Olufemi Aduwo Is the permanent representative of the Centre For Convention on Democratic Integrity, CCDI, to the United Nations, and president, Rights Monitoring Group. In this interview, he speaks on insecurity, insurgency, the ENDSARS protests and the army engagement, among other sundry issues. Excerpts: By Dapo Akinrefon The country’s biggest challenge has been insecurity, fueled by insurgency. What is insurgency and how did we get here? The distinction between terrorism and insurgency is blurred. As a consequence, significant misunderstanding exists in the relationship between the concepts of terrorism and insurgency, terms often used interchangeably by policymakers, non-governmental organisations and the…
Author: Ifeanyi N.
The United States Vice President-elect, Kamala Harris, has hinted she would present a bill to congress on citizenship for 11 million immigrants. The former Attorney General of California made the disclosure on Twitter on Tuesday. Harris said from day one in office, she and President-elect Joe Biden would act to get COVID-19 under control and save American lives. “We’ll take action to protect Dreamers and send a bill to Congress with a roadmap to citizenship for 11M undocumented people. And we’ll rejoin the Paris Agreement. This is just the beginning”, she tweeted. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors…
The All Progressives Congress (APC), on Wednesday, presented to the Federal High Court, Abuja, two more documents to prove its allegation of certificate forgery against Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki. They are University of Ibadan degree certificates, belonging to Professor Emmanuel Dele Balogun, and a report by a forensic document examiner, Assistant Superintendent of Police, (ASP), Raphael Onwuzuligbo. Both were admitted in evidence by the court after the lead counsel of the plaintiffs, Akin Olujimi (SAN) tendered. The first degree certificate in Agricultural Science submitted was awarded to Balogun in 1979, the same year with that of Obaseki. The second…
Anambra State chairman of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Okeke Ogene, on Wednesday, clarified the issue of the venue of the next election of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation. He confirmed that the Ohanaeze elections will take place in Imo State, although no date has been fixed. According to Ogene, “It is not the first time the venue of the election is being shifted. Joe Irukwu’s election was held in Owerri; Dr. Dozie Ikedife’s election was held in Umuahia; Ralph Uwechue’s election was held in Anambra, Igariwei and Nwodo’s elections took place in Enugu.” He stated that Imeobi, the Ohaneze think-tank, had already…
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has promised to appoint a Senior Special Assistant on Disability Affairs, adding that his administration earmarked N500 million for Persons Living With Disabilities, PLWDs in the 2021 budget. Sanwo-Olu made the disclosure during an interactive session with the PLWDs at the Lagos House, Marina, on Wednesday, assuring that the fund would be accessed from next year 2021. He said that his government had observed some of the challenges of the physically-challenged in the state and would continue to engage them for a better relationship. Sanwo-Olu assured them that a Senior Special Assistant on Disability…
The lawmaker says the proposal is an attempt to legalise child marriage. Senator Biodun Olujimi (Ekiti South – PDP) says a proposal to grant voting rights to married girls under the age of 18 should be rejected by the National Assembly. The National Assembly Joint Committee on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Matters told the electoral commission earlier this month to consider married underage girls as eligible to vote. However, Olujimi told Punch during an interview on Tuesday, December 29, 2020 that the proposal is an attempt to legalise child marriage which is not backed by the 1999 constitution.…
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Wednesday, observed that the Christmas Day message by Bishop Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan Kukah, gave a true reflection of the current situation in the country. He, therefore, enjoined President Muhammadu Buhari to listen to words of wisdom and disregard sycophants who might tell him that all is well with the country. Governor Ortom made his observation in a statement through his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, lamented that it is unfair and repressive of the Federal Government’s reaction to the message of the cleric whom the government accused of stirring hatred against…
A Coalition of South-East groups has condemned threats by the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s to governors of the region following their opposition of his militia outfit named “Eastern Security Network”. The coalition also lauded southeast governors for their unity in denouncing Kanu’s actions, warning Ndigbo not to fall prey to the IPOB leaders’ antics. Recall that IPOB had threatened South-East governors not to work against the Eastern Security Network he created or be prepared to face dire consequences and asked local vigilantes in the region not to allow themselves to be used by the governors.…
Bishop Matthew Kukah, Bishop of Sokoto Catholic diocese, yesterday, said he only expressed his personal view “based on evidence” and did not call for a coup in his criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari. He insisted he only spoke the truth on Buhari’s nepotism. This came as a coalition of Nigerian Muslim professionals condemned the attacks trailing Kukah’s Christmas Day Message, where he berated the state of the nation, warning that unless leaders sit up, Nigeria was heading towards a failed state. Meanwhile, General Secretary of Evangelical Church Winning All, ECWA, Rev. Yunusa Nmadu, said there was nothing new about what…
The leader of INRI Evangelical spiritual church, Primate Elijah Ayodele has warned Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State about attempt to frustrate his political assignment. Primate Ayodele said Obaseki should wake up because he foresees his political assignment being frustrated by his enemies in the State. The popular prophet advised the governor and his deputy not to allow “discrepancies, and kangaroo court judgments to be used to oust them out of their administration.” He stated this in a statement he forwarded to TheInfoStride. Primate Ayodele said the enemies were doing everything to get Obaseki out of the way, and “to…
