Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on May 24, 2022, arrived at the Maitama, Abuja home of a former governor of Imo state, Senator Rochas Okorocha, to effect his arrest.
The move followed the refusal of the former governor to honour invitations after jumping the administrative bail earlier granted him by the Commission.
EFCC had on January 24, 2022 filed a 17-count criminal charge bordering on diversion of public funds and properties to the tune of N2.9billion against Okorocha.
The case was assigned to Honourable Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja but attempts to arraign Senator Okorocha were twice stalled owing to the absence of the ex-governor who evaded service of processes.
At the last adjourned date, March 28th, 2022, Justice Ekwo before adjourning until May 30th, 2022, had warned that it was “the last adjournment I shall grant in this matter”.
In the circumstances, the Commission is left with no option than to effect the arrest of Senator Okorocha and bring him to trial.
The Oyo State Government has condemned the deliberate attack on Oyo State Sports Council Chairman, Gbenga Adewusi by hoodlums on Sunday.
During a visit to the victim at an undisclosed Hospital, Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Mr. Seun Fakorede described the incident as unfortunate and a threat to the peaceful atmosphere already being enjoying at the Pacesetter State.
He further declared that all the culprits will be brought to book and made to pay for their misdeeds.
The State Sport Council Chairman, who was attacked at the Lekan Salami Sports Complex Adamashingba by hoodlums after a match between Shooting Stars football club and Mountain of Fire (MFM) Football Club of Lagos has been receiving treatment, after sustaining severe injuries on different parts of his body.
Hence, Mr. Fakorede urged Shooting Stars fans and the entire citizenry to put their mind at rest, assuring them that mensures have been put in place to ensure the existing peace in different spots and Oyo State at large is not tempered with.
The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has asked the Muhammadu Buhari government to release Mrs Ukamaka Ejezie, popularly known as “Mama Biafra” from the detention of the Department of State Services, Abuja.
According to Kanu, Mama Biafra, a septuagenarian, was arrested during the IPOB leader’s last court appearance in Abuja on May 18.
Kanu, who spoke from the DSS detention, also expressed rage over the spate of bloodletting and insecurity in the South-East.
Kanu’s younger brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, relayed the message on Monday evening in an interview with Vanguard after visiting the IPOB leader in detention.
Kanu also told his brother (Prince) that he was saddened by the reports of killings across the South-East.
The IPOB leader added that the detained Mama Biafra had been acting as his mother since his parents died.
He said that the old woman committed no crime for coming to Abuja to solidarise with him at the court when she was arrested.
“I saw her at the DSS detention cell after her clothes were washed and spread on the wall. I demand that she be released because she committed no crime. She is an old woman and since my mother died, I have taken her as my mother. The DSS should release her,” Kanu was quoted as saying.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on May, 23, 2022, secured the conviction of a former member of the House of Representatives, Chief Chuma Nzeribe before Justice Yusuf Y. Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Maitama. Abuja.
Nzeribe was first arraigned by the EFCC on October 16, 2020 on a four count charge bordering on possession of fraudulent document, forgery, using as genuine and cheating by personation, punishable under section 6, 8(b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under section 1 (3) of the same Act.
As several adjournments and the failure to bring the defendant to court, the trial judge delivered judgment in which he convicted the defendant in absentia and restituted the nominal complainant, Ishaya Baba, his Land situated at Plot 1306 Cadastral Zone A05, Maitama Abuja.
Justice Halilu however deferred the sentencing of the defendant until the EFCC or the Inspector General of Police apprehend and bring him to court, in compliance with Section 321 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, Section 11of the Advance Fee Fraud Act and Other Related Offences Act 2006, and Section 78 of the Penal Code Act.
“You know I am not very happy with Nigeria. I have made that very clear on many occasions. Yes, Nigeria stood by us more than any nation, but you let yourselves down, and Africa and the black race very badly. Your leaders have no respect for their people. They believe that their personal interests are the interests of the people. They take people’s resources and turn it into personal wealth. There is a level of poverty in Nigeria that should be unacceptable. I cannot understand why Nigerians are not more angry than they are. “What do young Nigerians think about your leaders and their country and Africa? Do you teach them history…?
