The Nigeria Police Force has sealed the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress in Abuja on the orders of the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu.
According to information gathered by Channels Television, the seal-off was aimed at ensuring peace around the secretariat.
Members of the NWC who showed up at the party secretariat were prevented from gaining access to the party house while members of staff and journalists were allowed to walk in without their cars.
This development comes as the party’s leadership has been divided over who takes over as the Acting National Chairman, following the suspension of the National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.
The party’s National Working Committee had affirmed former Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi, as the Acting National Chairman.
However, due to Mr Ajimobi’s unavoidable absence, the NWC appointed the National Vice Chairman, South-South, Hilliard Etta to act on his behalf.
Meanwhile, the APC Deputy National Secretary, Mr Victor Giadom also declared himself as the acting National Chairman, on the strength of a Federal Capital Territory High Court order obtained on March 16.
In his reaction, embattled National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, said he has accepted the verdict of the Court of Appeal which upheld his suspension.
He noted that his next line of action will be determined by his lawyers.
“We thank their lordships, they have given their judgement. In our democracy, the court is an independent arm of government.
“When they hand that judgment, it is not for you to pick whether you will obey or not. I accept their judgement in good fate.
“My lawyers will advise having studied the judgement, what the next line of action will be. So at this point, I will just thank their Lordships for their judgment and look forward to my lawyers on what should be the next line if there should be another next line of action,” he said.
President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday said Nigeria would stand solidly behind Dr. Akinwumi Adesina in his bid to get re-elected as President of the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The President stated this at State House in Abuja, while hosting Adesina on a courtesy visit.
According to him, “In 2015, when you were to be elected for the first term, I wrote to all African leaders, recommending you for the position.
“I didn’t say because you were a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Minister, and I belonged to the All Progressives Congress (APC), so I would withhold my support. I’ll remain consistent with you, because no one has faulted the step I took on behalf of Nigeria.”
The President, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, pledged that Nigeria would work with all other leaders and stakeholders in AfDB to ensure that Adesina is elected for a second term built on the record of his achievements during his first term.
The African Union had already endorsed the incumbent AfDB President as sole candidate for the continent, but some other stakeholders are trying to ensure that Adesina is re-investigated on some allegations, and rendered ineligible to run.
Giving a background to what was happening in the bank, Adesina, a former Nigerian Minister for Agriculture, said the 16 allegations raised against him were trumped up, “and without facts, evidence, and documents, as required by the rules and regulations of the bank.”
He added that the Ethics Committee of the bank cleared him of all the allegations, and calls for fresh investigation by the United States of America, were against the rules.”
He said: “My defense ran into 250 pages, and not a single line was faulted or questioned. The law says that report of the Ethics Committee should be transmitted to the Chairman of Governors of the bank.
“It was done, and the governors upheld the recommendations. That was the end of the matter, according to the rules. It was only if I was culpable that a fresh investigation could be launched.
“I was exonerated, and any other investigation would amount to bending the rules of the bank, to arrive at a predetermined conclusion.”
Stressing that the motive was to soil his name, and that of the bank, the AfDB President said he was proud to be Nigerian, and thanked President Buhari for his unflinching support.
“You helped me to get elected in the first place, and you have supported me robustly all along, and the African Union unanimously endorsed my re-election,” he declared.
While commiserating with President Buhari on the death of the former Chief of Staff, Mallam Abba Kyari, Dr Adesina described Professor Ibrahim Gambari, new Chief of Staff as “a man of integrity, and of global standing.”
The real reasons President Muhammadu Buhari approved the sack of Usman Gur Mohammed as the Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, through the Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, have been uncovered.
Mohammed, according to various sources at the TCN office, was removed because of his alleged high-handedness and his inglorious role in the termination of the appointment of a labour leader, Chris Okonkwo, who was TCN General Manager, Special Duties.
It would be recalled that Okonkwo was sacked on April 24, 2020 and this generated negative reactions from the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC), saying the labour leader was sacked by Mohammed without due process.