There are many unresolved issues triggering apprehension, as Southeast stakeholders of All Progressives Congress (APC) meet today in Owerri, Imo State. Some of these issues include the question as to who serves as leader of the party in the zone, the crisis in some state chapters and perceived presidential aspiration of some stalwarts. Although the recent enlistment of Governor Dave Umahi into the APC seems to have solved the fractionalization of the party in Ebonyi State, the situation in Abia and Enugu States’ chapters remain fluid. Even in Imo State, which is serving as the venue of the stakeholders’ gathering,…
The Federal High Court, Abuja, has adjourned the alleged certificate forgery case of the All Progressives Congress (APC) against Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo until December 30. NAN reports that at the resumed hearing on Tuesday, the APC through its counsel, Mr Akin Olujimi, SAN, attempted to tender some documents in evidence through a subpoenaed witness. The PDP and Obaseki, however, objected to the tendering of the documents on the grounds that the process did conform with the laws guiding admissibility of documents. Obseki’s counsel, Mr Ken Mozia, SAN, added that there was no evidence of payment for the documents…
Lagos State House of Assembly, on Tuesday, passed the state government’s N1.164trillion budget for 2021. It was endorsed after a report by Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu (Eti Osa 2), chairman of the joint committee on Economic Planning, Budget and Finance. The legislature approved N460,587,43,741 as recurrent expenditure from the Consolidated Revenue Fund and N702,935,416,976 as capital expenditure from Development Revenue Fund. The Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, disclosed that during parliamentary sessions, the lawmakers agreed that the Youth Empowerment Scheme (O’YES) of the Ministry of Agriculture, was not yielding the desired results. Obasa added that the Coconut Agency has been recommended for scrapping,…
The Chairman of Shiroro local government council of Niger state, Comrade Suleiman Dauda Chukuba, has been impeached. He was impeached for allegedly withdrawing and spending local government Internally Generated funds IGR without approval from legislative council as well as embesslement of funds. Eleven out of fourteen councillors in the council voted in favour for the impeachment of the chairman. More allegations levelled against the Chairman include withdrawal of and spending local government Internally Generated Reverse IGR without approval from legislative council as well as embesslement of funds. Others are gross misconduct and refusal by former Chairman to lay before…
The PDP alleged that he was unlawfully nominated as APC candidate. The Federal High Court Abuja, on Tuesday, struck out a suit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking Osagie Ize-Iyamu’s disqualification from the September 19 governorship election in Edo. Delivering judgment, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, struck out the suit on grounds that it had become academic. The judge also said that he saw no legal benefit that would accrue to the plaintiff if the suit succeeded. The PDP had dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Ize-Iyamu to court praying for an order…
The Lagos State House of Assembly on Tuesday swore in a new member-elect, Mr Obafemi Saheed, as lawmaker representing Kosofe Constituency II. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Saheed won the Dec. 5 by-election to replace late Tunde Braimoh, who died earlier in the year. The Speaker of the House, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, said during the swearing-in ceremony that the Oath of Allegiance of Membership had been administered on the lawmaker-elect by the Head of the Legal Department of the assembly. The speaker prayed that Saheed’s tenure would bring development to his constituency and the state. He said:…
Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), is dead. LP Deputy National Secretary, Kennedy Chigozie, confirmed his exit Tuesday evening. Chigozie said Abdulsalam passed away Tuesday morning. TheInfoStride gathered that the politician died in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. Former National Chairman, Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Peter Ameh, said he has lost a friend of several decades. “This is a great loss not only to opposition political parties but to Nigerian democracy as a whole. His progressive ideas will be surely missed”, he added. In its reaction, the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), said it received the news with…
A former Senate President, Senator David Mark, on Tuesday, stressed the need for inclusive governance targeted at the welfare of the governed for democratic government is to thrive in Nigeria. Mark stated this while flagging off three rural roads at Katanga Warji in Warji Local Government Area of Bauchi State and called on governments at all levels to open up rural communities through construction of accessible roads. According to the former Senate President, opening up rural areas would bring development closer to the people. While commending Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, for his administration’s efforts in construction of…
Minister of State for Power, Mr. Goddy Agba, has said that his appointment has specific roles assigned to him, one of which is the provision of electricity to urban and rural communities and not to give handouts in the form of bags of rice, cooking oil and wrappers to people. Agba, who spoke against the backdrop of demands by people asking for seasonal gifts, said he was working to actualise the policy thrust of the present administration to facilitate electricity across the states of the federation in order to create employment through increased electricity supply to artisans, small and medium…
The House of Representatives has refuted media reports that it had apologised to President Muhammadu Buhari or the Presidency for inviting him earlier in the month to brief it on the escalating insecurity situation in the country. It will be recalled that the House had on December 1, through a motion collectively sponsored by all the Borno State lawmakers on the heels of the massacre of over 43 rice farmers in Zarbamari village, passed a resolution inviting the President for the security briefing. It will also be recalled that the Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila later conveyed the resolution…