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Tinubu: Why I’m Yet To Go On Exile As Promised – Charly Boy

Charles Oputa, the maverick Nigerian singer, who is also known as Charly Boy, has explained why he is still in Nigeria.

He said he is still in Nigeria despite his preferred presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi of the Labour Party not emerging president because he is “hopeful.”

Recall that before the 2023 presidential elections, Charly Boy had vowed to relocate from Nigeria if either Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, or Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, emerged president.

Tinubu was declared the winner of the February 25th presidential election and was subsequently sworn in as president on May 29th.

Months after Tinubu’s swearing-in, Charly Boy said he is still in the country because Peter Obi renewed his hope.

He made this known via his Twitter handle on Friday.

“I remember over 1yr ago, I bin talk say, if PDP or APC win election, I go just pack my tins commot Nigeria.

“Today am still staying put in Nigeria because I am hopeful in the face of all the Potopoto I see.

“Thank you, Peter Obi for renewing my HOPE. God bless you,” he wrote.

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Gov Makinde Makes Fresh Appointments In Oyo

Gov Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has made new appointments.

The appointments were confirmed in a letter signed and issued on Thursday, July 20, 2023, by his Chief of Staff, Segun Ogunwuyi.

The letter revealed that Makinde re-appointed Fatai Owoseni as Special Adviser on Security matters.

Owoseni is a former commissioner of police in Lagos state.

The governor also re-appointed a former chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Oyo State chapter, Comrade Bayo Titilola-Sodo, as Special Adviser on Labour matters.

This is as he re-appointed a retired Assistant Comptroller of Immigration, Segun Adegoke, as the Special Adviser on Homeland Security.

Governor Makinde equally announced the appointment of the immediate past Commissioner for Trades and Commerce, Chief Bayo Lawal, as Senior Executive Assistant on General Duties, Naija News understands.

Other appointments approved by the Governor include Olatilewa Folami – Director-General of Oyo State Investment and Public Private Partnership (OYSIPA); Elias Adeojo- Chairman of Water Corporation of Oyo State and Olufemi Awakan- Chairman, of Oyo State Board of Internal Revenue.

Makinde also approved the appointment of Dr Debo Akande as Executive Adviser, Agribusiness, International Cooperation and Development & Director-General, Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA).

The governor charged the new appointees to see their appointments as a further call to service. He enjoined the appointees to discharge their duties with dedication and absolute loyalty to the state.

Makinde concluded that the appointments are with immediate effect.

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WAEC Fails To Present Governor Dapo Abiodun’s Certificate At Tribunal

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) failed to present the 1978 certificate of the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, at the State Election Petition Tribunal on Thursday.

The tribunal, which is based in Abeokuta, the state capital, had requested the document.

The request was made following a challenge by People’s Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate, Ladi Adebutu, to Governor Dapo Abiodun’s March 18 election victory.

Adebutu alleged that Abiodun forged his WAEC certificate.

In his petition, Adebutu claimed that Abiodun presented a falsified 1978 WAEC School Certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in July 2022.

Adebutu further mentioned that despite contacting WAEC to validate the certificate, no response had been received.

On Thursday, WAEC official, Olufemi Olaleye, appeared before the tribunal but didn’t have the disputed certificate.

Olaleye also couldn’t confirm whether Abiodun took the examination.

Olaleye, however, presented a copy of the subpoena issued to WAEC and told the tribunal that the council doesn’t keep duplicates of collected certificates.

To verify if someone has taken an examination, the original certificate would need to be sent to WAEC for verification.

When asked outside the court for further details about the certificate’s absence, Olaleye simply responded, “My lips are sealed.”

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Petrol Hike: Union Orders Colleges of Education Lecturers To Work Only Twice Weekly

Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union has directed lecturers to work only twice in a week.
The directive was given on Wednesday due to the recent increase in the price of petrol.
The Union said the order is effective unitl the government addresses the issues caused by the removal of subsidy which according to the union has caused untold hardship to its members.
The union in a press statement issued by its national president, Dr Sam Olugbeko noted that its members could no longer survive on the current minimum wage hence it has directed its members to only go to work twice weekly.
The statement reads, “The National leadership of our great Union in its extraordinary meeting held on Tuesday, 18th July 2023 had agreed to direct its members to go to work two days weekly until Federal Government yields to its demand of 200 percent increase in salary amidst the difficulty of members to get to work as a result of hike in the price of petrol.
“The implementation of the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government two months ago raised the price of a litre of petrol by 250%. This worsened the inflationary rate on the cost of transportation, food, and other essential commodities and impoverished the Nigerian people. Workers, including staff of Colleges of Education, kept faith with the government and chose to endure the untold hardship thinking it would be only for a while as the government promised to roll out palliative measures including a significant increase in salaries. Alas! While our capabilities to sustain hope were already exhausted, the price of petrol rose further to N650 per litre. Now, the leadership of the Union has been inundated by members’ complaints that they could no longer go to work as a result of a hike in the price of petrol and the resultant high cost of transportation.
 
