News

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari.

President Muhammadu, on Wednesday, while granting an interview on Channels TV, reportedly said he had a favourite successor.

The President, whose tenure will be over in less than two years, dropped the bombshell during an exclusive interview on Channels TV on Wednesday, January 5, 2022.

However, the president refused to state who the favourite successor was on the ground of their safety.

The President, in his own words, ” I wouldn’t (mention the name of my favourite successor) because he may be eliminated if I do. I better keep that a secret.”

The interview has generated ripples and different reactions across the political spectrum in the country.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The foremost human rights activist and former senator, Shehu Sani, aligns with President Muhammadu Buhari’s position on having a police force under the control of state governments. The president has adamantly refused to consider state police a viable option despite Nigeria’s several security challenges and calls from different quarters. 

In an exclusive interview with Channels TV on Wednesday, January 5, 2022, the president reiterated his previous position regarding the issue.

Meanwhile, Shehu Sani, who has been critical of the Buhari administration, especially on poor management of the country’s security challenges, surprised many by agreeing with the president. He cited abuse of the police institution by state governors as part of his reasons on his official Facebook account following the president’s interview.

By Uzair Adam Imam

A 14-year-old housemaid identified as Favour Iwuozor has allegedly abducted her mistress’s two-year-old son, planning to take him to Amraku Umorsu in Isiala/Mberna Local Government Area, Imo State.

Daily Post reported that the maid took the boy from a Sunday school class in church, pretending the mother sent her, but she made away with him and started begging for alms to raise money for transportation.

The maid had identified the 2-year old abducted boy as her younger brother left behind by their parents, who she lied died in an accident in December.

Reports have disclosed that while begging for alms at Yaba, Lagos, one Victoria Nwafor, who observed that the boy was very ill, took both of them to her house in the Sagamu area of Ogun State on December 22, 2021.

Mr Abimbola Oyeyemi, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, has confirmed the incident on Tuesday, 4th January 2022.

He said: “immediately the boy fully recovered, the suspect wanted to single-handedly take him to Imo State,” saying this aroused the woman’s suspicion; hence she reported at Sagamu police division on Monday.

“Upon the report, the DPO of Sagamu division, CSP Okiki Agunbiade, detailed his detectives to go and bring the girl and the little boy.

“On interrogation, the girl confessed that she was a maid to the mother of the little boy and that she left with the boy since the 19th of December, 2021, with the intention of taking the boy to Amraku Umorsu in Isiala/Mberna Local Government Area of Imo State,” Oyeyemi explained.

Oyeyemi added that the maid had confessed that “she took the baby from the church during Sunday school period, and since the Sunday school teacher knows her with the baby’s mother, she had no problem releasing the boy to her.”

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Federal Government has disclosed why it declined to designate bandits as terrorists, saying that it is because of international best practices.
Recall that in November, last year, a Federal High Court in Abuja granted an ex parte application for gunmen and terrorists to be declared as terrorists.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), made the disclosure in a TV show, NTA’s Good Morning Nigeria Show.

He said that the process would be concluded in a matter of days, adding that the court judgement that ordered the government to declare bandits as terrorists would be gazetted.

However, Malami was quoted as saying: “Government has a responsibility to act but within the context of acting, you equally expected to operate within the confines of international best practices associated with engagement and one of such best practices is that you can only use maximum force on groups, individuals that are declared terrorists and that is where the application of the Terrorism Act comes in place.

“With that in mind, Nigeria acted, first by proscribing IPOB, taking into consideration the threats to lives and properties they have caused in the nation. Boko Haram was proscribed.

“The gazetting of a court order or judgement is a process but what matters fundamentally within the context of [the] international convention is the judicial declaration and that has been obtained; the court has declared bandits, kidnappers, cattle rustlers as terrorists.

“So, with or without the gazette, what gives effect to such declaration is a judicial pronouncement but the gazette is a mere formality and it has been on and I believe within a matter of days, it will be concluded,” Malami added.

By Sumayyah Auwal Usman

The Kaduna State government said Tuesday that the ban on motorcycles (popularly known as “Okada”) for commercial or personal purposes is still in force.

