Former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, has revealed what led to the hike in electricity and fuel price.
Recall that power distribution companies implemented new electricity tariffs on September 1, while the federal government announced a new ex-depot price of petrol on September 2.
However, Omokri in a tweet via his Twitter account on Sunday, claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari was initially afraid to raise the prices of fuel and electricity.
According to him, the President went ahead with the decision after he observed that the Big Brother Naija show had completely distracted Nigerian Youths.
“l was stunned to see youths organise a fundraiser for a disqualified BBNaija housemate.
“I was told that General MBuhari was afraid to raise the prices of fuel and electricity.
“What emboldened him was when he saw how BBN has completely distracted Nigeria’s youth,” he said
The life of a pregnant woman may have been saved if the doctor that was to operate on her was not allegedly held by policemen enforcing the COVID-19 lockdown on the Airport Road, Ikeja, Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the surgeon was held for about one hour, as entreaties that she was on an emergency call, fell on deaf ears.
After she was released, the doctor reportedly got to the hospital and discovered that both mother and baby were died.
Our correspondent was told that the incident happened on Monday, August 31 at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi Araba, Surulere.
The deceased was identified only as Mistura.
A witness, who did not want to be identified, said the female doctor broke down in tears upon seeing that she could not save the victim and her baby.
He said, “The doctor is a woman. In fact, she was also ill and was placed on a drip at home when she was called about the emergency.
“Because her car was bad, she got a cabman to take her to the hospital. She left her house around past 9pm.
“Around 10.15pm, they got to the under bridge around Airport Road, where they met the policemen. They had been stopped by other policemen before they got to that spot. But when she showed them her ID card, they allowed her to pass.
“But these ones refused. After she showed one of them her ID card and said she was on an emergency to see a patient who was between life and death, the policeman ordered the driver to park. He took her ID card and asked her to prove she was on an emergency.
“She went to meet another member of the team and begged him that she needed to leave immediately, and that the life of her patient was at risk. She was in a nightgown; she could not even change when she got the call. But the second policeman shunned her.
“The policeman said she was foolish and she was a prostitute, because a doctor would never dress the way she was dressed. She begged them and explained the circumstances, but they refused to listen and demanded the emergency letter.”
PUNCH Metro gathered that after keeping the doctor for about one hour, she was released.
However, our correspondent was told that it was already late, as the patient had died.
It was learnt that the patient was initially admitted to a private facility, where attempts were made to deliver her of the baby.
When the case got complicated, she was referred to LUTH, where she died after suffering internal bleeding.
“There were four policemen on duty that night. Only one was on mufti. Their tag was not visible because they wore overall. They saw the drip in the doctor’s hand; she was risking her life to save another person, but they never allowed her,” the source added.
Our source said efforts by the doctor to call a phone number on the policemen’s van were abortive.
The number, 09051614394, which a phone application, True Caller, identified as OPS Office Air, was not reachable for about three days that our correspondent tried it.
Prior to last Thursday, the police enforced a nationwide curfew from 10pm till 4am.
However, medical workers, journalists and other essential service providers were exempted from the curfew.
A spokesman for LUTH, Mr Kelechi Otuneme, promised to react after speaking to a consultant at the hospital.
He had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.
The Public Relations Officer of the Airport Police Command, Alabi Joseph, expressed shock at the incident and promised to investigate it.
A senior police officer, who did not speak on record, however, said the doctor could raise the suspicion of the cops if she was not properly dressed.
The Nigeria Army has moved to reassure residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, that they are on red alert to combat crime.
This follows a ‘purported memorandum’ from the Nigeria Customs, warning its staff about a possible attack in the nation’s capital.
The Customs’ internal memo was signed by the Comptroller of Enforcement at the NCS headquarters, H. A. Sabo.
Sabo claimed Boko Haram has selected targets within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
However, a statement from the Nigeria Army signed by Coordinator Defence Media Operations, John Enenche, on Sunday, said: “the Armed Forces of Nigeria working together with other security and response agencies particularly the core intelligence agencies hereby assure the general public that preventive and preemptive intelligence are ongoing.
“The general public is thus advised to go about their lawful businesses undeterred.”
