Global Excellence magazine, Lagos

30/10/2023

Lawmakers begin impeachment of Rivers State gov, Fubara, sack House leader

*police teargas governor

17/10/2023

PRESIDENT TINUBU LAUNCHES CASH TRANSFER TO 15M HOUSEHOLDS-

President Bola Tinubu has launched the renewed hope conditional cash transfer to 15 million households.

Tinubu was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, at the launch of the conditional transfer held at the State House, Abuja, on Tuesday.

The launch event coincided with World Poverty Eradication Day.

Tinubu said the renewed hope conditional cash transfer programme is an immediate intervention to cushion the effects of the removal of the petrol subsidy and other economic shocks.

The President said the theme of this year’s World Poverty Eradication Day, “Decent Work and Social Protection: Putting dignity in practice for all” is in perfect alignment with the renewed hope agenda.

According to him, his administration would lead from the front in ensuring that all Nigerians have opportunities for dignified work and sustained social protection.

Tinubu said, “It is only via a sustained collaborative approach that we can win this war against poverty in Nigeria and the world at large.

“Hope is here. I ask the Nigerian people to please ensure that they key into all the available programmes because they are here to help.

“Our objective is to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty. Yet, this will only be possible with the cooperation of the people we seek to help.

“Let us continue to work together to achieve our collective goal of eradicating poverty in Nigeria.”

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, while speaking at the event, commended Tinubu for providing the opportunity for 15 million households to benefit from the conditional cash transfers.

Edu said the first phase of the payments had already begun, adding that the names of beneficiaries were gotten from the National Social Register.

The Minister said, “Verification has been ongoing in the last three weeks, and Nigerians that are on that register have been verified with their biometrics verification number (BVN), national identification number (NIN), as well as all the forms of in-person verification at the points of their household.

“Remember that it would be an expansion of this register, which would carry the vulnerable pensioners, veterans and wives of fallen heroes, as well as other areas of concern where they were not fully captured, but however, we are starting.

“And what we are starting with are those that have been verified across all the states in Nigeria.”

16/10/2023

Lagos government orders traders to leave all bridges within seven days

*in the news

13/10/2023

DAVIDO, CHIOMA FLAUNT THEIR NEW TWIN BABIES IN US HOSPITAL

13/10/2023

SHOWBIZ EXECUTIVE, KENNY 'KEKE' OGUNGBE COMPLETES NYSC SERVICE AT AGE 53-

*see his passing-out parade photos at Lagos camp

13/10/2023

Nollywood Actress, Funmi Awelewa, Makes Directorial Debut With 'A Wish', Marks Birthday

12/10/2023

CBN LIFTS BAN ON RICE, VEGETABLE OIL, TOMATOES, CEMENT 50 OTHER ITEMS-

The Central Bank of Nigeria has announced the lifting of the ban on 43 items previously restricted from accessing forex.

The apex bank, in a statement issued on Thursday, said that as market liquidity improves, the interventions will “gradually decrease”.

The decision comes amid high levels of volatility experienced in the FX market following the unification of all trading windows into the investors’ and exporters’ (I&E) window — the official FX market.

On Wednesday, the naira fell to a new all-time low, trading at N1,045 to the dollar in the street markets. The depreciation was sustained at the official market at N776.

In the statement, signed by Isa AbdulMumin, CBN’s director of corporate communications, the regulator pledged to continue to promote orderliness and professional conduct by all participants in the foreign exchange market to ensure market forces determine exchange rates on a willing buyer, willing seller principle.

“The CBN reiterates that the prevailing Foreign Exchange (FX) rates should be referenced from platforms such as the CBN website, FMDQ, and other recognised or appointed trading systems to promote price discovery, transparency, and credibility in the FX rates,” the statement reads.

The apex bank says; “Importers of all the 43 items previously restricted by the 2015 Circular referenced TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/010 and its addendums are now allowed to purchase foreign exchange in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.

In 2015, the CBN restricted 43 items from accessing FX from I&E window.

Some of the affected items include rice, cement, margarine, palm kernel, palm oil products, vegetable oils, meat and processed meat products, vegetables and processed vegetable products, poultry, tomatoes/tomato paste, soap, cosmetics, and head pans.