“Against this backdrop, it has become inevitable for the Union to direct members to go to work only two days weekly while an emergency NEC meeting shall be convened to ratify this decision and decide on the specific days of the week members are to go to work.
 
“The present salary of staff of Colleges of Education was approved in the year 2010 – 13 years ago! This means we have been on the same salary since 2010 while petrol prices rose intermittently from N65/N70 in 2010 to N650 in 2023 (tenfold increase). Our salary structure which is subject to renegotiation at 3-year intervals has remained static for 13 years, skipping four due renegotiations. It is ludicrous that the government has refused to return to the negotiation table on the welfare package for staff after the Union, prior to the removal of the fuel subsidy, had proposed a 200% increase in salary as against the government’s offer of a ridiculous 35% for Chief Lecturers and 23% for other cadres.”
Speaking on the way forward, the union called on the government to immediately seek lasting solutions to prevent crisis in colleges of education.
“We call on the FG to urgently do the needful because the inevitable action of the Union against this hardship will have devastating effects on the students as it will lead to a prolonged academic calendar – a semester of 16 weeks will become 32 weeks or more; while Teaching Practice exercise of 6 months will become 12 months.
 
“We call on His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to quickly address the issue of salary adjustment for staff of Colleges of Education. We believe in the capacity of the President to address this problem as he did when he was the Governor of Lagos State where he so generously increased the salaries of staff in the then Lagos State-owned Colleges of Education that they became the highest paid nationwide,” the union said.
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Fuel Price: Subsidy Removal Now Looking Like A Scam – CUPP Slams Tinubu Govt

The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has reacted to the new increase in price of petrol.
CUPP while slamming President Bola Tinubu‘s government, said the subsidy removal is now looking like a scam.
The price of petrol shot up from N540 to N617 per litre on Tuesday following an announcement by the federal government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
The NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, in a subsequent statement, attributed the recent rise in petrol pump prices to market forces.
Kyari offered this explanation shortly after a meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Aso Villa.
Reacting, however, to the hardship brought upon Nigerians as a result of the latest development, CUPP said fuel subsidy removal by President Tinubu’s administration is now looking like a scam to the citizens.
CUPP criticized the ‘crazy and unending fuel price hikes’ which, according to it is driving inflation to the rooftops and making life increasingly unbearable for Nigerians generally.
In a press release signed by the group’s national co-spokesperson, Mark Adebayo, on Wednesday, CUPP frowned at the sudden increase barely a month after the fuel price was hiked over 300% on May 29th this year.
The press release reads: “It has come to the attention of the CUPP the sudden and surreptitious increase yet again in the pump prices of petrol by NNPCL which has immediately started having negative domino effects on all other commodities and services in the country and further drowning most Nigerians into excruciating poverty and unprecedented economic woes.
 
“This subsidy removal scheme is increasingly looking like a scam to cage Nigerians inside a preprogrammed regime of socioeconomic slavery dictated by leadership insensitivity. This is not about opposition Parties. The opposition actually felt that the president had something better to offer Nigerians after the subsidy removal but what we are witnessing now is a double negative impact on Nigerians in every way imaginable.
 
“The way NNPCL is behaving now suggests that there is a hidden agenda of crazy and unending fuel price hikes that will be driving inflation to the rooftops and making life increasingly unbearable for Nigerians generally.
 
“No purposeful government would recklessly abandon its citizens to the unpredictable and inhumane market forces that are essentially atrocious and callous in nature without a robust intervention to protect the citizens. Such a policy is not only antisocial but also outrageously iniquitous. Nigerians have shown enough understanding of the subsidy removal; this administration should not push them to the wall and thereby instigate unmanageable mass crises that could further jeopardize the life of the common man.
 
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must immediately show himself as a compassionate leader by ensuring that the NNPCL is not hijacked by the same forces that stole the fuel subsidy monies leading to its removal and finding a backdoor to continue claiming the subsidy by other means and making Nigerians bear the brunt of their economic terrorism. We demand the immediate removal of the NNPCL GMD, Mele Kyari, to allow for a breath of fresh air in the organization and for his tenure to be forensically investigated and all discovered infractions to be comprehensively prosecuted before the NNPCL is turned into the terrorist arm of the economic cabal.”
CUPP urged the federal government to, without further hesitation, do something to reverse the recent fuel price hikes and stop any future plans to clandestinely increase the pump prices with the predictable value of increasing the sufferings of Nigerians.
 
“When will Nigerians be free from the wickedness of their governments?”, CUPP asked.
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Naira Extends Gain At I&E Window, Closes At N742.9/$

Nigeria’s currency, the naira, has slightly gained and appreciated.

The naira, on Tuesday, appreciated by 6.58 percent to close at N742.93/$ at the investors and exporters (I&E) window.

The improving fortune of the naira comes two sessions after it tumbled to an all-time low of N803.9/$ last Friday.

Data from FMDQ Securities Exchange, a platform that oversees foreign exchange (FX) trading in Nigeria, showed that the local currency hit an intra-day trading high of N831 and a low of N707.99 before it settled at N742.93.

FMDQ quoted an opening rate of N788.17 to the dollar on Tuesday.

