Aloy Ejimakor, the Special Counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has slammed President Muhammadu Buhari over his latest comments against the agitator.

Ejimakor accused Buhari of lying against Kanu and IPOB in his latest comments.

He noted that Buhari lied to the world that Kanu jumped bail and that IPOB members vandalized oil pipelines.

In a tweet, the counsel stressed that Buhari’s call that the international communities should designate IPOB as a terrorist organization would not happen.

ALSO READ: IPOB blowing up oil pipelines, funded by foreign countries – Buhari

He wrote: “RIGHT OF REPLY: In the past few days, the President has made IPOB & Nnamdi Kanu his main business, saying that:

“#IPOB blows up pipelines: Not true!

“#MNK jumped bail: Not true! Umuahia court settled it.

“The world should declare IPOB a terror group: It won’t happen! It’s not!”

A few days ago, the President had linked vandalism of oil pipelines in the country to IPOB members.

Speaking with British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, Buhari said Kanu jumped bail once, and may do the same again.

He said the IPOB leader must defend all his rant against the Nigerian Government.

The National Population Commission (NPC) has said that the N187bn budgeted for the population and housing census is not adequate to conduct the exercise scheduled for April 2023.

The commission’s Acting Director-General, Ugoeze Mbagou, disclosed this yesterday at a roundtable on the 2023 census organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) in Abuja.

The proposed census comes 17 years after the last exercise in 2006, violating the United Nations’ recommended 10-year interval.

Mbagou said conducting a census in a big country like Nigeria requires huge resources beyond the N187bn approved for the exercise, noting that there would be the need for a supplementary budget.

She, however, said the census would be jointly funded by the federal government and donor partners 50:50.

She listed census challenges as including lack of an enabling law to mandate the conduct of the exercise every 10 years; acceptability by some Nigerians, especially rural dwellers; lack of awareness of the importance of the exercise and insecurity in some areas, among others.

The Director General of NILDS, Prof. Abubakar O. Sulaiman, said the use of ICT and the synchronisation of census data with other national identity databases would shape the conduct of the 2023 census.

He said the roundtable was to provide a platform for key stakeholders to discuss those critical issues and suggest ways to address them.

Members of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control branch, on Wednesday, embarked on an indefinite strike.

The union’s Secretary, Mr Ayodeji Adetoboye, said it was a national strike, contrary to some reports that it was only in Lagos and the other South-West states, adding that the Abuja branch and other parts of the country did not get the notice for the strike on time.

“There was a misinformation, which was the reason people in Abuja went to work today, Wednesday. This has been resolved. We do not have a divided union in NAFDAC,” he said.

Adetoboye disclosed that a motion was moved that the union should immediately proceed on an indefinite strike action until all its demands are met after an emergency meeting with the Federal Area Council, Lagos and NAFDAC Branch of MHWUN.

Some of the demands of the union, according to him, are that ‘‘The congress frowned at the prolonged inaction on the payment of promotion arrears for 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021; the congress agreed that action is long overdue as all measures to resolve the matter has not received management cooperation.

“The issue of additional allowances was discussed and the members of congress rejected the continued delay in the approval by National Salaries Income and Wages Commission. It was noted that since the reduction of NAFDAC salary in year 2013 all efforts to resolve the issue to ameliorate the suffering of staff members have ended on the table of NSIWC.

“The congress raised concerns on the issue of GMP inspection and GMP training that has been hijacked by some microscopic few. Members of congress were unanimous in rebuking management on the delay of the severance allowance and call for an immediate action to save these poor retirees.

“The congress frowned at the recent reversal of the skipping by management as evident in the invitation for promotion during the last promotion exercise. The congress demands immediate reversal to status quo.”

Also speaking, NAFDAC Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola said that the strike would be short lived if the government is ready to meet their demands.

“NAFDAC does not owe salary. To the best of my knowledge, as part of what they are demanding as of the last time this issue came up, was allowances, so it’s not salary.

“I can’t really say why it has not been paid but you know in an organisation as big as NAFDAC, there is usually a process so probably there is a process it has to go through but I know the last time the issue came up, they actually paid everything and that was why the whole thing died down then and they continued with negotiation with some other issues,” he said.

