Leaders has condemned the statement by the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association that it will establish Fulani vigilante in the South-East.
The group described the offer as an insult and an abomination in Igbo land.
In a statement in Umuahia signed by its President-General, Chief Goodluck Ibem, the group stated, “Who told Miyetti Allah that the South-East is looking for vigilante that will protect it from bandits and hoodlums?
“For the past 12 years, Boko Haram and bandits have been terrorising the northern states and Miyetti Allah did not deem it fit to establish a vigilante group to protect their northern region and fight Boko Haram insurgents and killer bandits.
“They could not chase away bandits on the Kaduna-Abuja highway. They should have formed a vigilante group to stop killings in Zamfara, Adamawa and Borno states.
“The only place they are concerned about to establish a vigilante group is in the South- East because they are the good Samaritans. We say thank you for your concern; we don’t need your vigilante. Take it to the North and protect your states.
“This unguided statement by Miyetti Allah is provocative and insulting to the Igbo nation. The North has more land mass than the South-East, South-West and South-South combined together. Why are they so interested in this small portion of the South-East? The answer is simple; because they are troublemakers and greedy.
“We warn Miyetti Allah to, with immediate effect, withdraw this abominable statement and apologise to the people of the South-East.
“We, as a matter of urgency, demand the establishment of the Bakassi Vigilante Boys in the 19 states in the north to protect Igbo and their businesses.
“COSEYL also warned the South-East governors and traditional rulers in the zone never to sell or give out any portion of land, no matter how small, to Miyetti Allah or any other herders’ association in the geopolitical zone. If they dare it, they will face the wrath of the South-East people.”
Miyetti Allah’s secret agenda, the group said, “is to Fulanise, Islamise and declare jihad in the South-East zone.”
The group called on the state Houses of Assembly in the South-East states to promulgate laws to establish the Bakassi Vigilante Boys “to protect our land from intruders and killer herdsmen.”
The Punch
The Presidency has dismissed claims that Vice President Kashim Shettima’s recent comments were directed at the political situation in Rivers State or President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s constitutional decisions on the matter.
In a statement on Friday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha, the Presidency described the reports as a “gross misrepresentation.”
The statement clarified that Vice President Shettima’s remarks at the public presentation of a book by former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), were misconstrued by some online platforms and individuals.
“These reports have distorted the Vice President’s comments in pursuit of a mischievous agenda,” it stated.
“They twisted his account of how the administration of former President Jonathan considered removing him as Borno Governor during the insurgency to falsely link it with current events in Rivers State.”
The Vice President, who spoke at the launch of OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block in Abuja on Thursday, was said to have referenced the past solely to commend Adoke’s professionalism while in office, and to reflect on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution regarding federal and state relations.
“For the avoidance of doubt, President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara from office. The constitutional measure implemented was a suspension, not an outright removal.
“This action was taken in response to the grave political crisis in Rivers State at the time, with the governor facing a looming impeachment and the State Assembly complex under demolition,” Nkwocha clarified.
The Presidency insisted that the action taken by President Tinubu in declaring a state of emergency and suspending the Governor was fully in line with Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which authorises such measures when there is a breakdown of public order requiring extraordinary intervention.
According to the statement, the President’s proclamation invoking Section 305(2) was subsequently ratified by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the National Assembly, confirming the legitimacy and constitutional propriety of the decision.
“The action of President Tinubu in suspending Mr. Fubara and others from exercising the functions of office averted the governor’s outright removal. To conflate suspension with removal is misleading,” the statement further noted.
Nkwocha also stressed that Vice President Shettima’s comments were delivered extemporaneously and intended to underline the importance of public accountability and historical documentation.
He referenced the Vice President’s mention of past public servants, including Adoke and former Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, to illustrate principled leadership.
“His remarks were not in any way a criticism of President Tinubu’s actions, which the Vice President and the entire administration fully support and stand by without reservation,” the spokesman stated.
The Vice President, the statement added, remains in “loyal concert” with President Tinubu and is committed to implementing all constitutional measures necessary to safeguard democracy and uphold order across the country.
Concluding, the Presidency called on media organisations and political actors to desist from misrepresenting public remarks for sensational or partisan purposes.
“We urge media organisations and political actors to desist from the destructive practice of wrenching statements from context in order to fabricate nonexistent conflicts,” Nkwocha said.
Headlines
Akpabio Relieves Natasha of Committee Chairmanship Position, Appoints Akwa Ibom Senator As Replacement
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has replaced suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as the Chairman, Senate Committee on Diaspora/Non-Governmental Organisations.
In her place, Akpabio named Senator Bassey Aniekun Etim (Akwa Ibom -East).
The Senate President, who made the announcement on the floor in Abuja on Thursday, did not give any reasons.
The committee position had remained vacant since March when the Senate suspended the Kogi-Central Senatorial District lawmaker for six months for flouting the Senate’s rule on the seating arrangement and seat allocation.
The suspended lawmaker, at a point, chaired the Senate Committee on Local Content before Akpabio reassigned her to the Committee on Diaspora/NGO, shortly before she ran into trouble with the Senate over her conduct on seat allocation.
The Supreme Court has affirmed the 2024 governorship election victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, the apex court ruled that the appeal lacked merit. It upheld the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had both declared Okpebholo the validly elected governor.
