“Thieves” steal N31m from Katsina State Government House; Wike sues Atiku, Tambuwal, demands recognition as candidate | 5 Things That Should Matter Today

  • “Thieves” steal N31m from Katsina State Government House
  • Terrorists creating ‘parallel’ govt in Kaduna – El Rufai
  • Wike sues Atiku, Tambuwal, demands recognition as candidate
  • Malami, NGF on collision course over $418m deductions
  • Impending strike: FG, resident doctors hold talks over demands

Across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, these are the five top Nigerian news stories you shouldnt miss:

“Thieves” steal N31m from Katsina State Government House

The Katsina State government house was allegedly broken into by thieves, who took N31 million.

This theft occurred at the government house, which is meant to be the most guarded structure in the state. This is the second time this has happened.

N16 million was reported stolen from the Secretary of State’s office in 2020.

A security guard and two government employees from the SGS office were all the subjects of arrests.

At the government house, credible information was obtained that the theft took place on Sunday, July 31.

A high source, who did not want to be recognized, stated unknown intruders broke into the office of the Financial Controller of the Government House and grabbed the money kept in a sack.

The incident happened late at night while Salisu Batsari, the financial controller, was working.

“I didn’t see the CCTV footage, but you can be sure that it will be included in the police’s report. But I heard that the video showed a man entering the office through a partially closed window while wearing a face mask,” he claimed.

Al Amin Isa, the governor’s media advisor, acknowledged the theft to journalists but declined to provide details on the amount stolen.

“When on Monday the State government found out about the theft, it quickly involved the police and an investigation was launched. The FC (financial controller) and some of his staff, as well as some security officers that were on duty on the fateful day, were invited by the police for questioning,” he said.

When asked why the suspects were released, he said he was not aware since he was not part of the police investigations.

Terrorists creating ‘parallel’ govt in Kaduna – El Rufai

According to Governor Nasir El-Rufai, terrorists are tightening their control over communities in Kaduna with the help of a “parallel” administration and a “permanent operational base” in the North-western state near Nigeria’s capital Abuja.

In a late July memo, Mr. El-Rufai warned the president of the militants’ cohesion.

When Ansaru al-Musulmina fi Bilad al-Sudan, or simply Ansaru, split from Boko Haram in 2012, it’s thought that they relocated to Birnin Gwari in Kaduna State.

The terrorists that founded Ansaru are said to be responsible for some of the high-profile attacks that Boko Haram claimed responsibility for prior to the split, according to intelligence reports and human sources interviewed for further reporting for this story.

However, according to experts and negotiators who are familiar with how terrorists operate, a coalition of terror organizations, including the original Boko Haram (also known as JAS), ISWAP, Ansaru, and bandits, is being formed.

In his memo from the end of July, Mr. El-Rufai outlined how the terrorists had penetrated and ruled over villages, created “a parallel governing authority,” and controlled the region’s social and economic activities as well as the administration of justice.

Citing a “series of intelligence assessments,” he claimed that the terrorists have progressed in their efforts to establish Kaduna’s forest regions as their “permanent operational base” for the North-West region.

“Observed movement patterns and intercepted communications of migrating terrorists have shown a clear interest in setting up a base, with the stretches of forest area between Kaduna and Niger states strongly considered,” he wrote.

As the political activities towards the 2023 general elections pick up steam, the terrorists, Mr. El-Rufai told President Buhari, have promulgated a law to ban residents from participating.

“The insurgents enacted a law in the District, banning all forms of political activity or campaign ahead of the 2023 elections, especially in Madobiya and Kazage villages,” the governor wrote.

“Multiple reports also exist of bandits and terrorists exacting protection levies and taxes from farmers and communities in return for permission to cultivate their fields,” the governor said.

When approached, Mr. El-Rufai stated that he would not comment on this issue because the correspondence he had with the president was meant to be private.

He sent the president a similar private letter in 2016, cautioning that the Buhari government was losing steam just over a year after taking office.

Wike sues Atiku, Tambuwal, demands recognition as candidate

When the PDP’s presidential primary was held in Abuja on May 28 and May 29, 2022, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State filed a lawsuit against Atiku Abubakar, the party’s presidential candidate; Aminu Tambuwal, the governor of Sokoto State; and the PDP as a whole.

Wike and Newgent Ekamon, a PDP leader, are named as the plaintiffs in the lawsuit with the filing number FHC/ABJ/CS/782/2022.

