News From Nigeria
On behalf of the government and people of Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu sends warm greetings to former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (Rtd), on his 89th birthday, and celebrates the elder statesman whose visionary leadership has shaped major milestones in Nigeria’s history.
The President extols General Gowon for institutionalizing the peace process in Nigeria with lasting legacies, such as laying the foundation for Nigeria’s federation through the creation of states; fostering cohesion, encouraging inter-ethnic warmth and understanding by establishing the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), and sustaining the pillars of harmony between Nigerians with the National Prayer Movement, which continues to inspire neighbourliness and a high degree of patriotism.
“His love and passion for Nigeria, as well as his determination to see into manifestation the unique gifts and combined strengths of all Nigerians, irrespective of faith, tribe or any other difference, remains a pace-setting attribute of leadership that all present and future Nigerian leaders must emulate,” the President says.
President Tinubu affirms that the courage, passion, and wisdom that General Gowon has consistently exuded from his youth, being Nigeria’s youngest leader at 32, has kept him steadfast and relevant at 89, as he continues to provide counsel to leaders, within and outside of the country, all while enjoying every measure of God’s amazing grace in enduring strength and health.
The President joins the wife of the former Head of State, his family members, and many friends in celebration.
Chief Ajuri Ngelale
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
October 18, 2023
PRESS RELEASE
SANWO-OLU KICKS OFF CONSTRUCTION OF $100 MILLION LAGOS FILM CITY PROJECT
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Wednesday, laid the first foundation block for the development of Lagos Film City — an ecosystem of creative cinematography, tourism, leisure, entertainment and learning.
The project, being sited on 100-hectares in Ejinrin town in Epe Division, is a legacy infrastructure initiated by the Sanwo-Olu administration to harness local talent and creativity to create new economic opportunities for talented youngsters in culture and entertainment industries.
The State Government sealed a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with entertainment investors facilitated by Del-York Group to develop the one-stop campus for learning, film production, post-production, visual effects, and other ancillary services that support the filmmaking process.
Ogidi Studios and EbonyLife Cinema are among the indigenous entertainment partners that would work on the project to bring the Governor’s vision to reality.
Ejinrin, a coastal boundary town, literally became a beehive during the groundbreaking held at the site of the $100 million project.
Roll call of Nollywood veterans and notable theater practitioners that attended the ceremony included Alhaji Adebayo Salami, popularly known as Oga Bello; Prince Jide Kosoko, Tade Ogidan, Prof. Sola Fosudo, Adewale Elesho, Saheed Balogun, Kunle Afolayan, and Raymond Anyiam-Osigwe among others. There were movie directors and young filmmakers.
The event also had in attendance traditional rulers and members of the diplomatic community, who expressed their excitement seeing Lagos launching a world-class infrastructure to tap into the global entertainment market.
Sanwo-Olu said the occasion marked a significant milestone in his administration’s journey to creating a thriving film industry in Lagos that would have a global appeal, while contributing to the economic growth and cultural development of the State.
The Governor said: “Today, we embark on a journey that will redefine the landscape of the film industry in Lagos. As we break the ground for this $100million project covering a land area of 100 hectares and which will be executed through PPP model, we are laying the foundation for a creative hub that will serve as a catalyst for innovation, talent discovery, and storytelling excellence. This is a testament to our commitment to nurturing the arts and supporting the dreams of aspiring filmmakers, actors, and technicians.
“It is our strong belief that the film industry has the power to transcend boundaries and bring people together. It has the ability to inspire, entertain, and educate. Through the magic of cinema, we can showcase the rich cultural heritage of Lagos, while telling stories that reflect our shared experiences, and amplify the voices of our diverse communities. This film city will serve as a canvas for these stories, providing a platform for our talented artists to shine on both local and global stages.”
When delivered, Sanwo-Olu said there would be no need for filmmakers to take their creative contents out of the country for final production of their works. He stressed that all required infrastructure and equipment needed to produce a globally accepted cinema production would be available in the Film City.
The Governor appealed to residents of the host community to support the project, noting that the Film City would turn around fallow assets of the town to create wealth for its inhabitants.
Through the project, Sanwo-Olu said Lagos would tap into the global entertainment GDP and create job opportunities for young cinematographers, while stimulating economic growth and attracting more foreign investment into the sector.
“The Film City is not just about bricks and mortar. It is about the people who will walk through its doors and breathe life into its spaces. It is about the dreams that will be realised, stories that will be told, and impacts that will be made. Our creative community is the beating heart of this film city, and we are committed to providing them with the resources, support, and opportunities they need to thrive. This is an ecosystem that will nurture creativity, foster collaboration and empower artists to push their craft beyond the local boundaries,” the Governor said.
Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Toke Benson-Awoyinka, noted that the idea to embark on the Film City project was initiated during the Governor’s transition period in 2019, adding that the project required committed investors and partners to bring it to life.
She said the commencement of the project’s construction further testified to the commitment of the Sanwo-Olu administration to invest in the infrastructure, and create an enabling environment for the creative economy to thrive in Lagos.
“By the time the Lagos Film City comes on board, the spiral-effect on Lagos profile as a tourist destination of choice would be appreciated beyond the entertainment sector,” the Commissioner said.
Founder of Del-York Group, Linus Idahosa, said allocation of private equity to investors in the project development underscored the Governor’s understanding of key partnerships required to deliver the vision and enhance growth in the creative sector.
He said: “This idea of strategic collaboration between the Government and stakeholders is what it takes to push the country forward. The future of this country will be determined by the creative energy we are about to harness through the Film City project.”
Elejinrin of Ejinrin, Oba Rafiu Balogun, said the occasion marked a new dawn for the natives, describing the Film City as the “first modern project” to be brought to the town, decades after the colonial masters left.
“Talents and endowment deposited in Ejinrin can now be enhanced for national development,” the monarch said, thanking the Governor for siting the project in the town.
Popular movie star, Femi Adebayo, who spoke on behalf of Nollywood, said the project represented the collective enthusiasm of theatre practitioners and creative community, stressing that the infrastructure would elevate professionalism in cinematography and entertainment.
SIGNED
GBOYEGA AKOSILE
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY
18 OCTOBER 2023
At Third Belt and Road Initiative Forum: China Commits To Refinancing, Completing Abuja-Kano, Port-Harcourt-Maiduguri Railways
**As President Jinping pledges more investments in Nigeria’s power generation*
In what could best be described as a major milestone for Nigeria at the ongoing Belt and Road Initiative Forum (BRI) in Beijing, China has committed to refinancing and completing the Abuja-Kano and Port- Harcourt-Maiduguri railway projects.
President of Peoples Republic of China, Xi Jinping, made the pledge today while responding to requests made by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who, was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, at a bilateral meeting with the Chinese leader in Beijing.
It would be recalled that since the launch of the projects, China is yet to release funds for the two major railway projects in Nigeria largely due to cutbacks and commitments.
China had agreed to provide 85 per cent financing for the construction of the Abuja-Kano and Port-Harcourt-Maiduguri railway projects, while Nigeria which had the duty of paying the balance 15% paid its part of the funding from inception of the project through appropriations.
The crucial infrastructure also termed a legacy project has the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation as the contractors named to execute the project.
The Chinese President who was visibly elated to receive the Nigerian delegation led by Vice President Shettima at the Peoples Building in China, pledged increased investment in Nigeria’s power generation and digital economy called for the protection of Chinese nationals working in Nigeria, saying he would, in turn, ensure that the Nigeria-China bilateral relation is stronger than before.
President Jinping promised that China will enhance political support and build cooperations in all fields, just as he appreciated Nigeria’s support of one China Policy.
Pledging to further deepen practical cooperations, the Chinese leader threw his weight of support behind the Renewed Hope Manifesto of President Bola Tinubu and his 8-point economic agenda adding that China will support Nigeria’s exports, especially as it relates to peanuts and others, even as the China – Africa talent initiative remains key in its cooperation with Nigeria.
In the area of security, President Jinping promised continued crackdown on terrorists, assuring categorically that China is committed to peace in the Sahel region, more so that its long-standing military trainings and MoUs on joint exercises remain sacrosanct.
Noting that China is committed to peace, President Jinping said, “Like President Bola Ahmed Tinubu stated recently at the last United Nations General Assembly, Africa does not need to run away. Africa holds the key to the World. We support Nigeria to play key roles in international relations and upholding allies’ commitments.
“Mr Vice President, you spoke about upscaling and further upgrading of our strategic relationship, and I totally agree with you. Nigeria is developing with big potentials. I totally agree with you. Our foreign Ambassadors can stay and work out this upgrading”.
Speaking earlier, Vice President Shettima who delivered the well-wishes of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu described the rail projects as very vital to the President and people of Nigeria, saying it remained a legacy project that would further open up the nation’s economy, create jobs and boost trade and investments across the country.
The vice President said President Tinubu remains committed to a stronger Nigeria – China tie, addng that it was laddened with respect, non-political interference and mutual international cooperations.
“Our relationship commenced about 50 years ago, precisely in 1971 and it has been upgraded to a comprehensive partnership but we crave your indulgence, Your Excellency, to further upgrade this relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership because of the importance we attach to our relationship with China.
“When we met in South Africa at the China Plus 1 summit I was very honest and upright with you. Beyond the infrastructural support we are getting; why we love, cherish and respect China is that you treat us with respect and dignity. You don’t dictate to us who our friends are. We don’t forget our friends. China stood by us through thick and thin from the post-colonial struggles for independence in Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique, the struggle for the emancipation of our people in Southern Africa; China stood shoulder to shoulder with the African continent, we thus appreciate your friendship,” VP Kashim submitted.
President Jinping had before his audience with Vice President Kashim Shettima formally declared the Forum which had numerous heads of states and top government officials open.
Nigeria Will Leverage On Ties With China To Improve Digital Space, Says VP Shettima
Meanwhile, Vice President Kashim Shettima today said Nigeria will leverage its relationship with China to adopt programmes that will improve the country’s digital space, among other benefits.
Sen. Shettima also assured member countries of the Belt and Road Initiative of Nigeria’s readiness to “collaborate with the group and other emerging markets to bring about a positive shift in the growth and development of global economies.”
The Vice President stated these in his keynote address themed, “Digital Economy As A New Source Of Growth”, delivered during the High-Level Forum at the onging 3rd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, China.
The Vice President who spoke on Nigeria’s efforts at leveraging collaborations with partners to deploy technology in addressing some of its challenges, noted: “We are keen on using the instrumentality of the existing robust Nigeria-China bilateral relations to maximally key into projects under the platform of the Digital Silk Road for the improvement of our digital space.”
Speaking about Nigeria’s efforts in leveraging the digital space to create jobs and diversify the economy, Sen. Shettima said, “Nigeria has recorded a number of achievements including a digitalized public service, developed banking and e-payment systems, electoral reforms through the introduction of the electronic registration of voters and e-transmission of votes, thus creating ripple effects of job creation and human capacity building opportunities for our teeming youth population.”
Continuing, the VP said, “We have recently unveiled the new strategic blueprint, accelerating our collective prosperity through technical, as part of the Federal Government’s initiative to accelerate the diversification of the Nigerian economy by enhancing productivity in critical sectors through technological innovation.”
He added: “Through this strategic blue print, the Federal Government aims to achieve three key objectives namely: Accelerate the growth of Nigeria as a global technical talent hub and net exporter of talent. One of the goals of this talent hub is to train three million early to mid-career technical talents throughout the next four years (2022-2027); Deepen and accelerate’its position in global research in key technology areas; and Raise the complexity and dynamics of Nigeria’s economy by significantly increasing the level of digital literacy across the country.”
The Vice President also spoke about Nigeria’s broadband penetration rate from 50 to 70 per cent by the end of 2025 and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s domestic card scheme code named “Afri Go” to rival foreign cards like Master and Visa cards, and stregthen the national payment system.
The Vice President was accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar; Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu; Minister of Transportation, Mr Saidu Alkali; Ambassador of Nigeria to China, Baba Ahmad Jidda and others.
*Stanley Nkwocha*
*Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications*
*(Office of the Vice President)*
*18th October, 2023*
ECA and Transsion Sign Agreement to Foster and Accelerate Digital Transformation in Africa
Beijing, 18 Oct 2023, (ECA) – The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and Shenzhen Transsion Holdings Co., Ltd. (Transsion) have signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to foster and accelerate digital transformation in Africa.
The partnership is founded on the complementary expertise and strengths of both parties, with a primary focus on fostering collaboration in research and analytical studies. The shared goal of the two institutions is to provide valuable insights and policy recommendations in key areas of the digital ecosystem in Africa, including e-commerce, fintech, digital payments, financial inclusion, digital trade, and more. Both organizations intend to harness the power of emerging technologies, big data, innovative tools and platforms to achieve these objectives.
Acting Director of the Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resource Management Division at ECA Nassim Oulmane appreciated Transsion’s pivotal role in enhancing access to affordable and high-quality digital technology for African citizens and commended Transsion’s proactive involvement with various stakeholders, including ECA, in driving Africa’s digital transformation forward.
“This partnership can yield meaningful and impactful results in addressing digital challenges and bridging the digital divide on the African continent,” Mr. Oulmane remarked.
Africa is currently the continent with the lowest level of connectivity in the world, where 60% of its population remains offline. The ECA is dedicated to bridging digital divides by promoting infrastructure development and affordability, digital policy formulation, and fostering digital skills.
Harnessing Africa’s potential to embrace digital development and achieve the SDGs and Agenda 2063 requires that Africa’s youth, which will represent almost half of global youth by 2030, is ready for a digital future and the 4th Industrial Revolution.
Founder and Chair of Transsion, Mr. George Zhu Zhaojiang, said: “We are pleased to be ECA’s collaborator and technical partner. We will give full play to Transsion’s technical expertise, as well as Transsion Innovation Hub’s investment capabilities and strategic resources, to jointly empower the development of Africa’s digital economy, and help build new momentum for growth in the African economy.
Mr. Zhu Zhaojiang further added that through Transsion’s data platform DataSparkle, the company will also provide data analytics support for Internet access and digital development in Africa.
Senate appoints Oyelola Yisa Ashiru , Nwebonyi Onyeka as Deputy Leader and Deputy Chief Whip
The Senate on Wednesday appointed Senator Oyelola Yisa Ashiru of the All Progressives Congress representing Kwara South as its new Deputy Leader of the Senate.
The Senate also appointed Senator Nwebonyi Onyeka as the new Deputy Chief Whip.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the new appointments at plenary.
Ashiru, who was hitherto the Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate was elevated to the position of deputy leader of the Senate which became vacant, following the appointment of Senator Dave Umahi as Minister of Works by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The Senate also confirmed the nominations of Mr. Ola Olukoyede, Halima Shehu and Muhammd Hammajoda.
President Bola Tinubu had nominated Olukoyede as the chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Shehu as the national coordinator, National Social Investment Programme Agency, and Muhammd Hammajoda as the new secretary of the nation’s anti-graft agency.
The appointees were confirmed in the upper chamber on Wednesday, October 18.
The request for confirmation by Tinubu was conveyed in a letter sent to the Senate and read during Tuesday’s plenary session by the Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau.
Meanwhile, the former senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial District, Elisha Abbo, has apologised over his allegation that Senate President Godswill Akpabio plotted his removal by the Court of Appeal.
Abbo tendered his apology while speaking in an interview on Arise Television on Wednesday.
He said, “I have to say with all sense of humility and responsibility that the press release we issued yesterday was premature and based on the available information at our disposal.
“As of today, we have discovered a lot of things, and yesterday night, I had a discussion with the Senate President, and I am convinced that he is not involved.
He quoted Akpabio as saying to him, “I swear by my mother’s grave that I’m not involved; I don’t even know that you’re in court.”
Abbo further stated, “For a number three citizen to come up to tell me that he has sworn on his mother’s grave, a woman that he loves so much, a woman who brought him up after he lost his father at the age of six, I don’t see a reason why he would lie.”
NDLEA detains 2 wanted drug barons, arrests two others for ingesting 175 wraps of heroin
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have taken into custody two wanted heads of transnational criminal organisations with multi-billion-naira worth of illicit drugs and assets seized from them after weeks of intelligence-led operations across the country and outside Nigeria.
The arrest of the wanted drug lords came on the heels of the interception of consignments of cocaine and heroin buried in the bellies of two traffickers heading to Paris, France and Doha, Qatar by NDLEA officers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja.
Operatives at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos on Tuesday 10th October succeeded in taking into custody, Hakeem Babatunde Salami, the arrowhead of “Tajudeen Babatunde Abioye Transnational Criminal Organization” involved in the illicit trade of several narcotics including Cocaine, Heroin, Methamphetamine, and Ephedrine between Nigeria, Brazil, Ghana, South Africa, Mozambique, and Europe. He fled Nigeria to South Africa upon the arrest of a member of his syndicate, Suleiman Babatunde Oba at the Lagos airport on August 25 over attempt to export 25.10kgs of ephedrine to South Africa.
Hakeem Babatunde Salami was however smoked out of hiding through partnership with South African authorities and other intelligence and investigative mechanisms. While some of his luxury vehicles have been seized and his home in Surulere Lagos sealed, other members of the cartel already in custody include Suleiman and Godwin Edet Mathew.
In his statement, he claimed he was into the importation of building materials from China to Nigeria and used to sell gold in South Africa before delving into the illicit drug trade about two years ago.
The head of another cartel, Okafor Ikechukwu Williams (aka Jantu) and his wife, Okafor Ifeyinwa Grace were also taken into custody on Thursday 5th October when NDLEA operatives raided their hideout at 9 Awa Street, Ago Palace, Okota area of Lagos where they recovered 27.566 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed in a blue box and two sacks, ready for export to Europe and Asia. Their Lexus RX350 marked ABJ 512 AY parked in the house was also seized during the operation. Their arrest followed weeks of intelligence gathering about the activities of the criminal network.
