NEWS
Transporter Petitions Gov Ortom Over Impounded Vehicles
The London Line Transport Company Limited has lodged a complaint with Benue State Governor, Rev Fr. Hyacinth Alia, regarding an alleged intrusion into its premises by the state’s Assets Recovery Committee.
The committee was established to retrieve state properties that were purportedly taken by the previous governor, Samuel Ortom.
Led by Hinga Biem, the asset recovery committee carried out an operation last Tuesday, where they reportedly raided an automobile workshop in Markurdi, suspected to belong to Ortom. They subsequently confiscated 32 luxury vehicles.
Earlier, the government had accused Ortom of unlawfully taking away 29 vehicles owned by the state upon the conclusion of his tenure.
However, Terver Akase, an aide to Ortom, refuted the claim, asserting that the 32 vehicles seized by the asset recovery panel did not belong to the former governor.
On July 14, the Chief Executive Officer of London Line Transport Company Limited, Emmanual Viashima, submitted a petition to the governor.
In the petition, Viashima asserted ownership of the impounded vehicles and demanded N5 billion in damages, citing an alleged forceful intrusion into his facility.
Copies of the petition were distributed to various entities, including the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, National Human Rights Commission, Inspector General of Police, Commissioner of Police in Benue State, Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, the Assets Recovery Committee, and the Tor Tiv.
According to Viashima, the committee members not only invaded his premises but also harassed his employees.
He stated that his workers had begun documenting the invasion when their phones were seized, although they were eventually returned.
Viashima contended that the vehicles confiscated from the workshop were not the property of the former governor.
He provided a list of individuals who he claimed were the actual owners of the impounded vehicles, including Samuel Ortom, his wife Eunice, a traditional ruler, and several aides of the former governor.
Furthermore, Viashima expressed his distress over the state of his wife’s Lexus 250, which he alleged was severely damaged by the committee during the towing process.
He said, “Upon being informed of the development, I rushed to the scene to make sense out of the entire chaotic scenario and to my utter disbelief, I was locked out of the premises and refused entry.
“At the moment, the company is already experiencing immediate consequences and direct fallout of the negative publicity as a result of the invasion.
“Contrary to claims by the Assets Recovery Committee that 30 vehicles were towed away from the company’s premises, the number of vehicles forcefully taken away from the company by the committee is 32.
“Your Excellency, it is in the light of the foregoing that I petition your good office to look into the issues I have raised herein with the mindset to erase the erroneous impression created in the minds of the public.
“Order a release of the vehicles seized as well as payment of N5bn damages by the Benue State Goverment in view of the economic impact of my losses to enable me mitigate the said losses and jump-start my crumbled business.” he added.
NEWS
Moghalu Prescribes Good Governance As Panacea To Ethnic Agitation
The President of the African School of Governance, Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu has admonished state actors against resorting to brutal force in the bid to muscle out separatist agitators.
In the aftermath of Mazi Simon Ekpa, the Finland based Biafran nationalist agitator being caught in legal web and the Nigerian government moving swiftly to seek his repatriation, the former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has cautioned that ‘We either fix our problems, or our problems will eventually “fix” us. No alternative to a renegotiated union.’
ALSO READ: Finnish Police Arrest Simon Ekpa Over Terror-Related Allegations
The political economist, while expressing his hope in Nigeria, made it clear that “hope is not a strategy”.
He bared his mind in a series of posts on his verified handle on micro-blogging site, X on Friday.
Moghalu wrote, “Despite sustained contemporary difficulties, I am hopeful about Nigeria. But hope is not a strategy. We need to improve state capacity for effective governance.
“We either fix our problems, or our problems will eventually “fix” us. No alternative to a renegotiated union.
“We must learn to be honest with ourselves and address the root causes of our problems. Why ignore them, when the problem is actually quite solvable? The problem with continuing with this approach is that when the danger crystallizes, those who thought they were benefiting from
NEWS
N1.7trn Loan: Atiku Blames NASS For Worsening Nigeria’s Debt Burden
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has criticized the federal government’s plan to secure an additional N1.7 trillion loan through Eurobonds to cover a shortfall in the 2024 budget, describing the borrowing as unsustainable and harmful to Nigeria’s economy.
In a statement shared on Thursday via his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Atiku accused the Bola Tinubu-led administration of burdening Nigerians with debt while failing to provide clear answers about the country’s fiscal challenges.
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He also faulted the National Assembly for enabling what he called a “voracious appetite” for loans.
The former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate expressed alarm over a recent World Bank report ranking Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), calling the development troubling.
“The recent report released by the World Bank, showing Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), is very concerning,” Atiku stated.
He raised further concerns about the government’s decision to benchmark the proposed loan at an exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s official rate being over N1,600.
“What makes this particular loan proposal even more concerning is that it is benchmarked at the exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, whereas the current exchange rate from the Central Bank of Nigeria stands at over N1,600 to 1 USD,” he said.
Atiku questioned the need for additional borrowing, given the government’s earlier claims of record-high revenue collection.
“In July this year, Tinubu boasted that the FIRS and Customs under his watch had collected all-time high revenues to finance the budget. Why are they still borrowing?” he said
He accused the government of a lack of transparency, describing the borrowing spree as detrimental to Nigerians already struggling under economic hardship.
“There is something that they are not telling Nigerians, even as they are being crushed by a combination of their failed trial-and-error policies and loan rackets.”
Atiku also referenced a report by BudgIT, a budget monitoring group, which criticized the 2024 budget for its inefficiencies.
He alleged that corruption, rather than infrastructure or development needs, was driving the government’s borrowing decisions.
“These loans are powered by corruption and not for infrastructure and development needs. This voracious appetite for humongous loans is deeply concerning,” he said.
Reflecting on Nigeria’s financial history, Atiku lamented the return to significant foreign indebtedness just years after former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration cleared the country’s debt.
“It is agonizing to see that just a few years after the Obasanjo administration took us out of foreign indebtedness, we are today back at the top spot in the same conundrum,” he stated.
He called for a more cautious approach to borrowing, urging the government to prioritize fiscal responsibility and transparency to avoid worsening Nigeria’s economic challenges.
International News
ICC Issues Arrest Warrants For Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Others
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has taken a historic step, issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The charges include crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed during Israel’s recent assault on Gaza.
In a detailed statement, the ICC accused the Israeli leaders of “intentionally and knowingly depriving the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity.”
READ MORE: Osun Govt Decries Attempted Murder Of Park Mgt Chairman By Police
The ICC’s move marks a significant escalation in international scrutiny of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Netanyahu and Gallant are alleged to have orchestrated policies that caused severe harm to the civilian population in Gaza, leading to widespread condemnation from human rights organizations.
Alongside the charges against Israeli officials, the ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif. Deif has long been a central figure in Hamas’s military operations. Israel’s military claims to have killed him in a July airstrike, although this has not been independently verified.
The warrants highlight growing calls for accountability amid the ongoing conflict in the region. The ICC’s actions are likely to provoke heated debate and may complicate diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the crisis.
With the warrants issued, global attention now turns to how the international community will respond and whether any practical steps will be taken to enforce them.