Opposition using restructuring to destroy Nigeria – Presidency

Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has said opposition is using restructuring to destroy Nigeria.

Adesina, speaking at the 5th anniversary lecture of News Express on Thursday, also stated that the country was positioned to automatically restructure itself.

Commenting on the lecture delivered by Niger state Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, who was represented by Jibrin Ndache, his chief press secretary, Adesina said the outcome of the 2015 election was a manifestation of self-restructuring.

“There is something that has been naturally built into Nigeria that makes it to self-restructure.
“The 2015 election, you know it got to a point that former President Obasanjo described it as “any other person but Jonathan (APBJ).

“The 2015 election showed us that Nigeria is naturally configured for self-restructuring. You know the current president has run for three times. Automatically, he had 12 million votes waiting for him in the northern part of the country but that was enough.

“And then in 2015, there was a handshake and middle-belt, south-west, they all teamed up. It was the DG of the campaign then, Rotimi Amaechi who said that the political map of Nigeria had been redrawn, and there was no way the incumbent president was winning. And it turned out to be true. That was the kind of restructuring that brought change to Nigeria.

“Nigeria is positioned for automatic self-restructuring. But that is not to say that restructuring debate should not continue,” Adesina said.

The presidential spokesman said there was no given definition of restructuring, alleging that the opposition was using restructuring as a tool to destabilise the government.

“The areas of restructuring are yet to be defined. Ask 100 people what is restructuring and you will get 100 different answers.

“It shows you that there is no unanimity on what restructuring really is. So how then do you begin to work on restructuring when it has not properly been defined,” Adesina asked.

No wonder the APC now said OK, we will set up a committee to go round the country and find out what people understand by restructuring and what they what to see in restructuring.

“And then a lot of people say the president does not believe in restructuring. Not exactly. The APC has a manifesto and in inside that manifesto is devolution of power. What some people want is to see the entire thing in the manifesto being done in six months. It doesn’t work that way. The mandate is a four-year mandate.

“People that are agitating for restructuring, I may be wrong but my feeling is that they have turned it into another tool of opposition. It is a covert way of opposing the government of the day.

“If you oppose the government of the day to the extent that you distract it, what should be achieved would then not be achieved at the end of the time. Therefore, people who are sincere about restructuring and who want to see a tweaking of the configuration of our country, there is nothing wrong with it.

“If you read in between the lines, what people that canvass restructuring seeks at the substratum level is the fact that they want to break the country, what they want is dismemberment.

“The governing party believes in restructuring because devolution of power is a form of restructuring. I have heard the president say it many times that we did not fight that civil war to keep Nigeria one and then we will sit down and watch some people want to dismember this country.

“So, a restructuring that will deepen our unity is good but restructuring that will fragment the country is bad and no government, no president who has sworn to uphold the constitution, because the constitution recognises a united and indivisible country will agree to that kind of restructuring that they are trumpeting,” Adesina added.

Fayose Reveals Those He will arrest when He become president

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Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has said that those arresting people today will be arrested tomorrow.

This followed his insistence that he will become Nigeria’s next president.

Fayose, in a series of tweets on Thursday night, was reacting to the arrest of Toyin Ojo, his Commissioner for Finance.

The Governor insinuated that some people in Aso Villa were using the security and anti-graft agencies to intimidate him.

“The arrestors of today would be arrested tomorrow.
“Those who gave reasons@realDonaldTrump won’t be POTUS know better now. I want to be President of Nigeria, that’s what I will be.

“They think they can use @officialEFCC to intimidate us, we are waiting. But tell the Villa hawks that last year, they used DSS, it failed.

“They remembered bailout fund the moment I made it public that I was declaring for President. So, Ekiti was the only state that got bailout?,” Fayose tweeted.

Arewa youths’ quit notice: Leave North now – Lawyers warn Igbos

Concerned lawyers in Onitsha, Anambra state have advised Igbo living in the North to adhere to the quit notice earlier issued by Northern youth coalition.

The lawyers, led by Barr. Samuel Okechukwu, told newsmen in Onitsha, that Igbo people in the region should return home before October 1 whether the threat to their lives will be carried out or not.
Others at the briefing were Messrs Chukwukelu, Ben Okoko and Maurice Efobi.

The lawyers noted that there are comfortable homes in Igbo land that will accommodate sons and daughters of Ndigbo.

They insisted that returning home was better than being in a land where their lives were subjected to risk.
According to them, “threat of such nature which borders on the national security, lives and properties of free citizens of the country ought not to be taken for granted.”

They further warned that Ndigbo must not allow events of 1966 to repeat.

