The Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has approved the appointment of 27 personalities for positions in various offices in the new government.

Mr Sani was sworn in on Monday as the new governor on 29 May.

The governor also retained top appointees of ex-governor El-Rufai.

According to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mohammed Shehu, on Wednesday, Mr Sani appointed Habiba Shekarau as the new head of service.

He retained Balarabe Lawal as the secretary to the state government.

Uba Sani (PHOTO CREDIT: vanguardngr)

Kaduna governor makes 27 new appointments, retains top El-Rufai’s allies

The immediate past Secretary to the State Government, Balarabe Lawal, was retained

ByMohammed Lere

 May 31, 2023

Reading Time: 2 mins read

The Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has approved the appointment of 27 personalities for positions in various offices in the new government.

Mr Sani was sworn in on Monday as the new governor on 29 May.

The governor also retained top appointees of ex-governor El-Rufai.

According to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mohammed Shehu, on Wednesday, Mr Sani appointed Habiba Shekarau as the new head of service.

He retained Balarabe Lawal as the secretary to the state government.

null

” The immediate past Secretary to the State Government, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, was retained in view of his vast experience in governance to assist in the smooth take-off of the administration.

” The Governor also retained the services of other senior members of the Nasir El-Rufai Administration to provide the link between the two administrations: Muhammad Hafiz Bayero will serve as Senior Advisor Counsellor to the Governor. Also, Barrister James Atung Kanyip and Chris Umar have been appointed Deputy Chiefs of Staff to the Governor. Dr Shehu Usman Muhammad and Bulus Banquo Audu were appointed Counsellors to the Governor.

” Sani Liman was also appointed as the chief of staff to the governor. He was the immediate past Comptroller of Immigration Service, Kano State Command. Before his deployment to Kano, he was the Comptroller of Immigration Service, Kaduna State Command,” the statement read.

Former Special Adviser to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, will on 1 September assume the position of Executive Vice Chairman at The Sun Newspaper.

Mr Adesina, who served as the Managing Editor and Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper before his appointment as presidential spokesperson , told The Crest in an interview on 26 May, his last working day, about the new appointment approved by the company’s founder, Orji Kalu, a senator.

“I came from The Sun newspaper. I was the MD/Editor-in-Chief (of the publishing company). And when I wanted to leave, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu said ‘Don’t resign. You may get to the government and you don’t like it. You can always come back. Or, you may get to the government and stay eight years; you can always come back. I’m going to make you the Executive Vice Chairman of the company.’ Not only did he say it, he issued me the letter. Yes, I have the letter”, Mr Adesina said in the interview.

The Crest further reported that the long duration to start the new job is to allow Mr Adesina “enjoy a well-deserved rest having been unable to go on leave throughout the eight years he served as the ex-President’s spokesman.”

it said the former presidential aide intends to go to “a quiet place somewhere in the world to write his memoirs”.

null

Mr Adesina was appointed Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) by ex-President Buhari on 31 May, 2015. He had served as the president of the Nigerian

‘The war in Iraq continues to have repercussions for its people.’ https://www.aljazeera.com/program/between-us/2023/3/20/legacy-of-the-iraq-war

Garba-Datti Mohammed, who currently represents the constituency in the National Assembly for the fourth term, was seeking re-election.

 February 27, 2023

Sadiq Abdullahi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has won the Sabon Gari Federal Constituency election in Kaduna state with 33,616 votes.
The INEC Returning Officer, Hashim Suleman of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, announced the result in Zaria on Monday.

Mr Suleiman declared Mr Abdullahi the winner of the election having defeated his closest contender, the incumbent member representing the area, Garba-Datti Mohammed of the All Progressive Congress who scored 31,737 votes.

Garba-Datti Mohammed, who currently represents the constituency in the National Assembly for the fourth term, was seeking re-election.

---

”Sadiq Abdullahi, having satisfied the requirements, is hereby declared winner and returned elected,” the returning officer said.

He said the constituency had 217,941 registered voters.

He said that out of the 217,941 registered voters, 79,580 voters were accredited for the election, while 76,654 valid votes were cast.

9th February 2023

By USMAN NAFIU AHMAD

In its bid to accelerate petrol retail services across its 54 stations across the country, Mainland Oil and Gas Company Limited has partnered with the state oil firm, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and has slashed petrol price to N195 per litre.

