Connect with us

News

Southeast Bishops Urge New Enugu Governor to Resign

Published

on

98 Views

The Southeastern zone of the Network of Evangelical Bishops of Nigeria (NEBN) has once again asked Enugu State governor, Peter Mbah, to resign for bringing what it called the unparalleled disgrace that the new helmsman has brought to the Enugu people in the last few months and for bringing the exalted office of the state governor to public ridicule.

This is the third time in as many months the NEBN has intervened in Enugu public affairs, advising Mbah to throw in the towel for both legal and moral reasons.

The religious leaders had in previous statements accused Mbah of forging his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate A808297 which the new governor claims to have been issued on March 6, 2002, as well as the March 18 governorship election result in his Nkanu East Local Government Area where he was awarded over 31,000 votes, though the national INEC headquarters on March 22 reduced the number of votes to a little over 16,000.

“It was truly disgusting to watch last weekend how the team of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) hired by Mbah to defend his purported mandate tried in vain to stop the NYSC from testifying on the genuineness of the NYSC discharge certificate which Mbah presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)”, stated the bishops in a statement signed by the zonal chairman, Bishop Samuel Ani, and the acting publicity secretary, Bishop Emmanuel Eneh.

“They even went to the extent of asking the tribunal sitting in Enugu to abide by an incurably defective ex parte motion gagging the NYSC from disclosing the true status of the discharge certificate, an ex parte motion which is now expired and has never had validity in Enugu State because it was granted by an FCT High Court rather than a Federal High Court”.

The bishops ruefully observed that this is the first time in Nigeria’s history a candidate for public office has fought tooth and nail to stop an appropriate agency from speaking on the authenticity of the credentials he or she has presented to the electoral commission.

Alhaji Abubakar I. Muhammadu, the NYSC Director of Certificate, had in a letter written on February 1, 2023, declared that NYSC Discharge Certificate A808297 did not emanate from it, a position supported by the NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Yushau Ahmed when he appeared on the Arise Television programme on Friday, May 17, 2023.

“Now, Enugu State has been in the news again in connection with its purported governor presenting forged documents, as the NYSC Assistant Director of Corps Certification, Mrs Rhoda Dawa, has just provided the Federal High Court in Abuja with comprehensive details of how NYSC Discharge Certificate Number A808297 did not come from the organisation”.

If Mbah had completed his national service, explained the NYSC, he would have done so on September 15, 2003, and not September 15, 2002, which the governor claims.

His discharge certificate would have been assigned the serial number 673517, and the calligraphy would have been the same as other certificates issued by the NYSC, according to Mrs Dawa.

“There are too many discrepancies in this fake certificate Mbah presented”, said the senior clergymen

If such a “ridiculous spectacle of forgery should happen in any part of Nigeria in the 21st century”, said the group of bishops, “it is certainly not a state as strategic as Enugu which is the headquarters of not just the Southeast but also the old Eastern Nigerian Region that has since been divided into nine states”.

The bishops noted that Mbah would leave office like other public officers found guilty of presenting forged credentials, citing the examples of Mrs Kemi Adeosun, who was ex-President Muhamadu Buhari’s first Minister of Finance; Alhaji Salisu Buhari, the first Speaker of the House of Representatives when democracy was restored in 1999; and Biobarakuma Degi-Eremioye of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who was prevented from being sworn in on February 14, 2020, as the Bayelsa State Deputy Governor by the Supreme Court for presenting a fake document to INEC.

Since Mbah, who has been in office since May 29, has achieved his life ambition of being addressed as “His Excellency, the Governor of Enugu State”, said the bishops, “he should resign now because it is better than having to wait to be booted out of office through a judicial process which will, ipso facto, deny him the status of ever being recognised as a former governor as far as the law is concerned”.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

News

NNPC Trading Limited MD appointed as Nigeria’s OPEC representative

We congratulate Maryamu Idris, Managing Director of NNPC Trading Limited, on her appointment as the National Representative for Nigeria at the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Published

on

By

13 Views

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Trading Limited says that its Managing Director, Maryamu Idris , has been appointed as Nigeria’s National Representative to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

NNPCL announced the development on its X handle on Wednesday, and said Idris’s new role marks a pivotal step in representing Nigeria’s interests within the influential cartel of oil-producing nations.

“We congratulate Maryamu Idris, Managing Director of NNPC Trading Limited, on her appointment as the National Representative for Nigeria at the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC),” the statement read.

The corporation hailed her achievements in many capacities in the oil sector.

Maryamu’s extensive experience in the energy sector includes leading Pricing and Valuation efforts within NNPC’s Crude Oil Marketing Division and serving as a Technical Advisor to Nigeria’s OPEC Delegation.

She also played a foundational role in Nigeria’s engagement with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and contributed to oil sector reforms through her work with the Bureau of Public Enterprises and the Oil and Gas Implementation Committee (OGIC).

Continue Reading

News

FIRS loses 4 senior staff in Lagos Afriland Towers Fire

The deceased staff were identified as Mrs. Ekelikhostse George, Assistant Director; Mr David Sunday-Jatto, Assistant Director; Mrs. Nkem Onyemelukwe, Senior Manager; and Mr. Peter Ifaranmaye, Manager.

Published

on

By

27 Views

The Federal Inland Revenue Service, (FIRS) has confirmed the death of four of its senior staff members in the fire incident that gutted Afriland Towers on Broad Street, Lagos, on Tuesday.

The deceased staff were identified as Mrs. Ekelikhostse George, Assistant Director; Mr David Sunday-Jatto, Assistant Director; Mrs. Nkem Onyemelukwe, Senior Manager; and Mr. Peter Ifaranmaye, Manager.