TUC immediately wrote to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, describing the sack of Okonkwo who is also the incumbent SSAEAC President General as an exercise in futility because it’s only the Minister of Power that could exercise such authority in the extant laws.
“The crisis in Transmission Company of Nigeria has been severally reported to your office, despite your intervention which is ongoing, the Managing Director of the company has issued a sack letter.
“This is an exercise in futility because it is beyond the power of the Managing Director; only the minister can exercise such power in the extant laws.
“It is also an attempt to dare labour and an embarrassment to labour community for sacking a sitting president when a matter is already before an arbiter and has not been concluded.
“This is a declaration of war and we are prepared for him; as law abiding citizens, we have brought the matter for urgent intervention,” TUC wrote in a letter of protest to Ngige.
The festering development led to the presidential approval for the dismissal of Mohammed on Tuesday.
Mamman, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Aaron Artimas, titled: “Reorganisation/New Appointments at the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN” announced Mohammed’s sack and appointed Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz as TCN Managing Director in acting capacity.
“As part of continuing measures to reposition and improve the performance of the power sector in the country, the Honourable Minister of Power Engr. Sale Mamman, hereby announces major changes at the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
“Accordingly, the Managing Director of the TCN, Usman Gur Mohammed, has been removed from office with immediate effect. He is being replaced with Engr. Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, as Managing Director, in acting capacity.
“The Honorable Minister has also confirmed the appointment of four directors who have been on acting position in the company for some time.
“They are; Engr. Victor G. Adewumi, Executive Director, Transmission Services Provider; Engr. M. J. Lawal, Executive Director, Independent Systems Operator; Ahmed Isa-Dutse, Executive Director, Finance and Accounts and Justin I. Dodo, Executive Director, Human Resources and Corporate Services.
“All the changes/appointments have been approved by President Muhammadu Buhari,” the statement said.
As the standoff between the Nigerian Police and a lawmaker in the Nigerian Senate, Dino Melaye enters day 5, a brother to the embattled Senator has vowed to hold the Nigerian Police Force and President Buhari accountable should anything happen to the embattled Senator.
Dino’s brother, Moses Melaye who spoke about the Senators’s plight on Wednesday during a TV programme monitored by Frontpage.ng accused the police of an illegal take-over of the home of a serving Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Melaye stated that the police under Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Idris are bent on making the life of his brother a ‘living hell’ having tried to arrest the Senator severally in 2018. He also reacted to the allegation of complicity in the murder of a police sergeant, Danjuma Saliu, which happened in July 2018. He berated the police for lying, saying no member of Dino’s entourage (thug) shot at any police officer. He said the allegation is unfounded and untrue.
Melaye said: “When injustice becomes a norm, resistance becomes a duty. This government and the police have made the life of my brother Senator Dino Melaye a living hell for the past few months.
“The case they are raising against him happened in July, I was there. The policemen shot at us; my car has over two bullet holes. So how can they turn around all of a sudden that we were the ones shooting at the police? Our police and security men have been taking away since over seven or eight months ago. So how do we now become the person shooting? That story is not true and unfounded”, he said.
The brother to the embattled Senator further stated that: “Because of the injustice on a daily bases, we cannot trust or believe anything they say or they do. I believe they are out to harm my brother, if not what is the desperation? American police protects lives, Nigerian police takes lives everyday…they came into the compound arrested the security man, beat him up, handcuffed him, the cleaner, the same thing.”
When asked about the current location of his brother (Dino), Moses Melaye denied having any knowledge of where the Senator might be. He claimed the Police took over the Maitama residence without an arrest warrant and dislodged family members and staff who live with the Senator.
Officers of the Nigerian Police Force at Senator Dino Melaye’s Residence
“I cannot confirm categorically because they did not allow anybody into that compound. They shut his house; they are the one opening gate and closing gate, there are dogs in that house, we have cook, my parents are supposed to be in that house as we speak. Dino is not the only occupant of that house. So we don’t even know, they did not allow anybody, family members or staff into that house. We are going to hold the police and the government of Buhari responsible if anything happens”, Melaye said.
