Tag: CSOs

Akpabio under fire for linking soldiers’ killing to mercenaries

Aminu Imam
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio

​Civil society organisations, (CSOs), and a security expert have berated Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, for linking Thursday’s killings of 16 military men in Delta State to foreign mercenaries. The troops were killed while on a peace mission to the warring communities of Okuama and Okoloba. Recall that Akpabio spoke during Tuesday’s plenary, when the Senate resolved to set up a committee to unmask the circumstances behind the military personnel’s killings. He said, “I don’t want to conclude that these people are from Niger-Delta; because we respect men and women in…

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CSOs fault Kano, Niger’s N6bn budget for Ramadan feeding

Aminu Imam

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and an economist have criticised the earmarking of billions of naira by the Kano and Sokoto state governments for Ramadan feeding programme. They explained that rather than spend huge amount of money on religious matters, such funds should be channeled to the education of the vulnerable children in their states. The criticism came on the heels of the N5bn budgeted by the Kano State Government for the feeding initiative. Earlier, the Sokoto State Government had disclosed that it set aside the sum of N6.7bn for the…

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Lawyers, CSOs, others seek unbundling of CJN’s office

Aminu Imam

…Says ‘It’s too powerful’ Legal practitioners and civil groups in Nigeria have called for the unbundling of the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, on the grounds that the occupant possesses “overbearing and ubiquitous powers” which can impact negatively on the Judiciary. This was part of recommendations contained in a communique issued at the end of a one-day conference in Abuja on ‘Judicial Accountability, organized by TAP Initiative’, with support from Open Society Foundations. According to them, the Office of the CJN, as it is presently constituted, is…

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“There’s increasing spate of poverty, insecurity, political conflicts across the land” – Conference of Northern CSOs tell Tinubu

Aminu Imam

The Conference of Northern States Civil Society Networks, at the weekend, has lamented the increasing spate of poverty, hunger, insecurity and political conflicts in Nigeria. They called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to take the bull by the horn and declare a state of emergency on security, particularly, in some States in the North. The Conference of Northern States Civil Society Networks also expressed deep concern over what it described as looming danger as a result of plots to truncate Nigerian democracy on the, “conspicuous fixation to snatch the mandate…

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CSOs express outrage over alleged Betta Edu’s N585m palliatives scandal

Aminu Imam

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have raised concerns regarding a memo from Humanitarian Affairs Minister, Betta Edu, directing the payment of N585 million into a private account, sparking widespread demand for an investigation into the matter. The controversy centers around a directive issued to the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Oluwatoyin Madein, for transferring these funds that were reportedly intended for vulnerable groups in several Nigerian states. In a detailed breakdown, the memo revealed specific allocations for each state, totalling N585, 189,500, intended for various social investment programs. The Media Assistant…

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NNPC: CSOs allege fresh plot by oil crooks to blackmail, smear Kyari

Aminu Imam

A coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have said it has uncovered fresh plot by embittered oil thieves to blackmail, smear and tarnish the image of the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari. The CSOs, consisting of 42 different organisations, said yesterday that the move by the oil thieves, whose businesses have been truncated by the recent stoppage of payment for fuel subsidy by the Federal Government and the total war declared by the Kyari-led NNPCL against oil theft and pipeline…

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Civil societies threaten mass protest in 1 week if FG fails to address Nigerians’ suffering

Aminu Imam

Civil Societies Coalition, in Osun State, has threatened to organise a massive protest if the Federal Government fails to better the lives of the citizens within one week. While reacting, following the recent petrol subsidy removal, naira float and other reforms of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration, the group, in an issued statement on Thursday, signed by its Chairman, Waheed Lawal, recommended a pause in interest rate hikes to relieve the pressures on economic agents. The group urged the Government to implement fiscal measures such as reducing/removing the tax on…

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2023 Election Tribunal Verdict: Labour, CSOs threaten mass action over May 29 inauguration of Tinubu

Aminu Imam

The Labour and Civil Society Front (LCSF), an emergent citizens’ movement, has warned that it will have no other option than to mobilise a nationwide citizens’ mass action to save Nigeria’s democracy if Nigeria’s Judiciary fails to determine the rightful winner of the 2023 presidential elections by May 29. The group was convened by 70 prominent leaders of Labour and Civil Society Movements with the full backing of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Trade Union Congress (TUC), National Consultative Front (NCFront) and notable Youth coalitions. The group, in an issued…

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Nigeria risks losing foreign assets to reckless borrowing – CSOs warn

Aminu Imam

Some Civil Society Organisations, (CSOs) have raised concern over Nigeria’s rising debt profile describing it as a ‘debt trap’ already worsening the country’s crisis-ridden economy and costing the nation its foreign assets. The CSOs consisting of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center, (CISLAC) and Christian Aid in partnership with Transparency International, TI), noted that Nigeria is presently in a debt crisis with a fiscal deficit well above the statutory threshold of 3 percent, an increasingly unsustainable debt profile and a rising debt servicing that has been worsened by rising interest…

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Kaduna Insecurity: “Stop using jobless Nigerians to launder image; insecurity still high” – CSOs tell Service Chiefs

Aminu Imam

In the face of growing insecurity across the country, occasioned by kidnapping, banditry, terrorism, and separatist agitations, some prominent civil society organisations (CSOs), and a security consulting organisation have cautioned the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor and other Service Chiefs against using false narratives on the insecurity ravaging the nation. The groups’ advice came in reaction to last week’s claim by a CSO, ‘National Coalition of Concerned Citizens on Peace and Security’, that the nation’s security situation had greatly improved, even as it thanked the military high…

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