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11/07/19
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10:43 PM

Fredrick Nwabufo

 

“But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also” – Jesus Christ in Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:39).

I am not a pastor. In fact, I do not subscribe to the wedges and hedges of religion, but there is, no doubt, wisdom in the teachings of Anobi Isa. The point here is simple, “turn the other check” even when you are persecuted.
If I may add, this teaching is cardinally about being meek. And what does Jesus say about the meek. He says, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.”

However, this sermon is not law or a commandment that every “believer” must follow or obey; it is just a principle.

Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, is a man of the cloth and he understands this principle. He has turned a cheek and I believe he will turn the other if necessary again and again.

But to what end? When does turning the other cheek become folly?

In September, President Muhammadu Buhari constituted an economic advisory council to replace the economic management team headed by Osinbajo.

Also, he instructed the VP to seek approvals for agencies under his supervision.

With the directive, Osinbajo seeks approvals for contract awards, annual reports, annual accounts, power to borrow, and power to make regulations, among other key functions.

As I wrote in a previous essay, under the laws setting up the agencies, the President is empowered to give final approvals but this was not adhered to in the era of “change”. It was politically convenient at the time.

As it is, Osinbajo is/was the chairman of the governing boards of the National Emergency Management Agency, the National Boundary Commission, the Border Communities Development Agency and the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Ltd.

Currently, NEMA and the National Social Investment Office, which were under his orbit, have been reassigned to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management headed by Sadiya Umar Farouq.

On Tuesday, a report by Premium Times detailed how Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to the President, allegedly manipulated Buhari to sack Osinbajo from “Ruga projects”.

It really conveyed the pathetic state of the Vice President, who does not even have access to the President.

Really, it appears Osinbajo has been stripped of even peripheral responsibilities such as “condolence visits and food-sampling in markets”.  It seems he is no longer considered good enough for even these pettifogging errands.

On Monday, the Deep Offshore Bill was sent to London for assent by a President, who is on a “private visit” to that country. On Tuesday, while in the UK and with Kyari in the silhouette, Buhari sacked 35 aides attached to the office of the VP.

“Osinbajo is hoping that President Buhari will rescind the decision,” a senior presidency official told TheCable, maintaining that the sackings were done by a presidential aide, not the president himself.

Although all aides at the Presidency are appointees of the president, the 35 were said to have been appointed by Osinbajo when he was acting president and were specifically selected by him.

Really, I believe Osinbajo has been functionally sterilised, foreshortened, abbreviated!

But how much should a man take? Should resigning from office be the way out?

Well, I think, it is neither here nor there. As an individual, resigning from a toxic organisation where insubordination is inspired by the chief executive may be a rational thing to do – in the quotidian workplace.

But at the station of the Vice President, there are many layers of consideration to sieve through. The most pressing is public interest. Naturally, the impact of the resignation of a VP will be “tsunamic”, and it will have far-reaching national security implications.

Also, Osinbajo committed to a “complicated relationship” with Buhari; he is a part of the government. He is not absolved of any blame; he shares in the failure of the administration, so “pulling out” may not uncomplicated the complication.

If resigning from office as VP was that idiot-proof, why did Atiku Abubakar not resign under former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s blitz?

In all, the choice is his – to resign or not to resign. But what would you do if you were Osinbajo?

Fredrick Nwabufo is a writer and journalist, @FredrickNwabufo
 

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8:43 PM

 

Nigerians under the platform of the Global Coalition for Security and Democracy in Nigeria on Thursday in the United Kingdom protested at the Abuja House in London over the visit by President Muhammadu Buhari for alleged medical treatment. 

The protesters led by Gabriel Agbontaen, demanded that President Buhari should return home and fix Nigerian hospitals instead of seeking medical treatment abroad and planning for the importation of foreign medical Doctors.

They highlighted the insecurity and lack of basic amenities in Nigeria while Nigerian politicians continued to travel abroad to enjoy facilities provided by the politicians of other countries.

The protesters queried why President Buhari continued to patronise foreign services when foreign products such as rice had been banned by his government.

Chief of Staff to President Buhari, Abba Kyari, on Monday travelled to London to meet with his boss to sign the amended bill of the Deep Offshore (and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract) Act which was recently passed into law by the National Assembly.

In the course of his 2015 electoral campaign, President Buhari promised Nigerians that he will not seek medical treatment abroad.

He recently banned ministers from unjustifiable international trips.

Since his assumption in office, he had spent almost 200 days out of office for medical tourism.

The protesters argued that since Buhari’s visit was private, he ought to privately incur the financial cost of his visits.

About N10bn had been budgeted for the Aso Rock Clinic since Buhari assumed office in 2015, yet Aisha Buhari complained in 2017 that there was no syringe in the clinic.

Though no government official came out of the Abuja House to address the protesters, who were there for over two hours, some persons were seen filming the demonstrators from inside the facility.

The British police were there to ensure that the protest remained peaceful.

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8:43 PM

 

A 24-year-old unnamed lady was on Thursday evening arrested at the Muritala Mohammed Airport 2, Lagos, by security operatives after causing fire on Azman Flight ZQ 2323 LOS ETD bound for Abuja.