At the Abuja airport, operatives on Friday 6th October arrested a drug trafficker, Nwofor Ejiogu Charles, 45, during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR 1432 to Doha. After body scan revealed he ingested cocaine, he was placed under observation during which he excreted 75 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.653kgs. At the point of his arrest, Nwofor who was the last passenger to board his flight offered to compromise an NDLEA officer with $3,000 to free him.
The following day, Saturday 7th October, another trafficker, Nwufo Charles Okwudili, 45, was also arrested while attempting to board Lufthansa Airlines flight LH 0595 to Paris, France via Frankfurt, Germany. After being put through body scanner, he was taken into recovery room where he excreted 96 wraps of heroin he ingested with a total weight of 1.413kgs.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Okene -Lokoja-Abuja expressway on Tuesday 10th October intercepted a commercial bus coming from Lagos to Kano. A search of the bus led to the seizure of Four Million, Eight Hundred and Eighty Thousand US Dollars ($4,880,000), and Fifty-Seven Million Céfa, (CFA57,000,000) suspected to be counterfeits.
In Sokoto, the Federal High Court in the state capital presided over by Justice Ahmad Mahmud has sentenced an acting district head, Alhaji Umar Mohammed (aka Dan Bala) to five and a half years in jail on four count charges of possession and dealing in 436.38kgs cannabis and 7kgs psychotropic drugs brought against him by NDLEA in October 2022. He was convicted and sentenced to two years on each of counts 1 and 2 with an option of N1million fine, and eight months on each of counts 3 and 4 without an option of fine.
Operatives in Edo state on Wednesday 11th October stormed the Orue forest, Owan West LGA where they arrested Happy Akashili, 37, and Solomon Uwesue, 40 in a hut located inside a cannabis farm measuring 2.367308 hectares which was destroyed, with 92kgs already processed skunk recovered, while 49kgs of same substance were also seized at Ogbeturu camp.
The Commands across the country balanced their drug supply reduction operations with War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, advocacy campaigns to schools, markets, worship centres and communities. Some of these include: WADA sensitisation lecture on Drug Use and Mental Health for students of 15 secondary schools in Ibadan metropolis at the University of Ibadan, Oyo state; WADA sensitisation lecture for students of Ascension College, Iworo Imeke, Badagry Lagos; WADA sensitisation lecture at Modern Comprehensive College, Amokwe, Udi LGA, Enugu; WADA sensitisation lecture for students of National Secondary school, Awka; Students of JIBWIS Islamic Science Secondary school, Herwagana, Gombe; students of Government College, Makurdi, Benue; students of Government secondary school (Boys), Kafin Maiyaki, Kano and students of JNI Special Model primary School, Gusau, Zamfara.
While commending the efforts of the NAIA, MMIA, Kogi, Sokoto and Edo Commands of the Agency as well as the Special Operations Unit targeting the drug cartels, for jobs well done in the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) assured that officers and men of the Agency will never let down their guards no matter the tricks and distractions orchestrated against it by criminal networks.
Femi Babafemi
Director, Media & Advocacy
NDLEA Headquarters Abuja
Sunday 15th October 2023
EFCC arraigns Sunday Simon,( a.k.a Ryan Eggold ) for defrauding an American: Garri Kalish, the sum of $800
The Kaduna Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on October 16, 2023, arraigned one Sunday Simon,( a.k.a Ryan Eggold ) before Justice A.A Isiaka of the Kaduna State High Court sitting in Kaduna, for defrauding an American: Garri Kalish, the sum of $800( Eight Hundred Dollars only).
The offence is contrary to Section 1(1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offence Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.
Simon was arraigned on two-count charges bordering on cybercrime.
One of the counts reads: “That you, Sunday Simon(a.k.a Ryan Eggold, male, sometimes in April 2023 in Kaduna, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, did obtain the sum of $800(Eight Hundred United States dollars)from one Garri Kalish, a citizen of the United States of America under the pretence of being into a romantic relationship, a pretence you knew to be false, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offence Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act”.
The suspect pleaded not guilty to the two charges.
In view of his plea, prosecution counsel K. Ogunlade prayed the court for a trial date and the remand of the defendant at the Kaduna Correctional Centre.
Meanwhile, defence counsel, K.S Istifanus, made an oral application for bail which was opposed by Ogunlade.
After listening to both counsels, Justice Isiaka adjourned the matter till October 24, 2023 for hearing of bail application, and thereafter ordered the remand of the defendant at the Kaduna Correctional Centre.
Simon was arrested by operatives of the Kaduna Zonal Command of the EFCC at Agwa, Trikania in Kaduna in a sting operation. In the course of investigations, his mobile phone was analysed which revealed different fake Instagram accounts and Facebook accounts where he presented himself as an American actor, Ryan Eggold in his chats with unsuspecting women.
Media & Publicity
October 17, 2023
EFCC ARRESTS UNVIVE TEGWOLO, IMEMESI DANIEL, OJO OSA TOHANMWEN, OLISE GODSPOWER IKENNA, KADIRI ERIC, YAKUBU ALIYU IZEGWIRE, OMOZUAFO COLLINS, ELECT OSAYUWA, DESTINY EWERE, AYODELE EUGENE, ERIC ONWUSIWEKA, OKEKE BENJAMIN, IMANAH DESTINY, KENNETH ANYENIBIE, URIEL OGWUEZI, PRINCE JOSHUA AND IBEJE DANIEL.
Operatives of the Benin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday, October 17, 2023 arrested 17 suspected internet fraudsters in Benin City, Edo State.
They were arrested at their hideouts, in different locations, following actionable intelligence on their nefarious activities.
The suspects are Unvive Tegwolo, Imemesi Daniel, Ojo Osa Tohanmwen, Olise Godspower Ikenna, Kadiri Eric, Yakubu Aliyu Izegwire, Omozuafo Collins, Elect Osayuwa, Destiny Ewere, Ayodele Eugene and Eric Onwusiweka.
Others are Okeke Benjamin, Imanah Destiny, Kenneth Anyenibie, Uriel Ogwuezi, Prince Joshua and Ibeje Daniel.
Items recovered from them include different exotic cars, phones and laptops.
They will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.
Media & Publicity
October 17, 2023
Gabriel Ohaohakara gets one year imprisonment for $30,000 crypto investment fraud
Justice O.O. Abike -Fadipe of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, has convicted and sentenced one Gabriel Ohaohakara to one year imprisonment for $30,000 crypto investment fraud.
The convict perpetrated the scam by creating a fake investment website, britishtradelimited.com, and a telegram channel for the same purpose.
He was jailed on Thursday, October 12, 2023 after pleading guilty to one-count charge bordering on crypto currency fraud, upon being arraigned by the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The charge reads: “That you, IHEOHAKARA GABRIEL, on or about the 24th November, 2022 in Lagos, within the Judicial Division of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, had in your possession document containing “Crypto Currency Fraud Activity” and other related documents for an online fraudulent activity which you knew to be false.” The offence is contrary to Sections 6, 8 (b) and 1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud.
He pleaded “guilty” to the charge when it was read to him.
Following his guilty plea, prosecution counsel, Akhanolu Ikhuoria Godsent, prayed the court to convict and sentence him accordignly.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, October 12, 2023, Justice Abike-Fadipe convicted him and sentenced him to one year imprisonment, with an option of fine of N1,000, 000( One Million Naira only) and 1000 hours of community service.
The Judge also ordered that the iPhone 13 pro max recovered from him be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria, while the sum of $30000 be restituted to the victim.
Ohaohakara’s journey to the Correctional Centre started when he created a fake investment website, britishtradelimited.com, and a telegram channel for the same purpose. Investigation revealed that a syndicate of fraudsters, sometime in August 2021, sent a message on Telegram with the pseudo name, British Trade Limited, to one Adilio Pizzolo, a Brazilian, offering an investment opportunity in British Trade Limited.
It was further revealed that Pizolo, who later became the victim, had created an account on British Trade Limited as well as an account in a Brazilian bitcoin broker called “Foxbit ” through which he was able to convert Brazilian Reals to bitcoin. Pizolo was made to deposit approximately $30,000 worth of bitcoins to an address provided by the suspect during a live chat that was integrated on the fictitious ‘British Trade Limited’ website.
Media & Publicity
October 16, 2023
Management and staff of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc celebrated the maiden edition of the Company’s Annual Cultural Day Friday amid fanfare with staff, Nigerians and expatriates representing the various tribes in the country.
The event which was celebrated nationwide both in the Head office in Abuja as well as at all the operational regions and sites of the Julius Berger Group,saw staff resplendently dressed in diverse local attires exhibiting the rich culture of the peoples of Nigeria.
In Abuja, the Head of Human Resources Department, Olorunfemi Ojomo kickstarted the event when he welcomed staff members and other guests, encouraging all to savour the significance of the ceremony as a celebration of the rich and diverse culture of the warm and lively Nigerian society.
Other Management staff at the ceremony included the Regional Manager of the company’s Region Central North (RCN) Engr. Oliver Berger, Project Coordinator, Engr. Dr. Ismaila Amodu Mohammed, Head of Human Resources Directorate, Alexander Conford, the Senior Contracts Manager, Barrister (Mrs) Omonigho Brown, the Company’s Chief Risk Officer, Mrs Shakira Mustapha, and a host of other senior and junior as well many expatriate staff of the company.
At the Ijora Lagos Office of Region West of the company, Regional Manager, Commercial, Alexander Bauer and his Technical colleague, Christl Thomas led the staff to the unique celebration of Nigeria culture with Bauer saying that the event is the company’s way of identifying with the rich culture of the people of Nigeria.
He called on the staff to always be proud of their respective cultures as diverse as they are, adding that their diversity generates interests that strengthen, unify and galvanise them together as one big family. The Day, he said, even as he added that the Day is now in the company’s Calendar planned to be an annual event following the successful inauguration.
Christl Thomas, the Regional Manager (Technical) who dressed up at the event as a proud representative of the South-eastern Igbo tribe, did not mince words in saying that, “…today we all stand up to represent each Nigerian tribe as possible. We are harnessing our cultural diversity by dressing in any Nigerian tribal dress and tasting local delicacies including soups and other foods. We are celebrating our maiden Cultural Day. It marks the celebration of our cultural diversity here in Nigeria and we hope to reap all the benefits that derive from such values that will enhance the operational efficiency of all staff.“
In preparing for the event, the Human Resource Department in underscoring the seriousness that Management attached to the event had informed the workers that only employees whose jobs require the use of PPEs or wearing of uniforms were exempted. Thus, all other personnel joyfully participated as one happy corporate family in their diverse and colourful Nigerian traditional attires at the clearly exciting event.
The Abuja and Ijora Lagos events as well as at other sites like Uyo, Akwa Ibom State were marked by visits to the designated booths for photo sessions and posting on social media handles with hashtags #HarnessingOurDiversity ~JBNCulturalDay; #CelebratingJBDiversity, fashion show on blue carpet amidst more photo sessions and presentations from a few cultural dances.
Traditional foods from all sections of the country were on display and later served to staff and guests as refreshments.
4 October 2023
BET Hip Hop Awards 2023 to honour Kiernan “AKA” Forbes with Global Visionary Award posthumously
Press Assets*
The 2023 “BET Hip Hop Awards” is set to commemorate the late Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes with the prestigious Global Visionary Award, recognizing his profound impact on the global Hip-Hop landscape.
Accepting the award on his behalf during a pre-recorded special during the International airings of the show are AKA’s family, Lynn & Tony Forbes, who stated, “This is a bittersweet moment for us as a family. Kiernan lived for music and gave his all to creating a legacy that has outlived him. Thank you BET for bestowing such a rightful honour to Kiernan. He would have accepted this award with pride. We are humbled to receive and acknowledge this honour on his behalf, especially for Kairo, who gets to witness her father’s legacy live on.”
Monde Twala, Senior Vice President & GM Paramount Africa & Lead BET International, commented on the significance of the award and AKA’s unparalleled vision and contributions to Hip Hop, saying, “Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes was not just a music icon, he was a visionary. BET is proud to celebrate his innovative spirit and unwavering dedication to his craft which left an indelible mark on the world. We are honoured to recognize his extraordinary contributions with the Global Visionary Award at the 2023 ‘BET Hip Hop Awards’ AKA’s legacy will forever inspire future generations, reminding us that music transcends borders and has the power to unite us all.”
Connie Orlando, EVP, Specials, Music Programming & Music Strategy will oversee the annual show with Executive Producer for BET Jamal Noisette, VP, Specials & Music Programming. Jesse Collins, CEO of Jesse Collins Entertainment, to serve as Executive Producer of “BET Hip Hop Awards” 2023 along with Jesse Collins Entertainment’s Jeannae Rouzan–Clay and Dionne Harmon.
For more information about “BET Hip Hop Awards” 2023, including the latest news and updates, visit bet.com/hiphopawards.
Join the conversation on social media by logging on to multiple BET social media platforms: On Twitter by using the hashtag #HipHopAwards; follow us @HipHopAwards and @BET; On Facebook by liking the fan page at facebook.com/HipHopAwards.
4 October 2023
Goldberg, Life Beer take center stage as Nigerian Breweries presents ‘The Big Weekend Experience’
Prepare for an explosion of excitement as Nigerian Breweries sets the stage ablaze this September and October with “The Big Weekend Experience” – an extraordinary fusion of beer and music that guarantees an exhilarating spectacle! From September 17th to October 22nd, beer and music lovers from across Nigeria are cordially invited to celebrate life, good music, great company, and the finest brews.
Goldberg and Life Beer will lead the charge, ensuring this event is an experience like no other. But that’s not all; the entire portfolio of top-notch brands like 33 Export, Star, Desperados, Heineken, Zagg, Legend, the newest brand in the teeming portfolio, Goldberg Black and many more, will also be making appearances at the activations, offering a wide array of options to satisfy every consumer.
Under the vibrant Nigerian night sky, some of the nation’s most electrifying music artists, including Skales, Orezi, and May D, will take the stage, promising an energy level that will set hearts racing and rhythms that will be impossible to resist.
Mfon Bassey, National Trade Marketing Manager at Nigerian Breweries Plc, highlighted our unwavering commitment to quality brands and creating thrilling consumer experiences. He declared, “Nigerian Breweries has been synonymous with quality brands and experiences for decades. We’ve pioneered events like Star Trek, Gulder Ultimate Search, Maltina Dance All, and many others that show our dedication to setting the standard. This time, we’re bringing our finest brews to ‘The Big Weekend Experience,’ ensuring that no one is left out.”
Skales, one of the performing artists at the event, shared his personal connection during the press conference. He fondly recalled growing up with his grandmother and mother running a warehouse housing brands from the Nigerian Breweries portfolio. He expressed his joy at being part of the artist lineup for “The Big Weekend Experience.”
According to Ita Bassey, Portfolio Manager, Mainstream Brands, Nigerian Breweries Plc., “The Big Weekend Experience is packed with non-stop entertainment, games, and surprises. It’s more than a party; it’s about creating memorable experiences for our customers. The Big Weekend is our way of thanking our loyal customers for their unwavering support over the years.”
“The Big Weekend Experience” promises music, laughter, and the perfect brews to lift consumers’ spirits nationwide. To stay updated on the dates and outlets closest to you, follow The Big Weekend on social media at @bigweekendexp. This is the event that’s about to take Nigeria by storm, and you won’t want to miss a beat!
5 October 2023
Burna Boy, Davido, Rema, Asake, Arya Starr nominated for 2023 MTV EMAs
Burna Boy, Asake, Diamond Platnumz, Libianca, Tyler Icu, Among Top Contenders for Best African Act as Voting Opens
Music’s Biggest Global Celebration Will Broadcast air Live From Paris On Sunday, 5 November, at 20:00 WAT across 150+ countries on MTV (DStv Channel 130) & MTV Base (DSTV Channel 322)
MTV has announced the nominees for 2023 MTV EMAs, with African global stars, Burna Boy, Davido, Rema, Asake, Ayra Starr and Aya Nakamura, nominated for the “Best Afrobeat” category. Asake, Burna Boy, Libianca, Diamond Platnumz and Tyler ICU also shine in the “Best African Act” category. The awards will broadcast live on MTV and MTV Base at 20:00 WAT on DStv channels 130 and 322, respectively.
Taylor Swift leads the pack with seven nods, including “Best Artist,” “Best Song” and “Best Video.” Olivia Rodrigo and SZA follow closely with six nominations each, also for “Best Artist,” “Best Song” and “Best Video.” Doja Cat, Måneskin, Miley Cyrus and Nicki Minaj each earned four nominations including “Best Song” and “Best Artist.”
There are twenty-six first-time nominees ahead of music’s biggest global celebration, with three nominations for BTS’ Jung Kook, marking his first MTV EMA nominations as a solo artist. Central Cee, FLO, Ice Spice, PinkPantheress scored three nominations each, while Asake, Coi Leray, Metro Boomin, The Weeknd, NewJeans, Peso Pluma and Reneé Rapp are all nominated twice.
“2023 marks a historic moment for the MTV EMAs as we proudly embrace and celebrate the rich diversity of talent from across the globe. This year’s nominations reflect our commitment to showcasing artists from all corners of the world, highlighting their unique voices and talent. We are thrilled to introduce the ‘Best Afrobeats’ category, a testament to the global impact and influence of this vibrant genre,” says Monde Twala, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Paramount Africa and Lead for BET International.
Paris Nord Villepinte, operated by Viparis, is the official venue for the 2023 MTV EMAs. The spectacular live event is marking its first return to Paris since 1995 with a colorful, immersive MTV EMA wonderland for fans to enjoy.
The 2023 MTV EMAs will broadcast live on MTV in more than 150 countries. The show will also be available in multiple international territories live on Pluto TV and on-demand on Paramount+.
