Flowerbud News

Month: April 2024

  • Kogi poll: Confusion at tribunal sitting as witnesses disown depositions

    Kogi poll: Confusion at tribunal sitting as witnesses disown depositions

     

    Flowerbudnews
    Mild drama continued at the Kogi Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja on Monday as some witnesses disowned their depositions before the panel.

    Four witnesses from Adavi Local Government Area of the state gave their evidence for the Social Democratic Party (SDP) before the three-member panel of justices, led by Justice Ado Birnin-Kudu.

    The witnesses, when called, gave virtually the same narration regarding what transpired where they voted even though they were in different polling units during the Nov. 11, 2023 governorship poll.

    The four witnesses, like the previous ones, adopted their witness depositions on oath.

    However, during cross-examination by the defence counsel, they made claims different from what was in the witness depositions.

    When shown their deposition, they disowned it, saying it was not written by them while also confirming that they were not polling agents but random voters.

    One of the witnesses, Rufai Muhammed, who said he was from Adavi Local Government, stated in his deposition that there was no validly accredited voter for the said election.

    Upon cross examination, however, he said he was validly accredited to vote and he voted.

    When his attention was drawn to his witness deposition on oath, which said there was no validly accredited voter for the election that he witnessed, he denied the deposition, saying he did not write it.

    Another witness, Yakubu AbdulAzeez, said he stood at a particular point throughout the voting period on election day observing the proceedings, and that it was from that point he saw that there was over-voting.

    AbdulAzeez, who said he stood watching the voting process, however, could not stand during the tribunal hearing.

    He told the panel that he had been suffering from a leg problem since 2008 and the panel directed that he should be given a seat.

    Claiming that he stood for hours in a spot to monitor an election that took place in November 2023 thus became an issue of concern.

    On his part, Hamza Abdul Azeez said he wrote a letter of complaint to the tribunal that there was over-voting.

    But when asked how many votes each political party actually scored in his polling unit, he said he did not know.

    The witnesses said their lawyers wrote their depositions for them, but added that they couldn’t remember the names of the lawyers.

    The tribunal adjourned the matter until April 2 after Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, sought an adjournment.

    While Chief Kanu Agabi, SAN, represented the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Ibrahim Sani Muhammed, SAN, appeared for Gov. Usman Ododo, and AbdulWahab Muhammed ,SAN, represented the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the sitting.

    The witnesses who testified on Monday were Hamza Abdul Azeez, Said Muhammed, Yakubu Abdul Azeez and Rufai Muhammed, all from Adavi Local Government Area of Kogi.

    It would be recalled that the SDP is challenging the victory of Gov. Ododo of the APC in the Nov. 11, 2023 governorship election in the state.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

  • Bandits Attack Travellers In Ogun, Set Bus On Fire

    Bandits Attack Travellers In Ogun, Set Bus On Fire

    The spokesperson for the Ogun State Police Command, SP Omolola Odutola, confirmed the occurrence in a statement, stating that it took place at Oke Ado junction in Ijebu Mushin along the Ijebu Ode-Ore-Benin expressway, where the armed bandits burned down a luxury Mercedes-Benz bus.

    She added, “The vehicle was coming from Maza Maza before it encountered the hoodlums. No reference to guns was made. They carried cutlasses

     

    It was reported that the audacious robbers had previously robbed all 59 passengers on the bus and then locked the vehicle before setting it on fire..

     

    However, the passengers were able to break the windows and escape from the bus before it was fully engulfed in flames.

     

    Vanguard quoted Ifesinachi Transport Nig. Ltd. to have confirmed the attack, stating that the bus belonged to the company and had departed from Maza Maza, Lagos, on Good Friday, heading to Abakaliki, Ebonyi State. The management expressed shock over the incident.

     

    In a distressing video viral on social media platforms, X particularly, one of the survivors, Chude Nnamdi, recounted the harrowing experience, saying: “Ifesinachi Motors, we were travelling in the night to come back to the East for Easter celebration, and criminals attacked us in Ijebu Ode along the Ore/Benin expressway.”

     

    The victims described how the bandits, armed and menacing, seized their belongings and subjected them to a terrifying ordeal. “They robbed us of everything we had; some they stripped half-naked.

     

    Another survivor who spoke to the news platform said: “They locked us inside the 59-seat luxury bus and set it ablaze.

    We thank God that we later escaped; nobody died, but everything we had was collected.

     

    We thank God that we didn’t lose anyone, but we lost everything we were travelling with and some sustained injuries.

     

    “The armed robbers attacked us at Ijebu Ode. They stripped us of our dresses and belongings and beat us mercilessly. They forced us back into the bus and set it ablaze. But we are grateful to God that nobody was burnt to death because we all managed to escape from the burning vehicle alive

     

    Though some of us sustained injuries, and we all lost our belongings because the robbers took everything with them, including the clothes some of us were wearing. We have been stranded here since 2 a.m. on Saturday morning: men, women, and children who are innocently travelling to the east to celebrate Easter.”

     

  • Pakistani court suspends 14-year jail term of Imran Khan, wife in Toshakhana corruption case

    Culled from Indian Express

    The two were sentenced in the case by an Islamabad accountability court on January 31, days before the general elections.

    Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced in the case by an Islamabad accountability court on January 31, days before the general elections. (File Photo)

    A Pakistani high court on Monday suspended the 14-year sentence given to former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the Toshakhana corruption case.

    The two were sentenced in the case by an Islamabad accountability court on January 31, days before the general elections.

    On Monday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended their sentence in the Toshakhana case.

    IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq said appeal against the punishment would be fixed for hearing after Eid holidays.

    In the Toshakhana corruption case, the 71-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician is accused of retaining expensive state gifts they received during his tenure as Pakistan’s premier.

