Balarabe Musa: Jega welcome to a party he once deregistered

Balarabe Musa, chairman, board of trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), says he is delighted to welcome Attahiru Jega, a former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), into the party.

Speaking with journalists at his Kaduna residence on Monday, Musa said the PRP was illegally deregistered under Jega.

He said the party had to fight it in court. Musa asked Jega not to forget that the PRP he is “romancing now” was once deregistered by him.

He said though, the party membership and reorganisation was thrown open to attract national outlook, he only learnt of Jega’s membership on the pages of newspapers.

The former governor of Kaduna said though three months ago, Falalu Bello, national chairman of the party, hinted him of Jega’s interest to join the PRP, he did not know the exact time Jega joined PRP.

Musa said the party is a public property and cannot reject anyone.

“We have to exercise care and caution on Prof. Attahiru Jega? Jega was the INEC chairman that under his chairmanship, PRP was deregistered,” he said.

“It became a big struggle for us. We approached the court, and the court reinstated the party. But we had to sue the INEC chairman for contempt of court because when the court gave the judgement that our party should be reinstated, he refused to give us the recognition.

“The same person is coming to the party he once deregistered. He is welcome because we cannot reject him and since our party is a public property and open to everyone, he is welcome.”

PRP, a left-leaning party, may be considered a natural habitat for Jega, who was a union leader during his days as a university teacher.

TheCable had reported Jega’s entry into the party.

- THECABLE

Kidnappers abduct Chief Imam’s son, two others in Ogun-Lagos border

Some suspected kidnappers have abducted one Abdulasis Sanni, the son of the Chief Imam of Ode Omi, a boundary community between Lagos and Ogun waterside.

Sanni, DAILY POST learnt, just returned from Saudi Arabia where he studied Arabic.

It was learnt that the assailants shot at two other sons of the Imam, as they stole a speedboat with which they escaped with their victims.

The gunmen were reported to have also abducted two brothers, Jelili and Bamidele Adams.

Jelili, a tailor, was reportedly sewing clothes for his customers for the Eid-el-Kabir celebration when the assailants struck.

Condemning the act, the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, said his administration was considering death penalty for kidnappers in the state.

Abiodun disclosed this when some Islamic faithfuls paid him an Eid-el-Kabir visit in his Iperu country home.

He informed that the judiciary in Ogun State is working towards enacting a bill to that effect, even as he made case for community policing.

Abiodun added that the police were already on the trail of the kidnappers; assuring that the victims would be rescued unhurt.

- DAILY POST 

How did he die? Family demands answers to Nigerian’s death in Chicago

The heartbroken Nigerian family of a Chicago man, who died while boat-hopping during a yacht and boat party in Lake Michigan, is demanding answers into his sudden death. 

Oluwafemi ‘Arthur’ Labinjo, 30, went missing while partying on a boat in Lake Michigan on July 27 with friends. His body was discovered in the water four days later. 

He was one of dozens of revellers enjoying the Chicago Scene Boat Party, a tradition where people link their vessels and party in an area known as the Playpen, a no-wake area south of Oak Street Beach. 

‘It’s a once-a-year celebration of the waterfront. It’s an iconic part of the Chicago summer for sure,’ Ken Monro, who has attended the boating party for years, said to the Chicago Tribune. 

Labinjo, 3rd right with friends before he was declared missing

Labinjo’s family say he boarded a chartered boat with his friends but left them. His cellphone, shoes and other belongings were also left behind and he never returned. 

He was supposed to pick up his daughter that night, but never showed up. He was reported missing the follow day.
‘We were completely in the dark,’ his brother Eddie Labinjo, who was in California at the time, said.

Arthur Labinjo’s body was found on August 1 off the 800 block of North Lake Shore Drive. He was identified by his tattoos and dental records.

Labinjo: He was declared missing 28 July and body found 1 August

The investigation into his death is ongoing and an autopsy was inconclusive, pending further studies, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
His mother flew to Chicago from her current residence in Virginia and his father flew in from Nigeria following his death.

‘Most things can be reconciled once you know the answers. We just need to know: What happened? What was the cause of death?’ his mother Glenda Labinjo said.

Read more in Daily Mail

Ohanaeze attacks Buhari, lists ways Igbo are marginalised in Nigeria

President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, has attacked President Muhammadu Buhari for refusing to implement the report of the community set up by the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the purpose of restructuring the country.

The APC had set up a committee on restructuring headed by the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai and they came up with the report that was accepted by the national leadership of the party.