“What about the corruption and the crimes? Your elections are like wars. Now we hear that you cannot be president in Nigeria unless you are Muslim or Christian. Some people tell me your country may break up. Please don’t let it happen.
“Let me tell you what I think you need to do. You should encourage leaders to emerge who will not confuse public office with sources of making personal wealth. Corrupt people do not make good leaders. Then you have to spend a lot of your resources for education.
“Educate children of the poor, so that they can get out of poverty. Poverty does not breed confidence. Only confident people can bring changes. Poor, uneducated people can also bring change, but it will be hijacked by the educated and the wealthy…give young Nigerians good education. Teach them the value of hard work and sacrifice, and discourage them from crimes which are destroying your image as a good people.”
UK Investigators Trace N1.5 Trillion, $9 Million Looted Funds to NIMASA Boss, Bashir Jamoh’s Personal Account
United Kingdom investigators have bursted another corruption scandal in the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration involving the Managing Director, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Bashir Jamoh, where various sums including N1.5 Trillion and another $9,557,312.50 have been traced to his personal accounts.
Shockingly the Fidelity account with N1, 505,890,450,000.67 has Hamza Ibrahim Jamoh with BVN 22151837650 and Cell phone number 08034517410. While the BVN number revealed a different identity, the cell phone linked to the account is linked to the DG of NIMASA, Jamoh.
Further investigations revealed that the N1.5trillion was after few months cleared from the account to avoid investigations on the lodgment of such huge amount.
In a four page document titled due diligent report on Bashiru Yusuf Jamoh, the Director-General NIMASA, the report exposed another lodgment of $9,557,312.50 into Access Bank account 0710814478 also belonging to him.
The investigation also exposed other infractions by the agency’s boss which also include award of contracts to companies which he has interest in.
The investigation, according to the report focused on fraud, money laundering and breach of the Nigeria code of conduct act. This same investigation, it stated spans across all the Agencies under the Ministry of Transport having started with the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA.
GLOBAL INVESTIGATORS UNITED KINGDOM, the investigation agency that signed the report investigated the bank transactions of Alhaji Jamoh focusing on inflows/Credit and Debits on his bank statements.
It found the transaction’s records of BASHIR YUSUF JAMOH showing the payment of $9,557,312.50 (Nine million, five hundred and fifty-seven thousand, three hundred and twelve dollars and fifty cents) into his personal accounts from Central Bank of Nigeria in violation of the Treasury Single Account, TSA.
“Most baffling is that CBN transferred millions of dollars into the personal account of BASHIR YUSUF JAMOH.
“Records shows the withdrawal of $5,425,200.00 (Five million, Four hundred and twenty-five thousand and two hundred dollars only) by CASH WITHDRAWAL from ACCESS Bank, Burma Road, Apapa, Lagos.
“BASHIR YUSUF JAMOH set up a company TALENT EXPERTISE INTL. LIMITED with RN: 1488830 to solicit for jobs from NIMASA. Being the director of a company and awarding contract to own company in violation of the code of conduct act section 3 part of the Third Schedule of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and code of conduct for public officers involved in procurement, Part X1, section 57, Sub-section (2) of the Procurement Act, 2007.”
According to the report, BIXBY OIL LIMITED has also paid money into his account, and the following payment into the account of the company was captured.
Early Morning Pill: Relationship is About Giving & Taking
A relationship is Not All About What You Want; What Can You Give?
I have studied the collapse of many romantic relationships, marriage inclusive, and found that a lot of people had no business being in it in the first place. They are narcissists (who always think about what they can get and are never willing to give).
A lot of people have not matured mentally, and spiritually enough to understand that relationships are not just about them. And while this does not take spiritual or mental maturity to know, a lot of people lack the common sense to know it; they are narcissists.
Thinking that a relationship must be all about them is commoner to women than men. While men are often selfish too, they understand that they have to give before getting what they want, most women do not understand this, or they choose to ignore it.
They feel that a relationship must be about them; they think a man must do everything they want just because they have two holes under them that men must do anything to get into. The thought of it disgusts me.
They make sex a big deal in a romantic relationship because they are self-centered – they are not holy, they just do not want to give anything yet wish to get from men.
I remember asking a lady out some time ago, and even though she was yet to say yes to me, I was already thinking about how I could contribute to the success of her career by linking her up.
