Hey!
Everyone! Say hi to the newest member of our team, Victoria. She’ll be helping out with writing the newsletter going forward. She co-wrote this week’s newsletter 🧡
In this edition
The President still refuses to delegate
Women protest at National Assembly
EFCC apprehends more fraudulent govt officials
Ukraine forgot to tuck in their racism
Fuel is still scarce
When the President is holding the country hostage
President Buhari has travelled for “personal health reasons” (again). According to the constitution, when the president is absent, he (because god forbid a non-male leader 🙄) is supposed to officially cede power to the VP until his return. But Buhari says nah.
Premium Times reports that the last time Buhari delegated to the VP while he was away was in 2018; The year VP Osibanjo fired the former Director-General, State Security Service, Lawal Daura for illegally invading the National Assembly without notifying him.
The gist is that Buhari (who is close with Daura apparently) was “very angry” and “vowed never to temporarily cede power to Osinbajo again”. eish
Since then, Buhari has reportedly done ridiculous things like sign a bill into law while in a hospital in the UK.
Before he left for his current trip, Buhari finally signed the amended Electoral Act Bill into law.
Speaking of bills, streets say Nigeria still hates women
So, the House of Reps have been working to amend outdated bills, and among those presented for consideration were five focused on women’s rights:
(1) Reserve more HOR seats for women, (2) allow women pass citizenship to their spouse, (3) affirmative action for women to join politics, (4) provide criteria for qualification to become an indigene of a state, (5) give women a quota in the federal and state executive councils or ministerial and commissionership seats.
The NA rejected all 5.
Following the rejections, Nigerian women— Including Dolapo Osinbajo, the wife of the VP— protested in front of the National assembly gates.
In defence of their decision, the Senate Ajibola Basiru said the senate rejected 21 of 68 proposed bills so it’s just a shame that all the ones associated with women’s rights were rejected and no one should take it personally.
In response to the protests, he said the National Assembly has made their decision “To protest is a right of everybody”.
He added that the NA will not change their mind, but, “that it was rejected at this time does not mean it has been foreclosed. Then, they need to even come up with practical and implementable propositions”
More bill decisions
Other law votes
A bill seeking to give members of the senate (President, speakers and their deputies) life pension and immunity for life (Premium Times)- rejected ❌
A bill seeking to have public officers get approval from the Minister of Education before sending their children to schools abroad (you know so they, too, will understand the wrath of the ASUU strikes) - rejected ❌
A bill to bar states from working to generate their own electricity - accepted ✅
See the other bills decisions here
COVID’s out, Lassa fever and measles are in
Just as Nigerians prepare to enjoy a pandemic-managed summer armed with vaccines and face masks, we’re reminded that real life is like a never-ending AfMag movie with new hurdles and challenges- this time, it’s Lassa fever and measles making a comeback.
Alarm rises over a fresh outbreak of Lassa fever in Nigeria as Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed 86 deaths from the viral disease since the beginning of the year.
This includes an additional 21 deaths and 96 diagnosed cases recorded between February 14 and 21, two of which were members of the Nigerian Medical Association who passed within 72 hours of infection.
Compared to the 27.5% recorded over the same timespan in 2021, the agency records a lower Lassa fever fatality rate at 19.1% this year.
Meanwhile, the NCDC also has its hands full over a lack of measles vaccination as an outbreak reportedly reaches Jigawa, Anambra, Katsina, Rivers, Enugu, Delta, Osun and Sokoto.
Out of a total of 908 suspected cases, 58.7 confirmed cases were not vaccinated.
Ukraine, your racism is showing
Ukraine demands $1,000 from Nigerian Volunteers💀
Many Nigerians decided to keep their African mouths out the Ukrainian-Russian war as they suspected their opinions would be considered irrelevant but apparently so is their manual aid.
Nearly 200 Nigerians volunteered to be recruited into the Ukrainian Army. While some cited an opportunity to support their families as the reasoning behind their decision, others want to fight for the honour of another country.
In response, Ukraine Embassy in Nigeria is demanding Nigerian men who wish to fight on their side, provide evidence of military experience, passport, and a ticket and visa fee of $1,000 (I don’t blame them lol).