Nwodo said the President has not been faithful to his manifesto, adding that he (Buhari) is looking for his own personal interest.

Nwodo, speaking on Arise TV, said the military carefully structured the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria against Ndigbo.

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo President-General noted that the constitution was based on extreme discrimination and jaundiced against the Igbo people.

“The military designed a constitution at the end of the war to contain the Igbo.

“We have the smallest number of local governments of all the six geopolitical zones; smallest number of representatives in the National Assembly; the smallest number of local government councils, two states in the North West of Nigeria have as much local governments as we have in the South East,” he said.

“The president has not been faithful to his manifesto. After he won the election, his party set up a committee on restructuring headed by Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai and they made this report that which was accepted by the national leadership of his party,” he added.

“And when he faced interviewed by the press, he said that our problem was not structure but process.

“He swallowed his manifesto; he swallowed the decision of his national executive committee and he says we are looking for our personal interest. It’s rather the president that is looking for his own personal interest,” Nwodo stated.

- DAILY POST

BBNaija Housemate Khafi declared AWOL by Scotland Yard

Khafi Kareem, the 29 year-old UK policewoman, now a housemate in the Big Brother Nigeria reality show is in trouble with her superiors in the London Metropolitan Police and the New Scotland Yard headquarters.

According to reports from England, she is participating in the reality show without lawful permission, as her request was turned down, when she applied.

Khafi Kareem, from Ekiti state, was pictured alongside Commissioner Cressida Dick as the Met celebrated 100 years of women in the force last November.

Scotland Yard said it had not granted Ms Kareem’s request to appear on the programme and that an internal investigation would be carried out.

The Met said Ms Kareem was granted unpaid leave for an “unrelated reason” ahead of appearing on the show but her request to take part in the programme was denied.

According to The Sun, Ms Kareem joined the force as a Pc based at Lambeth station in 2015, having worked part-time as a special constable for four years.

Khafi: on BBNaija

The UK Sun newspaper further reported that Khafi’s sex romp with Ekpata Gedoni on the show has further incensed her colleagues and bosses for bringing the force into disrepute.

She is facing an investigation by the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards, The Sun reported.

One colleague said: “She’s a serving British police officer — it’s outrageous. She asked permission to go on the show but, when her request was refused, she went anyway.

“Her out-of-office email reply blatantly says that she is away from work, yet no one does anything.

“Other officers working with her are furious that she can just disobey orders then swan off the Africa and tarnish the reputation of the force.”

Former bit-part actress and shop assistant Khafi joined the Met as a PC based at Lambeth station in 2015 after working part-time as a special constable for four years.

”

A post on the website of Africa Magic, the television channel which broadcasts Big Brother Naija, says Ms Kareem joined the show, the Pepper Dem Gang, “so that she can do societal good”.

“Police officer Khafi Kareem believes that you can have it all if you believe in yourself.

“She is not only hoping to win the prize money but she wants the exposure that being in Big Brother Naija House brings so that she can do societal good.

“What people don’t know about her is that she is secretly talented in spoken word, singing and dancing. She is an Ekiti native who resides in London.”

The post also reveals Ms Kareem would spend the prize money, reportedly worth 30 million naira (£68,000), on hosting a travel show in Nigeria, as well as investing in charitable causes. In London, she is on yearly salary of £30,000.

Ex-INEC boss, Jega gets new appointment

Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has been appointed by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, to chair its newly inaugurated committee on the internalisation of admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

Prof. Ishaq Oloyele, the JAMB Registrar, who inaugurated the committee, pointed out that its duty was to put in place the machinery to attract foreign students into Nigerian tertiary institutions, starting from the 2019/2020 academic session.

He further disclosed that members of the committee include: a former Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University, Prof Olugbemiro Jegede, and a former Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Prof Olushola Oyewole, and seven others.

DAILY POST reported earlier that Jega had joined the People’s Redemption Party, PRP, and had been appointed to head a committee in the party, ahead of the 2023 general elections.

However, JAMB said in its weekly bulletin on Monday, that the Jega-led admission committee is expected to come up with strategies on international admissions, partnerships and academic programmes as well as the promotion of foreign language programmes.

The board said, “The immediate past Chairman of INEC, Prof Attahiru Jega, has been appointed as Chairman of the Committee on Internationalisation of Admissions into Tertiary Educational Institutions in Nigeria. The committee was conceived during the 2019 Conference of Rectors, Vice-Chancellors and Presidents of African Universities in Egypt in July.