FX turnover within the day’s market session increased significantly by 352.36 percent to $156.29 million from $34.55 million published in the previous market session on Monday.

Meanwhile, the greenback was sold at N825 at the parallel/black market on Tuesday, Bureaux De Change operators (BDCs) in the Ikeja area of Lagos told TheCable.

On Monday, one dollar was sold at N827 at the black market.

TheCable had reported that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate rose for the sixth consecutive time to 22.79 percent in June 2023.

The inflation rate recorded a slight surge from 22.41 percent in May — less than expected by analysts.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) later explained why inflation only rose slightly in June despite the impact of petrol subsidy removal and exchange rate unificiation on consumer prices.

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BREAKING: President Tinubu Writes Senate, Seeks Appointments Confirmation

President Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has written to the Senate, requesting it to confirm the appointment of members of the governing board of North East Development Commission (NEDC).

The letter for confirmation was sent to the Senate on Wednesday, July 19.

Details later..

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N617 Per Litre Is Extortion, Fuel Price Should Be N150 – PDP Slams Tinubu

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has slammed President Bola Tinubu accusing him of extorting Nigerians with his fuel subsidy removal.
This followed the recent increase in the price of petrol to N617 per litre.
PDP said the price of fuel should not be more than N150 per litre, adding that the increased rate was a maladministration by Tinubu’s government that has shown extreme insensitivity and callousness towards Nigerians.
The Party cautions that the increase is worsening the already suffocating economic situation under the APC and has the capability of triggering a very serious crisis in the country if not abated.
A statement by PDP’s spokesman, Debo Ologunagba said it is appalling that instead of seeking ways to stabilize and grow the economy, the APC administration has abandoned the welfare of Nigerians which is the primary purpose of Government under Section 14 (2)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and left the citizens to the vagaries of market forces and exploitative cabal; a disposition that is characteristic of a government that is not accountable to the people.
Ologunagba: “The PDP is alarmed that with its ill-thought out, badly planned and hurriedly-executed policies, the APC is running Nigeria’s economy aground with the value of naira rapidly plummeting, businesses and production shutting down; citizens losing their means of livelihood, commercial and social activities crippled, with millions of families no longer able to afford their daily needs as the costs of food, medication and other essential goods and services continue to skyrocket.
 
“The present dire situation comes as a consequence of APC’s insensitivity, seething corruption, scandalous cluelessness and lack of capacity to effectively steady and manage the nation’s economy.
 
“Our Party insists that the N617 per litre of fuel is excessive, unacceptable and cannot be justified under any guise. This is especially given the economic potential and prospects within our country.
 
“Even with the removal of subsidy on petroleum products, the PDP maintains that with a deft, transparent and innovative management of resources, economic potentials, national comparative advantage and expanded value chain in refining capacity, fuel should not sell for more than N150 per litre in Nigeria.”
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First Lady, Remi Tinubu Renames Women Centre After Late Maryam Babangida

The National Centre for Women Development (NCWD) in Abuja has been renamed after the late First Lady, Dr Maryam Babangida.

The First Lady, Sen Remi Tinubu who made the change, said the late Maryam was a mentor and the greatest contributor to present-day first ladies in the country.

She said the late Maryam Babangida and Maryam Abacha were proud of her when she was the Lagos State governor’s wife because she reminded them of themselves.

Senator Tinubu spoke yesterday in Abuja at the renaming of the centre as the Maryam Babangida National Centre for Women Development (MBNCWD) and induction of first Nigerian female achievers into the Nigerian Women Hall of Fame.

The First Lady also stated that during her time as first lady, Maryam Babangida played complementary and supportive roles to the then Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida.

She recalled that several worthwhile projects were executed to ameliorate the sufferings of the masses at the time.

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I Won’t Interfere With Case — Emefiele Asks Court To Grant Him Bail

The suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has asked a federal high court in Lagos to grant him bail, TheCable reports.

Emefiele is seeking bail on self-recognisance pending the determination of the charge filed against him by the federal government.

On July 13, Peter Afunanya, spokesperson of the Department of State Services (DSS) confirmed that the agency has filed charges against Emefiele.

The DSS charged Emefiele with two counts bordering on alleged possession of firearms.

Although the case has been assigned to Nicholas Oweibo, a judge, Emefiele is yet to be arraigned.

The bail application, which is premised on nine grounds, was filed by a team of 10 lawyers led by Joseph Daudu.

Emefiele argued that the charges for which he was accused are bailable.

He said he has never been convicted of a crime and should enjoy the presumption of innocent until proven guilty, adding that he is not a flight risk.

Emefiele also said granting him bail would afford him adequate time to prepare his defence.

He added that since investigations have been concluded, there is no likelihood of interference on his part.

The defendant pledged to show up for trial on time and expressed his willingness to offer responsible sureties required by the court.

On June 9, President Bola Tinubu suspended Emefiele and asked him to transfer his responsibilities to Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, deputy governor, operations directorate.

The day after, the DSS announced that Emefiele was in its custody for “some investigative reasons”.

Emefiele has been in DSS custody since June.

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