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LAGOS, OSUN, OYO, OGUN DECLARE TUESDAY PUBLIC HOLIDAY TO CELEBRATE E ÌṢẸ̀ṢE DAY

The governments of Lagos, Osun, Oyo and Ogun have declared Tuesday, 20 August, a public holiday to commemorate the Isese Day celebration.

The announcements were contained in separate circulars on Monday by the commissioners of information for each state.

Bode Agoro, the head of service in Lagos, said the decision further reaffirms the governor’s commitment to provide necessary support to traditional institutions, promote indigenous traditions.

Agoro added that public workers in the state are to resume by 8 a.m. on Wednesday.

The announcement came shortly after the Ogun state government also declared Tuesday a work-free day to mark the festival in a post on X.

“Ogun State Government has declared Tuesday, 20 August, a public holiday to celebrate this year’s Isese Day, in line with the Dapo Abiodun-led administration’s firm belief in religious inclusivity,” the post reads.

According to a statement by Kayode Akinmade, special adviser to the governor on media and strategy, the work-free day will allow traditional worshippers across the state celebrate the festival.

The statement added that Ogun state “remains an exemplary federating unit with an enviable level of religious cohesion and harmony, even in the face of diversity”.

The government urged traditional worshippers in the state to celebrate in moderation and respect the rights of other religions during the festival.

It also charged worshippers to use the special festive period to pray for peace and economic advancement in Ogun state and Nigeria.

Both Oyo and Osun also approved Tuesday as public holiday for the celebration.

The National Working Committee, NWC, of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has written the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, to ask the Chief Whip, Senator Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South) to resign from the party and join either the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, or any of the opposition party.

APC, in the letter, also removed Senator Ali Ndume as Chief Whip of the 10th Senate and replaced him with Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno (APC, Borno North).

In a letter from the APC signed by National Chairman, Alhaji Umar Ganduje and the National Secretary, Senator Suŕajueen Basiru, respectively, to Akpabio, the party said that Ndume’s complaints about President Bola Tinubu are unbecoming and his utterances are not favourable to the Federal Government.

The request was put to voice votes by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and loudly affirmed by all the APC Senators.

The Southern Borno Senator who is conspicuously absent today, has been making critical remarks about President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies, the economic hardship, food scarcity and the concomitant security crisis.

Ndume was not only stripped of his position as Chief Whip, but the committee he co-chaired as Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations.

He has been moved to Chair the Senate Committee on Tourism.

ALLEGED N80 BILLION FRAUD: YAHAYA BELLO SEEKS COURT’S INDEFINITE ADJOURNMENT.

Former Governor Yahaya Bello has asked the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court to adjourn the ongoing case instituted against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission indefinitely.

Mr Bello also asked the court to vacate its arrest order on him, pending the determination of an appeal he filed at the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division.

Mr Bello’s demands were stated in a letter by his counsel, Musa Yakubu. The letter was dated July 12 and addressed to the trial Judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, ahead of Mr Bello’s arraignment scheduled for Wednesday, July 17.

The erstwhile Kogi governor is being tried for laundering N80 billion. But, in his appeal against his trial, Mr Bello has expressed fears over his fate if the case proceeds.

In the Appellate case with file number CA/ABJ/CR/535/2024, Mr Bello is seeking to set aside the warrant of arrest he considers illegally issued against him on April 17, 2024. He also wants a return of the case file to the Federal High Court chief judge for reassignment to another judge.

The appeal was filed against the decisions of the trial Federal High Court, Abuja Division, in charge number FHC/ABJ/CR/98/2024. The former governor is also seeking an order of the appellate court to set aside the service of the EFCC charge on him by substituted means, including the entire proceedings already conducted in the case.

In the letter, Mr Bello requested that further proceedings in the charge be adjourned sine die, pending the determination of the appeal currently pending at the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division.

A copy of the letter was also sent to the National Judicial Council in response to a letter to Justice Nwite by the EFCC, dated July 8, 2024 and filed on July 10, 2024.

In the said letter, the EFCC requested a variation of the earlier warrant of arrest issued against Mr Bello, additionally requesting that the various security agencies be specifically directed to carry out the earlier arrest.

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NIGERIANS ROLL OUT PROTEST DEMANDS

Ahead of the upcoming planned protest again seen t bad governance in Nigeria, Nigerians have rolled out a 15-point demand, which includes reversal of fuel subsidy, scrapping the senate, minimum wage increment, probing past corruption cases, release Nnadi Kanu, Dispora voting among others.

The organizers have urged all Nigerians to join the protest wherever they are around the world.