The aircraft had 135 passengers and six crew on board at the time of the incident.

The young lady was said to have poured hot charcoal from a shisha with her inside the aircraft’s toilet, causing smoke and minimal fire to break out as the aeroplane throttled further into the sky.

The situation led to panic among passengers, who could not contain their fear and shock.

SaharaReporters gathered that smoke detector alerted the crew to the incident while fire extinguisher was used to help bring the situation under control.

The aircraft was said to have been surrounded by firefighters while passengers were de-boarded.

One passenger, who asked not to named, said, “At first, the aircraft seemed to have been cleared. “We were been told to wait for boarding.

“Many passengers declined to continue the journey with same aircraft.

“We were told by the officials of the airline that NCAA was still carrying out integrity test on the aircraft. Not yet cleared to fly,” one passenger said.

Director of Consumer Protection, NCAA, Adamu Abdullahi, who confirmed the incident, explained in a statement that the passengers were asked to disembark from the aircraft after the captain noticed a snag on aircraft with registration number 5N-HAI.

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6:38 PM

Abdulrasheed Maina

 

The trial of Abdulrasheed Maina by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission suffered a slight setback with the man informing the court that he is sick.

Maina, who had been making moves to appear like he is indisposed, has been able to bribe his way to receive special treatment from officials of the Nigeria Correctional Service where he is being remanded.

Maina had failed to appear at the court on Tuesday with the prosecution and defence counsel unable to explain the reason for his absence.

An official of the Nigerian Correctional Service took a letter to the judge explaining why he was absent.

Justice Abang, who later read the letter, informed the court that the content of the letter says, “The first defendant is indisposed, unable and not fit to appear in court but would do so when his condition improves.”

He said the letter was signed by one Idowu Ajayi, a medical officer at the Nigerian Correctional Service Centre.

At the latest hearing of the case on Thursday before Justice Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja, the ex-chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, who is facing a 12-count charge of money laundering, operating fictitious bank accounts and fraud, appeared on a wheel chair.  See Also Breaking News N2 Billion Fraud: Maina Appears In Court In Wheelchair 0 Comments 12 Hours Ago

The judge adjourned the case for 14 days to enable the court and the Nigerian Correctional Service to ascertain the true condition of his health.

Sources, however, have revealed to SaharaReporters that Maina, who is trying to evade justice, feigned sickness to deceive the judge to grant him bail on health ground.

It was revealed that Maina connived with the Assistant Comptroller of Kuje Prison, offering him cash to keep him away from appearing at the court.

An insider who spoke to SaharaReporters, likened the treatment Maina was receiving to a “presidential treatment”.

“Maina daily receives presidential treatment in the prison. He received visitors, takes his desired meals and sleeps in the ACP's office.

“The prison official, under the instruction of the ACP has consistently refused or delays the presentation of Maina in court for trial.

“At a time, Maina was brought so late that the judge stood down the matter. He was also not produced at all in court, on the flimsy excuse of sickness and inability to appear in court, it was a planned and deliberate move,” the source said.

This trend is symptomatic of Maina's antecedence of bribing to escape justice or curry favours.

SaharaReporters had previously reported how Maina evaded arrest for six years by offering huge cash to Abubakar Malami, Attorney-General of the Federation and some other highly placed individuals in the country.

Maina is currently seeking a bail on health ground but the EFCC opposing the application said, “Maina is not a responsible citizen but a fugitive of law”.

The EFCC said if granted bail, Maina, with the huge funds at his disposal, would compromise its witnesses, some of whom are his blood relations and family members.

“Our investigation also revealed that the 1st defendant/applicant’s Nigerian passport has expired long time ago and he has relocated to Dubai, UAE with his wife and children, who are equally American citizens, all of them using their American passports.

“Owing to the expiration of his passport and deliberate efforts to avoid being apprehended, the 1st defendant/applicant had always come into Nigeria (during his stay abroad as fugitive) by road, dubiously sneaking in the middle of the night through Niger Republic and alternating the routes through Katsina/Sokoto borders with Niger Republic,” the EFCC told the judge.

The judge had adjourned ruling on the bail application of Maina to November 21 and 22, 2019.

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4:28 PM

Femi Falana

 

Leading lawyer, Femi Falana, has said he would take up the case of Ifemosu Adewale, a student of Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, who was expelled over a post on Facebook. 

Falana revealed this while speaking at a colloquium in Lagos on Thursday. 

He said he had spoken with Adewale and the case would be taken to court.

He said, “A young man just met me now that he wants to take his school to court.  See Also Education FUNAAB Expels Student Over Letter To IGP, Alliance With Sowore 0 Comments 5 Days Ago

“He wrote an article on armed robbery case in FUNAAB and the school authority felt offended and rusticated him.

“I have asked him to see me next Tuesday. We will take up the case and we will go to court.” 

FUNNAB's management had expelled Adewale after his post on Facebook condemning the indiscriminate arrests of students and also the lack of adequate transportation system on the school's main campus.

He however, revealed to SaharaReporters that he was expelled solely on his alliance with Sowore and the #RevolutionNow Movement.

 

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