Osinbajo jets out to London for a brief meeting with President Buhari and is expected back in Abuja immediately

acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo this evening departed the country to London for a brief meeting with Pres. Buhari who's recuperating in the UK and is expected back in Abuja immediately.

Laolu Akande, the Senior Assistant on Media and Publicity to the acting president, disclosed the information on Twitter.

Nigerian senate passes bill on compulsory treatment and care of Gunshot victims

Today, the Nigerian Senate passed the Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshots Bill. The Bill, which was sent to the Senate for Concurrence, seeks to establish a law that ensures that victims of gunshot wounds receive necessary treatment from medical workers and assistance from security agencies.  

Speaking on the passage of the Bill, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, stated that not every victim of a gunshot wound is a criminal, hence, it is important that a legal framework be put into place to avoid unnecessary loss of lives.  

“By the passage of this Bill, the Senate has moved to ensure that every hospital in Nigeria, both public and private, must accept to treat victims of gunshot wounds without any clearance from the police. What we have done is to ensure that everyone is entitled to medical treatment, irrespective of the cause of the shooting. We should reserve judgment for the criminal justice system, and leave healthcare for the medical professionals.” 

The Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshots Bill also ensures that every person including security agents shall render every possible assistance to any person with gunshot wounds and ensure that the person is taken to the nearest hospital for treatment.  Additionally, the Bill mandates that no person with gunshot wounds shall be refused immediate and adequate treatment by any hospital in Nigeria whether or not initial monetary deposit is paid.  

This brings the total number of Bills passed by the 8th Senate since June 9th​,​ 2015, to 108 Bills

'Kidnappers should be publicly executed to serve as deterrent to others' - Governor Umahi

With the case of Evans, the notorious kidnap kingpin still ongoing, Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State has suggested that 'Death Penalty' serves as the capital punishment for any arrested kidnapper in Nigeria. According to him, they should be publicly executed in other to serve as a deterrent to others.

Speaking in Abakaliki during an anti-corruption summit organized by the state government, Umahi said if such punishment is being implemented, it will help reduce the high rate of kidnapping in Nigeria.

Umahi said: 

“What these people do is worse than death, imagine kidnapping someone, blindfolding and chaining the person in one place for six months or more than that, it is worse than death and people who indulge in such deserve to be publicly executed to serve as a deterrent to others.”

Also speaking at the summit themed: ‘Institutionalization of Good Governance for Sustainable Development’, the chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Ekpo Nta said good governance can never be achieved in a corrupt environment. 

According to him,

 “Corruption thrives where all these processes are prevalent and corrupt persons seize these opportunities. ICPC relies heavily on promoting anti-corruption through robust prevention strategies.

“The United Nations Convention Against Corruption, UNAC strongly recommends that most of our strategies be channelled into prevention processes. This is the practice adopted by countries that have successfully reduced corrupt processes.”

MELAYE’S RECALL: THERE IS NO RESTRAINING ORDER – INEC

•Senator’s supporters seek divine intervention

Barring a last-minute change of mind, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will begin today the recall of Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West).

But supporters of the embattled senator have been pleading with some Christian clerics to intervene in the matter.

A team headed by INEC National Commissioner might oversee the process, which may also involve its Operation Department.

A top INEC official, who spoke in confidence, said: “There is no restraining order from any court. We will go ahead with the first leg. But if along the line, INEC is stopped from going ahead with the exercise, we will stop it.

“Pasting the verification notice is just the first leg of the process, which cannot hurt Melaye in any way.

“Even the process does not amount to removing the senator. By virtue of Section 110, a lawmaker is only opportune to gauge the mood of his or her constituents on his or her performance.

“If a lawmaker is doing well, he or she should feel free to face the electorate. The process is not a setback at all for any lawmaker.”

Responding to a question, the source added: “A team to be coordinated by the National Commissioner for Northcentral will oversee the process. Definitely, the Operation Department will be involved.

“INEC will, however, seek legal opinion immediately it is served the ruling of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

“We have subsisting court judgments, including those of the Court of Appeal, indicating that no court can stop a recall, which is like an election.”

