The Federal Government has put on hold the planned resumption of federal schools.
It has also stopped students from participating in the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations earlier scheduled for August 4 to September 5.
The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, disclosed this to State House Correspondents at the end of a meeting of the Federal Executive Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The minister said federal schools would remain closed until it is safe to reopen them.
He also urged state governments that have announced school resumption plans to rescind such.
Adamu stated that the West African Examinations Council could not determine the resumption date of schools for Nigeria.
He said he would prefer that Nigerian students lose an academic year than to expose them to heath dangers amid the coronavirus pandemic.
As politicians begin to jostle for the vacant seat of the Lagos East Senatorial District of the Lagos State, following the death of Senator Sikiru Bayo Osinowo. BOLA BADMUS writes on the attendant issues so far.
Residents of Lagos State, especially in the Lagos East senatorial district will soon go to poll to fill the vacant seat left in the Senate by Senator Sikiru Bayo Osinowo, who died recently. The senator, who was a four-term member of the state House of Assembly from 2003, was elected into the Senate in 2019, and was, until his death, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Industry. In the last general election, the deceased, who contested on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), defeated his closest rival, Princess Abiodun Oyefusi, of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Already, there are various permutations, especially on the factors that could influence the choice of voters this time round. Some believe that certain dynamics that swayed the electorate have either changed or ebbed, others contend that the public perception of the candidate and platform they represent have become most critical and germane. And the calibre of the touted names as possible replacement for Osinowo is quite intimidating, with virtually all of them having distinguished themselves at various levels of human endeavours either in the public or private life. They include season politicians, astute administrators, professionals and other distinguished individuals.
For instance, names of the immediate past governor of the state, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode; former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Honourable Adeyemi Ikuforiji; Senator Gbenga Ashafa, Osinowo’s predecessor; Chief Lanre Razak, former Commissioner for Transportation in the state; Dr Tola Kasali, a two-time commissioner in the state; and Honourable Dayo-Bush Alebiosu, another two-term former member of the lower chamber of National Assembly, who represented Kosofe Federal Constituency of the state.
It would be recalled that Late Senator Osinowo contested the party primaries with the then sitting Senator Ashafa, whom he defeated to clinch the party ticket. The deceased eventually won the general election. But before Osinowo secured the APC ticket, he equally slugged it out with a few other party buffs, including Chief Razak, a former Commissioner for Transportation and currently one of the members of Governor’s Advisory Committee (GAC) in the state.
The importance attached to the planned bye-election by the political parties is further underscored by the pedigree and calibre of the leaders of the PDP in the state being linked to the contest. These personalities include Princess Abiodun Oyefusi; her then challenger for the PDP ticket, Babatunde Adisa and Mr Babatunde Olalere Gbadamosi, who contested the last governorship poll on the platform of Action Democratic Party (ADP) but has since returned to PDP.
With the return of Gbadamosi, who is also from Ikorodu area of the state as Princess Oyefusi, into PDP, pundits contend that the latter will need to work extra hard to re-secure the PDP ticket. Both aspirants have individual areas of strength, resources and different levels of network.
Similarly, the contest for the ticket of the APC, according to observers, also promises to be a keen fight as former Speaker Ikuforiji is believed to have been nursing the ambition of going to the Senate for some time. He was not favoured for the position by the party leadership then which preferred Senator Ashafa retain his seat in the Senate for a second term in 2015.
Now that another opportunity has come knocking, both Ashafa and Ikuforiji could want to try their luck in the party primaries to be held when the APC would have been done with the mourning of Osinowo. Coincidentally, Chief Razak, who is also from Epe as Ikuforiji, had stepped down for Senator Osinowo in the then party primaries before the 2019 election. The former commissioner and seasoned politician, is also said to be eyeing the Senate seat again. He has a lot of experience in diverse endeavours thus his popularity within and outside the state.
On his part, former Governor Ambode is expected to leverage on his records as a seasoned bureaucrat, administrator, professional and politician. The public space is abuzz with the record as a professional and governor of the centre of excellence. He still savours enormous goodwill and support at the grassroots level.
Another personality of the APC extraction, who is said to be interested in the vacant position, is Dr Kasali, a two-time commissioner in the state, with astounding record of performance under Governor Bola Tinubu and who had, on two occasions, sought to become governor.