The state’s Commissioner, Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Kaduna State, Samuel Aruwan, disclosed that “the Kaduna State Government wishes to inform citizens that the ban on use of motorcycles (popularly known as “Okada”), for commercial or personal purposes, remains in place until further notice”.

He further stated, “the Kaduna State Government continues to empathize with citizens over difficulties which these measures may engender, and implores all residents to comply fully with these measures in the wider interest of general security”.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Dr Doyin Salami as Chief Economic Adviser (CEAP).

An official statement released by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina on Facebook on Tuesday, January 4, confirms this development.

Mr Femi Adesina wrote that Dr Doyin Salami was educated in London, where he bagged his doctorate degree in Economics, Queen Mary College, University of London in 1989. He added that Dr Doyin Salami is a member of the Adjuct Faculty of the Lagos Business School (LBS), Pan Atlantic University, where he recently attained the rank of Associate Professor.

Femi Adesina noted that the Chief Economic Adviser to the President is to address all issues on domestic economy and present them to the President.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday joins the nation in mourning former presidential aspirant Bashir Othman Tofa, who passed on in the wee hours of Monday. 

In an official statement credited to the presidential spokesperson, Malam Garba Shehu, the President paid glowing tributes to the deceased elder statesman.

In the words of the President, “[Tofa] was till the end, a patriot to the core. He envisaged a better Nigeria for all. We pray that this dream and collective aspiration and necessary commitment will not go with him, we owe to his memory and to the nation”.

The President also prayed to Allah to rest his soul and grant fortitude to the deceased family and friends, the Kano Emirate Council and the government and people of Kano State.

Garba Shehu also noted that the President had sent a delegation that comprised of the Ministers of Defence, Major-General Bashir Magashi (Rtd) and Water Resources, Engineer Sulaiman Adamu with Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media and Publicity) Garba Shehu and the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris on a condolence visit to Kano State.

By Hussaina Sufyan Ahmed

The President-General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Sultan of Sokoto, Sheikh Sa’ad Abubakar III, has called on Muslims all over Nigeria to watch out for the new moon of Jumada al-Thani 1443 AH on Sunday, January 02 2022.

He said in the press release:
“This is to inform the Muslim Ummah that Monday, January 03, 2022, which is equivalent to the 29th day of Jumada al-Awwal 1443AH, shall be the day to look out for the new moon of Jumada al-Thani 1443AH.

“Muslims are, therefore, requested to start looking for the new moon on Monday and report its sighting to the nearest district or village head for onward communication to the Sultan.” 

This statement was signed by Sambo Junaidu, Chairman, Advisory Committee on Religious Affairs, Sultanate Council, Sokoto State.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said that there is a possibility of going on a strike if the government does not address its demands.

The union said that the N52.5bn it received from the Federal Government would not be sufficient to deal with the challenges facing the university system in the country.

Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, the ASUU President, disclosed this in an interview with the journalists.

“There was a possibility that the union would still go on strike unless the government addressed its demands, including the 2009 agreement,” he said.

The Daily Reality gathered that the Federal Government had released N30bn Revitalisation Fund and N22.5bn Earned Academic Allowance totalling N52.5bn to the union.

Osodeke added that: “The Federal Government had said it paid lecturers N30bn Revitalisation Fund and N22.5bn Earned Academic Allowance.
“It noted that it had made some progress in implementing the Memorandum of Understanding the government reached with the union,” he stated.

However, Osodeke also described the fund released by the government as a token payment, reiterating that it was not enough for lecturers to change their minds on the suspended strike.

By Abdurrahman Muhammad

Reports indicate that airstrikes by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jet have successfully killed notorious bandit leaders Alhaji Auta and Kachalla Ruga in Zamfara State.

Yusuf Anka, a social media activist and an authoritative local reporting about the region’s security, confirmed the attack on his Twitter handle.

“About seven bandits who went to retrieve the body of their leader Alhaji Auta from the scene of the bombardment have [also] been bombed and killed by the NAF”, Anka added.

Zamfara is one of the northwestern Nigerian states plagued by bandits and kidnappers. Some of the identified bandit leaders were declared wanted by Nigerian security.