General
You Did Nothing to Rescue Chibok Girls—FG Tells Jonathan
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Former President, Mr Goodluck Jonathan, has been advised by the Federal Government to stop finger-pointing over the issue of the Chibok girls who were abducted under his watch.
Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday, alleged that, “After the girls were kidnapped and the Jonathan administration did nothing for all of 15 days or make any determined efforts to rescue them thereafter, our party, the then opposition APC, told the nation several times that the whole Boko Haram crisis was allowed to escalate by the PDP-controlled Federal Government so they can use it as a political tool ahead of the 2015 elections.”
The Minister said for Mr Jonathan to be engaging in finger-pointing over the issue is totally “an unnecessary distraction from ongoing efforts to secure the release of the girls who remain in captivity, long after they were abducted.”
Mr Mohammed was reacting to the former President’s reaction to the report by a British newspaper that the British armed forces’ offer to attempt to rescue the girls, but were rebuffed by then President Jonathan.
“While former President Jonathan reserves the right to defend his administration, he should not engage in finger-pointing by saying, in a statement, that ‘some people who have obviously been playing politics with the issue of the Chibok girls will stop at nothing to further their interest,” the Minister said.
Mr Mohammed said if anyone ever played politics with the issue of Chibok girls, it was the administration under whose watch the girls were abducted.
“In a statement on 8 Sept. 2014, we said: ‘President Jonathan-PDP’s political manipulation of the Boko Haram has to be understood as part of its poker-like calculus for clinging on to political power ahead of the 2015 elections. The Boko Haram crisis is readily used by the PDP to rationalize the Jonathan Government’s abdication of its constitutional responsibilities, including visits and assistance to areas affected as well as effective response to abductions (e.g. the GEJ government was silent over the Chibok girls kidnaps for over 15 days)’,
“Two-and-a-half years after that statement, we have been vindicated by the report that claimed President Jonathan rebuffed an attempt by the British government to help rescue the girls. We hope the former President will now refrain from stoking further controversy over the lingering abduction issue and allow the government of the day to focus on its ongoing negotiations to secure the release of the Chibok girls,” the Minister said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Senate is investigating all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) and even infrastructural development across the country to determine their level of compliance with Sections 14(3) and 14(4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which focuses on the federal character principle.
The federal character principle mandates that the government at all its levels should reflect Nigeria’s diversity to ensure national unity and prevent domination and also ensure that all communities have fair and equitable representation in governance.
The upper chamber has mandated its Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs to conduct a thorough investigation hearing into possible infringement of this principle.
This resolution followed a motion raised by Senator Osita Ngwu, who acknowledged the persistent challenges in achieving equity within Nigeria’s public service, including limited recruitment opportunities, skewed promotions based on years of service rather than merit, and a lack of mobility for workers outside the public sector.
Lawmakers also noted that despite constitutional provisions mandating fair representation across ethnic, linguistic, religious, and geographic lines, imbalances continue to exist.
The Senate specifically criticised several federal institutions, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and its subsidiaries, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), among others, for allegedly failing to adhere to federal character mandates in their recruitment processes.
The committee is expected to report back within three months with findings and recommendations to ensure fair and equitable representation in federal appointments, promotions, recruitment and infrastructural distribution across the over 900 MDAs.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday raided a Ponzi scheme academy and arrested 133 suspects in the nation’s capital, Abuja.
According to the EFCC’s spokesperson, Mr Dele Oyewale, who confirmed the operation in a statement on Tuesday, the suspects were apprehended at the Compensation Layout in Gwagwalada, Abuja, after receiving actionable intelligence about the academy’s activities.
“The academy, named Q University (also known as Q-Net), lures young Nigerians by promising them unrealistic profits.
“The recruits were trained to further recruit others, using the slogan Special Training for New Generation Billionaire.
“The suspects joined the scheme by filling out an Independent Representative Application Form, with promotional slogans like: I’m a Champion, I’m Unstoppable, and I’m Infinity,” the EFCC said.
The EFCC, in collaboration with officers from the 176 Guards Battalion of the Nigerian Army, executed the operation, with phones, computers, and other electronic gadgets seized from the suspects, who “will be charged in court once investigations are completed.”
The agency has stepped up efforts to clamp down on illegal activities, particularly those involved in internet fraud schemes.
In January, the anti-graft agency arrested 105 people, including four Chinese nationals, for suspected involvement in a fraudulent scheme targeting hotels in Europe and elsewhere.
Also in December 2024, the EFCC arrested 792 suspects in a raid on a building believed to be a hub for fraudsters who lure their victims with romance scams and phoney cryptocurrency investments on WhatsApp and Instagram.
The suspects included 148 Chinese and 40 Filipino nationals housed in a luxury in Lagos targeting victims from the Americas and Europe.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
There are strong indications that the prices of solar panels in Nigeria may soon jump at the markets as the federal government is considering stopping its importation to boost local production
The Minister of Science and Technology, Mr Uche Nnaji, said the country has the capacity to meet local demand of solar energy and to encourage more domestic investments in the landscape, the importation of solar products, which are duty-free, has to stop.
Speaking in a recent interview in Abuja at the launch of the NEV T6 electric buses, Mr Nnaji said the plans to prohibit solar panel importation aligns with Presidential Executive Order Number 5, which seeks to promote local content in science, engineering, and technology.
He emphasised that with the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), there is nothing to worry about with local solar panel production.
“With NASENI here, you know that we have panels. It has a factory that has started producing solar panels and other private individuals are also producing solar panels as we speak.
“So, all we need to do is, even through science and technology, through our Presidential Executive Order No. 5, we will stop all these importations of solar panels.
“We will support our local industries to grow and very soon, most houses will go off-grid. Personally, I have been off-grid for over three years and it is working,” the Minister said.
Mr Nnaji noted that Nigeria was already making significant investments in renewable energy infrastructure, noting that with the expansion of local solar panel manufacturing, more Nigerian homes and institutions would transition to off-grid power solutions
“We have lithium in abundance here in Nigeria, so Mr. President is already taking action. We are adding value to our raw materials. The lithium we have here will be processed and used as batteries for these vehicles,” he stated.
“If you look at our budgets, we have what is called mini-grids all over the place. In less than three or four months, you will start seeing our hospitals and institutions being powered by solar.
“Again, we are saving the environment. We are putting in place non-carbon emission infrastructure. So, we are creating power everywhere,” he added.
Business Post gathered that at the moment, the price of 555w solar panels goes for between N140,000 and N160,000, while a 220v inverter battery is about N260,000, with a 60A charge controller at about N180,000.
Consumers are already scared that if the importation of solar panels are stopped, prices will rise like it happened with rice.
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