Melaye’s counsel Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) flew into Abuja yesterday.

Some supporters of the embattled senator have been begging some Christian clerics to assist by whipping up religious sentiments, another source said.

The INEC timetable shows that Melaye’s recall will run from July 10th to August 19th.

The notice, dated July 3, 2017, reads: “In exercise of the powers conferred on the Independent National Electoral Commission (“the Commission”) by Sections 69 and 110 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended); Section 116 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) and of all the powers enabling it in that behalf, the Commission hereby issues this timetable schedule of activities for the recall of the Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District, Kogi State.”

The details of the timetable are as follows:

Notice of Verification(July 10, 2017). To be posted at the constituency (INEC LGA office, Lokoja).
Last day for submission of application by interested observers (31st July 2017). INEC headquarters.
Last day for submission of names of verification agents for the member sought to be recalled and the petitioners (August 10, 2017). By a letter addressed and submitted to the Resident Electoral Commission (REC) indicating the Polling Unit verification agents arranged by LGAs as well as collation agents and where they will serve.
Stakeholders meeting (August 15, 2017). INEC State Office.
Conduct of Verification (August 19, 2017). To be held in the Polling Units in the constituency.
“The commission shall issue the timetable and schedule of activities for the conduct of referendum subject to the outcome of the verification exercise.”

BUHARI’S RETURN: HYENAS, JACKALS WILL BE SENT OUT OF THE KINGDOM –AISHA

Wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, on Monday gave an indication that God has answered the prayers of Nigerians that have been praying for the recovery of her ailing husband, President Muhammadu Buhari.
She also hinted that “the hyenas” and “the jackals” will soon be ejected from the kingdom.
Mrs. Buhari, who is currently in the British capital with her husband, gave the indications on her Facebook page while responding to an earlier post made by the senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani.
Sani had earlier posted a message in which he was making veiled reference to alleged power play playing out in the government circle in Buhari’s absence.
The federal lawmaker had claimed that while “weaker animals” were praying for the return of “Lion King,” those he called “the hyenas” and the “the jackals” are scheming, based on the assumption that the “Lion King” will never return.
The senator wrote, “Prayer for the absent Lion King has waned. Until he’s back, then they will fall over each other to be on the front row of the palace temple.
“Now, the hyenas and the jackals are scheming and talking to each other in whispers; still doubting whether the Lion King will be back or not.
“Now, the Lion king is asleep and no other dare to confirm if he will wake up or not.
“It is the wish of the hyenas that the Lion King never wakes or come back, so that they can be kings.
“It is the prayers of the weaker animals that the Lion King comes back to save the kingdom from the hyenas, the wolves and other predators.”
But Buhari’s wife said the prayers of the “weaker animals” had been answered, and that “the hyenas” and “the jackals” would soon be evicted from “the kingdom.”
She wrote, “God has answered the prayers of the weaker animals. The hyenas and the jackals will soon be sent out of the kingdom.
“We strongly believe in the prayers and support of the weaker animals.
“Long live the weaker animals, long live Nigeria.”

Pope expands criteria for sainthood

Pope Francis on Tuesday expanded the criteria for becoming a saint to include “the free offering of one’s life” in an apostolic letter published by the Vatican.

An example of such self-sacrifice could be caring for patients with highly infectious diseases.

Previously, people could be named saints in two ways: if they had been martyred for their Christian faith, or had led a particularly holy life and had miracles credited to them.

Vatican media, however, explained that the new category of sainthood has five stipulations.

In addition to the free and voluntary offering of one’s life, and heroic acceptance of a certain and “soon-to-come death, there must be a close relation “between the offering of one’s life and the premature death of the one who offers it.”

The saintly candidate must have chosen to lead a good Christian life until their death and must have had “the reputation for holiness” before and after dying.

Finally, there must be evidence of a posthumous miracle that could be directly linked to the candidate.

Report says the new category of self-sacrifice does not have to include persecution by non-Christians.