“Nigeria is so far gone that our countrymen would rather take their chances in the crossfire than keep living here 😭” — Victoria
Mixed news on Nigerians in Ukraine
The good news is that the first batch of Nigerians in Ukraine arrived in Abuja Friday morning at 7:10 am following the $8.5 million Buhari approved for evacuation.
The awful news is that many Nigerian students are being refused access to the Poland border for their Caucasian counterparts to get first entry.
Instead, the students have been forced to travel across the war-torn country once more in hopes of crossing the Hungarian border to safety.
Surprise! More Insecurity
According to Kaduna’s Government, there may or may not be bombs planted in the state😃
The Kaduna state government warns citizens to be on the lookout for terrorist planted bombs across the state.
The warning was given in a statement by Samuel Aruwan, the state commissioner for Internal Security and Homeland Affairs.
Read the full statement here.
Over 200 terrorists ‘neutralised’ in Niger
Over 200 terrorists were killed in an intense 3-day repression by a Joint Security Taskforce.
The task force was headed by The Commissioner for Local and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr Emmanuel Umaru who confirmed that 100 motorcycles and cows were retrieved from the bandits.
Most of the cows have since been returned to their rightful owners.
After months in hostage, kidnappers kill 8 victims for refusal to pay a ransom
10 male victims were kidnapped on September 1, 2021, after a failed attack on the local government headquarters.
2 managed to escape but because of mixed communications from the kidnappers, the families of the remaining 8 held hostage were not able to pay the ransom.
The kidnappers eventually killed 8 people who were still in captivity. They said their victims’ families’ refusal to pay was the cause of their deaths.
Meanwhile, in the world of finance…
N26.6bn, N874m aren’t just fairytales in this 2022 economy to these bank officials
When it comes to corruption, “The Batman” has nothing on Nigeria 🥲
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned former PHB director, Funmi Adenmosun in January over an alleged N26.6 billion fraud case on him and his two companies, Home Trust Savings and Loan Limited and Rare Properties and Development Limited.
Now, Adenmosun is facing trial on 10 counts and was remanded to Ikoyi Correctional Facility over the period of the trial (EFCC custody must be that bad).
EFCC has been really busy because Adenmosun is not the only (former) bank official facing charges this month. Fidelity bank officials, Olusegun Babasola, Abisola Ahmed, Uchechukwu Uma and Jude Aphaeus are also facing fraud charges for allegedly stealing N874 million by linking accounts to ATM cards.
The money was stolen by hacking corporate ATM cards with an app called Postillion according to EFCC. The cards belonged to American International Insurance Company (AIICO), Interswitch, OVH Energy Marketing Ltd, Fidelity Bank Sinking Fund Account and FSL Securities Ltd.
Airlines set a N50,000 base price and FG isn’t having it
The current fuel scarcity is not only a motor problem but apparently also an aviation problem with aviation fuel going up to at least N440 per litre. Because of this, airlines collectively agreed to throw competition out the window and the FG’s not happy about it.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Babatunde Irukera ordered airlines against collectively agreeing to set the base price of a plane ticket at N50,000 (thank God).
Irukera says that it’s illegal for the airlines to come together and resolve in any activity that eliminates competition according to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations.
Other news
Is electricity rubbish in your area? The Minister of Power says sorry, it’s seasonal. “With the reduction in hydro capacity during the dry season, gas plants require more energy. He promised that they’re working with gas suppliers to fix it (Premium Times)
ASUU is on strike again, FG sets up a useless committee in response. Again. (The Guardian)
Minister of Education walks out on students for being “rude” then comes back make promises (Premium Times)
INEC changes dates for 2023 general elections (Premium Times)
Aviation fuel scarcity (Arise TV)
FG approves request for Abba Kyari to face fraud charges in the US (Premium Times)
Abba Kyari and 6 others charged with cocaine dealing (Premium Times)
APC withdraws from local government elections in Benue (The Tribune)
Nigeria earned $2.9bn from beer in 2019 Nigeria (Arise TV)