That is how a relationship should be. You must have what will benefit the other person and be willing to give. I spent a lot of time wondering if any woman thinks that way.
It seems that they only think about themselves and what they can get from men. That is why many of them are single and may never be married. They will continue to get used and dumped until men no longer find them attractive.
When I list what I want in a woman, if I ever do that, I also make sure I am working on myself to be the man she will be proud of – I always want to make a difference in the life of any woman I met even if it is not just about money. Do women think like that too?
Look, if you want to be in a relationship, you must be selfless; think about what your partner can gain from you and develop yourself to be able to provide it.
As much as I wish to give my partner the best and help her become better than I met her, I also want the same from her. If she is not doing the same, I will leave her for another woman who cares as much as I do about her.
A relationship is about giving & taking; if you are not willing to give, then you are not qualified to take from it. If you have always been receiving, then ask yourself. What have I been giving?
If you are not ready to give anything, or willing to take care of your prospective partner’s financial, mental, physical, and emotional needs, then just stay single.
If you wish to be in a relationship, if you wish to be in a romantic relationship, you must be willing to take care of at least two of the above-mentioned needs of your partner.
Be ready to support each other needs, such as physical, mental, and financial. If you cannot support your partner with any of those, yet make sex a big deal, then you are useless.
The Nigerian Law has vested the EFCC with the inherent powers to investigate persons, government bodies and institutions where it appears that a person’s lifestyle and extent of the properties owned are not justified or reconciable by his verifiable source of income.
Specifically, the EFCC Act clearly provides in Section 7(1)(b) that the EFCC has power to –
“cause investigations to be conducted into the properties of any person if it appears to the commission that the person’s lifestyle and extent of the properties are not justified by his source of income;
Again, following the express provision of Section 6(L) of the EFCC Act, the EFCC has responsibility to collect all reports relating to suspicious financial transactions to analyse and disseminate to all relevant government agencies.
The implication of the above provision of the law is to the effect that, where there is a reasonable ground for suspicion of the source of wealth of a person through their manner of living, the EFCC has a duty at law to cause an investigation into such a person’s source of wealth.
To the crux of this matter, it is no news that the APC from recent news has set a whopping ₦100 million as the price for obtaining the Presidential Nomination and interest form. It is also a fact that the Minister of State for Education Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, the Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi, the Education Minister ADAMU, the Labour Minister Dr. Chris Ngige and others reported to have recently purchased the same Party’s presidential nomination form worth ₦100 million each. The salient question here is that, whether the price of the form is not beyond the legitimate income scale of a Minister in Nigeria.
There is no doubt that the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission is the body charged with the responsibility of handling the salaries of Public Officers in Nigeria. Following the remuneration package made public by the agency, the average annual basic salary for a Minister of State is ₦1,957,580. Adding the allowances sums up to roughly ₦11,647,601 annually. Again, the annual sum of ₦11,647,601 multiplied by 4 years in office sums up to ₦46, 590,404. This raises the question, where does a Minister get ₦100 million to obtain a Presidential nomination and interest form? It is crystal clear that the amount for the said form is way above the income of a Minister of State in Nigeria even if the Ministers has not been fending for their families from their salaries.
It is on this note that I call on the EFCC and all other concerned government agencies in Nigeria to do the needful and investigate the Ministers and others who subsequently purchase the APC Presidential nomination and interest form for ₦100 million because it raises a clear suspicion as to the sources of their wealth especially considering the office being aspired to pays less salary cumulatively in a single tenure than the actual cost of declaration. Failure of the EFCC to investigate the source of their respective N100M will set a dangerous precedent and only send a message to the world that the agency’s is weak and has compromised on its primary mandate. The agency must fine-comb through the candidacy and campaign of all of the presidential aspirants notably those in the APC who have not batted an eyelid in paying the ransom called the nomination fee of their party.
Let’s not concern ourselves with the fact that all of said ‘declarants’ oversee ministries where in one instance, ASUU has been on strike with public tertiary education avoidably put on hold and students devilishly idle and stranded at home, another runs a ministry where terrorists have taken over train system with most victims still languishing unaided in terrorist dens spread across the woodlands of the ungoverned spaces in the north. The third, a vivacious and bumbling man of limited physical reach has run a ministry whose very function is criminally questionable for its lack of presence and feature in the employment woes of the country.