Beginning today, fans can vote for their favorites across categories including “Best Song,” “Best Artist,” “Best Collaboration,” plus new category “Best Afrobeats” at www.mtvema.com until 31 October, at 10:59pm WAT.
The “Biggest Fans” and “Best Group” winners will be voted for at a later date via @MTVEMA on social media.
The winner of the “Best Video” category will be chosen by MTV.
Fans from 24 regions around the world can also vote for their favorite artists in the “Best Local Act” category.
Tickets for the 2023 MTV EMAs will be on-sale from 19 October via http://www.fnacspectacles.com/.
COMPLETE LIST OF 2023 MTV EMA NOMINEES:
BEST AFROBEATS
Asake
Aya Nakamura
Ayra Starr
Burna Boy
Davido
Rema
BEST AFRICAN ACT
Asake
Burna Boy
Libianca
Tyler ICU
Diamond Platnumz
BEST SONG
Doja Cat – Paint The Town Red
Jung Kook feat. Latto – Seven
Miley Cyrus – Flowers
Olivia Rodrigo – vampire
SZA – Kill Bill
Taylor Swift – Anti-Hero
Rema, Selena Gomez – Calm Down
BEST VIDEO
Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion – Bongos
Doja Cat – Paint The Town Red
Little Simz – Gorilla
Miley Cyrus – Flowers
Olivia Rodrigo – vampire
SZA – Kill Bill
Taylor Swift – Anti-Hero
BEST ARTIST
Doja Cat
Miley Cyrus
Nicki Minaj
Olivia Rodrigo
SZA
Taylor Swift
BEST COLLABORATION
Central Cee x Dave – Sprinter
David Guetta, Anne-Marie, Coi Leray – Baby Don’t Hurt Me
KAROL G, Shakira – TQG
Metro Boomin, The Weeknd, 21 Savage – Creepin’
PinkPantheress, Ice Spice – Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2
Rema, Selena Gomez – Calm Down
BEST NEW
Coi Leray
FLO
Ice Spice
Peso Pluma
PinkPantheress
Reneé Rapp
BEST POP
Billie Eilish
Dua Lipa
Ed Sheeran
Miley Cyrus
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift
BEST ROCK
Arctic Monkeys
Foo Fighters
Måneskin
Metallica
Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Killers
BEST LATIN
Anitta
Bad Bunny
KAROL G
Peso Pluma
ROSALÍA
Shakira
BEST K-POP
FIFTY FIFTY
Jung Kook
NewJeans
SEVENTEEN
Stray Kids
TOMORROW X TOGETHER
BEST ALTERNATIVE
Blur
Fall Out Boy
Lana Del Rey
Paramore
Thirty Seconds To Mars
YUNGBLUD
BEST ELECTRONIC
Alesso
Calvin Harris
David Guetta
Swedish House Mafia
Peggy Gou
Tiësto
BEST HIP HOP
Cardi B
Central Cee
Lil Wayne
Lil Uzi Vert
Metro Boomin
Nicki Minaj
Travis Scott
BEST R&B
Chlöe
Chris Brown
Steve Lacy
Summer Walker
SZA
Usher
BEST LIVE
Beyoncé
Burna Boy
Ed Sheeran
Måneskin
SZA
Taylor Swift
The Weeknd
BEST PUSH
November 2022: Flo Milli
December 2022: Reneé Rapp
January 2023: Sam Ryder
February 2023: Armani White
March 2023: FLETCHER
April 2023: TOMORROW X TOGETHER
May 2023: Ice Spice
June 2023: FLO
July 2023: Lauren Spencer Smith
August 2023: Kaliii
September 2023: GloRilla
October 2023: Benson Boone
BIGGEST FANS
Anitta
Billie Eilish
BLACKPINK
Jung Kook
Nicki Minaj
Olivia Rodrigo
Sabrina Carpenter
Selena Gomez
Taylor Swift
BEST GROUP
aespa
FLO
Jonas Brothers
Måneskin
NewJeans
OneRepublic
SEVENTEEN
TOMORROW X TOGETHER
COMPLETE LIST OF 2023 MTV EMA BEST LOCAL ACT NOMINEES:
BEST ASIA ACT
BE:FIRST
BRIGHT
Moria
Tiara Andini
TREASURE
BEST AUSTRALIAN ACT
Budjerah
G Flip
Kylie Minogue
The Kid LAROI
Troye Sivan
BEST BRASILIAN ACT
Anavitoria
Kevin O Chris
Luisa Sonza
Manu Gavassi
Matue
BEST CANADIAN ACT
Charlotte Cardin
Drake
Jamie Fine
Shania Twain
The Beaches
BEST CARIBBEAN ACT
Eladio Carrion
Mora
Myke Towers
Rauw Alejandro
Young Miko
BEST DUTCH ACT
FLEMMING
Idaly
Kriss Kross Amsterdam
S10
Zoë Tauran
BEST FRENCH ACT
Aime Simone
Aya Nakamura
Bigflo & Oli
Louane
Ninho
Slimane
BEST GERMAN ACT
Apache 207
AYLIVA
Kontra K
Luciano
Nina Chuba
Ski Aggu
BEST HUNGARIAN ACT
ajsa luna
Analog Balaton
Beton.Hofi
Co Lee
Hundred Sins
BEST INDIA ACT
Dee MC
DIVINE
Mali
Tsymyoki
When Chai Met Toast
BEST ITALIAN ACT
Annalisa
Elodie
Lazza
Måneskin
The Kolors
BEST ISRAELI ACT
Anna Zak
Liad Meir
Noa Kirel
Nunu
Shira Margalit
BEST LAT AM CENTRAL ACT
Blessd
Feid
Manuel Turizo
Ryan Castro
Sebastian Yatra
BEST LAT AM NORTH ACT
Danna Paola
Kenia Os
Kevin Kaarl
Siddhartha
Natanael Cano
BEST LAT AM SOUTH ACT
Bizarrap
Duki
Fito Paez
Lali
Nicki Nicole
BEST NEW ZEALAND ACT
BENEE
JessB
Jolyon Petch
L.A.B.
SIX60
BEST NORDIC ACT
Alessandra
Käärijä
Loreen
Swedish House Mafia
Zara Larsson
BEST POLISH ACT
Doda
Kasia Nosowska
Mrozu
Sanah
Vito Bambino
BEST PORTUGUESE ACT
Bárbara Bandeira
Bispo
Carolina Deslandes
Marisa Liz
PIRUKA
BEST SPANISH ACT
Abraham Mateo
Álvaro de Luna
Lola Índigo
Quevedo
Samantha Hudson
BEST SWISS ACT
Danitsa
Gjon’s Tears
KT Gorique
Monet192
Stress
BEST UK & IRELAND ACT
Calvin Harris
Central Cee
PinkPantheress
Raye
Sam Smith
Tom Grennan
BEST US ACT
Doja Cat
Nicki Minaj
Olivia Rodrigo
SZA
Taylor Swift
Rising security challenges in the country; Senate summons military, other security agencies
The Senate has summoned the military and other security agencies over the rising security challenges in the country.
It also told the security agencies to conduct special operations to dislodge the bandits in the North-West and other parts of Nigeria with similar experiences.
The Red Chamber further resolved to invite the Service Chiefs to brief it in a closed session on steps being taken to mitigate rising insecurity in the country.
Senate resolutions were sequel to its consideration and adoption of a motion at plenary on Thursday.
The motion titled: “Kidnapping of university students in Federal University Dutsinma, Katsina State on Wednesday, October 4, 2023 and rising cases of kidnapping for ransom in the North-West geopolitical zone was sponsored by Senator Abdulaziz Yar’Adua (APC – Katsina ).
Yar’Adua in his lead debate said he was concerned by the kidnap of five female students of the Federal University Dutsinma in Katsina State by gunmen from their hostel rooms on October 4.
He said a fortnight ago, 24 students of the Federal University of Gusau were also abducted.
According to him, 16 of them have been successfully freed after three days by a rescue operation conducted by security agencies.
He said it was worrisome that kidnapping incidents have thrown the university and academic communities into a panic mood.
He said there was also the case of eight corps members kidnapped by suspected terrorists on their way to the orientation camp in Zamfara State on August 21.
He said, “The corps members were travelling in an Akwa Ibom Transport Company bus from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, to Sokoto State, for the one-year mandatory national service, when their vehicle was intercepted by the terrorists.”
He said it was of concern that the frequency of kidnapping for ransom had become almost a daily and weekly occurrence in major towns and communities in the North-West geopolitical zone.
The Senate further urged security agencies to be more proactive and ensure all kidnapped victims in the country including students kidnapped in Katsina, NYSC members kidnapped in Zamfara and students kidnapped from Federal University Gusau, were released.
It urged the Federal Government to address the manpower needs of the police and other security agencies to enable them to tackle the security situations in the country.
It also called on the Federal Government to urgently address unemployment and poverty in the country which it described as twin evils fuelling insecurity in the country.
It directed the Nigeria Police to ensure that the school protection squad demonstrates a clear commitment to protecting schoolchildren and providing a safe environment where students and teachers can engage in teaching and learning without the fear of being attacked or kidnapped.
The Senate further directed its Committee on Legislative Compliance to ensure the relevant security agencies comply with its resolutions.
There is confusion Rivers APC, says Ganduje
Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has appealed for patience for the national leadership to reconcile warring factions of the party in Rivers State.
Ganduje said this when he received APC stakeholders from Rivers State on Thursday in Abuja.
He said that Rivers was a very important state in the country because of its oil deposit and large population, describing it as an asset for election to any political party.
“So, you can see why we cannot rubbish the state. Rivers, as a state in politics, is very important. Coincidentally, some of us are conversant with the politics, in Rivers,” he said.
He said that the current crisis in the Rivers State chapter of the party started in 2015.
“Our party in Rivers is highly factionalised, that is the fact about it. Our party in Rivers was killed by litigations, that one is a fact,” Ganduje said.
He thanked those who worked to ensure the party’s electoral success at the poll, saying it was a miracle that it won the presidential election and lost the state to PDP in the 2023 elections.
“There is confusion in the party in Rivers, but we don’t want members to overheat the system, we are focused, we are organised, we work scientifically in politics.
“And therefore, you give us an enabling environment, give us a chance so that we can put a round peg in a round hole, square peg in a square hole, so that we maintain our dignity as a party.
“We have to capitalise on what we have, we have to capitalise on the fact that we have worn the national election in Rivers.
“We are not extracting anything less again, but give us a chance to see how we can have both the state and the national election together,” Ganduje said.
He said that the APC National Committee (NWC) would constitute a leadership that would reconcile the waring factions in the state in the interest of its members.
“But do not overheat the system, overheating the system will bring litigation and then a vicious cycle will come again.
“We don’t want too much analysis because they say too much analysis leads to paralysis.
“So, give us a chance so that we can consult, so that we look at the Constitution of APC and then we wait and see how we can put things in order,” he said.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Mr Tony Okocha, said the visit was partly to express discomfort of the state stakeholders over the recent visit of a faction of the state chapter to the party’s national secretariat.
“Those who visited are pretenders masquerading as members of Rivers APC.
“This group of persons, we see as watermelon with the characteristic feature of presenting green in the outside but red in the inside.
“They have long abandoned the APC and are disqualified from speaking for Rivers APC in any forum or fora.
“Those persons never supported the party nor are they sincere in their hearts, to be happy that President Bola Tinubu made it to the presidency,” he said.
He added: “The only group in APC Rivers legitimate to seek compensation for the victory of APC and Tinubu in the State, is the one here.
“Please contact us through the leader of the political infantry in Rivers, who is serving in the Federal Cabinet presently.”
Okacha urged the APC national chairman to discountenance any other group that claimed to be APC Rivers stakeholders or individuals, especially those that didn’t support the party at the 2023 general elections.
Nigeria will get better when men of integrity and honour drive the affairs of the nation – Peter Obi
LP’S RESPONSE ON THE INVITATION BY ATIKU
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi is presently in the Supreme Court seeking to reclaim his stolen mandate and he is focused on that.
He has been in the vanguard of ensuring a just nation where justice must be the watchword, and he will not stop until Nigeria achieves a leadership it truly deserves.
Obi has pontificated severally on the need for leaders to be good role models and to live a life worthy of emulation. This he has done by publicly putting his credentials in the open for verification. Nigeria will get better when men of integrity and honour drive the affairs of the nation.
We therefore welcome every other interest willing to join us in our pursuit of a nation where justice shall reign.
Obiora Ifoh
LP’s NPS
WHY GMB HAD TO GO, BY BUHARI
Immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari, has responded to muted calls by his followers and admirers over the eight years of his leadership that they preferred the old General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB) to President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB).
The General had been military head of state between December 31, 1983 and August 27, 1985, when his administration was removed in a palace coup.
In the 20 months that the regime lasted, Nigerians knew that a new Sheriff was in town. All forms of indiscipline, corruption and malfeasance were promptly dealt with. With his kindred spirit, Major General Babatunde Idiagbon, the unsmiling duo knocked a lot of sense into the heads of their countrymen and women. And we were fast shaping up. Then the move was truncated.
In his second coming 30 years later, as a democratically elected leader, a lot of people still expected the vestiges of GMB, but found a President that was completely transformed, devoid of all totalitarian tendencies. And there were many people who privately whispered to one another. We prefer GMB to PMB.
Was the President aware of those sentiments? “Yes, I was,” he told this writer with a laugh. He added:
“I was in the military, and rose from 2nd Lieutenant to Major General. When I joined partisan politics, the General had to go. I’ve heard people say they prefer General Buhari to President Buhari. But democracy is different from military rule, with its ruthlessness. Now, the system for decision making is different. We had Supreme Military Council then, but now, you have Federal Executive Council, which is constitutionally backed. I try to allow the system to work. I like to be remembered as a President that was constitutionally compliant.”
And truly constitutionally compliant he was.
The details, and more, are in a forthcoming book, ‘Working With Buhari: Reflections of a Special Adviser, Media and Publicity (2015-2023).’
Even this writer is looking forward to reading the book soon, as it rolls off the press.
*Adesina was Special Adviser to President Buhari, 2015 to 2023
October 5, 2023
Press Statement
PDP Celebrates Governor Bala Mohammed on Birthday
…Says He is an Outstanding Patriot
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) celebrates the Governor of Bauchi State and Chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum, our own dear Senator Bala Mohammed as he marks his birthday today.
Governor Bala Mohammed is a quintessential legislator, highly experienced yet very humble, selfless and compassionate leader, who continues to demonstrate an extraordinary sense of duty and dedication towards the wellbeing and development of Bauchi State and the Nation at large.
Over the years, through his meritorious career in the Federal Civil Service to his excellent performance as Senator of the Federal Republic, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and now two term Governor of Bauchi State, Governor Bala Mohammed has distinguished himself as consummate statesman with exceptional commitment towards the unity, stability and development of our Nation.
Our Party is proud of Governor Bala Mohammed’s massive infrastructural, human capital and citizens empowerment projects with which he has further repositioned Bauchi State as an Oasis of Development in line with the manifesto of the PDP; for which the people of Bauchi State overwhelmingly re-elected him in the 2023 Governorship election.
The PDP also appreciates Governor Bala Mohammed for his untiring roles and contributions with other Party leaders in stabilizing and ensuring the growth of our great Party especially, in his current capacity as the Chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum.
On this special day, the PDP family celebrates Governor Bala Mohammed and prays to God to grant him many more years in wisdom and good health in the service of Bauchi State and our dear fatherland.
Congratulations, His Excellency!
Signed:
Hon. Debo Ologunagba
National Publicity Secretary
PRESS RELEASE
‘AFRICAN FILM CITY PROJECT IN EPE TO EXPAND NOLLYWOOD GROWTH’ — SANWO-OLU
Better days are coming for practitioners in the creative sector with the proposed development of African Film City in Epe, Lagos State.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Thursday, disclosed that ground breaking for the $100 million project will be done in coming weeks to enhance originality in content creation in Nollywood – Nigeria film industry.
Sanwo-Olu made the announcement at the 12th African International Film Festival (AFRIFF) Press Briefing held at the Banquet Hall, Lagos House in Marina.
The news excited veteran filmmakers, movie producers, Nollywood actors and celebrities who attended the briefing organised at the instance of AFRIFF and its sponsors.
The Governor also disclosed that the State Government would be doubling the capacity building support for talented young industry players to enhance their skills in modern filmmaking. Besides, Sanwo-Olu said the grants being given to creative young talents for the production of short stories will be doubled.
Sanwo-Olu assured the filmmakers of his Government’s commitment to providing resources and time in promoting anything that would put Lagos and the country on the global map.
He said: “We will be doing the groundbreaking for the African Film City before the end of this month. It is a $100 million project to be sited in 100 hectares of land in Epe. Lagos is taking the lead in promoting sustainable growth in creative industry. The first set of studios will be up on the site in the next 24 months after the groundbreaking.
“We are also going to be doubling the State Government’s support for the training of young industry players. We will also double the grants being given to creative young talents for the production of short stories. We have supported over 5,000 people in creative sector with different kinds of capacity building opportunities and film production grants to scale up the numbers in the sector.
“I am excited that the 12th AFRIFF is around the corner to further showcase the original local content to the world. The festival has offered platform for young talents to flourish. I believe this year’s event will be the biggest. We are excited as a Government to be part of it. We believe this is the right thing to do. It is only when we can hold ourselves together and tell our stories that the world will understand our history.”
Sanwo-Olu said there was no better time for all stakeholders to work collaboratively and churn out put quality contents that would confirm the position of the country as a global player in filmmaking, while attracting foreign investment.
The Governor urged the practitioners to use their ingenuity to create Africananised contents that would change the continent’s socio-cultural narrative. This way, he said the world would know Nigeria is ready.
He said: “We should take the world in an ingenious local way that will be original, content-driven and Africanised. I believe the 12th edition of AFRIFF will be a platform to leapfrog all shortcomings we have had. What you did not do yesterday, you have today to correct it because tomorrow is not promised.
