Sahara Reporters Latest News Saturday 23rd February 2019
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 23/02/19
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target=_blank>Six Weeks After, Nigerian Army Returns Computers Seized From Daily Trust
The Nigerian Army has returned the desktop and laptop computers it confiscated from the newsroom of Daily Trust newspaper on January 6, 2019.
Soldiers had invaded the offices of the Daily Trust newspaper in Borno and Abuja after a story was published on January 6, 2019, detailing Boko Haram activities and the efforts of the military to counter insurgency activities in the North.
Two journalists were taken away for interrogation during the incident, while the computers were seized. The raid was eventually called off on the order of President Muhammadu Buhari.
However, more than a month after the seizure, the computers were finally returned on Friday.
The computers — 17 of them — were brought back in a military pick-up truck by three soldiers, who brought along a letter signed by Colonel A.D. Yusuf of the Directorate of Military Intelligence.
The letter read: “The device and equipment are hereby returned to you for your retention.”
Mannir Dan-Ali, CEO/Editor-in-Chief of Media Trust Limited, noted that the release may be the result of a protest letter sent to the Minister of Defence on the matter.
The newspaper’s board had earlier decided that the computers would be donated to a school as part of efforts to promote computer literacy, whenever they were returned.
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target=_blank>Witness Tells Court How Ex-Niger Gov Aliyu, Two Others Diverted N1.7bn State Funds
A prosecution witness has narrated how over N1.7billion state funds were diverted from the coffers of the Niger State government during the tenure of a former Governor of the state, Babangida Aliyu.
Aliyu is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), along with his then Chief of Staff, Umar Nasko, and Barrister Tanko Beji, Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Niger State chapter, on an amended seven-count charge of fraud to the tune of N2billion.
They are standing trial before Justice Mikailu Abdullahi of a Niger State High Court sitting in Minna, and had pleaded not guilty to the amended charges on February 14, 2019, when they were re-arraigned.
According to a statement by Tony Orilade, acting Head, Media and Publicity of the EFCC, the witness, Mohammed Bala, an operative of the EFCC, while being led in evidence by Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), the prosecuting counsel on February 21, 2019, narrated how on June 22, 2016, the EFCC received a petition from Umar Danyanya, the Secretary of the Niger State Government, who accused Namisu Jankaro, then Chief Accountant of the state, Ahmed Garba and Ibrahim Abashai, both cashiers, of making withdrawals of N28,136,363,941 from the state coffers.
Bala told the court that upon the receipt of the petition, he was asked to open a case file, which he did and the petitioner was later invited to shed more light on the matter.
He said: “A committee was set up to look into the transactions of the administration of Babangida Aliyu.
“The SSG was invited and he obliged and made statements, after which we wrote to Zenith Bank, Unity Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank and they furnished the Commission with investigation activities of the said account.
“We invited the Permanent Secretary, Mohammed Almustapha Rijau. He came and we showed him the statements of accounts. He told us that before any money is moved, usually, there must be a memo generated from the office of the former governor (Aliyu).
“After then, we invited the Chief Accountant of the Government House, Salisu Musa Jankaro, he came and we interviewed him. We showed him the copy of the petition and he acknowledged that the withdrawals were made on the instruction of the then Chief of Staff, Yusus Garba Tagwai.
“Later, he brought all the instructions used to disburse the money. When we carefully analysed the payment vouchers, we discovered that most of the money was in the name of Barrister Tanko Beji (the second defendant).”
Garba and Abashia, according to Bala, were later invited and they both corroborated the intelligence report gathered that they were instructed to make the said withdrawals.
He said: “In respect of Ecological Funds that was disbursed to the state through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, we invited Mohammed Ndawai, the Auditor General of the state and he said a contract was awarded for ecological challenges in Niger State in 2014 and that the contractors profiled are nowhere to be found.
“We later invited the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Aliyu Tanko, who also admitted that contracts were awarded to companies, but were never executed.