Abaribe ‘attacks’ Nigerian govt for declaring IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu terrorists

​The Chairman of the South-East Senate caucus, Enyinnaya Abaribe has lambasted the Federal Government over its decision to proscribe the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, under the leadership of Nnamdi Kanu.

Abaribe, who signed Kanu’s bail bond, likened the decision of the Federal Government to killing a fly with a sledgehammer.

Speaking in Aba, Abia State, Abaribe said, “The South-East Senate Caucus disagrees with the Nigerian government in saying that IPOB is a terrorist organisation.

“We feel it is too strong a gambit to use. We feel that you cannot kill a fly with a sledge-hammer.
“You cannot proscribe a group of people; you cannot leave glaring evidence of those who actually work against the unity of this country, those who are actually killing people, those who are actually taking up arms against this country and then you turn around and say that these people have a potential to do so, therefore you now go ahead to declare them a terrorist organization with the implications for this country that are very glaring.”

Seized $15.5m: Court hears Patience Jonathan, Skye Bank’s suit November 2

​The Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed November 2 for hearing in the N200m fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by wife of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience, against Skye Bank Plc.

Also joined as defendants in the suit are a former Special Adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Domestic Affairs, Waripamo-Owei Dudafa; and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Four firms linked to Dudafa were also joined as defendants in the suit.

They are Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited; Seagate Property Development & Investment Co. Limited; Trans Ocean Property and Investment Company Limited and Development Company Limited; and Globus Integrated Service Limited.

Patience filed the suit to protest against the ‘No Debit Order’ placed by the EFCC on the bank accounts of the four companies domiciled in Skye Bank.

The four companies were said to have a total of $15.5m in their bank accounts, which the EFCC had since last year July frozen.

The EFCC froze the accounts while investigating Dudafa for money laundering.

But Patience claims that the funds in the companies’ accounts belonged to her though she was not a signatory to any of the accounts.

In an affidavit filed in support of the suit, one Sammie Somiari explained that Patience had asked Dudafa to help her open five bank accounts only for Dudafa to open one in Patience’s name and four others in the names of companies linked to him.

 According to Somiari, Dudafa had on March 22, 2010 brought two Skye Bank officers, Demola Bolodeoku and Dipo Oshodi, to meet Patience at home to open five accounts.

He, however, claimed that after the five accounts were opened, Patience later discovered that Dudafa opened only one of the accounts in her name while the other four were opened in the names of companies belonging to Dudafa.

Somiari added, “The applicant (Patience) complained about this to Honourable Dudafa, who, at his prompting and instance, promised to effect the change of the said accounts to the applicant’s name; and to effect this change, Honourable Dudafa brought the said bank manager, Mr. Dipo Oshodi, who purported to have effected the changes. This was about April 2014.”

Quit notice: Kaduna gets bench warrant to arrest northern youths

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The Kaduna State Government on Thursday said it had obtained a bench warrant from the court to arrest members of the Coalition of Northern Youths who gave October 1, 2017, as deadline for Ndigbo in the North to quit or be forced out of the region.

This was despite the withdrawal of the quit notice by the group.
A coalition of northern groups, including the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum led Shettima Yerima, had in July given all the Igbo resident in the 19 states of the North a three-month ultimatum to quit or be forced out after the expiration of the October 1, 2017, deadline.

They also asked all northerners resident in the South-East to get prepared and return to the North.
The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai had earlier ordered the arrest of the principal actors who signed the ‘Kaduna declaration.’

The declaration was signed by Nastura Ashir Sharif (Arewa Citizens Action for Change); Ambassador ShettimaYerima (Arewa Youth Consultative Forum); Aminu Adam (Arewa Youth Development Foundation); Alfred Solomon (Arewa Students Forum); and Abdul-Azeez Suleiman (Northern Emancipation Network) as well as JoshuaViashman (Northern Youth Vanguard).

However, on Thursday, the state government obtained a bench warrant from the court to arrest those that issued the quit notice ultimatum.

Addressing a press conference at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House, Kaduna, the state capital, El-Rufai’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, however, assured residents including the Igbo, that they had nothing to fear.

He said the assurance was given by the Kaduna State Government which commended all residents and communities in the state for their contributions to peace and harmony.

The government, he added, informed residents that law enforcement and security agencies were taking necessary actions to prevent any threat to peace.

Aruwan said the state government was steadfast about enforcing the law and in keeping the peace, disclosing that the government had taken further actions in relation to those persons that were threatening the liberty of other citizens.

“The government has obtained a bench warrant for their arrest, after filing a formal criminal complaint,” he said.