“Lagos State Government, by itself, bears all the hallmarks of excellence in all aspects. Excellence starts from everything we can imagine; the creative community sits right in the middle of that. As a Government, we have committed to anything m puts Nigeria on the global map and supports our creative citizens on the world stage.”
Consul General of United States Consulate in Lagos, Mr. Will Stevens, said digital technology had transformed Nigerian film industry over the last decade, stressing that it was time for practitioners to fully benefit from Nollywood.
Given the quality content and advanced production capabilities of African films, the envoy said the second half of the 21st century would be “African moment” to fully expand the growth of its cinema industry.
AFRIFF founder, Chioma Ude, said the film festival would be held next month to celebrate African cinema and promoting original storytelling.
SIGNED
GBOYEGA AKOSILE
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY
05 OCTOBER 2023
FCT, ABUJA
OCTOBER 5, 2023
APC PRESS STATEMENT
*YET AGAIN, ATIKU ABUBAKAR BEATS HIS TATTERED DRUM OF SHAME*
The All Progressives Congress (APC) is unfazed by the press conference addressed by former Vice President and Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar earlier today. The press conference lacked purpose and delivered nothing except the pitiful regurgitation of lies, mindless distortions and deliberate falsehood on his infantile obsession with the academic record of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
For several weeks now, Nigerians and the world have watched with incredulity Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s display of utter desperation in his failed bid to become the President of Nigeria.
Earlier today, he put his desperation in overdrive during his press conference where he addressed some of the issues in his appeal at the Supreme Court and bandying unproven charges against the President of Nigeria, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in a calculated attempt to shamelessly whip up public sentiments and inordinately pressure the Supreme Court.
We believe Alhaji Atiku Abubakar should have known better than to demonstrate gross contempt of the highest court by making public comments on a matter that he has submitted to the court for adjudication.
The major takeaway from his Yar’Adua Centre show, especially at question time, was that Atiku harbours deep animosity towards Tinubu whom he believes was responsible for his electoral woes in 2007, 2015, 2019 and this year.
In desperation, unbecoming of a statesman who once occupied the second highest office in the land, the PDP candidate in the last election has thrown every decency, decorum, dignity and national respectability out the window on his purposeless judicial voyage of discovery to the United States in search of a magic wand for taking power against the will of the Nigerian electorate loudly expressed in last February’s presidential election.
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar holds the unenviable title of Nigeria’s most prolific election loser and longest running presidential candidate in history, and we see his recent US fishing expedition as the last kick of a roundly rejected presidential aspirant.
While we sympathise with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for spending a lifetime pursuing unrealised dream, we strongly condemn the perfidious road he has taken and the needless negative exposure of Nigeria and the institution of the Presidency in foreign land.
Just for the record, we wish to provide some clarity on the matter of the deposition of Mr. Caleb Westberg, the Registrar of Chicago State University, last Tuesday under oath at the Chicago office of Atiku’s lawyer, Angela Liu, to save unsuspecting Nigerians from barrage of untruths, distortions and campaign of misinformation being dished out by Atiku and his PDP
Mr. Westberg was unmistaken and unambiguous in his deposition as to the fact that President Bola Tinubu graduated with honours from Chicago State University. He also emphatically provided clear answers on all other issues raised which we can sum as follows:
Furthermore, he stated that the ‘F’ on the Southwest college certificate, a feeder institution to CSU, which President Bola Tinubu used to gain admission into CSU was a clerical error which could of course happen. He reiterated that Southwest College was a major feeder source for CSU.
Westberg further deposed that Accounting is a rigorous field of study. Anyone who did not take the requisite courses at the lower levels could not have done well at CSU.
In President Tinubu’s case, he did excellently well at CSU. He graduated with High Honours. That to him point to the fact that the person who attended and graduated from CSU was the same person who went to Southwest College
“He said further that the difference in the date of award on the diploma versus the certified copy is likely the result of human error. The graduation date on the certified copy is typed in manually by a person and can be inaccurate”.
It should now be clear to all Nigerians that despite Atiku’s lies before the Illinois Court that he wanted to use the discoveries in pursuit of his appeal at the Supreme Court, he has rather chosen to use same as an instrument of mischief and blackmail in clear contempt of the highest court of the land.
We want to urge former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to graciously accept his defeat and quietly lick his political wound with some dignity. Nigerians rejected him at the polls, and he cannot get by subterfuge what he failed to get through the ballot box.
Nigerians validly elected President Tinubu to revamp our economy, restore security, create jobs, provide transformative infrastructure, improve electricity supply and enhance the living conditions of the masses.
President Tinubu has undertaken to serve Nigerians and he will not be distracted by a man who has consistently failed to achieve his self-serving and brutal quest to become Nigeria’s president.
Signed:
*Felix Morka, Esq.*
National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)
Being text of a press conference by His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar (GCON), Waziri Adamawa, Vice President of Nigeria (1999-2007) and Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (2023), at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre on the 5th of October 2023.
Protocol
Gentlemen of the Press, Fellow Citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I consider it important to address and report to you today on issues that define the future of elective government and legitimate leadership in our country.
Political leadership and active citizenship matter because they are ways through which we all work together to build a country that works for all who live in it. Our country is bigger than any of us, and its standing in the world affects the fate of all who come from or live in it. As leaders, it is our duty to advance the well-being of all our people and of the country.
For this purpose, my generation worked hard to return the soldiers to the barracks and to defend the right of the people to elect and establish for ourselves a legitimate government. Our elections are established and governed by law and founded on the constitution from which leadership and government in Nigeria alone derive their legitimacy.
The people look up to us as leaders to respect these rules and, where necessary, to defend them. This is what brings us here.
Today, we are called upon again as a people to uphold and defend the ground rules of elective government in our country. The constitution prescribes the requirements for those who seek the highest elective office in the land.
It should not take months or, indeed, decades, for the institutions concerned to be able to do their work in establishing the credibility of any certificates presented by candidates for public office.
We undertook this journey at great cost and for important reasons. The ground rules for legitimate governance in our country need to be upheld, and the reputation of our country is at stake. That affects everyone, Nigerians everywhere.
I am a democrat by conviction and a citizen of a country that I love. The issues at stake in this case require us once more to re-dedicate ourselves to both the country and our constitution.
Now, we entrust these facts to us all as citizens and as leaders of the institutions charged with interpreting our constitution. I should thank the lawyers both in Nigeria and in the United States, who have assisted us in bringing clarity and definitive answers to these issues that appear to have defied our institutions for nearly a quarter of a century. I also want to extend my gratitude to Nigerian citizens and friends of Nigeria both within and beyond the shores of our country for their patience as we have sought to find the facts and establish the truth.
I wish to pay tribute to the late human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN, who inspired us on this path of discovery. Now, he can truly rest in peace in the assurance that what he started about 23 years ago has come to fruition. Gani’s vindication today gives credence to the saying that no matter how fast a lie runs, the truth will someday overtake it.
Former American President Thomas Jefferson once said, “If I had to choose between government without newspapers, and newspapers without government, I wouldn’t hesitate to choose the latter”. From exposing the Watergate scandal and unravelling the dubious certificates of politicians, journalists have maintained eternal vigilance by bridging the gap and stepping in when other arms of government failed.
It is for these reasons that commendation must be given to David Hundeyin, an independent journalist whose extraordinary work and those of many more young people like him has become a source of inspiration. Special thanks must be given to the millions of Nigerian youths and citizen journalists too who continue to put out the truth online even when no one is listening. Indeed, the price of Liberty is Eternal Vigilance. They have put the country first in their firm commitment to unravel the truth and hold leaders accountable. This gives me the hope that we have worthy partners in the struggle to reclaim the country we call home.
This quest is not for or about Atiku Abubakar. It is a quest for the enthronement of truth, morality, and accountability in our public affairs. In line with this, therefore, I am calling on all well-meaning Nigerians, leaders of thought, our religious leaders, our traditional leaders, our community leaders, our political leaders, and in particular, Governor Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP and, the leaders of every political party in Nigeria, and, indeed, every single person who loves this country, as I do, and who wishes nothing but the best for the country, as I do, to join me in this campaign to enshrine probity, accountability and the basic principles of justice, morality and uprightness in our country and in our government. This is a task for each and every one of us.
Thank you for listening. May God bless you, and may God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Publishers
of
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Tel: 08033136059
E-mails: info@amaetulegal.org
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ama.etuwewe@amaetulegal.org
www.amaetulegal.org
JANUARY 2, 2023.
THE HONOURABLE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE
ATTORNEY GENERAL’S CHAMBERS
MINISTRY OF JUSTICE MAITAMA,
ABUJA.
Dear Sir,
RE: PENDING SUIT FILED BY THE ITSEKIRI ETHNIC NATIONALITY; ORDER OF THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT ABUJA, TOGETHER WITH AN APPLICATION TO SET ASIDE THE PURPORTED SCREENING AND CONFIRMATION OF MRS. L
AURETTA ONOCHIE AND CHIEF SAMUEL OGBUKU AS CHAIRMAN AND MANAGING DIRECTOR RESPECTIVELY OF THE NDDC BY THE SENATE OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY CARRIED OUT ON DECEMBER 21, 2022, IN THE FACE OF THE PROCESSES AND ORDER OF COURT IN SUIT NO. FHC/ABJ/CS/2294/2022, IN WHICH YOU ARE A PARTY.
MATTERS ARISING THEREOF:
As you are aware, we act as Solicitors to the ITSEKIRI ETHNIC NATIONALITY ably represented by CHIEF EDWARD EKPOKO, MR. EDWARD OMAGBEMI & ENGINEER VICTOR WOOD, whom we shall hereinafter refer to as our Clients and we write to you on their precise, concise and unequivocal instructions.
iii. A Declaration that the nomination of the 5th Defendant who hails from a non-oil producing area in Delta State as the next Chairman of the Niger-Delta Development Commission is unlawful and contrary to the intent and purpose of the Niger-Delta Development Commission Act.
vii. A declaration that by virtue of the provisions of the Niger-Delta Development Commission Act, 2000 as amended, the Plaintiffs as suitable members of the ltsekiri nationality of Delta State are qualified to be nominated as the next Chairman and Managing Director respectively of the Niger-Delta Development Commission.
viii. Any further order(s) as this Honourable Court may deem fit to make in the circumstances.
10.0. Our Clients on December 12, 2022, filed an ex-parte application seeking the following reliefs from the Federal High Court, Abuja, to wit;
AND/OR
11.0. As is customary, our Clients accompanied the ex-parte application with a motion on notice filed on December 12, 2022, seeking the following reliefs to wit;
AND/OR
12.0 The Federal High Court on December 15, 2022, in refusing reliefs 1 and 2 of our Clients’ ex-parte application filed on December 12, 2022, ordered the parties in the suit not to take any step that will render nugatory our Clients’ pending application for interlocutory injunction filed on December 12, 2022.
13.0 The Court also emphatically ordered that any act or step or action taken in order to render nugatory. the outcome of our Clients’ motion for interlocutory injunction filed on December 12, 2022, and scheduled for hearing on January 11, 2023, shall be a nullity. A copy of the said Order has been duly served on all the parties including your office.
14.0 Despite the fact that all the Defendants, your office inclusive, were served with the originating process, our Clients’ application for interlocutory injunction and the order of the Court restraining all parties from acting otherwise, the leadership of the Senate of the National Assembly proceeded to screen and confirm Mrs. Lauretta Onochie and Chief Samuel Ogbuku as the substantive Chairman and Managing Director respectively, of the Niger Delta Development Commission, on December 20, 2022.
15.0 Further displeased by the brazen act of the National Assembly in proceeding defiantly to screen and confirm Mrs. Lauretta Onochie and Chief Samuel Ogbuku as the substantive Chairman and Managing Director respectively of the Niger Delta Development Commission in gross and total disregard to the order of Court restraining all parties from taking any step capable of rendering nugatory our clients’ motion on notice for interlocutory injunction,, our Clients on December 22, 2022, filed an application at the Federal High Court seeking inter alia the following relief;
AN ORDER setting aside the purported screening and confirmation of the 5th and 6th Defendants on December 20, 2022, by the 3rd and 4th Defendants during the pendency of the order of this Honourable Court delivered on December 15, 2022, restraining the parties from taking any step that may render nugatory the outcome of the Applicants’ pending application for interlocutory injunction.
All the Defendants have been served with the said application.
16.0 Whilst our Clients’ suit and in fact their most recent application to set aside the screening and confirmation of Mrs. Lauretta Onochie and Chief Samuel Ogbuku as Chairman and Managing Director respectively of the NDDC by the Senate of the National assembly has not been determined, our Clients are aware and already in the public domain, that the Honourable Minister of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs is making plans and has circulated letters to that effect, to inaugurate Mrs. Lauretta Onochie and Chief Samuel Ogbuku on January 4, 2023, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja, as ·the substantive Chairman and Managing Director respectively of the NDDC. The Minister has hinged his brazen disregard of the order of the court and the due process of law, on the purported approval of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who is the 1st Defendant in the suit under reference.
17.0 As the Chief Law Officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a party in the suit, you are doubtless aware of the position of the law which is to the effect that once there is a pending litigation, all parties to the suit are expected to stay every action that will adversely affect the outcome of the adjudicatory process so as not to render the said process a nullity and foist upon the court a fait accompli. We most humbly refer you to the case of EZEGBU v. F.A.T.B. LTD. (1992) 1 NWLR PART 220 PAGE 699 PARTICULARLY AT PAGE 724, where NIKI TOBI J.C.A. (as he then was) stated thus:
“Where a matter is before a court of law, none of the parties can legally or lawfully take any unilateral decision that will prejudice or tend to prejudice the hearing or adjudication of the matter by the court. Parties who have submitted to the jurisdiction of the court are under a legal duty not to do anything to frustrate or make nonsense a possible court order. They must, whether they like it or not, wait for the court order. They must whether they like it or not wait for the court to take a decision one way or the order. The procedure at arriving at a decision may be slow. It may even be sluggish. But the parties cannot jump the gun and do their own thing their own way. That will be tantamount to undermining the integrity of the court. What I am saying in effect is that a party who has submitted to the jurisdiction of the court is not entitled to resort to self-help. That will be chaos and disability of the social equilibrium if the opposing party reacts.
None of the parties to a litigation process before a court of law is allowed to take the law into his own hands and foist upon the court a fait accompli thereby rendering it impossible for the court to arrive at a decision one way or the other on the merit of the issue before it render any decision it may take nugatory or futile”.
18.0 Furtherance to the reliefs being claimed by our Clients in the suit, there is a pending application filed by our clients seeking an injunction against the Defendants for an order of Court restraining the Defendants from taking steps capable of rendering nugatory the pending application for interlocutory injunction and an application seeking to set aside the confirmation made by the Senate of the National Assembly, which step more to undermining the Judiciary’s role and the Rule of Law, has pre determined the issues presented by our Clients for judicial determination in the substantive suit.
19.0 Having notified your humble self and the other Defendants of the pendency of an application for injunction, we wish to draw your attention to the following judicial authorities on the duty of a party or parties where there is a pending application for injunction. In the case of ELF MARKETING (NIG.) v. J.L. OYENEYIN 8: SONS (1995) 7 NWLR PART 407, PAGE 371 AT 380 PARAGRAPHS A-8, the Court held thus:
“Once the court is seized of a matter, no party has a right to take the matter into his own hands. Thus, after a defendant has been notified of the pendency of a suit seeking an injunction against him, even though a temporary injunction be not granted, that party acts at his peril and is subject to the power of the court to restore the status wholly irrespective of the merit as may be ultimately decided…”
20.0 Furthermore, in the case of OKEKE-OBA v. OKOYE (1994) 8 NWLR. PART 364, PAGE 605 AT 617-618 PARAGRAPHS H-A, the Court stated as follows:
“The general practice is that an application for an order of interlocutory injunction, all activities affecting the res, here the land in dispute, are automatically terminated as a mark of respect to the court before whom the application is pending. Such practice is encouraged by counsel in good chambers consistent with the ethics of the profession”.
21.0 THE LEGAL IMPLICATIONS OF SUIT NO. FHC/ABJ/CS/2294/2022: CHIEF EDWARD EKPOKO 8: 2 ORS. v. THE PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA 8: 5 ORS.
22.0 We wish to state without any iota of doubt that in the light of the development set out herein, no step whatsoever should be taken by the Federal Government to inaugurate Mrs. Lauretta Onochie and Chief Samuel Ogbuku as same will not only jeopardize the outcome of the litigation process but concomitantly operate to completely erase the confidence reposed in the Judiciary by the common man and a clog in the wheel of the administration of justice.
23.0 We have cause to believe, as documentary evidence clearly suggests, that the Federal Government through the Minister of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, is making frantic and brazen efforts to inaugurate Mrs. Lauretta Onochie and Chief Samuel Ogbuku as the substantive Chairman and Managing Director respectively of the Niger Delta Development Commission despite the pendency of the suit as well as several applications, and order made by the Court, with the sole aim of stealing a match, stultifying the ·court process and bringing the Rule of Law to ridicule.
24.0 CONCLUSION:
Our Clients have done all that is required of them by submitting for judicial consideration and determination their grievances against the Executive and Legislative Arms of Government, it behooves these Arms of Government to resist the urge to defy the Judiciary and indeed the judicial process by refraining from conducts which will render nugatory issues presented by our Clients to the Court.
25.0 The attendant implications on the faith and belief of the common man are dire and would almost be dampened if the Executive and the Legislative Arms of Government continue to bond towards shattering the fabric and fibre of the judicial process upon which true democracy is enshrined; which the Judiciary seeks to mend and this certainly does not bode well for the Rule of Law if a precedent of Executive and Legislative disregard to court orders, is so easily displayed with impunity, just before the forthcoming general elections.