The lifting of the ban means that importers of these items can now freely purchase forex from the official window at ‘cheaper rates’.

09/10/2023

GENERAL YAKUBU GOWON DEBUNKS DEATH RUMOUR-

"Even at 88, I'm not in a hurry to leave"

06/10/2023

POLICE SAY MOHBAD DIED FROM INJURIES HE SUSTAINED FROM FIGHT HE HAD WITH HIS FRIEND, PRIMEBOY; ABSOLVE NAIRA MARLEY, SAM LARRY-

*name other suspects
---

The Lagos police have revealed what led to the death of popular singer, Ilerioluwa Aloba a.k.a Mohbad.

The police in a press conference this afternoon made it known that the singer died as a result of an injury which he sustained during a fight with his friend, Primeboy.

It was noted that Mohbad didn’t treat the injury despite the several pleas by his wife and friends.

The police stated that when Mohbad finally got treatment, it was from an auxiliary nurse who was described as a quack. The treatment reacted negatively and it led to the deceased convulsing before he was confirmed dead.

The nurse was mentioned as the prime suspect in the death of Mohbad because she went beyond her limitations to administer drugs and injections that led to the eventual death of the singer.

On whether Naira Marley and Sam Larry were involved, the police explained that both of them were not in the country at the time the event that led to his death happened as the location stretched between Ikorodu and Lekki.

The nurse, Primeboy and onee Ibrahim were mentioned as suspects in the homicide case.

04/10/2023

POLICE DECLARE CHILDHOOD FRIEND, PRIMEBOY, WANTED OVER SINGER MOHBAD'S DEATH-

*unconfirmed information has it he hit Mohbad with charms leading to his death

04/10/2023

Panic in senate as ministerial nominee, Balarabe Abbas, slumps during screening

*in the news

04/10/2023

BBNAIJA ALL-STARS ORGANIZERS DECLARE AS WINNER GETS N120m, SUV-
*"We employed 2000 staff, we got N1.53bn votes. In total, we spent N5.5bn on 2023 edition"

02/10/2023

Tribunal sacks APC Gov Sule of Nasarawa, declares Ombugadu of PDP as authentic governor

*breaking news

29/09/2023

NEWS-
Police arrest, detain popular music promoter, Sam Larry, over Singer Mohbad's death

*await Naira Marley's return to Nigeria

26/09/2023

WHY CHICAGO STATE UNIVERSITY SHOULDN’T RELEASE MY ACADEMIC RECORDS TO ATIKU
-PRESIDENT TINUBU

President Bola Tinubu, on Monday, intensified his legal efforts to block the Chicago State University from releasing his academic records to his rival presidential candidate during the last election, Atiku Abubakar.

After obtaining a reprieve from the District Court of Northern Illinois, Eastern Division, with the court temporarily suspending its 20 September order compelling the university to release the documents to Atiku, President Tinubu has now filed a more detailed objection seeking to convince the court to reverse the order outright.

Tinubu’s application, filed by his New York-based lawyer, Oluwole Afolabi, is anchored on two broad reasons.

First is that his academic records in issue are not useful in Nigerian courts as claimed by Atiku because “the Nigerian election proceedings and the Nigerian courts have explicitly been unreceptive to the discovery.”

Tinubu’s second reason is that Atiku’s request “is unduly intrusive because it allows Applicant (Atiku) to conduct a fishing expedition into Intervenor’s private, confidential, and protected educational records.”

He urged the court to set aside the previous order, saying his political opponents had previously used his illegally obtained academic records to attack him.

“The unlawful release of documents previously allowed Intervenor’s opponents to sow confusion and spread conspiracy theories,” Tinubu’s objection read in part.

It added that Atiku’s application was not anything more than “opposition research on a political opponent”.

Atiku had set off the legal battle with an application filed on 2 August requesting the court to order the Chicago State University to release Tinubu’s academic records to him.

The former Nigerian vice president requested the documents in the hope of using them at the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja to challenge the authenticity of the certificate presented by Tinubu to Nigeria’s electoral body, INEC, for the 2023 election.

He argued that among other things, a “second Chicago State University diploma has since emerged (dated June 27, 1979) that bears the name “Bola Ahmed Tinubu” but also presents with a different font, punctuation, seal, and signatures, than the June 22, 1979 diploma, among other alleged discrepancies.”