Aruwan added, “The Kaduna State Government notes, with commendation, the efforts of the residents of our diverse state to uphold peace in their communities. The government and the security agencies are working to prevent any threat to this cherished harmony. Vigorous security patrols will continue as part of concrete actions to reassure residents and demonstrate that bad behaviour is unwelcome and will not be tolerated.

“When some elements barged into our state capital to deliver an illegal ultimatum to a section of our community, the government condemned it and ordered the arrest of those concerned. The Kaduna State Government followed up with a formal criminal complaint to the police, and has obtained a bench warrant against them. Therefore, anybody that sights them or is aware of their location should proudly discharge the civic duty of informing the police.

“The criminal complaint specifies the sections of the recently updated Penal Code Law of Kaduna State, 2017 that were violated by those that issued the illegal ultimatum. These include inciting disturbance: Section 78; disturbing public peace: Section 77; injurious falsehood: Section 373; unlawful assembly: Section 66; and criminal conspiracy: Section 59.

“The formal criminal complaint and the bench warrant secured on the 8th August, 2017 provide a basis to investigate, apprehend and ultimately prosecute the suspects.”

IPOB leader, Kanu, not in military custody – Nigerian Army

​Authoritative sources from the Nigerian Army have said the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, is not in military custody.

The sources, from the army headquarters, Abuja, and the 82 Division headquarters, Enugu State, which coordinates Operation Python Dance II, told one of our correspondents on Thursday that Kanu was not arrested or detained, as being speculated.

Kanu’s lawyers on Wednesday filed a suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja praying for an order, directing the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, to produce Kanu in court.

The lawyers, led by Ifeanyi Ejiofor, had declared Kanu missing, saying the IPOB leader was last seen after the September 14 invasion of his residence in Afara-Ukwu area of Abia State by soldiers.

But an authoritative source from the army headquarters said, “If you follow the trends of things, the army has not been talking about a proscribed group. If someone says he does not know where Kanu is, who gave him the authority to file a motion against the army?

“We don’t want to be drawn into this propaganda. For goodness sake, if we have Kanu, of what use is it if we keep quiet? We have never been secretive. Nobody prompted us before we came out to talk about Egwu Eke II starting in the South-East. Nobody prompted us before we came out to say that despite all the pressures, we were not withdrawing the operation. The exercise is still ongoing.”

Also, the source from 82 Division headquarters, Enugu, who did not want his name in print, replied our correspondent’s enquiry through a text message.
“Kanu is not with us. And I am not aware of his whereabouts,” it read.

But Kanu’s younger brother simply identified as Fine Boy, had on September 17 refused to tell newsmen where his brother was, adding that only the IPOB leader could disclose his hiding place.

He said, “Only my brother can tell Nigerians where he is, I can’t. I don’t know why the Army should call IPOB a terrorist organisation, it is out of their desperation to arrest Nnamdi and frustrate the Biafran struggle. We have petitioned the United Nations and the European Union.

“…Nnamdi will soon disclose his current location and IPOB will also react to the proscription of the group by the South-East Governors’ Forum.”

The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Sani Usman, could not be reached for comment as of press time.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the South-East caucus in the Senate, Enyinnaya Abaribe, who stood as surety for Kanu, has said he should not be held liable if Kanu does not show up on October 17, which is the next hearing.

Abaribe said this on Thursday on a Channels TV programme, Sunrise Daily, noting that the alleged invasion of Kanu’s home in Abia State by troops of the Nigerian Army, was done “18 days before Kanu is to appear in court.”

Some senators had on Tuesday in a closed-door session, reportedly lashed out at Abaribe for accepting to stand as a surety for Kanu and for meeting with the IPOB members, claiming that the senator supported IPOB activities.

Abaribe on Thursday, however, said his meeting with the IPOB members was to find, “lasting peace” to the crisis. The senator said no one could say whether Kanu was dead or alive after the army’s invasion.
He said, “One of the very unfortunate issues is that when people don’t want to address issues, they abuse or personalise issues. I stood surety for him (Kanu). Put it in perspective; he is supposed to appear in court on October 17. Then one month prior to his appearance, September 14 – clearly one month – the army now invaded his house and his village, and since then, nobody has heard from him.”

Also, IPOB has described President Muhammadu Buhari as a godfather of terrorists.
In a statement in Awka, Anambra State, on Thursday by the Media and Publicity Secretary of the proscribed pro-Biafran group, Emma Powerful, IPOB alleged that Buhari was a sponsor of several terrorist organisations including Boko Haram.