Professor Happi of the Redeemers University reported the collection of samples from Osun State in August and October, both of which showed the presence of the new variant.

“We have reached out to Professor Happi to seek additional clarifications with regards to this and we are also talking to NCDC. What is really vital at this stage is to immediately do sequencing,” Dr. Aliyu said when he appeared on ARISE News.

“I know the sequencing that Professor Happi’s group have done in the past involved about 250 samples, so that’s really low. What we need to do and most of the things he did I think were in August or September, so we are much much further down the line now and what we need to do is to make sure that we sequence as many outlets as we have now,” he said.

According to Dr. Aliyu, the new Covid variant found in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Australia is more transmissible based on grove studies, but there was however no human epidemiological link that suggests that the strain is more deadly.

“Just to allay public anxiety, the strain that has been described in the UK and also now in South Africa and in Australia and in some other countries, what has been shown is that it is more transmissible based on grove studies,” Dr. Aliyu said.

“But there’s no human epidemiological link that suggests that it is more deadly at the moment and certainly, with coronaviruses, they always tend to change, that’s why if you catch a common cold for instance and you get better, the next day if you see someone with a cold, you are just as likely to go down with it.

“They are strains that continue to replicate very quickly, so it’s no surprise that we have a new strain that is being described at the moment. But it’s still early days yet in terms of the science and even within the UK, there’s still a lot of debate as to how different it is from previous strains.

“We are not trying to say we should ignore the problem, we had a very long discussion yesterday at the PTF, a debate that lasted well over an hour with different aspects being looked at and we’ll continue to monitor this very closely. We’ve already asked Professor Happy to provide us with additional clarification because they’ve been working for the NCDC as well.”

The Kogi State House of Assembly has confirmed the appointment of Justice Henry Adebola Olusiyi as the substantive chief judge of the state.

The Assembly also confirmed Hon. Justice John Bayo Olowosegun, as President of Kogi State Customary Court of Appeal.

Both of them were confirmed during the house plenary on Tuesday.

It could be recalled that, Hon. Justice Henry Adebola Olusiyi came on board as the Acting Chief Judge of Kogi State after the death of Justice Nasiru Ajanah who died on 28th June, 2020.

It could also be recalled that Justice Olowosegun replaced late Justice Ibrahim Shaibu Atadoga, who also died in June 2020.

In a letter addressed to the Assembly by the State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, speaker of the house, Prince Mathew Kolawole said Justice Olusiyi was recommended by the National Judicial Council, (NJC) for the appointment.

He said Olusiyi name was nominated for screening and confirmation in line with section 271 (1) of the 1999 constitution as amended.

After 10 minutes of screening, Bello Hassan Balogun, the majority leader representing Ajaokuta State Constituency, moved a motion that Justice Olusiyi and Justice Olowosegun should take a bow and leave.

He said this was necessary in view of their track records in the administration of justice.

His motion was seconded by the member representing Igalamela Odolu Constituency, Barr. Cosmos Atabor.

Prince Mathew Kolawole, the Speaker, who announced the confirmation, directed the clerk to inform the governor of the confirmation.

Hon Justice Henry Adebola Olusiyi hails from Igbaruku-Okeri in Yagba West Local Government Area Kogi State.

He was born on 11th January, 1956. He started his educational career earlier enough at St. Michael’s Primary School, Kaduna from January, 1962 to December, 1966 and finished his primary education at E.C.W.A Primary School, Mopa Kogi State between January, 1967 and December, 1968.

He enrolled for his secondary school at the E.C.W.A Secondary School, Mopa, Kogi State, in January, 1969 and rounded up in June 1973.

He secured admission into the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in July, 1974 and graduated in 1978 with an LL.B (Hons.) before proceeding to the Nigerian Law School, Lagos in October, 1978 and by July, 1979, he was called to the Nigerian Bar after successfully completing the programme of the school and obtaining his B.L.

Hon. Justice Olusiyi started as a state Counsel at the Ministry of Justice Maiduguri, Borno State where he had his mandatory N.Y.S.C scheme between August, 1979 and July, 1980.