Atiku told the US court that he wanted to authenticate these documents whether a “Chicago State University diploma in the name of Bola Ahmed Tinubu dated June 22, 1979, that was submitted to the INEC before the Nigerian presidential election in February 2023 is genuine or was forged.”

On 19 September, a magistrate judge of the court, Jeffrey Gilbert, ordered the university to release the requested documents to Atiku within two days.

Tinubu’s legal team swiftly approached a district judge of the court to suspend the order to enable them to file a more elaborate challenge against it.

At an emergency hearing on 21 September, the district judge, Nancy Maldonado, agreed to delay the order compelling the Chicago State University to release the academic documents of President Tinubu.

Following the approval, Tinubu, through his legal team, filed his objection on Monday.

In the objection filed on Monday, Tinubu’s legal team argued that the magistrate judge granted Atiku’s application even though the applicant was barred from attempting to use the discovery in the foreign proceeding.

“That conclusion should be rejected because the discovery cannot be ‘for use’ in the foreign proceeding due to the decision of the Nigerian Election Court, and that decision shows the Nigerian courts would not be receptive to the discovery sought by the application.

“The Magistrate gave no weight to the decision of the Nigerian Election Court, which is authoritative proof of the unreceptivity of the foreign court to the discovery sought,” the objection read in part.

It added that the possibility that the Nigerian Supreme Court, where Atiku proceeded to challenge the decision of the Presidential Election Petition Court, may accept the documents was a mere speculation and not “not an indication that foreign courts might consider the discovery.”

In the other plank of objection, Tinubu’s team argued that while Atiku’s case at the Nigerian court only touched on “a CSU diploma”, the magistrate judge “erroneously concluded” to issue an order for the release of “other educational documents.”

They said the court erroneously held that “a foray into other documents” was permissible because “Intervenor also submitted other educational documents in a related proceeding in Nigeria.”

The objection added: “The Magistrate erred in requiring compliance with two subpoenas that go far beyond the narrow issue of the diploma submitted to the INEC, and finding that the education records protections were overcome by Applicant’s investigatory interests.

“The Magistrate determined that the Applicant’s interest outweighed the privacy interest because the Intervenor put the diploma at issue by submitting it to the INEC.

The Magistrate also concluded the Applicant’s interests were stronger as to ‘other educational documents’ submitted in related proceedings.

This second conclusion is clearly erroneous because the ‘other documents’ are not at issue in the electoral challenge, and discovery for “related proceedings” is merely another way of describing a fishing expedition.

Tinubu argued that he stood to suffer harm in allowing discovery on issues and documents outside the diploma because his records “were illegally obtained previously and have been utilised to attack him”.

He added: “Obtaining more documents via a subpoena – particularly ones that are not part of the INEC submission by Intervenor – is both improper and nonsensical.

“The unlawful release of documents previously allowed Intervenor’s opponents to sow confusion and spread conspiracy theories. Applicant should not be permitted to conduct discovery on the discovery illegally obtained by Applicant’s allies and Intervenor’s political opponents. Discovery on discovery is rarely appropriate and is certainly not appropriate when the sole issue Applicant identified is the Intervenor’s submission of his diploma to INEC.

“Nor does the fact that Intervenor’s educational records have been spread into court records justify discovery. Section 1782 does not authorise fishing expeditions to satisfy curiosity or resolve public controversy.”

In conclusion, Tinubu said the Chicago State University had already been established as the most critical by stating that he was awarded the degree as he stated.

“This point is irrelevant to Applicant because he is not seeking anything more than opposition research on a political opponent. The Magistrate Judge clearly erred in granting the application for discovery and concluding that Chicago State University must respond to the document and deposition subpoenas

He urged the court to set aside the conclusion of the magistrate judge and reverse his order “because the information sought cannot be used and therefore is not “for use” in the foreign proceedings.

Atiku had, in his application, argued that among other things, a “second Chicago State University diploma has since emerged (dated June 27, 1979) that bears the name “Bola Ahmed Tinubu” but also presents with a different font, punctuation, seal, and signatures, than the June 22, 1979 diploma, among other alleged discrepancies.”