“After a week or so, he brought all documents. They include Contract Award Letter, Letter of Acceptance and the Account numbers of the four companies.
“We saw how money was transferred from Niger State account to those companies (I D Sabin, M. J Eco Nigeria Limited, Sceptre Plus and Baskir). Sabin received N887million, Eco got over N400million, while Septre got N445million. We wrote to Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja, for the company’s profiles.”
The witness also told the court how one Saidu Ndako, a former SSG, gave instruction for cheques of N10million in 80 places to be written and given to one Isaac Gado.
Gado, according to Bala, was invited and testified that after cashing the money, he handed it to the third defendant, Umar Nasko.
The case has been adjourned till March 13, 14 and 15, 2019, for continuation of trial.
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target=_blank>BREAKING: Boko Haram Overpowers Soldiers, Kills Civilians In Borno Village On Eve Of Presidential Election
Suspected Boko Haram terrorists are currently attacking Borno village of Zabramari, some 10 kilometres from Maiduguri in Borno State, SaharaReporters can report.
The insurgents came in a convoy of utility vehicles to attack Zabramari, located in Jere Local Government Area of Borno State, at exactly 5pm, and opened fire on civilians, killing a yet unknown number of people.
A resident of the village told SaharaReporters that the soldiers withdrew after they were overpowered by the insurgents, prompting thousands of civilians in the rice-producing community to flee.
Details later.
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target=_blank>APC Group Accuse Their Own Man Akeredolu Of Working With INEC To Favour AA
With less than 24 hours to the presidential and National Assembly elections, a group within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State has accused Rotimi Akeredolu, Governor of Ondo State, of compromising some staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to write results of the elections rescheduled for Saturday, February 23, 2019.
The group, under the aegis of Patriotic Youth, alleged that Akeredolu was already in possession of INEC result sheets in favour of all the National Assembly candidates of the Action Alliance (AA).
Abayomi Ayerin, coordinator of the group, who made the allegation in an electronic statement issued in Akure, claimed that Akeredolu was working for AA, and has financially induced the collation officers that INEC deployed for the election.
Ayerin said the funds meant for all agents of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on election day had already been diverted by Akeredolu to the agents of the Action Alliance mostly in Ondo South and Northern (Akoko) area of the state.
The statement read: “We want to inform the national leadership of APC and security agents that Governor Akeredolu has compromised the INEC Collation Officers, who have agreed to make room for substitution of original results for already prepared ones in favour of Action Alliance candidates.
“We have it on good authority that these whole anti-party activities are being executed by Ondo State Deputy Gobernor, Agboola Ajayi, albeit on instructions of his boss, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.”
He further alleged that Akeredolu has concluded plans to starve agents of APC of mobilization funds in all areas where his favourite candidates are contesting on the AA platform during the rescheduled elections on Saturday.
“The Governor became very desperate when the leadership of Action Alliance (AA) in Ondo State described Tunji Abayomi and other favourite candidate of Akeredolu as impostors. So, we are also not unaware of the fact that the new twist of rejection of Akeredolu’s candidates by AA leaders in Ondo State and the stark reality that the impostors flying the ticket of AA cannot win; must have necessitated the desperate option of result swap,” the statement added.
Debunking the claim, Segun Ajiboye, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, said: “It is a mere cheap blackmail that will not deter Mr. Governor from delivering Ondo State for President Muhammadu Buhari. Our governor is a loyal and committed party leader who will never work against his own party (APC).
“How can the governor be in possession of INEC results? Is he working in INEC that he will have results? Those people are just blackmailing the governor, the election that has not been conducted, how can he have the results? He will not be deterred in winning the state for President Buhari.”