In the same vein, a lawyer and member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Daniel Bwala believes that both parties are overdramatizing the situation.
Bwala said: “I don’t know why the police will lay siege for a number of days. When you have a search warrant or warrant of arrest, what you will need to do is when you go to the place if the person does not surrender you break into the house, make the arrest where necessary and leave the place. In other words, in less than a day, they ought to have performed the arrest they wanted to perform so that people like Dino’s brother, mother and other family members will not suffer for the sins of Dino, whom by law is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
“On the other hand, everyone knows that Dino is a dramatist. Otherwise, the constitution is clear about your fundamental right. It states in clear terms, anybody who alleges that his right is being infringed, or has been infringed or about to be infringed can approach the court for the enforcement of his fundamental rights”, Bwala said.
The lawyer stated that Dino ought to have approached the court rather than resort to self help. He further noted that: “To evade arrest when you are aware that the law enforcement agencies are demanding your attention in itself is an offence. So when you look at the combination of the activities, on the part of the police, you will see that they are overdramatizing it. Now they have met with a super actor and the whole thing now is unnecessary for the Nigerian nation.
“I think that the Inspector General of Police should make a decision, if you want to arrest Dino, you know what to do. So to lay siege in front of the house of a private citizen for days as if he’s a terrorist who has come to overthrow the government of Nigeria is unnecessary” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where Senator Melaye belongs has described the incident as unfortunate and against norm.
In his reaction, a PDP Presidential Campaign Spokesperson, Sanni Umar claimed that the police is biased and is not being fair in the matter since the case against the Senator involved their own.
Umar said: “This is an abuse of state power. The police are an interested party in this matter. They are investigating over the shooting of one of them. So the police is not expected to be fair and equitable.”
He said further that: “There are other motives by the police. Someone who is being looked for since July, why is it taking this time for the police to now make a manhunt for him clearly knowing that elections are approaching.
“This is not unusual of the police. The police has done that with Senator Ademola Adeleke, when it was only 2 days to Osun election, they now preferred charges of forgery and other things to take him to court. This is to demoralize him and his supporters, to intimidate him and his party and this is not acceptable”, Umar said.
On Wednesday, Dino Melaye said via his twitter handle that he will not surrender to the police because he fears the Inspector General of Police will inject him to death.
Latest report however indicates that a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja this Thursday has denied Melaye’s request to have the police vacate his residence and stop its officers from making further attempt at his arrest.
In the ruling given by Justice N. E. Maha, the court refused the ex-parte application by the Senator but ruled that the substantive matter be granted accelerated hearing.
The controversial Senator faces two separate charges of attempted suicide and arming criminal suspects. The Nigerian Police Force remains adamant on arresting the Senator.
The Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun has restated that his relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari remains strong and unimpeachable in spite of the desperation of the political opponents to orchestrate disaffection between them through mendacious propaganda.
In a press statement personally signed by the governor and released on Tuesday, Amosun vehemently denied the allegations against Buhari, which were attributed to his person, describing them as lies from the pit of hell.
According to Amosun, “The ultimate aim of the purveyors of these unconscionable falsehoods is to drive a wedge between me and the President and tarnish my hard-earned reputation. This hatchet job will not work as Mr. President is discerning enough to know the source(s) of the pack of concocted lies.”
“The relationship between President Buhari and myself transcends partisan politics. I hold President Buhari in the highest esteem and nothing will change that”, Amosun emphasized.
“The target of this grand campaign of calumny is actually our dear President Muhammadu Buhari”, Amosun said in the statement.
For the avoidance of doubt, let me state categorically that the people trying to cause disaffection between those of us loyal and committed to Mr. President and the success of APC, are plotting to strip Mr. President bare so that their grand design to achieve unfettered domination of the party would be achieved,” the statement concluded.
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