But perhaps where competence cannot reach, the overarching persuasion of big bucks with questionable sources will. After all, Nigeria seems to simply grind on ungoverned whilst Political Gladiators squabble and grapple for a bucket load of their respective portion of our collective pound of flesh; leaving the Country to bleed out and die.
To protect our common sensibilities and safeguard the future from yielding again to a repeat of our past by presenting unscrutinized and suspicious persons to plough the field of elections thereby resorting to promoting violence and and election hooliganism, we must bank on the EFCC, the ICPC and all other Government Agencies to swing into force and cause a vigorous investigation to be conducted thereby verifying the sources of these funds and in the process, sieve the wealth from the chaffs. This process being done properly would safe our Dear Country from certain collapse and ensure the right people are availed the opportunity to contest fairly for the Number One Office in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We must be deliberate and proactive to achieve the Change we seek.
There are strong indications that the All Progressives Congress may field a northern candidate that can compete with the Peoples Democratic Party if the opposition party picks its presidential standard-bearer from the North in 2023.
It was gathered on Monday that although the APC was interested in zoning its presidential ticket to the South, the outcome of the PDP’s presidential primary scheduled for May 28 and May 29 would determine its final decision.
It was also learnt that the chieftains of the party in the North had started shopping for a strong presidential candidate from the region if the PDP’s candidate is picked from the North.
The speculation that a northern candidate emerging at the presidential primary of the APC on May 30 have continued to rise due to the possibility of the opposition PDP to present a northern candidate.
Currently, the majority of the APC presidential aspirants including its national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; the Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo; the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi; the Ebonyi State Governor, Dr Dave Umahi and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, are from the South except a few like the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, who hails from the North-Central.
The APC’s National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, had in an interview with State House correspondents on Friday, said the party had yet to zone its presidential ticket.
But a member of the party’s National Working Committee, who confided in one of our correspondents, said, “The presidential ticket can go anywhere. In fact, we will get a strong northern candidate that can defeat the PDP if it zones its presidency to the North.”
Efforts to reach the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, were unsuccessful as he failed to answer the calls made to his phone.
But in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday, a founding member of the APC, Mr Osita Okechukwu, confirmed the possibility of a northerner emerging at the party’s presidential primary.
He said the party was fine-tuning its strategies on the 12 million vote bank of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
The APC had in 2015 claimed that Buhari had strong support base in the core North, where 12 million voters, which the party referred to as the President’s 12 million vote bank, would always vote for him.
It added that the 12 million voters consistently supported him in 2007 and 2011. According to the party, the President won in 2015 with additional support from the South-West.
On Monday, Okechukwu said the APC had been watching with studied interest “the desperation of the PDP to prey on President Muhammadu Buhari’s 12 million vote bank.”
According to him, as a political party, the APC has to fine-tune its strategies for the general elections.
Okechukwu said that although it was doubtful that any politician in the PDP could sweep Buhari’s 12 million votes away, the PDP’s desperation to break into Buhari’s 12 million Vote Bank explained APC’s indecision.
He stated, “Although one is not holding the brief of our distinguished national Chairman, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, one’s little understanding is that the leadership of our great party is watching closely the desperation and antics of our elder sister political party, the PDP.
“They want to capture power by all means, indeed using Machiavellian tactics. We all know that PDP is famished, thirsty and desperate to win the Presidency in 2023. They loathe the loss of their slogan, ‘Share the Money’, through their absence from power at the centre for seven going to eight years.”
Presidential ticket: APC adopting cat and mouse game with PDP, says VON DG
Explaining why the PDP should be blamed if the South failed to get the presidency, Okechukwu said it was unconscionable and despicable that the opposition party should breach the zoning convention, which helped in no small measure to unite and harmonise the country.
The “PDP,” he said, “is aware that President Buhari will not be on the ballot in 2023, therefore, for them there is a void to fill. They must have reasoned that the Buhari’s Vote Bank would be up for grabs if they go north.
“The PDP’s calculation is a desperate one, and selfish to the extent that they breached their own constitution and their age-long die-hard supporters in the South, especially the South-East.