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target=_blank>VIDEO: Ondo APC Chairman Adetimehin Filmed Campaigning For AA Candidate
Video of Ondo APC Chairman Adetimehin Campaigns For AA Candidate
Ondo APC Chairman Adetimehin Campaigns For AA Candidate
Ondo APC Chairman Adetimehin Campaigns For AA Candidate
Ade Adetimehin, Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, has been caught on camera begging party supporters and the electorate in Idanre Local Government Area of Ondo State to vote for Sunday Akinwalere, candidate of the Action Alliance (AA) for the Ifedore/Idanre Federal Constituency.
Adetimehin was caught in the amateur video, which emerged on Wednesday, asking people of Idanre in their dialect to cast their votes for the candidate of the Action Alliance.
In the video obtained by SaharaReporters, the embattled APC chair was heard complaining that Idanre, which is his hometown, has been marginalised.
“It is our time in Idanre. Ifedore has done it for 16 years. Our support must go to our son who is from Idanre, Sunday Akinwalere, who is contesting under the AA party,” he had said.
“On Saturday, vote en masse for him (Sunday Akinwalere). When he emerges victorious at the poll on Saturday, we will all move back to APC on Sunday. I appeal to my fathers and mothers here, that for this to become a reality, it lies with you.”
SaharaReporters had reported that there were issues between Adetimehin and Bamidele Baderinwa, the incumbent lawmaker representing Ifedore/Idanre federal constituency at the National Assembly.
Baderinwa, from Ifedore, is also seeking reelection into the National Assembly and belongs to the Bola Tinubu faction of the crisis-ridden APC in Ondo State.
Findings revealed that the support for the candidate of the AA in Ondo State was as a result of the failure of the anointed candidates of Rotimi Akeredolu, Governor of Ondo State, to secure tickets under the APC during its primaries held in 2018.
Underground investigation revealed that Akeredolu directed APC supporters to work for AA candidates in the state.
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target=_blank>JUST IN: Underage Voters And Their Sponsors Will Be Arrested, Says INEC
Photo of underage voting
Photo of underage voting
International Centre for Investigative Reporting
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says any underage person caught trying to participate in the electoral process will be arrested, along with their sponsors.
Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the INEC Chairman, stated this on Friday in Abuja while briefing stakeholders on the updated preparations of the commission for the rescheduled presidential and National Assembly elections slated for Saturday, February 23, 2019.
He stressed that underage voting remains an illegality as the statutory age for voting remains 18.
His words: “Underage voting is an illegality because there is a statutory age for eligibility, for registration as a voter. If on election day, you find anyone that is apparently underage or conclusively, kindly report this to any official of the commission or the security agencies.
“Working with the Inspector General of Police, I said that any underage person caught trying to be accredited or voting on election day will be arrested. Voting is only open to Nigerian citizens who are above the statutory age of 18. It’s an illegality and let me seize this opportunity to warn those who may wish to sponsor underage persons to vote on election day that they will be arrested.
“And the good thing is that in the numerous elections that the commission has undertaken, we have never had a report of incidents of underage voting and we conducted elections into 195 constituencies off-season between the first election we conducted in Kogi State in June 2015, and the last one we conducted in Osun in September last year.”
Reports of underage voting were rife during the 2015 elections. Besides that, in 2018, INEC had expressed concern over registration of underage voters.
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E2%80%99s-will-says-sowore target=_blank>No One Can Rig The People’s Will, Says Sowore
Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), says there is no way Saturday’s polls can be rigged with his party’s technology.
He made the statement while speaking at a celebration of his contribution to democracy organised by ace musician and entrepreneur, Sheyman, and the Wake Up Nigeria Youth Group, which held at Folixx Lounge, Lekki, Lagos, on Thursday.
While giving the vote of thanks, Sowore said: “This is the first time in the history of politics in Nigeria that the political party that has $150,000 has defeated the one that has $2billion. We are going to be President of Nigeria with the least amount of money, but the most amount of impact; that’s the truth. It does not matter how much they spend, the men who are 70 and above, our ancestors are not going to be Presidents of Nigeria.”
He called on young people in the country to “determine their own destinies”.