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, will require Dr. Bukola Saraki’s political capital to win the 2023 presidential election, says a young politician, Umar Faringado Kazaure.

Saraki, the immediate-past Senate President, lost the PDP presidential primary election to Atiku, finishing third after Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike.

Faringado in a press statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday said Atiku, despite his connections and political structures nationwide, would still need a Saraki, who connects with the grassroots, to conveniently win the 2023 poll.

“A tree cannot make a forest, hence His Excellency Alhaji Atiku Abubakar needs Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki’s supporters to help market him to the grassroots ahead of the 2023 general elections.

“There is no gains the fact that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate and former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, will need to capitalise on Dr. Saraki’s charisma and connection with the grassroots in the coming campaigns to sail through.

“We, as Saraki’s foot soldiers are ever-ready to do the bidding of our principal the moment Alhaji Atiku Abubakar seek such partnership and assistance for the 2023 presidential election,” Faringado, who was the coordinator of Saraki Is Coming Door To Door organisation, stated.

A resident of Maiduguri Borno state up has open up on how Kidnappings in Maiduguri are not making Headlines in the media and the government don’t care about it, he said his neighbour who is a farmer, was Kidnapped alongside three others by gunmen on their way from farm located behind University of Maiduguri.

According to the children of the kidnapped victim, the kidnappers called them and made a demand of three million naira ransom for his release, the kidnappers ordered immediate payment of the money or the victim get killed, he was released after the payment, but one of the victim was slaughtered the other held as captive.

The victim, name withheld for security reasons, while narrating his own side of the story said the kidnappers are six in numbers, well dressed in military uniform and are civilized in their choice of words.

The resident said its sad that many similar painful and unimaginable tales of kidnapping of farmers in their farms in Maiduguri have been sidlined and not making headlines in the media outlet and not even government is talking about it.

Who are those heartless young boys in full military uniform making money on their criminal and evil trade? He asked.

Pastor Paul Enenche of Dunamis International Gospel Center, has likened the country’s current economic situation to glycogen storage disease.

Enenche, who stated this at the just-concluded National Healing and Deliverance crusade in Abuja, organised by the church to seek the face of God ahead of the 2023 general elections, said most Nigerian problems are artificial.

The popular clergy explained that, “In medicine, there is something we call Glycogen storage disease. It is a situation where what the body needs is there but the body is starving.

“That is the current situation of our nation Nigeria. Starvation in the midst of enormous abundance and resources.”

On the security challenges ravaging the entire nation, Pastor Enenche, declared God’s judgment on killers and their sponsors in Nigeria, saying the assailants would die the way they kill others.

He decried how wasters criminal elements are arrested and “allowed to go scotfree” without being prosecuted, a development he described as very “sad and terrible.”

“I have bad news for them, the nation shall be the burial ground for every killer and their sponsors in the land. I am so amazed that most of our people in this country behave as if everything is alright”, he added.

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed increased efforts in securing the release of the victims of the Abuja-Kaduna train attack.

The passengers were abducted when bandits attacked the Kaduna-bound train in March.

TheCable had reported how eleven of the over 50 abducted persons were freed earlier in the month.

Giving an update on efforts to secure the release of the remaining victims, Garba Shehu, presidential spokesperson, in a statement issued on Tuesday, said the federal government is “making all efforts to trace and bring back the 51 or more still being held in custody”.

He said the government is continuing on a two-lane approach – kinetic and non-kinetic — to secure the passengers’ safe release.

“The kidnappers made a demand for the release of their own children and upon the settlement of that issue, they let go eleven of the victims, even though more were expected,” the statement reads.

“The setback notwithstanding, the government is not leaving any stone unturned in the efforts to bring all of the hostages back.

“The defence, security and intelligence agencies have given assurances to intensify operational engagements geared towards securing the rescue of all hostages and restoring peace to all parts of the country. Government is also mindful of efforts of some patriotic and influential persons and institutions that are helping in securing the safe release of the hostages.

“The president’s clear directive on the issue is that the hostages must be brought home alive. The country’s military and security agencies are aware of their duty to the nation and are determined to give effect to the President’s charge with increased urgency.”

Shehu added that the president welcomed the return of the recently released passengers back to their families, and expressed his commitment to ensuring that those still in captivity are released and reunited with their loved ones “in the shortest time possible”.