    Under the rules governing Toshakhana – a Persian word meaning “treasure house” – government officials can keep gifts by paying a price for them but first the gift should be deposited. Khan and his wife either failed to deposit the gift or got it for a low price by allegedly using their authority.

  • Self Sufficiency in Food Production: Why Bago Is Ahead of His Time

    Self Sufficiency in Food Production: Why Bago Is Ahead of His Time

    By Hamza Waziri

    April 1, 2024

    On the 5th of February 2024, Nigerians, particularly, the leaders, woke up to the disturbing news of a protest against the high cost of living in the country which was first staged by women in Minna, the capital of Niger State, and later joined by the youth.

    The protest did not come to visionary leaders like Farmer Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago of Niger State as a surprise, because he had the premonition that such a thing would happen sooner or later if something was not urgently done to abate the biting economic hardship in the country.

    However, what was hard for many economic experts and public commentators to digest was how a protest against the high cost of living in Nigeria would begin in Niger State, particularly in Minna which has been turned into a construction site and has created a lot of job opportunities for the citizenry. Moreover, the government of Farmer Bago has been able to revert payment of State civil servants salaries to 25th of every month promptly instead of the first week of the succeeding month which used to be the practice in the past, even as local government council staff are happy these days as the issue of payment of salaries on a percentage basis is being resolved.

    Albeit, for Farmer Governor Bago, the protest is a blessing in disguise, as many are beginning to see the reason for making agriculture one of the topmost economic priorities of his government and why he had to take the name, “Farmer Governor” to correct the negative impression that some people hold about farmers as the poor or downtrodden in the society.

    Farmer Governor Bago had envisioned that the state needed to overhaul its decaying infrastructure, however, for sustainable development, agriculture had to be placed at the top of the priority list of his government, not only to guarantee food security but to create job opportunities for the teeming youth and enormous wealth for the state government through the agricultural value chain.

    Farmer Governor Bago after being sworn in as the governor of Niger State embarked on a journey to create “a new life for Niger” vigorously searching for development partners within and outside the country. He was not deterred by the side comments of the naysayers as he remained focused on what he wanted to accomplish. Lo and behold, ten months after, no less than five thousand pieces of agricultural equipment were assembled at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Airport, Minna, the Airport which has been remodeled into a “Special Agro-Processing Zone” in the state and is projected to be the largest in Africa.
    In the Airport Free Zone, 2,000 hectares of land have been cleared already for the cultivation of fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, and other dairy products for exportation.

    Speaking to the press after inspection of the Airport in preparation for the state visit by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to Minna, Farmer Governor disclosed that Niger State sells about half a million cattle weekly, noting that the agro-processing zone will allow easy exportation of frozen meats instead of live cattle and also create value-chain as well as employment.

    He said the 2000 hectares will be expanded to 10,000 hectares of land for further agricultural activities in the Airport Free Zone.

    Little wonder, the president and other guests at the commissioning of the Special Agro-Processing Free Trade Zone and farm equipment held on the 11th of March 2024 had no option but to pour encomium on Farmer Governor Bago for taking the bull by the horns.

    President Tinubu said “We have seen the level of commitment here. We have seen leadership. The success of any leader will depend on the ability to do what needs to be done when it ought to be done. It is now time for us to address the challenges and make Nigeria an economy of opportunities. We must care for our people; and re-orient our people. I do not see why Nigeria cannot feed all students in its schools.

    “I am equally here to partner with you to banish hunger. You are doing the job. And I must support you; it is mandatory as Nigerians. When we read newspapers, some of us are confused about whether to abuse the past or the present or to make excuses for the future. But that is not in my dictionary. I think action now, re-engineer the finances of our country and steer it on the right path”
    Did you think the president’s statements were just mere rhetoric? If you think so you are wrong. The president was prompted to reveal his mind as he realized that part of the significance of the Minna Special Agro-Processing Free Zone, included, Connecting the Rural Agricultural Communities to Urban Development, the Processing, Production, Packaging & Distribution of Agricultural Commodities (Cassava, Banana, Flour, Rice, Pastries, Yogurt, Milk); Providing Readily Available Market for Farm Produce and Turning Agricultural Waste into Wealth as well as Increase Household Incomes & Foster Job Creation in Rural Communities for Youth and Women. There is also the factor of Poverty Reduction, Food Security, and Speedy Economic Growth.

    President Tinubu was so impressed with what he saw on the ground and was quick to urge Bago to maintain the lead and continue to be the pace-setter for the country.

    Other governors at the ceremony seized the opportunity to tell Nigerians about the efforts they were making in their various states to move from subsistence farming to mechanization as they all concluded that agriculture was the sure banker to our survival.

    Experts believe Farmer Governor Bago is on the right track to the mechanization of farming as farmers are being given all the necessary support to boost their production while nonfarmers are encouraged to go into farming as all they need is land and the government is ready to provide farm tools and the profits could then be shared with the government and as for those who have no lands they can check in the agricultural value chain, that between production process to the finished product and see how they could participate.

    Economic analysts have described Farmer Bago as a “Smart and Visionary leader” whom they suggest is building a free and financially independent Niger State for the future. They believe that if Nigerlites heed the Governor’s call for support, his plan to draw 140km length of water irrigation to the Special Agro-processing Free Zone from Shiroro dam, and provide substantial power to the airport city project which he hopes will attract a lot of investment into the state, to make Niger State an Agricultural hub of the Nation, can be achieved.

     

    As a last word, Farmer Governor Bago’s agricultural revolution is coming to fruition. Niger State is working towards feeding itself and the nation, therefore, all hands must be on deck as the state has begun a remarkable process of year-round farming, and the best time to key into the policy is now.

    Hamza Waziri

    Coordinator Press Affairs to the Farmer Governor Bago