Also, the name of Dayo-Alebiosu, a two-term former member of House of Representatives in Abuja, has continued to feature with his allies and friends flaunting what they regard as his enviable record of performance to recommend him for the vacant position in the Senate. Alebiosu was a former special assistant to the governor of Lagos State on Housing and he first got elected into the lower chamber of the National Assembly in 2007 with a total of 100,000 votes, more than any elected representative in Nigeria. He secured another term in 2011 and served as the pioneer chairman of the House Committee on Treaties and Agreements; and also served as the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The former lawmaker, who represented Kosofe Federal Constituency, also served in different committees, including the National Security, Petroleum (Upstream), Gas Resources, and Justice. Incidentally, he comes from Kosofe, the very constituency where the late Senator Osinowo hailed from. However, not a few political analysts believe that the final decision of who will finally fly the APC flag in the bye-election rests squarely with a national leader of the party, Tinubu based on party loyalty and dedication.
From all indications, it is a battle of titans. The winner of the ticket of the parties will bear the burden of stamping the authority and control of their individual parties on the turf of the senatorial zone nay the state.
Manchester City returned to winning ways in style by thrashing hapless Newcastle at Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola’s side were surprisingly beaten at Southampton in their previous Premier League game but two goals in the opening 20 minutes against the Magpies effectively settled this contest.
Gabriel Jesus ended his nine-game goal drought by converting from David Silva’s cutback, while Riyad Mahrez swept home the second from Kevin de Bruyne’s pass.
It got worse for Newcastle in the second period when Federico Fernandez inadvertently deflected Matt Ritchie’s attempted clearance into his own net and David Silva added the fourth by curling in a sublime free-kick.
Raheem Sterling came off the bench to add the fifth for City in injury-time, rolling in from Silva’s pass.
With four games remaining, City have strengthened their claim to second place, moving nine points clear of Chelsea, while Newcastle drop to 13th.
City slickers
Manchester City’s unsatisfactory title defence has seen them drop 33 points this season, three more than in their previous two campaigns combined, but they were a class apart against Newcastle.
The swift movement and quick passing in the final third tore apart the Magpies backline with ease time and time again and though their aggregate score from their last five home games now reads 19-0, it could have been much more.
Phil Foden’s growing influence in the starting line-up is clear to see, buzzing around in the final third, but the young Englishman will be disappointed by missing a hat-trick of chances, all dragged wide from promising positions.
The man Foden is tipped to replace next season, David Silva, showed why he will depart as one of the finest players the Premier League has seen, completing 106 of his 112 passes, contributing two assists as well as scoring a glorious free-kick.
The first two goals were similar, both coming from the left of the box, with Belgium international De Bruyne taking his assist tally to 18 for the campaign, just two short of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry’s record.
– Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has denied collecting N4 billion from the embattled EFCC boss, Ibrahim Magu
The vice president denied the allegation via a tweet by his spokesperson, Laolu Akande – Akande described the report claiming Osinbajo collected money from Magu as fake news concocted to smear the vice president’s image.
As the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission faces presidential panel over alleged diversion of recovered loots, an unconfirmed report broke out on social media.
The report claimed that the EFCC boss told the panel that he gave Vice President Yemi Osinbajo N4 billion. The unsubstantiated report has been widely circulated on various social media platforms
Mohammed Umar, director of operations at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has been named acting chairman of the agency.
According to NAN, a top official of the commission confirmed that Umar has taken charge of the agency in the absence of Ibrahim Magu.
Magu was arrested on Monday and whisked to the presidential villa in Abuja where he was grilled by a panel set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the EFCC.
The panel is led by Ayo Salami, retired president of the appeal court.
Umar’s emergence confirms the suspension of Magu as earlier reported by TheCable.
Suspensions are usually imposed on chief executives under probe to avoid interference with investigations.
Magu’s travails followed a memo by Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF), in which the suspended anti-graft czar was accused of grave malfeasance.
He was alleged to have mishandled the recovered loot and selling seized assets to associates.
He was also alleged to have refused to subject himself to the supervision of the office of the attorney-general.
Security operatives searched the residence of Magu in Karu, federal capital territory (FCT) late Tuesday while his personal belongings were moved out of his official residence in the Maitama area of the nation’s capital.
A family source said the security operatives who carried out the operation found nothing incriminating in the house but they left with some documents.
Since his arrest, Magu has spent the nights at area 10 force criminal investigation department (FCID) of the police in Abuja.
Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, a.k.a Hushpuppi has hired Gal Pissetzky, one of the best criminal defence lawyers in Chicago area to defend him.
Hushpuppi, who was extradited to US from Dubai last week Thursday faces trial in Los Angeles, where his case has been filed before a US District Court in Central District of California.
Chicago therefore appears like a temporary bus stop as he will be transferred soon.
Pissetsky told P.M. News he will handle Hushpuppi’s defence all the way to Los Angeles.