It also promised that “offensives against the common enemies of this Nation will not cease until normalcy is restored in all parts of the country. Hence, the general public is equally enjoined to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity accordingly.”
Despite being scheduled to be father of the day during the wedding between Hanan, one of the daughters of President Muhammadu Buhari, and Mohammed Turad, son of a former lawmaker from Kaduna State, Mamman Daura, a nephew and close confidant of the President, was absent at the occasion.
SaharaReporters gathered that Daura’s absence might not be unconnected with his trip to United Kingdom for medical treatment over an undisclosed ailment despite claims by the Presidency that he travelled for leisure.
The online newspaper had in August reported how he was flown in a private jet to the UK after exhibiting respiratory difficulties with symptoms similar to Coronavirus.
The former journalist, who is an integral member of the ‘Cabal’, a group of influential individuals around President Buhari, who help him make key decisions, is said to have had a history of renal crisis and had regularly visited the West for medical attention.
A source, who confirmed Daura’s absence at the ceremony, told SaharaReporters that the event was held inside a hall adjacent the President’s office instead of the banquet hall usually used for high calibre social events.
The source further disclosed that the wedding had 80 persons in attendance.
The low number of guests, it was gathered, was partly due to the Coronavirus scare earlier in the week in the Presidential Villa.
On Wednesday, SaharaRepoters revealed how some guests for the wedding were declining the invitation over fear of contracting Coronavirus especially after it emerged that President Buhari’s closest aide and Senior Special Assistant on Domestic Affairs, Sarki Abba, had recently recovered from the virus.
Abba, who has since resumed duties after recovering from the virus, was considered still unsafe to mingle with others inside the Presidential Villa by some persons including the First Lady.
Mrs Buhari also opposed the idea of Daura being a part of the event over his health status but her husband insisted that he must not be stopped attending and even went ahead to designate him father of the day.
This situation sent panic among some guests, who chose not to attend the ceremony and risk their health.
The absence of Daura at the occasion has remained a major talking point among major political players especially considering his closeness to President Buhari.
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has said that people who are above 70 years needed to check their salvation if they were still afraid of death.
Adeboye said this at the first Sunday Thanksgiving of the RCCG new year calendar, held at the headquarters in Lagos on Sunday.
“Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, old people were advised to stay at home and not come to church which is good advice.
“But if you are over 70 years of age and you are still afraid of death, then you should check your salvation,” he said.
Adeboye added that the God would turn down coronavirus, adding that no virus would come near the children of God.
“God will give us total victory on any virus. The Lord who has kept us to see September will keep us to see the new year,” he prayed.
In his sermon, Adeboye told the congregation to always praise the Lord because He had done a lot for the country and everyone in particular.
“When we remember some people we grew up with are dead, some are in prison, sick, and we are still alive, then we should have reasons to praise the Lord.
“When we know we have the Almighty God, the conqueror of any virus by our side, then we have every reason to thank God,” he said.
He added that the Almighty God would never the people.
“Everyone should continue to praise God for life,” he said.
He urged those that had not given their lives to Christ to do so for them to get God’s blessings.
Two farmers, Umar Abubakar and Muhammad Sani-Abdul, have revealed how staff of Sterling Bank in Bauchi State fraudulently opened unauthorised accounts using their names and Bank Verification Numbers to apply for loans.
The farmers, in a petition seen by SaharaReporters, told the Consumer Protection Council that they started receiving messages in December 2017 suggesting opening of accounts with the bank without taking such step.
They said they were shocked to learn that the accounts opened on their behalf owed the Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending N1,291,888.00 per person.
“That we opened accounts with Stanbic IBTC Bank as part of a plan to engage in wheat farming. We are pleased to attach our Bank Verification Number. That, doing so was an attempt to partially meet the conditions for getting access to loan facility to achieve the said goal under the platform of Evergreen Cooperative Society, which was said to have partnered with a certain Madaki Agro Firm.
“That, contrary to (a) above, we started receiving alarms in December 2017, suggesting opening account with Sterling bank, a deal we were unaware of. That going by frequent cyber shady deal, we dismissed the matter (stated C above) as trivial. Because to the best of our knowledge and belief, we neither opened account nor did we authorise anybody or any organisation to do so on our behalf.