As a corollary, the APC seems to have adopted the cat and mouse game, because if the PDP adopts the terra firma or doctrine of realpolitik, which places electoral victory above their constitution, the moral high ground and ethics of their members and supporters in the South; the APC wants to do the pragmatic thing. That is going back to the drawing board.”
Okechukwu also explained why the ruling party was shifting away from implementing the party’s earlier zoning format of swapping offices between north and south, as declared by Governor Nasir El-Rufai before the March 26 National Convention.
He stated, “If at the end of the day the zoning fails, we should blame the PDP’s desperation, because we have been advocating a repeat of the chiefs Obasanjo/Falae; Yar’Adua/Buhari and Buhari/Atiku models of 1999, 2007 and 2019.”
“To be frank, my take on the matter is that the swap option is still open, because some of us from the South are still arguing that we have dormant votes, especially Igbo votes which will augment APC members’ votes from the North,” he added.
On his part, a former Governor of Benue State and current Minister of Special Duties, George Akume, on Monday said the APC would arrive at a zoning arrangement that would be acceptable to all party stakeholders.
Akume disclosed this to State House Correspondents shortly after he joined at least 100 guests on Sallah homage to the President at the New State House Banquet Hall.
Presidential ambition: God will show us the way, says Lawan
There were reports on Monday that the President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan, and some northerners would join the presidential race.
But Lawan, in an interview with State House Correspondents, said the reports were speculative.
According to him, such political ambitions remain secondary as they can only thrive when the country and the economy are stable.
He stated, “If we stabilise our economy, we stabilise our country, then people can contest, but for now everything is speculative and I believe that God, in His infinite mercy, will show us the way.”
Claim on Buhari’s 12 million vote bank insulting – PDP spokesman
In its reaction on the VON director-general claim, the PDP spokesman, Debo Ologunagba, in an interview with The PUNCH, said it was insulting to say Buhari had 12 million vote bank.
He said, “That’s the impunity with which they deal with Nigerians. It means even when they (Nigerians) are being killed, they will continue to vote in that manner because they are a bank, just like sperm bank where you go to if you need a baby.
So among the 12 million voters, nobody has died? It is consistent with the mindset of the APC and Buhari that people can be a dot in a circle just like he described the whole of South-East Nigeria which is very critical to this country.
“It is nauseating to describe people as vote bank. Many of those people have died due to the rudderlessness of this country. Do they mean that none of those people has been killed by terrorists who were imported by APC in 2019 for elections?
“Are you telling me that those people don’t deserve the leadership of a president who should be sympathetic and have empathy on the people that are suffering? You see, this is the madness we encounter under this government which doesn’t see citizens as anything but a product that can be purchased and dumped at will.
“Human beings are now vote bank? Can you believe that? If a person voted in a particular way the last time, can’t he or she vote differently this time around? What he’s saying is that those people are his cows and that their votes are with him. That’s it, because he has a cow mentality.”
The Convener, Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution, Dare Ariyo-Atoye, reminded the ruling party that the votes gotten by one candidate could not be transferred to another.
He said, “I think it’s important that the people of Nigeria are not taken for granted by the ruling and failed All Progressives Congress. Let it be on record that President Buhari doesn’t have 12 million votes for himself nor the APC. It is true that there are still some Nigerians, especially in Katsina and a few other states, who are still painfully loyal to the President. But without a popular candidate who can win election on his own and possibly benefit from the vast structure of the APC in different states of the federation, the APC may lose the forthcoming election because the party has performed poorly and has failed to give Nigerians a good representation.”
On his part, the National Coordinator, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, Emmanuel Onwubiko, reminded the APC that many who voted for the President had openly regretted the action.
He said, “Human beings are not machines. Some of those voters might have died or travelled out of the country. To a lot of people, the 12 million is an illusion, it is fake. Let’s even assume that it is real, it is not possible that the APC will get such again.”
The Executive Director of the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre, Okechukwu Nwanguma, told The PUNCH during a telephone interview on Monday that in a free and fair electoral environment, Buhari would not likely get 100 votes from his own village
However, the Executive Director, Journalists for Democratic Rights, Mr Adewale Adeoye, explained to The PUNCH that there was a possibility that millions would still vote for the APC due to a lack of viable party alternative.