The Managing Director of the company, Dr Chris Igwe, stated that the company has remained steadfast to regulatory compliance on pricing in line with its commitment to partnering with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in taming price distortions in the domestic energy market.

He said the domestic fuel market required disciplined players who must stick to existing regulations on sustainable supply, reliable services and stable prices.

He explained that Mainland Oil valued its unwavering reputation in disciplined and responsible operations above the temporary jump in margins.

196

I Watched Video Of Person Shot During Protest, Not Knowing It Was My Husband – Wife Of Victim

A survey of the filling stations across the weekend showed most major marketers in the country were selling a litre of petrol at N195 in the Southwest zone and Abuja; N200 in the North Central zone; N205 in the South-South zone; N210 in North West and South East zones and N220 in the North East zone.

To cut the time spent by customers at Mainland Oil’s retail stations across the country, Dr Igwe stated that the management of the company has directed all its station managers to stretch service hours across the night to ease the pressure in the market and allow night travellers access to fuel.

He acknowledged the expenditure concerns expressed by most marketers over long hours of services, saying that the cost of fuelling uptime at numerous filling stations at a time of high cost of diesel is huge.

Nigerian Air Force’s (NAF) Super Tucano jets have bombarded and killed an unspecified number of high-ranking Boko Haram insurgents during their meeting in Sambisa Forest…

Our correspondent gathered that the air operation was well coordinated and struck the precise locations when the insurgents’ meeting was ongoing on Friday killing several top fighters and others wounded.

According to an impeccable source, some high-ranking Boko Haram fighters were killed during the air raid and dozens sustained critical injuries.

Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that troops have succeeded in clearing the two stronghold communities under Boko Haram insurgents – Sheutari and Mantari – in Lawanti/Mallam Mastari/ Abbaram ward’s general area of operations.

While corroborating the account, Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency expert, said the latest offensive was carried out in Gaizuwa in the Bama Local Government Area of Borno State.

Makama claimed that on reaching overhead the targets, the pilots observed a gathering of more than 100 insurgents with dozens of them on motorcycles.

He added that using a mix of bombs and rockets, the two aircraft carried out a series of strikes and scored devastating hits on the targets, killing scores of them and leaving some survivors scrambling for their lives.

President Muhammadu Buhari is currently presiding over a meeting of the National Council of State.

The meeting is expected to discuss crucial issues affecting Nigeria such as the currency crisis and fuel scarcity.

It will also review the preparations for the general election.

The National Council of State is an organ of the Nigerian government with the power to advise the Executive on policy making.

Membership of the Council includes the President, Vice President, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, former presidents, former heads of state, former chief justices of Nigeria, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, governors of the 36 states of the federation and the Attorney General of the Federation.

As public outrage against the festering scarcity of new naira notes jolts the nation’s economy, banking industry watchers said it is unfortunate that the Central Bank of Nigeria is the agency of government taking the fall for the outright subversion of its policy by money deposit banks.

The apex bank has been at the receiving end since the beginning of the year over the poor handling of the policy on Naira Redesign and Cash Withdrawal policy as banks continue to defy the directives on cash disbursement through on-the-counter withdrawal and the use of their automated teller machines.

There were reports that rather than comply with the CBN’s directives, some bank officials refused to upload new naira notes into their ATMs, while some of them decided to cut down the amount of cash paid out to customers in flagrance with the directives of the apex bank.

The directive on the new cash withdrawal limits was contained in the CBN letter dated December 6, 2022, which was addressed to all Deposit Money Banks and Other Financial Institutions, Payment Service Bank (PSBs), Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs), and Microfinance Banks (MFBs).

The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Oladayo Amao has stated that the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) remains a veritable avenue for the training and retraining of skilled technical manpower for the Nigerian Air Force (NAF). He also noted that the Institution has continued to contribute immensely to NAF’s current status of being largely self-reliant and almost completely dependent on own personnel for platforms and equipment maintenance. Air Marshal Amao stated this earlier today, 8 October 2022, while presiding over the graduation ceremony of 460 NAF personnel who completed Sundry Courses in AFIT for 2021/2022 Academic Session. He went on to note that additional to the prestige and confidence gained from such self-reliance, the NAF has also built internal capacity for certain levels of training, thus eliminating needless foreign training and exchange in areas that the NAF possesses such internal capacities. Air Marshal Amao also praised the efforts of the Institution at enhancing the standard of learning noting that, ‘While training NAF personnel to meet the technical manpower requirement of the Service, there has been a significant paradigm shift in AFIT.’ This, according To the CAS, ‘Is due to its focus on practical aspects of training occasioned by the recent change in the curricula of the sundry courses pursuant to deliberately bridging the gap between theory and practice.’