26.0 Having fought to ensure that there is peace and stability in the Country, it would be manifestly antithetical to the goals of this Administration of which you are a key player, if solely for a refusal to await and comply with the judicial process, all the Executive has worked for in the past seven (7) years, translates to naught.
27.0 We are of the firm belief, taking into cognizance the judicial authorities referred to above, that as the Chief Law Officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and a strong proponent of the Rule of Law, you will not in any way advise the President and indeed the Minister of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, to proceed with the inauguration of Mrs. Lauretta Onochie and Chief Samuel Ogbuku on January 4, 2023, as the Chairman and Managing Director respectively of the NDDC and or concretize their positions, pending the outcome of the adjudicatory process already initiated by our Clients.
28.0 Trusting you will advise the relevant parties on the need to allow the judicial process take its course and refrain from taking steps which will ridicule the Rule of Law and further weaken our nascent democratic structure.
We remain,
Very truly yours,
PP: AMA ETUWEWE (SAN) & CO.
AMA ETUWEWE, SAN.
CC: THE HONOURABLE MINISTER
MINISTRY OF NIGER DELTA AFFAIRS
ABUJA.
AMA ETUWEWE (SAN) & CO.
LEGAL PRACTITIONERS, ARBITRATORS & NOTARY PUBLIC
GOTTGUNST VILLA
27, Gbiaye Street
3rd Marine Gate, Warri, Nigeria
Tel: 08033136059
E-mails: info@amaetulegal.org
amaetulegal@yahoo.com
ama.etuwewe@amaetulegal.org
www.amaetulegal.org
JANUARY 2, 2023.
THE HONOURABLE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE
ATTORNEY GENERAL’S CHAMBERS
MINISTRY OF JUSTICE MAITAMA,
ABUJA.
Dear Sir,
RE: PENDING SUIT FILED BY THE ITSEKIRI ETHNIC NATIONALITY; ORDER OF THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT ABUJA, TOGETHER WITH AN APPLICATION TO SET ASIDE THE PURPORTED SCREENING AND CONFIRMATION OF MRS. LAURETTA ONOCHIE AND CHIEF SAMUEL OGBUKU AS CHAIRMAN AND MANAGING DIRECTOR RESPECTIVELY OF THE NDDC BY THE SENATE OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY CARRIED OUT ON DECEMBER 21, 2022, IN THE FACE OF THE PROCESSES AND ORDER OF COURT IN SUIT NO. FHC/ABJ/CS/2294/2022, IN WHICH YOU ARE A PARTY.
MATTERS ARISING THEREOF:
As you are aware, we act as Solicitors to the ITSEKIRI ETHNIC NATIONALITY ably represented by CHIEF EDWARD EKPOKO, MR. EDWARD OMAGBEMI & ENGINEER VICTOR WOOD, whom we shall hereinafter refer to as our Clients and we write to you on their precise, concise and unequivocal instructions.
iii. A Declaration that the nomination of the 5th Defendant who hails from a non-oil producing area in Delta State as the next Chairman of the Niger-Delta Development Commission is unlawful and contrary to the intent and purpose of the Niger-Delta Development Commission Act.
vii. A declaration that by virtue of the provisions of the Niger-Delta Development Commission Act, 2000 as amended, the Plaintiffs as suitable members of the ltsekiri nationality of Delta State are qualified to be nominated as the next Chairman and Managing Director respectively of the Niger-Delta Development Commission.
viii. Any further order(s) as this Honourable Court may deem fit to make in the circumstances.
10.0. Our Clients on December 12, 2022, filed an ex-parte application seeking the following reliefs from the Federal High Court, Abuja, to wit;
AND/OR
11.0. As is customary, our Clients accompanied the ex-parte application with a motion on notice filed on December 12, 2022, seeking the following reliefs to wit;
AND/OR
12.0 The Federal High Court on December 15, 2022, in refusing reliefs 1 and 2 of our Clients’ ex-parte application filed on December 12, 2022, ordered the parties in the suit not to take any step that will render nugatory our Clients’ pending application for interlocutory injunction filed on December 12, 2022.
13.0 The Court also emphatically ordered that any act or step or action taken in order to render nugatory. the outcome of our Clients’ motion for interlocutory injunction filed on December 12, 2022, and scheduled for hearing on January 11, 2023, shall be a nullity. A copy of the said Order has been duly served on all the parties including your office.
14.0 Despite the fact that all the Defendants, your office inclusive, were served with the originating process, our Clients’ application for interlocutory injunction and the order of the Court restraining all parties from acting otherwise, the leadership of the Senate of the National Assembly proceeded to screen and confirm Mrs. Lauretta Onochie and Chief Samuel Ogbuku as the substantive Chairman and Managing Director respectively, of the Niger Delta Development Commission, on December 20, 2022.
15.0 Further displeased by the brazen act of the National Assembly in proceeding defiantly to screen and confirm Mrs. Lauretta Onochie and Chief Samuel Ogbuku as the substantive Chairman and Managing Director respectively of the Niger Delta Development Commission in gross and total disregard to the order of Court restraining all parties from taking any step capable of rendering nugatory our clients’ motion on notice for interlocutory injunction,, our Clients on December 22, 2022, filed an application at the Federal High Court seeking inter alia the following relief;
AN ORDER setting aside the purported screening and confirmation of the 5th and 6th Defendants on December 20, 2022, by the 3rd and 4th Defendants during the pendency of the order of this Honourable Court delivered on December 15, 2022, restraining the parties from taking any step that may render nugatory the outcome of the Applicants’ pending application for interlocutory injunction.
All the Defendants have been served with the said application.
16.0 Whilst our Clients’ suit and in fact their most recent application to set aside the screening and confirmation of Mrs. Lauretta Onochie and Chief Samuel Ogbuku as Chairman and Managing Director respectively of the NDDC by the Senate of the National assembly has not been determined, our Clients are aware and already in the public domain, that the Honourable Minister of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs is making plans and has circulated letters to that effect, to inaugurate Mrs. Lauretta Onochie and Chief Samuel Ogbuku on January 4, 2023, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja, as ·the substantive Chairman and Managing Director respectively of the NDDC. The Minister has hinged his brazen disregard of the order of the court and the due process of law, on the purported approval of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who is the 1st Defendant in the suit under reference.
17.0 As the Chief Law Officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a party in the suit, you are doubtless aware of the position of the law which is to the effect that once there is a pending litigation, all parties to the suit are expected to stay every action that will adversely affect the outcome of the adjudicatory process so as not to render the said process a nullity and foist upon the court a fait accompli. We most humbly refer you to the case of EZEGBU v. F.A.T.B. LTD. (1992) 1 NWLR PART 220 PAGE 699 PARTICULARLY AT PAGE 724, where NIKI TOBI J.C.A. (as he then was) stated thus:
“Where a matter is before a court of law, none of the parties can legally or lawfully take any unilateral decision that will prejudice or tend to prejudice the hearing or adjudication of the matter by the court. Parties who have submitted to the jurisdiction of the court are under a legal duty not to do anything to frustrate or make nonsense a possible court order. They must, whether they like it or not, wait for the court order. They must whether they like it or not wait for the court to take a decision one way or the order. The procedure at arriving at a decision may be slow. It may even be sluggish. But the parties cannot jump the gun and do their own thing their own way. That will be tantamount to undermining the integrity of the court. What I am saying in effect is that a party who has submitted to the jurisdiction of the court is not entitled to resort to self-help. That will be chaos and disability of the social equilibrium if the opposing party reacts.
None of the parties to a litigation process before a court of law is allowed to take the law into his own hands and foist upon the court a fait accompli thereby rendering it impossible for the court to arrive at a decision one way or the other on the merit of the issue before it render any decision it may take nugatory or futile”.
18.0 Furtherance to the reliefs being claimed by our Clients in the suit, there is a pending application filed by our clients seeking an injunction against the Defendants for an order of Court restraining the Defendants from taking steps capable of rendering nugatory the pending application for interlocutory injunction and an application seeking to set aside the confirmation made by the Senate of the National Assembly, which step more to undermining the Judiciary’s role and the Rule of Law, has pre determined the issues presented by our Clients for judicial determination in the substantive suit.
19.0 Having notified your humble self and the other Defendants of the pendency of an application for injunction, we wish to draw your attention to the following judicial authorities on the duty of a party or parties where there is a pending application for injunction. In the case of ELF MARKETING (NIG.) v. J.L. OYENEYIN 8: SONS (1995) 7 NWLR PART 407, PAGE 371 AT 380 PARAGRAPHS A-8, the Court held thus:
“Once the court is seized of a matter, no party has a right to take the matter into his own hands. Thus, after a defendant has been notified of the pendency of a suit seeking an injunction against him, even though a temporary injunction be not granted, that party acts at his peril and is subject to the power of the court to restore the status wholly irrespective of the merit as may be ultimately decided…”
20.0 Furthermore, in the case of OKEKE-OBA v. OKOYE (1994) 8 NWLR. PART 364, PAGE 605 AT 617-618 PARAGRAPHS H-A, the Court stated as follows:
“The general practice is that an application for an order of interlocutory injunction, all activities affecting the res, here the land in dispute, are automatically terminated as a mark of respect to the court before whom the application is pending. Such practice is encouraged by counsel in good chambers consistent with the ethics of the profession”.
21.0 THE LEGAL IMPLICATIONS OF SUIT NO. FHC/ABJ/CS/2294/2022: CHIEF EDWARD EKPOKO 8: 2 ORS. v. THE PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA 8: 5 ORS.
22.0 We wish to state without any iota of doubt that in the light of the development set out herein, no step whatsoever should be taken by the Federal Government to inaugurate Mrs. Lauretta Onochie and Chief Samuel Ogbuku as same will not only jeopardize the outcome of the litigation process but concomitantly operate to completely erase the confidence reposed in the Judiciary by the common man and a clog in the wheel of the administration of justice.
23.0 We have cause to believe, as documentary evidence clearly suggests, that the Federal Government through the Minister of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, is making frantic and brazen efforts to inaugurate Mrs. Lauretta Onochie and Chief Samuel Ogbuku as the substantive Chairman and Managing Director respectively of the Niger Delta Development Commission despite the pendency of the suit as well as several applications, and order made by the Court, with the sole aim of stealing a match, stultifying the ·court process and bringing the Rule of Law to ridicule.
24.0 CONCLUSION:
Our Clients have done all that is required of them by submitting for judicial consideration and determination their grievances against the Executive and Legislative Arms of Government, it behooves these Arms of Government to resist the urge to defy the Judiciary and indeed the judicial process by refraining from conducts which will render nugatory issues presented by our Clients to the Court.
25.0 The attendant implications on the faith and belief of the common man are dire and would almost be dampened if the Executive and the Legislative Arms of Government continue to bond towards shattering the fabric and fibre of the judicial process upon which true democracy is enshrined; which the Judiciary seeks to mend and this certainly does not bode well for the Rule of Law if a precedent of Executive and Legislative disregard to court orders, is so easily displayed with impunity, just before the forthcoming general elections.
26.0 Having fought to ensure that there is peace and stability in the Country, it would be manifestly antithetical to the goals of this Administration of which you are a key player, if solely for a refusal to await and comply with the judicial process, all the Executive has worked for in the past seven (7) years, translates to naught.
27.0 We are of the firm belief, taking into cognizance the judicial authorities referred to above, that as the Chief Law Officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and a strong proponent of the Rule of Law, you will not in any way advise the President and indeed the Minister of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, to proceed with the inauguration of Mrs. Lauretta Onochie and Chief Samuel Ogbuku on January 4, 2023, as the Chairman and Managing Director respectively of the NDDC and or concretize their positions, pending the outcome of the adjudicatory process already initiated by our Clients.
28.0 Trusting you will advise the relevant parties on the need to allow the judicial process take its course and refrain from taking steps which will ridicule the Rule of Law and further weaken our nascent democratic structure.
We remain,
Very truly yours,
PP: AMA ETUWEWE (SAN) & CO.
AMA ETUWEWE, SAN.
CC: THE HONOURABLE MINISTER
MINISTRY OF NIGER DELTA AFFAIRS
ABUJA.
Notable South-South leaders on Wednesday scolded the Representative of Abia North Senatorial District, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu.
They also described his comment on the appointment of Chairman and Managing Director for the Niger Delta Commission (NDDC) as ‘’an attack on oil producing areas, classic example of conceit and proposal of anarchy’’.
‘’The NDDC Act is sound on the establishment of a governing body. To abandon it is unthinkable’’
In a statement read aloud to journalists in Abuja by the Chairman of the South-South Front (SSF), Chief John Harry, the leaders said it would be a disaster to the oil producing areas if President Muhammadu Buhari is diverted by Kalu and his co-travellers from the provisions of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Act 2000.
‘’The chairman must be an indigene of oil producing area and the office rotated amongst the member states of the Commission in the following alphabetical order. (a) Abia State; (b) Akwa-Ibom State; (c) Bayelsa State; (d) Cross-River State; (e) Delta State; (f) Edo State; (g) Imo State; (h) Ondo State; and (i) Rivers State. Also, the Managing Director, and two Executive Directors must also be indigenes of oil producing areas starting with the member states of the Commission with the highest production quantum of oil and rotated amongst member states in the order of production’’ the leaders stated.
At a conference to set the matter straight with the press, the leaders denounced Kalu as the greatest enemy of the oil producing areas and the most pronounced foe of President Buhari.
The zonal leaders praised Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, Ajayi Boroffice, Ayo Akinuelure and Nicholas Tofowomo for rejecting the Ondo State nominee, Charles Ogunmola .
‘’We consider the decision of the governor and the good people of Ondo State splendid. It is the only way to bring political cabals to their senses’’
Principally, the leaders urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to tread the disastrous path charted by Kalu but to explore paths to better and perhaps to cure fundamental problems in the oil rich region.
They urged Buhari to take steps to foil criticism by replacing Lauretta Onochie and Chief Samuel Ogbuku with Itsekiri indigenes.
Itsekiri Leaders of Thought and Omadino Unity Forum representatives, Chief Edward Ekpoko, Engineer Victor Wood and Mr. Edward Omagbemi are seeking an order quashing the nomination of Onochie and Ogbuku as NDDC Chairman and Managing Director.
They are also seeking a declaration that the nomination of Onochie, who hails from a non-oil producing area in Delta State as Chairman of NDDC and Chief Samuel Ogbuku, who hails from Bayelsa State as Managing Director of NDDC by President Buhari is unlawful for being contrary to the intent and purpose of NDDC Act.
‘’It is the turn of the Itsekiri Ethnic Nationality of Delta State to produce the Chairman and Managing Director of the Commission’’ the leaders said.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
IN THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT OF NIGERIA
IN ABUJA JUDICIAL DIVISION
HOLDEN AT ABUJA
Suit No: PHC/ABJ/2294/2022
BETWEEN:
(Both representing Itsekiri Leaders
Of Thought) PLAINTIFFS/APPLICANTS
(Representing Omadino Unity Forum)
(All acting for themselves and on behalf of the
Itsekiri Ethnic Nationality of Delta state
AND
& MINISTER OF JUSTICE
MOTION OF NOTICE
BROUGHT PURSUANT TO SECTION 6 & 35(1) OF THE 1999 CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA (AS AMENDED); ORDER 26 & 56 OF THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT (CIVIL PROCEDURE) RULES, 2019 AND UNDER THE INHERENT JURISDICTION OF THIS HONORABLE COURT
TAKE NOTICE that this Honourable Court shall be moved on …………., the ……….. day of …………….2022, at the hour of 9’ 0’ clock in the forenoon or so soon thereafter as counsel may be heard on behalf of the Applicants herein praying this Honourable Court for the following orders (s):
AN ORDER setting aside the purported screening and confirmation of the 5th and 6th Defendants on December 20, 2022, by the 3rd and 4th Defendants during the pendency of the order of this Honourable Court delivered on render nugatory the outcome of the applicants’ pending application for interlocutory injunction.
And for such further order and or other orders as this Honourable Court may deem fit to make in the circumstances.
GROUNDS UPON WHICH THE APPLICATION IS MADE:
DATED THIS 22ND DAY OF DECEMBER 2022.
_______________________
AMA ETUWEWE, SAN. (Signed)
SANCHEZ AGUMOR, ESQ.
IKAYE MABIAKU, ESQ.
AMA ETUWEWE (SAN) & CO.
APPELLANT / APPLICANT’S COUNSEL
T4025, BRAINS & HAMMER ESTATE,
GWARIMPA,
ABUJA.
TEL: 08033136059
E-mail: info@amaetulegal.org
FOR SERVICES ON:
THROUGH THE OFFICE OF THE HONOURABLE ATTORNEY OF THE FEDERATION.
FEDERAL MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, HEADQUARTERS,
ABUJA.
THROUGH THE CLERK,
SENATE OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
SENATE WING,
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY COMPLEX,
THREE – ARMS ZONE, ABUJA.
ABUJA.
YENAGOA, BAYELSA STATE.
IN THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT OF NIGERIA
IN ABUJA JUDICIAL DIVISION
HOLDEN AT ABUJA
Suit No: PHC/ABJ/2294/2022
BETWEEN:
(Both representing Itsekiri Leaders PLAINTIFFS/
Of Thought) APPLICANTS
(Representing Omadino Unity Forum)
(All acting for themselves and on behalf of the
Itsekiri Ethnic Nationality of Delta State, Nigeria
AND
& MINISTER OF JUSTICE
AFFADAVIT IN SUPPORT OF THE MOTION ON NOTICE
(a) An order of interim injunction restraining the 3rd and 4th Defendants from screening or taking any further steps to screen or confirm the nomination of the 6th and 5th defendants as the next and substantive chairman and managing director respectively of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), pending the expiration of the statutory (three) Months Pre-Action Notice already issued on the 3rd and 4th Defendants and or the hearing and determination of the motion on notice already filed.