You can’t kill zoning, Afenifere, Ohanaeze tell northern elders
Meanwhile, the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum has warned political parties and stakeholders in the political circle not to tinker with the issue of zoning and power rotation offices especially for the Presidency in the 2023 elections.
The organisation warned that doing so would further threaten the unity of Nigeria.
The SMBLF which comprises Ohanaeze, Afenifere, Pan Niger Delta Forum and the Middle Belt Forum, said the recent comment by the APC national chairman that the party had not decided on the zoning of the Presidency, with about 30 days to the Presidential primaries, “amounts to outright dishonesty and chicanery.”
While calling on northerners to “stop their trickery”, because “enough is enough!”, the SMBLF said, “We cannot have a northerner President for eight years and then welcome another Northern President for another eight years or more. That is unacceptable to us.”
The organisation therefore, strongly cautioned “all our governors, former governors and top politicians not to accept the Vice Presidency nomination from any Northern presidential candidate.”
The SMBLF was particularly reacting to a recent statement credited to the chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, that zoning was “dead and buried.”
The organisation described as “rather unfortunate and absurd that Ango Abdullahi and his Northern Elders Forum would make such twaddle.”
The SMBLF said, “Are they now ready to dissolve the country? What has happened that zoning, which has been a sine qua non in the nation’s political progression has now become a ‘dead and buried’ issue, in the irrational contemplations of Ango Abdullahi and his co-travelers? Could it be due to the incapacity, insipidity and disastrous performance of the Buhari administration or the narcissistic desire to perpetuate Hausa/Fulani hegemony?”
APC will violate its zoning principles by denying southern candidates ticket—Analyst
A public analyst, Victor Giwa, said the APC would be violating its constitution and zoning principle if it gives its presidential ticket to a northern candidate.
The lawyer and activist argued that the party has the responsibility to be fair and equitable in the primary by giving its ticket to a southern presidential candidate.
Giwa stated, “If the APC decides to give its ticket to a northern candidate, it has violated the principle of fairness and equity; two, it has violated its principle of zoning and three, it has shown to Nigerians that it is a party that does not keep to its own constitution and it does not have political conscience.
‘’Nigerians will also determine, in the final analysis, that they do not want a party which does not respect those principles and which does not have political conscience.’’
Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, in Abuja, advised those planning to rig the 2023 general election to dismiss the idea.
This was as he vowed to use every legitimate means to protect the votes of Nigerians.
Buhari spoke during an Iftar dinner he organised in honour of members of the Diplomatic Corps at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, the President said, “Those planning to rig the forthcoming elections should think twice because I intend to resolutely protect and defend the sacred will of the Nigerian people, to be expressed through the ballot box.”
President Buhari also cautioned against foreign interference in the forthcoming elections saying ‘‘As you are all aware, the tenure of this administration ends on May 29, 2023. Typical of election years all over the world, the tempo of political activities is often high.
‘‘That is the nature of democracy. I am committed to bequeathing a stronger culture of credible elections to Nigeria than I met.
‘‘As Nigeria goes through this trajectory, I urge our friends in the global community, represented by the Diplomatic Corps, to adopt a positive role that reinforces the doctrine of respect for our internal affairs and respect for facts and devoid of preconceived notions and bias.”
Addressing the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Buhari called for greater consideration for humanitarian conditions in the affected areas in the ongoing crisis, warning that the conflict would get worse if an immediate resolution is not found.
‘‘The war has lasted too long, cost so much, and hurt too many people, well beyond the immediate theatres.
‘‘The rest of the world is progressively facing the impact of the conflict and this will certainly get worse, if an immediate resolution is not found, not least in the area of food security,” he said.
He welcomed the recent initiative of United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Gutteres, of visiting Moscow and Kyiv, commending his efforts in search of a ceasefire, as a prelude to other enduring solutions.
‘‘The United Nations must continue to actively lead the way for engagements that could ultimately unlock peace through diplomacy,’’ he said.
Citing the holy month of Ramadan, Buhari urged the Muslim community to use the solemn and rewarding period, especially these last days of the fast, to intensify prayers for de-escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the return of peace to the world.
Peak News 
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