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The Civil Society Network Against Corruption has written to President Muhammadu Buhari, asking him to immediately order the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to release the corruption file of ex-senator, Dino Melaye.

The group also threatened legal action against Malami if he continues to hold on to the case file of Melaye, an act said to be shielding the former senator, who represented Kogi West, against justice.

SaharaReporters had in December 2015 published how Melaye had since 2010 illegally operated bank accounts in the United States of America.

After the revelation, CSNAC, a coalition of over 150 anti-corruption organisations whose primary aim is to constructively combat corruption vigorously, wrote the Code of Conduct Bureau to investigate Melaye.

Malami, however, went secretly to obtain the case file from the bureau and had since squashed the investigation of Melaye.

After so many inquiries, the CCB finally revealed that Malami had taken over the case file of Melaye.

Following silence by the minister, CSNAC invoked the Freedom of Information Act, urging Buhari to direct Malaimi to release the case file in the next seven days.

“As President of the country, you have the responsibility to ensure equity in the campaign against corruption.

“The fight against corruption can never succeed when the claws of law are deployed in a discriminatory manner or used to score cheap political gains,” the CSNAC stated in the petition signed by the group's Legal Officer, Rebecca David.

CSNAC also threatened legal action against Malami for obstructing the cause of justice in the matter.

“Series of requests have been submitted to your office to release the file on Senator Melaye. There are serious cases of corruption levelled against him. 

“The cases were to be prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

“It’s unfortunate that you ordered the transfer of the file leaving Senator Melaye with the prospect of escaping justice in the face of the weighty allegations

against him.

“There are speculations that Senator Melaye is your bossom friend and that the transfer of the file on corruption cases against him was designed to give him a soft landing.

“You have to prove these allegations false by releasing the file without further delay,” CSNAC stated.

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Chairperson of the Rivers State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Beatrice Itubo, has accused the state government of disrupting the union’s meeting on Sunday.

Beatrice said thugs led by a councilor in the state stormed the Medical and Health Union Workers Union state secretariat, disrupting the meeting and inflicting injuries on participants.

She said the thugs chased the workers out of the venue using dangerous weapons. 

They also vented their anger on properties and vehicles within the vicinity, she added.

“We actually scheduled a meeting of the state executive council in line with the directive of the national secretariat that we should meet with our ULC brothers and integrate. So, two men came to us, one of them introduced himself as the councilor of Ward 7, Obiakpo, and they have a directive from above that the meeting should not hold.

“Then we saw a lot of boys, they started banging everywhere, the vehicles, and chased us away. I don’t know when our state got to this level that workers can’t meet. They have locked the secretariat they said they built for us, now this one that is our own they don’t want us to use it.

“There are several states that have issues with labour and they have been dialoging. 

"Today they said they came with a mandate and I want to put it on record, should anything happen to any labour leader in the state, the government of the day should be held responsible cause they have started to unleash a lot of arsenal on us. They have decided to bring bad boys to hunt us and we are aware and we are also watching. So the people should be aware, the Federal Government should be aware, the international community should be aware that if anything happens to any labour leader in this state, the government should be held responsible,” she said.
 

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Women with special needs in Nigeria have asked the government for a special relief program targeted towards them only.

They also berated their exclusion from the palliative distribution by the Nigerian Government during the COVID-19 lockdown in the country.

The WWDs made known their demands during an online national policy dialogue convened by BONews service in collaboration with FACICP Disability Plus.

Ms Ekaete Judith Umoh of Family Center Initiative for Challenged Persons stated that persons with disability were excluded from different palliatives distribution by the government.

She noted that the continued neglect of persons in this category by government would make the impact of the COVID-19 crisis extend for a long period.

She said, “There is need for the Ministry of Woman Affairs to review its various interventions on gender-based violence to ensure that WWDs are able to participate and benefit in the design, planning, implementation and monitoring of interventions.

“A special COVID-19 relief program for WWDs should be initiated to quickly reach those with very challenging situations. Key component of the special relief for WWDs could include—food support, mobility/assistive aids and micro/small business grants.” 

Similarly, Dr Adebukola Adebayo, Disability-inclusion consultant, called on the government and stakeholders to identify and engage organisations of and for WWDs all through the design, planning, implementation and monitoring of all COVID-19 Interventions.

He said, “There is need for the management and staff of the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry to embark on extensive capacity-building towards developing new strategies for inclusion of WWDs in all humanitarian and disaster management interventions.

“There is also a need for rapid sensitisation and capacity-building for health workers to understand the peculiar issues that come with attending to WWDs and PWDs in general.”

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A yet to be identified pregnant woman was among victims of a fatal auto accident, which occurred on Saturday in Ondo State. 

The accident occurred at Ikare Akoko in Akoko North Local Government Area of the state. 

SaharaReporters gathered that the woman also lost two of her male children in the crash. 

The family was among seven casualties involved in the accident. 

Three other persons sustained injuries in the accident, which was caused by a truck conveying diesel, which rammed into some shops in the commercial area of the town, causing destruction. 

