News

Kwara Govt not behind ex-Gov. Ahmed’s trial — Commissioner

Published

4 weeks ago

April 5, 2024

By Saka Laaro, Ilorin

Kwara State Government has refuted claims that it is behind the current corruption trial of former Governor Abdulfatahi Ahmed.

In a statement on Thursday, Kwara State Commissioner for Communications, Bola Olukoju said the burden of governance does not permit any distractions or targeting of anyone, including former public officials.

Adding that the trial of the former governor is the exclusive prerogative of the anti-graft agencies who may have found some misconduct following their own investigations of different transactions involving his administration.

“We find the accusation of the opposition party as cowardly, baseless, and wrong. The right place to prove the innocence of anyone accused of wrongdoing is the court of law, not on the pages of newspapers or through shadow-boxing. They should leave us out of the issue,” she said.

“This administration has moved on from whatever happened in the past, except where historical references are inevitable. Our task is so enormous that we are left with no time to waste.”

She maintained that the administration is still grappling with the burden of fixing the most basic things, including those that should have been done but resources meant for them blatantly stolen by these PDP officials.

“An example is the UBEC funds, which were brazenly stolen. We reported a case of a particular N1 billion UBEC intervention fund that was withdrawn cash and stolen. The evidence is damning.

“This barefaced and irresponsible conduct led to the blacklist of Kwara by UBEC which set the state backward for many years in education infrastructure and many other sectors. As if that was not enough, there had not been any meaningful investments in basic education until our administration came up in 2019.

“It is not surprising, therefore, to see nothing in some Schools in some parts of the state, in spite of the huge funds we have pumped in the sector. This was the essence of the government’s public announcement dated July 24, 2022 titled, ‘Next Time You See an Oke Apomu LGEA School.’

“Even so, our focus has been governance. This is why we feel scandalised by the lack of context in the recent BBC report on LGEA School Kankan in Asa local government. The media owe the public not just a duty to tell a story but to give appropriate context to such stories for lessons to be learnt.

“Kankan LGEA School, like many of it across the state, did not just get there. They have all been documented, and steps are being taken to put them in shape in phases.

“Between 2019 and now, this administration has paid for and accessed UBEC counterpart funds for years 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 to fix school infrastructure in more than 600 locations in the state. This has been confirmed by UBEC itself, and they were done to specifications in the UBEC-SUBEB work plans.

“Yet the gap is understandably huge that it will take many years of such consistent investments to bridge. To date, we have paid counterpart funds for eight years, whereas we have only spent less than five years in the saddle.

“What this means is that we shoulder the burden of fixing school infrastructure that should have been done since 2014 or earlier. But the funds were stolen by the same people now in the PDP who are accusing the EFCC of witch-hunting.

“This is the context to the Kankan story. While we do not deny that it is our responsibility to fix the deficits and we are indeed doing the same, we reject any report that lacks the context to tell the full story and guide public understanding of the issues.”

News

UniAbuja: ASUU begins indefinite strike

Published

6 mins ago

May 2, 2024

NewsDirect

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Abuja chapter, has begun an indefinite strike to draw attention to developments bordering the union.

The Abuja chapter of ASUU announced its decision to embark on the strike on Thursday at the end of its congress, held at the Permanent Site of the institution.

Sylvanus Ugoh, who is the UniAbuja Chairman of the union, told Leadership that the union had resolved to embark on a total and indefinite strike with immediate effect.

More to follow…

News

Senate confirms minimum age requirement for admission into universities

Published

7 mins ago

May 2, 2024

NewsDirect

The Nigerian Senate has made it clear that the statements regarding the potential increase of the age limit to 18 years were individual viewpoints.

The Senate stressed that any adjustments to the age limit would require proper legislative procedures, whether they involve lowering or raising the limit.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Adeyemi Adaramodu, made this known in an interview with journalists on Wednesday.

Recall that last week, Prof. Tahir Mamman, the Minister of Education, stated that the government is thinking about changing the minimum age for entering universities to 18 years old.

“Comment on the minimum age requirement for admission is not a law,” the lawmaker said.

“So it is just an opinion. It’s not a law. By the time the Senate resumes, whoever wants to bring that one out to make it a law, will now bring it and then the procedures will take place.

“You can bring whatever to the floor in form of a bill. When you bring it, there’s going to be public hearing.

“All the stakeholders will sit down and talk about it. The parents, teachers, legislators, civil society organisations, even foreign organisations.

“We will sit down and talk. Even if they say that the minimum age should be 30 or 12, we will all discuss it in an open forum. So it’s still a comment which cannot be taken to be the law.”

News

Alleged Naira abuse: Cubana Chief Priest, EFCC explore out of court settlement

Published

14 mins ago

May 2, 2024

NewsDirect

A Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed June 5 for report of settlement in a case against celebrity bartender, Pascal Okechukwu, popularly known as Cubana Chief Priest, over alleged abuse of the naira.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had on April 17 arraigned Okechukwu on three counts of allegedly spraying and tampering with the naira notes during a social event at Eko Hotel in Lagos.

He had pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted bail in the sum of N10 million.

Justice Kehinde Ogundare had then adjourned the case until May 2, for hearing of the preliminary objection and trial.

When the case was called on Thursday, Mrs Bilikisu Buhari appeared for the prosecution, while Mr Chikaosolu Ojukwu (SAN), announced appearance for the defendant .

The defence counsel informed the court that the parties were exploring a settlement and have applied that the matter be settled pursuant to the provisions of Section 14(2) of the EFCC Act.

He told the court that if the prosecution confirmed the position as true, there would be a need to apply for a withdrawal of the defence’s preliminary objection and allow for a reconciliation.

In response, the prosecutor confirmed the position as stated by the defence counsel and told the court that the application was still being considered.

Following the position, the defence counsel applied for a withdrawal of the preliminary objection since there was no objection from the prosecution and the court granted the same.

The court, consequently, adjourned the case until June 5, for the report of settlement.

In the charge, the defendant was said to have tampered with the funds in the denomination of N500, while dancing at the social event in Eko Hotels and Suites.

The offence contravenes the provisions of Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act of 2007.

The EFCC had on April 5 secured the conviction of popular cross-dresser, Idris Okuneye, also known as Bobrisky, on similar charges for which he was sentenced to six months imprisonment.