He subsequently became a Magistrate Grade II in the Kwara State Judiciary, Ilorin.

He became a Magistrate Grade I and later became a Chief magistrate in July, 1980.

He served in this position up to March 6, 1988 when he was appointed the Chief Registrar at the High Court of Justice of the Kwara State Judiciary and moved his service to kogi state on it creation on August 28, 1991 as he was appointed a Judge of the Kogi State High Court on June 5th, 1992.

Meanwhile, the house has sworn in Hon. Atule Egbunu as the lawmaker representing Ibaji State Constituency.

Egbunu replaced John Abba who died in June, 2020.

The Military High Command has denied the allegation by Borno State governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum that its troops were collecting money at checkpoints in the state.

The was contained in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja by the Coordinator, Defence Media Operations (DMO), Major General John Enenche.

In the statement, Gen Eneche declared that the military has its own internal mechanism to checkmate erring personnel, bearing in mind that they were laying down their lives for the safety of Nigerians.

According to the statement, “the attention of the Nigerian Military has been drawn to the media/open-air accusation by the Executive Governor of Borno State, that Nigerian Army personnel deployed at checkpoints in Operation LAFIYA DOLE collects money from commuters

“While the Nigerian Military is in no way joining issues with the governor, it is necessary to clarify this generalised statement against the troops who without hesitation lay down their lives for all Nigerians.

“It is worthy of note that the Armed Forces of Nigeria have internal mechanisms to checkmate and sanction appropriately its erring personnel.

“Additionally, reported cases from the public in this regard are investigated and given the desired attention. Thus, it will not be correct to rely on media or open-air accusation to tag our gallant Nigerian Army personnel as extortioners at checkpoints in Borno State.

“All personnel of the Armed Forces are patriotic and focused on their call of duty.

“The High Command of the Nigerian Military hereby restates the commitment of the Armed Forces of Nigeria and other security agencies to tackling and ending the insurgency and terrorism in the North East.”

Thenigerialawyer

By Peter Afunanya, Public Relations Officer,
Department of State Services, National Headquarters,

Release

The Department of State Services (DSS) wishes to inform the public about plans by some criminal elements to carry out violent attacks on public places including key and vulnerable points during the yuletide seasons.

The planned dastardly acts are to be executed through the use of explosives, suicide bombing and other dangerous weapons.

The objective is to create a general sense of fear among the people and subsequently undermine the Government.

Against this backdrop, citizens are called upon to be extra vigilant and report strange movements and indeed, all suspicions around them to security and law enforcement agencies.

On its part, the Service is collaborating with other sister agencies to ensure that adequate measures are put in place for protection of lives and property.

To further achieve this purpose, the Service has provided these emergency response numbers *08132222105* and *09030002189* for urgent contacts. It is also using this opportunity to unveil its interactive website *www.dss.gov.ng* for public communication support.

Everyone is encouraged to take advantage of these platforms and similar ones provided by related agencies to timely reach and avail them (security agencies) of required information.

However, the Service advises those planning to cause chaos and damage to public peace to desist from such as it will stop at nothing to apprehend and bring them to justice.

While assuring citizens and residents of their safety during and after the festive periods, the DGSS, Alhaji YM. Bichi fwc, with his Management and Staff, wishes all, Happy Celebrations and a Prosperous 2021.

Should the National Assembly pass the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) budget of N453.2 billion for a sole administrator not recognised by law to implement, Senator Seriake Dickson Monday asked his colleagues as the lawmakers approved the whopping budget for the commission with no board.

Well, because the Senate finds itself between the devil and deep blue sea on the matter, it has opted for the sea: it has passed the budget and will deal with issues that arise later.

Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, said the lawmakers will continue to put pressure on the Executive to ensure that a proper board is put in place and the NDDC Act is fully complied with.. 

“We have been engaging with the Executive arm of government that the nominations into the Governing Board should be made. We have been making that point and will continue to push until it is made.