AND/OR
(b) AN ORDER directing that the status QUO ANTE BELLUM be maintained by the 3rd and 4th Defendants, their servants, agents, privies, employees and committees concerning the screening and confirmation of the 5th and 6th Defendants as the next and substantive chairman and managing director respectively of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) pending the expiration of the statutory (three) Months Pre-Action Notice already issued by the applicants on the 3rd and 4th Defendants on November 30, 2022 and or the hearing and determination of the motion on notice already filed.
(c) An order granting leave to the plaintiffs to serve the 5th and 6th Defendants with the originating processes in this suit by substituted means by advertising the processes in at least one national newspaper circulating within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court and to deem same as proper service.
(d) Any order or further order as this Honorable Court may deem fit to grant in the circumstances.
seeking the following reliefs to wit:
(a) AN ORDER of interlocutory injunction restraining the 3rd and 4th from screening or confirming or taking any further step to screen or confirm the nomination of the 5th and 6th Defendants as the next and substantive Chairman and Managing Director respectively of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
AND/OR
(b) An order directing that the status QUO ANTE BELLUM be maintained by the 3rd and 4th Defendants, their servants, agents, privies, employees and committees concerning the screening and confirmation of the 5th and 6th Defendants as the next and substantive chairman and managing Director Representative of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
(c) Any order or further orders as This Honourable Court may deem fit to grant in the circumstances.
IN THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT OF NIGERIA
IN ABUJA JUDICIAL DIVISION
HOLDEN AT ABUJA
Suit no: PHC/ABJ/2294/2022
BETWEEN:
(Both representing Itsekiri Leaders
Of Thought)
(Representing Omadino Unity Forum)
(All acting for themselves and on behalf of the
Itsekiri Ethnic Nationality of Delta state
AND
& MINISTER OF JUSTICE
FORM 48
NOTICE OF CONSEQUENCES OF DISOBEDIENCE TO OEDER OF COURT
TO MRS LAURETTA ONOCHIE of F. C. T Abuja.
TAKE NOTICE that unless you obey the directions contained in this order, you will be guilty of contempt of Court and will be liable to be committed to prison.
DATED THIS ………….. DAY OF ……………. 2022
_______________
REGISTRAR
IN THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT OF NIGERIA
IN ABUJA JUDICIAL DIVISION
HOLDEN AT ABUJA
Suit no: PHC/ABJ/2294/2022
BETWEEN:
(Both representing Itsekiri Leaders
Of Thought)
(Representing Omadino Unity Forum)
(All acting for themselves and on behalf of the
Itsekiri Ethnic Nationality of Delta state
AND
& MINISTER OF JUSTICE
FORM 48
NOTICE OF CONSEQUENCES OF DISOBEDIENCE TO OEDER OF COURT
TO CHIEF SAMUEL OGBUKU of Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
TAKE NOTICE that unless you obey the directions contained in this order, you will be guilty of contempt of Court and will be liable to be committed to prison.
DATED THIS ………….. DAY OF ……………. 2022
_______________
REGISTRAR
IN THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT OF NIGERIA
IN ABUJA JUDICIAL DIVISION
HOLDEN AT ABUJA
Suit no: PHC/ABJ/2294/2022
BETWEEN:
(Both representing Itsekiri Leaders
Of Thought)
(Representing Omadino Unity Forum)
(All acting for themselves and on behalf of the
Itsekiri Ethnic Nationality of Delta state
AND
& MINISTER OF JUSTICE
FORM 48
NOTICE OF CONSEQUENCES OF DISOBEDIENCE TO OEDER OF COURT
TO MRS LAURETTA ONOCHIE of F. C. T Abuja.
TAKE NOTICE that unless you obey the directions contained in this order, you will be guilty of contempt of Court and will be liable to be committed to prison.
DATED THIS ………….. DAY OF ……………. 2022
Zipowei, Crown Troupe of Africa and Blackedge Productions will perform in Lagos.
Gifted Steppers, JP Artistic Troupe and selected up-coming solo artistes will also perform at this year’s National Theatre Festival of Unity
Zipowei, a graduate of the University of Ibadan and currently participating in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), made her debut in the music scene with the official release of her first single, “Free Falling,” in October 2022″ a statement issued Friday morning by the Director of Communications, MediaGate Nigeria, Mr. Victor Oki said.
The 2022 National Theatre Festival of Unity with the theme Celebrations is designed to consolidate upon the gains of the first two editions.
The theme was carefully chosen to give Nigerians an opportunity to take stock of God’s abundant blessings in their lives.
The edition which runs from 16-18th December 2022 falls within the last four months of the tenure of the President Muhammadu Buhari led democratic government.
‘’It is therefore only fitting to leverage this festival to take stock of the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari despite daunting challenges foist on Nigeria by escalating global economic recession and daunting security challenges’’.
The festival shall commence on Friday 16th December 2022 with a new addition to the activities- a virtual roundtable on play creation anchored by the Nigerian Centre of International Theatre Institute (ITI-UNESCO).
The innovative roundtable shall feature two leading Nigerian playwrights and former Chief Executive Officers of the National Theatre of Nigeria, Professors Femi Osofisan (2004-2007) and Ahmed Parker Yerima (2007-2014) as mentors and lead speakers.
The panellists shall include the three National Theatre Play Reading Series-award winning playwrights.
The National Theatre Festival of Unity was introduced in 2020 as an annual event by Professor Sunday Enessi Ododo, (fsonta, fta, fnipr,fsna, fana, FNAL), the General Manager/CEO of the National Theatre.
The maiden edition which featured music, dance, and stand-up comedy held at the National Theatre complex, Iganmu-Lagos from 10-13th December 2020.
The festival was conceived to celebrate life, build bridges of unity, promote peace and harmony as well as rekindle hope in humanity following the disruption by the Coronavirus pandemic which rocked the globe.
Accordingly, the maiden edition had the theme: Healing Nigeria. In Nigeria, besides the pandemic, there was also the unprecedented youth protest that engulfed the nation shortly thereafter.
The maiden edition offered Nigerians and residents alike fresh opportunity to engage and enjoy live performances which were temporarily suspended because of the pandemic.
Continuing in its tradition of preaching hope and perseverance amongst Nigerians, the National Theatre hosted the second edition of the festival from December 10th- 12th, 2021 under the theme Enduring Optimism.
The 3-day event which also held at the National Theatre, Iganmu- Lagos featured more events than the maiden edition. The new events include carnival procession, film show, visual arts exhibition and awards ceremony. These were in addition to the usual live-theatre performances, music, stand-up comedy and dance.
The festival aimed to encourage advancement of the performing arts throughout the country, create opportunities for up- coming Performing Artistes and aid the promotion of social development and improvement of quality of life.
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Zi always knew she wanted to be involved in the music scene. From primary school choirs to secondary school mini sessions in her classrooms during free periods, she always seized the opportunity to belt out a few tunes.
On some occasions, this involved approaching random classmates in hallways and singing to them.
Writing songs since age 13 has helped Zi develop her formula as she delivers lyrics laced with vulnerability and soul in expressions of love, hope, healing, and fun
PRESS RELEASE
SANWO-OLU INAUGURATES STATE TECHNICAL, MONITORING COMMITTEES ON ENGINEERING REGULATIONS MONITORING
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Thursday inaugurated the State Technical Committee (STC) and State Expatriate Monitoring Committee (SEMC) on Engineering Regulations Monitoring (ERM).
Governor Sanwo-Olu while inaugurating the committees at Lagos House, Ikeja, urged them to ensure that all infrastructure in the State meet the global standards of engineering practice.
The Governor warned that nothing short of the best standards will be tolerated and therefore urged the Committees to come up with stringent regulations that will guide the ethics and practices of the profession, as well as adherence to project specifications.
He said: “We have, with all sense of responsibility, given priority to the development of infrastructure. My tour of the State will demonstrate the attention of our administration to massive construction of roads, bridges, housing, water infrastructure, among others.
“The inauguration of the Lagos State Technical Committee of the Engineering Regulations Monitoring of COREN is the birth of a new dawn in what I consider COREN’s effort to revolutionalise the practice of engineering in Nigeria in general and Lagos State in particular.
“With this inauguration, the era of mediocrity should be gone. Engineering must take its pride of place and be the driver in our development effort in the State.
“Let me reiterate that in carrying out engineering projects in Lagos State, there will be no tolerance for quackery. In the same token, no Engineer will be allowed to supervise any project except he/she is duly registered by COREN and possesses current practising license. Possession of current Practising License shall be a condition for prequalification by Licence by all companies assigned to carry out engineering projects in the State.”
Governor Sanwo-Olu who congratulated members of the Lagos State Technical Committee and Lagos State Expatriate Monitoring Committee, for being found deserving of the selection, urged them to justify the confidence reposed in them and perform the assignment with maximum commitment and credibility.
He said “In selecting, the members of the Lagos State Technical Committee and Lagos State Expatriate Monitoring Committee, extreme care and diligence were applied. It is also ensured that these nominees are from very reputable organisations.”
Speaking earlier, the President of Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) Engr. Ali Rabiu FNSE, commended Governor Sanwo-Olu for being strategic and deliberately enhancing available human and material resources to serve the people of Lagos State.
He said Governor Sanwo-Olu led administration is being applauded for many projects in the State, which are transformational projects meant to improve the qualities of life in Lagos State
“You are transforming the state into an industrial and economic wonderland of the continent. This is particularly true in Mr. Governor’s efforts in the construction of over 308 roads and the delivery of the red and blue rail project, which he promised to be operational by the first quarter of 2023,” he said.
The Committees are to be guided by the responsibilities of locating document organisations and practitioners and report to the Registrar; verify and monitor the professional competence of works approving Officers; act as COREN watchdogs on maintenance, upholding Engineering codes of practice in public works, prohibit default, and ensure that all such works are in accordance with Engineering design and specification by Registered Engineers; among others.
SIGNED
GBOYEGA AKOSILE
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY
15 DECEMBER 2022
A group, Delta Women Vanguard, on Sunday described the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Senatorial Candidate in Kogi Central, Chief Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as the defender of the people.
‘’What the time demands is a woman with strength, who by practical, creative and visionary leadership can embark on a new beginning; a woman with a sense of mission in a rescue operation; a woman of vision and focus; a woman with courage to face difficulties. Chief Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is dedicated to the uplifting of the Ebira man, woman and youth’’
The group also declared its readiness to host the PDP, Kogi Central flag bearer in Warri on Saturday, November 19, 2022.
A statement issued in Warri urged Kogi Central voters to reject narrow minded, untrustworthy, manipulative, selfish and unpatriotic candidates.
‘’Chief Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is polished, beloved by the wonderful people of Kogi State and her name is etched in their minds. We are determined to convince Kogi Central people. We shall urge the voters to reject Kogi APC in 2023’’
DWV National Publicity Secretary, Mrs. Esther Umukoro in the statement in Warri, applauded Akpoti-Uduaghan for raising a lot of women and youths to a higher level of existence and sacrificing to enable them to enjoy good life.
‘’We will make Kogi Central voters be aware of the issues involved in the 2023 senatorial election and the advantage they stand to gain by voting for PDP. We will explain her ideals and priorities and how best to solve the problems of Kogi Central. We will then tell why they have to vote for Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’’
The statement underscored the desire of the good people of Kogi Central to break away from the stranglehold of Governor Yahaya Bello and his cronies.
‘’They will know who has a better grasp of the issues at hand and who is better equipped to solve them. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is not a typical Nigerian politician who speaks from both sides of the mouth’’
The statement also emphasized Akpoti Uduaghan’s benevolence, wisdom, charm, competence, roles played at critical points in the development of Kogi Central and identification with public worthy causes.
‘’Kogi Central is behind in development requirements. Kogi APC will no longer be allowed to pollute the stream from which the people drink’’
The group accused those parading as Concerned Delta Women of advertising ignorance and prejudicing the minds of people by deliberate lies and perversion of the truth.
‘’It is foolish talk and sheer nonsense. These renegades do not have the rectitude to speak on marriage, development and the future of Kogi Central’’.
‘’No crumbs, however tempting, should distract Kogi Central voters from ensuring the electoral victory of Akpoti-Uduaghan in 2023’’ the statement added.
A law firm, Indemnity Partners, has dissociated itself from a document in respect of Chief Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and the Alema of Warri Kingdom, High Chief Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan.
‘’Our attention has been drawn to a letter trending on social media purporting to have been issued from our law firm in respect of our client and her husband’’.
‘The law firm said in a statement signed by B. C. Igwilo SAN that the document was inauthentic and of dubious origin.
‘’ That letter is inauthentic and of dubious origin’’.
The firm urged the discerning public to ignore the document in circulation in its entirety.
‘’We categorically distance ourselves from the purported letter and its alleged contents’’ the statement added.
Below is the full text of the disclaimer
INDEMNITY PARTNERS
LEGAL PRACTITIONERS, NOTARIES PUBLIC
4th November 2022
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
DISCLAIMER
We are solicitors for Mrs Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Our attention has been drawn to a letter trending on social media purporting to have been issued from our law firm in respect of our client and her husband.
We categorically distance ourselves from the purported letter and its alleged contents.
That letter is inauthentic and of dubious origin.
Accordingly, we urge the discerning public to ignore it in its entirety.
Indemnity Partners
Key families in Okere-Urhobo on Monday took steps to foil the divisive and land grabbing plan of one Louis Okumagba.
They also urged the good people of Delta State and the general public to completely discountenance the false publication by Louis Okumagba.
‘’Louis Okumagba does not represent the interests of the families of Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu of Okere-Urhobo’’
Heads and members of the Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu families of Okere-Urhobo of Warri South spoke on prejudices of some local and foreign publishers on the land opposite Don Domingo College, Warri Monday morning.
Chief Gideon Okumagba, a representative of the three families, read the statement of the royal families aloud to newsmen.
The families accused Louis Okumagba of distortion and inciting fear in Delta State.
‘’The families of Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu collectively owned landed properties in Warri’’
The Okere-Urhobo leaders said the land was acquired by the defunct Bendel State Government.
‘’The families are represented by Heads of the Kindred family and are the original owners of the land until it was acquired by the then Bendel State Government. The families currently have their administrative office at No 60 Okumagba Avenue Warri where they meet frequently to deal with issues. on family lands and other related family matters’’
They offered an itemized and caustic indictment of Louis Okumagba’s behavior in Warri South.
‘’As one of the elders in the family, specifically as related to the false claims by Louis Okumagba, I am well abreast of the issues raised in that publication. The good people of Warri are not in any war or in a battle over the landed property opposite Don Domingo College, Warri, and it is very shameful that the said Louis is trying to incite tribal/ethnic battle in that publication’’.
They promised to file a libel suit against individuals and organizations publishing Louis Okumagba’s false narrative.
‘’It is not true that the Alema of Warri Kingdom, High Chief Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan, used officials of the Delta State Government to intimidate and arrest Louis Okumagba. To be candid, it was Chief Gideon Okumagba that reported his criminal extortion of money from developers to the Police Area Commander Office in Warri’’.
The statement emphasized how the matter was dragged to the office of the Inspector General of Police Abuja.
‘’While the case was being deliberated on in Abuja, Louis Okumagba jumped bail and hurriedly filed a fundamental Human Rights Application against me, the Inspector General of Police and Chief Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan at Warri High Court just to shield himself from being prosecuted for his criminal act. I equally filed a Counter application in that case and at the end the Judgment was resolved in my favour while his Fundamental Human Rights Application was dismissed with cost. Louis has been a fugitive. Since that judgment, he has not been seen within Warri’’.
Particularly, the families accused Louis Okumagba of trying to sow discord amongst Deltans through falsehood.
‘’Louis Okumagba claimed that he has been in the forefront of the land in dispute is false and misrepresentation of facts. And the alleged grabbing of over 30 hectares of land by the Okowa Government led by High Chief Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan is equally false. The land was acquired by the then Bendel state for public purposes. The Delta State government has since done the needful by releasing/returning parts of the land to the Olodi, Oki and lghogbadu families who are the rightful owners. 4.6 hectares of land was released to the family on the 26 day of June 1988 and another part of the unused land was released to the Olodi,. Oki and 1ghogbadu families on the 14 of January 2000. Also, the Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu families have an agreement with the Government of Delta State over the remaining parts of the land’’
The families told news men there was zero evidence for Louis Okumagba claims of land grabbing.
‘To be more specific, the remaining portion of the land was released to Seriviri Nigeria Limited wherein Chief Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan is one of the directors of that company and the said company also have an agreement with the families and half of the land was released to the families. Indeed, the three families benefited from the land including Louis Okumagba ’’.
They scolded Louis Okumagba for rendering a real disservice.
‘’There was never any consultation by Louis Okumagba with the well-known families of Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu before that Publication was made by him. It’s a futile attempt to incite the Urhobo and Itsekiri into a needless bickering. There is no dispute as far as the land in this narrative is concerned. The said Louis should avail himself to enable the police conclude their investigation in the crime levied against him. The land in question belongs to the Olodi, Oki and lghogbadu families of Okere-Urhobo and he should stop spreading false claims and division among the families and tribes in Delta State. If there are disputes in any land owned by these families, it is the heads and members of the family who will collectively decide to institute an action in court’’,
Last week, the families condemned the role of Chief Louis Okumagba in the 30 plots released to the Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu families of Warri in the Okere – Urhobo kingdom of Delta State.
They described it as a negative development and a minus for peace and development in Delta State.
In a letter titled: ‘’Attempt / efforts to cause communal war, fanning embers of communal dispute, conduct likely to cause breach of peace and criminal defamation of characters of our clients; Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu families of Warri in the Okere – Urhobo kingdom of Delta State, all committed by Mr. Louis Okumagba – a call to investigate the allegation herein, the families urged the Inspector General of Police to use his good office to investigate allegations against Louis Okumagba, so as to prevent a monumental communal war/crisis between Itsekiri and the Urhobo of Okere Urhobo Kingdom.