The Independent National Electoral Commission is designated as the second respondent in the originating summons, while the PDP is identified as the first respondent. The third and fourth respondents on the list are Tambuwal and Atiku, respectively.

When candidates for the PDP presidency were asked to address the delegates during the primary, Tambuwal first asked them to support him before coming back to beg them to support Atiku.

Atiku received 371 votes in the primaries, compared to Wike’s 237 and Bukola Saraki’s 70.

Iyorchia Ayu, the PDP National Chairman, referred to Tambuwal as the “hero of the convention” after the convention.

Wike and his co-applicant requested the court to rule on eight grounds in the original summons, including whether the PDP’s alleged transfer of Tambuwal’s votes to Atiku was invalid and unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs requested that the court decide whether Tambuwal lost his right to vote after he resigned in favor of Atiku.

If these disputes are resolved in their favor, Wike and Ekamon claimed, the court should give nine reliefs, including a ruling that the supposed transfer of Tambuwal’s votes to Atiku is unlawful.

The plaintiffs are also asking for a ruling that the PDP committed negligence and bad faith by giving Atiku the votes cast by the governor of Sokoto in the primaries.

The applicants further requested that the court rule that the PDP and Atiku abused the situation created by Tambuwal’s withdrawal by allowing the governor of Sokoto to influence delegates to support the former Vice-President in the primary.

Wike and Ekamon requested that the court order INEC to strike Atiku’s name off “its list of candidates in the 2023 presidential election” or to reject him outright.

Additionally, they are asking for a court order directing the PDP to recount the votes from the May 28 and May 29 primaries.

The applicants also ask the court to issue an order “directing the 1st respondent (PDP) to declare the 2nd applicant (Wike), a presidential aspirant in the May 28 and May 29 primary, as the winner of the aforesaid primary with a corresponding order directing the 1st respondent (PDP) to forward his name as the candidate to contest the presidential election in 2023”

Malami, NGF on collision course over $418m deductions

Abubakar Malami, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, might be in conflict with the Nigerian Governors Forum because he insisted on deducting the $418 million Paris Club reimbursement from the federal account.

Speaking to State House reporters on Thursday in Abuja, Malami emphasized that the state governors had no right to protest the deduction, which he claimed was intended for the consultants that the governors of the various states and local governments had allegedly recruited.

However, a top NGF officer who spoke on the record under the condition of anonymity retaliated, claiming that the AGF appeared to be defending the consultants rather than Nigerians in the case.

The governors asked for a forensic investigation of the consultants’ claims after they had claimed payment from the states and local government councils for the services they had provided.

Attorneys General from the 36 states filed an appeal in March against a ruling that barred the federal government from taking the projected $418 million deduction from state funding.

The governors requested in a letter dated April 4, 2022 that the FG refrain from deducting from funds accruing to them and all local government councils as liquidation for the alleged judgment debts related to the Paris Club loan refund after receiving a letter from the minister of finance, budget, and national planning dated November 11, 2021.

However, in response to inquiries from the media during the 46th State House Ministerial Briefing, which the Presidential Communications Team hosted on Thursday at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja, the AGF stated that the governors were the ones who created the liability.

Impending strike: FG, resident doctors hold talks over demands

The Federal Government and the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) have started talking about the needs of the doctors.

Dr. Yusuf Alfa, the NARD publicity secretary, revealed this in an interview yesterday.

Recall that on July 30, 2022, resident doctors gave the federal government a two-week deadline to fulfill all of the agreements they had with the association, failing which they would go on an indefinite strike.

The doctors are requesting the federal government, among other things, to speed up the payment of the recently reviewed Medical Residency Training Fund so that their members can register for exams by the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria’s announced deadline.

The NARD is requesting the prompt payment of the consequential adjustment of the minimum wage to members who have been denied since it was adopted several years ago, as well as the payment of the skipping arrears for the years 2014, 2015, and 2016 to worthy members.

Other demands include, among others, the immediate review of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure and other related allowances in light of the nation’s current economic situation as well as the payment of doctors’ salaries who have accrued salary arrears in the states of Abia (26 months), Imo (10 months), Ondo (five months), Ekiti (three months), and Gombe (two months).

The NARD scribe stated that the group was meeting with government representatives to address its concerns. However, the meeting was not a full round-table discussion with everyone present.

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