“That, in the preceding months, there were transactions in the said accounts amounting to millions of naira concerning loan facility we did not apply for. Moreover, the account was said to have been controlled by a third party. We neither know nor delegated to do so on our behalf.
“That we were extremely shocked to learn that the accounts that were purported to have been opened for us owed NIRSAL worth N1,291,888.00 per person. We have thus been exposed to danger, we strongly suspect shady deal between the two banks and possibly other parties.
“We understand this is a gross violation of our fundamental and inalienable rights as provided in 1948 universal declaration of human rights, International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), Nigerian constitution (1999), Bank and other Institution Act (BOFIA), Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007, Human and People’s Right and other enabling laws,” the petition reads.
Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the Malian President ousted by a military coup in August, was evacuated late Saturday to the United Arab Emirates for medical treatment, a diplomat said.
The 75-year-old´s health has been in question since he was hospitalized following his detention for 10 days by the military junta now in power.
He left Mali with his wife, Aminata Maiga Keita, an attache, two doctors and four security agents, said the diplomat with knowledge of the situation but who insisted on not being quoted by name because he was not permitted to speak to press on the matter.
The plane was dispatched by the United Arab Emirates following a request from Malian authorities and Keita, so he can be treated at a military hospital in Abu Dhabi, the diplomat said.
Keita had been moved to his residence earlier this week after hospitalization at a private clinic under the tight security of the junta.
Leaders of the junta had said they were open to whatever treatment he needed to get, even if in another country.
The junta, which calls itself the National Committee for the Salvation of the People, is now running Mali under the leadership of Col. Assimi Goita.
Keita, who was first elected in 2013, had three years left in his term when mutinous soldiers detained him at his residence after firing shots outside the house. Hours later, he appeared in a midnight broadcast on state television, telling Malians he would resign immediately so no blood would be shed for him to stay in power.
Officials from the junta had said Keita was being held at the barracks only for his own protection. A protest movement against Keita´s presidency saw tens of thousands demonstrate in the streets in the months leading up to his overthrow.
A mediation delegation led by former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan met with Keita while he was in military custody, and they later told journalists that Keita did not want to try to return to power.
The international community has decried Keita´s ouster, and the regional bloc ECOWAS has imposed sanctions on Mali, shutting borders, halting financial flows and threatening further sanctions.
Keita´s release was one of the demands of ECOWAS, so his evacuation for medical treatment might play favorably.
There are worries that the political vacuum brought by the coup could allow Islamic extremists to expand their reach. A similar coup in 2012 led to the militants overrunning major towns in the north where they implemented their strict interpretation of Islamic law, such as amputating the hands of those charged with theft.
A French-led military operation in 2013 ousted the extremists but the Malian military and its partners have faced an insurgency ever since.
On Saturday, two French soldiers working with Operation Barkhane were reported killed in the Tessalit region of northern Mali, according to a statement from French Defense forces. They died after their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device, it said.
France has more than 6,500 soldiers currently engaged in foreign operations, with more than 5,000 as part of Operation Barkhane, according to the defense ministry.
“In the Sahel, France is and remains engaged alongside Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger and Chad in this relentless fight against armed terrorist groups,” the statement said.
Turkey on Sunday voiced disappointment over majority-Muslim Kosovo’s decision to recognise Israel and set up its mission in Jerusalem.
A vocal advocate of the Palestinian cause, Turkey became one of the first countries to recognise Kosovo, which declared its independence from Serbia in 2008.
“Even the thought by Kosovo officials of taking such a step — which is a clear violation of international law — is disappointing,” the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry called on the Kosovo leadership to avoid such steps that would harm the legal status of Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday Serbia will become the first European country to transfer its embassy to Jerusalem.
Kosovo will also set up its Israel mission in Jerusalem and in exchange earn Israel’s recognition, as it seeks to further legitimise its statehood.
Those decisions came out of a US-brokered agreement between the two Balkan rivals.
In a separate statement late Saturday, the Turkish foreign ministry said it was also “deeply concerned” by Serbia’s move.