’’God forbid a repetition of what happened in 1997/98 in Okere-Urhobo Kingdom’’
Counsel to the Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu families of Warri in the Okere – Urhobo Kingdom, L O. Egboyi & CO said in the 1974/76, the then government acquired a part or portion of our client’s land for public purpose.
‘’In 2017, the Delta State government gave part of this acquired land to Messrs. Seriviri Nig. Ltd. for the purpose of partnership (Leisure Park) with the state government, covered by a certificate of Occupancy. Considering the size of the land given to Seriviri Nig. Ltd, for the partnership, it could not utilize the entire land. So, it entered into agreement with our client family, wherein, it released 30 plots thereof back to the family – our clients’’
The Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu families of Warri are made up of the popular Okumagba family of Warri, Okere- Urhobo kingdom.
‘’Our clients are the owners of all the land in the entire Okere-Urhobo kingdom Warri. Certain Mr. Louis Okumagba who is the black sheep of the family started to foment trouble, disturbing and threatening Seriviri Nig. Ltd, with thugs and dangerous weapons which led to his arrest in 2019 to the Police Force Headquarters’, Abuja. After being granted bail by the police, the suspect (Mr. Louis Okumagba) rushed to file a fundamental Human Rights action against the Police, at the Delta State High Court, sitting in Warri. The action stalled the prosecution of the suspect (Mr. Louis) by the Police’’.
The families said the suit of the suspect against the Police was dismissed by the Delta State High Court, sitting in Warri, with a specific order of the Court directing the police to arrest and prosecute the suspect (Mr Louis Okumagba).
‘’While the Police were looking for the suspect for arrest and prosecution as directed by the Court, the same suspect went to social media (Opera news) to declare that “there will be looming danger of war/crisis between the Itsekiri and Urhobos”, thereby inciting, promoting and instigating communal war between the two peaceful co-existing communities of Itsekiri and Urhobo’’.
This incitement, according to the families, created several apprehensions in the minds of locals, which has affected the hitherto peace that reigned and pervaded the two communities.
‘’Furthermore, the suspect posted on the same social media that some named members of our clients namely, Chief Gideon Okumagba, Stanley Oki, Chief Victor Okumagba, Engr. Prince Ojuvwu Okumagba and others, sent assassins to his house to kill him, but he escaped by the whiskers. He confirmed that he had a one-on-one confrontation with the assassins, who confirmed the named members of our clients above, as the people who commissioned them to eliminate him’’.
The legal practitioners described Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu as bunch of responsible families
‘’Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu families are known throughout Nigeria for their peaceful disposition. The named individuals are distinguished and respected members of the Okumagba family and the Nigeria Society. Our clients therefore take the allegation of hiring assassins by its members very seriously, especially in this era of Security challenges in the country’’.
The families also deplored the actions of Louis Okumagba and urged the Inspector General of Police to use his good offices to investigate the allegations and anyone found culpable to be brought to book.
‘’So, if investigation reveal the named individuals as assassins or connected to the attempt assassination of the suspect, as he alleged, they should be so indicted and prosecuted. But otherwise, the law on criminal defamation as enshrined in the Criminal Code and status in Nigeria are still very potent and alive. We assure you of our client’s co-operation with your men in the investigation of this petition’’.
PRESS RELEASE
TINUBU’S LEADERSHIP ANTECEDENT VERIFIABLE, MARKETABLE – SANWO-OLU
…Advocacy Group Holds Talks, Targets Grassroots Voters For APC Victory In Lagos
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has endorsed a grassroots movement targeting two million votes in the State for the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
Sanwo-Olu personally led members of his cabinet, including the Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, to a conference organised by Asiwaju Grassroots Talk (AGT), where the Governor drummed support for group’s political advocacy and its voter mobilisation strategy across local communities in Lagos.
The event with the theme: “Political Evangelism: Raising Active Voters Above 50 Percent”, was held at 10 Degrees Event Centre in Oregun, Ikeja, and had 5,000 mobilisers working with the group in attendance.
The group is mobilising for the electoral victory of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the presidential polls, while also working with APC for the continuity of progressive government in Lagos.
Sanwo-Olu said his endorsement of the AGT advocacy project stemmed from the proven ability of the group to influence and mobilise real voters, noting that AGT had a strong presence across communities in Lagos.
The Governor said Tinubu remained the most qualified and marketable candidate for the top job, pointing out that the APC’s presidential standard bearer possessed verifiable records in good governance and service delivery, which canvassers could use to sell him to voters.
He said: “We are ready to take the gospel out to the electorate and canvass for their support for the Tinubu presidency. Asiwaju has verifiable track records in good governance and service delivery, which canvassers can use to engage and win the support of potential voters. We must talk about the transformative leadership, progressive ideals and vision possessed by Asiwaju to take this country to another level of meaningful development.
“Tinubu is coming to bring hope, bring about change that will translate to real prosperity. He is coming to address the challenges facing the youth, women and the vulnerable in our country. His programmes will touch the lives of traders, artisans and those in search of legitimate means of livelihood. It is because of our strong belief in Asiwaju’s leadership that we are all coming together to endorse this grassroots movement to ensure Lagos is delivered for APC.
“With Tinubu in charge of the country, not only would Lagos get due attention, the Southwest and the entire nation would feel the impact of his progressive vision. The result of his leadership in Lagos is for everyone to see. There is no better candidate to lead the country from next year than Tinubu. All hands must be on deck to work and achieve this objective; we must show the opposition parties how we are better than them on election day.”
Sanwo-Olu dismissed the notion that Tinubu’s candidacy was to advance ethnic agenda, stressing that the APC presidential candidate belonged to the rank of the most detribalised Nigerians.
The Governor said the fulfillment of his promises to the electorate in Lagos would make the residents vote for continuity in the State, noting that his Government touched all parts of the State in projects and service delivery.
He urged AGT members not to be intimidated by the propaganda of the opposition in the course of engaging voters at the community level. He charged them to show commitment to deliver their pledge to the party.
“This movement should not be limited to the 5,000 mobilisers who are gathered for this event. You must show the commitment to deliver the highest votes which you have pledged. I believe you have the spread and ability to achieve it,” Sanwo-Olu said.
AGT Director-General, Dr. AbdulHakeem Tugbobo, said the group was formed in 2018 to drive community advocacy and educate voters at the grassroots level about Tinubu’s vision and political philosophy.
He said the group aligned itself with the progressive ideals of APC, given various development goals achieved by the party, especially in Lagos.
He said: “We are ready to complement the party’s campaign council and get many people to join the Tinubu-Shettima ticket and make it realisable. We have our tentacles spread across the State and we are targeting the 4,156 CDAs in Lagos to realise 2,000,000 votes from farmers, artisans and others for Tinubu to become the president.”
Lagos APC chairman, Hon. Cornelius Ojelabi, hailed members of the group for the initiative, saying the party faced an “important election” that would further strengthen it to deliver more dividends of good governance to Lagosians and Nigerians.
SIGNED
GBOYEGA AKOSILE
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY
06 OCTOBER 2022
PRESS RELEASE
WHY COWLSO IS INVESTING IN EDUCATION, WELFARE OF THE VULNERABLE, BY SANWO-OLU
…Says All Is Set For 22nd National Women’s Conference
…Aisha Buhari, Wike, Ganduje, Zulum, Others To Grace 2022 NWC
Lagos State First Lady and Chairman of the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO), Dr Ibjioke Sanwo-Olu on Thursday explained the rationale behind the massive investment of the Committee in education and welfare of the vulnerable.
Sanwo-Olu, who spoke at a Press Conference held at Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja to unveil activities for the 22nd National Women’s Conference (NWC) of COWLSO, said as a community-based gender organization, the Committee was established primarily to complement efforts of government officials in bringing about exponential development and generally improving the welfare of Lagosians.
According to her, “Since we came on board, we have worked in line with the founding vision of COWLSO to invest in the education of our children. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, we donated 5,000 transistor radios to support the education of children in the riverine communities.
“The donation was part of efforts to ensure that no child is left behind in the access to quality education in the state on account of the challenges thrown up by the pandemic, while we equally factored in electricity challenges as the radios are such that can function with batteries.
“We have equally invested in the welfare of vulnerable children and elders, particularly those in orphanages and elderly care homes across the five administrative divisions of the state namely Ikeja, Badagry, Ikorodu, Lagos Island and Epe.
“As we speak, we are also constructing a senior secondary school in Ogombo Community, Ajah in collaboration with the Lagos State Special Committee on Rehabilitation of Public Schools (SCRPS). The school is the first public school with a ramp specifically designed to facilitate the ease of movement of physically challenged students within the school.”
She said COWLSO also holds quarterly seminars for market men and women on sanitation, security and safety, among other projects.
Speaking on activities lined up for the 2022 COWLSO NWC, the First Lady said as a purpose-driven international conference through which women are positively galvanized, the event will hold from October 18 to 20, 2022 at the Convention Centre, Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, with the theme: “Spring Forth, Stand Out.”
Explaining the reason for the theme, she said: “In 2019 when we came on board, our theme was: “UNLEARN, LEARN AND RELEARN: 21ST CENTURY WOMEN’S T.H.E.M.E.S PERSPECTIVES/APPROACH.” In 2020, we discussed “EXPLORING THE POSSIBILITIES IN A NEW WORLD”. In 2021, our theme was “AWAKE!”, while this year, our theme is: “Spring Forth, Stand Out.”
“Haven extensively dealt with issues around awakening last year, what naturally follows an awakening is to emerge into something more beautiful and into something better. You emerge into a better version of yourself and keep pushing forward to make a positive difference. This is the message we are passing across to women this year.”
Aside from the main theme, other topics to be extensively discussed by seasoned facilitators and speakers, according to the First Lady, are: “Our Health: A Challenge and a call to reference; Mastering Performance Parenting in a Gen-z World; Insecurity: A threat to National Development; My Civic Responsibility: My Power; Smart Investment Options for the Forward Thinking Woman; Roles of women in Educational Development in Nigeria; Overcoming Adversity with Confidence; and Utilizing Technology to Manage Business and Market Changes,” among others.
“We have made adequate preparations to ensure that we have more plenary sessions this year to extensively deliberate on the highlighted topics and associated issues, while on Day 3 of the Conference, there will be a Recap and Communiqué to state the position of COWLSO on the Conference and developments in the nation, particularly as regarding women and children,” she said.
On the expected guests, she said Nigeria’s First Lady, Dr. (Mrs.) Aisha Muhammadu Buhari will serve as the Mother of the day and would declare the Conference Open, while His Excellency, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State is the Special Guest of Honour at the Opening Ceremony.
She added that the Special Guest of Honour for the Gala Night is His Excellency, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, while the Special Guest of Honour at the Closing Ceremony is His Excellency, Prof. Babagana Zulum, Governor of Borno State.
OLUBUKONLA NWONAH
DEPUTY DIRECTOR, PUBLIC AFFAIRS
OFFICE OF LAGOS STATE FIRST LADY
OCTOBER 6, 2022
PARAMOUNT AFRICA ANNOUNCES BET AFRICA CHANNEL NOW PERMANENTLY AVAILABLE TO DSTV FAMILY VIEWERS
THE HOME OF BLACK EXCELLENCE COMES TO DSTV FAMILY VIEWERS
As of 7 October 2022, Paramount Africa’s channel brand, BET Africa will be permanently available to all DStv Family viewers. This follows an initial announcement by the business, informing audiences that BET Africa (channel 129) would only be available to DStv Family viewers during the DStv open window, which commenced on 26 September 2022.
The move is a testament to Paramount Africa adhering to audience demands for new, relatable content that resonates with audiences and speaks to the impact and global channel currency of the BET brand.
In addition, the decision also implies that Paramount Africa will now be able to continue to execute its commitment to providing access to relevant stories and extending the authentic storytelling mantra by providing exclusive premium local and international content.
“As the home of black excellence, the BET Africa channel is synonymous with showcasing the best African and African American stories. We are excited to be extending our audience reach as this means the stories will reach new and more viewers. This is not only good news for viewers but for the black entertainment industry as well, putting our work in the spotlight and growing our industry.” said Monde Twala, Senior Vice President and General Manager Paramount Africa and Peer Lead, BET International.
“MultiChoice has embraced ‘Africa to the world’ and ‘the world to Africa’ as a business philosophy, as such we strive to continually review our packages so as to continually curate a quality viewing experience of both quality local and international and content. We are proud to expand the number of our customers that can enjoy the great BET experience and look forward to the continuation of a great partnership between the Paramount team and the MultiChoice Group.” said Georginah Machiridza, Executive Head: Content Strategy & 3rd Party Channels at MultiChoice Group.
BET Africa is the leading provider of black entertainment on the globe and provides a plethora of diverse programmes, including reality, entertainment, docu-series, and recently launched weekly original drama, Redemption, BET Africa’s biggest production of the year.
Viewers will also have access to a slate of new and exclusive international programming, including the premiere of the scripted anthology music series Tales: Every Song Has A Story, the new family drama Carl Weber’s: The Black Hampton, and the highly anticipated celebration of hip hop culture, the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards, all premiering this October.
BET Africa will be available to DStv Family viewers from 7 October 2022 on channel 129 across all African countries excluding Ethiopia.
“One day, I am going to win the Grammys”, WhiteMoney shares on #WithChude
Reality TV star and Singer, WhiteMoney sits with Chude Jideonwo on #WithChude to discuss winning BBN in 2021, his music career and his ultimate goal of inevitably winning the Grammys.
On the show, WhiteMoney discussed not having a degree and how watching foreign films and observing people has helped him improve himself. “The biggest teacher any man can have is experience. The second teacher anyone can have is life, and the third is people, not even your parents. You need life, people and experience to become a better person in life. School won’t give you that experience you need. The school will give you theory; life will give you practical. For example, the highest educational qualification I have is O’ level, National Examination Council (NECO), that’s all I wrote. I didn’t write WAEC, JAMB or anything, but I still speak good English. I hate reading, but I love to listen, so I watch a lot of movies and emulate the way they talk and it impacted me. If I am to act the role of someone with an American accent, I have to watch five Black American movies. By the time I’m done with them, it automatically programs in my head against the shoot the next day. It helps fine-tune my English, and how to read contracts and sign them. I stopped at NECO because that was where the money stopped. It was my uncle who sent the 3,500 for the form. It was like two days before it closed that I got it, and I passed very well.
He also shared how poverty helps him remain tenacious in spite of rejections “The biggest motivation for me is poverty. If you love your situation and the way you are, then don’t work. But if you are tired of begging for handouts, not being recognized, or tired of Grammys. Poverty will motivate you to go out there and do something for yourself. So, poverty pushed me to audition four times in a row, and I won the fourth time.
On handling vicious feedback from the audience on his song, ‘Selense’, he shared, “it didn’t affect me like that, to be very honest. If you really watch the show, or if you ask people, they’ll tell you that WhiteMoney has zero impulses, my emotions are zero. If you talk, it hardly gets to me because once I do what I am satisfied with, any other thing is Jara. The thing is that the song that I drop if you give it to one of the A-List artists, it will get more buzz than what it is now, but of course, I was known for cooking in the Big Brother house, if it’s not cooking nobody wants to hear it. And I’m in a position where I have to constantly prove myself that I can do this and actually cook and be successful at both of them. But I won’t be the guy that gets old and regrets doing what he didn’t love. I’ll keep dropping it and I know that one day, White Money is going to get the Grammys.
“Even the big celebrities get criticized. In fact, the criticism I got for Selense, is not up to what I got for Na We We, the one I featured Zoro, but it helped the music to enter Apple’s chart in two days. Up till now, I am still promoting the song, and the comments on YouTube now are positive”, he added.
PRESS RELEASE
LAGOS STRIKES DEAL WITH PRIVATE FIRM TO MANAGE, OPERATE 32-METRIC TONS IMOTA RICE MILL
Ahead of the commissioning and operation of the 32-metric tons per hour Rice Mill in Imota, Ikorodu, Lagos State Government has handed over the management of the facility to private investor for efficient running.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Wednesday, presided over the ceremony where officials of the State Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with WACOT Rice Limited, a subsidiary of TGI Group.
The private firm is to provide operational support and manage the mill for nine months in the first instance through Joint Venture. The partnership is subject to renewal subsequently.
Sanwo-Olu is expected to hand over the rice mill in the next few months, after which it would commence commercial operation.
Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya, said the privatisation of the rice mill’s operations was to ensure efficiency in the output of the facility, noting that the idea was initiated in 2019 when the State Government started the discussion with the firm.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Agriculture (Rice Initiative), Dr. Rotimi Fashola, said the Governor believed the mill would be optimised if it had a respectable private brand behind it and a technical support team that could provide intervention towards making the mill sustainable and functional to its capacity.
He said: “There is a need for the Government to put the rice mill on the path of sustainability and give it to a handling that will project quality. We sourced to have a partnership in rice production business that has a stable brand and eye for efficiency. This brings forth this Joint Venture and technical support agreement with WACOT.
“In Nigeria today, this is a brand consumers want to purchase in the market. We are delighted that we are able to bring WACOT to the table for technical support, managerial and quality assurance skills. The partnership agreement being signed today will be for nine months in the first instance and subsequently can be renewed. All i’s have been dotted and all t’s have been crossed.”
Group Managing Director of TGI Group, Rahul Savara, said Lagos Government found a great partner in the firm, pledging that the company would be deploying standard technology and services in managing the rice mill.
He said the private firm shared the Sanwo-Olu administration’s conviction to meet high demand for rice and make Lagos self-sufficient in rice production and processing.
“We are ready to work with Lagos State to make the facility run at its best. We will be deploying the best expertise, technique and training to make the Government proud of this investment,”
Savara said.
Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN, provided the legal instruments backing the MoU.