WE ARE WORKING ON HOLISTIC SOLUTIONS TO PERMANENTLY ADDRESS FLOODING IN LAGOS -AMBODE

• To Re-engineer Drainage Systems, Enforce Physical Planning Laws
• Says Govt Will Step Up Campaign Against Dumping Of Refuse Into Canals
Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode on Monday said the flooding caused by torrential rainfalls in the Statewithin the last few days would soon be a thing of the past, as the State Government was working towards embarking on holistic solutions to address the situation once and for all.

Speaking at a sensitization workshop on water management and environmental control held at Ikeja which is a prelude to a Water Technology and Environmental Control (WATEC) exhibition holding in Israel later in the year, the Governor said aside the fact that the issue of flooding was not peculiar to the State or Nigeria as it was a global phenomenon, but that urgent steps are being taken to tackle the challenge in a holistic manner and protect the State from future re-occurrence.

The Governor, who empathized with people who lost properties to the flood, said that it was painful to see most prime estates flooded with water, roads taken over by floods, while many homesteads literally became pools.

Describing the workshop as apt coming at a time the State witnessed flooding in some parts, Governor Ambode said in as much as the development was a trying period for him given the fact that so much had been expended in providing infrastructure for the people, but that major strategies would be implemented with the view to bequeathing the State with enduring solution to water management and environmental control.

“However, if we have learnt anything in the on-going flooding of some parts of the State, it is that there is an immediate, even urgent need for us to embark upon a review and reengineering of our canals and drainage systems.

“This must be pursued hand-in-hand with a clear and crystal re-envisioning of our water management system. So, in effect, what we should immediately pursue is a holistic solution to what is certain to be a recurring problem. It must be a sincere collaboration between government and the citizenry,” Governor Ambode said.

The Governor said despite the fact that the State had been denied ecological funds by the previous federal government for political reasons, several reforms were being implemented in line with the capacity of the State Government to protect the shoreline and carry out de-flooding, which according to him, are equally expensive to implement.

“The issue is when you are talking about reforms, it comes with pains but it is only the vision that drives it through and that is what we are doing,” he said.

Speaking on the import of the workshop, Governor Ambode said the State Government was partnering with Israel which is one of the first countries to successfully overcome its limitations in water resources to develop water technology and environmental control, adding that the intention would be to explore a wide array of technological advancements and possibilities to ensure best solutions.

He said as a first step, the State Government would participate at the WATEC exhibition and take full advantage of state of the art technology in Israel, with the view to applying same solution in the State.

While alluding to the fact that the incidence of flooding was not circumscribed to Nigeria or Third World countries as United Kingdom and even Japan recently witnessed heavily flooding, the Governor said no matter how well a society may be prepared, natural occurrences could not be totally ruled out, and such was why Lagos State and indeed the country fully subscribes to the tenets of Climate Change Solutions by the United Nations.

“While all the aforementioned examples enjoin us to put our experience and pains into perspective, they also impress on us as a State and a government that we must learn from all these examples in order to better prepare for the future.

“To that extent, we will reinvigorate our campaign against the dumping of refuse by citizens into canals. We will be stronger in enforcing our physical planning laws especially those building illegally on canals and blocking the free flow of water across the State,” Governor Ambode vowed.

Speaking on the new waste management strategy being adopted by the State Government encapsulated in the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI), Governor Ambode said available statistics show that the State generate 13, 000 tonnes of waste per day which is the highest in the world, and that the new approach was aimed at revolutionizing waste management with particular emphasis on reusing waste for other critical purposes and growing the economy, as against the present practice of dumping.

Besides, the Governor said as government would be implementing new strategies to find a lasting solution to the problem of water shortages and flooding, it was also important for residents to play their part by bearing new attitudes towards civic obligations at all times, without which the efforts of government would be in futility.

Also, the State’s Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Engr Ade Adesanya said the torrential rainfalls witnessed in the State in the past few days accumulated a total of 477mm of water, which was equivalent to the rainfalls experienced in other climes for six months, and that the successful management of the situation was commendable, while expressing the determination of the government to mitigate the impact of such in future.

On his part, Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Guy Feldman said his country was delighted to partner with the Lagos State Government to bring about lasting solutions to water management and environmental control.