“I think we are getting there, so even if we don’t take any motion, I’m sure the explanations you have given will go a long way.

“I don’t think the Sole Administrator should be there for any long period of time, but it is for us to ensure that between now and when that administrator goes, the funds appropriated are properly utilized…

“Of course, we suspended any interaction with the IMC (Interim Management Committe), of course the IMC is out of the way now, so we are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea on one hand and we have admitted that much, we have the people of the Niger Delta with all the challenges there”, Lawan said.

Contributing to the debate prelude to the passage of the budget, Dickson noted that there is no board in place adding that the office of Sole Administrator was unknown to the NDDC law.

He however conceded that the budget has to be passed into law for the sake of the people.

He adds: “Secondly, arising from number one there is no indication as to how soon the President will exercise his power under the NDDC act in making the recommendation, he has the power to appoint, there is no indication.

“There is no indication whether this budget that we are now being told to pass will be the one that will be implemented by this sole administrator, unknown to the laws of this country, unknown to the NDDC act and unknown to this Senate and yet we are made to consider and pass this budget.”

“We will need to add a caveat that when this budget is passed, it should not be implemented beyond the normal recurrent expences until the NDDC act is complied with.

“We would not want a situation where we pass this budget then one sole administrator unknown to the law, unknown to even the Senate, someone whose capacity you cannot access will do whatever his likes.

“You cannot hold him responsible now because he is not part of the creation of the law of the country.

“We should add a caveat that the capital component of this budget should not be implemented by this sole administrator it should be done by the board properly constituted according to law.”

“The National Assembly more than any other institution has a duty to guard and guide the independence of the operation of the NDDC act you have done.

“I say so because when I was Governor of Bayelsa as Chairman of the Governors of the South-South Forum, we met with the President and supported the need for the forensic audit for the effective operation of the NDDC board.

“Now we have a situation where instead of composition of the board as stipulated by the Act, what was put in place was an illegal interim management committee and that is why I am thanking the President by extension the National Assembly for doing what is right 

“As a matter of fact if you want to carry out a proper audit, forensic or otherwise, you set out the board for them to do what they have to do as it is happening with any other institution but for that if the NDDC things are left the way they are.

“All the government structures and mechanism put inplace by the act are nonexistent, they don’t have a governing board made up of the Governors and officials at the federal level, they have a board sitting on it and now the IMC has gone but in its place what do we have?

“You have another illegality replacing an earlier illegality for which the Senate and the National Assembly courageously took the position you have taken.

“So why we are now presented by this situation we are considering a budget, a budget to be implemented not by the IMC which has at least 3 persons.

“This budget we are now considering, if passed is to be implemented by rather another unknown entity called a sole administrator.

“Instead of an IMC that had three persons or more to manage the budget you now have an illegal entity known as a sole administrator to manage this budget.”

“We are all aware of the blackmail as we watched from outside that you had to face.”

“I want to use this opportunity to register our appreciation for the commitment and patriotism displayed by the leadership of both chambers of the national assembly at a time they overruled the president on the content and the funding dynamics and structure of the commission.

“As a result of that courage, the president you were part of that national Assembly that did that for this country and for the Niger Delta region when political carriers were sacrificed.

The senate President said it is true the sole administrator is not known to the law just like the IMC.

“On another hand we have a sole administrator who is unknown to the law. My opinion about this thing first is the people themselves and I don’t think it will serve the people any good to say that we stop the implementation of the capital budget because that is what is meant for the people.

“The recurrent is what the people at the headquarters and the civil servants would just be using. So if we say there should be no implementation of the capital then the people will remain unattended to and unfairly treated in my opinion

“So I believe we need to balance this. We task our committee on NDDC to ensure that every kobo is prudently and economically applied. “Secondly we have been engaging with the executive arm of Government for the nominations to be made for the governing board.

“I think we have to approach it in this manner so that the people don’t lose because of the politics that is going on. I want to assure you we will not rest on our oars until we get the proper thing done.

“This senate has done the kind of thing it was supposed to do in the engagement throughout this period till this time.”