In a text message to P.M.News early Wednesday, he confirmed he is Abbas’s Defence attorney.
“I do represent Mr Abbas”, Pissetzky said. “Most likely I’ll be following the case to LA too”.
Hushpuppi appeared to have hired the right attorney.
Mr. Pissetzky is described on the website of his law firm, Pissetzky & Berliner, LLC as a well-respected member of the legal community, who has represented many clients in high-profile cases, and is frequently quoted in the press.
“He regularly appears on TV as the legal consultant/advisor regarding high profile criminal cases”.
Mr. Pissetzky has handled multi-issue complex trials and appeals.
“His practice focuses on defending clients of complex federal and state crimes, such as financial crimes, wire fraud, mail fraud, political corruption, medicare fraud, conspiracy, large-scale drug crimes, murder, attempted murder and other violent crimes, gun offences, sex offences, as well as any criminal forfeiture proceedings that occur as a result of the criminal charges”, the web site said.
Mr. Pissetzky began his career as a defence attorney in 2002 after spending four years with the Cook County State Attorney’s Office.
He obtained his J.D. from the John Marshall Law School. He is a member of the Illinois Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Mr. Pissetzky has earned a reputation for his fierce and zealous advocacy. He was named a Super Lawyer Rising Star in 2011 and included in the list of Top 100 Trial Lawyers repeatedly
Pissetzky client Ramon Hushpuppi was described by the U.S. Justice Department, along with FBI as “one of the leaders of a transnational network that facilitates computer intrusions” in order “to steal hundreds of millions of dollars” from victims all over the world.
The U.S has declined to identify all those targeted by the alleged conspiracy.
The list reportedly includes a New York-based law firm that was defrauded out of almost US$1 million last October, a “foreign financial institution” that suffered a loss of $14.7 million following a cyber-heist in February 2019, and an English Premier League football club targeted as part of a scheme to steal almost $125 million.
In a separate case filed in U.S. District Court of Chicago, Hushpuppi’s friend, Olalekan Jacob Ponle, also known as “Mr. Woodbery” and “Mark Kain,” 29, originally of Lagos, Nigeria, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
“A criminal complaint accuses Ponle of orchestrating “business email compromise” schemes to defraud several U.S.-based companies. The schemes resulted in attempted or actual losses to victim companies in the tens of millions of dollars, including a Chicago-based company that was defrauded into sending wire transfers totaling $15.2 million, the complaint states”.
Pissetzky said he is not the attorney for Woodberry.
A two-year-old girl was allegedly raped while in a Coronavirus isolation ward at a hospital in South Africa.
The alleged incident happened at the Dr. George Mukhari Academic Hospital in Pretoria.
The toddler’s aunt, who chose to remain anonymous to protect the identity of the child, said that the girl was sexually abused while admitted at the hospital
She said the hospital told to the child’s mother that her daughter needed to be placed on an isolation ward after she developed symptoms of Covid-19. After the mother went home, she was contacted later that evening and told the child was crying and appeared to be in serious pain.
The aunt said that after the child had been picked up from the hospital, she appeared to be struggling to walk.
After the mother closely inspected her child she discovered that there had been ‘penetration’, according to the aunt.
Narrating the ordeal, the aunt told News24: ‘The mother and child were referred to the George Mukhari Hospital by the KT Motubatse clinic in Soshanguve on June 15,’ told News24.
‘The nurses at the clinic said since the child was struggling to breathe, she should be taken to George Mukhari Hospital to be tested for coronavirus.
‘The hospital called in the evening and told the mother that the child was crying and in pain. They later called around 11pm and said the child was now sleeping. The hospital staff called again in the morning and told my sister to come and pick up her child because she had been discharged. The hospital said the child had tested negative for Covid-19.’
‘I saw that there was something wrong with the child. As the mother was changing the nappy, she discovered some white fluid on her private parts.
‘She initially thought it was medication as the child had been in hospital. But the following day, that same whitish fluid was still coming out,’ the aunt told local media.
The girl was taken back to the hospital where a nurse reportedly confirmed that there was an indication that the child had been raped at the isolation ward.
Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters told News24 that a rape case has been opened, with the hospital also conducting its own investigation into the incident.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s candidate for the World Trade Organisation director-general election, says she is in need of volunteers for her campaign.
In an interview with Arise TV, Okonjo-Iweala said some of her friends have been helping with media work pro-bono.
If elected, Okonjo-Iweala would be the first African to occupy the position.
“So far things are going well and I’m grateful for the support of the government and Nigerians. I don’t have any PR firm working for me. I have some friends who are helping with media work pro-bono because I cannot afford to pay them. It would be nice to have some volunteers,” she said.