In a statement confirming the incident, Mr Dare Adekanmbi, Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS chairman, said that the victims were trapped while on duty at the two FIRS offices located on the sixth and seventh floors of the building when the inferno broke out.

“Our Security and Safety officials quickly mobilized and contacted the fire service as soon as they were alerted. On getting to the scene, thick dark smoke was already billowing out of the building.

“The Management and entire staff are in deep shock and sorrow over the development,” he said.

Continue Reading

News

JUST IN: President Tinubu lifts state of emergency in Rivers, as Fubara prepares to resume duty

Published

on

31 Views

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has lifted the state of emergency imposed on Rivers State, restoring full democratic governance six months after suspending the Governor, Deputy Governor and State House of Assembly members.

In a statement on Tuesday, President Tinubu said the emergency, declared on 18 March 2025, had become “painfully inevitable” after a constitutional crisis paralysed governance in the state. He recalled that disputes between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the State House of Assembly had left critical economic assets vulnerable and halted budget approvals.

Tinubu said his intervention under Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution was to “arrest the drift towards anarchy” after mediation attempts failed. “Considered objectively, we had reached that situation of total breakdown of public order and public safety in Rivers State … it would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation,” he said.

The President thanked the National Assembly, traditional rulers and the people of Rivers State for their support throughout the emergency. He also acknowledged dissenters who challenged the declaration in court, saying such actions were “the way it should be in a democratic setting.”

Tinubu noted a “groundswell of a new spirit of understanding” among stakeholders in Rivers State and said the conditions that necessitated the emergency no longer existed.

“With effect from midnight today, the emergency in Rivers State shall end,” he announced. “Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, including Speaker Martins Amaewhule, will resume work in their offices from 18 September 2025.”

He urged governors and state legislatures nationwide to prioritise harmony and peaceful governance. “It is only in an atmosphere of peace, order and good government that we can deliver the dividends of democracy to our people,” he said.

STATEMENT BY HIS EXCELLENCY, BOLA AHMED TINUBU, PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, ON THE CESSATION OF THE STATE OF EMERGENCY IN RIVERS STATE

My Fellow countrymen and, in particular, the good people of Rivers State.

I am happy to address you today on the state of emergency declaration in Rivers State. You will recall that on 18th March, 2025, I proclaimed a state of emergency in the state. In my proclamation address, I highlighted the reasons for the declaration.

The summary of it for context is that there was a total paralysis of governance in Rivers State, which had led to the Governor of Rivers State and the House of Assembly being unable to work together.

Critical economic assets of the State, including oil pipelines, were being vandalised. The State House of Assembly was crisis-ridden, such that members of the House were divided into two groups. Four members worked with the Governor, while 27 members opposed the Governor.

The latter group supported the Speaker. As a result, the Governor could not present any Appropriation Bill to the House, to enable him to access funds to run Rivers State’s affairs. That serious constitutional impasse brought governance in the State to a standstill.

Even the Supreme Court, in one of its judgments in a series of cases filed by the Executive and the Legislative arms of Rivers State against each other, held that there was no government in Rivers State.

My intervention and that of other well-meaning Nigerians to resolve the conflict proved abortive as both sides stuck rigidly to their positions to the detriment of peace and development of the State.

It therefore became painfully inevitable that to arrest the drift towards anarchy in Rivers State, I was obligated to invoke the powers conferred on me by Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, to proclaim the state of emergency.

The Offices of the Governor, Deputy Governor, and elected members of the State House of Assembly were suspended for six months in the first instance. The six months expire today, September 17th, 2025.

I thank the National Assembly, which, after critically evaluating the justification for the proclamation, took steps immediately, as required by the Constitution, to approve the declaration in the interest of peace and order in Rivers State.

I also thank our traditional rulers and the good people of Rivers State for their support from the date of the declaration of the state of emergency until now.

I am not unaware that there were a few voices of dissent against the proclamation, which led to their instituting over 40 cases in the courts in Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Yenagoa, to invalidate the declaration.

That is the way it should be in a democratic setting. Some cases are still pending in the courts as of today. But what needs to be said is that the power to declare a state of emergency is an inbuilt constitutional tool to address situations of actual or threatened breakdown of public order and public safety, which require extraordinary measures to return the State to peace, order and security.

Considered objectively, we had reached that situation of total breakdown of public order and public safety in Rivers State, as shown in the judgment of the Supreme Court on the disputes between the Executive and the Legislative arm of Rivers State. It would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation.

As a stakeholder in democratic governance, I believe that the need for a harmonious existence and relationship between the executive and the legislature is key to a successful government, whether at the state or national level.

The people who voted us into power expect to reap the fruits of democracy. However, that expectation will remain unrealizable in an atmosphere of violence, anarchy, and insecurity borne by misguided political activism and Machiavellian manipulations among the stakeholders.

I am happy today that, from the intelligence available to me, there is a groundswell of a new spirit of understanding, a robust readiness, and potent enthusiasm on the part of all the stakeholders in Rivers State for an immediate return to democratic governance.

This is undoubtedly a welcome development for me and a remarkable achievement for us. I therefore do not see why the state of emergency should exist a day longer than the six months I had pronounced at the beginning of it.

It therefore gives me great pleasure to declare that the emergency in Rivers State of Nigeria shall end with effect from midnight today. The Governor, His Excellency Siminalayi Fubara, the deputy governor, Her Excellency Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and the speaker, Martins Amaewhule, will resume work in their offices from 18 September 2025.

I take this opportunity to remind the Governors and the Houses of Assembly of all the States of our country to continue to appreciate that it is only in an atmosphere of peace, order, and good government that we can deliver the dividends of democracy to our people. I implore all of you to let this realisation drive your actions at all times.

I thank you all.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR
President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
Federal Republic of Nigeria
State House, Abuja
September 17, 2025

Continue Reading

Trending