While commending the Commandant of the Institute, Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Muhammed Yakubu, the CAS noted with delight his efforts towards mitigating some of the pressing challenges of the Institute especially with regards to ongoing infrastructure upgrade and improvements, as well as new projects that are springing up around the Institute. The CAS also seized the opportunity to commend the lecturers and instructors for their diligence and sacrifices towards producing quality technical manpower for the NAF. He then urged them to constantly improve on the standards towards ensuring that AFIT graduates are up-to-date and in tune with global best practices in aircraft and equipment maintenance. For the graduating personnel, Air Marshal Amao reminded them of the enormous investment made by the NAF in bringing them to their current level of technical knowledge and expertise. Such professional competences, according to him, were necessary to guarantee optimum aircraft serviceability and availability in furtherance of Nigeria’s National security imperatives especially now that the NAF is required to operate optimally in order to effectively address the current spate of insecurity across the nation.

In his welcome address, AVM Muhammed Yakubu noted that despite AFIT’s expansion to a degree awarding institution and the increase in its mandate, it has remained focused on its primary role of producing quality technical manpower for the NAF and the nation at large. He then added that it was in fulfilment of its role that 460 NAF personnel who have completed the Initial Officers’ Course and various Basic as well as Advanced/Intermediate Upgrading Courses comprising 22 officers and 438 airmen/airwomen were graduating. AVM Yakubu also informed the gathering that under his watch as the Commandant, the Centre for Technical and Vocational Training, was created to oversee all aspects of military technical and logistics training in the Institute. He also added that the initiative aptly tallies with the vision of the CAS to ‘Enhance and sustain critical airpower capabilities required for joint force employment in pursuit of national security imperatives’ as well as his aspiration to make the Institute the best in Nigeria and among the top-rated universities in the world.

It should be noted that AFIT has continued to serve the technical and logistics training needs of the NAF since its establishment as Technical and Supply School in 1977. Through the years, the increase in scope of NAF training required vis-a-via the increase in the number of personnel requiring the training as well as the routine reorganization of the Service have necessitated various upgrades to the school; first to Technical Training Group and eventually to the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT). In line with the successive upgrades, AFIT was first accredited to award National and Higher National Diplomas by the National Board for Technical Education, with NAF personnel being the major beneficiaries. After the presidential assent to the AFIT Act in 2017, and the subsequent accreditation by National Universities Commission, AFIT became a degree awarding Institution open to students from across the Nation and overseas. AVM Muhammed Yakubu is the 11th Commandant of the Institute.

Vladimir Putin’s limousine was allegedly attacked in a reported ‘assassination attempt’, according to sources within the Kremlin.

As the war in Ukraine rages on, Russian insiders have claimed the leader’s car was allegedly struck by a ‘loud bang’ on the left front wheel causing ‘heavy smoke.’

The vehicle was later moved to safety with the Russian president left unharmed, with multiple arrests connected to the incident allegedly having been made.

Reports coming out of the Kremlin claim a portion of Putin’s security detail has disappeared following claims of secret intel regarding the leader’s movements have been leaked.

According to the General GVR Telegram channel, the Russian president was travelling to his home in a decoy vehicle as security fears heighten within the Kremlin.

This make-shift convoy allegedly comprised five armoured vehicles, with Putin travelling in the third.

While sources within the Kremlin have claimed this as an assassination attempt, these claims have yet to be verified.

The channel said; ‘On the way to the residence, a few kilometres away, the first escort car was blocked by an ambulance, [and] the second escort car drove around without stopping [due to the] sudden obstacle, and during the detour of the obstacle.’

‘A loud bang sounded from the left front wheel followed by heavy smoke,’ it is claimed.

‘Subsequently, the body of a man was found driving [the] ambulance, which blocked the first car from the motorcade.’

These reports come amid claims that Russian officials are eager for the leader to resign, with the nation suffering immense setbacks as the war progresses.

Ukrainian troops have recently retaken a large area of their territory, ultimately forcing Russian troops to retreat.