Other top management staff of TGI Group at the ceremony included the Group’s Executive Director, Jerome Shogbon, Company Secretary, Omowumi Fajemiroye, Head Corporate Communication, Rafiat Gawat, and representative of Banwo & Ighodalo Partner, Azeezah Muse-Sadiq.
SIGNED
GBOYEGA AKOSILE
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY
05 OCTOBER 2022
Access Bank to acquire 51% majority equity stake in Angola-based Finibanco S.A
Access Holdings Plc. has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Access Bank Plc., has entered into a binding agreement with Montepio Holding SGPS S.A to acquire a 51% majority shareholding in Finibanco Angola S.A.
Finibanco Angola S.A. is a profitable, well-capitalised full-service commercial bank with over 20 branches and around US$300 million in total assets that has operated in Angola since 2008. The Transaction will be effected via the purchase of existing shares owned by Montepio, the holding company for Banco Montepio, one of Portugal’s well-established commercial banks.
The Angolan market is the 6th largest economy in Africa and the 7th largest country overall, with a vast and diversified natural resource base and a growing population representing a strong potential for the Bank’s growth aspiration.
The Transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals in Nigeria and Angola is expected to close in the first half of 2023 following fulfillment of customary conditions precedents. It will be consummated at 1.0x tangible book value less pre-agreed adjustments to be determined by a customary completion audit. Upon completion of the Transaction, the Bank is expected to increase its shareholding in Finibanco S.A and has reached certain conditional agreements in this regard.
Commenting on the transaction, Dr. Herbert Wigwe, Group Chief Executive Officer, Access Holdings Plc., said “At Access, our vision remains clear as ever and our determination to harness accretive opportunities within and outside Nigeria is our core strategic focus. Angola represents an opportunity for our shareholders to participate in what we believe will engender stronger value upside as Africa fully emerges. We remain committed to making these disciplined and well-structured investments towards creating a strong, holistic platform that will be competitive, diversified, and compelling for years to come.”
The Transaction furthers the Bank’s strategy to be Africa’s payment gateway to the world whilst working with other Africa-focused multilateral to provide robust and efficient payment platforms and ecosystems to serve the continent. The prospective operation is expected to contribute strongly to the Bank’s overall growth path and financial results over the long term.
PRESS RELEASE
LAGOS TEACHERS ENDORSE SANWO-OLU FOR SECOND TERM
…You’ve Made Teaching Rewarding For Us, ‘Cheerful’ Teachers Tell Governor
The event marking the World Teachers’ Day in Lagos State turned into a platform to share testimonies of the positive transformation recorded in State’s teaching service by the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Teachers cheerfully shared their experiences in the last three years, giving Sanwo-Olu a pass mark in raising the standards of education through investment in infrastructure and capacity building.
At the symposium organised by the Lagos wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) at the NUT Pavilion in Ikeja, Lagos teachers unanimously threw their weight behind Sanwo-Olu, endorsing the Governor’s re-election bid.
Comrade Hassan Akintoye, NUT Lagos chairman, who spoke on behalf of the teachers, said the Sanwo-Olu administration prioritised teachers’ welfare and committed unprecedented investment in education and teaching.
Akintoye said not only had the teaching environment been made more conducive for teachers, he noted that there had also been improvement in the performance of pupils in national examinations.
The NUT chief said the Governor met and fulfilled majority of demands of the teachers without any confrontation, thereby limiting the prospect of disagreement between NUT and the Government.
Lagos, he said, pioneered the creation of the Permanent Secretary/Tutor General position, which is the apex cadre in teaching career, and designated six slots for teachers across the six Education Districts in the State.
Akintoye added that Sanwo-Olu’s approval of career harmonisation in teaching service placed thousands of Lagos teachers on grade Level 17 – the highest level. This, he said, made Lagos the pace-setting State in the transformation of the teaching profession.
He said: “In Lagos, teachers have not had any major demands which the Government has not prioritised. It is only in Lagos teachers are promoted and get salaries of the new grade level before the promotion letters get to them. It is in Lagos that thousands of teachers are on Grade Level 17 when their colleagues in other states are either stagnant at Level 14 or demoted.
“On occasion of World Teachers’ Day in Lagos, it is about showing appreciation to the leadership of the State. We are using this opportunity to tell our Governor that we have a large number in the teaching service, and this has never been a burden to the system. Come February 2023, we will mobilise not only ourselves, but also our families and relatives to make the election work in your favour.”
NUT National President, Comrade Audu Titus Amba, sent a note of appreciation to Sanwo-Olu on behalf of Lagos teachers, stressing that Lagos Government had lifted the teaching profession and set enviable standards in the State.
Represented by Comrade Titi Adebanjo, NUT National Secretary, Amba said: “In some states, apart from the Governors being afraid to meet with teachers, Sanwo-Olu can walk confidently among teachers because he has raised not only the standards of teaching in Lagos, the Governor has also improved on the welfare package for teachers to make teaching rewarding.”
Sanwo-Olu described teachers as “important stakeholders” in moulding behaviour and creating a functional society. He said his administration’s efforts towards boosting teachers’ capacity through capacity building led to over 10,000 teachers benefiting from various initiatives to refresh their teaching skills.
The Governor said priorities were placed on career progression of teachers in Lagos, making their promotion an annual exercise while ensuring prompt implementation of benefits and earnings due to them.
He said: “Today, I join our resilient and outstanding teachers in celebrating a legacy of excellence, dedication and commitment built on the foundation of a unique profession that involves the promotion of the complex personal development of young minds in preparation for future roles as responsible citizens. No Society can deliver quality education without placing premium value on its teachers. While many only expect the Almighty God to reward teachers, it is our firm resolve that our teachers must receive and enjoy the rewards for their labour, first here on earth and then, later in Heaven.
“As a teacher-friendly Government, we developed various initiatives to enhance teaching and further motivate our teachers. Our commitment to increasing the capacity of our teaching staff is visible through local and international training. Over 10,000 teachers have been exposed to various training programmes to hone and refresh their teaching skills. To ensure that we don’t lack teachers in any subjects, we introduced an Exit-Replacement Policy, which ensures prompt recruitment of qualified teachers to replace the ones that retire. This has created employment for over 6, 000 qualified teachers in the last three years.”
Sanwo-Olu urged teachers to always uphold the ethics of their profession and continue to show uncommon sense of responsibility and greater commitment to duty.
He pledged his administration would continue to accord priority to investment in education, while also improving the capacity and welfare of teaching personnel. The Governor said Lagos schools would further become more ICT-compliant, as he promised to expose teachers to international best practices.
“I urge you not to relent in your effort to impart quality knowledge in our children. You are the diamonds set in gold rings for this noble profession. As partners, we will appreciate your continued commitment and support in achieving an effective and efficient education system for the benefit of our dear citizens,” the Governor said.
In a show of appreciation, the teachers honoured Sanwo-Olu with an Education-friendly Award.
SIGNED
GBOYEGA AKOSILE
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY
05 OCTOBER 2022
Run for the Coal City: Amstel Malta Ultra rewards winners with cash prizes
Winners of the just-concluded ‘Run for the Coal City’- the 20km Ultra marathon race organized by Amstel Malta Ultra, in conjunction with Enugu State Ministry of sports have been rewarded with cash prizes.
Held on Saturday, October 1 2022, the Ultra marathon kicked off by 7 am after registration.
Flagging off the Ultra marathon, Honorable Commissioner for Youths and sports, Enugu state, Hon. Manfred Nzekwe, welcomed all participants and urged them to have fun and run for more than the prize. According to him, the essence of the marathon is to support healthy living and fitness.
Participants commenced at Okpara square, Enugu and covered the mapped-out route spanning eleven vantage points from Okpara square to the Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium gate. The participants were given color-coded wristbands at every point to ensure that they followed the mapped route exactly.
Finishing first, Chinecherem Kingsley Onyia, breasted the tape and won the marathon, as well as the grand prize of 500,000 naira for the male category, Okechukwu Donatus and Egu Kenechi, followed closely, winning 250,000 and 150,000 naira respectively.
For the female categories, 20-year-old, Affigbo Esther from Lagos state came first place, followed by 35-year-old Helen Mammah from Abuja and 14-year-old Patience Joseph, from Imo state, winning 500,000, 250,000 and 150,000 naira respectively.
Expressing joy, the winner of the male category, Chinecherem Kingsley Onyia said “I am so happy and excited that I got to compete and win. I am especially grateful to Amstel Malta Ultra and the Enugu state government for organizing this competition.”
Also, expressing her delight, winner of the female category, Affigbo Esther, said, “I feel great, coming first place for the females in this marathon. I am grateful to Amstel Malta Ultra for organizing this competition as it is a great way to help the youths.”
“This is the beginning of new things for the people of Enugu,” said Chidi Egwu, Senior Marketing Manager, Amstel Malta, while speaking on the success of the event. “Amstel Malta is a brand that encourages people to choose the best way to live and will continue to support the good people of Enugu state in their journey to a healthy and better living.”
Further commenting on the turnout of the event he said, “I am very impressed with the turnout, seeing lots of very promising talents both in the male and female category. It was a fantastic outing, the first for Amstel Malta in Enugu.”
In addition to the prizes won by the first three finishers in both categories, participants that came in 4th to 20th place in the marathon in the male and female categories were also rewarded with 10,000 naira each.
The Ultra Marathon race is the second event in the 3-week long fitness lineup of activities scheduled to be held between September 24 to October 8 in the coal city.
Royal families in Okere-Urhobo have condemned the role of Chief Louis Okumagba in the 30 plots released by the Delta State government to the Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu families of Warri in the Okere – Urhobo kingdom of Delta State.
They described it as a negative development and a minus for peace and development in Delta State.
In a letter titled: ‘’Attempt / efforts to cause communal war, fanning the embers of communal dispute, conduct likely to cause breach of peace and criminal defamation of characters of our clients; Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu families of Warri in the Okere – Urhobo kingdom of Delta State, all committed by Mr. Louis Okumagba – a call to investigate the allegation herein, the families urged the Inspector General of Police to use his good office to investigate allegations against Louis Okumagba, so as to prevent a monumental communal war/crisis between Itsekiri and the Urhobo of Okere Urhobo Kingdom.
’’God forbid a repetition of what happened in 1997/98 in Okere-Urhobo Kingdom’’
Counsel to the Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu families of Warri in the Okere – Urhobo Kingdom, L O. Egboyi & CO said in the 1974/76, the then government of Mid-Western Nigeria acquired a part or portion of our client’s land for public purpose.
‘’In 2017, the Delta State government gave part of this acquired land to Messrs. Seriviri Nig. Ltd. for the purpose of partnership (Leisure Park) with the state government, covered by a certificate of Occupancy. Considering the size of the land given to Seriviri Nig. Ltd, for the partnership, it could not utilize the entire land. So, it entered into agreement with our client family, wherein, it released 30 plots thereof back to the family – our clients’’
The Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu families of Warri are made up of the popular Okumagba family of Warri, Okere- Urhobo kingdom.
‘’Our clients are the owners of all the land in the entire Okere-Urhobo kingdom Warri. Certain Mr. Louis Okumagba who is the black sheep of the family started to foment trouble, disturbing and threatening Seriviri Nig. Ltd, with thugs and dangerous weapons which led to his arrest in 2019 to the Police Force Headquarters’, Abuja. After being granted bail by the police, the suspect (Mr. Louis Okumagba) rushed to file a fundamental Human Rights action against the Police, at the Delta State High Court, sitting in Warri. The action stalled the prosecution of the suspect (Mr. Louis) by the Police’’.
The families said the suit of the suspect against the Police was dismissed by the Delta State High Court, sitting in Warri, with a specific order of the Court directing the police to arrest and prosecute the suspect (Mr Louis Okumagba).
‘’While the Police were looking for the suspect for arrest and prosecution as directed by the Court, the same suspect went to social media (Opera news) to declare that “there will be looming danger of war/crisis between the Itsekiri and Urhobos”, thereby inciting, promoting and instigating communal war between the two peaceful co-existing communities of Itsekiri and Urhobo’’.
This incitement, according to the families, created several apprehensions in the minds of locals, which has affected the hitherto peace that reigned and pervaded the two communities.
‘’Furthermore, the suspect posted on the same social media that some named members of our clients namely, Chief Gideon Okumagba, Stanley Oki, Chief Victor Okumagba, Engr. Prince Ojuvwu Okumagba and others, sent assassins to his house to kill him, but he escaped by the whiskers. He confirmed that he had a one-on-one confrontation with the assassins, who confirmed the named members of our clients above, as the people who commissioned them to eliminate him’’.
The legal practitioners described Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu as bunch of responsible families
‘’Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu families are known throughout Nigeria for their peaceful disposition. The named individuals are distinguished and respected members of the Okumagba family and the Nigeria Society. Our clients therefore take the allegation of hiring assassins by its members very seriously, especially in this era of Security challenges in the country’’.
The families also deplored the actions of Louis Okumagba and urged the Inspector General of Police to use his good offices to investigate the allegations and anyone found culpable to be brought to book.
‘’So, if investigation reveal the named individuals as assassins or connected to the attempt assassination of the suspect, as he alleged, they should be so indicted and prosecuted. But otherwise, the law on criminal defamation as enshrined in the Criminal Code and status in Nigeria are still very potent and alive. We assure you of our client’s co-operation with your men in the investigation of this petition’’.
……………………………………………………
Legal Practitioner, Corporate & Property Consultants
No 9, Effurun / Sapele Road
Opposite High Court Junction,
Effurun .
TEL: 08035759764
Email: luckyegbuyi@ gmail.com
Our Ref: LOE/IGP/COM/BREA/OKUMAGBA/1/22 Your Ref……………
THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE,
NIGERIAN POLICE FORCE
EDET LEWIS HOUSE
ABUJA.
Sir.
RE: ATTEMPT / EFFORTS TO CAUSE COMMUNAL WAR , FANNING THE EMBERS OF COMMUNAL DISPUTE, CONDUCT LIKELY TO CAUSE BREACH OF PEACE AND CRIMINAL DEFAMATION OF CHARACTERS OF OUR CLIENT ; OLODI, OKI AND IGHOGBADU FAMILIES OF WARRI IN THE OKERE – URHOBO KINGDOM OF DELTA STATE, ALL COMMITTED BY MR. LOUIS OKUMAGBA – A CALL TO INVESTIGATE THE ALLEGATION HEREIN
We are counsel to the Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu families of Warri in the Okere – Urhobo Kingdom, herein called our Clients.
The Olodi , Oki and Ighogbadu families of Warri, make up the popular Okumagba family of Warri , Okere- Urhobo kingdom.
Our clients are the owners of all the land in the entire Okere-Urhobo kingdom Warri.
In 1974/76, the then government of Mid-Western Nigeria acquired a part or portion of our Client’s land for public purpose.
In 2017, the Delta State government gave part of this acquired land to Messrs. Seriviri Nig. Ltd. for the purpose of partnership (Leisure Park) with the state government, covered by a certificate of Occupancy. Considering the size of the land given to Seriviri Nig. Ltd, for the partnership, it could not utilize the entire land. So it entered into agreement with our Clients family, wherein, it released 30 plots thereof back to the family – our clients
Certain Mr. Louis Okumagba who is the black sheep of the family started to foment trouble, disturbing and threatening Seriviri Nig. Ltd, with thuggery and dangerous weapons which led to his arrest in 2019 to the Police Force Head Quarters, Abuja. After being granted bail by the police, the suspect (Mr. Louis Okumagba) rushed to file a fundamental Human Right action against the Police, at the Delta State High Court, sitting in Warri. That action stalled the prosecution of the suspect (Mr. Louis) by the Police.
We wish to inform you that suit, of the suspect against the Police, has been dismissed by the Delta State High Court, Sitting in Warri, with a specific order of the Court directing the police to arrest and prosecute the suspect (Mr Louis Okumagba). A copy of the enrolled order is herein annexed as annexure as Annexure A.
While the Police were looking for the suspect for arrest and prosecution as directed by the Court, the same suspect went to social media (Opera news) to declare that “there will be looming danger of war/crisis between the Itsekiri and Urhobos”, thereby inciting, promoting and instigating communal war between the two peaceful co-existing communities of Itsekiri and Urhobo.
This incitement has created several apprehension in the minds of locals, which apprehension has affected the hitherto peace that reigned and pervaded the two communities.
Furthermore, the suspect posted on the same social media that some named members of our Clients namely; Chief Gideon Okumagba, Stanley Oki, Chief Victor Okumagba, Engr. Prince Ojuvwu Okumagba and others, sent assassins to his house to kill him, but that he escaped by the whiskers. He confirmed that he had one on one confrontation with the assassins, who confirmed the named members of our Clients above, as the people who commissioned them to eliminate him.
Our Clients are bunch of responsible families known throughout Nigeria for their peaceful disposition. The named individuals are distinguished and respected members of the Okumagba family and the Nigeria Society.
Our Client therefore takes the allegation of hiring of assassins by its members very serious, especially in this era of Security challenges in the country.
It is against the background of the foregoing that we have the instruction of our Clients to petition you to use your good office to investigate these allegations against the suspect, so as to prevent a monumental communal war/crisis between Itsekiris and the Urhobos of Okere Urhobo Kingdom. God forbid a repetition of what happened in 1997/98 in Okere-Urhobo Kingdom.
So, if investigation reveal the named individuals as assassins or connected to the attempt assassination of the suspect, as he alleged, they should be so indicted and prosecuted. But otherwise, the law on criminal defamation as enshrined in the Criminal Code and status in Nigeria are still very potent and alive.
We therefore urge you to use your good offices to investigate these allegations of our Client and cause anyone found culpable to be brought to book.
We assure you of our clients co-operation with your men in the investigation of this petition.
Yours faithfully
L.O. EGBOYI ESQ
CC;
The Head:
Olodi, Oki and Ighogbudu families,
Of Okere-Urhobo Kingdom, Warri