Atiku told the US that he wanted to authenticate these documents whether a “Chicago State University diploma in the name of Bola Ahmed Tinubu dated June 22, 1979, that was submitted to the INEC before the Nigerian presidential election in February 2023 is genuine or was forged.”

Atiku added that “under Nigerian law, the submission of a fraudulent document to the INEC would have disqualified President Tinubu from participating in the election.”

When Atiku filed his application in the US district court on 2 August, his petition challenging the presidential election was pending before the Nigerian Presidential Election Petition Tribunal. Therefore, Atiku said his application in the US court was to obtain discoveries that would support his petitions in the Nigerian court of appeal.

Court documents show that a day after Atiku’s application was filed, President Tinubu filed a motion to join in the suit. The judge granted the motion to intervene on 7 August.

21/09/2023

NIGERIAN PRESIDENT'S SON, SEYI TINUBU, REPORTEDLY GIFTS LATE SINGER MOHBAD'S BABY BOY N15m CASH-

*in the news

20/09/2023

Tribunal sacks Kano NNPP gov, declares APC candidate winner

*breaking news

20/09/2023

LATE SINGER, MOHBAD'S BODY HAS BEEN EXHUMED FOR AUTOPSY-

-see video

19/09/2023

Boy whose intestine got missing at Lagos hospital dies

*breaking news

18/09/2023

18/09/2023

MOHBAD'S DEATH:
POLICE INAUGURATE SPECIAL INVESTIGATION TEAM

The Lagos State Police Command has inaugurated a 13-man special investigation team to probe the mysterious death of Nigerian singer, Ilerioluwa Aloba, popularly known as Mohbad.

A statement from the Lagos State police commissioner, Idowu Olohunwa, reads;

“Do not forget, we have unique access with INTERPOL. Everybody linked to it (the death of Mohbad) will be identified and they will be brought to establish their level of involvement."

Singer Naira Marley is currently outside Nigeria.

06/09/2023

TRIBUNAL DECLARES BOLA TINUBU VALIDLY ELECTED PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA-

The Presidential Election Petitions Court on Wednesday affirmed the election of President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

On whether the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was right to return Tinubu as the duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast in the February 25, 2023 poll, the Tribunal held that the petitioner — the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its flag bearer, Atiku Abubakar — did not successfully prove the allegations against this ground and indeed all the grounds in their petition.

Justice Haruna Tsammani, leader of the five-man panel, said, “This petition accordingly lacks merit. I affirm the return of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the duly elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The parties are to bear their cost.”

The court also expunged 37 exhibits tendered by the witnesses from the court’s records.

On the issue of dumping of documents on the court, he held that this would only go to the weight to be attached to such evidence.

On the issue of Tinubu’s conviction and the issue of his dual citizenship, the Tribunal again held like it earlier did that this issues were incompetent and liable to be struck out and same were indeed struck out.

06/09/2023

IN VIDEO-

Presidential election petitions tribunal prepares to sit for judgement

*Tinubu, Atiku, Obi know fate

05/09/2023

PRIMATE AYODELE ON PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION TRIBUNAL-
"Tinubu will be declared winner. I have said it that he can't be unseated if he won"

30/08/2023

COUP IN GABON-

Army sacks President Ali Bongo after presidential election

23/08/2023

FCT Minister, Wike bans open cattle grazing, hawking, street trading in Abuja, marks 6,000 buildings for demolition

*in the news

16/07/2023

Lagos govt has shut down Eko bridge this morning, for repairs

*plan your movements

14/07/2023

Southwest former senator, Gbenga Aluko, slumps in Abuja office, dies

*in the news

07/07/2023

In Lagos, LAWMA begins to seal houses, shops without waste bins, today

19/06/2023

President Tinubu sacks Service Chiefs

*breaking news

18/06/2023

Saudi Arabia announces sighting of moon, declares Wednesday, June 28, 2023 Ileya Day

*in the news

14/06/2023

President Tinubu suspends EFCC chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa

*in the news

13/06/2023

10th NASS:
Tajudeen Abbas elected Nigerian House of Reps speaker

*in the news

13/06/2023

Godswill Akpabio elected 10th Nigerian senate president

*defeats Abdulaziz Yari by 63 to 46