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Winners’ Chapel, RCCG May Ground Services As Lagos, Ogun Ban Gathering
The Living Faith Church aka Winners’ Chapel and the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), noted as holding the single largest number of congregants every week for religious worship may be grounded this weekend as the governments of both Lagos and Ogun states have banned religious gathering with more 50 worshippers.
The Lagos State Government, in a statement by the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Prince Anofiu Elegushi, said the state had banned all religious gathering of over 50 people within the state.
According to the statement, the decision was arrived at after a meeting of the Lagos State Government with religious bodies in the state which included the Christian Association of Nigeria and Muslim leaders.
Elegushi said the meeting agreed that all large religious gatherings of over 50 people should be suspended immediately.
He said the suspension would last for four weeks with a necessary review carried out if need be.
He added that a committee had been set up to monitor the enforcement of the suspension to ensure that both Muslims and Christians in the state abide by the decision.
The 15-member committee comprises representatives of Muslims and Christians in the state.
The Chief Imam of Lagos State, Sheikh Oluwatoyin Abou-Nolla, said the action of the state government was commendable, urging all Muslim leaders to abide by the decision and to also make personal hygiene a priority.
The Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Apostle Alexander Bamgbola, said the nation was at a critical point, stressing that since the outbreak of coronavirus, Christians had been praying.
Also, the Ogun State government in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the state Governor, Kunle Somorin, banned social clubs, halls, cinemas, nightclubs, restaurants, cafes, and sport arenas described as high-density gatherings of people.
The government said any gathering of 50 or more people together had been banned henceforth for 30 days as part of precautions on the spread of coronavirus in the state.
It said that the ban would take effect for the next 30 days in the first instance. Abiodun maintained that the restriction was enforced without prejudice to people’s fundamental rights to association and movement.
The Christian Association of Nigeria says it is too early to suspend Christian Sunday services and Friday (Juma’at) because of covid-19 fears.
The Spokesman for the CAN President, Rev. Bayo Oladeji, said this while reacting to calls by the Lagos State Government to suspend religious gatherings.
The cleric, while commending the government for its fight against COVID-19, said if religious activities were to be suspended, then corporate activities must also be halted.
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.
