The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has faulted the Socio-economic Rights and Accountability Project SERAP on its alleged neglect and non-prosecution of offenders arising from the 2023 General Election, especially Governors and Deputies found wanting for violations of electoral laws, describing the assertion by SERAP as misleading. INEC in a statement by a National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun said the allegations are untrue and fly in the face of facts already in the public domain. INEC stressed that Governors and Deputy Governors have constitutional…
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Supreme Court reserves judgement in Govs’ suit seeking to scrap EFCC
Nigeria’s Supreme Court has reserved judgement in a suit filed by 16 state governments challenging the constitutionality of the laws establishing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and others. According reports, a 7-member panel of justices presided over by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, yestetday reserved the matter after the lawyers in the matter argued their applications. The suit, which was originally filed by the Kogi State Government through its Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, had other states seeking to join as co-plaintiffs. The States that joined in the suit,…
Read MoreBooting of Northern Traditional Institutions, Dereliction of Duties by the Leaders and Security Implications for the Regio,
By; Abdull-Azeez Ahmed Kadir The Northern States of Nigeria, especially the North West geopolitical area is today a war zone with citizens mown down in cold blood in hundreds and villages sacked at will with residents daily kidnapped for ransom and many more sold into captivity and slavery. All are not unconnected with near absence of good governance. With each transition since return to democracy or civil rule, the situation gets worse especially in the last 17 years. Sadly, the Northern Governors seem almost bereaved of ideas on how to…
Read More“Immunity clause, spinal cord of corruption in Nigeria” – Senior Advocate of Nigeria
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, (SAN), Mohammed Ndarani Mohammed, has advocated the removal of Section 308, from the 1999 Constitution (as amended). Section 308 of the Constitution states that no civil or criminal proceedings can be instituted against the President, Vice-President, Governor or Deputy Governor and they can’t be arrested or imprisoned or a process of any court requiring or compelling their appearance can be issued against them. Ndarani Mohammed stated that Section 308 of the Constitution, often referred to as Immunity Clause, “is the spinal cord of corruption in…
Read MoreHow 30 Govs. spent N968.64bn on refreshments, others in 3 months – Report
No fewer than 30 State governments of the federation spent N986.64bn on recurrent expenditures, including refreshments, sitting allowances, travelling, utilities, etc., in the first three months of 2024, according to reports. The States’ Budget implementation reports was obtained from Open Nigerian States, a website supported by BudgIT that acts as a repository for public budget, showed for the first three quarters of the year; data for six States was not available. A breakdown showed that the 30 State governments spent N5.1billion on refreshments for guests, N4.67bn on sitting allowances to…
Read More‘FG has abandoned our region’ – North-East governors
State Governors from Nigeria’s North-East geo-political have bemoaned the neglect of the region when it comes to siting and allocations of Federal Government capital projects. The Governors disclosed that the region has over the years been sidelined in term of construction and rehabilitation of critical infrastructure, especially roads and railway, along the economic corridors that links the North-East sub-region to the rest of the country, Their complaints and reservations were contained in a communique issued by the North-East Governors’ Forum at the end of its 10th Meeting of the Forum,…
Read MoreSERAP sues Wike, Governors ‘for failing to account for N5.9tr, $4.6bn loans
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against Nigerian State governors and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT), Nyesom Wike. SERAP sued the 36 governors and Wike “over their failure to account for N5.9 trillion and $4.6 billion loans obtained by their states and the FCT, and to publish copies of the loan agreements, including details and locations of projects executed with the loans”. The suit followed the disclosure last month by Kaduna State governor, Uba Sani, that the immediate-past administration of Nasir el-Rufa’i…
Read More“Account for trillions of FAAC allocations or face legal action”, SERAP tells 36 governors, FCT MinisterWike
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged Nigeria’s 36 State governors and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nyesom Wike to “provide our organisation with documents on the spending of trillions of FAAC allocations received by your state and the FCT since 1999, and to widely publish any such documents”. SERAP also urged them “to invite Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to jointly track and monitor the spending of FAAC allocations by your state and the…
Read More“Let’s unite to make Nigerian greater” – Tinubu tells governors, NASS leadership
…Says economy will bounce back in coming months President Bola Tinubu has called for unity of purpose and more collaboration between the federal government, state governors, and members of the National Assembly to achieve national development goals. The President made the appeal while receiving state governors and the leadership of the National Assembly in Lagos on Friday. Led by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, the delegation included Senate President Godswill Akpabio; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas; Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, of Kwara State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum,…
Read More“Let’s set aside political differences for governance”, Tinubu urges Govs.
President Bola Tinubu has called on state governors to set aside political differences and collaborate with the Federal Government to build the nation. Speaking during the breaking of Ramadan fast with governors at the State House in Abuja, on Thursday, President Tinubu emphasised the importance of transitioning from politics to governance, noting the need for unity and cooperation among all stakeholders. ”Since we recognise the need to build our nation together, the time for politics is over. It is now time for governance. ”We are of the same family and…
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