NEWS
Yakubu Inside Deepest Corner Of Tinubu’s Pocket – Atiku
Atiku Abubakar, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, has alleged that Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), is working in tandem with the ruling party Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s APC to subvert Nigeria’s democracy.
A statement from Atiku’s media office on Sunday said Mr Yakubu’s compromise was the reason results were not uploaded to INEC server on the same day the presidential election was held on 25 February.
It was also the same reason that Mr Yakubu continued to announce the results despite protests from political parties, the statement, signed by Phrank Shaibu, Atiku’s special assistant on public communication read.
The former vice president was reacting to an allegation by the immediate-past Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who said Mr Yakubu was recommended for re-appointment by a member of Bola Tinubu’s camp in 2020.
Speaking in Rivers State on Saturday, Mr Amaechi noted that not only did the re-appointment of the INEC chairman come from Tinubu’s camp, but the INEC boss also worked under Governor Nyesom Wike when the Rivers State governor was Minister of State for Education and interim Minister of Education in the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
“INEC is a complete failure,” Mr Amaechi said. “There are those of us who opposed the reappointment of Yakubu Mahmood. The person who nominated him is a member of Tinubu’s camp. So what are you expecting?
“Here in Rivers State, Mahmood worked under Wike as Executive Secretary of TETFund; so what you are having in Rivers is that APC and other parties are contesting, not against PDP, but against INEC, against police,” the former minister added.
Atiku said Mr Amaechi’s revelation was a confirmation of “our worst fears that Yakubu’s INEC was working for the APC.”
“Former Governor Amaechi’s revelation is only a confirmation of what everyone always knew. That INEC under the leadership of Prof Yakubu is inside the deepest corner of Bola Tinubu’s pocket.”
Earlier, the PDP had said Mr Tinubu had already embarked on a systematic state capture where the police, INEC, and the judiciary are in his pocket.
“Is it not surprising that the AIG who was deployed in Rivers State to supervise the governorship and Presidential elections is Kayode Egbetokun, a known ally of Tinubu who also served as Tinubu’s Chief Security Officer while he was governor of Lagos?” the PDP said.
“This unholy alliance between INEC and the police is the reason why the election in Rivers State remains one of the most rigged in the history of Nigeria. Indeed, the journey to state capture has begun.”
For this, Atiku said when the story of the Nigerian elections is told, the name of Mr Yakubu will be mentioned for the wrong reasons.
“After promising Nigerians that he would upload election results from polling units, he changed his mind at the last minute and then blamed it on glitches. Truth be told, Yakubu was the only glitch because of his incestuous affair with Tinubu’s APC.”
“His predecessor, Prof. Attahiru Jega conducted two credible presidential elections in 2011 and 2015. The 2015 election was so credible that it witnessed the lowest number of election petitions and court disputes.
“Rather than improve on this, Prof Yakubu put his personal interest far and above that of over 200 million Nigerians. He claimed before the election at Chatham House that the electoral system he put in place was so advanced that the human body odour could be used for voter accreditation if he wanted. But this was all part of his grand deception.”
“Despite receiving higher allocations than any other INEC chairman in history, Prof Yakubu could not conduct a credible election. This is indeed shameful for a man who over 200 million Nigerians saw as their last hope,” the statement said.
INEC’s spokesperson, Festus Okoye, did not answer our reporter’s phone calls put through to him for his comment on Sunday. He has also yet to respond to the reporter’s text message.
Atiku is the second-place candidate in the 25 February presidential elections. He secured 29 per cent of the votes to finish behind Mr Tinubu of the APC.
“It was also disheartening that the INEC chairman continued to award sensitive election contracts to APC candidates.”
“In the same election season, INEC awarded sensitive contracts to companies owned by Senator Sani Musa of APC and Senator Aishatu Ahmed Binani, the APC governorship candidate in Adamawa. It is indeed safe to say that Nigeria’s democracy has been sold to the APC by Prof. Yakubu.”
A company owned by Aishatu Dahiru, a sitting Senator and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa state, has been confirmed by INEC to have been awarded the contract to print certain sensitive materials for the 2023 elections.
The electoral commission, INEC, stated that the company obtained the contract through an open bidding process and that it had no knowledge of its connection to the senator.
However, upon further investigation, it was discovered that a certain individual named Aishatu Dahiru, who shares the same name as the said politician, is listed as one of the company’s two directors.
The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe was on Wednesday inducted into the Fellowship of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE).
Biztellers reports that the investiture was performed by the President/Chair-in-Council of the NSE, Engr. Margaret Aina Oguntala, FNSE at a ceremony in Abuja.
Oguntala congratulated the 63 new inductees and urged them to uphold the values of their new position in their field of engineering. She highlighted that engineers have been at the forefront of driving progress and development across various sectors of the economy, notably in the oil and gas industry.