Her nomination had triggered slight controversy as President Muhammadu Buhari approved her candidature as a replacement for Yonov Frederick Agah, WTO deputy director-general and Nigeria’s former candidate for the election.
Egypt and the AU’s office of legal counsel had opined that Okonjo-Iweala’s nomination violated the candidature guidelines provided by the AU.
However, the WTO told TheCable that the former World Bank managing director is eligible to run for the office.
The two-time minister of finance also described WTO’s acceptance of her nomination as a testament of the faulty premise on which opposition calls were made.
Okonjo-Iweala described herself as “the best woman for the job”, saying the WTO needs a fresh pair of eyes to take on its leadership.
She expressed gratitude to the federal government, the ministries of foreign affairs and trade, among others for their support.
The development economist described WTO as a critical global organisation that needs to be reformed in key areas like dispute resolution, adding that its effectiveness will be enhanced if it becomes more inclusive by supporting women, MSMEs, among others.
She has received the endorsement of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and seeks to get the support of the African Union (AU).
Folasade Yemi-Esan, head of service of the federation (HoS), says the current consolidated salary structure (CONLESS) of civil servants at the national assembly is “illegal”.
TheCable understands that Yemi-Esan said this at a meeting with Senate President Ahmed Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house of representatives.
The head of service asked the leadership of the national assembly to revert the CONLESS to the way it was.
Overtime, civil servants at the national assembly have protested poor remuneration and non-payment of allowances.
This led to some adjustments by the eighth national assembly overseen by Bukola Saraki, former senate president.
She told the senate president and the speaker that the way the leadership of the eighth assembly arrived at the current salary structure “was faulty”.
The head of service said the civil servants at the national assembly are not “different from the core civil service to warrant a consolidated salary structure”.
She said “due process” must be followed in effecting any change to the salary structure of the civil servants in the legislative arm of government.
A 44-year-old pastor of Christ Apostolic Church, Ogo-Oluwa parish, Oluwafemi Oyebola, has been arrested by the Ogun State Police Command for allegedly raping, impregnating and procuring abortion for his daughter three times.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the cleric had been living with his daughter since his wife, the victim’s mother, died a few years ago.
He was arrested following a complaint by his daughter at the Owode-Egbado Divisional Police Headquarters.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the incident in a statement on Tuesday.
He said the victim told the police that her father had been forcefully having carnal knowledge of her since 2015 when she was 19-year-old shortly after the demise of her mother.
The PPRO said, “The victim further reported that she got pregnant for her father three times after which her father took her to a nurse where those pregnancies were aborted.
“After the third abortion, the suspect did family planning for her so she would not get pregnant again.”
Oyeyemi said the victim, upon realising that her father was out to ruin her life, ran away from the house and reported to a non-governmental organisation, Advocacy for Children and Vulnerable Persons Network.
“Consequent upon which she was taken to the Owode-Egbado Police Station to complain.
“After the report, the DPO Owode-Egbado division, SP Olabisi Elebute, led her detectives to the pastor’s house where he was promptly arrested.
“During interrogation, the suspect made confessional statements that all his daughter said was nothing but the whole truth,” the police spokesman added.
The PPRO noted that the state Commissioner of Police, Kenneth Ebrimson, had ordered the immediate transfer of the suspect to the anti-human trafficking and child labour unit of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for further investigation and prosecution.
In a related development, a Senior Magistrates’ Court in Port Harcourt on Monday remanded a 26-year-old man, Kelechi Nwakwo, in a correctional facility for defiling an eight-year-old pupil at his residence at Elele, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The accused, it was learnt, was a private home tutor of the victim before he allegedly committed the crime on June 23, 2020, at his house in Elele, where he coached schoolchildren.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the accused allegedly inserted his finger into the girl’s private parts when he was alone with her.
The police prosecutor, Ochogwu Wilberforce, told the court that the offence was punishable under Section 218 of the Criminal Code Cap. 37 Vol. II, Laws of Rivers State of Nigeria,1999.
The charge read, “That you, Kelechi Nwankwo, on June 23, 2020, at Elele Town in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, but triable in the Port Harcourt Magisterial District, did unlawfully have carnal knowledge of one (name withheld) aged 8, by inserting your finger into her vagina, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 218 of the Criminal Code Cap. 37 Vol. II, Laws of Rivers State of Nigeria,1999.”
The Senior Magistrate, Lenu Baridam, declined jurisdiction in the matter and referred the case file to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions for legal advice.
The magistrate, however, ordered the accused be remanded in the Nigerian Correctional Service facility and adjourned till September 9, 2020.