Federal Road Safety Corps Head of Operation, Samuel Oyedeji, confirmed the accident. See Also Breaking News BREAKING: Many Feared Dead In Ondo Accident 0 Comments 1 Day Ago

He said, "The bodies of the victims have been deposited at General Hospital in Akure. 

"Those who sustained injuries are currently receiving treatment in the hospital."
 

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The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria has called on the National Assembly for legislative support in recovery of N5trn debt from defaulters.

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the corporation, Mr Ahmed Lawan Kuru, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday after a meeting with the Senate Committee on Banking Insurance and other Financial Institutions in Abuja. 

The statement reads, “We want the 9th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to pile pressure on some of our obligors through the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions under the leadership of Senator Uba Sani as Chairman. 

"Some of these obligors are very important members of the society and as distinguished senators, I know they have all it takes to intervene and even compel AMCON obligors to meet their obligation." 

The statement urged the Senate to do more to support AMCON in recovery of the debts, noting that some of the top obligors and defaulters are still hiding under legal technicalities to tie corporation in courts.

"But in spite of all the challenges and frustrations, which have been heightened by the ravaging pandemic, the corporation is not deterred because as at August 2020, AMCON’s assets under management amounted to about N136.73bn, while the agency has about N112.03bn worth of propriety assets.

“COVID-19 pandemic has had a monumental impact on the globe and Nigeria in particular. Not only has it adversely affected the global economy, but the entire health system of the world has remained on its knees. AMCON, one of the institutions of government saddled with the responsibility of revitalising Nigeria’s economy is not immune to this monumental global disaster. 

"The pandemic has impacted negatively on the various sectors of our economy, particularly the sectors, which AMCON is substantially exposed to like aviation, oil & gas, manufacturing, and retail sectors," the statement added.

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Karma Agagowei, Councilor representing Ward 6 Sagbama Council Area of Bayelsa State was on Saturday evening  shot and killed by some gunmen. 

He was killed along Opolo while returning from the Peoples Democratic Party ward congress.

Karma Agagowei

The deceased was rushed to two different hospitals including Gloryland Hospital and Federal Medical Centre, Yenogoa, but was denied treatment for lack of a police report.

He died shortly afterwards.

Another person, who was with Agagowei in a commercial tricylce at the time of the incident, was attacked with machetes by the hoodlums but fled with the injury.

When contacted, spokesperson for the police in Bayelsa, Anisim Butswat, said  the matter had not been reported to them.
 

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Karma Agagowei, Councilor representing Ward 6 Sagbama Council Area of Bayelsa State was on Saturday evening  shot and killed by some gunmen. 

He was killed along Opolo while returning from the Peoples Democratic Party ward congress.

Karma Agagowei

The deceased was rushed to two different hospitals including Gloryland Hospital and Federal Medical Centre, Yenogoa, but was denied treatment for lack of a police report.

He died shortly afterwards.

Another person, who was with Agagowei in a commercial tricylce at the time of the incident, was attacked with machetes by the hoodlums but fled with the injury.

When contacted, spokesperson for the police in Bayelsa, Anisim Butswat, said  the matter had not been reported to them.
 

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Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State has promised to reintroduce serious punitive measures of death for reckless drivers in the state following the accident that claimed 16 lives on Wednesday evening.

The accident occurred when a truck lost control and rammed into four vehicles conveying supporters of Matawalle along Gusau/Funtua Road.

Governor Bello Matawalle

The governor made this known when he led his cabinet members and the management of BUA Group to a condolence visit to the Emir of Gusau, Alhaji Ibrahim Bello, on Saturday.

He announced a donation of N2m to families of each of the deceased, who had a wife and N1.5m to families of those unmarried among them.

The governor further declared that he will put the next of kins of each of the victims on a monthly allowance of N50,000 each.

He said his administration will introduce speed limit gauge on highways as well as weight measurement on trucks and drug tests on drivers in order to guard against rough and reckless driving, which usually ended in fatalities.

Matawalle noted that the measures had become necessary so that drivers and their families will no longer think they will have it easy if they kill anyone, adding that the lives of citizens of the state were more valuable than any other thing.

He urged management of BUA company to call their drivers to order and caution them on acceptable speed limit.
 

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Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State has promised to reintroduce serious punitive measures of death for reckless drivers in the state following the accident that claimed 16 lives on Wednesday evening.

The accident occurred when a truck lost control and rammed into four vehicles conveying supporters of Matawalle along Gusau/Funtua Road.

Governor Bello Matawalle

The governor made this known when he led his cabinet members and the management of BUA Group to a condolence visit to the Emir of Gusau, Alhaji Ibrahim Bello, on Saturday.

He announced a donation of N2m to families of each of the deceased, who had a wife and N1.5m to families of those unmarried among them.

The governor further declared that he will put the next of kins of each of the victims on a monthly allowance of N50,000 each.

He said his administration will introduce speed limit gauge on highways as well as weight measurement on trucks and drug tests on drivers in order to guard against rough and reckless driving, which usually ended in fatalities.

Matawalle noted that the measures had become necessary so that drivers and their families will no longer think they will have it easy if they kill anyone, adding that the lives of citizens of the state were more valuable than any other thing.

He urged management of BUA company to call their drivers to order and caution them on acceptable speed limit.
 

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