“The JAMB registrar said setting up the committee had become necessary in the view of the prevailing localisation of tertiary institutions in the country. The committee is encouraged to support tertiary institutions, particularly the universities, on how to attract foreign candidates into the Nigerian education system.

“The Jega-led committee is also charged with suggesting veritable means through which the foreign centres of JAMB can attract more candidates, especially Nigerians in the diaspora, to apply for admission in Nigerian universities.”

Responding, the former INEC Chairman said, “I have gone through the terms of reference underscoring the intention of the board to internationalise the nation’s universities. If this is achieved, it will improve the rating of our universities and appreciate their capacity to compete with their international counterparts.”

- DAILY POST

Nigeria’s $85b debt could threaten its economy

As Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari announces his new Cabinet, his post-election pronouncements have made it clear that a core priority of his new government will be to pep up the Nigerian economy. Unfortunately, the President’s proposals during his campaign and since have amounted to little more than tinkering at the edges. The reality is that the country needs fundamental and far-reaching reforms in order to address deep-seated structural problems with the economy. The story of Nigeria’s coming economic crisis has not yet gained global attention, but attention must be paid to it.

President Buhari’s policy missteps stem first and foremost from a mistaken diagnosis of the problem, and there does not appear to be any political acceptance in Abuja of the degree of severity. The data highlighting the structural weaknesses of the Nigerian economy are depressingly familiar – despite decades of attempts to diversify, Nigeria remains dependent on oil for 90% of its export earnings, which owes partly to the fact that almost two-thirds of the economy remains in the informal sector. The large informal sector also causes the country’s tax to be remarkably small–tax revenue last year was less than ten percent of GDP. What’s more, economic growth has remained sluggish despite a rapidly growing population.


Nigeria’s biggest economic problem, though – and the issue that requires real political acceptance from Buhari’s new government – is the country’s growing public debt. Since assuming office in 2015 President Buhari’s governments have added considerably to the nation’s debt, which now exceeds $85 billion. In essence, the nation’s debt is about where it was in 2005-06, just before Nigeria benefited from massive debt relief as part of a program coordinated by the Paris Club, IMF, World Bank and AFDB. To have squandered the debt reduction in just fourteen years and have no tangible economic progress to show for it is beyond disappointing. 

The country’s Central Bank recognises the country’s economic morass and has taken steps to boost domestic lending, but its financial institutions are wary of increasing their loan portfolios –a history of non-performing loans serves as a cautionary tale. Instead, banks are increasingly buying Nigerian bonds instead, which starves domestic businesses of capital. The other problem is that having a plethora of Nigerian banks holding substantial portions of Nigerian sovereign debt represents a systemic risk, especially given the increasing debt distress in the country. The Central Bank has now begun to restrict the purchases of these securities by banks, a sensible move that should be accelerated further.

Nigeria’s biggest economic problem, though – and the issue that requires real political acceptance from Buhari’s new government – is the country’s growing public debt. Since assuming office in 2015 President Buhari’s governments have added considerably to the nation’s debt, which now exceeds $85 billion. In essence, the nation’s debt is about where it was in 2005-06, just before Nigeria benefited from massive debt relief as part of a program coordinated by the Paris Club, IMF, World Bank and AFDB. To have squandered the debt reduction in just fourteen years and have no tangible economic progress to show for it is beyond disappointing. 


The other problem is that having a plethora of Nigerian banks holding substantial portions of Nigerian sovereign debt represents a systemic risk, especially given the increasing debt distress in the country. The Central Bank has now begun to restrict the purchases of these securities by banks, a sensible move that should be accelerated further.

Paris-based sovereign debt expert Andrew Roche has pointed out that while the debt as a proportion to GDP is at a reasonable twenty percent, debt servicing costs make up fully two-thirds of retained government revenue, a startlingly high figure and a datum its government goes some lengths to de-emphasize. Without an honest and frank government acceptance of the situation, Nigeria’s chances of escaping its self-inflicted debt trap are vanishingly small.

  Another problem facing the country is that while most developing countries take advantage of concessionary financing from the World Bank or other international institutions, Nigeria’s debt profile is now increasingly made up of commercial debt. Its recent Eurobond issuances in London, for example, came at a relatively high yield, which makes its economy especially vulnerable to external shocks, such as a sustained drop in oil prices.

*Brannon who writes about fiscal and regulatory policy, contributed this from Washington D.C. The article was first published in Forbes.com