Recall that on the same Monday, the Senate approved the sum of N453.2 billion as annual budget to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) for the 2020 fiscal year. 

This was just as the upper chamber approved a recommendation by the Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta for an extension of the budget implementation timeline to 31st March, 2021.

The approval followed consideration of a report by the Committee on Niger Delta.

On revenue projection of the Commission, the lawmaker said the Committee adopted N63,506,151,945 as reflected in the Appropriations Act, 2020.

He added that the sum of N100 billion naira reflected as unpaid arrears by the Federal Government was not considered as part of the Commission’s revenue projection by the Committee because the amount was not approved in the 2020 Appropriations Act by the National Assembly. 

Nwaoboshi stated further that against the backdrop of projection by the NDDC on revenue inflow from oil companies/NLNG and others, the Committee adopted the submission of the Commission on Personnel Expenditure of N27,389,000,000; N13,937,244,107 as Overhead Expenditure; N2,793,755,893 Internal Capital; and N409,080,000,000 for Development Projects

Everyday

After nine months at home, students in public universities will return to the classrooms after the Christmas and New Year celebrations after the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) called off their strike on Wednesday morning.

The strike ends on Chrstmas eve on Thursday 24th December, 2020.

But there is a caveat: there are timelines to ensure the Federal Government does renege on terms of agreement, ASUU national president, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi said at a press conference in Abuja.

If the government reneges, Ogunyemi added wryly: “we are not tired of going on strikes”, adding that members also were suffering from the strike as members’ children were also branded at home.

Also, if the schools do not put in place appropriate Covid-19 safety protocols, ASUU hinted members may not resume classes.

On the knotty issue of salaries owed members, Ogunyemi, reiterated that the agreement reached with government is for the teachers to be paid using the scale last used in January.

More details soon…

An Ile-Tuntun Customary Court sitting in Ibadan has dissolved the six-year-old marriage between one Monsuru Adebayo and his estranged wife, Nafisat, over defamation of character and attempted murder.

The President of the court, Chief Henry Agbaje, held that the court would not allow any situation that might lead to bloodshed, hence there need for dissolution of the union.

Agbaje consequently dissolved the union and granted custody of the only child in the marriage to Monsuru, since he had been the one catering for the girl.

He also advised the duo to maintain peace as the court would consider any form of molestation by either one of the couples as a criminal offence.

Monsuru had earlier told the court that he did not want to have any further relationship with Nafisat because she had constantly “exposed his life and image to risk and uncertainty”.

He further claimed that he was forced to seek refuge outside their home because his life was under threat by his wife’s nefarious activities.

“After Nafisat settled down in my home, she began to show her true colour and she has refused to take to people’s corrections and counsel to be of good behaviour.

“Only three weeks ago, Nafisat brandished a knife and was aiming at my stomach before I managed to escape from the room.

“That was the reason why I took refuge at a location unknown to her, and it was not the first time she had threatened my life.

“Before this time, Nafisat hacked into my Facebook account, posting a series of defamatory messages that are capable of destroying me and sending me to jail.

“I closed that particular account, but she opened another one with my mobile phone number which she is still using till date to tarnish my image.

“Worse still, she has packed away all my property from the apartment to an unknown location,” Monsuru said.

Nafisat, who consented to the decision of the court, however, denied most of the allegations levelled against her.

She claimed that her husband derived pleasure in beating her always, adding; “Monsuru is not a responsible man and I do not know why he does not stay at home.” (NAN)

In Nigeria, the following category of persons are eligible for issuance of the National Identity Card:

(1) Citizens of Nigeria;

(2) non citizens who is a lawfully and permanently resident in Nigeria;

(3) non citizens of Nigeria who is lawfully resident in Nigeria for a period of 2 years or more.

SEE SECTION 16 OF THE NATIONAL IDENTITY MANAGEMENT COMMISSION ACT.

Arome Abu is the Principal Partner of TCLP.

CAVEAT: Note that this information is provided for general enlightenment purposes and is not intended to be any form of legal advice.

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