She particularly lauded the ES of NCDMB for his excellent leadership and expertise through the strategic development of local content and in-country value retention, which is a testament to his brilliance in the field of engineering.
Oguntala also applauded the strategic partnership between the NSE, the NCDMB and other stakeholders in the oil and gas industry.
Similarly, the chairman Board of Fellows/College of Fellows, Engr. Kamila Maliki, FNSE, commended the new inductees for their resilience, dedication, and contribution to the field of engineering.
He added that it was not a small feat to be chosen for the investiture due to the rigorous and thorough nature of the selection process.
The ES later was joined by the Managing Director of Setraco Nigeria Limited, Engr. Ziad Mouannes and Senator Patrick Ndubueze for the unveiling of the very first edition of the 2024 NSE Quarterly Magazine.
Some senior officials of the Board who accompanied the ES to the event included the Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, Abdulmalik Halilu, Director, Project Certification and Authorization, Engr. Abayomi Bamidele, and the General Manager, Corporate Communications and Zonal Coordination, Esueme Dan Kikile, Esq.
Before he was appointed the ES of NCDMB, Engr. Ogbe had nearly 30 years top-level career in the field of engineering in the employment of Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), before retiring voluntarily to set up his private firm.
His last position at Chevron Nigeria was Construction Services Group Superintendent, and he oversaw 200 personnel, including Nigerian nationals and expatriates.
Other notable positions he held at the company included Offshore Projects Manager, Construction Manager (Lagos, Escravos -Warri), Construction Engineer (San Ramon) in California, United States of America.
On Saturday evening, armed soldiers shut down the popular Banex Plaza in the Wuse 2 district of Abuja after a clash between traders and three soldiers over a phone sale dispute.
According to eyewitness Okechukwu Daniel, the incident began on Saturday afternoon when a young military man returned to a phone shop, claiming a phone he bought about a month ago was faulty.
Daniel, also a trader at Banex Plaza, stated that the seller refused to accept the phone back due to the lengthy period that had passed since the sale.
He said “When the phone seller refused to collect the phone back, the young guy threatened him that he will shut down his shop for refusing to collect the phone, and the seller told him to do his worse.
“That was when he got angry and went to one of the barracks close by and brought two soldiers to come and harass the phone seller for him to collect the phone back.
“When the two soldiers got to the phone shop to threaten the seller, he still refused to collect the phone. The soldiers got angry and wanted to use force on him, that was when other traders came to the rescue of the phone seller and beat up the two soldiers.”
Daniel added that after the soldiers were assaulted, they went back to the barracks to gather reinforcements.
When they returned to Banex Plaza to confront the phone seller and other traders, the traders had already fled from their shops.
He added “When over 50 soldiers who were visibly angry got to the plaza, they could not find the traders that beat up their colleagues, so they decided to shut down the plaza by asking everyone to leave. Anyone found around the plaza was asked to do frog jump and other punishment,”
See videos below:
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has confirmed the transfer of $22,000, recovered from a convicted internet fraudster, Hakeem Olanrewaju, to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).
Dele Oyewale, the commission’s spokesperson disclosed on Saturday that the handover took place in Lagos State on Friday.
Acting Director of EFCC Lagos Zonal Command, Michael Wetkas, expressed appreciation for the collaboration and assured of EFCC’s continued efforts in combating financial crimes.
During the event, FBI’s Legal Attaché Charles Smith praised the EFCC for its action.
He said “The EFCC and FBI work collaboratively together, and it is thanks to the EFCC that we can recover funds of this nature, especially from Business email Compromise, BEC.
“This type of crime cripples businesses in the US, and for them to recover the money within one to two years gives hope to the affected companies and brings some level of justice, even if not all subjects have been identified.
“We hope our relationship continues and fosters a more cohesive partnership between the two agencies. If there’s anything the FBI can do to support this investigation, we will do so. We appreciate this on behalf of the FBI and thank the EFCC.”
On August 15, 2023, Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, mandated that the funds retrieved from Olanrewaju, serving a two-year prison term for identity theft and impersonation, be returned to his victim in the US.
NCDMB’s Exec Sec, Ogbe Bags NSE’s Fellowship
Soldiers Shut Down Banex Plaza After Clash With Traders [Video]
AFRICA CEO FORUM: Dangote Calls For More Investments To Propel Africa’s Economic Growth
ICAN, NGX Regco Recommit To Transparency, Excellence In Corp Reporting
EFCC Returns $22k Recovered From Fraudster To FBI
Air Peace Boss, Still A Money Laundering Fugitive In The US – Daily Mail
Sahara’s Tonye Cole resigns from GPHCDA
Oando opens ultra-modern petrol station in Lagos
Niger Delta Avengers: President Buhari Reads riot Act …considers the carrot and stick option
Adeosun: We are investing in infrastructure to grow the private sector
Shell launches Nigeria campaign on energy efficiency