“Young people of this country, whose destinies are at stake, must take control of their own destinies and that is why we have presented ourselves. You have the liberty to determine what you want and the liberty to choose a President that looks like you,” he added.
He urged young people to “tell everybody to go out and vote and after you vote, use an app we have called ‘AAC Take It Back’ available for Android devices on the Google Play Store”.
“Use it to monitor the elections, take pictures and send videos to us in our situation room. Nobody can rig this election and we’ve said it. The difference between our generation and their generation is that their generation is saying ‘shoot and kill’, while our generation is saying download an app. With an app, you achieve more purpose than killing anybody.”
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E2%80%99t-reject-buhari-during-osinbajos-visit-says-laolu-akande target=_blank>Yola Christian Leaders Didn’t Reject Buhari During Osinbajo’s Visit, Says Laolu AKande
Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Media and Publicity, has denied that Christian leaders in Adamawa State refused to back the re-election bid of President Muhammadu Buhari when the Vice President visited the state capital, Yola, on Wednesday night.
Sources present at Osinbajo’s meeting in Yola had told SaharaReporters that the VP pleaded with Christian leaders to consider endorsing the Buhari government for a second term, but the VP left the meeting disappointed as CAN leaders were said to have bared their minds on topical issues, highlighting the failures of the federal government.
A source at the meeting had said “it was frank talk; Christian leaders were blunt to the VP on their grievances against the Buhari regime”. It was further gathered that CAN Chairman and Catholic Bishop of Yola, Most Reverend Stephen Dami Mamza, had earlier declined the VP’s request to have audience with Christian leaders.
However, Akande has denied all this, insisting the meeting was “conducted in a cordial and friendly atmosphere” and there was “no hostility or tension of any kind before, during and after the meeting”.
He wrote: “RE: How Christian Leaders refused to back Buhari during Osinbajo’s nocturnal visit to Yola | Sahara Reporters
“Our attention has been drawn to above mentioned report on the visit of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, to Yola on Wednesday. The said report is a false narration and inaccurate account of what actually transpired at the friendly and cordial interaction between the VP, the Adamawa State Governor, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, and the Christian leaders in the State.
“On the contrary, the meeting, which was attended by several of Prof. Osinbajo’s personal friends and co-pastors, including those from the Lutheran Church and the EYN, Church of the Brethren, was conducted in a cordial and friendly atmosphere. There was no hostility or tension of any kind before, during and after the meeting.
“It is also important to note that there have been, previously, many of such meetings between the Vice President and Christian leaders, not only in the State, but across the country before and after the emergence of Prof. Osinbajo as the Vice President.
“Regarding Leah Sharibu, the only surviving one of the remaining five Dapchi girls, four of whom died after they were not initially rescued from the abductions, the Buhari Administration remains firmly committed to her release and rescue. We are working hard to secure her freedom and nothing will deter the Federal Government from that objective until Leah is free.
“This same Buhari Administration had secured the rescue and release of over 100 Chibok girls after years of abduction. *Also, this administration secured the release of 105 Dapchi girls after their abduction on February 19, 2018. Our plan, prayer and hope is that the case of Leah and all others still under captivity would not be different.”
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BREAKING: ‘Tomorrow Is Election Day’, INEC Chairman Declares
Professor Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has confirmed that the presidential and national assembly elections will proceed on Saturday February 23 as rescheduled.
Yakubu made the confirmation on Friday when he kicked off the final edition of the commission’s daily media briefing to update the public on its preparedness for the election.
There had been fears that the losgistical issues that prompted the postponement may not have been resolved by now, however Yakubu declared on Friday: “Tomorrow is election day”.
“A total of 72,775,502 citizens who have collected their Permanent Voter Cards are eligible to cast their ballots,” he said. “Nigerians will elect a President out of a total of 73 candidates nominated by their politcal parties. Similarly, voters will choose 109 senators out of 1,880 candidates and 360 members of the House of Representatives out of 4,631 candidates.”
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