Israel seized control of East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in moves never recognised by the international community.
Israel considers the city its undivided capital, but Palestinians see the mostly Arab eastern part of Jerusalem, including the Old City with its holy sites, as the illegally occupied capital of their future state.
The United States in December 2017 recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and shifted its embassy from Tel Aviv to the city, sparking Palestinian outrage.
Dear supporters of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, if you truly want to fight for a better Nigeria, fight for a better Nigeria on principle, not based on interest; do so dispassionately, not selectively.
If you hate corruption, injustice and bad governance, it should not matter who is in power. It should not matter which region or religion a leader or politician comes from. It should not matter the political party that is in power.
You are an accomplice if you only speak out when it is convenient for you, but remain silent when your favourite politician is in government.
Some of us have been consistent in our criticisms. Some of us have been consistent in resisting tyranny irrespective of who is in power.
People from my home State, Akwa Ibom, who hated me for constantly deprecating the evils of the Godswill Akpabio regime are now pretending to be his adversaries.
Some of them wished me death in the past because of my opposition to Akpabio, but they started singing a different tune the moment Akpabio left the PDP for the APC. The people who defended Akpabio’s tyranny are now defending governor Udom Emmanuel’s tyranny.
There is nothing that I criticized Akpabio for while he was a governor that Udom Emmanuel has replicated and I have not spoken out against. I do not care who the governor is. What I care about is what a governor does.
There is nothing that Jonathan did while in office that I criticized him for, that has taken place under General Buhari and I kept mute. The same way that I opposed Jonathan’s misrule is the same way that I am opposing Buhari’s misrule.
Those of you that are debating whose misrule is better or worse are just dissipating energy on frivolity. There is nothing like ‘a better bad president’. If we are ever going to change this country, we have to stop expressing preferences for certain categories of bad leaders.
Mr. Jonathan, whose defeat you are still bitter about, is closer to Buhari today than most Buhari supporters. They have a common interest. Jonathan has moved on with his life but you are still bitter about 2015. You are taking sides against your fellow citizens in the name of partisanship.
Those of you who are still obsessed with Jonathan’s defeat should remember that history is a judge. Most of you that are attacking people over their political views in 2015 were the most vociferous defenders of impunity, corruption and injustice under Jonathan.
Many of you are still fervently rooting for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. How can you hate your regular citizens over their political decisions and views in 2015 and at the same time be defending the same Atiku whose money, influence and support along with Saraki, Amaechi, Kwankwaso, Tinubu and others propelled Buhari to power?
People like Reno Omokri should not insult our intelligence by pretending to be activists or advocates for good governance. We know that if your favourite politicians were in control today of the federal government today, you will be doing exactly what Buhari supporters are doing, just like you did under Jonathan.
The very fact that you are unwilling to admit the flaws of Jonathan’s government which largely caused his defeat says a lot about your sense of patriotism, character and false outrage.
In any event, how many of you are willing to support a fresh presidential candidate who is not part of the rotten political establishment in 2023?
You cannot be recycling thieves and expect some of us to take you seriously simply because your preferred thief steals less than another thief. If we truly want to change Nigeria, we must stop supporting people who have been part of the destruction of this country in the past.
2023 is far away, but many of you are already projecting the same corrupt and recycled politicians for the next round of presidential election. That is not how to change a country.
For some of us, PDP is APC and APC is PDP. If we are going to move Nigeria forward, we must look beyond these evil twin.
We have a collective responsibility to confront the forces of darkness that have overwhelmed our country.
The Buhari regime has declared war on the suffering masses. Buhari has imposed economic sanctions on Nigerians by implementing unconscionable austerity measures and policies at a time that responsible nation’s are introducing palliatives and social intervention programmes to cushion the harsh effects of COVID-19 pandemic.
We cannot effectively hold this oppressive, corrupt and incompetent regime accountable if citizens do not unite. Jonathan has since moved on, Atiku has ostensibly moved on after 2019 elections. It is time for you to move on.
It is time to fight for a better Nigeria.
Inibehe Effiong is a Lawyer and Public Commentator (inibehe.effiong@gmail.com) Twitter: @InibeheEffiong
